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Why Isn't It Attacking?: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
Alice and Bob have been [[Never Split the Party|split up]] against their will by the [[Everything Trying to Kill You|horde]] of flesh eating [[
There are a few possible reasons, and not all are good. On the positive end, he may be a [[My Species Doth Protest Too Much|rebel]] [[Defector From Decadence|good guy]], or the bad guys are really [[Dark Is Not Evil]], or their motives for chasing them were [[Poor Communication Kills|benign but misinterpreted]]. Or maybe this was the orc [[Androcles' Lion|she saved]] years ago repaying the favor, he [[Was Once a Man|was once a human]] and feels pity, or he's [[Reluctant Monster|lonely]] and wants a companion. He will usually demonstrate his good intentions by [[Stab the Scorpion|protecting Alice]] from other threats, which may involve knocking her out and/or taking her to his home. When she wakes up she may think she's [[Exploring the Evil Lair]], and before long she'll be asking "[[Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?]]" followed by his puzzled "No." By the time Bob shows up, she'll likely have to stop them both from a [[Let's You and Him Fight|fight over her]]. If the author wants to be cruel, Bob will kill him before Alice can explain.
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More dangerously, he may be a [[Boss in Mook Clothing]] feigning the above as part of a dastardly plot to earn her trust so he can betray her later. Even if he genuinely does want to protect her, he can always go [[Yandere|psychotically]] [[Stalker with a Crush|possessive]] and only protect her to possess her. Or of course, there might be a [[Always a Bigger Fish|bigger monster behind her]]. [[We Wait|Or just waiting for reinforcements.]]
Though the [[Example As Thesis]] above has an Orc, the "attacker" can be human, animal or monster.
[[Sister Trope]] to [[Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?]]. Contrast [[Get It Over With]], [[Would Not Shoot a Good Guy]]. See also [[Zombie Advocate]].
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== Anime and Manga ==
* This is first played straight, but ultimately subverted in [http://www.mangahere.com/manga/shingeki_no_kyojin/ Shingeki no Kyojin], where one of the soldiers of a band of giant killers is cornered by one of the smaller giants, who desperately tries to hold back its [http://www.mangahere.com/manga/shingeki_no_kyojin/c018.5/14.html Horror Hunger] (to the point of clawing its face until drawing blood). This clues to her (and the audience) the unsettling revelation that the terrifying, humanoid giants that have plagued humanity after nearly exterminating them several hundred years ago, the seemingly unintelligent creatures who have devoured humans and caused untold atrocities for their last remaining stronghold, are not only intelligent but [[Tragic Monster|transformed humans]]. Eventually the giant succumbs to hunger and, in obvious despair, devours the unlucky scout before she can escape. This is pretty much confirmed by the protagonist and another female member who hid her condition amongst the giant killers even while squashing and maiming half the team as a giant. The former was barely able to control his descent into madness and hunger when he subdues the female member during a long fight (both in giant form).
== Fan Works ==
* [[DC Nation]]: During the "Strangers" plot where several Titans were swapped out with their [[Evil Counterpart|Evil Counterparts]], the thing that tipped the heroes off to something being amiss was that the people they thought were their enemies weren't attacking. Connor Hawke was the first to voice this aloud, able to read Troia's body language and quickly assess that her posture was not that of an attacker, preventing Arsenal from firing a fatal shot.
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* ''[[The Host (film)|The Host]]'' looked like it was going to do this when {{spoiler|it captured the protagonists' daughter}}, but it was subverted.
* ''[[King Kong]]'' may well be the trope codifier.
* Happened in ''[[Alien (franchise)|Alien 3]]''. The creature gets to Ripley, who is helpless, and... hisses, and leaves. Of course, it's because {{spoiler|Ripley is hosting a queen alien}}.
* Subverted in ''[[Alien vs. Predator]]'', when the old man thinks Predator will kill him, but the Predator spares him because he is sickly. {{spoiler|[[Don't You Dare Pity Me!|He gets killed anyway when he attacks him]]}}. Also The [[Final Girl]] thinks that the Predator will kill her as well {{spoiler|but he doesn't because she has proven herself as a warrior, [[Worthy Opponent|earning the Predator's respect]]}}.
* Invoked in the most literal sense in ''[[How to Train Your Dragon (animation)|How to Train Your Dragon]]''. After Hiccup frees the Night Fury he ensnared (that is, the dragon he'd later name "Toothless"), it corners him, screams in his face, and runs off. This one event essentially kicks off the entire plot, because up until then Hiccup had been taught that dragons will always take the kill shot if given a fraction of a chance.
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== Video Games ==
* Shining Blade in ''[[Guild Wars]]''.
* Done by the ''player'' in ''[[
** Some Splicers do the same to you. A few scripted sections have Splicers pop up right behind you and pointedly ''not'' attack. Depending on your paranoia, {{spoiler|Sander Cohen}} might count, since after you {{spoiler|kill his enemies, photograph their corpses, add them to Cohen's disturbing quadtych, and fight off his army of Splicers that he sends in a moment of paranoia}}, he gives you another present and just stands there, true to his word about letting you leave. {{spoiler|Unless you attack him or his quadtych}}.
* Happens with {{spoiler|a geth}} in [[Mass Effect 2]], who [[Stab the Scorpion|takes out some enemies for you]], and can later potentially join your party.
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== Western Animation ==
* In one episode of ''[[The Legend of Tarzan]]'', Jane is captured by the leopard men. When she finds herself in their city, she asks why they brought her there if they weren't going to tear her apart. Turns out {{spoiler|they wanted to break the spell that Queen La had put on them so they could return to being regular leopards, but the spell could only be broken by their queen. So they kidnapped Jane so she could take the role as queen and break the spell.}}
* Sometimes you wish Valerie Grey would ask this about her "[[Arch Enemy]]" [[Danny Phantom]]- who actually ''isn't'' her [[Arch Enemy]], but actually [[The Hero]] who never attacks, but she's too blind to see it.
* In the ''[[The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes|Avengers Earths Mightiest Heroes]]'' episode "Gamma World", Thor is fighting Absorbing Man, who has taken on the substance of Mjolnir. Absorbing Man seems to be beating Thor to a pulp, all the while shouting at the god to get up and fight. Moments later, Thor raises his hand and stops Absorbing Man in mid-swing. Thor then shows him why taking on Mjolnir's properties was a bad idea, by controlling ''him'' just like he controls his hammer.
* ''[[Godzilla: The Series]]'' has a juvenile-sized Zilla, Jr. about to chomp on [[The Worm Guy|Nick Tatapolous]] in the first episode. What stops Zilla from eating Nick is because he had imprinted on the scientist right after hatching and thinks Nick is his "dad".
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