History Main / KickTheMoralityPet

* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': [[Characters/MonsterVerseEmmaRussell Emma Russell]] genuinely loves her sole surviving child Madison. It still doesn't stop Emma from inflicting ''unimaginable'' psychological trauma on the poor child [[spoiler:through sheer stupidity and callous thoughtlessness; dragging the girl into her secret paramilitary plan to commit acts of eco-terrorism which endanger millions of people, including Madison's father, on a global scale]].

Alternatively, this trope may be used as a MoralEventHorizon crossing to show that the character is [[BeyondRedemption too far gone to pull them back to their senses]], which will result in either an IgnoredEpiphany or the character [[NeverMyFault displacing the guilt onto someone else]]. This, paradoxically, may be used to mark them as ''more evil'', since intentionally harming someone that you actually care about to some extent takes more dedication than harming someone who you don't care about. If the villain's relationship with the morality pet was their only redeeming quality, callously throwing it away can make them a CompleteMonster.

On the way, their friends will try to stop them, but the hero will ignore them because they're enjoying themselves too much. They're ''this close'' to JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope thanks to EvilFeelsGood and assorted perks to lapsing their morality, and just when it looks like they're about to KickTheSonOfABitch and give him what's coming to him, they either miss the intended target and hurt an ally by accident, or abruptly realize they're being an abject {{Jerkass}} and attacking someone who's trying to help them for no good reason.

* ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'': Ego the Living Planet genuinely fell in love with Meredith Quill but knew that staying with her would jeopardize his life-long goal to assimilate all life in the universe. So he deliberately planted a brain tumor in her head that would eventually kill her, cutting off his one tie to Earth. Revealing this to their son turns out to be a bad idea as it instantly snaps Peter out of his reverie and turns [[MommasBoy Peter]] against him.

They've just hit the nadir of this downward spiral and the start of their return to the straight and narrow. By hurting their friend, possibly the MoralityPet, LoveInterest, or TheChick for extra oomph, they do the one thing capable of prompting a HeelRealization before they do a full FaceHeelTurn (or cement the turn, at least). Cue cries of "MyGodWhatHaveIDone" and "WhatHaveIBecome!?" while shedding TearsOfRemorse and CradlingTheirKill, they'll say they're sorry and try their hardest to [[MustMakeAmends resuscitate the dog]] they've [[KickTheDog just kicked]].

[[folder:Film]]
* Parodied in both ''Film/AceVentura'' and ''Film/TheNakedGun'': The protagonist is trying to convince the others that the ReasonableAuthorityFigure is actually a villain in disguise and CrossesTheLineTwice while trying to prove it. [[spoiler:In the case of Ace Ventura, he's actually ''right'']].
* ''Film/BladeTrinity'' starts with the vampires arranging a Kick The Wrong Dog moment for Blade: The "vampire" that he was chasing simply had fake teeth.

