History Main / ICannotSelfTerminate

** It's important to note that the hay cart scene in the epilogue, which is central in the fan theory, was dropped and replaced when they made the Zero Requiem blu-ray in 2009. Because this hay cart scene was so often misunderstood and misrepresented it was replaced by a [[https://streamable.com/d8dji brand new epilogue]] in which C.C. narrates to the audience and explicitly explains that Lelouch is dead and that she mourns him, but she comforts herself with the thought that Lelouch died while achieving his goal of a gentler world, the Zero Requiem. this much clearer and much more explicit epilogue rules out the misinterpretation that Lelouch could have had the code.

** ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' has the title character insisting on this, in order that the technology inside him be destroyed completely.

** Theon's torture culminates in him ''pleading'' for death, which his tormentor has no intention of granting.

* ''Literature/{{Ringworld}}'': In ''The Ringworld Engineers'', Teela Brown has become a Protector whose descendant-protecting instincts are paradoxically making her try to stop the main characters from saving the Ringworld. She is, however, just rational enough to provoke the main characters into killing her so they can get on with the job. It helps slightly that Louis is literally the only creature on Ringworld who is technically the same species as she is, so her protective instincts are ''slightly'' stronger towards him then they are towards the humanoid-but-not-quite-''human'' Ringworld natives. She doesn't feel any instinctive compunctions to keep Chmeee alive, though. Luckily he's a half-ton of obligate carnivore from a ProudWarriorRace, and therefore no slouch himself. She still half-kills him while desperately trying not to fight as effectively as she can, though.

* Self-preservation is Creator/IsaacAsimov's [[ThreeLawsCompliant third law of robotics]], making it the third-most-important moral imperative for a robot. Unfortunately for the robot, it's overridden by the first two laws, so a robot can (and indeed must) kill itself if ''ordered'' to do so or if there is no other way to protect a human.
** In Asimov's short story "All the Troubles of the World," the computer Multivac, which manages all of humanity (and thus must deal with all their problems), tries to use a ThanatosGambit to arrange for itself to be destroyed.
** In the Asimov short story "The Last Answer", an atheist physicist dies and finds himself in what appears to be an afterlife. He eventually determines he and many other beings are being held by a Voice. But, the Voice wants to die, and does not know how. Nor does it remember its creation. So, the Voice has a slew of beings thinking of nothing but how to kill it, for it wants to be released from life.
* In a possible future shown at the beginning of the ''Literature/BelisariusSeries'', Belisarius and Justinian want to die to avoid being captured by the Malwa soldiers who are overwhelming the city but don't want to commit the mortal sin of suicide. A Hindu slave, whose religion doesn't have the same prohibition, is given the task of pushing them into a pit of molten metal before killing himself.
** Somewhat subverted in that the slave notes he barely touched Belisarius and knew that he actually ''jumped''.
* In ''Literature/TheBookOfLostThings'' Jonathan Tulvey, who wants to die but can only grow progressively older.
* "Literature/TheBrideOfCorinth": When discovered, an undead young woman who has left her grave to consort with her former fiancé asks from her mother to be burnt on a pyre, because every man she sleeps with must die, and she knows that she would return to kill more young men if her body is not destroyed.
* In ''Literature/CallahansCrosstimeSaloon'', Michael Finn was sent by an alien force to determine whether Earth is so dangerous that it needs to be destroyed; however, he's decided (after an evening at Callahan's) that he likes us PunyEarthlings. Should he fail to report in, they will assume we destroyed him and stay well clear of us -- but it's impossible for him to ''intentionally'' fail to report, as long as he's properly functioning. When he gives his name as Michael Finn, Callahan the bartender takes the hint and [[SlippingAMickey slips him a "mickey"]], which renders him unconscious during the assigned reporting period. (Also of note here is that Michael himself refers to his mission as a "geas.")
* Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian:
** In "Literature/TheDevilInIron" Octavia begs to escape an unspecified FateWorseThanDeath.
-->''"He told me what he was going to do to me!" she panted. "Kill me! Kill me with your sword before he bursts the door!"''

-->''Ali! I feel their pull upon me now! Your cry and the grip of your fingers brought me back, but I am going fast. My soul clings to my body, but its hold weakens. Quick--kill me, before they can trap my soul for ever!''
* An interesting example occurs in the young adult novel ''The Crossroads'' where Billy O' Claire is possessed by an evil spirit who is trying to force him to murder his own son. This leads to a half-tragic, half-comical three-way exchange between Billy, ''the spirit inside of him,'' and the cop trying to stop them both.

