He Knows Too Much: Difference between revisions

{{quote|'''Lucille:''' ...so there's no need to kill him.

'''Death Squad Leader:''' Yes there is, ma'am...once he's told us who else he's spoken to.

 

Somebody is involved in something dirty, or just [[Kick the Dog|did something nasty]]. Could be [[The Government]], could be [[The Mafia]] or [[The Syndicate]], could be [[General Ripper]], a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] or an [[Ancient Conspiracy]]. No matter what bad guy was involved, somebody saw it all, heard it all, or somehow caught wind of what's going down (or what went down), and the bad guy in question has found out about the witness.

 

See [[Revealing Coverup]], [[Killed to Uphold the Masquerade]] and [[Have You Told Anyone Else?]]. See also [[Leave No Witnesses]] for those situations where a roomful of people all Learn Too Much at once.

{{examples}}

* Sent in a message to {{spoiler|Professor Eifman}} in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'' just after he figured out the true agenda of {{spoiler|Celestial Being's founder}}, and just before {{spoiler|the Thrones attack the base}}, killing him in the process. Either sent by {{spoiler|[[Big Bad|Ribbons Almack]]}} or by {{spoiler|[[Master Computer|Veda itself.]]}}

{{quote|'''{{spoiler|Eifman}}'s computer screen:''' "You have witnessed too much."}}

** In Suzaku of the Counterattack, this is why {{spoiler|Schneizel}} had Marianne killed.

** In an early episode of R2, Rolo murders a Britannian soldier who walks in on a conversation he's having with Viletta for hearing things he shouldn't. And all the guy heard was the word "Geass", which he couldn't possibly have even understood.

** Played for comedy in Luffy/Ace's flashback. Luffy discovers where Ace and Sabo keep their treasure, and they state that they're going to kill him to keep him from telling, only to realize that neither of them have killed anyone before.

* In ''[[Gundam Wing]]'', all five Gundam Pilots were ordered to kill anybody who sees the Gundams or who discovers their identities. Heero takes it to an extreme, assuming that Relena knows too much without any actual evidence (she found him washed up on a beach in a spacesuit) and threatening to kill her [[Ineffectual Death Threats|for most of the series]]. In the second episode, Duo's a bit more forgiving, using a road flare to block Relena's view of Wing and Deathscythe and telling her that it's in her best interests to look away.

** The [[Non-Serial Movie]] ''Phantom of Baker Street'' reveals {{spoiler|the immediate reason for Hiroki's death is because he found out Schneider was the direct descendant of Jack the Ripper.}}

** In the Luxury Liner case, {{spoiler|Tatsuo got beaten to death by Ichiro because Tatsuo saw him trying to drop the killing weapon (which was used to kill his grandfather) in the sea.}}

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* This is essentially the reason that ''[[The Boys]]'' haven't been brutally butchered by ruthless '[[Beware the Superman|superheroes]]' the Seven; the only reason they aren't dead is that they have even more damaging information on someone that The Seven fear more.

 

* Magnificent Kamen in ''[[Sailor Nothing]]'' allows no witness to escape to reveal the [[Masquerade]]. The fact that {{spoiler|he's a [[The Heartless|Yamiko]]}} probably has something to do with that.

 

** She joins the operation as a sort of [[Sixth Ranger]] after the incident.

** Something very similar happens in the first episode of Season 3- the warehouse agents run into ATF agent Steve Jinks on a mission, and their attempts to explain the situation away don't work because he's a [[Living Lie Detector]]. Since he's in on the secret and already a federal agent, he gets recruited.

* ''[[NCIS]]''

** The episode "Witness" was based on this motive. It included a medium [[Tear Jerker]], as McGee narrowly failed to save the girl, who he'd hit it off with just the day before.

* ''[[The Nostalgia Chick]]'': In her review of [[Disney Princess]]es, The Chick guesses that ''[[The Princess and the Frog]]'' was only created because Disney needed to expand their Princess line. A [[Everythings Better With Ninjas|ninja]] is sent to silence her.

* ''[[The Nostalgia Critic]]'': In his review of ''[[Full House]]'', the Olsen Twins try and kill the Critic when he attempts to tell the world his new knowledge that they're evil.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

 

== [[Urban Legends]] ==

* In a joke, a KGB agent is questioned by his superior: "How much is 2 plus 2?" - "Four." - "And how much is 3 times 5?" - "Fifteen." - "And how much is the square root of 9?" - "Three." At the moment, the superior draws his gun and shoots the agent. "Comrades, I had to neutralize him, he knew too much!"

** [[Completely Missing the Point|Damn. Who knows what they'd have done to him if he answered "±3" for the last question?]]