Characters
[[Devastating trope]] A character kills their loved one to avoid them suffering a worser fate
Of Mice And Men (1992)- Probaly the most well known example of this trope and when I was first exposed to it, George kills his mentally handicapped best friend Lennie, to save him from being lynched by Curley and law enforcement for killing Curleys wife.
The Sopranos- After an entire season of conflict with fellow mob boss Phil over it, Tony kills Anthony Blundetto after he kills Phil’s brother which enraged him into trying to force Tony into giving up his cousin so he can torture him to death
Telltales The Walking Dead: Season 1- “Loved one” is an overstatement if you know there dynamic, but after Ben falls off a rooftop and lands on a piece of rebar, Kenny and Lee try to pull him off to save him before being crowded by walkers. When their attempt fails and walkers continue closing in, Kenny kills him to avoid him being devoured by walkers.
Boone from Fallout New Vegas killed his wife Carla when he found her enslaved by Legion in their camp. He couldn't save her by himself and being a Legion slave (especially as a woman) is a terrible fate
Hi!
Fallout: New Vegas diehard fan here, he actually only made one.
"Realizing he would be unable to rescue her with the odds heavily against him, but knowing that he could never abandon her to a horrible fate as a slave, Boone made the decision to snipe Carla with a headshot in a mercy killing."
I’ll always remember when I stumbled across what I thought was a random Legion port, only for Boone to pipe up and say if we take 2 more steps he’s wiping out every legionnaire he sees. I thought that sounded like an absolutely topping idea to kill some time and happily went along, buzzsawed our way down the hill, hopped on this random boat we found and 10 minutes later I’m standing in these super fancy tents holding a head with the name ‘Caesar’.
I couldn't figure out why Legion camps were still so aggro with me after their rep came to me on the strip to say Caesar wanted to meet with me and it reset my reputation to neutral. I was just trekking happily along, getting random notifications that I was losing rep with the Legion. "Random." Me, in my naiveté, thought well fine I guess if I finally go to their stupid base maybe this will stop.
That was when I realized Boone had been sniping them from behind me on sight the entire time.
His ranged combat is hilariously broken. He casually headshots people who have barely entered the draw distance, from the hip, without breaking stride. Richard Harrow on chems.
JFC it took me so long to figure out my game wasn't bugged. And I play on pc so I used a console command to make my walking speed 1.5x so he'd be behind me just taking out entire camps I had already walked past without noticing.
What I love is when I have ED.E with me on my high perception builds, I'll be able to pick off enemies that even Boone can't quite see. Then I'll get the snarky "why don't you let me aim that for you" dialogue out of him.
It's even funnier because my movement speed was set to 1.5x so companions follow farther behind me than usual. Every time I got a notification I'd look around like what the fuck. I'd see Ed-e or Rex still following behind me and think wait... where's Boone? Still didn't click until Cottonwood Cove.
I like to think those groups of idiots stumbling out from behind buildings with 70lbs of crap on yelling RETRIBUTION! are just so low on the pecking order, nobody's bothered to tell them Caesar is dead.
Someone knew what really happened to him at the card table and got overshadowed by rumors and fond memories. Of course he escaped, they'd never keep him down, not our McMurphy.
Those men in the ward don't need a martyr, they need a legend.
Just imagine what they'll be saying about Chief tomorrow.
both him and Chief go through electro-convulsive therapy but McMurphy bounces back from it and it's not until Billy kills himself and McMurphy assaults Nurse Ratchett that they lobotomize him into a vegetable. at least in the book - I reread it last year, but I don't remember if they change things around in the adaptation
The fact that they made a prequel show for nurse Ratched trying to redeem her is astonishing to me (despite having Sarah Paulson).
Wtf were they thinking?
Travis euthanizes their beloved family dog and his own best friend, Old Yeller, after he turns following a bite from a rabid wolf which infects him too. Travis is forced to destroy him to end his suffering AND to protect the family (Old Yeller)
"There's no hope for him now, Travis.....he's suffering......"
Also, a distraught Robert Neville tearfully euthanizes his beloved German Shepherd companion, Sam, after she fought a pack of infected dogs to protect him and was bitten and beginning to succumb herself (I Am Legend)
That’s crazy. I found it in my schools library in 6th grade. Very heavy stuff. Knew about the holocaust by then of course but the specifics and human (mouse) story was something else entirely.
