A Real Man Is a Killer: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

[[Bob Dylan|How many roads must a man walk down before you can call him a man?]] The world may never know, but one thing is for sure: at the end of one of those roads, he had better show some unfortunate creature the end of the line.

 

Contrast [[Real Women Never Wear Dresses]], [[Badass Pacifist]]. Sometimes used in training in [[The Spartan Way]] (not to be confused with literal Spartan training, which also required this).

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* The anime ''[[Kikaider]]'' uses this concept as a last [[Twist Ending|twist out of left field]]. To "[[Become a Real Boy]]," Jiro ends up becoming capable of killing and committing other evil acts, even if they are for good reasons, due to a fusion of his concience circuit and an evil control circuit.

* In ''[[Tsukihime]]'' the plot does not kick off or get truly interesting until the protagonist begins having homicidal impulses. Indeed, without at least one major 'death' racked up in any route, nothing would happen to propel the story or character development.

* In ''[[Naruto]]'', the Hidden Mist village used to be known as the "Bloody Mist" for this reason, as the final exam for pre-Genin under the 4th Mizukage was for students to pair up and fight to the death. The practice ended after the preteen Momochi Zabuza showed up and massacred every one of the students.

* In ''[[Vinland Saga]]'', this trope comes into play when the youngest son of a rich farmer wants to become a man. The farmer's housecarls quote this trope at him and tries to get him to cut down a pair of his father's slaves. The trope is deconstructed because it's readily apparent that the situation isn't particularly 'manly' (the slaves are restrained) and the boy is a bit of a [[Emo Teen]] either way. {{spoiler|When he eventually ''does'' end up killing someone, it's by accident in a fixed duel he was intended to win so the king could accuse his father. He ends up horrified, looking at the man's corpse.}}

 

== Comic Books ==

* Aversion: [[Batman]] has a strict 'no-killing' policy and his sticking to his principles no matter how much danger it puts him in is seen as proof of his manly character.

** In ''[[All Star Batman and Robin]]'', Batman ([[In Name Only]]) trains Robin by locking him in the Batcave and forcing him to kill rats and bugs for food.

On hearing this the king walked to the window and stood for a few minutes with his back to the room, where the company of young men remained silent. Then he came back, his face white and stern.

'I tell you,' he said, 'and it is the solemn truth, that I would rather you had told me that the prince was dead, though he is my only son, than know that he would suffer such an injury without attempting to avenge it. }}

 

== Film ==

* In the 2006 ''[[Casino Royale]]'' it is revealed that secret agents are only promoted to 00 status after assassinating two targets (killing without intention to or in self-defence/heat of battle doesn't apparently count otherwise [[MI 6]] would be loaded with 00 agents). This is also a plot point in the original novel, in which Le Chiffre is [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]]'s third target; the film suggests the first two targets are Bond's first kills ever, while the books are ambiguous on this point.

* In ''[[La Femme Nikita]]'' and its American adaptation ''[[Point of No Return]]'', the main character has completed her training as an assassin. Her boss takes her out to dinner to celebrate and then reveals that it's actually a test: she has to kill a target and escape without preparation. The first episode of [[Recycled: the Series|The 1990s Series]] has the same scenario, although it is subverted in that case as Nikita uses her ingenuity to avoid killing anyone (her first on-screen kill occurs a few episodes later with no fanfare, and {{spoiler|by the end of the series she'd grown comfortable with killing to the point of being shown delivering "safety shots" into the bodies of disarmed enemies, a case of a character becoming [[Darker and Edgier]] as a series progresses}}).

 

== Literature ==

* ''[[The Red Badge of Courage]]''.

* Many gangster stories have the characters "make their bones" by killing two men. ''[[The Godfather]]'' is probably the most famous example.

{{quote|"I'm Moe Green! I made my bones when you were going out with cheerleaders!"}}

*** Not to mention loss of breathing.

* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' [[Virgin New Adventures]] novel ''No Future'' a (female) soldier tells [[The Brigadier]] how, before her secondment to UNIT, part of her training was to raise a rabbit, and then kill it. At the time, she thought she didn't mind, now she was a warrior (although she does mention crying herself to sleep later that night). The Brig's training makes her realize she did, and he tells her "Then they were bastards, Tennant, to order you to do that. What were they?"

{{quote|'''Galen:''' You must learn to kill if you expect to survive.

'''Miles:''' No, you don't. Most people go through their whole lives without killing anybody. False argument. }}

* In ''[[White Teeth]]'' by [[Zadie Smith]], at the end of the Second World War, Samad insists that Archie must prove himself by executing the sick Nazi doctor they have captured. Archie disappears into the bushes with the prisoner. A shot is heard...

* Subverted somewhat in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', in the paragraph where Faramir explains how he views the war against Sauron, not for glory but only to defend the Free peoples against a tyrant who wish to devour everything.

* ''Casino Royale'', the first [[James Bond (novel)|James Bond]] novel, describes the two kills Bond undertook in order to be promoted to 007.

 

* ''[[Night Gallery]]'' episode "Clean Kills". A wealthy hunter tries to force his son to kill a deer by threatening to disinherit him.

