Pet the Dog: Difference between revisions

* All Diclonii and Slipets in ''[[Elfen Lied]]'' are dog petters by default. Diclonii will kill '''anyone''', men, women, children, ''their own parents''. However, not one instance is ever noted of one harming an animal, with the anime showing a dog even biting a diclonius, and the diclonius just petting it to make it feel better.

** Could be [[Justified]] by the [[Humans Are Bastards|Diclonii being treated as and relegated to the level of animals by humans]] causing them to sympathize with ''real'' animals. Lucy's first [[Pet the Dog]] moment after she escaped from the Diclonus Institute Research Facility was cutting free a dog that was tied to a gate post rather than using her usual modus operadi of decapitation.

* Light Yagami gets a couple of these in ''[[Death Note]]'', both with family members. He offers to run an errand on his sister's behalf, with no apparent ulterior motive - this gets him into position to {{spoiler|commit one of his most heinous acts of the first arc, when he tricks and murders Naomi Misora}}. Much later, in the manga, he talks his father out of quitting his police job; the motive is purely that Soichiro has risen to the top of his profession and Light can't let him give it all up. Again, this is despite the fact that Light's own actions are responsible for the Kira case, which is destroying Soichiro, and that in a few chapters' time {{spoiler|Light will rationalise, accept and plan for Soichiro's murder, although he never has to carry it out}}. While over in animeland that doesn't happen, Light is so far gone by the same point in the anime that when {{spoiler|he can't go through with the [[Shoot the Dog|murder of his sister]]}}, it manages to come off as a Pet the Dog!

** {{spoiler|Can't Shoot The Dog?}}

** It's played more straight when the picture that Urumi hid behind a massive firewall was {{spoiler|a picture of a young Miyabi, Tomoko and Urumi as friends.}}

** Also with the Vice Principal Uchiyamada who loves his daughter more than anything.

** His whole past in volume 9 is full of this. {{spoiler|He befriends Shinra because he's interested in "observing" him. However, the two really seem to hit off a good friendship in middle school. And then Shinra takes a knife wound for him when a student named Nakura tries to stab Izaya. Izaya panics the entire time until he gets it together and asks Shinra to lie about who stabbed him so he can get revenge on Nakura for causing him harm.}} To everyone else outside of this event, they label {{spoiler|Shinra}} as his only friend.

* [[Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai|"You... you... bastard son! Do as you wish! I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT IT!"]]

** Jordan also gets more than one -- talking about the abortion she got years ago, saying how much she loves Cox, staring down at Jack with a loving expression... awww...

* ''Everwood'' does it during the first episodes: Dr Abbott begins as an obnoxious almost misanthropic doctor, but then is revealed to be a very devoted father and husband; Bright starts off as a bully, but then he's shown to be a very sensitive person grieving over his friend's accident.

** Unlike Major Burns, Major Winchester was envisioned as a [[Worthy Opponent]] from the start, so he has lots of Pet The Dog moments.

*** Including talking a concert pianist whose hand was crippled out of depression and defending a stuttering patient {{spoiler|Although the latter was inspired by his sister having the same handicap}}

* On ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents]]'', Denzel Crocker, [[Evil Teacher]] and [[Big Bad]] before the [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil]] set in, has willingly given up a baby he was raising as his heir when he believes someone else can raise it better.

** In Vicky's case, it's literal because her pets, particularly her dog Doidle, are the only beings she treats with any respect. But a more amazing example about Vicky comes in the storybook ''In a Tizzy over Turkey!'': Her parents and Tootie (who, keep in mind, she treats no different than the kids she babysits) go out to get some cranberry sauce, but their car breaks down, and Vicky is actually sad that they're gonna miss their Thanksgiving dinner! Yep, even Timmy feels sorry for her when he hears that...

** This is [[Played for Laughs]] in [[How the Grinch Stole Christmas (film)|the live action movie]], when the Grinch saves her from a mail machine. She sees it as proof that he's a good person, and he gets pissed and wraps her up in wrapping paper (though she is still unharmed, and her parents assume that she had trouble wrapping some gifts).

* Heloise on ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'' has had few. A lot have to do with her [[Morality Pet]] Jimmy. She had a literal example with [[Call a Rabbit a Smeerp|Cerbee]], and again with a poodle rat in another episode.