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Anime & Manga
"There's a lesson here on the value of mercy: its only value is to your foe."
—Frieza, Dragon Ball Z Kai
"You know that above all I detest sentimental tripe like 'Honor' or 'Mercy.' This is war! All that matters is victory!"
—Don "Foul Play" Krieg, One Piece
"With kindness comes naïveté. Courage becomes foolhardiness. And dedication has no reward. If you can't accept any of that, you are not fit to be a magical girl."
—Homura Akemi, Puella Magi Madoka Magica
All this time I've been such a fool. Kindness, is just another word for weakness.
—Shu Ouma, Guilty Crown (english dub)
Comic Books
"What fools, who mistake honor for weakness."
Superman: You killed them? Just like that? Satanis, you're filth!
Lord Satanis: Hardly, Superman. I am simply one who acknowledges his destiny. I am one who hungers for power and will do whatever must be done to sate my cravings! But you could never understand that, could you? You possess great powers, yet you squander them away helping mindless dolts who could never appreciate what you do for them.
Lord Satanis: Hardly, Superman. I am simply one who acknowledges his destiny. I am one who hungers for power and will do whatever must be done to sate my cravings! But you could never understand that, could you? You possess great powers, yet you squander them away helping mindless dolts who could never appreciate what you do for them.
Splyce: "Your affection for the weak is baffling! And it is your downfall!
Supergirl: "Caring about the vulnerable isn't a weakness!" (ripping Splyce's tentacles off) "It is my biggest strength!"
Supergirl: "Caring about the vulnerable isn't a weakness!" (ripping Splyce's tentacles off) "It is my biggest strength!"
"But like many before him— and since— the General mistook peace for complacency, and mercy for lack of resolve. Now, as Krypton defends its tradition of tranquility, Zod discovers his error...
"'Last rites'? Come on, Superman— You do not really mean that! It is against your personal code to kill any living being! And that will be your undoing! You two should have killed— when you had the chance! You will not get another!"
— Amalak, The Plague of the Antibiotic Man
"The gun that killed our parents. I take it everywhere as a reminder. They died because they lived by ethical codes. That was the lesson in the alley. The lesson: it's time to learn. I've seen hundreds of worlds, Bruce. On every one we go down for the same reason. Because you restrain yourself by believing in others. Because you hold back. It's what led you to this...led you here. But Batman should be the perfect survivor. The apex predator. That's his final form."
— The Batman Who Laughs, Dark Nights: Metal
"Ha, ha, ha... the conscience! That's the reason why you can't pull the trigger. You are mearely a poor devil, full of those morals and scruples. You've got class. But you'll never make it, dragging that load. You're missing the most important thing, which allows a guy like me to get to the top... cold blood."
— Ivo Statoc, Blacksad
Fan Works
"After all I've done, you still want me alive. Your kindness sickens me."
—Orochi Mae, Radiant Garden Renegades
Shampoo had never killed anyone before. She knew she had it in her to do it, but deep inside her soul, in a place she didn't like to admit existed, she didn't want to. For an Amazon, these pangs of... mercy?... were an unforgivable weakness.
Film
"Your compassion is a weakness your enemies will not share."
—Henri Ducard/Ra's al Ghul to Bruce Wayne, Batman Begins
"We do not train to be merciful here. Mercy is for the weak. Here, in the street, in competition: a man confronts you, he is the enemy. An enemy deserves no mercy."
Knuckles: He [Sonic] chose helping the fox over pursuing the compass.
Robotnik: Of course he did. New friends, same pathetic weakness.
Robotnik: Of course he did. New friends, same pathetic weakness.
"Strong enough to have it all... too weak to take it!"
— Dr. Norman Osborn / Green Goblin, Spider-Man: No Way Home
"I need you all in. Dunleavy ruined both our lives, and you tried to help that piece of shit? You failed that test. Now I need you to choose who you're really with."
— The Spiral Killer, Spiral (2021)
Literature
If the civopric of Koolali dies, then their aide has been training to take their place. And if they're both killed, then the village will struggle, but someone will step up. They have more people with experience to lead and govern, because those people aren't seen as a threat to the person in power. They're seen as an asset to the community.
The sorts of people who would like to take, and never give back, are the sorts of people who would call this "weakness." But their strength is a brittle one, and it can be ended with the briefest notice of anyone above them.
Literally above them.
Me. I am talking about me.
The sorts of people who would like to take, and never give back, are the sorts of people who would call this "weakness." But their strength is a brittle one, and it can be ended with the briefest notice of anyone above them.
Literally above them.
Me. I am talking about me.
— Lily, Kitty Cat Kill Sat
The kindness that consists of defending a prostitute against a citizen, a police agent against a mayor, the inferior against the superior, that is what I call ill-founded kindness. Such kindness disorganizes society. God knows, it's easy to be kind, the hard thing is to be just.
—Inspector Javert, Les Misérables
Live-Action TV
"[The A-Team] think as one, feel as one, and act as one. But with a wounded man in their midst, they cease to be that. The good of the unit becomes the good of an individual. And that will be their undoing."
— Col. Decker, The A-Team, "Curtain Call".
"Compassion is a sign of weakness."
—Fire Lord Ozai, Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024)
"Consider this my final lesson: look out for yourself. Anything else is weakness."
—Cad Bane, The Book of Boba Fett
"I've always tried to forget I was an alien or a creature. I've always tried to pretend I was human. I was raised to believe it was my Kryptonian part that was dangerous, Chloe, but I was wrong. It's my human side. It... It's the side that gets attached, the side that makes decisions based on emotions. That's my enemy. And Davis proved that to me."
—Clark Kent, Smallville
Music
"You're the heart and I'm the fist, we cannot coexist
In a universe that's ruled by strong who eat the weak
'Neath the flag of conquest
Compassion makes a ruler meek!"
