Apologetic Attacker: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

{{quote|'''Inigo Montoya:''' You seem a decent fellow, I hate to kill you.<br />

 

[[Heroes]] are, at least for the most part, good people, with clear morals. However, they also have to dish out some punishment now and again, usually directed at [[Villains|people who are decidedly less good]], and whose morals are rather lacking, so it's all good.

However, [[Apologizes a Lot|some heroes]] may feel bad about inflicting any kind of injury on another person, no matter how deserving that person might be. Under these circumstances, the least the hero can do is to let the villain know that, while they may be punching him in the face, they are at least sorry. Very sincerely sorry indeed.

 

 

However, some people will apologize for attacking even the most deranged [[Psycho for Hire]], even if the psycho's actions left that person with no choice but to attack. Perhaps they're simply someone who [[Apologizes a Lot]].

Alternately, the attacker might ''not'' be a good guy, but is still not exactly evil, and does not want to hurt whoever they're attacking. They might be controlled somehow [[Can Only Move the Eyes|but are still able to speak]], they might have [[Tragic Monster|transformed into something]] with a [[Horror Hunger]] that they can't redirect, or they might just be unhappy about attacking someone.

 

 

{{examples}}

 

== Anime & Manga ==

* Legato's arc in ''[[Trigun]]'' only ends when he {{spoiler|forces Vash to shoot him, execution style, in the head}}. Vash is really, really broken up about it afterward.

* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' episode 36, Edward says sorry to Kain Fuery after punching him out.

** And Maria Ross apologized in advance before and after [[Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!|slapping Ed across the face]] for going into Laboratory 5 on his own. Justified since Ed's higher in rank than Maria and could give her and Denny Brosh their walking orders if he wanted to (of course, he doesn't).

** The First and Second Hokage apologise to the Third Hokage for putting him through trouble, who in turn apologises to the former two for fighting them. It's a long story how they got into that situation.

** Though it doesn't strictly count as an apology, the fifth Mizukage expresses regret before attacking {{spoiler|Sasuke}}.

** Sayo also does this; she starts off her attack by [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v30/c274/3.html warning her enemies of the imminent danger.]

** Earlier than that is when Negi and Asuna attempt to take out Chachamaru when shes alone, Negi really doesn't want to, to the point where he can't bring himself to do it and blows himself up instead.

* In ''[[Buso Renkin]]'', when Kazuki is about to {{spoiler|kill Chouno}}, he says that he's sorry. {{spoiler|Chouno}} promptly sticks his tongue out and says, "Don't apologize, you hypocrite." Kazuki then kills him, proving that you don't need to apologize if the person you're attacking is going to be a dick about it afterward.

** Pilots do tend to get emotionally attached to their machines, particularly someone like Asuka, where piloting it is pretty much all she has to live for. He knew she'd be upset if he damaged Unit 02, so he apologized.

** Toji does this when he beats Shinji up out of anger over his little sister getting injured during Unit-01's first fight.

* In ''[[ROD the TV]]'', Yomiko apologizes as she rifles the pockets of a [[Mook]] that she and Anita knocked out.

* In the [[So Bad It's Good]] anime ''[[Chargeman Ken]]'', this is [[Narm|hilariously]] done in episode 35, with Ken's infamous "Dr. Volga, forgive me!" line as he launches him at the enemy as a human bomb.

{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Takashi'''}}: "You don't leave me any other option... (kills {{spoiler|young Mozu}}) I'm so sorry."}}

*** Played in a darker and more sarcastic manner with {{spoiler|with someone who is possibly the leader of the Stern Ritter for the Vandenreich. After they start attacking, he says "Sorry, but we were ordered to kill everyone." }}

 

 

== Comic Books ==

* In ''[[Patoruzu]]'', Patoruzu hits Gaston the Frenchman hard enough to knock him unconscious. Isidoro points out that he may have killed him with his sheer strength. The moralistic Patoruzu is horrified by this and promptly apologizes to the unconscious Gaspar for hitting him so hard. It turns out that Gaspar was faking unconsciousness in order to make Patoruzu feel guilty so he could catch him off-guard.

