Please Spare Him, My Liege: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"Execution, Execution, Execution, Execution, Execution...tough guy."''|'''[[Mel Brooks|Jacques]]''', while searching for a pardon form in the desk of King Louis XVI, ''[[History of the World Part One]]''}}
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As shown in the picture, it's best done kneeling while grasping the [[Requisite Royal Regalia|ermine robes]] in a reverent manner (kissing them optional). Often it's done by insisting you know this leader is magnanimous enough to do this.
But it's usually more successful if done in the form of ego stroking ("Surely such a great king as yourself is wise enough...", "How could he possibly pose a threat to someone so great...?") or noting the [[Slave to PR|good PR]] it will bring ("Everyone would know what a kind sovereign you are...") than by trying to appeal to any good nature ("If you just listen to your heart..."). Even if they agree, the prisoner may just be tossed into [[The Alcatraz]] instead ([[The
Compare/Contrast [[If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him]].
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{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
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** ''[[Rose of Versailles Abridged]]'' spoofs this. Marie tries it as a [[Jedi Mind Trick]]. The King is only partly affected, but he sighs and let's Andre go anyway.
* Sheeda does this for Oguma in the ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' OVA (this is not in the games because Oguma's backstory in the games doesn't work with this).
* ''[[
* Rowena/Margaret did this to save Erika from the wrath of Richter after he found out his sister was in love with Kazuya, the pilot of ''[[Daimos]]''.
* Hermione did this in ''[[Romeo X Juliet]]'' to stop Laertes Montague from taking Romeo's [[Cool Horse]] Ciel away.
* Mittermeyer pleads for mercy on Reuental's behalf at least twice in ''[[Legend of Galactic Heroes]].''
* An odd example of this happens in ''[[How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord]]''. Shera's brother Keera is, well, scum. An arrogant, egotistical, and cruel tyrant, he brainwashes, kidnaps, and tries to rape his own sister, and when finally beaten by Diablo, proves a craven coward who shamelessly begs for his life. Shera, however, pleads with Diablo to let him live, because while she utterly despises him, cannot condone the execution of a family member. {{spoiler|Diablo does decide to spare him, but unfortunately for Keera, he runs into [[Knight Templar| Chester]] and his men, who are not as merciful.}}
== Film ==
* ''[[History of the World Part One]]''. Mademoiselle Rimbaud begs King Louis XVI to pardon her father. Her father is actually sentenced to prison, not execution. King Louis [[Scarpia Ultimatum|agrees in exchange for a "favor]]".
* Maid Marian in the Disney animated version of ''[[Robin Hood (Disney film)|Robin Hood]]'' pleads with Prince John for Robin's life when he is captured after the archery contest.
* In ''[[The Prince of Egypt]]'', Aaron sort of does one of these when Miriam tells Moses the truth about his origins and says he's "one of [them]," to which he initially objects quite strongly and threatens to have her arrested or killed. He comes around, though.
* In ''[[The Other Boleyn Girl (
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** When King Thingol finds out about his daughter Luthien's tryst with the human Beren, Luthien begs him not to kill him.
* In ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]'', Guan Yu intercedes for Zhang Liao's life when Cao Cao wishes to execute him. This works out in Cao Cao's favour: Zhang Liao becomes a frighteningly effective general for him.
* [[Harry Potter (
* In [[Honor Harrington|Mission of Honor]] the title character of the series persuades her Queen(who believes with some justification that [[Troubled Sympathetic Bigot|she has every reason to hate and distrust her enemies]]) to give the Planet of Haven a chance at peaceful negotiation instead of subjecting it to [[Death From Above]].
* Averted in [[Vorkosigan Saga|Captain Vorpatril's Alliance]]. [[The Emperor]] apparently on his own volition spares his foster-brother's new in-laws despite the fact that they were making unauthorized use of a new genetic manipulation(a big no-no on a mutation paranoid planet), and were bringing a possible accessory to war crimes in their train. In this case it is not just [[Nepotism]] toward his foster-brother's new bride but a realization that there is a foreign policy convenience in having them as allies.