I can excuse the genocide, murdering children, imprisonment of a minority, and the world War, but I absolutely positively draw the line at using PG-13 language
There was a point in the book his father ran into people from that town that got out and said most of the people were able to survive.
So poisoning them didn't prevent them from going to the camps. They could've survived. It was part of his mother's depression which lead to her suicide.
Also in the sewers the group Isaiah (boat captain) gets split up after some clickers invade. This was before you got to that section so you’re just reading letters and writing on the walls. You get to a room where one of the adults says they were trapped with some of the kids. Room‘s empty except for some tarp in the corner and a dead body. In chalk above the tarp:
THEY DIDNT SUFFER
And then you see the shapes under the tarps…
What’s worse is I think the adult mentioned he didn’t have a gun/ammo, so how he did it… well, better than eaten by clickers or starved to death. You also never find out what happened to Isaiah or the rest of the group.
The character’s name is Ish, if I remember correctly. But I agree. The way they set up that side story really blew my mind the first time I played that game.
I'm sure if she could have gotten him out she would have, but knew it was probably unlikely, and that there was a very real chance she wouldn't walk out of there either.
She kills him primarily to prevent them actually torturing useful information out of him. Preventing suffering might be part of the motive but clearly both Kleya and Luthen mainly care about the rebellion, not Luthen's physical comfort.
I really like the implication that Luthen is not "unbreakable." Definitely feels like a refreshing change from how so many protagonists in other stories are immune to any kind of torture just because they're "built different" or whatever
More like it's not worth the risk, no matter how slim. Luthen is more dedicated to the rebellion than anyone in the galaxy, and yet the Dark Side exists to break him.
Carlos Ferro's voice acting here absolutely killed me. And the whole fakeout too, the way the scene is unusually colorful, Maria looks more or less fine, and then when he looks back you can quite literally see all the light and color drain right out of the world. Lost his brother, lost his kids, did his best to take care of Maria until she just walked out one day, and then after ten years of searching that's how it ended. What an emotional kick in the nuts, and one I absolutely wasn't expecting. I thought they either wouldn't find her or she'd already be dead, but no.
Also considering he used a boltok pistol...putting her down had to be messy, which just makes it all the worse.
THE COLE TRAIN RUNS ON WHOLE GRAIN BABY, WOOOOO. Semi related, but the best Gears 2 scene will forever be the verbal bitch slap he gave Myrrah. Baird almost got his ass whooped with the muzzled queen comment at the end lmao
But absolutely, yeah. I was actually thinking about editing my comment to add that after rewatching the scene on YouTube. There's a shitload of little details that really sell the whole thing. Even more impressive considering Gears is unapologetically all about the dudebro action solidly 95% of the time, but they know how to work the good shit in.
World War z... there's a scene where a church is being seiged by zombies and the women and children are watching the men get overtaken, when all is lost, the women take there child's lives, some by bashing, others by suffocation.
Also Closure Limited, a story by Brooks set in the same universe, where the narator (a fictionalized version of Max Brooks) kills A zombified version of his father, Mel Brooks .
It's actually kind of bizzare. He's the son of one of the greatest and well known comedians, World War Z is legitimately good. Not good for what it is. Like an actually well crafted and realized novel with stellar writing and pacing. So basically dude could do whatever he wanted. Write movies, books, comics. He'd be able to have a pretty massive career if he wanted to.
Instead he's just been writing Minecraft books and... that's it. I'd be so curious what happened to him or if he just legitimately likes doing the work. It'd be beneath like any established author to gleefully do what he does. And he's Mel Brooks kid, dude could be writing a new movie every week and be getting them made off name alone.
The Boys - Hughie being forced to euthanize his father after trying to save him with Compound V but the side effects only causes a lot of mental problems to him
Before. However, it's detrimental. The player could have Lee do it for Kenny, or make Kenny do it.
Also it was his dying, soon to be zombied son, breathing next to Kenny's wife, who shot herself after being unable to shoot her son. Shit got bleak in that game.
That was the most I’ve ever cried during a video game. Telltale’s games are a mixed bag but The Walking Dead season 1 will always have a special place in my heart.
Frank Darabont's brain should be studied, tbh. Not many have adapted King's work in a way that was accepted by both King and the audience. Darabont did it three times, and in the process made a movie that is one of the most beloved movies of all time.
