History Main / StakingTheLovedOne

* This is {{zigzagged}} (implicitly) in ''WebComic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' when Durkon is turned into a vampire. The reader is left with time to think about what this means will happen, and the other main characters are shown thinking about it too and being really sad about it. They don't mention having to kill him, but it really doesn't need saying. Then, of course, since that's the obvious way for the plot to go, it doesn't: Durkon's vampire master is killed, he becomes free-willed again, and he turns into a FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire who rejoins the group and finds a way to control his need for blood. [[spoiler: Except he really isn't friendly, or even "Durkon" anymore-- he's a vampiric spirit inhabiting Durkon's body while holding his actual spirit helpless while he works to bring about the literal end of the world. This all leads to a confrontation between the party and Vampire!Durkon, during which Real!Durkon's spirit overwhelms the vampiric puppeteer long enough to lower his defenses, finally allowing this trope to be played straight (except that it might be a bit of a stretch to call [[HeroicComedicSociopath Belkar]] a "loved one").]]

* This is {{subverted}} (implicitly) in ''WebComic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' when Durkon is turned into a vampire. The reader is left with time to think about what this means will happen, and the other main characters are shown thinking about it too and being really sad about it. They don't mention having to kill him, but it really doesn't need saying. Then, of course, since that's the obvious way for the plot to go, it doesn't: Durkon's vampire master is killed, he becomes free-willed again, and he turns into a FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire who rejoins the group and finds a way to control his need for blood. Of course, it isn't quite that simple for an AlwaysChaoticEvil being to be nice, but that's another story...

* In ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1990'', Barbara is forced to shoot her friend Ben after he dies and turns into a zombie.

* ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn''. Seth has to kill his brother. Kate has to kill her father ''and'' brother after her brother found himself unable to kill the father and was infected as a result.

See also AndThenJohnWasAZombie. May be a case of VanHelsingHateCrimes when the monsters are ''not'' AlwaysChaoticEvil. Related to TranshumanTreachery, as this is what the newly turned are feared to commit. Often the only "good" way WhatHappenedToMommy can end up. Frequently a TearJerker.

** In "[[Recpa/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E2TheHarvest The Harvest]]", Xander staking one of his best friends by ''accident.'' He couldn't do it and only survived because a panicked bystander unknowingly shoved the vamp onto his raised stake.

** The first episode also featured Xander staking one of his best friends by ''accident.'' He couldn't do it and only survived because a panicked bystander unknowingly shoved the vamp onto his raised stake.
** In "Phases" Angelus turns a schoolmate of Buffy's into a vampire, knowing that [[BreakTheCutie she'll be forced to stake her]] when she goes to examine the corpse.
** Spike had to stake his newly-sired mother after it was made clear that she was a completely different person. And evil. And trying to shag him.

** In a flashback episode, VampireHunter Holtz returns to his home to find Angelus and Darla have been there first to kill his wife and turn his daughter, whom he kills by throwing her into the sunlight. The act fuels his RoaringRampageOfRevenge against Angel in the present day.
** In his introductory episode as the leader of a vampire-hunting street gang, Gunn had to stake his sister after she was turned.

** Subverted in "Double or Nothing". Angel is playing an AbsurdlyHighStakesGame that if he loses will cost him his soul (which will turn him evil). He hands Cordy a wooden stake and says she knows what to do if that happens. When Angel does lose the game, Cordy instead rams the stake through the BigBad's palm, holding him in place so Angel can lop off his head.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''Vamp You'' has included a few instances of people trying this trope, but it generally never works out. Usually, there just ends up being two vampires.
[[/folder]]

* ''Series/{{Angel}}''

* Sort of done in ''Series/{{Being Human|UK}}''. [[spoiler: Lauren begged Mitchell to stake her and he did. Only counts as a "sort of" example as Mitchell was the one who turned her into a vampire in the first place.]]

* On ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', the second season episode "Heart" forced Sam to do this for GirlOfTheWeek Madison, who had become a werewolf.

* On ''Series/ForeverKnight'', in "A More Permanent Hell" [=LaCroix=] is brought across by his early-teen daughter Divia to escape the destruction of Pompei, but when she declares that mortal rules should no longer constrain them, and they should become lovers, [=LaCroix=] [[EvenEvilHasStandards is horrified]], and [[spoiler:beheads Divia and imprisons her remains in a sarcophagus]].

* Many times on ''Series/TheWalkingDead'', given the fact that it's a show about the zombie apocalypse. A few notable examples: Andrea held her sister Amy's body until she rose again as a walker before shooting her in the head. (Shooting or stabbing walkers in the head is the only way to stop brain activity and kill them.) In season 2, Hershel is unable to kill his zombified family members and instead keeps them in a barn. Shane goes and kills them all anyway.