== Live Action TV ==
* In ''[[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]]'', Iolaus tries the second form with Hercules's [[Evil Counterpart]]. It seems to work, because that made the evil Hercules laugh, but he executes the prisoner anyway.
* In first episode of ''[[
* In ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' King Uther is tricked into beliving that his son Arthur has been placed under an enchantment by Guinevere, and orders her burnt at the stake as a witch. Arthur begs for her life, but the more hysterical he gets, the more Uther is convinced that he's truly under a spell.
** Twice, Arthur begs Uther to spare a man, once with Gwaine and once with Lancelot. The result is exile for both.
* In the episode of [[Firefly]] ''Shindig'' Mal sword fights a man and is about to lose but Inara tells that man that she will accept his offer to stay with him if he spares Mal's life.
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== Mythology and Religion ==
* [[The Bible|The Book of Esther]] ends with Esther pleading on behalf of all Jews.
** It also features an interesting subversion; after [[Batman Gambit|being set up]] by Esther to admit to Xerxes his plan to kill the Jews, [[Smug Snake|Haman]] throws himself at Esther's mercy. Cue Xerxes suddenly entering and seeing Haman [[Not What It Looks Like|apparently attempting to rape his wife]]. Naturally, [[Hoist
** A [[Values Dissonance|depressing]] percentage of the books of Numbers and Leviticus consists of the Israelites (God's "[[Butt Monkey|chosen people]]," by the way) doing something to piss Him off, God threatening to wipe them all out, Moses pleading with Him, and then God agreeing to destroy only a few thousand of them instead.
** Although this same God agreed to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if 50 righteous people were found living in it. Abraham (who was pleading for the life of the city) was able to negotiate God down to 10 righteous people. Unfortunately, the only halfway decent person living in the city was Lot and his family (and even [[Values Dissonance|he offered his virgin daughters as rape-toys to his violent neighbors]] in order to save the lives of a couple of houseguests.) Needless to say, Sodom and Gomorrah didn't stand a chance.
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== [[Theatre]] ==
* In [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[
** Though the convention is also parodied in the same scene, with the ''Duke'' of York going on his knees to plead for his son's execution.
* [[Shakespeare]] was quite fond of this trope. In ''[[Julius Caesar]],'' the conspirators plead for their friend to be pardoned just before they assassinate Caesar. (And Caesar gives a ridiculously arrogant speech claiming that he is so god-like as to be above pity... presumably to remove whatever sympathy the audience have for him and prepare them for his violent death.) In ''Henry V'' it is [[Inverted]]: the conspirators against Henry argue ''against'' mercy for an enemy of the king, so that when he reveals their guilt Henry takes immense delight in telling them that [[Be Careful What You Wish For|they have convinced him that mercy is a bad idea.]]
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories]]: Cursed Memories'', the [[Hot
* In the AGD [[King's Quest II]], this is the correct answer to {{spoiler|one of the Cloud Spirit's tests.}}
** Also implied in [[King's Quest IV]] on Edgar's part when Rosella is brought before Lolotte.
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== Web Comics ==
* ''[[
== Real Life ==
* The Burghers of Calais are a particularly well noted [[Real Life]] example. (Read about it [
* Pocahontas famously begged her father, the chief of the Powhatan, to spare the life of colonist John Smith in 1607 Virginia. Of course, depending on who you ask, the whole thing might have been a sort of initiation ritual, or Smith might have made the whole thing up in order to give Pocahontas a hero's welcome on her trip to England.
* Katherine of Aragon, [[Henry VIII]]'s first wife, successfully pleaded for the lives of the perpetrators of the Evil May Day massacre, when she saw how devastated their families were by the death sentence. In spite of the fact that the victims were mostly Spanish aliens, and she was a Spanish princess.
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[[Category:Unisex Tropes]]
[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
[[Category:Please Spare Him, My Liege]]
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