Basic Trope: A character swears off revenge against another character but refuses to forgive them.
- Straight: Alex corners Brian, who was the one who murdered his best friend Charlie. He doesn't kill him but lets him know that he will not be forgiven for his crimes.
- Exaggerated: Alex frowns upon revenge, even the most lesser forms of it, but when he confronts Brian, who killed his family, he gives him a scathing speech on why he doesn't deserve forgiveness.
- Downplayed: Alex decides for a less severe punishment that still satisfies him.
- Justified:
- Alex believes that if he kills Brian, he would start the Cycle of Revenge. As for forgiving Brian, on the other hand, he is still hurt by Brian's crime and doesn't approve of the idea of being friends with someone who killed his best friend.
- Alex feels that Brian isn't worth killing and he would rather give him Cruel Mercy.
- Alex just realized that killing Brian would leave them with no chance of him fixing the damage he has done and has opted to let him have that chance. If he succeeds, then he'll be forgiven, but if he fails?
- Inverted:
- Alex punishes Brian for murdering his best friend Charlie right before forgiving him entirely.
- Alex forgives Brian but still needs to kill him to stop him.
- Subverted:
- Alex changes his mind and decides to kill Brian since there's no point in letting him go if he doesn't forgive him."
- Alex decides to turn Brian over to the police, knowing that he will certainly be tried and executed.
- Double Subverted:
- Alex then changes his mind AGAIN and lets Brian live.
- Alex asks for the sentence to be reduced to a less severe punishment.
- Parodied: As Alex walks away, the camera pans to the massive amount of minions Alex killed on his way to get to Brian.
- Zig Zagged: Alex doesn't necessarily want to spare Brian, but has reason to think it would be a bad idea in the long run. He has him arrested instead.
- Averted:
- Alex forgives Brian.
- Alex takes his revenge.
- Enforced: The author doesn't believe in killing people under any circumstances, and doesn't want his heroes to either.
- Lampshaded: "So you won't punish me, but won't forgive me? Suppose I could attack."
- Invoked: Brian points out that he's pretty much beaten and that there's really no point in killing him, even if he's evil.
- Exploited: Brian sees that Alex won't get back at him despite not forgiving him and decides to provoke him.
- Defied: "What the fuck am I doing? I won't let you get off that easily! Here's a taste of revenge, you asshole!"
- Discussed: "I'm honestly getting kind of tired of all this killing, maybe there's another option."
- Conversed: "I guess Alex doesn't HAVE to kill Brian, but why keep him alive if he's not going to forgive him? Maybe it'll make sense later."
- Deconstructed: Despite refusing to pay Brian back for his crime, Alex is nonetheless called out by others for not forgiving him, especially if it's learned that Brian is truly remorseful for his actions.
- Reconstructed: Only for the others to greatly distrust Brian as well whenever they cross paths again, due to his past actions, or his general attitude, which Alex calls out on them as well.
- Played For Laughs: Brian points out that since he's still going to prison, Alex's actions don't help him that much at all.
- Played For Drama: Brian is still evil,and because Alex didn't kill him when he had the chance, he continues to commit atrocities, having learned nothing from the experience.
Back to Spared, but Not Forgiven
