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Murder Is the Best Solution: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|'''Crazy Mage 1:''' ''"We cannot trust anyone."''<br />
'''Crazy Mage 2:''' ''"Especially each other."''<br />
'''Crazy Mage 3:''' ''"Oh, the solution is so simple. [[Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick|We KILL. KILL everyone.]]"''<br />
'''Crazy Mage 1:''' ''"How delightful." (everyone attacks each other)''|''[[Dragon Age Origins]]''}}
Essentially, there is some sort of problem, and immediately someone suggests killing as the solution, despite there being multiple other, better, and more rational solutions.
Sometimes done to show that the villain really is evil, or at least [[Ax Crazy]]. Most often it's [[Played for Laughs]]. Bonus laugh points if killing makes the problems even bigger than other solutions. Either way, a clear product of the [[Rule of Drama]]... or [[Rule of Funny]]. Common with [[Trigger Happy]] characters, and when [[Played for Laughs]] by the [[Heroic Comedic Sociopath]]. Usually only a suggestion or threat, only rarely carried out. In its most extreme form, it can become a [[Kill
[[
In contrast with [[Violence Is the Only Option]], where other options aren't reasonable, when [[Murder Is the Best Solution]] there are plenty of other options, but murder and mayhem are chosen anyway. Compare with [[Cutting the Knot]], which is essentially violence being used as an answer - though the success varies.
Compare [[Stating the Simple Solution]] or [[Kill Him Already]], when someone else suggests murder as a ''more'' sensible alternative to, say, a [[Death Trap]]. If the target is sent on a suicide mission, or if his death is arranged to occur by the hand of a mutual enemy, it's [[The Uriah Gambit]]. May require [[The Coroner Doth Protest Too Much]] in order for the perpetrator to get away with it (though probably not for long.)
{{examples
=== Serious Examples ===
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** In ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Making Money|Making Money]]'' Cosmo Lavish's habit of defaulting to this when someone has [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|Outlived Their Usefulness]] leads to a classic [[Revealing Coverup]] as Vetinari just follows the trail of bodies.
** Mostly averted by the tyrannical Patrician, Lord Vetinari, who despite his reputation is more than happy to offer condemned criminals a job rather than a death. Of course, if they turn down the job....
* The ''[[Alex Rider (Literature)|Alex Rider]]'' book series has [[Well
* [[Harry Potter|Lord Voldemort]] falls afoul of this trope in ''Deathly Hallows''. Despite knowing full well that the Elder Wand can be taken without killing its previous owner - in fact, he's met and interrogated two people who lost it and lived - he thinks the sensible solution is to kill his trusted lieutenant. [[Anvilicious|Because he's evil (seriously, by DH it was like Avada Kedavra was the only spell he knew any more).]]
** [[Completely Missing the Point|Well, technically he didn't use the Avada Kedavra curse to kill Snape. He used Nagini.]]
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* In ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'', [[Robot Girl|Cameron]] commonly advocates murdering witnesses or other threats, which is usually objected to by Sarah and John. And often enough, Cameron's recommendations turn out to be ''right.''
** Derek Reese is almost as bad. At one point, the family is dealing with a possible Skynet program based in the Los Angeles City Hall, and Derek advises that they [[Stuff Blowing Up|just blow it up.]]
*** Well why [[Nuke
* The Cigarette Smoking Man in ''[[The X Files]]'' resorts to murder as his first option more often than not. Other members of the Syndicate occasionally chew him out for this tendency. In return he points out that they would prefer to sit around and do nothing.
* In ''[[Charmed (TV)|Charmed]]'', there were several examples. Cole was forced to kill a landlord who knows Phoebe's secret and wanted to sell it for money. Phoebe hated him for that. But then, in a later season, Phoebe was held at gun point by Rick, a mortal, she hinted to Paige to cast a spell to make Rick look like a target of a bunch of demons. The demons killed him. Of course Paige could have orbed the gun but that was besides the point.
