History Main / CruelMercy

See also BaitTheDog. Not to be confused with VillainsDyingGrace. Contrast MercyKill, which aims to do the exact opposite, and DoWithHimAsYouWill, where the hero only spares the villain to let others kill him. Contrast GoAndSinNoMore, where the villain is grateful for the hero's mercy. Inverse of CruelToBeKind, where the act is hurtful but will ultimately benefit the victim. If the Mercy is genuine and the Cruelty perceived, it's DontYouDarePityMe. May be part of AndIMustScream or overlap with FateWorseThanDeath.

** When Cain murdered his brother Abel out of jealousy, God cursed Cain by having him wander forever. When Csin, ashamed of his sin, thought his punishment would result in someone killing him, God replied that the one who killed Cain would suffer a far worse punishment, as he wanted Cain to forever live with the guilt of his crime. And God even put a mark on his forehead to let everyone know not to touch him.

* A ''Franchise/GIJoe'' skit from ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' has a new member joining the Joes. He has a [[MinoredInAsskicking doctorate]] and is [[ColdSniper extremely skilled with a sniper rifle]], but due to a small accident [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten he is given a humiliating code name and not respected]] by the rest of the Joes. He later [[FaceHeelTurn joins Cobra]] and [[BewareTheNiceOnes kills all but one of the Joes with his aforementioned sniper rifle]]. What happens to the last Joe left?
-->'''Duke:''' You motherfucker, you killed everything I love! [Rips off his shirt and stands out in the open, making himself an easy target] Take me too! Take me too!

* ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'': Quasimodo poises Frollo's dagger above him. Frollo begs for his life, but Quasimodo nails him with his speech that Frollo has lied to him all his life about the world being dark and cruel.

* The final choice of the case "Farewell, My Turnabout" of the third ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' game offers you the chance to dish this out. [[spoiler: After a perilous, nerve-wracking few days, in which Phoenix's assistant Maya has been held captive by Shelley de Killer, a ProfessionalKiller who's threatened to kill her unless Phoenix gets his newest client a "not guilty" verdict in just one day, Phoenix discovered all too late that his client, Matt Engarde, was actually TheSociopath who ''really is guilty'' because he hired de Killer to kill his business rival. You've been doing your damnedest to stall for time in court in the hopes that some kind of miracle might allow you to save Maya and expose Engarde, but prosecutor Franziska von Karma and Detective Gumshoe [[BigDamnHeroes finally pull through with the evidence you need at the last second]] and Phoenix manages to TakeAThirdOption by letting the de Killer know (via a radio conversation) that Engarde betrayed him by filming the murder as blackmail. de Killer, who values the trust between himself and his clients above all else, releases Maya and vows to hunt Engarde to the ends of the earth to get his revenge. Engarde's massive ego [[BreakTheHaughty immediately flies out the window]] and he begins sweating bullets from the realization that there's basically nothing he can do to protect himself from a world-class assassin who will stop at ''nothing'' to kill him. You're presented with an absolutely delicious choice: convict Engarde to send him to prison, or declare him innocent so he'll be let loose and be marked for death the second he steps foot outside. If you choose the latter, he actually ''begs'' to be sent to prison on the off chance that he might be a little safer behind bars. No matter what you pick, he goes to jail, and justice is finally served.]]

* The ending of ''Anime/SenkiZesshouSymphogear G'' has [[spoiler:[[BigGood Genjurou]] sparing [[BigBad Dr. Ver]], preventing him from [[DrivenToSuicide attempting to kill himself]] [[DirtyCoward upon witnessing all his plans unravel]] when Maria, Kirika, and Shirabe, Symphogears he manipulated to advance his goals of making himself look like a hero by exploiting the chaos of the moon crashing into the Earth courtesy of Nephilim, his creation, finally wised up and [[HeelFaceTurn joined]] Hibiki, Tsubasa, and Chris to stop Nephilim. Genjurou's reasoning is that he's not going to let Ver be written off as having pulled off a "HeroicSacrifice" in the attempt to stop the moon's fall, instead making sure he's going to see justice done. It was so bad that by the end he's reduced into a giggling fit as he's being led away in handcuffs]].

* In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'':

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' The villain Shigaraki [[spoiler: deals this out to fellow villain Overhaul when he has the chance to kill him, while attacking the police convoy transporting Overhaul and his men to prison. Shigaraki decides it would be a crueler and more fitting revenge to instead takes both of Overhaul's arms, leaving him incapable of using his Quirk and then leaves him for the police to retrieve. Effectively leaving him a Quirkless and crippled man who will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars.]]

-->'''General Hawk''': Come on Lattimer, let's get out of here!
-->(Flashback to Lattimer's commissioning ceremony)
-->'''Admiral Overton''': Captain Lattimer, command of the U.S.S. Montana is now yours, serve her well.
-->'''Lattimer''' (in the present time): [[GoingDownWithTheShip No, no, I-I-I can't leave her!]]
-->'''Hawk''': My aching back, George! [[DefiedTrope Forget that going down with the ship stuff!]]
-->'''Lattimer''': No, I'm staying!
-->(Hawk promptly and reluctantly knocks out Lattimer before rescuing him from the sinking Montana)
-->'''Lattimer''': [[LampshadeHanging It would have been more merciful to let me drown]].

--->'''Shipwreck''': What'll happen to Lattimer now, Hawk? Court-martial, prison?
--->'''Hawk''': I don't know, but he's already received [[AFateWorseThanDeath the worst punishment imaginable]].
--->[''The Montana sinks with an explosion cloud resembling a cobra's lower fangs''].

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[[quoteright:349:[[ComicBook/ThanosRising https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thanos_mercy_350px.png]]]]

Some work towards crushing their opponents. Others, though, prefer to just step back and watch them live on. This is "Cruel Mercy" — sparing one's enemy (or, in some examples, even actively keeping them alive) as a punishment rather than a reward.

Villains will also do this. If they are [[RevengeByProxy doing it for revenge]], their aim will be to make the hero feel what they've gone through. Some are mental — rather than wishing to hear SoProudOfYou, it's their arch-enemy's disapproval they start to crave. Other villains are trying to make the character break down — they [[BreakTheCutie subject them to a series of]] {{Mind Rape}}s and [[ForcedToWatch make them watch]] as they destroy what's precious to them, all in an attempt to push them beyond the DespairEventHorizon. Maybe they want to see [[HeroicBSOD the heroes cry]], or [[StartOfDarkness bring them]] [[FaceHeelTurn over to]] TheDarkSide. Some villains delight in showing the hero to be NotSoStoic, or they wonder what will happen if they TeachHimAnger... or they just enjoy ignoring the hero's repeated pleas to GetItOverWith.

