History Main / NotWorthKilling

-->-- '''Ulquiorra''', ''{{Manga/Bleach}}''

* In ''{{Manga/Bleach}}'', Ulquiorra took this line with Ichigo after their first confrontation, but later acknowledged him as someone that "needs to be eliminated" and started fighting him more seriously. Ichigo [[spoiler: turns this around with his SuperPoweredEvilSide and performs a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown on Ulquiorra.]]

* In ''GundamAge'' [[spoiler: Decil]] gets bored seeing a UE mook clearly beating the Gundam Titus in episode 8 and orders the UE to retreat.
* In ''Manga/TokyoBabylon'' and ''{{Manga/X1999}}'', Subaru, the ''protagonist'' of the former, is left alive by the Sakurazukamori because Seishirou explicitly tells him that he's not worth killing. This becomes Subaru's primary motivation in the sequel; he believes he can only be worth something to Seishirou ([[LoveMartyr who he loves]]) if Seishirou kills him. However, as it turns out, it's not that Subaru isn't worth killing - it's that [[spoiler:Seishirou wants Subaru to kill ''him''.]]
* Part of Sasuke's {{backstory}} in ''{{Manga/Naruto}}'' is that this was why his brother spared his life alone among the extended family. [[spoiler: Or so he believed for years.]]

* Mirielle says this to Altena in the last episode of ''{{Anime/Noir}}'', specifically that it's "not worth soiling a bullet" with her blood. [[spoiler:Altena then tries to shoot Mirielle, but Kirika jumps in and tries to pull a TakingYouWithMe, though Mirielle manages to grab her in time]].

* Hal in ''{{Anime/Texhnolyze}}'' tells this to [[spoiler:Shinji]] after [[spoiler:being turned into a Shape,]] musing on his earlier promise to kill him when they next time met.

* ''{{InuYasha}}'': When Inuyasha was controlled by his SuperpoweredEvilSide and killing bandits right, left and centre, it took [[AloofBigBrother Sesshoumaru]] to bring him down. To the [[TrueCompanions gang's]] surprise, instead of killing Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru merely tells them how to reverse Inuyasha's condition. When Miroku demands to know why Sesshoumaru spent the entire fight holding back against Inuyasha and refusing to kill him, Sesshoumaru simply responds that there's no point in killing someone who's in no condition to know even his own self. He also adds that he'll kill Inuyasha [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou when he's ready]]. [[IWasJustPassingThrough He never does]].

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* In ''{{Comicbook/Fables}}'', Baba Yaga and the djinn find themselves trapped in the business office with Buffkin, Frank, the mirror, and some of the barleycorn brides. Buffkin challenges Baba Yaga and the djinn, but they just laugh at him and float away. This has some consequences later. [[spoiler:Snicker snack]], indeed.

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* Inverted example in ''[[FanFic/MyLittleMagesTheNightmaresReturn My Little Mages: The Nightmare's Return]]''. After Rainbow Dash defeats [[DarkActionGirl Nightshade]], she chooses to simply immobilize her and leave her to be arrested, quoting the trope while doing so. For her part, [[AxCrazy Nightshade]] is insulted, and impotently demands that Dash kill her.

* In Tamora Pierce's ''[[TortallUniverse Trickster's Queen]]'', Vereyu kills the [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain recently-appointed spymaster]] (who's not really sympathetic, just incompetent, but you ''do'' kind of pity him). The heroine, [[ActionGirl Aliane]] [[TheSpymaster Cooper]], tells her that he was "not worth killing". Vereyu retorts that he "wasn't worth leaving alive, either." Aly remarks that that's true.

** Rio from ''Series/JukenSentaiGekiranger'' has more than one {{Crowning Moment of Awesome}} where he proves that [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours his Juken is stronger than theirs]] by pummeling the Rangers flat, then lets them go because they are not yet worthy of being killed by him.
* In ''{{Film/Terminator}}: TheSarahConnorChronicles,'' Cromartie [[spoiler: slaughters the FBI agents sent after him, but leaves Ellison alive in the end, apparently for this reason.]]

