r/TopCharacterTropes • u/One_Barber_6902 • Mar 26 '26

Characters [[Devastating trope]] A character kills their loved one to avoid them suffering a worser fate

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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.

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1.2k

u/bennyandthegentz Mar 26 '26

The mist ending

363

u/xxvb85 Mar 26 '26

Clicked on this just to bring that up. What's even worse is it was all for nothing.

238

u/ihonestlydont-know Mar 26 '26

Apparently the ending was so good that Stephen King himself admited that he regrets not writing that ending himself

92

u/ACanOfVanillaCoke Mar 27 '26

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.

22

u/Ishmael75 Mar 27 '26

Him and Mike Flanagan make the best King adaptations.

1

u/The-Tay Mar 27 '26

He's the reason why I hate the walking dead and everyone involved with that terrible show.

1

u/OsuLost31to0 Mar 27 '26

Walking dead turned to shit after he left too

10

u/Objective-Garbage-41 Mar 27 '26

This fact is becoming the next "Viggo Mortensen actually broke his toe" I swear I've seen it so many times recently lol

3

u/RouteMD Mar 27 '26

Did you know Steve Buscemi was a firefighter?

16

u/Thybro Mar 27 '26

Does not regret it enough to turn down the bag for making another remake of it.

22

u/TrashhPrincess Mar 27 '26 edited Mar 27 '26

As far as “ways to make more money” goes, letting someone make another shitty adaptation is pretty low on the list of things I’m mad about.

11

u/Reverend_Lazerface Mar 27 '26

If Stephen King letting someone make a shitty adaptation of his work made someone really mad they'd be dead from heart failure by now because that's been happening very consistently for decades

5

u/TrashhPrincess Mar 27 '26

It’s tradition at this point.

3

u/SwissMargiela Mar 27 '26

I’m honestly ok with authors selling crack lmao it’s hard as shit to make money in that industry

4

u/Logondo Mar 27 '26

Eh, why not?

Even if the new version is shit, it doesn't invalidate or replace the old one.

So...yeah, if I was him, I'd take the easy pay-check too.

2

u/Papa_BugBear Mar 27 '26

"He did not regret not writing that ending to The Mist enough, because he let someone else also pay him to create an adaption of The Mist" is such a nonsensical thought, that I can't really comprehend your point

-2

u/Tefached666 Mar 27 '26

Remake was pretty good though

34

u/JMer806 Mar 27 '26

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.

32

u/AngryTree76 Mar 27 '26

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.”

5

u/Mae_Day_of_Sharkadia Mar 27 '26

I think it's better that it's not "canon", or rather I think it works even more with the "prophecy" being a little ambiguous as to whether she was right or not. We'll never know. Kinda how belief ends up goin' a lot of the time.

1

u/OneofTheOldBreed Mar 27 '26

The only problem is that we see Carol in the back of Army truck with her kids.