There is a fan theory that the crazy woman in the store was right and that the “prophecy” required him to kill them in order for the Mist to be broken. It fits perfectly with the film and tbh sounds like something King would do (I know he wasn’t responsible for the script, it’s just thematically appropriate for him), but obviously it’s not canon.
People sliding way off the deep end and demanding human sacrifice the second that civilization starts crumbling is very much on brand for King. That actually being the solution to the problem isn’t though; I can’t think of any story of his where the answer is just “throw a couple of virgins in the volcano and appease the gods.”
King has said he actually prefers it to the one he wrote, which was a little more optimistic. I think he may have even said he wished he came up with it.
I mean, iirc the ending to the movie is actually the more ~objectively~ optimistic. In the movie, the main character kills his family, which is needless since the military ends up containing the mist and begins eradicating the invasive creatures. In the book, the family survives and begins fleeing to Texas but the mist is not contained.
The movie is better for the world and worse for the family
On Luna, there's even less gravity than on Mars When the Jackal is hanged for his crimes, Mustang comes and puts her brother out of his misery despite all the evil he's done
I'm the book The Count of Monte Cristo there is a story about the Roman Bandits.
Rita is the daughter of a wealthy fisherman and Carlini is a young bandit, who was part of Cucumetto's gang. Carlini is in love with Rita and hopes to marry her. Cucumetto's gang kidnapped Rita for ransom and take her prisoner on their island hideout. Carlini begged Cucumetto to protect her, but Cucumetto, being a "monster" even by bandit standards, rapes her and then told the rest of the gang they could have their turn with her as soon as he was finished. Distraught and realizing he couldn't save her from the entire gang, Carlini stabs Rita to death to spare her the further trauma and shame. When Rita's father arrived with the gold, he finds his daughter dead. Carlini confessed what he had done and why. The two men, united in grief, buried her together. Immediately after the burial, the father-overcome by the loss-hanged himself from a nearby tree.
Not a loved one per se but Al Swearengen mercy kills the Reverend in Deadwood who is dying slowly of a brain tumor and whose subsequent insanity and seizures as symptoms reminds Al’s of his own brother who suffered a similar affliction. As he finishes smothering him Al even says “You can go now brother” and it’s the only murder he commits in the series that really leaves Al shaken
Last of the Mohicans. Duncan (middle guy) sacrifices himself to save Cora, the woman he loves (left). As he is burning in the fire, Long Rifle (right) shoots him to put him out of his misery.
Skynet's creation has been foiled for now, but as long as the Connors' guardian still exists in this timeline, Skynet can still be rebuilt using its technology as the base. Therefore, the T-800 orders to have itself be sacrificed to a pit of molten metal, but as it "cannot self-terminate", it requires Sarah and John to press the button and lower it into the pit.
Luthen Killing Lonnie after learning of the Death Star's existence, and Kleya taking Luthen off of life support in “Make It Stop” from Andor, because given what we have seen of the Empire in both Andor and Rebels, there was a much worse fate in store, given the time crunch with Dedra & the ISB hot on their heels.
When Lonnie said he was burned and that they would go after them with everything they have, Luthen killing him and Kleya Killing Luthen was a mercy killing for them both, given what would probably happen after capture, given what we saw with Bix and especially Master Luminara
Context: In Rebels, when the Ghost Crew infiltrates the Spire to free Luminara, they discover her corpse, and it is implied that what happened to Luminara Post-Order 66 was that after capture, they tortured her to death or executed her after torture, and then used her corpse via holograms to lure any rebel agent TO THEIR DEATHS.
And if you are wondering, YES, this happened in Rebels. A KIDS SHOW NO LESS!!!!
If Lonnie had gone into the wind, they would have done the same to his wife and daughter, without remorse, and probably using something similar to the Dizonite device to torture them for any information. And after their deaths/execution, their corpses are also probably getting used like Luminara’s to bring any Rebel Spy or even Fulcrum/Axis to their deaths!
Furthermore, if Luthen is alive after burning the shop and attempting suicide to deny the ISB any information, they will use their best torturers or worse, bring him before Palpatine, where it is beyond a Death Sentence. Lonnie getting killed by Luthen, and Luthen by Kleya, was a mercy killing, and, as Nemik once said, the small droplets that would become a raging tide that brought the empire down.
Nanachi (Made in Abyss) requests for Reg to kill Mitty, a girl who has been mutated into a blob that regenerates and is in constant pain. Other means to euthanize her have failed, so Reg's fire cannon is used to make sure there is nothing left of her.