* In the ''{{Series/Supernatural}}'' episode "Time Is on My Side" Dean tracks down [[ClassyCatBurglar Bela]] with the intent to kill her, before announcing that she's "[[NotWorthKilling not worth it]]."

* In {{TabletopGame/Traveller}} ''Intersteller Wars'' the Vilani don't bother making a real effort to subjugate the Terrans because they are "just another barbarian tribe". By the time they learn differently it is the Vilani who are being subjugated.

* Dellyn Goblinslayer from ''{{Webcomic/Goblins}}'' considered himself the arch-nemesis of Thaco the goblin. [[spoiler:Eventually he's at the latter's mercy, thinking that Thaco is going to kill him and immortalize Dellyn as his greatest foe... [[CruelMercy only to be left alive instead]] after a truly magnificent TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.]]

* In ''{{X-Men Next Dimension}}'', several characters use this as a taunt, including some such as Mystique saying another character isn't even worth her time. One of the first matches in the story mode could have her saying this to her [[TangledFamilyTree son]], which opens up [[ParentalAbandonment a whole set of problems]].

Also sometimes used by the AntiHero as an excuse for not wiping out the {{Mooks}}. May be related to DoesntLikeGuns. Compare CruelMercy and VillainsDyingGrace.

* On the HowardSternShow G. Gordon Liddy gave this as his reason for not holding a grudge or seeking revenge against his fellow Watergate conspirators.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps'' has a scene where Python encounters General Skowronski in the bottom of a warehouse while hunting for Big Boss. After defeating Skowronski, Python freezes him inside a cage and exclaims "You're not worth killing!" before leaving. Snake frees the general minutes later.

* Mr. Satan from ''[[Manga/DragonBall Dragonball Z]]'' "[[NoSell fights]]" Perfect Cell and is simply backhanded a few hundred feet backwards into a mountain. He inexplicably survives (Piccolo suggests Cell didn't want to waste a single drop of energy when he was about to fight Goku).

* Inverted in ''Film/KillBill'', where The Bride hacks her cold-blooded way through literally dozens of sword-wielding Yakuza foot-soldiers, then decides one of them, a young teenager, is too pathetic to kill. She puts him over her knee, spanks him with the flat of her sword and tells him to go home to his mother. He flees.
** ''Film/KillBill'' began with a nifty subversion of this trope. Upon discovering that [[NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow in spite of their vicious assassination attempt, the Bride is still alive]] though in a coma; Bill refuses to let Elle kill her because he thinks so highly of her and doesn't want her being killed like "some rat" in her sleep. He says that if she ever wakes up, they'll finish the job. She woke up alright, and she was pissed.

* Inverted in ''KillBill'', where The Bride hacks her cold-blooded way through literally dozens of sword-wielding Yakuza foot-soldiers, then decides one of them, a young teenager, is too pathetic to kill. She puts him over her knee, spanks him with the flat of her sword and tells him to go home to his mother. He flees.
** ''KillBill'' began with a nifty subversion of this trope. Upon discovering that [[NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow in spite of their vicious assassination attempt, the Bride is still alive]] though in a coma; Bill refuses to let Elle kill her because he thinks so highly of her and doesn't want her being killed like "some rat" in her sleep. He says that if she ever wakes up, they'll finish the job. She woke up alright, and she was pissed.

* In ''Film/AlienVsPredator'', at one point one of the Predators has a chance to kill Charles Bishop Weyland, but instead turns away, due to Charles' terminal illness meaning that he's not a threat and thus not worth killing. Charles gets offended at being ingnored and fires a makeshift flamethrower at the Predator. The Predator then kills him, apparently having re-evaluated him as a legitimate target. Of course, it might also have something to do with the Predator being more than a little pissed off that he'd just been partially set on fire.