There is no typical Cruel Mercy; each is tailored to the person for maximum effect. However, there are a few repeating variations. Sometimes, one is just allowed to live, especially if he believes MightMakesRight and AsskickingEqualsAuthority, and now that he isn't the strongest, his self-esteem is non-existent. Similarly, some villains lose it because GoodHurtsEvil and EvilCannotComprehendGood, so the hero's mercy is a kind of BrownNote. For others, the hero may force them into a mundane life where they go through a daily mental HumiliationConga. Still, more might refuse to take a life themselves but [[ThrowEmToTheWolves won't deny others]] — [[DoWithHimAsYouWill especially those who have been wronged by the villain]] — their own chance. In some situations, the hero may decide that being left to [[ThePunishmentIsTheCrime live with the consequences of his actions]] is the most fitting punishment for the villain. And sometimes, if the villain is too dangerous to let free, he is trapped in a TailorMadePrison along with the people he hates most in the world, or with a view of something he despises or which upsets him...

* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** Luffy attacks with all his might, but he avoids killing his opponents. This because Luffy believes that forcing someone to live with all their hopes and dreams destroyed is a FateWorseThanDeath. Occasionally, some of Luffy's villains actually end up better off than they started (Wapol, for example, became an incredibly wealthy toymaker and tyrant of another kingdom, and Eneru went to the moon like he originally wanted).
** This seems to be [[BigBad Blackbeard's]] modus operandi in dealing with his defeated opponents. If you're lucky, he'll kill you on the spot. If you're '''really''' ''un''lucky, he'll have you turned in to the World Government, who'll send your ass straight to [[HellholePrison Impel Down]], an outright ''monstrous'' prison where pirates and other criminals are put through such [[ColdBloodedTorture horrendous torture]], they beg for death on the mere first level. And Blackbeard ''greatly'' prefers the second option. [[spoiler: So far, he has done this to Portgas D. Ace (albeit as part of his larger plan) and Jewelry Bonney[[note]]At least, onscreen[[/note]]. Only the latter escaped alive.]]
** [[spoiler: Sometime during the TimeSkip, he and his crew defeated the rest of the Whitebeard pirates during the Payback War. But their fates are currently unknown.]]

* Happens to Ritsuko in episode 23 of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. After revealing the secrets of the Terminal Dogma and of Rei and the Dummy Plug System to Shinji and Misato, Ritsuko [[spoiler:realises that Gendo used her, and destroys Rei's clones. She then breaks down into tears, inviting Misato to shoot her, saying that she welcomes death. Misato refuses, saying that Ritsuko is a fool for saying so]].
* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' (both the manga and the ''Brotherhood'' series), Scar does a violent variation (not exactly mercy) to Dr. Marcoh and ''really'' makes it clear that post-HeelFaceTurn, he's still an AntiHero. Marcoh comes to Scar admitting that he had created the Philosopher's Stones which were used to wipe out most of the population of Ishval (Scar's country). While Scar has in the past killed state alchemists for less, he's cooled by this point and is also taken aback when Marcoh begs for death (Marcoh had been threatened by Lust and Envy that if he didn't make another Stone for them, they would kill Macoh's entire village). So, what does Scar do? He "helps" Marcoh to fake his death by using his powers to horribly disfigure his face.
** And by this point, Marcoh loathes himself so much that he doesn't really care. While he has the skill and opportunity to repair the damage later, he decides to keep it as penance.
** It also served a practical purpose: No one besides the homunculi was able to recognize the disfigured doctor, allowing him and Scar's group to travel with more ease.
* In ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo'', a previous comrade of Mugen betrays him so that she will not be alone, something she's terrified of. He kills ''everyone'' in the old crew who betrayed him and then just ignores her, even when she asks him to kill her so she can be TogetherInDeath.
* Hiei of ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' was ordered killed by the [[LadyLand village of his birth]] due to the expectation that any male child born to their OneGenderRace of normally {{Truly Single Parent}}s would inevitably destroy them if allowed to grow up. Years later, he returned to do [[SelfFulfillingProphecy just that]], but, after seeing the pitiful lives the villagers lived, he came to the conclusion that killing them would only end their misery.
* In ''Anime/{{Noir}}'', after Chloe reveals that [[spoiler:Kirika was the one who killed Mireille's parents]], Kirika begs Mireille to keep the promise that she made in the first episode and kill her. Instead, Mireille walks away, severing their partnership and leaving Kirika with the knowledge that she is now alone. [[spoiler:They reconcile in the penultimate episode.]]

* In ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'', after Motoko goes [[UnstoppableRage completely berserk]] and unloads a full clip of a .50 cal anti-material rifle [[ShortRangeLongRangeWeapon point blank]] into Gayle's Armed Suit cockpit for nearly killing her, running out of ammo is the only thing that stops her from killing him. At that point, the pressure from the denting of the armor plating was suffocating him inside his suit. She only allowed him to live so that he would forever regret ever hunting her down.
* In ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', Josuke, the protagonist of part 4 has a Stand that allows him to [[CombatMedic restore things to their original estate, including wounds]]. However, when he's angry he can use his powers in pretty sadistic ways. Like one villain who ended up crippled in the hospital, was visited by Josuke. The villain immediately started pleading that he wouldn't hit a poor, crippled man in a hospital. Josuke heals him back to perfect health just so he can ''beat him up so bad he cripples him again''.
--> '''Josuke:''' If I heal you up first, then I figure it's a fair fight, right?

