Suicide by Cop: Difference between revisions

''I could hold out here all night''

''Yes, I crossed my old man back in Oregon''

 

A depressed or desperate individual wants to end their own life, but, for various reasons (cowardice, a desire to make a point, insurance, moral aversion to suicide), [[I Cannot Self-Terminate|is not willing to do it themselves]].

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Eden: It's an Endless World!]]'' has a [[Tear Jerker]] example. A girl in a skyscraper full of people holding a bomb about to explode tries to throw it through a window. However, the window does not open, and she is out of bullets. She then threatens the police with her empty gun, so that they will shoot her, destroy the window, and send her falling outside with the bomb.

* ''[[Naruto]]'''s Itachi Uchiha had an extreme subversion of Suicide By Cop well, brother, anyway. He came up with a plan and waited SEVEN years before having his brother kill him in a blaze of glory. In those seven years he did everything possible to drive the boy insane just to make sure he would kill him. The subversion is that he's ostensibly doing this for Sasuke's benefit and for other noble reasons, but his plan backfires ''spectacularly'' with nearly all of his goals save Sasuke's strength in ashes at this point.

** Then there's Haku, who plays this straight at first.

* ''[[Pet Shop of Horrors]]'': Arguably, Count D's father did this, initially intending the FBI Agent to do it, yet having Leon Orcot put the bullet through his head in the end.

** Suzaku's [[Death Seeker|general attitude]] is this.

** Another example is when the Black Knights betray Lelouch. Lelouch, still grieving over Nunnally's apparent death and now cornered by Schneizel, pretends to be a [[Manipulative Bastard]] and fakes a [[Kick the Dog]] moment with Kallen in order to get them to kill him and spare her. Then [[The Scrappy|Rolo]] [[Dying Moment of Awesome|shows]] [[Rescued from the Scrappy Heap|up]].

* In ''[[Ultimate Spider-Man]]'' Norman Osbourne begs S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to kill him after he unthinkingly beats his own son to death as the Green Goblin.

* In the first ''[[Sin City]]'' story, it's implied that Marv tries this after his [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] is over, figuring that the Roarke family will kill him anyway. Cops do come and shoot him but he lives, only to face a [[Kangaroo Court]].

 

== Film ==

* In the remake of ''[[The Crazies]]'', Deputy Russell faces the army soldiers with an unloaded gun so he wouldn't have to succumb to the infection and to provide a distraction for the other survivors.

* Near the end of ''[[The Town]]'', James, the main character's right hand man and adopted brother, does this when he's wounded after a botched robbery rather than go back to jail.

 

== Literature ==

* In ''[[Tim Powers|On Stranger Tides]]'', Stede Bonnet falls under Blackbeard's power via ''vodun'' and extortion, but eventually opts to escape being a sorcerous puppet by invoking this trope ... with the Royal Navy as the cops. His desire to be killed in battle rather than hanged leads him to escape from jail when captured, then provoke the pursuing soldiers into firing on his own party of fugitives.

* ''The Zoo Story'', Jerry, who is a homeless very lonely man meets another man named Peter and forces him to kill him. Although he doesn't tell him to kill him, Jerry tries to get Peter mad enough to do it.

 

* The White House is shot at in an episode of ''[[The West Wing]]'' by a "disturbed individual" trying to be shot by the secret service.

* ''[[CSI: Miami]]'': Horatio's nemesis Clavo Cruise, having had all his plans foiled, shows up at the crime lab and, waiting until Horatio and other police officers have their weapons trained on him, tries to take a shot at Horatio.

* Subverted in the opening scene of ''[[Breaking Bad]]'' pilot; what do you do when you, the protagonist, until that moment a law abiding citizen, a trusted and respected member of your community, a loving husband and father, end up in underwear in the middle of the desert, driving a mobile meth-lab chased by police cars that get closer and closer? You leave a videotaped farewell message to the loved ones then proceed to confront the police with a gun in your hand ready to shoot.

* In ''[[Without a Trace]]'', this happened in the {{spoiler|17th}} episode of the {{spoiler|2nd}} season; {{spoiler|an Iraqi war veteran accidentally kills a woman in a bank heist he pulled to get enough money to keep his house from being repossessed and his girlfriend from leaving him. In the end, after taking the girlfriend and an FBI agent hostage in his home, he agrees to come out. He unloads the gun he's holding (out of view of the SWAT officers that surrounded his house) and walks right out the front door, pointing the gun at the officers, who open fire. The final scene is [[Downer Ending|the FBI agent holding the hysterical, sobbing girlfriend back from running after him and into the line of fire, as the agent sheds a few tears himself]]}}.

 

== Music ==

* Seems to be what [[Steely Dan]]'s song "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tllhmK9g4G4 Don't Take Me Alive]" from their album ''The Royal Scam'' is about. See page quote.

* In P.O.S.' song "That One", the rapper mentions that he's "in the mood for suicide by cop" in the wake of a bad ending to a relationship.

 

== Video Games ==

* Squall can attempt this in the D-District Prison segment of ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'' by insulting the prison warden during his [[Electric Torture]]. He doesn't succeed, but choosing the option [[Violation of Common Sense|nets the player a reward a little later on]].

* Angeal from ''Crisis Core: [[Final Fantasy VII]]'' does this - by turning into a [[One-Winged Angel]] and attacking Zack.

* Done in ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim|Skyrim]]'' during the {{spoiler|Dark Brotherhood}} questline. {{spoiler|After selling the player out to [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|Commander Maro]] and being literally burned for it, Astrid uses her own body as a Black Sacrament and put a contract on herself.}}

* In ''[[Deus Ex: Human Revolution]]'', Ezekiel Sandoval attempts this at a mall. As a veteran Marine, he couldn't bring himself to shoot any civilians. Before the police could show up, however, Humanity Front leader William Taggart talks him out of it.

 

== Web Comics ==

* {{spoiler|Miho}} in ''[[Megatokyo]]'', though she got better.

 

== Western Animation ==

* In the ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' cartoon "The Cheese Chasers", two mice, having eating so much cheese they feel they can't eat any again, decide that there's [["Seen It All" Suicide|nothing left to live for]] and try to get a cat to eat them. The cat, suspicious that it's all a trick, grows paranoid and eventually decides to end it all as well. So he goes to a dog and asks him to kill him. The dog, in trying to figure out the whole situation, goes mad as well, and chases down the dog catcher.

** ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' seemed to like this one, as there was also a [[Just for Pun|hen-pecked bird]] who wanted Sylvester to eat him, rather than put up with his wife for another day. [[Hilarity Ensues]].

* There was some evidence in ''[[Beast Wars]]'' that Rampage's [[Complete Monster]] behavior and focus on Depth Charge was, in part, an attempt to commit Suicide By Depth Charge to atone for that horrific behavior and all the lives he took when activated.

{{quote|'''Blackarachnia''': You'll regret this!

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Death Tropes]]

[[Category:Guns and Gunplay Tropes]]