* A strange mixture of in-universe and out-of-universe examples: in ''LetsPlay/TwitchPlaysPokemonCrystal'', the Mob accidentally releasing [[EnsembleDarkhorse Togepi]] instead of Lazer Gator caused them to take stock of themselves, eventually leading to its new and distinct themes and plot.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* In the manga adaptations of ''VideoGame/AngelsOfDeath'', Catherine Ward is shown in her high school AlphaBitch days to have had a BetaBitch, Lucy, devoted to her and helping her carry out her bullying and murders. As adults, the two ran a prison where they sadistically tortured the prisoners. Cathy grew to genuinely love Lucy, who reciprocated the feeling. Which is why Cathy tied up Lucy and chainsawed her to death- she wanted her first kill to be someone special to her. Worse, Lucy has been so broken by Cathy that she is ''happy'' to be killed by her beloved.
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'':
** [[spoiler:[[AntiVillain Reiner]] uses the massive strength of his Titan form to begin hurling Titans at the escaping soldiers and nearly kills several of his [[MoralityPet former friends]] in the process]]. It's used to illustrate just how far over the DespairEventHorizon he's gone and reaffirming his claims that IveComeTooFar. Armin even responds in shock, wondering aloud whether he even ''cares'' anymore about the danger of [[LivingMacGuffin Eren]] being devoured by Titans. Hange later theorizes that killing Eren was his actual goal in doing this, having given up on simply kidnapping him.
** Much later on, [[spoiler:Eren himself]] shows how far he's fallen by acting cruelly toward his closest friends. [[spoiler:He gives Mikasa (who's always been in love with him) a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech claiming he's always hated her, then beats up Armin when Armin punches him in retaliation.]]
* ''Manga/BlackClover'': Licht shows care for his subordinates when he's furious at Asta for harming Valtos. He later reveals that it was a ruse, revealing that he always hated his human underlings before he sacrifices them all to complete the elves' reincarnation.
* ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'': Beerus meeting Goku is the reason why he goes from an amoral, selfish God of Destruction who will destroy anything that [[DisproportionateRetribution annoys him]], to being the overall BigGood in ''Super''. However, Beerus has no problem reminding Goku that ''he'' is a god while he is just a mortal whose power can't compete with him or any God of Destruction. The most vicious kick he gives is when he mocks Goku for trying to stop Champa from [[spoiler:killing his own team]], saying that since Champa is a god, he can do what he wants in his universe, and there is nothing Goku can do to stop it. He also seems to agree with Champa that Goku and the others are pawns to the gods.
* ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'': Everyone assumes that Izaya did this to Shinra in middle school for no reason whatsoever. [[spoiler:Turns out, he told Shinra to tell [[SilentScapegoat everyone that he stabbed him]] so he can use this opportunity to ruin Nakura who even dare hurt his OnlyFriend. Naturally, it's implied that Izaya also did this so no one will find that how close he is with Shinra]].
* ''Manga/ElfenLied'': [[spoiler:Lucy brutally kills Kouta's sister Kanae in the middle of what's basically a mix of a psychotic breakdown and a hissy-fit of jealousy]]. While she's still murderous after that [[BreakTheCutie due to other unrelated events]], quite a bit of guilt over said incident remains in her heart.
* ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'': Happens to Agnes (at least in the novels), when Saito, Louise and everyone is fleeing the country to save Tabatha who is about to meet a FateWorseThanDeath at the hands of her uncle, the King of Galia. Anies had orders to only arrest the group and no intention of harming them, but as soon as she sees her lifelong nemesis [[spoiler:Colbert]] responsible for her DoomedHometown, whom she thought was dead, she [[UnstoppableRage snaps and opens fire]]. The shock from the realization [[WhatHaveIDone she nearly killed Saito in the process]], whom she trained and considered as a friend, has her realize that [[EpiphanyTherapy even if she killed her nemesis, other people would hate her in turn, so hatred and revenge are meaningless and that someone has to take it on himself to end the hatred here and now]]. She didn't forgive him, but is at least able, now, to look at his face without feeling murderous urges, or at least without acting on them.
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'':
** Chapter 95: Roy is taking brutal revenge on [[spoiler:Envy]] when Ed, Scar, and Riza step in to stop him. Roy asks Riza what she plans to do [[spoiler:after she shoots him. The answer? ''Kill herself'' because it means she let him betray his own ideals]]. He backs down immediately.
** After the second Greed kills Bido, a member of his original self's TrueCompanions, he begin's regaining memories of his past incarnation, leading to the horrible realization of what he just did. This, along with a [[ReasonYouSuckSpeech calling out]] courtesy of Ling, kicks off his HeelFaceTurn.
* ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'': This is an unfortunate result of [[spoiler:[[ByronicHero Maho]]]] adopting a jerk attitude toward [[spoiler:her younger sister Miho, doing everything that is expected of her as heiress so that Miho can live her life her own way]]. When [[spoiler:Miho confronts her about shooting an enemy flag tank that was trying to save her own team, Maho]] coldly dismisses her, leaving her in tears. When [[spoiler:Miho]] [[OutOfCharacterIsSeriousBusiness against her typical nature]], [[spoiler:confronts her mother to ask her the same question, Maho]] realizes how much she has upset [[spoiler:Miho]] and apologizes.