In a universe that's ruled by strong who eat the weak
'Neath the flag of conquest
Compassion makes a ruler meek!"
— Fecto Elfilis, "Two Planets Approach the Roche Limit WITH LYRICS", Juno Songs
Theatre
The seven deadly virtues, those ghastly little traps
Oh no, my liege, they were not meant for me
Those seven deadly virtues were made for other chaps
Who love a life of failure and ennui.
Oh no, my liege, they were not meant for me
Those seven deadly virtues were made for other chaps
Who love a life of failure and ennui.
Toys
"There is nothing quite as magical as friendship, or so I have been told. It can make one being risk everything and take foolish chances with little hope of reward. It can also make someone incredibly easy to manipulate."
—The Shadowed One, BIONICLE
Video Games
Shas O'Kais: Do the deaths of your soldiers mean so little to you? Are you that mad?
Captain Davian Thule: Do the deaths of yours mean so much to you? Are you that weak?
"Morality! It is an invention designed to make lesser people feel superior. The universe is full of moral people, and for the most part they are deadwood. People who are preoccupied with morality never make history."
—Dr. Breddell, Judgment Rites
"With the power to manipulate time itself, you had the chance to be the greatest king the world has ever known. What wars you could've fought! What monuments you could've erected in your honor! What women you could've kept. But you failed me, Prince. You grew soft and sympathetic. My attempts to convince you to seek glory fell on deaf ears."
"Who needs friends when you can have servants? Who needs affection when you can have obedience?"
—General Tsao, Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves
"You sentimental fool! Empathy has always been the downfall of the Cooper Clan."
"You're weak. And you know what makes you weak? Your loyalty to your pathetic friends."
—Shadow to Sonic, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
“Stand amongst the ashes of a trillion dead souls, and ask the ghosts if honor matters. The silence is your answer.”
— Javik to Shepard, Mass Effect 3
Web Animation
What it means to be human. The abstraction which outlines each psyche that constitutes mankind's existence. The aggregate of sentiments that we carry for ourselves and for others. An aspect of our being that I found obsolete, in a time where progress was key. Truly, compassion is anathema to progress. A weakness I could not afford to carry at such a crucial time. In recognizing this, I cast mine aside to focus all my being on crafting mankind's future. My work to be hindered by personal attachments no more. In that time, it was my only choice. But now, in an age of the ruthless, the hateful, the prejudiced, I need it returned to me. I mean, to be human once more.
—The God-Emperor of Mankind, If the Emperor Had a Text-to-Speech Device
Skout: Mr. Paragon? N-not to be too prickly about it, but the Nomad saved us all. He came back for us. I think he didn't want us to die!
Don Paragon: A moral compass? That's just splendid, Skout, that means he's got a weakness! Good thinking!
"Only losers stick to the moral high ground. True heroes abuse their power at every opportunity."
— J.P. Beaubien, Terrible Writing Advice
Web Original
"It took me a long time to realize how important... how important attachment was. But when I did... y'know, it made me stronger. And I realized that you're– you're– you're important! [...] I– I cut my attachment. I blew up my house, I lost my friends, I lost my items, lost my crossbow, my... y'know, everything that was important to me, my pets. I cut everything, 'cause that's what gave people power over each other. The reason you're here is because I have these dumb little items. [...] If I can control the things that people are attached to, then I can control the server again! Because this isn't TOMMY SMP, or TUBBO SMP, THIS IS DREAM SMP, right?! So I can control the server if I have everything that everybody cares about! That everybody's EVER cared about! I can control everything, alright? I can turn the server back to what it USED to be."
— Dream, Dream SMP
Western Animation
"Your weakness is that you care about others. I have torn all weaknesses away and become all-powerful."
—Shredder to Splinter, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)
"This device will enable me to strike at the Autobots through Optimus Prime's only weakness- his overdeveloped sense of honor."
—Megatron, The Transformers
"Even with all the power in the world, you are still weak."
—Fire Lord Ozai after Aang refuses to finish him off, Avatar: The Last Airbender
"He said 'The poor rabbit.' Is he out of his mind?"
— Narrator, after Hans expresses sympathy for a rabbit killed in a story told in a Nazi classroom, Education for Death
"In every universe, Peter Parker stands for heroism and responsibility. Except for one. In my world, the name Peter Parker puts fear in the hearts of everyone who hears it. Heroism and Responsibility. I destroyed every fool who held such pathetic ideals."
—Wolf Spider, Ultimate Spider-Man (2012)
Duke: If you won't take care of family, I will.
Otis: You think I got where I am by looking out for others? Looking out for others is for SAPS! *laughs*
"Your precious Spyro is going to lose, because unlike him, I couldn't care less about my friends!"
—Dark Spyro, Skylanders Academy
Anakin Skywalker: Tell me the sequence to disarm the bomb!
Admiral Trench: Never! Dooku would kill me for losing Anaxes.
Anakin: (in a deadly voice) And you think I won't?
Trench: You're a Jedi. Your nobility does not allow- [Anakin slices his prosthetic limbs off]
Anakin: I don't have such weaknesses! Now, let's try that again.
Admiral Trench: Never! Dooku would kill me for losing Anaxes.
Anakin: (in a deadly voice) And you think I won't?
Trench: You're a Jedi. Your nobility does not allow- [Anakin slices his prosthetic limbs off]
Anakin: I don't have such weaknesses! Now, let's try that again.
David Xanatos: So now you know my weakness.
Goliath: Only you would regard love as a weakness.
Goliath: Only you would regard love as a weakness.
—Gargoyles, "Eye of the Beholder"
Real Life
"Humanitarianism is the expression of stupidity and cowardice"
-— Adolf Hitler
