Mercy Kill: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:stakingthelovedone 845.jpg|frame|[https://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=329150 "This is my final request"], by mayumio]]
Alice is mortally wounded and in such pain that she can't stand it anymore, and her loved ones can't bear to watch her scream. There may be a [[Body Horror]] that nobody can figure out how to destroy, and Alice has been taken over to the point where she cannot even ask for death. Or [[Cold-Blooded Torture]] has left her horribly maimed and screaming incoherently. Or perhaps she's about to succumb to [[The Virus]] or [[The Corruption]], and she wants to [[Dying as Yourself|Die As Herself]]. Or some other [[Fate Worse Than Death]]. It may be that she could survive, but they have no access to medical care; or that Alice, if she lived, would be reduced to a shell of her former self. At any rate, Alice is dying in agony, the villain is gloating and nothing else can be done. The only merciful thing to do is end her pain as quickly as possible... so Bob gives Alice a '''Mercy Kill'''.
An [[Instant Death Bullet]] is likely, and justified in this situation: the killer has no difficulty getting to a position and attacking in a manner that would cause quick death. There is usually a moment when [[Dying as Yourself|a glimmer of self-awareness]] allows Alice to show her gratitude through [[Go Out with a Smile|a tearful smile]] or the like—however implausibly. This is usually easier when the shooter is [[Cradling Their Kill]].
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* The truth behind Takiko Ohkuda aka Genbu no Miko's death in the original ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]''. She was believed to be lethally ill but her dad knew she was being devoured from the inside by Genbu, so to ease her suffer Mr. Ohkuda [[Offing the Offspring|killed her]] [[Driven to Suicide|and then himself.]] Note that the Takiko-centered manga ''[[Fushigi Yuugi Genbu Kaiden]]'' is still{{when}} unfinished, so it ''might'' retcon this.
* Attempted in ''[[Rosario + Vampire]]'', where Tsukune became a ghoul. Thankfully, Moka was stopped before she could land the finisher.
* Being composed of the Digimon that died during the Digivolution process, Apocalymon, the final antagonist of [[Digimon Adventure]] is in a constant state of pain and misery which drives him insane. While the Digidestined destroyed him to save both worlds, his death ends his misery.
== Comic Books ==
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* In ''[[The Sharing Knife]]'' series by [[Lois McMaster Bujold]], dying Lakewalkers are supposed to be killed by other Lakewalkers with special knives made from Lakewalker bones because that is the only way to create the magic knife needed to kill a [[The Virus|malice]]. This is more like a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] in practice, as the killed Lakewalker is usually aware and willing to die for the cause.
** Averted, however, in Bujold's ''[[Vorkosigan Saga|Shards of Honor]]'', where Cordelia refuses to allow Aral to mercy-kill one of her junior officers who is horribly and irreversibly brain-damaged. He is much confused, as this is standard procedure for his military and they're in a desperate situation even without the soldier as a liability. It turns out to be the right decision, however, since the officer's mother is glad to have him alive.
* ''[[Discworld]]'':
** ''[[
** In ''[[
* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s ''[[Gaunt's Ghosts]]'' novel ''Only In Death'', Mkoll finds mutilated victims of the Blood Pact and Mercy Kills them. One is explicitly described as recognizing it and being grateful; Mkoll feels like a priest bestowing a final blessing. (Until {{spoiler|he finds Gaunt. [[A Million Is a Statistic|Him, he saves alive]].}})
** In ''Ghostmaker'', when a shuttle crash-landed in wilderness and two troopers are injured, Rawne says they should be "merciful." Gaunt refuses. Fortunately, rather than put four troopers to carrying them, they have [[Big Guy|Bragg]] carry them both. In the same novel, a soldier is impaled by debris from his vehicle and his teammate has to shoot him.
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* In [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Silmarillion]]'', Fingon almost kills his cousin Maedhros, who is [[I Cannot Self-Terminate|being tortured and is out of reach]]; but at the last moment he is [[Divine Intervention|given a way]] to reach his cousin...who cannot be freed and again begs to be killed. Then Fingon [[Life or Limb Decision|has another idea.]]