* ''Anime/GunXSword'': Michael, who has become a loyal minion of the Claw meets up with his sister, Wendy, one of the heroes. Wendy ends up shooting him in the arm to try and stop him, and he starts strangling her. Then, her pet turtle bites his finger and he snaps out of it, realizes what he's doing, and saves Wendy when the lair starts to collapse. While the series implies a HeelFaceDoorSlam for Michael and his lover Fasalina, who likewise snapped out of her loyalty to the Claw [[spoiler:both appear to be crushed under rocks and averting JustAFleshwound, Wendy's shot is implied to be fatal]], supplemental materials go for RedemptionEarnsLife.
* ''Manga/HunterXHunter'':
** The Chimera Ant King has an epiphany re-affirming his identity as an apex predator. Deciding he no longer needs the distraction provided by Komugi, the blind girl he can't beat at a board game, he heads to her room to kill her. When he enters the room, he sees that Komugi has injured herself again...[[AvertedTrope and immediately becomes concerned and tries to help her]], all the while [[WhatIsThisFeeling wondering why he is acting this way]].
** At the height of an emotional breakdown during his 2nd encounter with Pitou, Gon very harshly criticizes Killua's behavior, despite Killua's entire character arc in the saga revolving around him desperately trying to be a better friend to Gon and sticking by him through thick and thin. Killua is very emotionally hurt, but Gon eventually apologizes and the two make up.
--->'''Gon''': You have it so easy, Killua. You can remain calm... since this means nothing to you.
* ''Anime/KillLaKill'': An [[InvertedTrope inversion]] happens when Ryuuko's resident MoralityPet, Mako Mankanshoku, starts letting the wealth and prestige of running the Fight Club go to her head, Ryuuko lets [[RussianReversal the morality pet kick her]] to bring Mako back to her senses.
* ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'': Hakuryuu's attempt to conquer a second Djinn results in him being confronted with his conscience that appear in the form of his loved ones, with them telling him to put aside his revenge and accept his fate as it is. Angered at such a suggestion, while remembering all that he had suffered up until this point, he refuses and decides to fall into depravity instead. The first action that he does afterwards is to brutally cut down the illusions, while proclaiming that he will kill the real ones soon.
* ''Manga/MarmaladeBoy'': When [[spoiler:Satoshi grossly misunderstands Namura's reasons to keep rejecting Meiko's love and beats him up]], he ends up [[spoiler:punching Meiko when she tries to stop him]].
* ''Manga/NabariNoOu'': Happens when [[MoralityPet Gau]] throws himself in front of Raikou's attack to stop him from [[MoralEventHorizon killing his own little sister, Raimei]]. Complete with Raikou [[CradlingTheirKill cradling Gau]] and [[WhatHaveIDone crying]]. [[spoiler:They both get better]].
* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'': Negi went on a BlackMagic fueled rage and indiscriminately attacked everyone around him. It was only after he came within inches of killing one of his own (defenseless) students that he snapped out of it.
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': As Sayaka begins her downward spiral, she ends up upsetting Madoka when she angrily lashes out at her for not using her incredible potential as a MagicalGirl to aid her in the fight against witches. Unfortunately, this only makes Sayaka feel even worse, and she even rejects Homura's offer of a Grief Seed, given with the sole intent of preventing Madoka from being hurt by [[spoiler:Sayaka turning into a witch]].
* ''Anime/SandsOfDestruction'': In the manga, [[LadyOfWar Mo]][[CuteAndPsycho rte]] finished her job in a city where the beastmen were eating humans. After berating [[TheHeart Kyrie]] of doing something reckless, she blows up the entire city that they just saved for [[ForTheLulz the fun of it]]. This action [[BewareTheNiceOnes causes Kyrie to snap at her]] and he leaves the group which causes the group to split up (with [[BearsAreBadNews Toppi]] and {{N|obleDemon}}aja going with him and [[OnlySaneMan Agan]] staying with Morte.) When he comes back, he throws the gun that she gave him to defend himself on the ground telling her that he doesn't need it anymore since he's not coming back. Cue, [[GoMadFromTheRevelation she snaps]] and attacks him proving Kyrie's point why he can't stay with her. Thankfully Toppi and Naja stopped her attack.
* ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'': Kaneki's six-month RoaringRampageOfRevenge against Aogiri Tree comes to a halt when he [[spoiler:manifests his Kakuja form for the first time and ends up impaling [[TheLancer Banjou]] with his hand]]. After being given a CoolDownHug, he realizes just how far gone he really is and begins a period of soul-searching. This leads him to decide to disband his group, and return to Anteiku so that he can attempt to make amends for his actions.
* ''Manga/TheWorldOfNarue'': Kanaka. A victim of TimeDilation, she's missed a couple of decades. After she realizes that everyone she knew is now completely different, she freaks out and tries to run off. Narue, determined to befriend her (technically older) sister, runs after her. Kanaka pulls a laser gun to try to frighten Narue off, and after a brief tussle, Kanaka completely unintentionally shoots her. Fortunately it was a non-lethal gun to begin with, but it's still enough to get Kanaka to thoroughly regret her actions. Well, that and some manly tears from Kazu.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* In the ''Pokemon'' fanfic ''Fanfic/TravelsOfTheTrifecta'', Paul does this twice, to both Reggie and Conway, and both times only realizes his mistake later on. With Reggie, it occurs in the first chapter, when Paul threatens to disown him if he loses to Brandon, which then starts the chain of events that leads to Reggie getting struck by lightning. [[spoiler:With Conway, Paul abandons him after they get attacked by Team Galactic because Paul thinks that Conway is a traitor for "letting" Mars molest him, and stays angry at Conway until Reggie talks to him about it and Paul realizes that he shouldn't have abandoned Conway like that]].
