Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred: Difference between revisions

Whether this works or not depends largely on the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]], but it does make for great dramatic tension no matter what. Heck, at least part of the time, the villain is [[You Wouldn't Shoot Me|taunting the hero because they know he won't do it]]. Of course, this also means that the success or failure of this gambit hinges on whether or not the hero has any preexisting qualms about killing. Said villain might try this on an [[Anti-Hero]] (especially with [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes|more extreme cases]]) and get his ass handed to him, due to the hero's [[The Unfettered|lack of such moral restraints.]]

 

 

Can overlap with [[What You Are in the Dark]]. Compare with [[The Power of Hate]] which is a focus of the power hate gives. Contrast [[Get It Over With]].

** Later, {{spoiler|Dynamis}}.

* ''[[Noir]]'' had Altena doing this. She seemed to think the titular duo killing her would result in them becoming [[The Scourge of God]]. It's not clear if what happened "counts."

* In ''[[Trigun]]'', Legato Bluesummers tries to goad Vash the Stampede into killing him. Vash is a [[Technical Pacifist]] who believes "no one has the right to take the life of another"; Legato knows that forcing Vash to betray his beliefs and kill him is the single most abhorrent thing he can do to Vash.

{{quote|'''Legato''': ''It's alright, kill me. It's simple. All you need do is pull the trigger. Once you've killed me, this will all be over. Come on. Time to choose. You have free will.''}}

== Comicbooks ==

* The Joker does this to [[Batman]] a ''lot''. There was also one story where he did it to [[Superman]] - not just goading him, but making Clark believe that killing him was ''the only way to save Lois''.

{{quote|'''Joker:''' ''"Tonight you're gonna break your "[[Deadpan Snarker|one rule]]"."''}}

*** Especially since ''[[The Dark Knight]]'' is partially based '''on''' ''[[The Killing Joke]]'', which involves the Joker trying to drive Commisioner Gordon to do this. {{spoiler|He fails in both stories.}}

* Invoked in a way similar to ''Se7en'' in ''[[No Budget|Jim Haggerty's The Slasher]]'', wherein the titular slasher tries to goad the officer hunting him into executing him once caught. {{spoiler|The detective refuses, leading the slasher to mock him mercilessly about how he'll get off easy with a good lawyer. Before his trial, however, the detective [[Do with Him as You Will|organizes a group of the families of the slasher's victims to have their way with him instead]].}}

* Possibly played with in ''[[8mm]]''. Eddie Poole taunts Tom Welles, who has him at gunpoint, telling him he doesn't have the guts to pull the trigger - and he's right. Until Tom whips out his cell phone, calls the mother of the girl Eddie and his fellows killed for their [[Snuff Film]], and lets her talk him into doing the deed.

* [[The Joker]] in ''[[The Dark Knight]]'', as mentioned in the comic book section.

{{quote|'''Joker:''' "Come on, I want you to do it, I want you to do it. Come on, hit me. ''Hit me!''"}}

[[Category:Morality Tropes]]

[[Category:Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred]]