Basic Trope: A character is forced to kill a loved one.
- Straight: Bob turns evil and threatens to destroy the city. His sister Alice is the only person aware of Bob's intentions, and is forced to unwillingly kill him.
- Exaggerated: Alice reluctantly kills everyone in her family and most of her friends, for one reason or another.
- Downplayed: Rather than kill Bob directly, Alice hires a hitman.
- Justified: Only Alice is aware of Bob's Evil Plan.
- Inverted:
- Emperor Evulz is forced to kill his dragon.
- Alice is not particularly fond of Charlie, but kills him for the good of his loved ones.
- Alice conveniently finds a reason to kill everyone she dislikes.
- Subverted: Alice thinks that she has to kill Bob, but then she manages to defeat him non-fatally.
- Double Subverted: Alice is later forced to kill her friend David.
- Parodied: At first, Alice and Bob are an inseparable Brother–Sister Team. When Alice is told that she has to kill Bob, she does it without a second thought and immediately forgets that he ever existed.
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted:
- No one ever has to kill someone they love.
- Cannot Kill Their Loved Ones
- Enforced: ???
- Lampshaded: "To this day, I still wonder if I was right to kill Bob." "You had to do it, Alice, or he would have burned down the town. Odds are we'd all be dead now."
- Invoked: Alice knows that she is the only person aware of Bob's intent to destroy the city. As such, it is up to her to stop him at any cost.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: Alice refuses to kill anyone.
- Discussed: "No, I certainly will not kill him! I know there's another way to foil his Evil Plan."
- Conversed: ???
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