* In ''Fanfic/WhiteDevilOfTheMoon'', [[NotQuiteDead Precia Testerossa]] finally succeeds in reviving her IllGirl daughter Alicia. Initially, Precia seems to revert back to the caring mother she once was, but Alicia eventually begins to notice signs of her mother's SanitySlippage. It comes to a head when Alicia calls her out on [[spoiler:her abusive treatment of Fate]], and Precia loses her temper and hits her with a lightning spell. [[spoiler:Fate responds by ventilating Precia's innards]].
* In ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'', Princess Luna has a nightmare where during an argument with Princess Celestia, Luna casually kicks away the small annoying voice asking her to stop, then she turns around and finds she just caved in Pipsqueak's skull. She panics and tries to bring him back to life, only for Celestia to lecture her on the immorality of playing with life and death. When she wakes up, she realizes that she's grown an unhealthy attachment to the boy, and resolves to let him grow up on his own.
* The Doom Slayer does this to Ruby every now and then in ''Fanfic/RemnantInferisDOOM''. While she's one of the few people he's mostly nice to, he can be outright mean to her. The most frequent example being how he lambastes her aspirations of being a Huntress and tells her to give up. Granted, he's doing so to prevent her from living a life of death and misery (or turn out like him), but it's still pretty cruel.
* In chapter 29 of ''Fanfic/CodePrime'' Cornelia ends up doing this to her own sister Euphemia. The two get an argument when Euphemia tells her the truth about what Megatron did to Cybertron, and she practically begs Cornelia to join the Autobots. Cornelia, due to her wounded pride from her constant defeats against them refuses, and when Euphemia tells her straight up that she’s no different from their father, this causes Cornelia to backhand her to the face. By the time Cornelia realizes what she’s done, Euphemia had already left to make preparations for the Special Administrative Zone, leaving her miserable.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* The whole M.O. of the Ministry of Love in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' is to ''force'' people to do this under threat of torture to break them.
* Nathaniel is much more innocent at the start of ''Literature/TheBartimaeusTrilogy'', but a CynicismCatalyst in a world of BlackAndGrayMorality soon leads him to leave that behind. By the third book he isn't so different from the original villain. It's only when [[spoiler:Kitty Jones]] is injured that he starts to [[HeelRealization see the implications of his actions]].
* In ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'' Edmond attacks innocent people - the family members of his nemeses - not because they've hurt him in any way, but just to make his ''true'' enemies' despair that much more absolute. It's only once one of his closest friends tries to commit suicide (because he, unbeknownst to Edmond, was in love with one of those innocents) that Edmond realizes how cruel he's become. Fortunately, there's still time to save ''most'' of his victims.
-->'''Edmond:''' Pray God that I have not already done too much.
* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', an ancestor of the protagonist killed a dragon. (Dragons are sentient in that setting, and it was his duty to ''protect'' them). He was called out on this by his slave Oreg, whom he had whipped so severe that it would have killed a mortal. (Oreg is immortal and cannot act against orders, the worst form of slavery. AWizardDidIt.) [[spoiler:To make things worse, this ancestor is the same one whom the protagonist admires and tries to imitate, as he only knows about his better sides, such as establishing an anti-slavery law]].
* In ''Literature/{{Gone}}'', [[BigBad Caine's]] love/obsession for [[DarkChick Diana]] was his one redeeming quality. But, in book four, [[spoiler:[[JerkAss he lies to her, uses her for sex, and brags about this to]] ''[[JerkAss the entire town]]'']]. [[JerkassDissonance This upset the fangirls more than when he sicced coyotes on preschoolers]].
** This becomes subverted in ''LIGHT'', when he [[spoiler:abdicates the throne to rescue her, apologizes to her, saves her from a life in prison and dies defending her]].
* This is [[spoiler:Albus Dumbledore]]'s backstory in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows''. He was dangerously close to joining with [[BigBad Grindelwald]] and his vision for the world when his sister Ariana was accidentally killed during an argument [[spoiler:between him Gellert and Aberforth after Gellert tortured Aberforth for standing in the way and Albus ran to his defense. At that point, he came to his senses and instead became the BigGood that he is known as]].