* In the tie-in comic ''Literature/TheStrain: Mister Quinlan - Vampire Hunter'' detailing the backstory of Mr. Quinlan, he was part of a slave ludus during the Roman Empire. When [[BigBad the Master]] arrives and turns all other slaves except [[BlackBestFriend Bruk]] into vampires, forcing Quinlan and Bruk to fight their way out against their former friends. Bruk is infected during the struggle and request his friend to decapitate him before he can become a monster himself.

* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' setting, Dr. Rudolph Van Richten dedicated his life to [[VampireHunter hunting vampires]] after his son fell victim to one. But while he slew the monster that was responsible, he was forced to MercyKill his own son first -- who had been transformed into an undead creature himself.

** A RunningGag is that whenever a member of Team Angel warns a co-worker to be ready to kill them if they turn evil, they agree a lot more readily than the other one finds comfortable. [[IHaveYouVampireDad Especially Connor.]]

** The first episode also featured Xander staking one of his best friends - by ''accident.'' He couldn't do it and only survived because a panicked bystander unknowingly shoved the vamp onto his raised stake.
** In "Phases" Angelus turns a schoolmate of Buffy's into a vampire, knowing that [[BreakTheCutie she'll be forced to stake her]] when she goes to examine the corpse. A flashback episode in ''Series/{{Angel}}'' showed him pulling the same stunt with Holtz's daughter.

** Gunn staked his sister and Holtz was forced to throw his daughter into the sunlight.
** Subverted with Illyria and Spike: he didn't care if she had Fred's body, even though Fred was his buddy.
-->'''Illyria''': You held affection for this shell, and yet you strike at its form without remorse.
** None of them really showed any hesitation over trying to kill Illyria. Even Wesley tried, though Illyria's resemblance to Fred got to him later. They were just totally incapable of achieving it.
** A RunningGag is that whenever a member of Team Angel warns a co-worker to be ready to kill them if they turn evil, they agree a lot more readily than the other one finds comfortable. Especially Connor.

See also ICannotSelfTerminate, MercyKill and MercyKillArrangement. SubTrope of KillTheOnesYouLove and TragicMonster. Compare and contrast SupportingTheMonsterLovedOne, which is this trope's alternative. Not to be confused with ''[[StalkerWithACrush stalking]]'' [[StalkingIsLove the loved one]].

* ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'' ends with everyone defeating the [[EnemyWithout Self-Defense Program]] of Reinforce, the former Book of Darkness. She's grateful, but the next day informs them that they have to finish the job with her too or else her programming will be forced to regenerate the [=SDP=]. Nanoha and Fate do, because it would be too cruel to make Hayate do so.

* {{Subverted}} in ''Manga/{{Parasyte}}''--Shinichi tries to do this to the Parasite who killed/infested [[spoiler:his mom]], but freezes up at the critical moment. [[NonProtagonistResolver Mamoru Uda and Jaw kill her instead]], with the former arguing that Shinichi shouldn't have to be the one to do it.

* Done with a twist in ''FanFic/TheReturn'' when one character is forced to shoot her sister who has been turned into a demon, so that she can be given an EmergencyTransformation to save her.

* Non-fantastic example in ''Film/TheSearchers'': Debbie Edwards's own family expect her uncle to kill her after they learn she's been indoctrinated by the Comanches who kidnapped her into becoming their squaw - and they have hardly any regrets, because after all Debbie is now the enemy. Of course, since said uncle is a fanatical Indian-hating psychopath, Debbie's blood tie to him never even enters the picture [[spoiler: until he actually has the opportunity to do it, and he experiences an AdoptTheDog moment]].

* In ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater'' Selena tells Jim right near the start that if he got infected she'd kill him "in a heartbeat", and she proves this by killing one of her other friends when he turns. At the climax she believes Jim has been infected due to the [[EyeScream shockingly brutal]] killing the formerly gentle man commits. [[spoiler: She can't bring herself to actually attack him.]]

* Best known example from Bram Stoker's ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' when Helsing shows the men first hand of Lucy's undead form after she "dies" and seeing she's more monster then human. He forces her fiancee Arthur to do it claiming a loved one should set her soul free.

* In the Literature/MercyThompson novels, doing this to werewolves who can't control their "wolf side" is usually the duty of their closest werewolf relatives, but if they can't do it, the Marrok (Alpha-in-chief of all North America's werewolf packs) or his son Charles have to step in. The novels make it clear that both the Marrok and Charles have already done it too many times for their own peace of mind.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

** Season Two is a protracted inner struggle for Buffy, who can't bring herself to stake Angelus in their first encounter. She ends up having to send him to Hell to stop Acathla, when he'd ''just'' had his soul restored.
** The first episode also featured Xander staking one of his best friends - by ''accident.'' He couldn't do it, and only survived because a panicked bystander unknowingly shoved the vamp onto his raised stake.

** Now in the US version, Aidan is forced to stake [[spoiler: Bernie, his ten year old neighbor, because as a child he cannot control his emotions or appetites]]. A little later on, Aidan again stakes [[spoiler: Rebecca at her request.]]

-->'''Bobby:''' She was the love of my live. [[TearJerker How many times do I have to kill her?]]

