It Gets Easier: Difference between revisions

* In ''[[Simoun]]'', the Sibyllae are originally [[Insistent Terminology|very clear]] that they are priestesses, ''not'' soldiers. They are not "fighting," they are "inscribing Ri Maajon." They are not engaged in a "sortie," they are "offering prayers to Tempus Spatium." However, by the time we get halfway through the series, when their country has been at war on multiple fronts for several episodes, they are "on patrol" and "in battle." The newest Sibyllae are fine with that, since they only joined after the war had begun, but for the original members, it is something of a shock once it is pointed out how much things have changed since the beginning.

* Fortis of Huckebein from ''[[Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force]]'' tells this to Tohma when he was trying to convince him to join their group of criminals since, as fellow infected, they are his best chance to survive. {{spoiler|Touma [[Heroic Sacrifice|disagrees]].}}

 

 

** The Batman example is also an in-universe tactic. In ''Knightfall'', Robin points out that Batman ''scares'' the crooks, but doesn't actually ''hurt'' them -- Batman is quick to point out that he uses it as a psychological weapon, in that the crook thinks he's not worth the effort. Whenever he needs that extra "oomf", Batman always lets drop that there are a ''lot'' of unsolved murders in Gotham, so [[Blatant Lies|who's to say he doesn't kill...]]

** From ''Bruce Wayne: Fugitive'':

'''Batman''': I fail to see why you think I'd leave any. }}

* In ''[[Identity Crisis]]'', a JLA comic, Jean Loring, the Atom's ex-wife, attempts to put the Enlongated Man's wife, Sue Dibny, into fake danger so that all heroes, including her ex-husband, would [[Love Makes You Evil|come closer to their loved ones]]. After she accidentally kills her, she goes [[Freak-Out|completely nuts]] and has no problem with putting others in mortal danger. Through this, she indirectly causes two more deaths, and even more indirectly causes the death of Firestorm. ([[Alternate Character Interpretation|Alternately]], {{spoiler|Jean is lying about it being an accident; she clearly meant from the beginning to kill Sue (no one "just happens" to be carrying a flamethrower) and one or two other people to cover her tracks.}} Mind, Jean's still clearly nuts, and her first kill visibly shook her more than the ones she arranged later.)

== Film ==

* The opening of the second film version of ''[[Casino Royale]]'' almost spells out this trope:

'''[[James Bond (film)|Bond]]''': Your contact? Not well.<br />

'''Dryden''': Made you feel it, did he? Well, you needn't worry. [[Killed Mid-Sentence|The second is]]--''(gets shot by Bond)''<br />

* In ''Life of Pi'', the main character is introduced as devoutly religious, intelligent and a vegetarian. But when he has to survive, he abandons all morals. Killing becomes easier, and soon he is doing things like sucking fluid from fish eyeballs and eating faeces {{spoiler|and human flesh.}} He explicitly states that he goes from crying over a flying fish that flopped into the lifeboat to exulting in the fact that he managed to hook and kill a dorado - and later on, he grabs and slaughters two meerkats without hesitation, {{spoiler|so he can rub his feet in their viscera to cool them after he steps on the acidic surface of the island.}}

* In the [[X Wing Series]], rookie pilot Gavin Darklighter helps out during the Krytos Plague pandemic on Coruscant, trying to find victims to get them treated before it's too late, and call for cleanup teams when it ''is''. In the end stages, the Krytos plague, which was [[Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke|engineered by Imperials]], basically liquefies those who contract it. Finding a particularly bad one, someone who'd barricaded himself up when he knew how sick he was getting, makes him [[Vomiting Cop|vomit]], but he pulls himself together, does his job, and confesses to his love interest that a year ago he would have run screaming. He's changing, and it scares him.

'''Asyr''': "We continue on, my dear, because we must. [...] Our mission is to fly our X-Wings, to locate and destroy the kind of monsters who would do this kind of thing. Doing that requires all the maturity we can muster." }}

* Repeatedly referenced in Joe Abercrombie's ''[[The First Law]]'' trilogy. Logen Ninefingers is basically the living embodiment of this trope, which at least still disturbs him.

* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'':

** In the episode "The Hard Part", Hiro describes his future self in terms of this trope:

** Sylar goes down that road. After he kills for the first time, he tries to commit suicide (but is stopped by Elle and Noah). We all know how this story continues.

* Jokingly referenced in ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'':

'''Carter''': No. I've just never... [[Remember When You Blew Up a Sun?|blown up a star before]].<br />

'''O'Neill''': Well, [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|they say the first one's always the hardest]]. }}

* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' story ''The End of Time'', we get this exchange.

'''The Doctor''': That's how the Master started. It's not like I'm an innocent. I've taken lives. And I got worse, I got clever. Manipulated people into taking their own. }}

* In a second-season episode of ''[[Fringe]]'', after Peter is forced to kill someone for the first time, Olivia recalls her first kill and how it took time for her to get over it. But judging by the rather high body count she's amassed, "It Gets Easier" clearly applies.

* In ''[[Bones]]'', Brennan is greatly disturbed when she kills for the first time, yet later asks to be given a gun during another case because she's killed before, and in "The Wannabe in the Weeds" she is comfortable enough with killing to shoot a woman in the throat with no remorse evident. (The woman in question HAD just shot Brennan's partner -- aiming for Brennan -- so hyper-rational Brennan may not have felt it necessary to express or even acknowledge any feelings of remorse).

* In ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', Buffy is [[Genre Savvy]] enough that a substantial part of her later character arc is about trying to avert this trope.

* Invoked, of all places, in an episode of ''[[Cheers]]''. Woody, upset that he has told a lie, worries about the consequences.

 

 

* The title character of ''[[Macbeth]]'', as indicated by the page quote. Though in that case it's not so much killing as cold-blooded murder (he starts the play as a soldier).

* Parodied in ''[[The Mikado]]''. The "Lord High Executioner", Ko-Ko, charmed his way into the position, and since no one's been sentenced to death so far, he's essentially just a figurehead. However, when the time comes for him to make his first kill, Ko-Ko protests, "Why, I never even killed a blue-bottle!"

 

 

* Serious training scenarios for emergency responders (military or civilian) will sometimes use professional makeup artists so the "victims" will have very realistic looking injuries. It's one thing to practice moving someone and pretend they have a broken leg; it's quite another when you see a realistic-looking bone sticking out of what looks like ripped-open flesh from a compound fracture and the victim making an ear-piercing scream if you accidentally touch the wound, combined with litres of realistic blood all over the place.

* Ernie Pyle describes this in his wartime column, ''Brave Men, Brave Men'':

* In a more calm sense, life in general. It seems like a lot of tragedies hit people in their teen years, like breakups, disappointments (not getting into your preferred college for example) and they tend to always be a crisis. In general, later in life, people mellow and develop a sense of "I've been through this once, I can do it again."

* Although the TV series Chuck features operatives of the CIA, which exists in real life, the "red test" requirement for becoming a full agent as featured in that series (committing a cold-blooded murder under orders) is unlikely to exist for real CIA agents. (At least, as far as the public knows). The same goes for the real-life Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which in [[NCIS]] the TV series evolved from an earlier organization that used a red test-like scenario.)