** Also the story for [[spoiler:Regulus Black]]. He was a loyal Voldemort supporter, proud to offer the use of his beloved House Elf...until he finds out that [[spoiler:Voldemort wanted the elf to test the defenses around his horcrux, which involved the elf being horribly tortured and left to die]]. After he found out about that, [[spoiler:along with deducing Voldemort's use of Horcruxes]] he gave his life to try to bring Voldemort down.
** And [[spoiler:Severus Snape]]'s. When he found out the information he provided would lead directly to [[spoiler:Lily Potter's death]], he switched sides. [[spoiler:It was too late to save her, however, and he had to live with the guilt. This was not the first time this happened -- back in his fifth year at Hogwarts, Snape, in a MomentOfWeakness, called Lily (his best friend at the time) a Mudblood. Their friendship, already strained from Severus surrounding himself with future Death Eaters like Lucius Malfoy, promptly dissolved after that. To this day he still considers it his absolute worst memory, as it cost him at the very least the friendship of the woman he loved, and the day where the only path he saw left for him was the Death Eaters, all of which eventually led to Lily's death]].
* Gale Hawthorne from ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' helped create bombs to aid [[LaResistance the rebellion]] in the third book, ''Literature/{{Mockingjay}}''. [[spoiler:The bombs eventually [[KillTheCutie killed Primrose Everdeen]], his best friend/love interest Katniss' younger sister and MoralityPet, whom she [[HeroicSacrifice volunteered]] to enter the series' titular DeadlyGame for, [[ShootTheShaggyDog rendering Katniss' actions for the entire series moot]] and their relationship completely fractured.]]
* In ''Literature/LesMiserables'', Jean Valjean steals from a little boy from the force of habit after the bishop pardons him. While the child wasn't someone he knew, how monstrous the act was, especially since it came immediately after the bishop had pardoned him, was what prompted his HeelRealization and finalized his transformation into a Messiah.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'' does this (sorta) with Gunn and Wesley [[TriangRelations fighting over Fred]], but when Gunn goes to hit Wesley, he accidentally hits Fred instead. Whoops!
* In ''Series/BreakingBad'' Walt SlowlySlippingIntoEvil is shown by his increasingly frequent mistreatment of Jesse and Skylar. By Season Five, only his children are safe.
* Whilst elsewhere in the [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffyverse]], in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E10Wrecked Wrecked]]", Willow's downward spiral of magic addiction is brought to a halt when she crashes her car [[BreakTheCutie with Dawn in the passenger seat]] while under the influence[[note]]of magic[[/note]]. Her manipulative friend Amy, who has been encouraging her magic abuse, is hurt by Willow's decision to quit magic [[spoiler:and eventually becomes a BigBad in the Season 8 comics]].
** Later, when Warren fatally shoots Tara while trying to kill Buffy, Willow goes off the wagon again and absorbs a massive quantity of BlackMagic, becoming DrunkOnTheDarkSide and flaying Warren alive. Her rampage doesn't stop there; she proceeds to go after Warren's accomplices, Jonathan and Andrew, considering them guilty by association, and doesn't hesitate to attack the other Scoobies from trying to stop her, going so far as to threaten to turn Dawn back into an EnergyBall and end her human existence just to [[TakeThatScrappy put an end to her constant whining]].
-->'''Buffy''': You're hurting the people who love you now?\\
'''Willow''': Only the ones in my way.
* This is key to the ''Series/DoctorWho'' Series 9 finale "Hell Bent", in which the Doctor temporarily becomes a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds in the wake of [[spoiler:Clara Oswald's death, which leaves him without a Morality Chain]] and then solitary imprisonment and torture by his enemies. In hopes of [[spoiler:saving Clara's life]], he risks destroying the entire universe by creating a RealityBreakingParadox, and most of those trying to stop him have NoSympathy for what he went through so it would seem no one can bring him around; the one exception is [[spoiler:Clara herself]] but since that's the whole reason he's going to extremes... But then he [[spoiler:tries to erase her memories of him with the intent of returning her to Earth]]. The objection to this is enough to make him realize he's invoked this trope and he returns to his best self, even accepting [[spoiler:Mind Rape]] to excise the emotional cancer that made him so selfish.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
** On his return to King's Landing, Jaime goes so far low as to force himself on Cersei, when they are right next to their son's corpse in the sept.
** The only reason the Dothraki tolerate Viserys is because he is their Queen's older brother. Any mercy he had from Daenerys or the Dothraki evaporated the second he threatened Daenerys' unborn child.
* In ''{{Series/Mindhunter}}'', Bill and Holden interview RealLife spree killer Richard Speck, who has a pet bird he helped health a broken wing and fed with a dropper. When Speck is ([[HairTriggerTemper soon]]) angered by Holden's questioning, he throws the bird into a moving fan.
* Post her FaceHeelTurn, Angela from ''Series/MrRobot'' spent the majority of the third season knowingly exploiting her closest friend Elliot's mental illness to complete Stage 2 and later went as far as to [[{{Hypocrite}} verbally abusing him]] when the latter confronted her for her treachery.
* In the climax of ''Series/PowerRangersTimeForce'', the BigBad Ransik has trashed the rangers and is getting ready to finish them of, when his daughter Nadira (having gained an appreciation for human life after helping deliever a baby) tries to talk him down. He ignores her, and during the fight she gets caught in one of his blasts. Horrified at having nearly killed his own daughter, Ransik voluntarily surrenders himself to the rangers.
* In the ''Series/SavedByTheBell'' precursor show, ''Good Morning, Miss Bliss'', one episode features Zack trying to join a club of popular jerks called the Rigmas. They tell him to start bullying his friends as part of his initiation. The biggest Kick the Morality Pet moment comes when he yells at Screech "Why would I want to be seen with a nothing like you?!" Thankfully, Zack later realized the error of his ways, and his friends forgave him. They together spend the last few minutes of the episode remarking on how stupid people often act in order to fit in with various groups. The episode ends with Zack symbolically dumping the bullies club membership jacket in the garbage while his friends give him the thumbs up.