* Ragdoll does this a couple of times in ''[[Secret Six]]''.

 

== Film - Animated ==

{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Other Father:''' Sooo sorry . . . Mother's ''maaaaaking meeeeee!''}}}}

 

 

== Film - Live-Action ==

* An example where the person being attacked isn't a villain occurs in ''[[The Matrix|The Matrix Reloaded]]'', when Seraph apologizes to Neo before attacking.

* In ''[[Force 10 From Navarone]]'', Maritza [[Hit Me Dammit|demands that Barnsby hit her]] to make it appear that he and Mallory attacked her and got away. Barnsby apologizes and hits her weakly. She berates him and orders him to hit her harder. Mallory suddenly punches her hard and knocks her out.

** And later, after his fights with Inigo ("Please understand I hold you in the highest respect.") and Fezzig ("I do not envy you the headache you will have when you awake. But for now, rest well and dream of large women.").

* Wesley in ''[[Wanted]]'' was a bit of a nebbish who apologized for everything. After he meets Fox, {{spoiler|and balks, asking what his target did to deserve being killed, the next target is apologized to, as Wesley still isn't morally committed even though he's otherwise committed.}}

* In 1940's ''[[The Mark Of Zorro]]'', [[Badass Preacher]] Fray Felipe apologizes as he knocks out the alcalde's soldiers with a club during the climactic melee.

{{quote| '''Felipe:''' ''(WHACK!)'' God forgive me. ''(WHACK!)'' God forgive me.}}

* Subverted initially by the monk in ''[[Dragonheart]]'' as he's quoting humorous scripture while (non-fatally) shooting mooks with arrows, then plays it straight when he sees the [[Big Bad]], grunts out "Thou shalt not kill" while trying to fatally shoot him.

* Played for laughs in ''[[Attack of the Clones]]'' when C-3PO's head gets knocked off and is fused to a battle droid's body, forcing him to open fire on the Jedi Knights, him frantically apologizing for every shot fired. (He never lands a single shot)

{{quote| '''Carlisle''': "I don't relish the thought of killing another creature, even a sadistic one like [[Complete Monster|James]]."}}

* In ''[[Cellular]]'' {{spoiler|Jessica}} apologises to one of the bad guys after {{spoiler|she kills him by cutting his brachial artery}}.

== Literature ==

* In George RR Martin's ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' series, there is a successful assassin's guild called The Sorrowful Men, who always apologize to the victim for killing them just before the victim dies.

** Of course, in her original appearance, she was Sybil ''Ramkin''. Her philosophies are sometimes kind of old-fashioned, so she probably figured that, now that she's married, it's Sam's job as the husband to protect her, so she doesn't need to protect herself anymore and she can mellow out a little.

** Dobby is very much this in ''Chamber of Secrets'' with the various things he does to try to protect Harry.

** In ''The Deathly Hallows,'' Voldemort says "I regret it" when murdering {{spoiler|Snape}}.

* Kevin from ''[[Doctor Who|The Resurrection Casket]]''.

* Jane Bennet, as represented in ''[[Pride and Prejudice And Zombies]]'', has been reported to cradle zombies in her arms, apologizing for dismembering them, even as what remains keeps trying to bite her.

* [[X Wing Series|Iella Wesseri]]'s husband, thought to be dead for two years, was found in a prison when the New Republic captured Coruscant. Iella was delighted to have him back, and although he seemed quieter and weaker than he had been before this he was also glad to see her again. Later Iella, being a New Republic Intelligence officer, was assigned to escort an Imperial informant to safety so he could dish out about {{ManipulativeBastard Isard]]. But when the two of them got out of a speeder in the safe place, her husband shot the [[His Name Is|the informant]] and tried to shoot Iella. She [[Shoot the Dog|shoots him]], and as he was dying she found that during his long absence he'd been turned into one of Isard's [[Manchurian Agent]]s. Surprisingly, he doesn't say the word "sorry" at all during that, but regret is pretty heavy throughout what he says to her.

* In the [[Mistborn]] series book ''Hero of Ages'', {{spoiler|Marsh}} tells Sazed, "I wish I understood why I have to kill you. I'm sorry." Then he attacks him.