* The ultimate fate of [[spoiler: Queen Nakia]] in ''Manga/RedRiver1995'' is this: [[spoiler: she's in perpetual house arrest and living comfortably... but she ''knows'' that she owes it to Yuri and Kail, the protagonists and her worst enemies, who intend for her to witness how the Hitite Empire blossoms and flourishes ''without'' her in power. As a plus, her son Juda aka the person she intended to put in the throne as her PuppetKing, has completely deserted her.]]
* A meta-example comes from ''Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam'', which has its primary antagonist Katejina Loos lose both her eyesight and her memory in the final battle to make a surprise appearance at the very end where she is reduced to TheOphelia. The decision to spare Katejina from death was motivated by this trope, as Creator/YoshiyukiTomino detailed in an interview, describing Katejina as having committed too many war crimes for death alone to be a sufficient punishment. As he directly puts it, "Life was a heavier punishment for her".
* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'', Allelujah Haptism receives a cruel mercy from the Federation after the loss of Celestial Being in Season 1. Instead of being killed by the federation, Allelujah [[FateWorseThanDeath faced his worse fate]] in their hand by being placed in isolated prison, being muzzled and straitjacketed, and receive dozen torment and interrogation by the federation for 4 years before he finally being saved by his comrade thanks to Nena and Liu Mei information.
* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'':
** After managing to overpower Sugou in real life, Kirito is fully prepared to just [[SlashedThroat slit his throat]] and be done with it, but ultimately settles for just knocking Sugou out and letting the cops arrest and incarcerate him, his dreams and [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitions]] crushed, his body [[WoundThatWillNotHeal permanently damaged]], and exposed to the world as a cyber-criminal.
** After their fight in Underworld, [=PoH=] fully expects Kirito to give him a warrior's death, boasting that [[spoiler:he'll just keep coming after Kirito and Asuna again and again until he finally [[SlashedThroat slits their throats]] and [[AndShowItToYou rips their hearts out]] in real life]]. Instead, Kirito [[spoiler:subjects him to a FateWorseThanDeath by turning him into a tree and trapping him in Underworld, declaring that [[AndIMustScream he'll never log out]].]]
* ''LightNovel/TheDeathMageWhoDoesntWantAFourthTime'': Our protagonist can do this if he thinks his enemies deserve punishment without killing them. The first example is the townspeople who watched in enjoyment as his mother burns at the stake, so he uses his magic to make their fields, walls and houses just, walk away, leaving them helpless.
** He decides to get payback on the Mirg nation for attacking his new home by sending an army of undead, their own army at that, to harass the villagers and forcing them to evacuate. He then steals their crops, poisons their waters and fields and leaves some undead for good measure, turning thousands of people who had benefitted from expelling him and the Ghoul tribe who took him in from that territory, into refugees.
* At the climax, ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' movie ''Anime/Pokemon4Ever'' when the Iron-Masked Marauder is surrounded by angry forest Pokémon as they confront him for all the heinous crimes he has committed, the Marauder begs for mercy, but his pleas are ignored, and they tie him up using String Shot.
* It's unclear in ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'' whether Nagisa realizes this, but his finishing move against [[spoiler: Takaoka]] counts as this. Even as it's happening, he knows that he'll never get Nagisa's smile out of his nightmares. It may have been kinder to just kill him.
-->'''Nagisa''': [sincerely, with a genuine smile] [[spoiler: Takaoka-sensei]], thank you very much.
* In the anime adaptation of ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'', Naofumi plays off his request for The King and Malty to be spared as this. This also doubles as a case of AdaptationalHeroism, as in the original Light Novel, Naofumi instead called for the two to be executed and had to be talked down. Their punishments were quite fitting for those who would abuse their royal power for selfish gains. They were stripped of all power and authority, and to rub salt in the wound, [[spoiler:Naofumi had their names legally changed to "Trash" and "Bitch" respectively.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'': Quasimodo poises Frollo's dagger above him. Frollo begs for his life, but Quasimodo nails him with his speech that Frollo has lied to him all his life about the world being dark and cruel.
-->'''Frollo''': Now, now! L-L-Listen to me, Quasimodo!\\
'''Quasimodo''': NO, YOU LISTEN! All my life, you've told me the world is a dark, cruel place! But now I see that the only thing dark and cruel about it is people like ''YOU!''
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Barnyard}}'': Otis prepares to punch Dag as his dad did but instead orders him to NEVER return, before hitting him with a golf club and Dag soars out into the distance while howling in pain.

* ''Film/KillBill'':
** The Bride does this to Elle Driver at the end of their fight in ''Kill Bill Volume 2'' after she snatches out her remaining eye and crushes it underfoot, leaving her stuck in the narrow-halled trailer with a poisonous snake while she's thrashing about in a literal and figurative blind panic -- all in the middle of the desert. She was toast.
** She also "spares" Sofie Fatale after chopping off her other arm (the first was lost when fighting O-Ren) during her interrogation and hurling her down a hill, just so that she can deliver a message to Bill, and makes a point that she could do a lot more than just take her arm if Sofie doesn't cooperate.
* ''Film/ThePrincessBride'': Westley threatens Prince Humperdinck with a duel ToThePain, which involves leaving the loser alive but severely disfigured, "wallowing in freakish misery forever." To further the cruelness, the loser loses their eyes, their nose, their hands at the wrist, their feet at the ankle, but they keep their ears "so that every shriek of every child at seeing your hideousness will be yours to cherish. Every babe that weeps at your approach, every woman who cries out, 'Dear God! What is that ''[[ItIsDehumanizing thing]]'',' will echo in your perfect ears." Instead, as the page quote above shows, Westley leaves Humperdink untouched, save for his realization that for all his bluster and prestige, he ultimately is a DirtyCoward who folded at the first bluff.
* In ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', Captain Mal spares the Operative's life so he can show him a message which proves that [[spoiler:an Alliance experiment killed almost everyone on the planet Miranda and created the Reavers out of the remainder]], crushing the Operative's dream of the Alliance creating a "[[{{Utopia}} perfect world]]".
--> '''Mal''': "I ain't gonna kill you. Hell, I'm going to grant your greatest wish -- [[ForcedToWatch I'm going to show you]] [[ApocalypticLog a world]] [[GoneHorriblyRight without sin.]]"
** Of course, it's possible that Mal's knowledge of what a vulnerable position he and his crew are in, once he completes the transmission, [[MutuallyAssuredDestruction plays a role in his choice to spare the Operative]]. The Operative [[GracefulLoser does indeed spare them]] after learning the Alliance's [[EmpireWithADarkSecret Dark Secret]], even going so far as to put their ship back together and then send them on their way. This leads to a not-quite HeelFaceTurn for the operative and a not-quite DefeatMeansRespect conversation as the two part ways, although [[MoralEventHorizon given the lives the Operative took]], Mal is clear that he is ForgivenButNotForgotten, but the Operative assures him it won't be a problem: [[StartingANewLife they won't be seeing each other again]].
*** However, in the film's extended cut, the Operative stays long enough to ask Mal [[DefeatAsBackstory how he survived his own crippling defeat]]. This somber tone of this trope-heavy reflection [[{{Bathos}} is then broken]] in typical ''Firefly'' fashion as Mal walks away with an [[DeadpanSnarker under-his-breath]] "What a whiner!"