[[folder:Multiple Media]]
* Subverted in ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}''. When Vakama turns evil and Matau attempts to turn him back, Vakama has no problem beating him up and almost killing him. Despite Matau's efforts and heartfelt speech, Vakama couldn't bring himself to believe that Matau had gone through CharacterDevelopment, and thought he was the same JerkAss he had been when they last met, so he felt no remorse after hurting him. That is, until Matau managed to prove to him then and there that he has truly changed.
* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'': [[spoiler:Junko Enoshima]] does this to basically everyone she has affection for. She is capable of love and bonding, but due to her sadomasochistic obsession with despair, she intentionally cultivates feelings to cause herself pain when she kills her loved ones. [[spoiler:Her sister Mukuro Ikusaba, her boyfriend Yasuke Matsuda, and her classmates from the first game]] all wind up either brutally murdered or traumatized by her, specifically because of her twisted love for them. Invoked and lampshaded in ''Anime/Danganronpa3'', as she routinely attempts to harm or kill [[spoiler:Mukuro]] as a way of causing herself despair. [[spoiler:Mukuro]] just shrugs it off happily.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* {{Inverted|Trope}} in the second ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth'' game. [[spoiler:Horace Knightley, the murderer of the first case, is a close friend of Simon Keyes, and pretty much the only person Knightley would be nice to. Simon is a FalseFriend that sets up his arrest and murder because he hates Horace as Horace's father killed Simon's... or so he thinks. It's actually the other way around, but he feels no remorse after learning about that fact]].
* In ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'', Souma serves as a MoralityPet for Keito - while he's typically a pretty harsh and strict person, he's genuinely affectionate towards his innocent and undyingly devoted junior, and it's established that in the backstory it was Souma's kindness that transformed Keito and Akatsuki in general from villains into basically good people. However, the later event ''Ryuusei Bonfire'' shows that this wasn't a smooth process for Souma - [[spoiler:when he found out they were hurting Kanata (his club leader, friend, and ''God'') and was understandably angry and upset, Keito became enraged and yelled at him for disobeying, calling him useless and expelling him from the unit, leaving Souma in tears.]] This revelation wasn't well-received by some in the fandom who argued that this was far too cruel without any possible justification and [[MoralEventHorizon left Keito permanently unsympathetic]].
* ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia]]'' has [[spoiler:Prince Berkut sacrificing his girlfriend Rinea, aka [[MoralityPet THE person he cares for]], to [[BigBad Duma]] as a part of a DealWithTheDevil after Alm beats his pride into the mud and he learns that he was never going to inherit the Rigelian throne]].
* Experienced at least twice by Kratos in the ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' series, when he [[spoiler:murdered his wife and child]] prior to the start of the series, and when he [[spoiler:kills Athena]] while fighting [[spoiler:Zeus]] at the climax of ''VideoGame/GodOfWarII''.
* ''VisualNovel/TheHouseInFataMorgana: A Requiem For Innocence'': The one and only person [[TheCaligula Lord Jean-François Barnier]] shows affection for is [[spoiler:Ceren]], whom he even tries to protect when the peasants invade his castle in revolt. The interlude scenes between them are rather tender and show a softer side of him. But as he himself says, he puts himself first and her second- which he proves when he stabs her for disobeying his orders to stay safe inside, with no remorse whatsoever, even cackling in glee and taunting Jacopo about it.
* In ''VideoGame/JediKnightMysteriesOfTheSith'', this trope is invoked in [[spoiler:the final duel of the game]]. As Mara Jade, you must holster your lightsaber and stop attacking [[spoiler:Kyle]] in order to force him to have to kill you unarmed if he wants to reach his goal, thus snapping him out of it.
* ''VideoGame/Persona5'': During dinner, Makoto Niijima innocently mentions to her sister/[[PromotedToParent legal guardian]] Sae that she believes their late father would have supported the Phantom Thieves. Sae already has a low opinion of their father and his ideals, especially since said ideas got him killed in the line of duty and left her to struggle with raising Makoto alone, and this promptly causes her to snap and verbally tear her younger sister a new one, going so far as to tell Makoto to her face [[ResentfulGuardian that she considers her a useless burden]], made even worse by the fact that Makoto does everything she possibly can to [[WellDoneSonGuy please Sae and lessen her burden]]. [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Sae instantly regrets saying it]], but the damage is done.
* ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheThirdPower'': Prince Gage initially gets along well with his fiancée, Princess Arielle, but when he ambushes the party at Telindra, he orders his soldiers to execute the party and restrain Arielle despite her insistence on staying with the party. While he seems to be doing this because he believes the party is lying to Arielle, it shows that the trust between the two is not as strong as it first appeared. Once Arielle shoots him with a cannon to get her point across, he has his soldiers spare the party and leave Arielle to her devices, indicating that he realizes he went too far. That said, this event causes Arielle to fall out of love with Gage, since it shows that he prioritizes his country's interests over her own intentions. [[spoiler:Though later, he chooses to defy Arkadya by saving Arielle from the assassin, Sparrow.]]
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld'': In the "bad" ending, Emil [[spoiler:fakes his SuperpoweredEvilSide like he does on the other endings]], but this time goes too far in his fight with [[RogueProtagonist Lloyd]] and [[LoveInterest Marta]], and wins the fight, [[spoiler:killing Marta]]. Raine rushes over to heal Marta. Emil promptly admits it was all an act, and in an act to redeem himself, [[spoiler:he [[RedemptionEqualsDeath kills]] [[MurderSuicide himself]]. [[NonStandardGameOver Oops]]]].