* It turns out this is the real way to use the eponymous Sword of Truth in the [[Sword of Truth]]. Holding onto pure anger will get some mileage out of it, but holding onto pure ''forgiveness'' will cut through magical defenses. Naturally, true forgiveness is pretty hard to ''not'' express to some extent. YMMV on this one, as the first example overlaps with [[Stockholm Syndrome]]. It makes sense in context.

== Live Action TV ==

* In the first episode of ''[[Andromeda]]'', Captain Hunt's Nietzchean crewmate (who practices the species-wide belief of self-interest) sees that Hunt is at an disadvantage. He stands up, apologizes for his impending treachery, and then attacks the captain.

** In the episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before", Kirk pauses to apologize to Gary Mitchell before smashing him with a rock. Mitchell just happens to get back his super-powers in that instant.

** And in "Operation - Annihilate!" a whole colony does this: they've been infected by [[Puppeteer Parasite|Puppeteer Parasites]], and they apologize and beg their victims to run away even as they're attacking.

** In "The Man Trap", McCoy says "Lord forgive me," as he kills the [[Monster of the Week]], which had shapeshifted into his ex-girlfriend.

* Encouraged in the Rahmens parody educational series ''The Japanese Tradition'' episode about dating. If you are forced to fight, you should say "I'm sorry I have to do this" before dealing out justice.

* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "Invasion of the Dinosaurs", Sergeant Benton attacks his superior (who's on the wrong side):

* On ''[[Neighbours]]'', Dylan made a point of doing this when he was coerced into an armed robbery. This more than anything convinced Stuart (if not his sergeant) that he was telling the truth, leading him to go undercover to get him exonerated.

* The husband on ''Man Woman Wild'' always apologizes to the animals he catches before killing them to feed himself and his wife. And thanks them after they're dead, too.

* During an early episode of ''[[Breaking Bad]]'', Walt breaks down crying and apologizing after more-or-less being forced to kill a captive drug dealer. Quite a strong scene. You can enjoy it [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpXeWztsT1g&feature=related here] to get some context.

 

 

== Video Games ==

* In the ''[[Disgaea]]'' series, some of the healer classes shout "Forgive me!" as a battle cry when you have them attack physically. For some reason, apparently demonic healers feel more badly about injuring others than the human ones in ''[[Final Fantasy]]''.

** And then there's Flonne, who counts... sort of. "Whoops, pardon me!"

* Polka in ''[[Eternal Sonata]]'' will apologize to enemies after hitting them, and one of her opening-battle quotes is something to the effect of "I'm sorry, but I'm in a hurry!"

** Bridget's intro has him pull a [[Dynamic Entry]] and trip his opponent ''before the fight starts''. He then turns, goes all "oops" and apologizes.

* Some of the mercenaries in the ''[[Jagged Alliance]]'' series are [[Apologetic Attacker|Apologetic Attackers]], and others begin as such but grow hardened (or [[Sociopathic Soldier|develop a murder fetish]]) with experience.

* During the first battle with Jafar in ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'', he orders the Genie to attack you. Before every attack, the Genie yells "I'm really sorry about this!" or the equivalent ("Oh please oh please let me miss!") as well as "Quick, get out of the way!", and if he does hit you, health orbs fly out of his fist to make up for it.

* Shannon in ''[[Ougon Musou Kyoku]]'' is literally an [[Apologetic Attacker]], as one of her moves is an apologetic bow.

** They may also apologize to ''each other'' if one turret collides with another.

* ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog|Sonic Adventure 2: Battle]]'' added Tikal to the massive 2-player revamp for the treasure hunting stages. Every time she'd use a special attack, she might say "I'm sorry."

* ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog|Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity]]'' has Blaze, sort of. She sometimes says "Sorry" a bit timidly when she passes other racers. Funny how she doesn't when she hits others with an attack item.

* Despinis from ''[[Super Robot Wars Reversal|Super Robot Wars R]]'' is not just [[Shrinking Violet|chronically shy]], she always says "I'm sorry" before blasting you to smithereens or beating you to a pulp. True to that, {{spoiler|when she joins your party in OG Gaiden, she seems to be more proficient at support skills rather than direct combat}}.