* At the end of Creator/TerryPratchett's Literature/{{Discworld}} novel ''Literature/TheFifthElephant'', Angua's (a werewolf) brother (the main villain of the novel) goes batshit insane after his plans are foiled and goes on a rampage. When he is dead she makes Captain Carrot promise to kill her if she ended up in a similar state.
** Also, in another Discworld novel ''Literature/AHatFullOfSky'', The Hiver cannot die because it literally does not know how. However, it does know that it wants it, and Tiffany helps it find the gate to Death and the next world.

** During the climatic battle at the end of ''Literature/{{Mort}}'' (winner becomes Death, loser gets death), Ysabell believes her father ''wants'' to lose, but will nonetheless be fighting to win.
* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', Oreg reveals that, although thought of as a ghost and immortal, he ''can'' feel pain. He is a slave, bound by magic to the heir of a title, and ... let's just say, he flinches away whenever he thinks he may have insulted his new "owner",[[GentleGiant Ward]]. He can't kill himself, only his owner can kill him ... and his attempt to provoke a former owner into doing this ended in him being whipped by ''someone else''. Which he survived, because of the near-immortality. In the end, Ward is the one who kills him, on his own request.

* In Dean Koontz's ''Frankenstein'', the New Race of Dr. Frankenstein/Helios's creation can't commit suicide, or do anything that would force Helios to kill them. This isn't because he values their lives, but because he's a control freak that wants total control of them from life to death. Several of his creations ask to die at a couple of points, and others want to, but can't, driving them into greater fits of rage and making them rather psychologically messed up, as it just reinforces the fact that they have absolutely no control of their lives.
* In Creator/DanAbnett's ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' novels, Soric is [[FateWorseThanDeath handed over to the Black Ships]]. Several books later, he communicates with Hark, who finds him, [[ManlyTears cries]] (which all the deaths in all the books have not drawn from him), and at his request, kills him. (He makes it look like an execution at Soric's request, to save himself.)
* ''Literature/{{Gone}}'' series:

--> '''Dekka:''' "Don't let it happen. Swear to me Sam. Swear it to me by God or by your own soul or whatever you believe, swear to me, Sam."
--> '''Sam:''' "I won't let it happen, Dekka. I swear it."
* In Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/TheHallowedHunt'', Wencel kin Horseriver is perfectly capable of killing his current body -- too bad his soul and consciousness will simply jump to the body of his next living heir, devouring that individual's mind in the process. Actually ''dying'' requires two other people and a lot of magical oomph. His plan to arrange just that is, it turns out, his primary goal.
* In the short story ''Literature/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream'', the survivors of the apocalypse caused by MasterComputer AM eventually realize that while they cannot kill themselves, they can kill each other. Unfortunately, this leaves one of them alive to suffer a FateWorseThanDeath at the hands of AM by being turned into [[AndIMustScream a 'soft jelly thing']] that can't harm itself.
* In Creator/JulieKagawa's ''Literature/TheIronDaughter'', Ash under Virus's control, pleads this.

* The fate of Mishra, brother of the planeswalker [[Literature/MagicTheGathering Urza]], for irritating Yawgmoth. Mishra, along with dozens of other beings who have earned that ire, lie strapped to tables in one layer of Phyrexia with dozens of whirring circular blades suspended above them. Every few seconds, the blades descend and slice up the skin of the victims, but never kill them. When Urza is brought to his brother, Mishra pleads for him to end his life. Instead, [[MoralEventHorizon Urza turns his back on him and walks away]], succeeding in his test of devotion to Yawgmoth.

* ''Literature/PortraitInSepia'': [[spoiler:Tao Chi'en]] survives the attack by the assassins sent by TheTongsAndTriads, but is left paralyzed and barely able to speak. Since Eliza cannot bring herself to withhold food and water as he asks, she follows his instructions and {{mercy kill}}s him.
* ''Literature/RhythmOfWar:'' As one of the Fused, Raboniel has ResurrectiveImmortality and can only truly die if her soul is annihilated by an anti-Light weapon. Near the end of the book, Raboniel has been badly injured and her soul is heavily damaged, so she begs Navani to stab her with an anti-Light dagger so that she will not [[CameBackWrong come back mad]].
* In Creator/LarryNiven's novel ''Literature/TheRingworldEngineers'', Teela Brown has become a Protector whose descendant-protecting instincts are paradoxically making her try to stop the main characters from saving the Ringworld. She is, however, just rational enough to provoke the main characters into killing her so they can get on with the job. It helps slightly that Louis is literally the only creature on Ringworld who is technically the same species as she is, so her protective instincts are ''slightly'' stronger towards him then they are towards the humanoid-but-not-quite-''human'' Ringworld natives. She doesn't feel any instinctive compunctions to keep Chmeee alive, though. Luckily he's a half-ton of obligate carnivore from a ProudWarriorRace, and therefore no slouch himself. She still half-kills him while desperately trying not to fight as effectively as she can, though.