* In ''White Wing'' by Gordon Kendall, the eponymous fighter squadron is pretty much all that's left of the human race after [[Earthshattering Kaboom|Earth is destroyed.]] The other species [[Fantastic Racism|don't like them much]], especially the "barbaric" custom where a badly wounded pilot requests "the Mercy of the Wing" - the other fighters form up and solemnly blast him and his ship to atoms. Public opinion does change a bit by the end of the book, when two facts have come to light: [[Humans Are Special|humans are immune]] to the enemy's [[Brainwash]]ing, and Earth was actually destroyed not by alien invaders but ''by humanity'', in a [[Defensive Feint Trap]] that invoked the same principle of "Mercy" on a much larger scale.
* In ''[[Harry Potter and
* A recurring theme in ''[[The Gargoyle]]'': Francesco asks his brother to do this for him when he is dying of the plague that killed his wife, by shooting an arrow made from their wedding rings into his heart. Later, the 13th-century version of Marianne does this for her husband when he is being slowly tortured to death.
* In [[Peter F. Hamilton]]'s ''[[Commonwealth Saga]]'', Bruce, the Starflyer Assassin, has a brief [[Dying as Yourself|moment of clarity]] where he asks Gore to Mercy Kill him.
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* In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' book ''Changes'' Harry sacrifices Lloyd Slate, who had been tortured into insanity and a lot more by Mab. Harry, however, [[Subverted Trope|refuses to use this as an easy way out of the guilt]], acknowledging that he's killing him for power, not out of mercy.
* In ''[[The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant|The Illearth War]]'' by Stephen R. Donaldson, one of the Ranyhyn (sapient horses) stumbles into an acid swamp and suffers horrific and incurable burns. The lead stallion of the group, after evidently obtaining its permission, beats its head in with his forehooves to kill it instantly.
▲* In ''[[Discworld/Witches Abroad|Witches Abroad]]'', a wolf unable to bear living any longer as a [[Big Bad Wolf]] begs Granny Weatherwax for "an ending, now". She deputises the job to the conveniently available woodcutter and the wolf gets what it wanted. [[Due to the Dead|She then insists on burial.]]
* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s "The Shadow Kingdom", [[Kull]] and Brule promise each other this, in event of their being mortally wounded—because the Snakemen can [[Made a Slave|enslave]] the souls of those they kill.
* Being set in feudal Japan, ''[[Tales of the Otori]]'' is all over the various "a good death is better" tropes. Early the first book, Takeo climbs a castle wall to finish off members of a persecuted religious group who have been hung there to die. Later in the same book, he does the same for his adopted father, Shigeru.
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** A somewhat more comical mercy kill comes in the form of a zombie who has been animated to provide the local coffin maker with a permanent listener—the coffin maker is rather annoying and will talk endlessly about anything and everything, and is so clueless that he doesn't even realize his best listener is a zombie. The zombie begs the Nameless One to undo the enchantment and return him to nothingness because he can't bear to listen to the man any longer.
* [[Sealed Evil in a Can|Axenos]] from ''[[Wizard 101]]'' uses the more villainous version of this trope when he decides that to reward the player for releasing him by killing them first so they do not have to witness the horrors he'll bring upon the Spiral. Fortunately he's more bark than bite and no tougher than most boss battles.
* Redeye, the main villain of H'aanit's arc in ''[[Octopath Traverler]]'' was [[Was Once a Man|originally Graham Crossford]] who was used as a vessel for the game's true villain, {{Spoiler|Galdera}}. The ritual failed but it mutated Graham into the beast who had nothing but brief remembrances of his humanity and could only beg for death when it happened. Killing Redeye also put Graham's soul to rest.
== Web Comics ==
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== Real Life ==
* Captive bolts were designed to kill an animal with as little suffering as possible, but as the [[Documentary]] ''[[Earthlings]]'' shows, it does not always work as intended.
** Bolts are better seen as a method for stunning rather than killing, though they can be fatal on their own if aimed right. Slaughterers are usually trained to follow the bolt with another method, such as exsanguination, to ensure the animal doesn't wake up later with a ''very'' sore head.
* The original concept of ''[[Coup De Grace]]'', French for "strike of mercy". Nowadays it just means [[Finish Him!|"finish off"]].
* The knightly short sword or dagger was called ''misericordia'' (Latin for "mercy") for exactly this reason. It was intended to give the ''[[Coup De Grace]]'' for a mortally wounded soldier who would otherwise linger on his wounds in agony. It was thin enough to penetrate mail and go between the plates of an armour.
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[[Category:Tear Jerker Tropes]]
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[[Category:Friendly Fire Index]]
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[[Category:Alice and Bob]]
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