* ''[[System Shock]] 2''. Some formerly-human enemies told you to run or said sorry when they were shooting you for some extra horror.

* {{spoiler|Emil}} from ''[[Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World]]'' eventually becomes this after he {{spoiler|seals his [[Super-Powered Evil Side]]}}.

* Susie Evans from ''[[Valkyria Chronicles]]'', being a staunch pacifist, will sometimes freeze up and stop moving if you order her to attack someone (regardless of how much AP she has left). She can, however, use Ragnaid on an ally and still move around fine.

** Also, one of the enemy lieutenants remarks how the protagonists seem like good people, and he's sorry he has to fight them.

** Chaos is a more extreme case of this. In certain cases during battle in the second episode, he'll quickly say sorry before attacking. In Episode I, however, he has a pre-battle and battle end quote in which he prays for the enemy's soul.

{{quote| "Poor lost souls... may you be reborn again anew!"<br />

** Sir Zeliek - a great Paladin turned into a marionette of the [[Big Bad|Lich King]], trapped inside his own body as the Lich King uses his own holy powers to commit atrocities.

{{quote| '''[[People Puppets|Sir Zeliek]]:''' Forgive me! I- I have no choice but to obey!}}

* In ''[[Fallout 3]]'', the [[Robo Brain]] enemy sometimes acts like this.

* [[An Ice Person|Freudia Neuwahl]] and Liebea Palesch in ''[[Rosenkreuzstilette]]''. One can only predict the results when they go up against each other in the sequel.

* In the original ''[[Dead or Alive]]'', one of Kasumi's win quotes has her kneel down and apologize to her fallen foe, asking if he/she is alright.

* Rose from ''[[Street Fighter]]'' will frequently ask her opponent, "Are you hurt?" or "Are you all right?" This trope is much more prominent in her [[Fighting Your Friend]] situations.

* Shizumaru Hisame from ''[[Samurai Shodown]]'' bows and apologizes to his fallen rival in one of his winning animations.

** If he performs his Zetsumai Ougi and kills his opponent, he actually breaks down crying.

* Even though [[I'll Kill You!|she threatens to kill Noel if she doesn't return to her post]] at first in ''[[Blaz Blue]] Continuum Shift'', Tsubaki surprisingly ends up holding back and even begs for forgiveness whether she wins or loses. She also [[Easily Forgiven|forgives her]] for the trouble she got her into since Noel is her friend and therefore she knows that she didn't want to fight against her.

** Also, surprisingly enough, Tsubaki knew that she could never defeat her even though she didn't hold back. Then again, in fact, she herself didn't even know that Hazama was only using her to hurt her deeply enough to awaken the true successor to the Azure from within her... which, of course, causes Noel to [[This Is Unforgivable!|fly into a rage and refuse to forgive him when she realizes it during her encounter with him]].

'''Lord Ovthedance''': Am you kidding? Me am not in the best shape, thanks to some random hero who decided to...<br />

'''Hero''': ...I said "I'm sorry". }}

* ''[[SD Gundam G Generation]]'''s system that lets you put any non action girl into a mobile suit usually results in this. Tifa, Shekti, and other girls of their kind will apologize their opponent before blasting them up to bits.

* In ''Abe's Exodus'', the second ''[[Oddworld]]'' game, the only way to calm down a Mudokan that had been exposed to laughing gas was to give them a good hard slap. Slap them again and they get "angry" and have to be apologized to or they will refuse to listen to any instructions and even slap you (or any other nearby Mudokan) back. If you slap a "sad" Mudokan, you had better apologize fast, or they will let out a pitiful little "no…" and start beating themselves to death with their own hands.

* Hamton from ''Tiny Toons: Defenders of the Universe'' apologizes when he throws something at a enemy.

* Many of the robots in ''[[Cosmic Break]]'' appologize when making a kill (even when 'killing' trees and lifeless barrels). Mostly the more human ones. Some however like Baltheon invert the trope by laughing.

