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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"Good, I can feel your anger. I am defenseless. Take your weapon. [[Trope Namer|Strike me down with all of your hatred]] and [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|your journey towards the dark side will be complete]]!"''|'''[[Big Bad|Emperor Palpatine]]''', ''[[Star Wars]]: [[Return of the Jedi]]''}}
|'''[[Big Bad|Emperor Palpatine]]''', ''[[Star Wars]]: [[Return of the Jedi]]''}}
 
So the hero has a chance to kill the [[Big Bad]], or some other villain, but the villain actually wants this. He practically goads the hero into doing so. Often it's because [[My Death Is Just the Beginning]], or the villain is invoking [[If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him]] and wants to push the hero [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|off the Slippery Slope.]] The latter motivation is pretty much exclusively the province of [[The Corrupter]].
 
Of course, this is often more than a [[Thanatos Gambit]] -- the—the villain doesn't necessarily intend to die. In these cases it's enough that they provoke the hero into making the attempt. Once the hero has turned on them with intent to murder, the villain has already proven their point.
 
The other times, the villain ''really'' does want to die. [[I Cannot Self-Terminate|But they can't]], so they [[Suicide Byby Cop|goad the hero into killing them]]. After which they explain their true motive.
 
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.]]
 
[[Genre Savvy]] villains beware, this can also easily backfire if the hero realizes what the villain is trying to trick him into doing precisely ''[[Your Approval Fills Me Withwith Shame|''because]]'' [[Your Approval Fills Me With Shame|of the evil gloating.]]
 
Can overlap with [[What You Are in Thethe Dark]]. Compare with [[The Power of Hate]] which is a focus of the power hate gives. Contrast [[Get It Over With]].
 
{{examples}}
 
== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[Monster (Animemanga)|Monster]]'', it turns out Johan did this to his sister Nina during the first episode, killing their foster parents and enticing Nina to shoot him. [[Foregone Conclusion|Obviously, she did]]. {{spoiler|It eventually turns out he wants the protagonist [[The Messiah|Dr. Tenma]] (since he saved Johan and allowed him to continue being...[[Complete Monster|who he is]]) to shoot and kill him to prove that [[Humans Are Bastardsthe Real Monsters|human lives aren't equal]].}}
* Kurt Godel in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]''.
** 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."
* [[Big Bad|Aion]] does this to a weakened [[Chrono Crusade|Chrono]] after the latter is hit with a blast from Rosette's gun. Aion believes Chrono has grown soft.
* 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.''}}
* Used in ''[[Lost Universe]]'' very much like ''Star Wars'', with a twist. Just as Kain Blueriver is about to use a newfound ability to supercharge his [[Psychoactive Powers]] with [[Unstoppable Rage]] to slay Darkstar, [[Morality Chain|Millie]] arrives just in time to reveal that's exactly what Darkstar wants, as part of a [[Thanatos Gambit]] in which Kane's fury and self-loathing will [[Sealed Evil in Aa Can|unleash Darkstar's true form]]. Because of this, the only way to beat Darkstar is to kill him without an ounce of hatred.
* ''[[Naruto]]'' inverts this: {{spoiler|Naruto is willing to let Sasuke kill him if it will turn him to the side of good. Barring that, he's [[Taking You Withwith Me]]}}.
* Explicit in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (Mangamanga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'''s final showdown between [[I Shall Taunt You|Envy]] and {{spoiler|[[Person of Mass Destruction|Mustang]]}}. While not part of Envy's plan at all, the normally icy cool {{spoiler|Mustang}}'s allies are so horrified at the [[Kick the Son of Aa Bitch|sadistic glee with which he's torturing Envy to death]] that they beg him to stop until he can realize what he's doing and cool off. This ultimately acts as something of a wakeup call that saves the character from the nihilistic death spiral he'd been in to that point.
** Envy actually gets very frustrated about this and tries to start him up again, because he knows he's not surviving this time and wants to bring Mustang down with him. And then Ed ''[[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?|sympathizes]]'' with him, which disturbs him so much he commits suicide then and there.
* Uttered by {{spoiler|Yomi}} to Kagura at the end of ''[[Ga -Rei Zero]]''. By that point, everything that {{spoiler|Yomi}} cared about was destroyed, some of them by her own hands {{spoiler|while being [[Brainwashed and Crazy]]}}, so she believed that death by the hands of {{spoiler|her own adopted little sister}} is the only way she can retain some dignity out of the whole mess.
 