* In ''Film/TheKarateKidPartII'', Mr. Miyagi tells Daniel that he let John Kreese live (after inducing Kreese to break both of his hands, delivering an IronicEcho of Kreese's own words, and embarrassing him with a nose grab) because, for a man as twisted as him, living is a worse punishment than dying. [[spoiler:Daniel does the same to Chozen at the end of Part II, but this was more a case of teaching someone who should know better.]] Kreese doesn't take the humiliation well. The plot of Part III revolves around his plan of revenge.

* Invoked and then subverted in Creator/JohnFord's ''Film/MyDarlingClementine''. After the O.K. Corral gunfight, Wyatt Earp tells Old Man Clanton (whose sons have just been killed in the fight, and who had earlier killed Earp's brother James) that he's not going to kill him: "I hope you'll live a hundred years, so you'll feel just a little of what my pa's gonna feel." Then he tells him to get on his horse and get out of town. As Clanton is departing, however, he suddenly turns to shoot Wyatt, and Wyatt's brother Morgan shoots and kills him.
* In ''Film/{{Shenandoah}}'', Creator/JimmyStewart's character confronts the young Confederate soldier who's just shot and killed one of his sons after mistaking him for a Union soldier, telling him he hopes he lives a long life and has many children so that he can come to feel about them the way that Stewart does. "And then, when a man comes along and kills one of them..." he starts before he's overcome with emotion and walks away.
* ''Film/LittleBigMan'' has a scene where General Custer spares Jack Crabb's life after Crabb attempts to kill him in his tent but loses his nerve at the last second. Crabb states in narration that this is the worst thing Custer could have done to him.
* Near the end of ''Film/TheDeparted'', Costigan finally captures Sullivan, TheMole inside the police force. Sullivan begins trying to threaten and intimidate Costigan, then begins [[VillainousBreakdown breaking down into tears]] and pleading with Costigan to "Just kill me". Costigan refuses, saying "I ''am'' killing you", meaning that he's intent on bringing Sullivan up on charges, thus ruining his life and forcing him to live through and experience everything that will result from that. Immediately afterwards, [[spoiler:Costigan is killed, and a couple of scenes later, after getting away with everything, Sullivan receives a rather painless death.]]
* ''Film/HardToKill'':
** The ending features Creator/StevenSeagal's attempt at this trope. After roughing up the villain ''anyway'', he tells him, "Death is far too merciful a fate for you. So what I'm going to do is put you in prison. A nice petite white boy like you in a federal penitentiary... now let me just put it this way: [[PrisonRape I don't think you'll be able to remain anal-retentive for very long]]."
** He does much the same thing to the BigBad of ''Film/FireDownBelow'', disabling his enemy with one shot instead of killing him, for much the same reasons as the above flick. No one ever accused Steven Seagal movies of an abundance of originality.
* ''Film/{{Ricochet}}'' has this exchange:
-->'''Styles:''' Why don't you just kill me?\\
'''Blake:''' [[AffablyEvil Oh, I don't wanna kill you. I wanna kill your life!]]
* In ''Film/TrainingDay'', Ethan Hawke's character leaves Denzel Washington's character alive after their final confrontation. It might seem merciful, but Denzel owes a very large debt to TheMafiya, and Ethan took the money he was going to use to pay them off. [[spoiler: He doesn't last long.]]
* A lenient example -- sort of -- happens in ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly''. At first, it seems like Blondie is going to ride away and leave Tuco to hang himself when he eventually falls as retribution for double-crossing him. At the last minute, however, he turns, and fires his rifle, severing the rope, saying "Just like old times." Tuco is alive and has his share of the gold, but with no horse and in the middle of the desert, getting back to civilization won't be easy. (Of course, he did manage it when Blondie abandoned him at the ''beginning'' of the movie.)

* At the beginning of ''Film/HocusPocus'', Winnifred Sanderson punishes Thackery by transforming him into an immortal housecat.
-->'''Winnie''': His punishment will not be to die...but to live forever with his guilt.
* At the end of ''Film/EverAfter'', Danielle saves her stepmother and stepsister from transportation to America, and almost certain death. When the queen asks her what shall be done with them instead, she simply asks "That you show them the same kindness that she showed me." That kindness would be de facto slavery.
* In the biopic film ''Film/{{Elizabeth}}'', the eponymous queen has Walsingham expose the Catholic plots to assassinate her, culminating in her ex-lover Lord Robert Dudley being exposed as one of the conspirators after she previously rejected him. He knows he is destined for execution as a traitor to the crown and begs for it, but Elizabeth decides: "I rather think to let you live; to remind me of how close I came to being weak."
* ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'' gives us this little gem:
-->'''Khan''': I've done far worse than kill you. I've hurt you, and I wish to go on... hurting you. I shall leave you as you left me, left her, marooned for all eternity at the center of a dead planet, buried alive, buried alive...
-->'''Kirk''': [[SayMyName KHAAAAAAN! KHAAAN!]]
-->[[spoiler: Of course Kirk is only acting at this point; he already knows they will shortly be rescued]]
* In ''Film/HighlanderEndgame'', Jacob Kell's goal is to make Connor [=MacLeod=]'s life a living hell, killing all those close to him and keeping Connor alive until they are the last two Immortals left.
* ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock'': For Klingons, getting captured alive is probably the worst humiliation you can visit upon them. The one remaining crew member of the Klingon ship gets the Enterprise crew to promise to kill him instead of keeping him captive. Later, Kirk orders them to lock him up. When the Klingon shouts, "But you said you would kill me!", Kirk responds: "ILied".

* In ''Film/TheHobbitTheDesolationOfSmaug'', Smaug briefly considers letting Thorin have the Arkenstone just to watch it drive him mad with greed, and later refrains from killing Bilbo just to make him [[WatchingTroyBurn watch Laketown and the people who helped him burn]].

* In ''Film/{{Se7en}}'', the killer has already proven himself to be a monumentally depraved piece of work with the sheer methodical cruelty of his various killings. When he corners Detective Mills during a downtown chase in the rain, he leaves him alive in what appears to be a random moment of mercy. [[spoiler:It turns out that he had already been stalking the Detectives who were pursuing him for some time. He had far greater plans for Mills in mind, decapitating his wife Tracy out of Envy and making him the final piece in his murder set by letting Mills kill him out of Wrath.]]