* A vampire hunter in a ''Series/{{Sliders}}'' episode does this after finding his wife in a coffin, before the other vampires swarm him. Quinn is ready to do this to Wade, except she hasn't been bitten and was just sleeping in the coffin.

** After the season 2 reveal that [[spoiler: the virus is in all of them and when they die, regardless of if they were bit or not, they will rise again as a walker]], it becomes standard procedure to stab or shoot their loved ones in the head whenever they die. One of the more disturbing examples is [[spoiler: Carl, a young teenage boy, shooting his mother in the head after she dies in childbirth]].

* In the Music/SoundHorizon song "Koibito wo Uchiotoshita Hi" ("The Day I Shot Down My Lover"), a girl must kill her lover - who saved her life from a monster - when the venom from his battle wound cause him to turn into a monster himself.

* In ''VideoGame/MeltyBlood'', Riesbyfe's path takes place in a timeline where Sion fell to vampirism, and she had to kill her. Then she had to do the same thing to Dust of Osiris; a copy of a version of Sion from a possible future that never came to be (It's complicated). She does this knowing that Dust of Osiris is sustaining Riesbyfe's existance. "I hope to see you again, my friend; after the darkness."

* The ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' comic shows Zoey's back story that occurred a week after the zombie outbreak. A zombie breaks into the apartment and bites Zoey's mother. She gets infected and attacks Zoey's father, which forces him to shoot her dead. Fearing that he is now infected, Zoey's father asks her to shoot him, which she tearfully does so. This scene is more gut wrenching when Zoey discovers that the carrier gene (what prevents people from becoming a zombie) is passed down on the father's side on the family, [[SenselessSacrifice thus there was a chance Zoey's father could have been just fine]].

See also ICannotSelfTerminate, MercyKill. SubTrope of KillTheOnesYouLove and TragicMonster. Compare and contrast SupportingTheMonsterLovedOne, which is this trope's alternative. Not to be confused with ''[[StalkerWithACrush stalking]]'' [[StalkingIsLove the loved one]].

* ''Literature/StormOfSwords'': Tormund Giantsbane's son dies of exposure and comes back as a wight.

See also ICannotSelfTerminate, MercyKill. SubTrope of KillTheOnesYouLove and TragicMonster. Not to be confused with ''[[StalkerWithACrush stalking]]'' [[StalkingIsLove the loved one]].

* On ''Series/ForeverKnight'', in "A More Permanent Hell" [=LaCroix=] is brought across by his early-teen daughter Divia to escape the destruction of Pompei, but when she declares that mortal rules should no longer constrain them, and they should become lovers, LaCroix [[EvenEvilHasStandards is horrified]], and [[spoiler:beheads Divia and imprisons her remains in a sarcophagus]].
** Later, in the final episode, [[spoiler:Nick asks LaCroix to stake him so that he and Natalie can die together, telling LaCroix that he should do it because of their friendship. (The scene cuts away before the actual staking, though, so it's a popular fan theory that LaCroix instead smacked Nick in the head with the wood and brought Natalie across.)]]

* On ''Series/ForeverKnight'', [=LaCroix=] has to stake his daughter for much the same reason Spike later staked his mom on Buffy.[[note]] Wanting to 'shag' him.[[/note]]

* On ''Series/ForeverKnight'', [=LaCroix=] has to stake his daughter for much the same reason Spike staked his mom on Buffy.[[note]] Wanting to 'shag' him.[[/note]]

* {{Subverted}} in ''Manga/{{Parasyte}}''--Shinichi tries to do this to the Parasite who killed/infested [[spoiler:his mom]], but freezes up at the critical moment. [[NonProtagonistResolver Mamoru Uda and Jaw kill her instead]], with the former arguing that he shouldn't have to be the one to do it.

* This situation comes up a few times during ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'', with the drama therein played to the hilt every time.

* [[TearJerker The most heart wrenching decision]] you'll have to make in ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' and possibly in video games in general) [[spoiler:comes at the end where Lee is about to succumb to the infection that will turn him into a zombie, and the player must decide whether to have Clementine shoot him or simply run and leave him. It seems like a pretty clear cut choice and it would for most, but given the hell that poor Clementine has been through for most of the game, having to shoot the man who's faithfully protected her through it all must seem like murder. Whether she does it or not is up to the player, but either way, its hard to watch.]]

** Doing this to [[spoiler:Sakura]] instead of trying to find a way to save her, on the other hand, is not recommended, as this will net you a Bad End where [[spoiler:Shirou effectively becomes Kiritsugu 2.0, with no qualms about killing anyone in the way of winning the Holy Grail War, up to and including Rin and Ilya]].

One of the occupational hazards of DemonSlaying involves the death of your friends and family out of vengeance from the monsters you hunt. But sometimes the monsters don't just kill your loved ones. No, sometimes they get ''extra'' sadistic and [[TragicMonster turn them into one of their own]]. This puts the protagonist in the awful position of having to kill someone they truly loved.