History Main / ApologeticAttacker

** ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'': [[spoiler: Black Bolt of Earth-838 is forced to kill his universe's Doctor Strange, and does so by [[MakeMeWannaShout saying]], "I'm sorry."]]

** Bridget's intro has him pull a DynamicEntry and trip his opponent ''before the fight starts''. He then turns, goes all "oops" and apologizes.

* In ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes'', Mr. Mighty has to [[http://eheroes.smackjeeves.com/comics/1991000/no-not-that-finger/ knock out]] Iron Jane after she attacks him... later, he has to knock her out [[http://eheroes.smackjeeves.com/comics/1991173/rockin-role-model/ again]] to prevent her from killing her former boss in revenge.

* Carlisle in the [[TheFilmOfTheBook film version]] of ''Literature/{{Twilight}}''.

--->''"Please forgive me for whatever I do...when I don't remember you..."''

--->''Margaret''': Don't think you can trick me into thinking you're some kind of... baby... oh. Are you a baby?
--->'''Never Doubt The Blob''': ...Uh-huh.
--->'''Margaret''': OH, oh baby, I'm SO sorry *beat* FOR THIS!
--->*punches [[spoiler:Jake's biological mother]] to steal venom*
--->'''Margaret''': I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry...

* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'': In "[[Recap/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteersS4E5TheUnbearableBlightnessOfBeing The Unbearable Blightness of Being]]", Dr. Blight's scheme of the week involves swapping bodies with Gaia. After dealing with a crisis at a nuclear power plant, Captain Planet starts chasing Dr. Blight's aircraft, correctly assuming that Blight is to blame for the whole thing but having no idea of her scheme to swap bodies with Gaia. As such, Gaia-as-Blight tells MAL that while they must defend themselves, the Captain is to be treated gently.

* Bobby Jacks in ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'' apologizes to Ivan Roeghmills before cutting his throat.

* The circumstances of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'''s White trailer haven't been revealed, but Weiss' [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/weisswhitetrailer_4448.png expression]] while fighting the Knight- and her initial reluctance to go on the offensive- strongly implies that she didn't want to do it.

* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'': In "[[The Unbearable Blightness of Being]]", Dr. Blight's scheme of the week involves swapping bodies with Gaia. After dealing with a crisis at a nuclear power plant, Captain Planet starts chasing Dr. Blight's aircraft, correctly assuming that Blight is to blame for the whole thing but having no idea of her scheme to swap bodies with Gaia. As such, Gaia-as-Blight tells MAL that while they must defend themselves, the Captain is to be treated gently.

* In ''LightNovel/DirtyPair'' episode 20, Yuri apologizes to a train stewardess after [[BoundAndGagged taping up and gagging the woman]] and [[MuggedForDisguise stealing her uniform]].

* In ''VideoGame/Persona3 Portable'', BonusBoss Theodore is extremely apologetic when he fights the player character. His sister Elizabeth also apologizes occasionally when she hits you, but not nearly as often.

* BonusBoss [[spoiler:Stephen]] in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'' is generally considered one of the hardest bosses in his entire home series. He seems fully aware of this, given that his pre-battle quote is a ''genuine, sincere apology'' for pitting himself against you.

-->'''Unico:''' I should have know, I've never had a chance against him.
-->'''Kuruku:''' What are you talking about? This is more than a scratch.
-->'''Unico:''' But I had no idea I hardly touched you. I'm sorry.

* In ''[[Film/SeventyOne '71]]'' Gary tries to comfort [[spoiler: Paul after fatally stabbing him]].
* A violent and disturbing example occurs in the Extended Cut of ''[[Film/{{Alien 3}} Alien³]]'' with the prisoner Golic. Already driven mad by the sight of the Xenomorph, he insists that he must see it again [[spoiler:after the other in-mates have successfully trapped it in a nuclear storage room, where it can't escape]]. Another prisoner is guarding the only door and warns Golic that it will kill him. Golic looks away, mutters an apology... [[spoiler:then cuts Arthur's throat with a single slash from another prisoner's shaving razor, babbling panicked apologies as the inmate quickly bleeds out]]. It's potentially creepier when you consider that Golic [[spoiler:appears to exhibit some religious reverence for the creature, and he asks it what to do, making one wonder if perhaps it's controlling or speaking to him somehow, making his apology seem all the more sincere]].

* In ''Film/{{Cellular}}'' [[spoiler: Jessica]] apologizes to one of the bad guys after [[spoiler: she kills him by cutting his brachial artery]].
-->[[spoiler:'''Jessica''']]: [[spoiler:"Tenth grade biology]]. Brachial artery... pumps 30 liters of blood a minute. There's only five in the human body. I'm sorry."
* In ''Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick'', Lord Vaako mutters, "Forgive me," before attempting to kill his boss, Lord Marshall, to [[KlingonPromotion take his place]]. His hesitation allows Marshall to dodge his attack.
* Done traumatically in ''Film/{{District 9}}'' when Wikus is forced to shoot a chained-up alien. His hysterical, traumatized reaction is one of our first indications that he's not an outright VillainProtagonist, and that despite his employer's xenophobic propaganda he still views the aliens as ''people''.

