Mercy Kill: Difference between revisions

* 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.

* 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.