* ''[[Generation Kill]]'' mentions this twice—first with Trombley who joined the Marines to kill people (and complains whenever he doesn't get a chance to shoot) and later when Person (the lead Humvee driver) gets a chance to shoot at the Hajji:

{{quote|'''Person:''' Look at me, Brad. I'm a man now, just like you... except I don't look like a faggot and talk all educated.}}

** Unfortunately for Person, after this "Fruity Rudy" happened to him.

* In ''[[Firefly]]'', Jayne pretty obviously is convinced of this.

* Inverted in ''[[NCIS]]''. DiNozzo and McGee would be reasonably capable at killing when necessary, and Gibbs is obviously an expert. However ''Ziva'', though she does have moments of ambiguity, is normally more open about her ability at killing people then any of the male characters and is quite proud of it. (Or so she claims.)

 

== Video Games ==

** ''Liberty's Crusade'' has Kerrigan explain this in detail: a soldier pointed a gun at the head of one of her fellow trainees and she had to kill the soldier before he could pull the trigger. Mike immediately makes a connection between it and the death of Raynor's daughter, causing Kerrigan to lapse into [[Heroic BSOD]] on the spot.

** In ''Nova'', the titular character (who is arguably a more powerful telepath and telekinetic than Kerrigan) gets recruited into the Ghost program (not that she has a choice, but she actually wants it), and her first task is to eliminate the man who ordered her family killed. She does it with no small satisfaction. After this mission, she is mind-wiped, like all Ghosts. Subverted in that she has killed before (well, she mind-controlled a guy to shoot his boss, but that still counts).

 

== Web Comics ==

* Thomil of [[Juathuur]] is considered spineless by other characters (especially Sojueilo) because he is a healer.

* ''[[Homestuck]]'': The trolls live in a [[Crapsack World]], and if any of them (male or female) aren't capable of killing they're probably doomed. {{spoiler|Vriska pretty much gave up on Tavros after he [[Achewood|proved himself a coward who would desert a dying [wo]man]], lacking the guts to either [[Mercy Kill]] her while she was bleeding to death or just plain kill her for crippling and manipulating him. Later after killing him herself, she realises that not only does she regret it, but it's outright unheard-of among trolls for her to regret it to begin with.}}

 

== Web Original ==

* Billy had to do this in ''[[Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog]]'' before he could enter into the Evil League of Evil.

** Mildly played with, in that he would presumably been accepted for a REALLY good robbery, or just something threatening. Only failure at that caused murder to be necessary. Possibly his own.

 

== Western Animation ==

* Despite the fact that [[Negative Continuity]] pretty much undoes every rite-of-passage he's ever gone through, Bobby Hill on ''[[King of the Hill]]'' had to kill a deer to become a man. It looked like he wouldn't get a chance since the limit for hunting licenses had been reached for the year and he would be left behind by his friends who all have a kill of their own (even Kahn JR.) but fortune smiles on him when he accidentally runs a deer over during a driving lesson Hank was giving him.

** On the other hand, the roadkill incident may simply be a technicality for Hank, who had already accepted Bobby when he refused to take what they both saw as a cheap shot.

 

== Real Life ==

* Prior to the ban on lion-hunting, a Massai boy was to spear a lion as part of his rite-of-passage shortly before his circumcision. Some still do, not that it is actively encouraged anymore.

** Though it is referenced in a Star Trek TOS novel in which Uhura spears a robotic lion in a simulated safari as a rite of passage.

* Some tribes have to kill a deer or antelope to complete the passage into manhood.

* American President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] would require anyone seeking his political favor to join him on his Texas ranch where they would go "hunting" (actually, just sit in a blind while someone drove animals to them). If you wanted him to respect you as a man, you had to kill one.

** Republican National Committee leadership debate question: How many guns do you have? First three people: None. Guy: Four. Lady: Nineteen. [[The Daily Show|Jon Stewart]]: Ladies and gentlemen, your new GNC president!

* In urban legend, any number of elite special forces teams (Green Berets, SAS, the Nazi SS, etc.) required as a final test of loyalty that the candidate kill a spouse, family member, or other significant personal relation. In a widely-circulated joke based on this tale, 3 agents are candidates, one has a fiance, one is a newlywed, and one has been married for ten years. [[Rule of Three|The first two candidates chicken out and can't pull the trigger]], while the third says "[[Secret Test of Character|The gun had blanks]], so I had to beat her to death."

** Some have interpreted that as not being allowed to be ''married'' and that fooling around was permitted.

* The mining fields of [[The Wild West]], as [[Mark Twain]] describes in the autobiographical book 'Roughing It': "... (I)n a new mining district the rough element predominates, and a person is not respected until he has "killed his man." That was the very expression used. If an unknown individual arrived, they did not inquire if he was capable, honest, industrious, but—had he killed his man? If he had not, he gravitated to his natural and proper position, that of a man of small consequence; if he had, the cordiality of his reception was graduated according to the number of his dead. It was tedious work struggling up to a position of influence with bloodless hands; but when a man came with the blood of half a dozen men on his soul, his worth was recognized at once and his acquaintance sought."

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Always Male]]

[[Category:Masculinity Tropes]]

[[Category:Double Standard]]

[[Category:Plots]]

[[Category:Big Trope Hunting]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Real Man Is a Killer, A}}