** During an early episode, Walt breaks down crying and apologizing after more-or-less being forced to kill a captive drug dealer. In season 5, [[spoiler: Walt apologizes to Mike after fatally shooting him when he realizes the information Mike refused to give him could have been easily gotten from Lydia. Mike just tells him to "[[PrecisionFStrike Shut the fuck up and let me die in peace]]"]].

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'' episode "It's About Time" has Private apologizing to Skipper as he attempts to steal a vile of "Macguffium," a chemical that is supposed to power Kowalski's time travel device, the Chronotron, in order to destroy it under another Kowalski's orders. Private succeeds, but the real Kowalski just so happens to have a spare vile of Macguffium to foil Private's goal.

* ''VideoGame/SystemShock 2''. Some of the "hybrid" enemies will tell you to run or say "sorry" when they were shooting you.

* In the TV version of ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'', the abbot asks God for forgiveness after attacking an invader.

* In ''Manga/FruitsBasket'', Tohru hits Kyou with her bag because she thought he was a pervert. Tohru is a SorryIFellOnYourFist character, and awkwardly apologizes to Kyou afterwards.

* Quatre Raberba Winner of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Wing]]''. He always asks his enemies to surrender before he has to kill them, then he apologizes for having to kill them. In fact, most Franchise/{{Gundam}} pacifist pilots such as [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Kira]], [[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Uso]] and [[Anime/TurnAGundam Loran]] say this and ask their enemies to get out of the mechs.

* ''ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures'': Mr. Nice, a minor villain, is not only apologetic, but outright helpful to his victims, even going so far as to give money and his doctor's card to security guards he's tied up and beaten.

* ''ComicBook/Batgirl2011'' issue #6 opens with Characters/{{Batgirl}} fighting Bruce Wayne and unsure of how exactly she should treat the situation. Each time she manages to hit him she apologizes, and explains that she did not mean to.

* ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheNightmaresOfFuturesPast'': Since the Sorting Hat was turned into an extra Horcrux, Harry had to destroy it in the first timeline, but he did apologize first. The Hat was quite understanding about the whole thing, and complimented him on the ruse that let him get that far. In the second timeline, with more time to work, he hopes to find another solution.

* As Jaime Lannister in ''Fanfic/TheNorthRemembers'' tries to escape out of [[spoiler:the White Sword Tower after being put under arrest]], he kills [[spoiler:Qyburn]] by jamming his sword up through his spine. As he lays dying, he apologizes and tells him that it was NothingPersonal.

* Besides [[Franchise/LyricalNanoha the Heroine's]] legendary predilection for this, Tsukuyomi, Susanoo and Amaterasu from ''Fanfic/{{Infinity}}'' all dip into this at times. It's made clear from the get-go that they have absolutely nothing against the heroes, and in some cases outright respect and like them, but circumstances force them to fight.

* During the battle for Karakura in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12394742/23/The-Defeated The Defeated]]'', Toshiro asks Orihime to surrender and when she refuses, admits that he doesn't blame her for siding against Soul Society after what they did but nonetheless, he has a duty to stop any threats to Soul Society and the Living World. Likewise, Orihime doesn't want to fight Toshiro as he's one of the few captains who didn't participate in hers and Ichigo's torture.

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' fan comic from Website/DeviantArt, "[[https://fuyuflowga.deviantart.com/gallery/64893285/Cagney-is-a-Carnation Cagney Is a Carnation]]" by [[https://fuyuflowga.deviantart.com/ fuyuflowga]], during the battle for the Soul Contract [[TheWoobie Cagney]] [[DeathSeeker Carnation]] becomes apologetic, [[https://fuyuflowga.deviantart.com/art/Cagney-is-a-Carnation-page-8-717553443 telling the sibling protagonists Cuphead and Mugman to get out of the way of his thorns]] while apologizing to them inwardly. He then [[https://fuyuflowga.deviantart.com/art/Cagney-is-a-Carnation-page-9-717554651 sees that Mugman is so important to Cuphead, since Mugman is his brother]]. Cagney, being NecessarilyEvil, reluctantly decides to kill Mugman in his effort to spur Cuphead to avenge him and destroy Cagney for the contract. As the flower ensnares Mugman and starts strangling him with his thorny vines in order to quickly end his life, it is played with when the flower outwardly yells out [[PrepareToDie "DIE!!"]], but inwardly he apologizes and asks the dying boy to forgive him. The next panel leads to some disturbing NightmareFuel, as a wall of "I'm sorry!" text appears on a red background while, in silhouette, you can see Monster-Cagney cry OcularGushers as he breaks Mugman's body into bits in a gory manner (he eventually gets better). Cue Cuphead's BigNo before he gets to his RageBreakingPoint...

