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Cruel Mercy: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|'''Winnie''': His punishment will not be to die...but to live forever with his guilt.}}
* In the end of ''[[Ever After (film)|Ever After]]'', Danielle saves her stepmother and stepsister from transportation to America, and almost certain death. When the queen asks her what shall be done with them instead, she simply asks "That you show them the same kindness that she showed me." That kindness would be de facto slavery.
* In the biopic film ''[[Elizabeth (film)|Elizabeth]]'', the titular queen has Wolsingham expose the catholic plots to assassinate her, culminating in her ex-lover Lord Robert Dudley being exposed as one of the conspirators after she previously rejected him. He knows he is destined for execution as a traitor to the crown and begs for it, but Elizabeth decides: "I rather think to let you live; to remind me of how close I came to being weak."
== Literature ==
* In the end of Thomas Sniegoski's ''Fallen'' series, the [[The Chosen One|hero]], Aaron [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|forgives]] [[Our Angels Are Different|Verchiel]], causing him to go back to heaven. Since [[Knight Templar|Verchiel]] has spent the last few millenia [[Nice Job Breaking It, Herod|systematically wiping out various angelic offspring]], allowing eldritch abominations to thrive on Earth by ignoring his job, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|generally being a douche]], the welcoming reception is NOT pretty.
* A Battle Sister in the ''[[Warhammer
** In Trooper Caffran's [[Day in The Limelight]] in ''[[Gaunt's Ghosts|Ghostmaker]]'', his squad encounters and defeats a Khornate Chaos cult, which worships death. As a reward, he gets to execute the cult leader personally - but refuses, saying that since the cultist longs for death, keeping him alive is the real way to punish him. Gaunt agrees.
* Frodo in ''The [[Lord of the Rings]]'' does this to Saruman. Or so Saruman alleges.
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* D'Hoffryn pulls one of these on Anya in an episode of [[Buffy]]. Overwhelmed with guilt over slaughtering a fraternity for a vengeance wish, Anya begs D'Hoffryn to undo it. He tells her the price is the life of a vengeance demon; to atone for her actions, she is all too happy to accept death. He then {{spoiler|summons Anya's friend Halfrek and kills her instead.}}
{{quote|'''D'Hoffryn''': Haven't I taught you anything, Anya? Never go for the kill when you can go for the pain.}}
* In ''[[Star Trek: The
** One could argue that forcing Cyrano Jones to pick up every single tribble on K-7 (a task estimated by Spock to take 17.9 ''years'') is a form of Cruel Mercy on Kirk's part. Especially when you consider there's nothing to stop the tribbles breeding...
** A [[Crowning Moment of Funny]] in one ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Deep Space Nine]]'' episode has a Cardassian defense lawyer win his case, in defiance of Cardassian tradition (which holds that criminals brought into court are automatically guilty). This isn't precisely Cruel Mercy, but the expression on the lawyer's face when Odo tells him that he has won the case is pretty horrified.
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* In ''[[Iji]]'' you can bypass {{spoiler|the second battle with Asha}} [[Pacifist Run|instead of killing him in a duel to the death]]. You end up {{spoiler|[[Driven to Suicide|crushing his ego so deeply that he kills himself in despair]]}}.
* Near the end of ''[[Dragon Quest VIII]]'', Angelo saves {{spoiler|Marcello}} from a [[Disney Villain Death]]. Given that he had just given a massive [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]] to a crowded amphitheater that veered into [[Evil Gloating]], then was possessed by [[Satan|Rhapthrone]] and resurrected the demon's body in front of said crowd, leaving his ambition, reputation and ''everything'' he'd spent his entire life working for in tatters... yeah, death would've been kinder. Getting saved by the {{spoiler|half-brother}} he despised was just another kick in the side at that point.
* In ''[[
{{quote|'''Kerrigan''': "I said you are free to go. I've already taken your honor. I'll let you live because I know that from now on your every waking moment will be torture. You'll never be able to forgive yourself for what I've forced you to do. And that, Zeratul, is a better revenge than I could have ever dreamed of."}}
** She also showed cruel mercy to Mengsk:
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** According to Mr. House, sparing General Oliver in an Independent Vegas ending either with House or you in charge counts as this. He will be forced to go back west humiliated and empty-handed as a scapegoat for leading thousands of soldiers to die in an unpopular war with his chance at a political career nonexistent. House even calculates a probability of him even committing suicide from it all.
* Near the end of ''[[Star Wars: Bounty Hunter]]'', Jango Fett faces down his arch-nemesis, Montross. Aside from doggedly attempting to kill Fett and steal bounties from him, Montross was personally responsible for the deaths of both Fett's foster figure and a later mother figure. After Fett beats Montross in their final duel, the defeated man gasps that he deserves a better death than this. So Fett leaves him alive, ignoring his pleas that Jango finish him, and Montross is subsequently given the extremely ignominious death of being torn apart by feral cultists.
* Subverted in ''[[Dawn of War]]: Dark Crusade'': Eliphas the Inheritor is confronted by a daemon who blows off his attempts to place the blame on his followers but instead of torturing him in [[Warhammer
{{quote|'''Eliphas:''' [[Oh Crap|No]]! I will NOT go to the [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Basilica of Torment]] again!
'''Daemon:''' The Basilica is reserved for those who may redeem themselves. [[You Have Failed Me...|You will have no such opportunity]]. }}
* In ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', Archangel's loyalty mission involves hunting down [[The Mole]] who betrayed his squad; not only killing all ten of them, but also horribly scarring Archangel in the process. When you get to him you have the option of letting Archangel shoot him with a sniper rifle from a distance, or talking to him. If you do so he reveals that he is wracked with guilt for what he did. "I don't eat. I don't sleep. All I see are their faces, staring at me, accusing me. Some days... some days I think about just ending it all." Since it's [[Role
** [[The Mole]] did not cause Archangel's scars - at least not directly - since Archangel was hit by a missile from an attack aircraft. Paragon Shepard, who is an extreme [[Magnetic Hero]] who inspires others to do what's right, convinces Archangel with a mix of this trope and reminding Archangel that, though a [[Cowboy Cop]] turned [[Vigilante Man]], he's still a good man. Alien. Whatever. Avoiding the Mole's death is always a Paragon act.
** Aside from this, there was an instance in the [[Mass Effect 1]] DLC ''Bring Down the Sky" that allowed something similar. If you opt to let some hostages die in order to capture batarian terrorist Balak, you can either kill him outright or spare him. Doing the latter means taking him to the planet he'd tried to destroy to stand trial...which, incidentally, was where the hostages came from.
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[[Category:Villain Ball]]
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