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* ''[[Law and Order]]'' pretty much wouldn't exist without this trope. In any given episode, the killer could have just gotten a divorce, stolen money rather than speeding up the inheritance, reported the blackmail to the cops, or any number of other ways to resolve their grudge with the victim of the week.
* In an episode of ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'', Sarah Jane has gone missing and another woman, Andrea, has taken her place. {{spoiler|Turns out she was childhood friends with Sarah Jane, up until her death.}} After a [[Deal With the Devil]] she {{spoiler|switches places with Sarah Jane and Sarah Jane instead dies. When Maria figures it out Andrea makes another deal that rewrites Maria out of history. Then she tried to do it to Maria's father.}}
* Although [[Hair
* One of the stories during an episode of ''[[Beyond Belief Fact or Fiction]]'' had an elderly couple who ran a diner murder homeless people that they periodically brought in so the couple could "relieve them" of their suffering.
* In ''[[The Vampire Diaries]]'' Damon's normal reaction to anyone (besides Stefan and Elena) causing a problem is to try and kill them. Unsurprisingly this creates a lot more problems than it solves, especially because of his habit of overlooking factors like whether he's actually capable of killing them, whether anyone besides him wants them dead, whether they are actually the source of the problem, or whether they have friends who'll come looking for revenge.
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* In most printed adventures for ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'', the player characters are expected to solve their problems by killing the guy causing them, or at least defeating him in combat. In practice this will obviously depend on your DM.
* The only way to cure the fourth, most deleterious stage of [[Torches and Pitchforks|Disquiet]] in ''[[Promethean: The Created]]'' is to kill the Promethean that caused it.
** Likewise, it's a part of every Promethean's [[To Become Human|Pilgrimage]] that they must create at least one new Promethean, and the only way a [[So Beautiful
* The Bloodlust disadvantage in [[GURPS]] is this in a nutshell.
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* Subverted in ''[[Fire Emblem]]: Path of Radiance''. Though in most of the game [[Violence Is the Only Option]], there are several chapters where not fighting certain enemies will earn you a reward. In one chapter in particular, the force comes upon a building of priests that is under the grip of the enemy, which forces them to fight you. You can kill the priests, but if you get through the chapter without killing a single one, you get one of the best staves in the game. =
* In ''[[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|Team Fortress 2]]'', because [[Friendly Fireproof|friendly fire is turned off]] the most effective way of determining if an apparent teammate is actually a spy in disguise is to use lethal force. Particularly effective is setting them on fire. Of course, since the game is a first-person shooter where all the characters are psychopaths, violence is always the answer for everything else too.
* In ''[[The Suffering]],'' Doctor Killjoy theorises that Torque's [[Super
{{quote| '''Doctor Killjoy:''' Severe dementia is it? Or perhaps chronic melancholia? Or is it an uncontrollable urge to regress back to a form unseen in modern society, one that will allow you to set matters right in the most direct way possible? Yes, I think that's it. When all else fails, go for the easy way out, the obvious answer, the brute force solution!}}
* ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' has Jack and Zaeed, both vastly preferring the "kill people" solution when presented with problems. [[I Did What I Had to Do|Mordin]] and [[Good Is Not Nice|Samara]] [[Beware the Nice Ones|play surprisingly heroic examples]] to a Paragon Shepard, such as if Shepard lets the batarians threatening Daniels leave calmly, or if Samara sees the problem that is Tuchanka or Omega.
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* Used in the first episode of ''[[My Name Is Earl]]'', when Joy tried to kill Earl to claim his lottery winnings, because he hadn't changed his will by then.
* One ''[[The Kids in The Hall]]'' sketch had an alien spy who was so nervous that he would continually blow his own cover and then order the destruction of the planet that he was on.
