History Main / ARealManIsAKiller

Today, this trope comes with UnfortunateImplications, particularly in RealLife: If such a rite of passage was justified back in ancient times and still is in some contexts, it has now been {{Flanderiz|ation}}ed into a much less noble pursuit. It contends that reveling in violence or deriving pleasure from killing something/someone [[ValuesDissonance is the epitome of manhood]] and the definition of badassery. In fact, these days you are ''much'' more likely to see this trope inverted: A man is expected to kill in order to prove something, and his ''[[ThouShaltNotKill refusal]]'' to do so is what [[BeYourself proves his moral integrity]] (in some cases, this could even provide him with an AndroclesLion protector). It's only in places where there are legitimate targets for murder that we see anything like the original spin. [[NotEvenHuman Zombies, aliens, or other inhuman enemies]]? No worries, people will be expected to prove they are worth having along by mercilessly killing them. Other people, even bad people, not so much, though it still happens. Even in modern examples that play it straight, there is still a tendency in grittier works to expect the men, even those like doctors or confirmed pacifists, to join in on the aforementioned justified killing. If they do it's often treated as a moment of them outgrowing their cowardice, while such standards are [[MenAreTheExpendableGender not applied to the physically capable women]] of the group.

* [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]] in ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls''; [[Characters/GravityFallsDipperPines Dipper Pines]] is angsting about [[IWantToBeARealMan not being A Man yet]] (as illustrated by his inability to get a start on his CarpetOfVirility), until he discovers a tribe of {{Testosterone Poison|ing}}ed "[[OurMinotaursAreDifferent Man-otaurs]]" living in the mountains. Naturally, the final step in their initiation ritual is to hunt down and kill "the {{Multi|pleHeadCase}}-{{Bear|sAreBadNews}}". When he discovers that it's really a MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold, he refuses... and they kick him out in disgust. It's only when he relates the story to Stan later that it's pointed out that [[PeerPressureMakesYouEvil refusing to do something you disagree with in the face of massive peer pressure]] is pretty manly in itself.

** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': ComicBook/SteveTrevor who is presented as the ideal man and prefers stealth and diplomacy and avoids killing when he can is contrasted with [[ComicBook/AresDC Mars]] who loves violence above all else and feels that such a trait is inherently masculine and those without it are feminine.