History Main / KillMeNowOrForeverStayYourHand

* In Creator/DanAbnett's Literature/GauntsGhosts novel ''Ghostmaker'', Major Rawne and Gaunt are alone in the wintry wilderness. At one point, Rawne stands over him with a knife, ready to cut his throat; he hears Gaunt mutter in BadDreams (about, incidentally, the ''reason'' he wants Gaunt dead) and instead kills an ork sneaking up on them. Later, when Gaunt is about to slip into the sea of boiling hydrocarbons and drown, Rawne sacrifices his prized silver knife to afford Gaunt a hand-hold. Though he professes a desire to kill Gaunt later -- even to Gaunt's own face -- he never attempts it.

* In a mild form, in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Discworld/MakingMoney'', Vetinari hands Moist a sword while questioning him. He observes afterward that Moist was more nervous while holding the sword than Vetinari was.

* ''Anime/DragonBallGT'': Naturon Shenron pulls this on Goku during their fight, after [[TheAssimilator absorbing Pan]].

* Acording to some zoologists, this is what it means for a cat to roll up and show you his/her tummy. By exposing their most vulnerable parts (neck and stomach) a cat is placing its upmost trust in you that you won't hurt them or let any harm come to them. [[SugarWiki/CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming D'awww]], and they say CatsAreMean!

* In Final Fantasy XIII, an injured Snow hands Hope the knife that he tried to kill him with not even a couple of hours ago, while he's carrying the kid on his back. It's either this trope, or Snow is way more naive and optimistic than people think he is. [[RousseauWasRight It pays off either way.]]

* 'VideoGame/FarCry3'' begins with the main character, Jason, and his brother being captured (and his brother killed) by pirates on a remote island. After fleeing, he is saved by Dennis, a local tribesman. Upon waking up, he attempts to subtly grab a weapon, presuming Dennis to be an enemy, but Dennis puts his machete to Jason's throat, saying 'You have the right to take my life. But know, I will also take yours.' He then hands Jason the machete, proving he can be trusted.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': After Arlong is released from prison, thanks to Jinbe becoming a Warlord, an unimpressed Arlong decides to break away from the Sunny Pirates and lead his own crew again, promising to spread the hatred of the Fishmen for humans wherever he goes, and goads Jinbe to kill him where he stands if he has a problem with it. Jinbe is so enraged that Tiger's last wishes were going to waste that he nearly does by savagely beating him, but he stops at the last moment, as he could never could bring himself to kill his own "brother".

* In the 2017 adaptation of ''Film/MurderOnTheOrientExpress'', Poirot gives this ultimatum to the conspirators after TheSummation. It turns out to be a SecretTestOfCharacter.

*** [[spoiler: Subverted when Gin reveals that he had been trying for years to be in a position where he ''could'' kill Aizen. He takes his chance as soon as it arrives. He fails.]]

--> Mitch: You know the first time I tried to talk to you, you embarrassed me, so I teased you a little, which maybe I shouldn't have done, so I'm sorry. But now you're sitting over there, playing with your knife, trying to frighten me... (nervously) which you're doing a really good job! (coldly) But if you're going to kill me, get on with it. If not, shut the hell up! I'm on vacation.

* ''Literature/WizardAndGlass]'' by Stephen King: In a CrowningMomentOfAwesome, Roland, TheGunslinger has been on a lengthy tirade against the SpitefulAI, Blaine.

* In ''Film/CitySlickers'', after several personality clashes between Mitch and [[BadassGrandpa Curly]], the former finally delivers this combined with an apology and a ReasonYouSuckSpeech, all the while Curly is sharpening a ''massive'' knife.

When this trope is played straight, Bob's gambit works and both of them leave the room alive. Though the exact degree of loyalty this inspires in Alice can vary widely, the result is generally a moral improvement all the way up to a full HeelFaceTurn. Other times, Bob is wrong, wrong, wrong, and the best we can hope for Alice is that she will eventually regret killing the man who believed in her. Still other times Bob's gambit works, but ''only'' because [[CantKillYouStillNeedYou Alice has a reason to keep him alive]]. In a rare occasion, Bob gets OutGambitted and is [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor shot by Alice in cold blood]].

* Joker in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' confronts the newly emerged Two-Face and when threatened with a gun, ''presses his head to the muzzle''. It works only because [[spoiler:Dent resorts to his trademark coin]], but Joker actually approves of that.
** Except if you look closely the Joker has his finger behind the trigger. His plan was to break Harvey no matter what. If the gun didn't go off it would destroy him.

* Richard in ''Theatre/RichardIII'' uses a slightly modified version of this on Lady Anne. "Take up the sword again, or take up me."

* While Bink and Chameleon in ''[[Literature/{{Xanth}} A Spell For Chameleon]]'' do not actually want to kill Trent, they certainly regard him as "Evil Magician Trent", mistrust him, and would cause his defeat if they could. Their StrangeBedfellows situation caused them to reevaluate him, but a particularly important event was when Trent handed Bink his sword, to keep guard, and went to sleep. Chameleon explicitly states that an evil man [[EvilCannotComprehendGood would not have trusted them]].

* In "The Detachment", Literature/JohnRain suspects (accurately) that Larison is planning to kill them and keep all the loot for himself. Knowing they are NotSoDifferent and aware of how his own viewpoint changed due to the PowerOfTrust from his best friend Dox, he hands Larison a silenced Glock and gives him the option of either leaving with his share of the diamonds, or accompanying them to stop a terrorist atrocity. Larison (who was expecting to get shot on the spot) is too stunned to say much, but does end up going with them, despite having refused earlier.

** Tyrion Lannister is in a tense negotiation with his sister Cersei, who [[NeverMyFault who blames him for everything that's gone wrong]] including the deaths of her children. Tyrion marches right up to Cersei's undead killing machine Gregor Clegane and dares her to give the order to cut him down.

** Tyrion Lannister is in a tense negotiation with his sister Cersei, who [[NeverMyFault who blames him for everything that's gone wrong]] including the deaths of her children. Tyrion marches right up to Cersei's undead killing machine Gregor Clegane and dares her to give the order.

** Tyrion Lannister is in a tense negotiation with his sister Cersei, who [[NeverMyFault who blames him for everything that gone wrong]] including the deaths of her children. Tyrion marches right up to Cersei's undead killing machine Gregor Clegane and dares her to give the order.

#Bob decides that the best way to handle Alice is to get both of them alone together and give her exactly what she wants--a chance to take his life.

See GetItOverWith and SwordOverHead for things that may happen in the resulting scene. If Bob genuinely expects Alice to kill him, and thinks that he deserves it, see PleaseKillMeIfItSatisfiesYou.

* In a mild form, in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Discworld/MakingMoney'', Vetinari hands Moist a sword while questioning him. He observes afterward that Moist was more nervous while holding the sword than while Vetinari was.

* On WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers, Sergeant Hatred uses this as a last ditch attempt to win Hank's respect and loyalty. Of course, Hank was simply being a typical rebellious teenager and had no interest in killing him, but that didn't stop Hatred from turning the scene into a full-blown, deadly serious [[LargeHam melodramatic]] affair.