 
== ComicbooksComic Books ==
* 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''.
** He aims for this in ''[[The Dark Knight]]'' as well,
{{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.}}
* There was a [[Superman]] story arc where [[Nineties Anti -Hero|Manchester Black]], a "superhero" from ''waaaaay'' down the cynical end of the scale messes with Superman's life in an attempt to get him to admit that idealism has its limits. Culminates with him (apparently) killing Lois Lane right in front of Superman, willing to accept the consequences because if Superman snaps and kills him that means he was right all along.
 
 
== Fan FictionWorks ==
* In the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' fanfic ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3460966/1/Difficult_to_Fight_Against_Anger Difficult To Fight Against Anger]'', Warren Mears taunts {{spoiler|Willow}} by suggesting that, when he was raping {{spoiler|Tara}}, he got the impression that she {{spoiler|[[Post -Rape Taunt|isn't all the way gay]]}}. This is completely intentional, to get {{spoiler|her}} to lash out at him {{spoiler|with magic}}, so he can {{spoiler|[[Mega Manning|absorb her spells]]}}. He even says "[[Shout -Out|Strike me down with all of your hatred!]]" at one point. This ''is'' [[Geek|Warren]], after all.
 
 
== Films -- Live-Action ==
* [[Trope Namer|Named]] for Palpatine doing this a lot, including saying the exact trope name, to Luke in ''[[Return of the Jedi]]''. Given he had years to work on Anakin and mere minutes with Luke, he must have been damn good to almost succeed too. In fact, he ''would'' have succeeded, if he had shut his mouth [[Villain Ball|for just five minutes]]. It's worth noting that this is explicitly not a [[Thanatos Gambit]]; the real plan is to get Luke to [[Self -Made Orphan|kill Vader]], giving [[The Emperor]] a fresh, young apprentice rather than a crippled (and [[Bastard Understudy|dangerously ambitious]]) [[The Dragon|Dragon]].
* The end of ''[[Se7en]]'': {{spoiler|John Doe uses the head of Mills' wife to provoke Mills into killing him in order to complete the seventh sin, Wrath}}.
* 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 Withwith Him Asas You Will|organizes a group of the families of the slasher's victims to have their way with him instead]].}}
* Possibly played with in ''[[Eight MM|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.
* Done by {{spoiler|Nitti to the protagonist Eliot Ness}} in ''[[The Untouchables]]''. He's really just playing a [[Batman Gambit]] to toy with him, except it backfires. [[Car Cushion|Badly.]]
* [[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!''"}}
* There are occasional hints in the original film of ''[[The Hitcher]]'' that the title character is trying to get Jim to kill him in order to fulfill this trope.
 
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== Live-Action TV ==
* in an early episode of ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'', Dean does this to a very pissed-off Sam who's had his head messed with by a ghost. Dean even hands Sam a gun and tells him to do it. Sam does. The gun isn't loaded. Dean's not stupid. In season 4, [[Big Bad|Lilith]] pulls this with Sam when he'd rather reunite with his brother than {{spoiler|kill her like she wants him to so he'll inadvertently start the apocalypse}}.
* A wily serial killer who Gibbs caught years before [[NCIS]] started asked to see Gibbs again days before his execution date, taunting and teasing that he'd tell where the bodies are kept. This is the guy who turned Gibbs from a jovial jokester like DiNozzo into the jaded guy he is in the show. He ''wants'' Gibbs to kill him in attempt to ruin Gibbs, since he's not even a day away from execution.
 
