History CruelMercy / VideoGames

* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'', Ezio does this to Rodrigo Borgia, the man behind the conspiracy that killed his father and brothers as a youth. At first Ezio sought revenge by fighting the Templars and dismantling Rodrigo's plans over the course of twenty years, only for him to go into hiding and eventually resurface as Pope Alexander VI, vested with virtually unlimited political and religious power to help the Templars further consolidate their control over Europe. Not that this stops Ezio, though, as he decides to take the fight to the Vatican and try to publicly assassinate Rodrigo. Ezio accidentally gives Rodrigo the Apple of Eden needed to open the Vault, the greatest dark secret of Christianity - the key to usurping God... and Rodrigo fails. He isn't the chosen Prophet, he can't open the Vault even with ''two'' Pieces of Eden. After getting his ass beaten by Ezio, Rodrigo begs Ezio to GetItOverWith. Ezio responds by sparing Rodrigo, and then opening the Vault himself, seizing the destiny Rodrigo craved his whole life.
** However, in ''Videogame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' Machiavelli [[WhatTheHellHero chews out Ezio]] for leaving Rodrigo alive since after all's said and done, the Borgia are still in power and are still major threats to the Assassins. In fact, it leads to Rodrigo's son Cesare leading an assault on Monteriggioni and killing his uncle Mario. Ezio later states that because of this, he's not going to make the same mistake twice. Meanwhile, it got worse for Rodrigo, as his role became nothing more than a figurehead for his son Cesare. Finally, [[spoiler:when Cesare kills him (to prevent his role from influencing opposition to his cause), it was ''Ezio'', of all people, who comes to comfort him in his dying moments, and this played as the climax of Ezio's CharacterDevelopment, showing how he has transcended his desire for vengeance, having decided that everything he does, however bloody, will always be for the greater good]].

** Stanley Poole's fate should you choose to spare him also qualifies. He can't hide in the booth anymore thanks to Sofia remotely opening it to goad Delta into killing him, and he doesn't appear to be able to fight to defend himself. His only options are either dying of starvation, getting killed by Splicers, or drowning when the dome protecting Rapture gives way and floods the city.

* Near the end of Episode 2 in ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'', when zombies start swarming the farm, you can have Lee spare Danny after he is caught in a modified bear trap with no release latch ([[KarmicDeath Which he made himself]]) as he presumably either bleeds to death or gets chewed on by the zombies. You could also spare Andrew after he has a VillainousBreakdown after realizing [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes his mother has died]], and is begging for a MercyKill from Lee.

* In Episode 2 of ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'', you can have Lee spare Danny after he is caught in a modified bear trap with no release latch ([[KarmicDeath Which he made himself]]) as he presumably bleeds to death. You could also spare Andrew after he has a VillainousBreakdown after realizing [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes his mother has died]], and is begging for a MercyKill from Lee.

* In Episode 2 of ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'', you can have Lee spare Danny after he is caught in a modified bear trap with no release latch ([[KarmicDeath Which he made himself]]) as he presumably bleeds to death. You could also spare Andrew after he has a VillainousBreakdown after realizing [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes his mother has died.]] and is begging for a MercyKill from Lee.

* In Episode 2 of ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'', you can have Lee spare Danny after he is caught in a modified bear trap with no release latch ([[KarmicDeath Which he made himself]]) as he presumably bleeds to death. You could also spare Andrew after he has a VillainousBreakdown, begging Lee to kill him after he realizes [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes his mother is dead.]]

* In Episode 2 of ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'', you can have Lee spare Danny after he is caught in a modified bear trap with no release latch ([[KarmicDeath Which he made himself]] as he presumably bleeds to death. You could also spare Andrew after he has a VillainousBreakdown, begging Lee to kill him after he realizes [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes his mother is dead.]]

* ''VideoGame/Bioshock2: If the player harvests at least one Little Sister but chooses to spare Grace, Stanley, and Gil, then [[spoiler:Eleanor will cite this trope when she rescues her mother Sofia in the ending, saying that living with the knowledge that her plans have been ruined and her daughter has rejected her is a much worse punishment than dying.]]

* In ''VideoGame/ArmyOfTwo: The Devil's Cartel'', Alpha and Bravo are hell-bent on killing [[spoiler:Salem]] for betraying them, even though Rios insists on taking him in alive. After defeating him in the final boss battle, however, they instead decide to leave him to the Mexican authorities.

** Edgar Wakefield: [[spoiler:Can be simply knocked out...and left to the mercy of the [[BadBoss savage]] and [[ImAHumanitarian cannibalistic]] captain he mutinied against.]]

* ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'': V can choose to spare the final boss [[spoiler:Adam Smasher]] so he can watch as his reputation goes down the toilet from failing to protect Arasaka's crown jewel from a brain-damagged nobody, and then get systemically ripped apart by the higher-ups for (at least in The Devil ending) siding with a traitorous mole 'because it would be more fun'.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', there is a way to do this to [[spoiler:Anders]]. He fully expects to be executed and die as a martyr after [[spoiler:blowing up the Chantry and enticing a full-on civil war between the Templars and Mages]], and if released from custody will try to die in battle anyway [[spoiler: if you side with the Templars]]. But if the Champion has [[spoiler:a full Rivalry meter with him, s/he can convince Anders that he must atone for what he did, freeing him ''and'' keeping him in the party while you help the Templars exterminate every mage in the tower. Siding with the mages makes the mercy less cruel, but the "martyrdom would be the easy way out" aspect is still there.]] Writer [[WordOfGod Jennifer Hepler]] stated in an interview that she believed this fate would be "poetic justice".
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' itself allows you to do this to several characters, to include Sten (though the option is less about outright killing him, and more about leaving him in his cage to die later), Jowan, Zevran (who enters into a "service contract" with you afterwards), and [[spoiler:Loghain, in exchange for him serving you and the Grey Wardens, no less]]. There are other potential instances, such as [[spoiler:Branka]], though the cruelness of them comes down to YMMV.
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', continuing with the tradition, has this for the Grand Duchess Florianne. One option is to spare her life and sentence her to serve as the Inquisition's jester, denying her all her wealth and fancy clothes, ruining her reputation, making her a laughing-stock in both Orlais and the Inquisition fortress, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and forcing her to wear flat shoes]].

** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', a sidequest revolves around a batarian terrorist (not Balak) who committed a variety of destructive acts in revenge for [[spoiler: Shepard wiping out a batarian star system in the "Arrival" DLC of [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 the previous game]]]]. Badly wounded from an attack on the Citadel by Cerberus, he lies in the hospital of the refugee camp, and asks you to MercyKill him. Shepard can either turn off his life support, or invoke this trope and call the nurse to come to his "aid".

* The GoldenEnding of ''[[VideoGame/NancyDrew Ghost of Thornton Hall]]'' can be interpreted this way. Nancy has the choice to [[spoiler: save the culprit, Clara, rather than let her burn to death]]. However, this means that [[spoiler: Clara]] will have to face justice for [[spoiler: possibly-unintentionally killing her cousin]] and reveal the truth to her family. [[spoiler: Clara]] implores Nancy to leave her behind to die, but Nancy responds that she deserves to pay for her mistakes.

* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'': After you find out Jeremiah Compson [[spoiler:[[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil was a slave-catcher during the Civil War days and once sold a woman and her child back into slavery for twenty dollars]]]], you are free to [[PayEvilUntoEvil shoot him for some positive karma]]... or you can just walk away and leave the sobbing old man to live out the remainder of his miserable years as a destitute drunk, before he dies an unmourned nobody.

* ''Videogame/Dishonored2'' brings back the tradition of non-lethally neutralizing enemies, often with a side of poetic justice.
** Mortimer Ramsey: [[spoiler:Locking him in the Empress' secret chambers with the imperial coffers and taking the key with you so there's no way for him to get out.]]

* The end of the last mission in ''[[VideoGame/NintendoWars Advance Wars: Dual Strike]]'' has something like this. If the player chooses "Yes" when [[TotallyRadical Jake]] has to kill [[spoiler:[[BigBad Von Bolt]]]], Jake is handed a gun from [[spoiler:Hawke]], who would have shot him himself if Jake couldn't bring himself to (if the player chooses "No"). [[spoiler:Jake doesn't hesitate, and shoots Von Bolt's chair, which was what was about to revive the Grand Bolt the good guys defeated earlier. When asked by Von Bolt why he didn't kill him, Jake stated that he didn't want him dead while everyone else cleaned up his mess.]]

* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'', Ezio does this to Rodrigo Borgia, the man behind the conspiracy that killed his father and brothers as a youth. At first Ezio sought revenge by fighting the Templars and dismantling Rodrigo's plans over the course of twenty years, only for him to go into hiding and eventually resurface as Pope Alexander VI, vested with virtually unlimited political and religious power to help the Templars further consolidate their control over Europe. Not that this stops Ezio, though, as he decides to take the fight to the Vatican and try to publicly assassinate Rodrigo. Ezio accidentally gives Rodrigo the Apple of Eden needed to open the Vault, the greatest dark secret of Christianity - the key to usurping God... and Rodrigo fails. He isn't the chosen Prophet, he can't open the vault even with ''two'' Pieces of Eden. After getting his ass beaten by Ezio, Rodrigo begs Ezio to GetItOverWith. Ezio responds by sparing Rodrigo, and then opening the Vault himself, seizing the destiny Rodrigo craved his whole life.