* In Creator/JRRTolkien's ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', when Fingon tries to rescue Maedhros from Morgoth after ColdBloodedTorture, and it looks like he won't succeed. (However, in the end, Fingon frees him by cutting his hand off.)

* Denna in ''[[Literature/TheSwordOfTruth Wizard's First Rule]]'' states that she tortured the protagonist worse than she did anyone else, suspecting he's the one a prophecy says will kill her, and thus trying to push him to do so. In the end, he kills her ''out of love''.

* Horace [=McCoy=]'s ''Literature/TheyShootHorsesDontThey'' ends with Gloria asking Robert to shoot her because she can't bring herself to commit suicide. He complies, and later when the cops ask him why he did it as they're taking him away, he [[TitleDrop offers the title phrase]] in reply. (The [[Film/TheyShootHorsesDontThey film adaptation]] ends the same way.)
* ''Literature/TheTravellerInBlack'' is tasked to eliminate Chaos so that Order can prevail over the universe. To this end, he has trapped powerful elementals in the landscape and other forms. In the earlier stories they plot against him, but as Chaos diminishes they realize they're ''never'' getting out, and start pleading for the Traveller to cause them to "cease".
* In ''Literature/NewMoon'', second in ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga'', Edward wants to kill himself because he thinks Bella is dead, but because [[OurVampiresAreDifferent he's nearly impossible to kill]], he has to go to the [[BadassFamily Volturi]] to ask them to kill him.
** Specifically, he was going to reveal his {{Bishie Sparkle}}s to the city, somehow revealing the existence of vampires and forcing the Volturi to kill him. Which is [[FridgeLogic a bit confusing]], since the vampires of that series are described as basically stone statues with lighter fluid for all bodily fluids and immolation as the only surefire way to kill one of them, so he should have been able to just set himself on fire to kill himself... But Edward is at least strongly hinted to have been raised Catholic, and wouldn't be the first to use SuicideByCop to try and rules-lawyer their way out of the mortal sin of suicide.
* In ''Literature/TheVampireChronicles'', the older the vampire, the harder they are to kill. The oldest and most powerful ones cannot die even if they [[SuicideBySunlight step outside during the day]]. There are some instances of vampires [[BungledSuicide failing to commit suicide]] this way, including Lestat, Louis, Armand and Mael. Marius actually cites the inability to self-terminate as a reason a younger vampire may choose to not drink blood of an older vampire to strengthen themselves.
* In William King's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Literature/SpaceWolf novel ''Ragnar's Claw'', when they go through the plague-stricken city, they walk through the dead, and the half-dead, many of whom plead for death. Gul kills one, but looks at the number of them and goes on with the rest.
** In ''Wolfblade'', when they find a mortally wounded but not yet dead Eldar, she asks them to kill her, and they do.
* A nice spin on this in Gerald Morris' ''Literature/TheSquiresTales''. After Sir Gawain accidentally kills a man's wife, the man falls to his knees and begs Gawain to kill him. Gawain doesn't, instead forcing him to go to Arthur's court.
* In Creator/GrahamMcNeill's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Literature/{{Ultramarines}} novel ''Nightbringer'', when Uriel finds a victim of [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]] still alive, he is capable of mouthing ''Kill me. . . .''

* In Lee Lightner's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Literature/SpaceWolf novel ''Wolf's Honour'', on the [[{{Shadowland}} shadow planet]], they find [[GardenOfEvil crops that have human faces]] and beg for release. What is worse, the Space Wolves can not burn them, though they wish to. The Inquisitor explains that they stem from the [[BloodMagic sacrifices]] used to make this duplicate planet.

* Played for extreme horror in the science fiction novella ''With Folded Hands...'' by Creator/JackWilliamson, when the reader realizes that not only have human lives been reduced to complete irrelevance by their robotic "servants", but there's no way to end the despair because ''they are always right there with you.'' And the robot guardians have become very good at preventing humans from taking their own lives....