* In ''Film/TheHiddenFortress'', after being defeated in duel, Hyoe demands to be killed by Rokurota but the latter decides to spare his life, much to Hyoe's dislike
* In ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'', Loki's sentence is this. While [[spoiler: life in prison would normally be a merciful sentence considering what he's done, consider that for someone who lives as long as Loki, that might mean spending four thousand years in solitary confinement. Odin spared Loki's life because [[MamaBear Frigga]] asked him to, but he did it in the cruelest way possible for both of them, actually making it part of Loki's sentence that they could never see each other again. That's not only a cruel punishment for Loki, but it is also one for Frigga as well, especially since, unlike her son, she did nothing to deserve it.]]

* In ''Film/{{Cinderella 2015}}'', Ella forgiving Tremaine definitely counts as this, as it means that all of Tremaine's efforts to [[BreakTheCutie break]] Ella have failed.
* In ''Film/TheBeastOfWar'', a Soviet soldier convinces the Afghan rebels to spare the crew of the tank that massacred their village, then tells the tank commander why:
-->'''Koverchenko:''' Sorry, sir. Not much of a war. No Stalingrad. How is it that we're the Nazis this time? How is that? I tried to be a good soldier. But you can't be a good soldier in a rotten war, sir. I want you to live to see them win.
* In ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', Franchise/{{Batman}} brands certain criminals with a Bat symbol, letting other inmates know they're responsible for particularly vicious crimes, such as the human trafficker at the beginning of the film. These branded criminals are then often murdered in prison by the other inmates (although the inmate who murders the aforementioned human trafficker is paid to do so by Lex Luthor). At the end of the film, it looks like he's about to brand Comicbook/LexLuthor as well, but instead arranges for him to be transferred to [[BedlamHouse Arkham Asylum]].

* In ''Film/IShotJesseJames'', [[spoiler: Frank James]] has Robert Ford at gunpoint. However, he decides to spare Bob, but not before telling him that [[spoiler: his LoveInterest Cynthy is leaving him for his rival John Kelley]]. [[TraumaCongaLine Given everything he's been through]], Bob [[GoMadFromTheRevelation doesn't take this news well]].

* ''Film/TheGreyZone'': At the end, Oberscharführer Muhsfeldt spares Doctor Nyiszli's life, despite not needing to and after the Doctor previously tried to blackmail him. It's implied that Muhsfeldt wants the doctor to suffer more by continuing to be forced to engage in human experiments, stating that they both still have work to do.
* ''Film/TheCountOfMonteCristo'': The Count does this to [[spoiler:Villefort]] by giving him an unloaded pistol, which [[AteHisGun he tries to use to off himself]], to no avail. "You didn't think I'd make it that easy, did you?"
** Later tho Edmond averts the trope with [[spoiler: Mondego]]. "What happened to your vaunted mercy?" "I'm a count, not a saint."
* Near the end of ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', [[ComicBook/BlackPanther T'Challa]] confronts Zemo, the man responsible for the bombing that killed T'Challa's father, after realizing that Zemo, not Bucky, was the culprit. T'Challa then prevents Zemo from committing suicide and hands him over to Everett Ross to be imprisoned (albeit partly because T'Challa realized he was losing himself to his lust for revenge).

** Firstly, in a battle with Anakin's former teacher Obiwan Kenobi, the Jedi cuts off Anakin's left arm and both of Anakin's legs, and then chooses to walk away and leave him alive... except that the site where they were dueling is ''beside a molten chemical lake''. By the time Anakin's new master, Darth Sidious, finds Anakin, the extreme heat has basically cooked Anakin alive, covering his entire body in severe burns as well as permanently damaging Anakin's eyes and lungs.

** In [[Literature/BooksOfKings 1 Kings chapter 2]], after David dies, Solomon becomes king over Israel. Abiathar the priest is relieved of duty and forced to resign from the priesthood for participating in Adonijah's attempt to seize the throne. Instead of immediately executing Abiathar, Solomon allows him to retire to his fields in Anathoth in recognition of his service to King David.

* In ''[[VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc Danganronpa the Stage]]'', [[spoiler:[[TheHero Makoto Naegi]] [[SparedByTheAdaptation stops]] [[BigBad Junko Enoshima's]] [[DrivenToSuicide suicide by execution]] for this very reason. Since Junko is only capable of feeling pleasure from despair, be it from others or herself, the worst thing Makoto can do to her is save her life]].

And deal with others better. "
* In Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''Theatre/MeasureForMeasure'', the Duke does not kill Lucio as threatened but forces him to marry the whore who bore his child. "Marrying a punk, my lord," Lucio laments, "is pressing to death, whipping, and hanging."
** Depending on how you interpret it, the BigBad Angelo suffers this as well. The Duke doesn't have him killed but forces him to wed a wife he didn't want and live after having his crimes revealed publically. His original plan was to have him marry her and then be killed, but he ultimately changes his mind.
* In Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice'', [[AmbiguouslyGay Antonio]] insists on Shylock, a Jew, converting to Christianity as punishment for what he's done. For a Jew, that's... let's just say bad. In Yiddish, the word for "Jew", "yid", is used as a synonym for "person". As a former Jew, he'd be neither accepted by the Jewish community nor the Christian one. And as what's a pitiful parting shot in comparison, Antonio takes some of his money and forces him to bequeath his estate to his runaway daughter and son-in-law in his will.
** Even worse, [[ValuesDissonance in Shakespeare's time]], this would have been considered a ''happy ending'', in much the same way as execution was better than excommunication. Sure, he'd be shunned by his community, but to Shakespeare's Christian audience, this would mean that he would also be considered saved and get to go to heaven ([[FairForItsDay and acknowledges Shylock as a person who could be saved]]). It's only when ''Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice'' began to be performed for more secular audiences that people began focusing on the downsides of the forced conversion.
** Worth noting that the contemporary parallel play, ''Theatre/TheJewOfMalta'', involves the eponymous Jew dying by being boiled in a pot of oil. *shrug* FateWorseThanDeath versus CruelAndUnusualDeath...
* Yet another Shakespeare example: In ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', Romeo murders Tybalt, a fellow aristocrat of Verona, and as Tybalt's aunt says, the punishment for this is death. But the Prince of Verona tempers the sentence to exile because Tybalt killed Mercutio (the Prince's cousin) and Romeo avenged his friend's death. When he hears this news, however, Romeo hears it as Cruel Mercy, declaring exile to be a FateWorseThanDeath because it means separation from Juliet, and threatens to kill himself. Friar Lawrence proceeds to [[WhatTheHellHero chew him out]] over all the {{Wangst}}ing he's been doing.

