History Main / PleaseSpareHimMyLiege

* Both [[WorthyOpponent Waverley and Talbot]] do this to their respective lieges for each other. In Talbot's case it was downplayed as Waverley was asking that Talbot not be confined as a prisoner of war while his wife was sick and needed him.

* In ''ThePrinceOfEgypt'', Aaron sort of does one of these when Miriam tells Moses the truth about his origins and says he's "one of [them]," to which he initially objects quite strongly and threatens to have her arrested or killed. He comes around, though.

* Leonora in Verdi's Trovatore, for her beloved's life. Count di Luna is all "GTFO, I'll never spare my rival" till she offers she'll be his. [[spoiler: She never said ALIVE, though.]]

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': [[DistressedDamsel Rukia]] does this as a last request to the highest-ranking Soul Society captain right before she's about to be executed in the Soul Society arc, since she feels guilty that Ichigo and everyone are risking their lives to try and save her. Subverted when the captain says he'll let them go free, but really has no intention of doing so. He's only saying that so Rukia can [[LetThemDieHappy die peacefully]].

* Hermione did this in ''RomeoXJuliet'' to stop Laertes Montague from taking Romeo's CoolHorse Ciel away.

* In ''RoseOfVersailles'', when Louis [=XVth=] wants to execute Andre for Marie's accident. She recovers, and successfully pleads the king that Andre did nothing wrong.
** ''RoseOfVersaillesAbridged'' spoofs this. Marie tries it as a JediMindTrick. The King is only partly affected, but he sighs and let's Andre go anyway.

* [[Literature/HarryPotter Severus Snape]] tried to do this in regards to [[TheLostLenore Lily Evans]] after she became [[BigBad Lord Voldemort's]] primary target (along with her husband and son). [[spoiler: It didn't work.]]

* In WilliamShakespeare's ''Theatre/RichardII'' (yes, the play of the second named king, not the third king), the Duchess of York begs the newly crowned King Henry to spare her son (who's been accused of treason).

* {{Shakespeare}} was quite fond of this trope. In ''Theatre/JuliusCaesar,'' the conspirators plead for their friend to be pardoned just before they assassinate Caesar. (And Caesar gives a ridiculously arrogant speech claiming that he is so god-like as to be above pity... presumably to remove whatever sympathy the audience have for him and prepare them for his violent death.) In ''Henry V'' it is {{Inverted}}: the conspirators against Henry argue ''against'' mercy for an enemy of the king, so that when he reveals their guilt Henry takes immense delight in telling them that [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor they have convinced him that mercy is a bad idea.]]

* {{Shakespeare}} was quite fond of this trope. In ''JuliusCaesar,'' the conspirators plead for their friend to be pardoned just before they assassinate Caesar. (And Caesar gives a ridiculously arrogant speech claiming that he is so god-like as to be above pity... presumably to remove whatever sympathy the audience have for him and prepare them for his violent death.) In ''Henry V'' it is {{Inverted}}: the conspirators against Henry argue ''against'' mercy for an enemy of the king, so that when he reveals their guilt Henry takes immense delight in telling them that [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor they have convinced him that mercy is a bad idea.]]

->''"Execution, Execution, Execution, Execution, Execution...tough guy."''\\
-- '''[[Creator/MelBrooks Jacques]]''', while searching for a pardon form in the desk of King Louis XVI, ''HistoryOfTheWorldPartOne''

* In the AGD KingsQuestII, this is the correct answer to [[spoiler:one of the Cloud Spirit's tests.]]
** Also implied in KingsQuestIV on Edgar's part when Rosella is brought before Lolotte.

* [[TheBible The Book of Esther]] ends with Esther pleading on behalf of all Jews.

* In ''ThePrinceOfEgypt'', Aaron sort of does one of these when Miriam tells Moses the truth about his origins and says he's "one of [them]," to which he initially objects quite strongly and threatens to have her arrested or killed. He comes around, though.
* In ''Film/TheOtherBoleynGirl'' Mary pleads with King Henry VIII to spare her sister Anne because as her sister Anne is one half of Mary. He doesn't want to hurt her but [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready you know how it ends]].

* In [[VorkosiganSaga Barrayar,]] Vorhalas begs Aral Vorkosigan, then Regent, to pardon his son for the capital crime of dueling. Vorkosigan doesn't, and the dead boy's brother later tries to assassinate him for it, leading to Aral's son Miles being crippled in the womb.
** Twenty years later the tables turned when Aral Vorkosigan is forced to beg Vorhalas not to press charges against Miles that would lead to his execution. Vorhalas tells Aral to get on his knees like he did when he pleaded for his son's life. Vorhalas might have gone on to stick the knife in, but Miles [[CallingTheOldManOut calls him out for it,]] warning that if he goes through with this he'll have to answer to ''Cordelia'' Vorkosigan for his revenge.