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'': Ariel was heading toward the AntiHero[=/=]AntiVillain grey area, but after accidentally killing a slave she became more of an EmotionlessGirl, and more recently more of a PluckyGirl type. Because of this she ended up sparing an enemy and avoided directly killing someone else, though given the CrapsackWorld of the setting both of those choices may come back to bite her.
* Happens in the Webcomic ''Webcomic/{{Zap}}'', with the protagonist learning to use his [[AmnesiaDanger forgotten]] PsychicPowers to [[MindControl control people]].
* In the ''Secretary'' arc in ''Webcomic/NatureOfNaturesArt'', [[spoiler:XZ "breaks up" with SV by quitting the college, and he goes into an UnstoppableRage and kills her. Whether he did a HeelFaceTurn before he also died is up for debate]].
* In ''Webcomic/{{Collar 6}}'', Butterfly, aka [[spoiler:Evita Kappel]] has one of these moments when she [[http://collar6.com/archive/collar-6-342 lashes out at her slave Gunther]] because he worries about her mental state. She immediately regrets it. Though she'd already been established as a villain, this also serves to back up Gunther's theory that [[spoiler:her use of her husband's "black books" has started affecting her personality]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* A strange mixture of in-universe and out-of-universe examples: in ''LetsPlay/TwitchPlaysPokemonCrystal'', the Mob accidentally releasing [[EnsembleDarkhorse Togepi]] instead of Lazer Gator caused them to take stock of themselves, eventually leading to its new and distinct themes and plot.
* In the climax of Volume 7 of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', General Ironwood has gone around the bend, issued arrest orders for the heroes, and intends to raise Atlas and leave Mantle to die at the cold and Grimm. Oscar, who has spent much of the Volume spending time with Ironwood, tries to appeal to Ironwood and get him to change his mind. When Ironwood refuses to budge and swears to let no one get in his way, Oscar remarks that Ironwood has become as dangerous as Salem. In response, Ironwood shoots him without hesitation or mercy.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In the final season of ''Airbender'''s SequelSeries,''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', [[BigBad Kuvira's]] fiance Baatar Jr. is kidnapped by the heroes, who use him to try and convince her to leave Republic City. Kuvira decides the city is more important than him and nukes the site with her spirit cannon instead.
* Kevin from ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'' tends to do this whenever he [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity goes insane due to absorbing alien energy]]. In the original series, Ben showed him kindness ''twice'', and both times [[TheFarmerAndTheViper his reaction was to attempt to backstab him]]. Later, after reforming over the course of ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce Alien Force]]'', he gradually turns insane again, resulting in him hurting both Ben and Gwen, who have become his friends (and in Gwen's case, his LoveInterest) at this point. 10-year-old Ben calls him out for it:
-->"[[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech You are a jerk. You always have been]]. [[JerkassWoobie People try being nice to you, but you don't care]]; [[ItsAllAboutMe you're too busy being sorry for yourself]]."
* A few episodes of ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'' has Heloise backing out of whatever evil she was doing because it was hurting Jimmy.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Discord has always had an utter disregard for the feelings of anyone else, and doesn't get snapped out of it until [[spoiler:Fluttershy basically makes herself his MoralityPet by actually treating him as a friend. It's not until he realizes that his antics are driving her away that he finally grows some empathy]].
** [[spoiler:He did it again in the Season 4 finale, when he betrays Fluttershy to join Lord Tirek. Then he realizes how betrayed Fluttershy feels. This one has lasting ramifications, as Discord feels [[MyGreatestFailure so guilty about it]] that the prospect of making Fluttershy cry again is enough to plunge him into a HeroicBSOD]].
* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': When Catra reaches one of the lowest points in her VillainousBreakdown, she begins [[BadBoss abusing and mistreating]] Scorpia (her best and [[OnlyFriend only]] friend), culminating in threatening her with death for objecting to a FrameUp scheme against [[spoiler:Entrapta]].
* Happened in ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' and ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'' while he wore the black suit.
* Happened on an episode of ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' where a kid being remorselessly tormented by bullies brings a gun to school. Just as the kid was about to give up the gun the bully's idiot friends tackled him which made him accidentally squeeze the trigger and he winds up shooting Richie, one of the few people who had tried to be nice to him. The kid suffers a [[TearJerker massive]] MyGodWhatHaveIDone.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', an upgraded Prowl beats (clone) Starscream. Unfortunately, there's a lot of collateral damage - including a torn down tree and broken bird eggs that he earlier made an effort to protect. Seeing these, Prowl realizes what a total asshole he's being.
[[/folder]]