* ''Theatre/TheLaramieProject''. Based on the real-life trial following the murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard, the victim's father says that while their family believes in the death penalty, they ask the jury to instead give the murderers consecutive life sentences to honor their son and show the killers the mercy that they didn't show.
--> "May you have a long life. And may you thank Matthew every day for it."
* ''Medieval Times'' ends with the champion of the knight's tournmant defeating the [[BigBad Herald of the North]] in what the latter intended to be a DuelToTheDeath. However, the King of Spain - as a way of "honoring" the Herald's valor - opted not to execute him, instead sentencing him to life imprisonment.

* In the ''[[TabletopGame/YuGiOh Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' TCG, there are a few cards that prevent your opponent's monsters from being destroyed by battle, such as Underworld Dragon Dragonecro and Serpent Suppression. However, this is not to help your opponent stand up better to you. The first one, while keeping the monster it battles alive, drains away its ATK points (and soul, in the manga), leaving only a 0 ATK point carcass instead, and even creates a token for its controller with the drained ATK as its Attack points. As for the second one, it is seen in Reptilliane decks, which focus on making the ATK of opponent monsters 0. Combined with this card, they can relentlessly keep attacking the weakened monsters, who, despite not being destroyed, are still inflicted with damage which their controller takes. Some Combos are even famous, such as using a card that prevents destruction by battle on an opponent monster and keeps attacking it with a monster with the ability to attack multiple times, such as the infamous Chimeratech Overdragon, Great Poseidon Beetle, and Number C107: Neo Galaxy-eyes Tachyon Dragon.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'', the baernoloths (mysterious fiends believed to have created the yugoloth race) can heal any wound upon a creature that they have personally inflicted. Typically, they only do this to a captive victim while sadistically torturing it so that the victim won't die quickly.
* Zigzagged in ''TabletopGame/TheDarkEye'' by the Trollzacker barbarians. Due to their religious belief, that every suffering in life means to lessen the unavoidable suffering in the afterlife, their worst punishments involve banishment and painless forms of death. If on the other side, a captured fighter is regarded as a WorthyOpponent, he will be tortured to death in days long rituals as [[ValuesDissonance a token of respect and mercy]].

* Horribly/Hilariously {{Subverted|Trope}} in ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' after Kevyn captures an alien warlord who had just executed one of his squad members simply to test a theory and was about to do the same to his LoveInterest before he intervened. Rather than take his revenge on the warlord ("I know he murdered our friend, but [revenge] will take you into a very dark place, Nick"), he opts to turn him in to the proper authorities... who will then kill him and [[ImAHumanitarian eat him]] ''[[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20070502.html a little bit at a time!]]''
-->'''Nick:''' Your place sounds darker, sir.
-->'''Kevyn:''' It has the advantage of being legal.

* Done in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''. After Dr. Beetle dies, Baron Wulfenbach tells Dr. Merlot that for his part in the incident, he'll be put in charge of the city of Beetleburg...after Dr. Beetle has been given a hero's funeral with full honors, and the full details of Dr. Beetle's death, including the fact that Dr. Merlot's theatrics were the direct cause of it, have been released to a public that loved and respected Dr. Beetle.
** Also, Merlot's punishment for his first screw-up on the new job? Sent to join the repair teams in [[AIIsACrapshoot Castle]] [[ComedicSociopathy Heterodyne]].
* Done in a social way for humor in ''Webcomic/EerieCuties'', to set up for its spin-off, ''Webcomic/MagickChicks''. After the Hellrune Coven has tried to use a gender-bending magical orb for a small plan that turned into a fiasco that left one boy stuck as a girl, they're called in front of the headmistress. Since they're also the [[AlphaBitch "Queen Bees"]] of their school, they're told protocol would demand they be expelled. However, the headmistress believes that would let them off TOO easily. So she talked with the head of Artemis Academy to get them transferred over there as part of an exchange program, forcing them to start all over without any social benefits from their soon-to-be-former school. To a young girl who fought a lot of her high-school life to be popular, losing your status and being "socially dead" is worse than physical death.

* Parodied in ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' when Black Mage [[{{Briarpatching}} desperately tries to convince]] [[spoiler:Sarda]] [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2009/09/22/episode-1175-the-best-revenge/ to employ this trope]]. Played straight when [[spoiler:Sarda]] agrees.
-->'''[[spoiler: Sarda:]]''' Oh, I wanted to kill you the [[Really700YearsOld first billion, billion and a half years]], but then... it just wasn't enough anymore. Besides, killing you started to lose its novelty [[DeathIsCheap after the first few times]]. [Zaps all the Light Warriors] See? I barely cracked a smile over that one.
-->'''Red Mage:''' I wish he'd stop making incredibly painful points with our corpses.
* At the end of chapter 49 of ''{{Webcomic/Drowtales}}'', Minka Dutan'vir sees former Kyorl'solenurn Holy Mother Valla'drielle, who earlier in the chapter had ordered the reclaimed tower of his people dropped and many of them killed, then tried to burn Minka himself at the stake as an example only to be interrupted by a peaceful protest led to by the intended Holy Mother of the clan, Anahid. He chases and corners her and begins to choke her, but remembers and echoes Anahid's words that forgiveness is true strength and lets Valla'drielle go. Valla'drielle simply spits FantasticRacism at him and is left to live and fade away in ignominy as the KnightTemplar attitude she embodies will soon be a thing of the past.

* ''Literature/ChakonaSpace'': Allen Fesler's character, Neal Foster has pulled this off a few times.
* In the WebAnimation/YouTubePoop "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OVCpD-7nI4 One more Final: I need you(Tube Poop)]]" After Zelda's death, Link tries to commit suicide by jumping off a cliff but ends up landing on Yoshi, injuring him and eventually killing him. Luigi heads to Link with a gun but ends up refusing to kill him despite his pleadings, preferring to let him live with the misery of Zelda's death.
* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic: The Devil's daughter Evilina thinks that it would be crueler to leave the Critic alive to suffer the pain after reviewing ''Film/SonOfTheMask'', despite him wanting to be killed.
* ''Literature/{{Twig}}'': Sanguine, the last of a unit of experimental assassins that were killed by the Lambsbridge Gang, decides to let two members of the gang live after he's determined that one is infected with an incurable plague, satisfied that they've suffered enough and his dead fellows would be content with that punishment.