* Played with in ''BurnNotice''. Michael Westen takes great pains not to kill anybody himself--often employing elaborate {{Plan}}s instead--because a body count would draw too much heat while he tries to clear his name. A few people are worth it, but the consequences are still generally unpleasant.

* ''GameOfThrones''. At the beginning of Season One and the end of Season Two, the White Walkers leave a single member of the Night's Watch alive, either to spread fear or as an example of this trope.
* ''TheVampireDiaries'': For much of the third season, the good guys depend heavily on Klaus not bothering to kill them, which he could do pretty much any time he wanted.

* On ''RobotChicken'' TheYakuza kills all of NSync except Joey Fatone, who was in the kitchen at the time. When he begs them not to shoot him, they tell him they wouldn't waste their bullets on a simple roadie.

* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsArena'' the Eternal Champion is left to rot in a dungeon, because his position in Imperial Court was so low that the usurpers saw no need to bother. This was a mistake.

* The first time someone tried to release ''NewYorkRipper'' in Britain, every single print got returned to Italy after the BBFC refused to classify the film.

* In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'', the main character Niko Bellic comes face to face with the man who betrayed his group in the Balkans and killed his village for money in Balkans war. The man is flown in and is in a pathetic state, barely even sane and you can choose to either execute him for crime, or spare him.

* ''SuperSentai'' and ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' feature multiple examples of [[WorthyOpponent honourable villains]] who will let the Rangers go after beating them.
** ''MahouSentaiMagiranger'' (''Series/PowerRangersMysticForce'') has a subversion: [[spoiler:Wolzard (Koragg) has a [[JekyllAndHyde suppressed good side]] which leads to him finding excuses to let the Rangers live, the main one being that it's dishonorable to slay an unworthy opponent. When a Ranger confronts him, Wolzard gives the standard 'unworthy opponent' speech, and the hero responds with a volley of lighting bolts. Wolzard is ''completely'' unharmed, but decides anyway that the hero's worth fighting after all, and proceeds to utterly mop the floor with him. (He still lets him go in the end.)]]
** Rio from ''JukenSentaiGekiranger'' has more than one {{Crowning Moment of Awesome}} where he proves that [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours his Juken is stronger than theirs]] by pummeling the Rangers flat, then lets them go because they are not yet worthy of being killed by him.

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect'', this is the ''ultimate insult'' a Krogan can give an enemy. As a ProudWarriorRace, Krogan status is determined by who ones' enemies are. This extends to other races as well; the Mass Effect RoguesGallery is exactly why most Krogan see Shepard as the most BadAss creature in the galaxy.

* The [[AIIsACrapshoot AI]] in ''VideoGame/AIWars'' starts out regarding the player this way, occasionally harassing them but otherwise leaving them alone. Much of the game is making sure the AI ''continues'' to believe this even as the player amasses enough power to turn the tide.

* In ''TheElderScrollsArena'' the Eternal Champion is left to rot in a dungeon, because his position in Imperial Court was so low that the usurpers saw no need to bother. This was a mistake.

* In the ''AstroCity'' story "Great Expectations," actor Mitch Goodman (who plays the "Crimson Cougar" on a soap opera) is ambushed in public by the Dark Centurion, who easily pummels him. When Mitch begs for mercy, the Centurion sneers that he's NotWorthKilling and leaves. [[spoiler:It was a ruse set up by Mitch and his friends so Mitch could stop being a high-profile [[strike:celebrity]] super-villain target.]]

* ''{{InuYasha}}'': When Inuyasha was controlled by his SuperpoweredEvilSide and killing bandits right, left and centre, it took [[AloofBigBrother Sesshoumaru]] to bring him down. To the [[TrueCompanions gang's]] surprise, instead of killing Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru merely tells them how to reverse Inuyasha condition. When Miroku demands to know why Sesshoumaru spent the entire fight holding back against Inuyasha and refusing to kill him, Sesshoumaru simply responds that there's no point killing someone who's in no condition to know even his own self. He also adds that he'll kill Inuyasha [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou when he's ready]]. [[IWasJustPassingThrough He never does]].