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Genocide Dilemma: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|'''The Doctor''': Do I have the right? Simply touch one wire against the other, and that's it. The Daleks cease to exist. Hundreds of millions of people, thousands of generations can live without fear... in peace, and never even know the word "Dalek".<br />
'''Sarah Jane''': Then why wait? If it was a disease or some sort of bacteria you were destroying, you wouldn't hesitate!<br />
'''The Doctor''': [[If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him|But if I kill... wipe out a whole intelligent life form, then I become like them. I'd be no better than the Daleks.]] |''[[
We all know the drill. It's [[The Federation]] versus [[The Empire]], and the [[Heroes]] stop the Empire's new superweapon just in time for [[The Cavalry]] to defeat the [[Mooks]]. Now good has triumphed, how do you mop up the resistance? If the heroes are lucky, the Empire will be led by a [[Self-Disposing Villain]] or an [[Evil Overlord]] with a [[Zero
But what if the driving force behind the forces of evil is not a single [[Big Bad|Evil Overlord]], but a [[Planet of Hats]] whose hat happens to be [[Always Chaotic Evil]]? You can't very well arrest and try every inhabitant. And it will doubtlessly include children, who, if you did try them, would be acquitted because [[Children Are Innocent]]. But as long as enough remain to propagate the species, they will remain a threat.
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In the modern world, killing enemies other than in the heat of combat or after a trial is considered a war crime, and animals and plants are protected by law in most places from deliberate extinction, but in the past this was not the case. Obviously, any serious discussion of genocide in the modern world is likely to run afoul of [[Godwin's Law]], but keep in mind that for the Nazi leadership, there was never really an actual ''dilemma''.
See also [[Final Solution]] and this trope's supertrope, [[He Who Fights Monsters]]. Contrast [[Would Be Rude to Say Genocide]]. When the characters don't show this at all during a war, it might be a [[Guilt
{{examples}}
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** In an alternate history, O'Neill had never met Teal'c, and as a result, Stargate Command attacked his homeworld for this reason.
** Subverted in Season Five, again with O'Neill. Subverted in that he only threatened it, and that he most likely didn't consider the sentient computer virus that had [[Body Snatcher|taken over]] his Second in Command to actually be 'people.'
* The page quote from ''[[
** Over the course of the revival, as details of the Time War come to light, we learn that the Doctor was faced with a similar decision ''and he went through with it'', wiping out the entire Dalek race '''and''' all the Time Lords in order to bring an end to the war. Coping with [[I Did What I Had to Do|what he had to do]] is a big part of his character arc over the first four and a half series.
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[[Category:Action Adventure Tropes]]
[[Category:Genocide Dilemma]]
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