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': When Sakura sees Naruto's fox form for the first time, she tries to [[CooldownHug talk him out of it]]. Problem was that Naruto wasn't Naruto anymore; he was controlled by the Kyuubi, resulting in a horrifying 4-tailed state. To simply put it, he tail-slapped Sakura on the shoulder (badly) and tried to ''kill her while she was down''.

** she was his morality pet? Wouldn’t that description better for Brienne?

* Just like in the Animated Series, ''Film/SpiderMan3'' has Peter Parker turn into a douchenozzle thanks to the alien symbiote turning him aggressive. He eventually goes on a date with Gwen Stacy (after getting dumped by Mary Jane), walks into the bar MJ is working at and proceeds to enter a song and dance meant to humiliate her. Finally, the bouncer gets fed up and tries to throw him out. Peter easily deflects him, but also instinctively knocks MJ down when she tries to grab him. Peter suddenly realizes the symbiote is controlling him and tries to get rid of it.

* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'': [[spoiler:Junko Enoshima]] does this to basically everyone she has affection for. She is capable of love and bonding, but due to her sadomasochistic obsession with despair, she intentionally cultivates it to cause herself pain when she kills herpved ones. [[spoiler:Her sister Mukuro Ikusaba, her boyfriend Yasuke Matsuda, and her classmates from the first game]] all wind up either brutally murdered or traumatized by her, specifically because of her twisted love for them. Invoked and lampshaded in ''Anime/Danganronpa3'', as she routinely attempts to harm or kill [[spoiler:Mukuro]] as a way of causing herself despair. [[spoiler:Mukuro]] just shrugs it off happily.

Alternatively, this trope may be used as a MoralEventHorizon crossing to show that the character is [[BeyondRedemption too far gone to pull them back to their senses]], which will result in either an IgnoredEpiphany or the character [[NeverMyFault displacing the guilt onto someone else]]. This, paradoxically, may be used to mark them as ''more evil'', since intentionally harming someone that you actually care about to some extent takes more dedication than harming someone who don't care about. If the villain's relationship with the morality pet was their only redeeming quality, callously throwing it away can make them a CompleteMonster.

* ''Manga/HunterXHunter'': The Chimera Ant King has an epiphany re-affirming his identity as an apex predator. Deciding he no longer needs the distraction provided by Komugi, the blind girl he can't beat at a board game, he heads to her room to kill her. When he enters the room, he sees that Komugi has injured herself again...[[AvertedTrope and immediately becomes concerned and tries to help her]], all the while [[WhatIsThisFeeling wondering why he is acting this way]].

** Much later on, [[spoiler:Eren Yeager]] shows how far he's fallen by acting cruelly toward his closest friends. [[spoiler:He gives Mikasa a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech claiming he's always hated her, then beats up Armin when Armin punches him in retaliation.]]

* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'': Negi went on a BlackMagic fueled rage and indiscriminately attacked everyone around him. It was only after he came [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v32/c286/9.html within inches of killing one of his own (defenseless) students]] that he snapped out of it.

-->"[[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech You are a jerk. You always have been]]. [[JerkassWoobie People try being nice to you, but you don't care]]; [[ItsAllAboutMe you are too busy being sorry for yourself]]."

-->"[[ReasonYouSuckSpeech You are a jerk. You always have been]]. [[JerkassWoobie People try being nice to you, but you don't care]]; [[ItsAllAboutMe you are too busy being sorry for yourself]]."

%%* Gale Hawthorne from ''Literature/TheHungerGames''.