* Optimus Prime refuses to kill BigBad Megatron, [[spoiler: who had just caused the deaths of one of his soldiers minutes before]], during the finale of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', telling him, "That would be the easy way out, Megatron. ''You don't deserve it''." Instead, he destroys Megatron's weapon and drags him back to Cybertron to face justice in stasis cuffs, humiliated.
* [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers Another Optimus Prime]] is clearly tempted to break his code against killing or even harming humans when an EgomaniacHunter traps and tortures some of his Autobots to get to Prime himself and take his head as a trophy. This causes the BigGood of the series to go on a PapaWolf RoaringRampageOfRevenge and culminates in prime effectively leveling the hunter's mansion without actually hurting him. Optimus proceeds to tie the old man to the nose of a Soviet fighter plane that the hunter had stolen earlier in the episode and ships him right back to Siberia and into the hands of a ''very'' displeased Soviet Union.
* A ''Franchise/GIJoe'' skit from ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' has a new member joining the Joes. He has a [[MinoredInAsskicking doctorate]] and is [[ColdSniper extremely skilled with a sniper rifle]], but due to a small accident [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten he is given a humiliating code name and not respected]] by the rest of the Joes. He later [[FaceHeelTurn joins Cobra]] and [[BewareTheNiceOnes kills all but one of the Joes with his aforementioned sniper rifle]]. What happens to the last Joe left?
-->'''Duke:''' You motherfucker, you killed everything I love! [Rips off his shirt and stands out in the open, making himself an easy target] Take me too! Take me too!
-->'''Calvin:''' No. No, you live with it.

* One of the most memorable aspects of the ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' GrandFinale is this trope: Aang [[spoiler: doesn't kill Phoenix King Ozai (since taking a human life, even if they are a horrible person, goes against his ThouShallNotKill beliefs) but instead [[DePower uses energybending to permanently get rid of]] [[PlayingWithFire Ozai's ability to firebend]] so he can never hurt anybody with it ever again. Knowing Ozai, it would be a FateWorseThanDeath, which isn't to say he didn't deserve it. He's also left to rot in a cell (the same cell where he imprisoned his brother, Iroh no less) as a powerless wreck while the son he hated becomes the new Fire Lord]].
** Azula pulls this on herself during her VillainousBreakdown. She hallucinates her mother, and this follows, completely breaking her world view.
--->'''Ursa''': I think you're confused. All your life, you've used fear to control people like your friends Mai and Ty Lee.\\
'''Azula''': But what choice do I have?! Trust is for fools! Fear is the only reliable way! Even you fear me.\\
'''Ursa''': No. [[spoiler:I love you, Azula. I do.]]
** Katara does this to the man who killed her mother. [[spoiler:After finding out how horrible his life is, she decides to spare him so he can continue to endure it.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', Peggy confronts Cotton on his deathbed to [[CallingTheOldManOut Call The Old Man Out]] for being such a horrible, emotionally abusive father to Hank, who only ever wanted [[WellDoneSonGuy his father's love and approval]]. She takes a hint from one of the page quotes above by saying she hopes he will never die, so that he may live forever in the hell that he has created for himself. Cotton, just to spite her, responds "Do you, now?" and dies immediately thereafter.
* In "The Dragons' Graveyard", the darkest episode of ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons1983'', the kids have finally had it with Venger constantly attacking them and preventing them from getting home. Against Dungeon Master's wishes, they attack Venger, and finally, have him at their mercy. Hank could easily kill him, but finally spares him, saying verbatim that [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim "If I did, we'd be no better than you are."]] But Hank makes it very plain to Venger as they leave, "We've beaten you, and you know it."

** See ComicBook/ForTheManWhoHasEverything for what happens.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'', Evil-Lyn, Whiplash, and Beastman set up a trap when Skeletor is out on an errand. Said trap involves using a shrink ray on He-Man's allies and holding them captive in a small cage. Eventually, after the hero restores them to proper size, Whiplash and Beastman (along with Skeletor's steed, Panthor) get a taste of their own medicine and fall victim to the shrink ray. Evil-Lyn assumes he's going to use it on her and pleads with him not to. He does not. He ''smashes'' the weapon, thereby leaving her to explain to Skeletor what happened to it and the other henchmen. (Skeletor's reputation as a BadBoss is well known.)

** The Mane Six inadvertently end up doing this to [[ArcVillain Starlight Glimmer]] after she pulls a HeelFaceTurn at the end of Season Five. Despite stealing cutie marks from ponies, enslaving a village, and then nearly destroying the world due to a time-travelling revenge scheme, Starlight Glimmer surprisingly isn't punished for her actions. Instead, Twilight Sparkle and the others [[EasilyForgiven easily forgive]] Starlight and give her a second chance as Twilight's student. Throughout the following season, Starlight still can't understand why she was forgiven, developed [[BeAllMySinsRemembered a personality quirk]], and spends most of the season struggling with her shame [[ThePunishmentIsTheCrime and being haunted by her evil past]], to the point where she takes on a TroubledFetalPosition when confronted by her old village.
* This is how [[AntiVillain Razer]] joins the Interceptor crew in ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries''. He tries to goad Hal Jordan into killing him, since Razer had just caused the destruction of an inhabited planet, as well as the planet's resident Green Lantern, but Hal catches on to what Razer's trying to do, and refuses to let him off that easy, instead taking his Red Lantern ring and taking him prisoner. Razer, understandably, freaks out and begs for death.

* In the season three finale of ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'', Enzo brutally defeats [[BigBad Megabyte]]. He’s given the chance to kill him for all the things he’s done but refuses to. Instead, he leaves Megabyte alive so he can spend [[FateWorseThanDeath the rest of his miserable existence alone and crippled, forced to always remember the day he was humiliated in front of the whole world by the same child he once tormented]]. And just for extra mental torture, he notes that the only reason he’s indulging in this is that he thinks Megabyte ''[[NotWorthKilling isn’t worth the trouble of killing]]'', crushing the villain’s fragile ego to bits. [[spoiler:Megabyte tries to take advantage of the cruel mercy to escape... but given [[DraggedOffToHell what ends up happening to him as a result]], he probably wishes he hadn’t.]] [[spoiler:Unfortunately this backfires for Enzo when Megabyte comes back from said Hell, now more powerful and dangerous than ever, and [[TheBadGuyWins takes over the Principal Office]]]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Black-Eyed, Please" Homer manages to pull this on Ned after Ned finally, ''finally'', has enough of Homer's behavior and gets [[TheDogBitesBack punched in the face for it]]. Ned desperately wants forgiveness to soothe his guilty soul and offers to let Homer punch him back. Homer refuses to do it not to be nice or because it's the right thing to do, but because he knows it'll drive Ned up the wall. He rubs it in so much that Ned punches him again.
--> '''Homer:''' I'm not punching you, Flanders. Because if I hit you back, we'll be even. But if I don't hit you, that makes me the better man. And I'm liking the way that feels.