** Averted in "[[Recap/BabylonFiveS04E06IntoTheFire]]." Despite having destroyed all the Shadows on Centauri Prime, the Vorlons are still intent on destroying that planet because of Londo's presence on that world. Londo asks Vir to kim him and show the Vorlons that was done. But before Vir can do that the planet killer moves off, summoned to Coriana by the other Vorlons.

* In ''Series/BabylonFive'', Londo, under the long-term control of an alien mind-controlling parasite, gets it drunk and asks his old foe to kill him, preventing the alien from forcing him to thwart the heroes' daring escape. "I am as tired of my life as you are." His old foe turned friend G'kar complies, but the parasite forces Londo to kill him as well. And thus Londo's prophetic vision of his death at G'kar's hands finally comes to pass.

* ''WebAnimation/TeamFortress2'' "Meet the Medic" video based on ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''

* At one point in the ''Meet the Medic'' video for ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', the BLU Spy's disembodied head is seen stuffed in the back of a refrigerator. He's on screen just long enough to deadpan "kill me" before the Medic shushes him with an irritated "later!"
** In the storyboards for the unused version of ''Meet the Medic'', BLU Spy's head is not nearly so deadpan, frantically begging the RED Medic to MercyKill him. It's phrased very similarly to the ''Film/StargateTheArkOfTruth'' example in Film, and most likely a ShoutOut:
-->BLU Spy: KILL ME! KILL MEEEE!
-->Red Medic: (attempting to headshot the BLU Spy with his own revolver) I'm...trying...but...you're...invinc...able!

* In ''Literature/TheShipWho Sang'', Kira is a DeathSeeker whose arms are marked with scars from failed attempts at suicide, and has been barred from the few worlds in Central Systems territory where she can seek euthanasia. On [[CultColony Alioth]], she finds a [[SapientShip brainship]] that had rammed herself into a volcano, intact but stuck. This is the SL-732, who on hearing what she thinks is her dead [[BrainsAndBrawn brawn's]] voice babbles "Seber? I'm trapped. I was thrown off course when the edge of the volcano blew. I tried to die. [[BotchedSuicide I tried to die, too.]]"

** Early in the series, Visser Three's host is briefly freed from the AndIMustScream state of Controllerhood and asks Aximilli to kill him before he can be recaptured. Ax refuses.
** In one of the special additions, an Andalite gets [[BodyHorror trapped in Taxxon morph]] and asks a comrade to take his life. When the aforementioned comrade refuses, the trapped individual tries to trick him into killing him, without success.
** David finally asks Rachel because it is more gracious to him than to be returned to the lonely island and live as a rat for the rest of his life. Whether Rachel has fulfilled his request is unknown, but it is generally assumed.
** Aftran wants the same from Cassie, because otherwise she would die much more cruelly. But the Animorphs find a way to save her. They give her the power of morphing when she chooses an animal [[ShapeshifterModeLock in whose shape she will stay for the rest of her life]].

* In an alternate timeline in ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange'' where Chloe's father William is still alive, Chloe is quadriplegic after being in a car accident with the car William gave her. After meeting up and spending a day together, Chloe explain that her respiratory system is breaking down and ask Max to increase the morphine amount and kill her since she can't do it herself. [[SadisticChoice It's up to the player whether or not to go through it]].

* ''[[Fanfic/RainbowDoubleDashsLunaverse The Return Of Tambelon]]'' features a villianous example of this trope that crosses over with a ThanatosGambit. The final step for Grogar's transformation into a lich requires that he die, but because being a lich is all about defiance of death he cannot die by his own hand. So instead he carefully mistreats his {{Dragon}} until ''he'' does the deed.

[[folder: Puppet Shows]]

** ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'', where the quote for this trope comes from, has the title character insisting on this, in order that the technology inside him be destroyed completely.

* ''Film/MillionDollarBaby'' has the main character paralyzed from the neck down in a boxing match. After a few weeks of rarely getting out of bed (and then only with a team of nurses doing all the work for her), having a leg amputated from blood loss, and her family only concerned with taking control of her estate she bites her tongue in order to drown in her own blood. The nurses stop her, but just a little while later she tries the same thing. Now in a near constant state of sedation to keep her from trying again, she convinces a friend to give her a drug overdose.

* Several characters in the ''Film/FinalDestination'' franchise try to end their lives when they can no longer live with the terror of Death waiting [[CheatedDeathDiedAnyway to claim those that cheated him by surviving something they shouldn't have]]. However, if they aren't the next in line to be claimed by death, they find themselves unable to kill themselves. In the second movie, a character tries to shoot himself with a fully loaded revolver, only for all 6 bullets failing to fire.