-->The words also had the intended effect as Jor used the opportunity to rush forward and slam his forearm into Kara's face. Stunned, Jor ripped the rifle form Kara's hands and knocked her to the ground. Jor brought the butt of the rifle down on Kara's head and everything started losing consciousness. "I'm sorry about this Kara," was the last thing she heard before everything blacked out.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'', after Oaken tosses Kristoff out of his trading post for making the mistake of [[BerserkButton calling him a crook]], he apologizes... to Anna, for having to witness an act of violence in his store.

'''Princess Anna:''' Uh....

** Victor drops a brick on a guard's head, and immediately apologizes.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', Mei scarcastically apologizes to her mother as Mei dodges her as well as right before Mei lands her final blow.

* During the climax of Creator/{{Sanrio}}'s second Unico film ''Anime/UnicoInTheIslandOfMagic'', when the [[Manga/{{Unico}} titular character]] confronts [[BigBad Lord Kuruku]], he tries his hardest not to physically attack him and chooses to fly away from him. He begs Kuruku not to force him to use his horn to actually hurt him, until he starts casting a spell to kill him. Unico [[HornAttack swiftly rams into Kuruku's chest]] but thinks it didn't do that much damage. Once Kuruku tells Unico that his attack wasn't just a scratch, Unico actually apologizes to him over using that attack. Especially since Unico has already learned about [[TragicVillain Kuruku's past]] midway through the film.

* A violent and disturbing example occurs in the Extended Cut of ''[[Film/{{Alien 3}} Alien³]]'' with the prisoner Golic. Already driven mad by the sight of the Xenomorph, he insists that he must see it again [[spoiler:after the other in-mates have successfully trapped it in a nuclear storage room, where it can't escape]]. Another prisoner is guarding the only door, and warns Golic that it will kill him. Golic looks away, mutters an apology... [[spoiler:then cuts Arthur's throat with a single slash from another prisoner's shaving razor, babbling panicked apologies as the inmate quickly bleeds out]]. It's potentially creepier when you consider that Golic [[spoiler:appears to exhibit some religious reverence for the creature, and he asks it what to do, making one wonder if perhaps it's controlling or speaking to him somehow, making his apology seem all the more sincere]].
* ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'' : Shortly after being bitten, Peter gets into a completely accidental fight with a subway car full of people. It starts when he rips a woman's shirt off because his hand sticks to the fabric. A couple of guys take a swing at him, but they trigger Peter's spider-sense and he reflexively knocks them to the ground, apologizing each time. A few more people try the same thing and get the same result, apologies and all.

* ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods''. [[spoiler:Dana is told that (as the FinalGirl) she must kill Marty, the only other survivor of their TargetedHumanSacrifice, to prevent the Ancient Ones rising and bringing on TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. Dana says, "I'm sorry" as she wills herself to shoot her friend. Mary, seeing a werewolf is sneaking up behind her, says "So am I." Cue ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind.]]

* An example where the person being attacked isn't a villain occurs in ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded'', when Seraph apologizes to Neo before attacking.

* Columbus from ''Film/{{Zombieland}}''. He apologizes when he fights his zombified neighbor 406 and after he accidentally shoots [[spoiler:Creator/BillMurray]] for mistaking him as a zombie. In [[Film/ZombielandDoubleTap the sequel]], he becomes this to [[spoiler:Madison]] when he tries to MercyKill her in the woods, [[spoiler:though he never actually goes through with it]].

* In the ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' gamebook ''Literature/BeneathNightmareCastle'', the Spiked Maiden is the Baron's daughter who's clad in possessed armour, and is forced to lash out at anyone who approached her while she is fully aware of it. She will apologize repeatedly and beg you to get out while slashing at you.

** In ''Literature/TheFifthElephant'', Sybil Vimes automatically says, "I'm terribly sorry!" just as she whacks a guard over the head with an iron bar. This is an interesting counterpoint to her original character, in ''Literature/GuardsGuards'', as an overpowering personality who takes no guff from anyone. In the rest of the series she's far more polite and apologetic, despite taking just as little guff.

** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', Voldemort says "I regret it" when murdering [[spoiler:Snape]]. He might have even meant it too, since he just lost his most capable servant. It's also a very minor version as there was no humanity behind the sentiment.

* ''Literature/{{Hurog}}'': In ''Literature/DragonBones'' Ward is hit over the head a couple of times, and the attackers apologize for the inconvenience when he wakes up with an headache.