 
== Videogames ==
* Inverted in ''[[No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle]]'' by [[The Hero|Travis]] right before the [[One-Winged Angel|last part]] of the final battle.
{{quote| '''Travis:''' ''Come on, prez! Unleash your hate! Your anger! Everything! I'll take it all, '''and fucking kill you with it!'''''"}}
** And before then by Pizza Batt.
* {{spoiler|Terumi}} quotes the [[Trope Namer]] verbatim to {{spoiler|Noel}} in ''[[Blaz BlueBlazBlue]]: Continuum Shift''. {{spoiler|Unlike Palpatine, he succeeds. Noel gets [[Drunk Onon the Dark Side]] and becomes Mu-12.}}
* In ''Star Wars: [[The Force Unleashed]]'', the Light Side Ending has Starkiller defeat Palpatine in a boss battle. Palpatine groans and says, "You were destined to destroy me. Do it. Give in to your hatred!" When Kota manages to talk Starkiller down, Palpatine gets really pissed and blasts Kota with Force Lightning for interfering.
** In the second game, Darth Vader dares Starkiller to kill him when Vader is defeated. {{spoiler|If you try it, Vader's Dark Apprentice will jump in and kill Starkiller.}}
* In the final chapter of ''[[BaldursBaldur's Gate|Baldur's Gate 2]]'' you face Sarevok, the [[Big Bad]] of the previous game, as one of hell's trials. He tempts you to use your [[Super-Powered Evil Side]] on him. The good path is to not give in.
{{quote| '''Sarevok:''' ''Yes! Stoke that infernal wrath of yours!''}}
* In ''[[Dawn of Sorrow]]'', Celia attempts this on Soma Cruz, in a gambit to make him the Dark Lord. Whether she succeeds or not depends on if Soma has a certain amulet equipped. If she does, it leads to a [[Bad End]] and a new game play mode where Soma is the final boss.
* In ''[[The Legend of Spyro]]: The Eternal Night'', Gaul tells Spyro to finish him after being defeated. When Spyro doesn't attack, Gaul calls him a coward and [[Evil Laugh|laughs at his "weakness"]]. Unfortunately for Gaul, while Spyro might not have finished him off, [[Super-Powered Evil Side|Dark Spyro]] is more than willing to and completely obliterates him.
* In ''[[Blaz BlueBlazBlue: Continuum Shift]]'', {{spoiler|after being defeated by [[Handicapped Badass|Ragna]], a delighted [[Complete Monster|Terumi]] laughs and calls out to Ragna to "strike him down with all of his hatred". [[If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him|Ragna has a tough decision, and finally refuses, deciding that there are plenty of things that can make killing Terumi a bitch.]]}}
 
 
== Webcomics ==
* In ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|Order of the Stick]],'' Belkar (a [[Chaotic Evil]] protagonist) tries to get Miko (a nominally [[Lawful Good]] antagonist) to do this, just so she'd lose her paladin powers. (And then Belkar could get resurrected). Vaarsuvius later points out to Belkar that the Order of the Stick lacks the resources to resurrect Belkar, anyway.
 
 
== Western Animation ==
* [[Lex Luthor]] does this to Superman in ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'', taunting Supes to kill him for {{spoiler|apparently causing Flash' death}} so he will become like his [[Knight Templar|Justice Lord]] [[Fallen Hero|counterpart.]]
* Megatron does this to [[Viewpoint Character|Jack]] in ''[[Transformers Prime (Animation)|Transformers Prime]]'' in the episode "Rock Bottom", daring Jack to kill him while he's trapped after a cave-in.
 
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Morality Tropes]]
[[Category:Strike Me Down Withwith All Ofof Your Hatred]]
[[Category:TropeHatred Tropes]]
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