* ''Videogame/Borderlands2'' [[BlackComedy plays this for laughs]] with the psycho bandit Face [=McShooty=]. He's a bandit who just wants you to [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin shoot him in the face]], and he rants endlessly about you shooting him in the face until, well, you shoot him. In the face. When you finally do shoot him in the face (and nowhere else, as he's completely invincible to the rest of his body) he'll blurt out a "THANK YOU!" as he dies. Meanwhile, a decidedly not-for-laughs case is Angel, who has been locked away by Handsome Jack, her father, and is asking you to kill her by destroying her life support, going so far as to pointing out the weak points and sending you health and ammo.

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!

* In the most tragic scene of John Woo's ''Film/TheKiller1989'' (besides [[ShootTheShaggyDog the ending]]), the title character's best friend Sidney, after delivering the money he needs to have Jenny's eyes fixed and being shot by the main bad guy's men, asks for a last bullet from his friend so that he doesn't die like a dog, because he didn't save his own last bullet for himself. The Killer tearfully complies.

* In the most tragic scene of John Woo's ''Film/TheKiller'' (besides [[ShootTheShaggyDog the ending]]), the title character's best friend Sidney, after delivering the money he needs to have Jenny's eyes fixed and being shot by the main bad guy's men, asks for a last bullet from his friend so that he doesn't die like a dog, because he didn't save his own last bullet for himself. The Killer tearfully complies.

* This occurs twice in ''FanFic/{{Stray}}''. Adamska does it at Shadow Moses for his older alternate-future self, who had [[AndIMustScream spent three years after his supposed "death" being used in the Patriots' Cyborg Ninja project]]. Esau later requests this of Otacon after he's gravely wounded.

* In [[https://bradcollins.org/%E2%99%AA-youre-my-best-friend-%E2%99%AA/ this tragic]] Anime/{{Pokemon}} fan comic Team Rocket caught Ash in a pit that slowly fills with water, so Ash asks Pikachu to deliver a coup de grâce through an Electric move so he'll die faster and under less pain than through drowning.

* Happens in ''WebComic/StandStillStaySilent''. An infected dog that attacked Emil earlier, but got a grip on its old self, comes to lie down in front of Emil so he can kill him. Emil does it.
* ''WebComic/TowerOfGod''

* This is why Pices of the webcomic ''Webcomic/{{Zodiac|2011}}'' joined the team of superheroes. Having been gene-spliced with an alien EldritchAbomination, he wants to ensure that, should he lose control, there is a team of superheroes ready to take him down.

* ''Roleplay/RubyQuest'':
** Bella requests that Ruby detach her from the life support equipment which has kept her alive in an AndIMustScream situation for over a year, and refuses to allow Ruby to proceed any further until she complies.
** Jay is found hooked up to the water filtration system and begs Ruby and Tom to kill him. [[SubvertedTrope They have other ideas]].

* One episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' sees Worf paralyzed from the waist down after an accident, Worf is so depressed by his inability to be a [[TheWorfBarrage warrior]] that he asks Riker to kill him using a ritual knife, as dictated by Klingon custom. Riker refuses to kill his friend, and Worf tries to browbeat Riker by calling him a coward, Riker counters with knowledge of the tradition by pointing out that it's the eldest son's duty. Considering that his son is a young child raised by humans, this convinces Worf to try the experimental surgery to fix his back.

* Nolan of ''The Ashtown Burials'' series is completely [[ImmortalityHurts immortal]], [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld Really Several Thousand Years Old]], and [[WhoWantsToLiveForever exhausted]]. After seeing Cyrus kill [[spoiler: Maxi Robes]] with the Dragon's Tooth, Nolan, who is partly delirious and in agony from his injuries, begs him for the same fate. Cyrus refuses, and once Nolan heals he doesn't bring up the matter again.

* Nolan of ''The Ashtown Burials'' series is completely [[ImmortalityHurts immortal]], ReallySevenHundredYearsOld, and exhausted. After seeing Cyrus kill [[spoiler: Maxi Robes]] with the Dragon's Tooth, Nolan, who is partly delirious and in agony from his injuries, begs him for the same fate. Cyrus refuses, and once Nolan heals he doesn't bring up the matter again.

* Windows 10 includes the option to reset your operating system back to its factory settings. If something goes wrong, it can fail any reset attempt you attempt.