* ''[[
* A humorous variant on the previously mentioned ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'' example: Cameron discovers that James Ellison [[Berserk Button|lied to the Connors]] about {{spoiler|Cromartie's corpse.}} She immediately decides to kill him, at which point Sarah tells her she ''can't'' kill him. Cameron's response?
{{quote| '''Cameron:''' But he's the only one I ''want'' to kill.}}
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* In ''[[Nanashi no Game]]'', this plays a key role in ''why'' the [[The Most Dangerous Video Game|cursed RPG]] is cursed.
* In ''[[Disgaea 3]]'', Princess Sapphire is usually the first person to offer up a solution to the current dilemma -- the solution being to murder the obstacle, of course. Even the ''demons'' are a bit unsettled by this tendency.
* The ''[[Portal (Video Game)|Portal]]'' universe's backstory reveals that this was the conclusion that [[Master Computer]] GLaDOS came to literally [[AI Is a Crapshoot|picoseconds after being switched on]]. Prior to the events of the first game, she had already killed all the scientists in the Aperture Science Enrichment Center with a [[Deadly Gas|deadly neurotoxin]], and now amuses herelf by parading an endless stream of [[Human Popsicle]] test subjects through a [[Death Course]] of test chambers. Those who succeed... she murders anyway. [[For Science!]].
** And in the second game {{spoiler|she subverts it. Killing Chell is actually [[Determinator|pretty hard,]] so she ends up letting her go.}}
* In the game [[Sacrifice]], this is played for laughs by the God of Death, Charnel.
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* ''Technically'' speaking, the only thing that needs to be done to a Mary Sue in the ''[[Protectors of the Plot Continuum]]'' is removing her from the fiction she's contaminated. In practice, the Mary Sues are so irritating that Agents will not only default to killing, but find or invent particularly painful ways of killing. This is more for [[Rule of Funny]], though, and some of the less problematic Sues are simply recruited.
* In the outtakes for ''[[Kickassia]]'', after a bunch of different-and gorily detailed-ways of taking down and torturing [[The Nostalgia Critic (Web Video)|The Nostalgia Critic]] are suggested by Bennett the Sage, he eventually goes, "I say we kill him!" Laughter ensues.
** Vice President [[The Nostalgia Chick (Web Video)|Chick]] also tries to sneakily off the Critic every five minutes to gain control of the nation. [[Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?|She could have just easily just chloroformed him while they were alone in the house together and got him out of the way then.]]
* [[Cracked]] article "[http://www.cracked.com/article_19499_6-attempts-at-damage-control-that-caused-way-bigger-problems.html 6 Attempts at Damage Control That Caused Way Bigger Problems]" opens with the line:
{{quote| Mistakes are an inevitable part of human nature, but there's a system for dealing with them the right way -- The Four A's: Assess the damage, Acknowledge your role, Apologize sincerely and Assassinate all accusers.}}
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== Web Comics ==
* The most extreme example would probably be the entire cast of ''[[
** Also [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2007/01/20/episode-798-the-lefein-redemption/ this].
{{quote| '''Black Mage:''' That's not exactly what I was thinking. Necessarily.<br />
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** Instances where [[Ax Crazy|Cartman]] states they have to kill Kyle include "South Park Is Gay" when he points out being associated with him is ruining their metrosexual reputation and "Toilet Paper" when he believes Kyle will expose the truth.
*** While it's no doubt funny, Cartman ''was'' entirely serious and later attempts to kill him - with a wiffle bat.
** In "Pinewood Derby", representatives from countries around the world decide the best way to deal with Finland is [[Nuke
** In "Good Times With Weapons", Cartman suggests killing Butters fearing that the incident of the boys injuring him with a shruiken will gte them in trouble. [[Not So Above It All|Kyle]] is so scared, he agrees to go along with it.
* The 8-year-old children on ''[[Home Movies]]'' recommend murder to solve far too many problems.
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[[Category:Rule of Drama]]
[[Category:Murder Is The Best Solution]]
[[Category:Trope]][[Category:Pages with comment tags]]
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