-->'''Daemon:''' Fear not, Apostle. The Basilica is reserved for those who may redeem themselves. [[YouHaveFailedMe You will have no such chance]].
* Also subverted at the end of the ork campaign of ''VideoGame/DawnOfWarII: Retribution'': Kaptinn Bluddflagg sneaks up (somehow) on Inquisitor Adrastia, insults her, takes her hat, and... leaves. To the good Kaptin it ''is'' a Cruel Mercy because NotWorthKilling is the worst insult an ork knows, while to the Inquisitor it's simply a matter of getting a new hat and wounded pride (she'd originally tried to hire Bluddflagg to kill the BigBad in exchange for fighting three Imperial regiments wherever he wanted. He agreed, but he wanted her hat as well, which spoiled the deal).

** In the second game, Aria's predecessor as the most powerful figure in Omega is kept around as a supposed adviser, but the truth is that she keeps him around as her personal trophy, with his new nickname "The Patriarch" being a StealthInsult since to an [[OneGenderRace Asari]] it is a nonexistent and meaningless word to reflect his complete lack of power. However, it's possible to either give him some bit of comfort by either agreeing to deal with assassins coming for him on his behalf (giving him some semblance of actual power) or to convince him to deal with them himself (which at least [[FaceDeathWithDignity lets him die]] as a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Krogan]]).

* ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'': V can choose to spare the final boss [[spoiler:Adam Smasher]] so he can watch as his reputation goes down the toilet from failing to protect Arasaka's crown jewel from a brain-damagged nobody, and then get systemically ripped apart by the higher-ups for siding with a traitorous mole 'because it would be more fun'.

* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'', Ezio does this to Rodrigo Borgia, the man behind the conspiracy that killed his father and brothers as a youth. At first Ezio sought revenge by fighting the Templars and dismantling Rodrigo's plans over the course of twenty years, only for him to go into hiding and eventually resurface as Pope Alexander VI, vested with virtually unlimited political and religious power to help the Templars further consolidate their control over Europe. Not that this stops Ezio, though, as he decides to take the fight to the Vatican and try to publicly assassinate Rodrigo, culminating in a fistfight following a chase, which Ezio won. However, instead of killing him, Ezio leaves Rodrigo alone, humiliated just as ultimate victory was within reach. Even as Rodrigo pleas to end his misery, now that he has nothing to live for, Ezio states that killing him won't bring back his family and innocence, instead letting him waste away in despair, knowing that the Piece of Eden hidden in his papal staff refused to allow him to open the Vault, but it did for Ezio. Come ''Brotherhood'' and it got worse for Rodrigo, as his role became nothing more than a figurehead for his son Cesare. Finally, [[spoiler:when Cesare kills him (to prevent his role from influencing opposition to his cause), it was ''Ezio'', of all people, who comes to comfort him in his dying moments, and this played as the climax of Ezio's CharacterDevelopment, showing how he has transcended his desire for vengeance, having decided that everything he does, however bloody, will always be for the greater good]].
** However, in ''Videogame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' Machiavelli [[WhatTheHellHero chews out Ezio]] for leaving Rodrigo alive since after all's said and done, the Borgia are still in power and are still major threats to the Assassins. In fact, it leads to Rodrigo's son Cesare leading an assault on Monteriggioni and killing his uncle Mario. Ezio later states that because of this, he's not going to make the same mistake twice.

** You can pull this on two of the Jedi Masters you're trying to find, too. Let's see, Vrook. You're on this rock that hates Jedi, but makes an exception for me because I saved the place and you didn't. Have fun. Oh, Zez-Kai, you're a broken coward living in a WretchedHive, surrounded by every CrapsackWorld trope in existence and you can't manage to pick up your lightsaber and do a thing about it while I did. I'm getting stronger and will kick the Sith's arse while you sit and mope. Meditate on that for a while and get back to me.
** Kreia ''loves'' this tactic. She is quite happy to sit back and [[BreakThemByTalking let her enemies know in great detail how badly they screwed up]], but she won't destroy anyone or anything she can ''use'', which means she'll spare them and then recruit them into whatever agenda she cares to run.

* Also subverted at the end of the ork campaign of ''VideoGame/DawnOfWarII: Retribution'': Kaptinn Bluddflagg sneaks up (somehow) on Inquisitor Adrastia, insults her, takes her NiceHat, and... leaves. To the good Kaptin it ''is'' a Cruel Mercy because NotWorthKilling is the worst insult an ork knows, while to the Inquisitor it's simply a matter of getting a new hat and wounded pride (she'd originally tried to hire Bluddflagg to kill the BigBad in exchange for fighting three Imperial regiments wherever he wanted. He agreed, but he wanted her hat as well, which spoiled the deal).