Mercy Lead: Difference between revisions

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''Gimme three steps, gimme three steps mister, and you'll never see me no more."''|[[Lynyrd Skynyrd]] }}

Sometimes, when the hero escapes right in front of the villain, they smirk and say "Oh, I think we can give him a five minute start." Alternatively, a criminal protagonist who's technically still due for arrest but has just assisted the law enforcement in something bigger will be given a [[Mercy Lead]] as an act of gratitude and good will.

Sometimes, when the hero escapes right in front of the villain, they smirk and say "Oh, I think we can give him a five minute start." Alternatively, a criminal protagonist who's technically still due for arrest but has just assisted the law enforcement in something bigger will be given a '''Mercy Lead''' as an act of gratitude and good will.

[[Noble Demon~~|Noble Demons~~]] and [[Worthy Opponent~~|Worthy Opponents~~]] do this the most, to show that they respect the hero, and that they have style. After an [[Enemy Mine]] or [[Strange Bedfellows]] scenario, heroes usually give the villain a [[Mercy Lead]], and the villain often reciprocates.

[[Noble Demon]]s and [[Worthy Opponent]]s do this the most, to show that they respect the hero, and that they have style. After an [[Enemy Mine]] or [[Strange Bedfellows]] scenario, heroes usually give the villain a '''Mercy Lead''', and the villain often reciprocates.

Less honorable villains may also promise a head start, but in such a case you can pretty much expect them to [[Subverted Trope|subvert]] the trope by breaking their word.

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== Film ==

* ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]: Curse of the Black Pearl'' ~~-- Jack~~ Sparrow is given a day's lead by the Royal Navy.

* ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]: Curse of the Black Pearl''—Jack Sparrow is given a day's lead by the Royal Navy.

** The second film shows that the head start was a really bad idea: Norrington ends up in horrible situations (including a hurricane) because he was a day behind the Black Pearl, who outran said dangers by being a day ahead. It also shows the consequences of Norrington giving him a head start and then failing to catch him; he's demoted and disgraced.

* In ''[[Minority Report]]'', caretaker-of-precogs Wally sees the images predicting the involvement of Anderton, the protagonist and his superior, in a murder. Wally tells Anderton that he will give Anderton two minutes' lead out of respect before activating the alarm.

* In [[Jumper (novel)|the film version]] of ''Jumper'', the main character finally confronts his long-gone mother, who left him at the age of five {{spoiler|because she was part of the group that ''kills'' Jumpers. After they talk, she gives him a head start because she really ''doesn't'' want him to get caught.}}

* At the end of ''John Carpenter's Vampires'', Jack gives his friend Montoya a two day head start after learning he was bitten earlier in the film and is slowly turning. Apparently its a tradition within their hunter group if something like that happens.

* Subverted in ''[[Double Indemnity]]'': when Keyes catches Neff in the act of recording his confession, Neff asks him for a few hours to get away before he calls the cops. Keyes, however, points out that Neff's gunshot injury will prevent him from getting very far. This turns out to be quite correct; Neff tries to run but collapses, and in the background Keyes can be heard calling for an ~~ambulance -- and~~ the police.

* Subverted in ''[[Double Indemnity]]'': when Keyes catches Neff in the act of recording his confession, Neff asks him for a few hours to get away before he calls the cops. Keyes, however, points out that Neff's gunshot injury will prevent him from getting very far. This turns out to be quite correct; Neff tries to run but collapses, and in the background Keyes can be heard calling for an ambulance—and the police.

* Gritty [[Noble Demon]] mercenary Vacendak has come to like the protagonist he's been chasing in the movie ''[[Freejack]]'', and so gives him a five minute head start before he and his team begin their latest pursuit. He does so by literally closing his eyes and counting off the seconds, while the hero, once he realizes Vacendak's serious, sprints down the city streets to try to find somewhere to hide.

* Played with in [[The Quick and the Dead]], when Gene Hackman's character gives a mook who's displeased him thirty seconds to get out of town. The mook takes off at full speed, and Hackman waits the full amount of time, but then calmly pulls out a gun and shoots the rapidly figure dead, showing that there was no way he could have gotten away in the time given.

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{{quote|A belligerent war-ship may not leave a neutral port or roadstead until twenty-four hours after the departure of a

merchant ship flying the flag of its adversary.'' }}

** Ironically, the most famous application of this rule in history may just be when it was used during [[WW 2]] to detain the German raider ''Admiral Graf Spee'' in the officially neutral Uruguayan port of Montevideo until British reinforcements could ~~arrive -- by~~ secretly arranging for British and French merchant vessels to sail from that port every 24 hours whether their captains had originally planned to do so or not.

** Ironically, the most famous application of this rule in history may just be when it was used during [[WW 2]] to detain the German raider ''Admiral Graf Spee'' in the officially neutral Uruguayan port of Montevideo until British reinforcements could arrive—by secretly arranging for British and French merchant vessels to sail from that port every 24 hours whether their captains had originally planned to do so or not.