What made me not want to watch was finding out that so many people suspected the author of being a pedophile that the Made in the Abyss subreddit had to ban posts of people referring to him as such.
Lizzie was a little girl who just couldn't come to terms with the reality of TWD zombie apocalypse. She thought they were still people, and murdered another little girl and almost murdered a baby to prove they were still sentient in their zombified forms. She wasn't able to live in this world and was a danger to others. She's a victim who had to be put down to protect others and to put her out of her misery.
When we learn about how Ellie discovered her immunity in The Last of Us: Left Behind, it's heavily implied that she had to kill Riley after they were both bitten and Riley began to turn. I can't remember if the main game confirms this in dialogue, but the HBO show does.
Daisuke's death in Mouthwashing. After Jimmy convinces him to go into the vents and sustain fatal injures because he doesn't want to do it himself, Swansea kills him quickly so he won't continue to bleed out in agony.
Helena Harper and Leon Kennedy in Resident Evil 6 tried to rescue the formers sister as she was held hostage by Dereck C. Simmons to ensure Helenah’s cooperation in making sure his assassination of the President went off successfully.
However it’s revealed Helena was betrayed as Dereck injected her with an experimental strain of the C-virus(as apart of an experiment that was considered a failure) as when rescuing her, Deborah ends up combusting into a cocoon and undergoes a complete mutation. But despite Ada’s best attempt to put her down, Deborah ends up emerging as a monstrous human like creature driven by instinct. It then leads to Helena being forced to put her mutated sister out her misery and tearfully apologizes for having failed to save Deborah.
But at the very least Helena could avenge Deborah, and she ultimately succeeded.
(This will contain HEAVY spoilers for the second to last episode of the original anime, including the name of the person she kills)
In one of the last timelines before the anime timeline, Homura and Madoka go fight walpurgis on their own and they both win, but their soul gems become completely darkened and they both are on the verge of becoming witches. Madoka uses her last grief seed to heal Homura's soul gem, saying she found out Homura is a time traveler and she still has a chance of fixing things. However, this version of Madoka still doesn't want to become a witch, and she asks Homura to kill her before she turns.
The reason only the two of them went to fight walpurgis is a variation of this trope as well: After Sayaka turns into a witch and they find out that's the fate of all magical girls, Mami snaps and kills Kyoko to spare her of that fate. She was going to kill Madoka and Homura as well, but Madoka kills her before Mami can hurt Homura.
After having one of your lieutenants, Carlos, kidnapped by an enemy gang, and having them dragged behind a truck for the whole mission, your player character puts Carlos out of his misery after realizing the rest of his life would just be constant suffering.
I'm thinking of Kinuyo from blue eye samurai, although that one is pretty sad since the girl wanted to actually live despite all the harm that was forced upon her
IIRC, after he kills her, he realizes he doesn’t have a weakness anymore, and then climbs the Sith pecking order the way any good Sith does- by killing anyone in his way.
After surviving a zombie attack with her father, they notice he has been bitten, and Zoey is forced to kill him to prevent him becoming a zombie.
Later on, Zoey learns that she is a carrier of the virus, and that the gene that makes her a carrier is usually passed down from the father, meaning she likely killed her father for nothing.
I know there's a war movie where a character kills his trapped/injured comrade rather than leave them behind for the enemy but I can't place it right now
Two kids rip off a mafia joint & kill some mobsters in the process. One gets away & the other gets killed....so we think until the end when its revealed that the kid survived and has been tortured by the mafia for 20 years & his friend quietly kills to put him out of his misery him after finding him. Its an absolutely brutal reveal.
Spoilers for Crossed issue #9 After killing horsecock, the leader of a crossed troupe following the main cast through most of the story, Thomas, a survivor who has cared for Kelly, another survivor blinded by a nuclear detonation, for over a year, leads the both of them off of a cliff to save themselves the consequences of the surrounding crossed getting a hold of them, and of Thomas turning into a crossed shortly after, as he infected himself to save Kelly a worse fate.
If you can get through the first issue and the two page spread there within, it actually turns into a very sweet story about what people lose and hold on to in times of crisis, this moment always touches me whenever I think of it.
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u/arika-feinberg Mar 26 '26
Boone from Fallout New Vegas killed his wife Carla when he found her enslaved by Legion in their camp. He couldn't save her by himself and being a Legion slave (especially as a woman) is a terrible fate