* ''[[The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim|Skyrim]]'' has one dungeon filled with ghosts under the control of a necromancer. Unusually, the ghosts are still self-aware, just not in control of their actions, so they will constantly tell you to run away and shout warnings to be on your guard before they attack.

** Also, the draugr sometimes croak apologies at you in Ancient Nordic.

* In ''[[Persona 3]] Portable'', [[Bonus Boss]] Theodore is extremely apologetic when he fights the player character. His sister Elizabeth also apologizes occasionally when she hits you, but not nearly as often.

* [[Robot Buddy|PROXY]] from ''[[Star Wars]]'': ''[[The Force Unleashed]]'' has the "primary programming" directive of killing his master, Starkiller. However, being a very naive droid who literally doesn't understand the concept of death, he treats it like an ordinary task and is otherwise quite friendly toward him. In fact, every time he randomly attacks Starkiller and fails to strike him down, he apologises for it.

 

== Webcomics ==

* In ''[[Everyday Heroes]]'', Mr. Mighty has to [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/eddurd/everydayheroes/series.php?view=single&ID=138691 knock out] Iron Jane after she attacks him ... later, he has to knock her out [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/eddurd/everydayheroes/series.php?view=single&ID=149953 again] to prevent her from killing her former boss in revenge.

* Cale in [[Looking for Group]] is convinced he has to kill an innocent child to save a kingdom. Up until this point, Cale has been bordering on [[Stupid Good]] and hates the thought of even ''harming'' a single innocent - but eventually [[Shoot the Dog|goes through with it anyway]].

{{quote| '''Cale:''' "I'm sorry... [[Tear Jerker|I'm sorry]]."}}

== Web Original ==

* Charlie freaks out and apologizes repeatedly to a villain she has just stabbed in ''[[Kate Modern]]: The Last Work''.

* Bobby Jacks in ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'' apologizes to Ivan Roeghmills before cutting his throat.

 

 

== Western Animation ==

** Cheetor commented on wanting to return the favor when the argument was made that Silverbolt was "acting in his best interests".

* In ''[[Frisky Dingo]]'', when Xander Crews and Killface were forced to fight to the death. They had originally agreed to fake it, and figured they'd think of something eventually, but when the audience wasn't buying it, Killface apologized to Xander before ''biting his ear off'', escalating the fight into actual to-the-death territory.

** Aang and Sokka attacking Katara whilst under [[People Puppets|Hama's control]].

{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Asami'''}}: I love you, Daddy. *attacks*}}

* [[Samurai Jack]] apologized to a guy for knocking him out and stealing his clothes after Jack's own clothes were stolen.

* After Him turned everyone evil in one episode of ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'', they apologized after beating the snot out of everybody.

* [[Lampshaded]] and subverted in an episode of ''[[Kim Possible]]'':

{{quote| Member of Team Impossible: I wish there was another way.<br />

Ron: Really?<br />

Member of Team Impossible: Not really, but that's what our lawyer told me to say. }}

* In the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003'', Donatello got one of these while attempting to save a power plant worker from a cooling tower that he'd just rigged to [[Stuff Blowing Up|blow up]]. [[It Makes Sense in Context]]...

{{quote| Don: We don't have time for this! Please accept my apology!<br />

Worker: For what?<br />

Don: For this. (Cue the use of his [[Simple Staff]]) }}

* In the TV version of ''[[Redwall]]'', the abbot asks God for forgiveness after attacking an invader.

 

*** Choi Min-sik, star of Korean film ''Oldboy'' is a Buddhist and said a prayer for every live octopus he had to eat during one particularly gross scene.

* There was a recent case where a U.S. Serviceman was mugged at gunpoint by three other men... however, upon opening his wallet and finding his military I.D, they returned to the man, apologized, gave him back his stuff (except his keys...) and thanked him for his service.

* Attila Ambrus, a failed Hungarian hockey player, robbed post offices and banks at gunpoint. He would usually thank the teller, even though slightly drunk.

* In Norah Vincent's ''Self-Made Man'', she recounts second-hand an anecdote of this sort. The full paragraph is on the [[Apologetic Attacker/Quotes|quotes page]].