* In "The Dragons' Graveyard," the darkest episode of ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons'', the kids have finally had it with Venger constantly attacking them and preventing them from getting home. Against Dungeon Master's wishes, they attack Venger, and finally, have him at their mercy. Hank could easily kill him, but finally spares him, saying verbatim that [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim "If I did, we'd be no better than you are."]] But Hank makes it very plain to Venger as they leave, "We've beaten you, and you know it."

* The final choice of the case "Farewell, My Turnabout" of the third ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' game offers you the chance to dish this out. [[spoiler: After a perilous, nerve-wracking few days, in which Phoenix's assistant Maya has been held captive by Shelley de Killer, a ProfessionalKiller who's threatened to kill her unless Phoenix gets his newest client a "not guilty" verdict in just one day, Phoenix discovered all too late that his client, Matt Engarde, was actually TheSociopath who ''really is guilty'' because he hired de Killer to kill his business rival. You've been doing your damnedest to stall for time in court in the hopes that some kind of miracle might allow you to save Maya and expose Engarde, but prosecutor Franziska von Karma and Detective Gumshoe [[BigDamnHeroes finally pull through with the evidence you need at the last second]] and Phoenix manages to TakeAThirdOption by letting the de Killer know (via a radio conversation) that Engarde betrayed him by filming the murder as blackmail. de Killer, who values the trust between himself and his clients above all else, releases Maya and vows to hunt Engarde to the ends of the earth to get his revenge. Engarde's massive ego [[BreakTheHaughty immediately flies out the window]] and he begins sweating bullets from the realization that there's basically nothing he can do to protect himself from a world-class assassin who will stop at ''nothing'' to kill him. You're presented with an absolutely delicious choice: convict Engarde to send him to prison, or declare him innocent so he'll be let loose and be marked for death the second he steps foot outside. If you choose the former, he actually ''begs'' to be sent to prison on the off chance that he might be a little safer behind bars. No matter what you pick, he goes to jail, and justice is finally served.]]

* The final choice of the case "Farewell, My Turnabout" of the third ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' game offers you the chance to dish this out. [[spoiler: After a perilous, nerve-wracking few days, in which Phoenix's assistant Maya has been held captive by Shelley de Killer, a ProfessionalKiller who's threatened to kill her unless Phoenix gets his newest client a "not guilty" verdict in just one day, Phoenix discovered all too late that his client, Matt Engarde, was actually TheSociopath who ''really is guilty'' because he hired de Killer to kill his business rival. You've been doing your damnedest to stall for time in court in the hopes that some kind of miracle might allow you to save Maya and expose Engarde, but prosecutor Franziska von Karma and Detective Gumshoe [[BigDamnHeroes finally pull through with the evidence you need at the last second]] and Phoenix manages to TakeAThirdOption by letting the de Killer know (via a radio conversation) that Engarde betrayed him by filming the murder as blackmail. de Killer, who values the trust between himself and his clients above all else, releases Maya and vows to hunt Engarde to the ends of the earth to get his revenge. Engarde's massive ego [[BreakTheHaughty immediately flies out the window]] and he begins sweating bullets from the realization that there's basically nothing he can do to protect himself from a world-class assassin who will stop at ''nothing'' to kill him. You're presented with an absolutely delicious choice: convict Engarde to send him to prison, or declare him innocent so he'll be let loose, where he'll be marked for death the second he steps foot outside. If you choose the former, he actually ''begs'' to be sent to prison on the off chance that he might be a little safer behind bars. No matter what you pick, he goes to jail, and justice is finally served.]]

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/ThanosRising https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thanos_mercy_350px.png]]]]

** PlayedForLaughs: After Redcloak delivers a scathing NotSoDifferent-themed TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to the (currently trapped in a forcecage) paladin Miko, Xykon comments that he ''was'' just going to kill her, but now thinks it'd be crueler to let her live and think about what Redcloak said. Subverted in that she reacts to Redcloak's speech with a blasé, [[IronicEcho "Meh. As indignant speeches go, I've heard better."]] Also subverted in that it was Redcloak's plan from the beginning to let her escape so he can scry on her when she gets home, providing intelligence for the upcoming attack.

* Two back-to-back cases of this are responsible for the transformation of fallen Jedi Anakin Skywalker into Sith Lord Darth Vader in the back-lore of ''Franchise/StarWars'', as recounted in ''Film/StarWarsRevengeOfTheSith'':

* In 1 Kings 2, after David dies, Solomon becomes king over Israel. Abiathar the priest is relieved of duty and forced to resign from the priesthood for participating in Adonijah's attempt to seize the throne. Instead of immediately executing Abiathar, Solomon allows him to retire to his fields in Anathoth in recognition of his service to King David.

** This seems to be [[BigBad Blackbeard's]] modus operandi in dealing with his defeated opponents. If you're lucky, he'll kill you on the spot. If you're '''really''' ''un''lucky, he'll have you turned in to the World Government, who'll send your ass straight to [[HellholePrison Impel Down]], an outright ''monstrous'' prison where pirates and other criminals are put through such [[ColdBloodedTorture horrendous torture]], they beg for death on the mere first level. And Blackbeard ''greatly'' prefers the second option. [[spoiler: So far, he has done this to Portgas D. Ace(albeit as part of his larger plan) and Jewelry Bonney[[note]]At least, onscreen[[/note]]. Only the latter escaped alive.]]

* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'': PlayedForLaughs in the [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1999/09/04 1999-09-04 strip]]:

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', the Dark Eldar, arguably the evilest faction in the game (an impressive feat given the setting), once rescued Craftworld Iyanden from Chaos. The Craftworld had resorted to taking souls from the Infinity Circuit to power Wraith Constructs, something Craftworld Eldar revile as necromancy. The Dark Eldar saved their Craftworld cousins just to ensure they would be forced to live with what they had done.