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Ever since the dawn of humanity people have wrestled with their ethical dilemmas - to [[As the Good Book Says...|eat that delicious fruit]] despite God telling you not to, to [[If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him|kill someone who has threatened you]], or to [[Cowardly Lion|help someone at the possible cost of your own safety]]. There's no choice more eternal and more obnoxiously inescapable as the moral dilemma, and that's why it's been featured in every kind of media ever created. [[Space Whale Aesop|Even the ones that wouldn't normally apply]].▼
▲Ever since the dawn of humanity people have wrestled with their ethical dilemmas - to [[As the Good Book Says|eat that delicious fruit]] despite God telling you not to, to [[If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him|kill someone who has threatened you]], or to [[Cowardly Lion|help someone at the possible cost of your own safety]]. There's no choice more eternal and more obnoxiously inescapable as the moral dilemma, and that's why it's been featured in every kind of media ever created. [[Space Whale Aesop|Even the ones that wouldn't normally apply]].
'''The main kinds of moral dilemmas are:'''
* [[Sadistic Choice]]: Having to choose between two immoral actions.
* [[If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him]]: Having to choose between killing a villain or sparing him.
* [[To Be Lawful or Good]]: Having to choose between the law and personal morals.
* [["Friend or Idol?" Decision]]: Having to choose between someone you care about and your mission.
Naturally, the 'right' choice (if there [[Above Good and Evil|is one]]) will vary depending on the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism|tone of the work]], the [[Character Development|character in question]], the [[Shades of Conflict|morality involved]], the [[What the Hell, Hero?|reactions of the characters or audience]], the [[Values Dissonance|morality of the culture]], and much, much more. To say that the possibilities are endless is an understatement (even if you [[Take a Third Option]]).
Of course, that's not to say that not all those possibilities are equal. A [[Moral Dissonance]] can result when a character is hailed for making the 'right' choice when it wasn't right at all. Or a dilemma can seem false and contrived when a character agonizes over killing the [[Big Bad]] but had no such problem [[What Measure Is a Mook?|killing random Mooks]]. Or the audience themselves might [[Broken Base|dispute the character's decision]] and wish they did something [[Completely Missing the Point|'more awesome/badass']]. Or the character might make a choice that's completely [[Out of Character]] to their previous characterization.
Unsurprisingly, moral dilemmas are rich with [[Aesop
And since there's always a lesson to be learned, moral dilemmas are major turning points for character development. A hero character that ultimately chooses to do something immoral can [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|jump off the slippery slope]] or even push themselves straight into being an [[Anti
Expect a [[Good Angel, Bad Angel|good angel and bad angel]] to appear on a character's shoulders to debate the dilemma.
Moral dilemmas may also not apply to people who consider themselves [[Ubermensch|above such petty things]].
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[[Category:Internal Conflict Tropes]]
[[Category:Drama Tropes]]
[[Category:Morality Tropes]]
[[Category:Hedonism Tropes]]
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