History Main / AnOfferYouCantRefuse

* ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke: WesternAnimation/LaBalladeDesDalton''. When Lucky Luke is asked to witness the Daltons fulfilling the condition required to inherit their Uncle's money, he's told he'll be killed if he refuses.

* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'': As a job for Nacho, Mike has Tuco sent to prison by framing him for an armed robbery and assault. Tuco's uncle Hector wants Mike to reduce Tuco's sentence by admitting to the police that the gun Tuco had was actually Mike's. First Hector makes an offer of $5,000, then he sends armed thugs to Mike's house to strong-arm him into agreeing, and then he sends the Cousins in to threaten the lives of Mike's family, at which point Mike realizes he has no choice. When Mike has another meeting with Hector, Hector rescinds his initial monetary offer and says the deal is Mike agrees to reduce Tuco's sentence, and he gets to leave the building alive, although Mike is able to impress Hector enough to shake a $50,000 payment out of him.

* ''Series/{{American Gods|2017}}'': Variant. Mister World (representing the New Gods), offers Mister Wednesday (representing the Old Gods) a deal: In exchange for giving Wednesday [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly a large amount of worshipers in North Korea]], Wednesday will stop his plan to gain power in America. When Wednesday refuses the deal, the New Gods agree to leave peacefully, with the unspoken implication that they will then begin to prepare for war in earnest. Technical Boy demands to know [[StatingTheSimpleSolution why they don't just kill Wednesday now, while he's in their power]]. Mister World insists that Wednesday is old enough and has enough knowledge and wisdom that he deserves the respect of an honest deal instead of a Leonine contract.
* In Season 3 of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', ComicBook/RasAlGhul offers Oliver Queen the position of his heir of the League of Assassins. When Oliver asks what will happen if he refuses, Ra's tells him he's free to go, and even returns his captured friends as a gesture of goodwill. Unsurprisingly it's not that easy, and by the end of the episode when Oliver still hasn't reconsidered his offer, Ra's starts putting pressure on Oliver by [[CostumeCopycat dressing up as the Arrow]] and murdering people to [[HeroWithBadPublicity turn the city against him]]. And that's [[FromBadToWorse just for starters.]]
* ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'':

* ''Series/{{Crisis|2014}}'' centers around these. The villains kidnap a bus full of children, then force their wealthy and powerful parents to perform dangerous and illegal missions in order to get their kids back.
* Inverted in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "Journey's End", where two groups of heroes attempt to keep the Daleks from carrying out their plan by threatening [[spoiler: the destruction of Earth and the Crucible]] respectively.

* ''Series/{{Lost}}'': Ben gets Jack to do his spinal surgery by also kidnapping Kate and Sawyer (Kate to control Jack, and Sawyer to control Kate, apparently.)

* In the ninth season of ''Series/{{Spooks}}'', [[spoiler:Lucas North]] is blackmailed by a man who threatens to reveal that [[spoiler:he isn't really Lucas North -- he stole another man's identity to escape justice after being involved in an embassy bombing]].
* In ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy'', a group of villains are auctioning off the Pink Ranger's quasar saber. Astronema [[spoiler:(actually, Karone)]] interrupts by making a WhammyBid, which she immediately raises to "all of you get to live".

'''Edgar:''' A ShotgunWedding! ''(Red looks confused)'' Well, it's kinda like an offer you can re'''fuse'''!
* In ''Series/XCompany'' a factory in Nazi occupied France has been converted to make weapons for the German army. Tom gives the factory owner an ultimatum: he can help the Resistance sabotage the factory equipment or the British airforce will bomb the factory into the ground.
* ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'':
** Referenced as Joy steals a wrestling costume from her half-sister's neighbor, in order to infiltrate the match and defeat Liberty. She steals the costume by shoving the owner of said costume into the trunk of her car.
** Played straight later, with Billie. She gets mad at Earl for focusing on the List instead of sex with her, so she steals the List and starts to undo the items Earl has already completed. Then she calls him, threatening to keep hurting people on the List if Earl doesn't choose her. Earl has no choice but to meet up with Billie.
* ''Series/{{Pure}}'': After he gets Gerry Epps arrested, Eli Voss gives one to Noah: become the boss for the Canadian Mennonites, or else. The second season has Anna receive one too, but from Voss's partner in the cartel he ran the cocaine for. We earlier see one Mexican police officer refusing a similar offer, and dying for it.
* Parodied in an ''{{Series/SCTV}}'' spoof of Film/TheGodfather: Guy Caballero says he will make another character an offer that will "be to his liking."

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''
** The crew accidentally trips an old security program which will destroy the station, killing thousands, if it's not shut down in time, and which can only be deactivated by the station's former commander Gul Dukat. In this case, Dukat didn't create the situation, but he's more than happy to use it to his advantage, refusing to help unless they allow him to reestablish a "permanent Cardassian presence" on the station. It ends up backfiring on Dukat rather spectacularly, however, when he tries to beam out to give them "time to think about it" and the program perceives him as trying to abandon the station in a crisis and reacts by trapping ''him'' on the station and locking out his access codes, forcing him to work with the others on disabling the program in order to save his own life.
** In "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS02E02TheCircle The Circle]]", Odo deputizes petty crook and gambler Quark because he needs the Ferengi's underworld contacts to gather information on who's supplying weapons for an coming CivilWar. Quark finds this ActuallyPrettyFunny until Odo points out the alternative--he locks up Quark for obstruction at a time when Quark might need to get off the space station in a hurry.
* ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale'': In "[[Recap/TheHandmaidsTaleS4E8Testimony Testimony]]" when Fred's defense lawyer tried to defend him by saying June signed up for Handmaid "duty", she fires back that her only other "choice" was being sent to the Colonies, a slow death sentence. Of course, even without that, it would be irrevocable "consent" (e.g. selling herself into slavery).
* ''Series/GothamKnights2023'': [[spoiler:Lincoln]] thinks he has one when Stephanie's father gets arrested for illegal possession of prescription drugs (to give her addict mother), saying he will get the charges dropped if she won't give testimony on the Court of Owls. Stephanie however realizes this would mean her friends dying. After agonizing briefly over it, Stephanie refuses the offer, realizing she can't save her parents from themselves anyway.

Website/TheOtherWiki states that political philosophy calls situations like this a "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throffer throffer]]", a threat mixed with an offer such as, "Kill this man for cash or I'll kill you."

* ''Film/TheresaAndAllison'': Some humans have becomes vampires' blood slaves as the other option was them being killed in one "meal".