* In first episode of ''{{Blackadder}} II'', Blackadder becomes Lord High Executioner and kills one of the prisoners early so he can have the day off. After he's done that, the man's brother successfully convinces Queen Elizabeth to let him (the executed prisoner) off the hook. HilarityEnsues. [[spoiler:[[BumblingSidekick Baldrick]] killed the wrong guy by mistake.]]

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-- '''[[MelBrooks Jacques]]''', while searching for a pardon form in the desk of King Louis XVI, ''HistoryOfTheWorldPartOne''

* Maid Marian in the Disney animated version of ''[[Disney/RobinHood Robin Hood]]'' pleads with Prince John for Robin's life when he is captured after the archery contest.

* In the book ''TheOtherBoleynGirl'', Mary wants to plead with King Henry VIII to spare her sister Anne, but her husband talks her out of it by pointing out that if she does, she'll likely share the fate of her siblings.

* In ''{{Series/Merlin}}'' King Uther is tricked into beliving that his son Arthur has been placed under an enchantment by Guinevere, and orders her burnt at the stake as a witch. Arthur begs for her life, but the more hysterical he gets, the more Uther is convinced that he's truly under a spell.

* In the episode of {{Firefly}} ''Shindig'' Mal sword fights a man and is about to lose but Inara tells that man that she will accept his offer to stay with him if he spares Mal's life.

** Although this same God agreed to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if 50 righteous people were found living in it. Abraham (who was pleading for the life of the city) was able to negotiate God down to 10 righteous people. Unfortunately, the only halfway decent person living in the city was Lot and his family (and even [[ValuesDissonance he offered his virgin daughters as rape-toys to his violent neighbors]] in order to save the lives of a couple of houseguests.) Needless to say, Sodom and Gomorrah didn't stand a chance.

* In {{William Shakespeare}}'s ''Theatre/RichardII'' (yes, the play of the second named king, not the third king), the Duchess of York begs the newly crowned King Henry to spare her son (who's been accused of treason).

** Also implied in KingsQuestIV on Edgar's part when Rosella is brought before Lolotte.

* Katherine of Aragon, HenryVIII's first wife, successfully pleaded for the lives of the perpetrators of the Evil May Day massacre, when she saw how devastated their families were by the death sentence. In spite of the fact that the victims were mostly Spanish aliens, and she was a Spanish princess.

* Roman dictator Sulla once ordered a number of political enemies killed, among them young GaiusJuliusCaesar. When his followers reacted with this trope (Caesar was very young then), he stated that they had to be unintelligent [[GenreSavvy if they failed to see any danger in the boy]]. Caesar still survived, and the rest is history.

But it's usually more successful if done in the form of ego stroking ("Surely such a great king as yourself is wise enough...", "How could he possibly pose a threat to someone so great...?") or noting the [[SlaveToPR good PR]] it will bring ("Everyone would know what a kind sovereign you are...") than by trying to appeal to any good nature ("If you just listen to your heart..."). Even if they agree, the prisoner may just be tossed into TheAlcatraz instead ([[TheThreeMusketeers Iron Mask]] optional).

* Maid Marian in the Disney animated version of ''Robin Hood'' pleads with Prince John for Robin's life when he is captured after the archery contest.

* In {{William Shakespeare}}'s ''RichardII'' (yes, the play of the second named king, not the third king), the Duchess of York begs the newly crowned King Henry to spare her son (who's been accused of treason).

* In ''TheOtherBoleynGirl'', Mary pleads with King Henry VIII to spare her sister Anne. That obviously doesn't work out so well.
** Actually, that was in the film. In the book she wants to, but her husband talks her out of it by pointing out that if she does, she'll likely share the fate of her siblings.

* In ''FinalFantasyXII'', Judge Zargabaath attempts this with Vayne Carudas Solidor to save [[spoiler:Drace]], his colleague Judge Magister, which is effectively a mix between a FourStarBadass and a JudgeJuryAndExecutioner, after [[spoiler:Drace's failed attempt to violently refute Vayne's claim to autocratic powers with the death of his father, the Emperor Gramis Solidor]]. Zargabaath's considerations were likely to have stemmed from pragmatic considerations - Drace was a very talented Judge Magister, one Judge Magister had [[NeverFoundTheBody gone missing in action for a few years now]], and another had perished in an accident, so they were running out of qualified men and women for the post - but given Zargabaath's portrayal as a reasonable and level-headed gentleman, sympathy probably wasn't out of the question. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, Vayne has Drace executed anyways.]]

* Twice, Arthur begs Uther to spare a man, once with Gwaine and once with Lancelot. The result is exile for both.

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