* In the first episode of ''Series/{{Andromeda}}'', Captain Hunt's Nietzchean crewmate (who practices the species-wide belief of self-interest) sees that Hunt is at an disadvantage. He stands up, apologizes for his impending treachery, and then attacks the captain.

* In ''Series/{{Bones}}'', [[spoiler: Agent Kenton]] apologizes to Brennan before preparing to murder her and frame it on a serial killer Booth is after in "Two Bodies in the Lab", saying he'll kill her before inflicting the serial killers signature mutilations. Brennan is understandably non appeased by this and plus up a fight before Booth arrives shortly after he regains the upper hand.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords "Last of the Time Lords"]]: One of the Tenth Doctor's biggest [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome awesome moments]] involved playing this straight ''and'' inverting it, when he OutGambitted TheMaster and temporarily made himself ''canonically'' a GodModeSue via the amplified thoughts of the human race.

* In the 2020 miniseries ''Series/TheHead'', [[spoiler:Maggie's boyfriend Aki comes across her sabotaging a Snowcat during her RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the people who covered up her mother's murder. He's entirely innocent of this crime, but [[YouKnowTooMuch she stabs him to death]] during a DeadlyHug while sobbing, "I'm sorry!" At the end a hallucination of Aki asks Maggie if she really is sorry. She doesn't answer]].

* ''Series/JessicaJones2015'': Jessica Jones is this in spades, primarily since the majority of the times, the people she's fighting are acting on Kilgrave's orders.

* ''Series/TheMick'': Played for comedy when Jimmy starts getting bullied by a high school girls soccer team. They fling a bottle at his head and then pepper him with kicks and punches. He begs them to stop fighting, but eventually starts instinctively defending himself with full-strength haymakers and wrestling moves while apologizing profusely.

** In the episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before", Kirk pauses to apologize to Gary Mitchell before smashing him with a rock. Mitchell just happens to get back his super-powers in that instant.

* Wrestling/JohnnyGargano was semi reluctant during his 2014 encounters with Wrestling/CandiceLeRae in ''Wrestling/ProWrestlingGuerilla'' and ''Absolute Intense Wrestling''. Even after [[FlippingTheBird she flipped him off]], [[SpitefulSpit spat on him]] and [[GroinAttack tried to grab his balls]] he still said sorry as he kicked her in the head.

* ''Theatre/WesterosAnAmericanMusical'': At some point of the play, Tyrion's OnlyFriend Varys has to speak against him. Varys apologizes to Tyrion right after doing so.

** Most of the Splicers in the series are pretty out of it, but the Pigskin from ''VideoGame/BioShock1'' occasionally realizes that you're not, in fact, his hated father. He's reluctant, but keeps hunting you, because he thinks Ryan would do horrible things to him if he let you go:

* In ''VideoGame/CreepyCastle'' Stickbug apologizes to [[TheHero Moth]], as his new job as a boss requires to fight him.

* In ''VideoGame/MightyNo9'', while none of the Mighty Numbers ''want'' to fight you, almost all of them have succumbed to the virus by the time you reach them and crazily attack Beck. The sole exception is Brandish, who's only just starting to get affected when you reach his level. As a result he spends most of said level begging for you to turn back because he doesn't want to hurt you when he loses control. When you fight him at the end, he apologizes, encourages you to stop him, and even occasionally yells out advice to you, such as warning you when he's going to perform an aerial attack.

* ''VideoGame/SDGundamGGeneration'''s system that lets you put any non action girl into a mobile suit usually results in this. Tifa, Shekti, and other girls of their kind will apologize their opponent before blasting them up to bits.

* In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioParty'', many [=NPCs=] that penalize the player will be significantly less jerkish and more apologetic if that player happens to be Bowser or Bowser Jr.. Kamek in particular will shake like a leaf and beg for forgiveness if either of them land on a Bad Luck Space.

** The early {{Random Encounter|s}} Whimsun doesn't want to fight, but feels they have to. Their battle dialogue consists of a lot of apologies, they can be spared right off the bat and their attacks don't even try to hit you.

** Chaos is a more extreme case of this. In certain cases during battle in the second episode, he'll quickly say sorry before attacking. In Episode I, however, he has a pre-battle and battle end quote in which he prays for the enemy's soul.
--> "Poor lost souls... may you be reborn again anew!"
--> "May all your souls rest in peace..."

* ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'' has a villainous example in the form of Psionic Minmax, who apologises to the Kin from [[AlternateUniverse his universe]] that his plans necessitated him to kill her 817 times. That doesn't stop him killing her for the 818th time though.

* In the "Fight Day" episode of {{WebVideo/Idiotsitter}}, Billie gets back at Gene for punching her in the beginning of the episode by socking her in the face. She is instantly and sincerely apologetic.

-->''"Please forgive me for whatever I do...when I don't remember you..."''

-->''Margaret''': Don't think you can trick me into thinking you're some kind of... baby... oh. Are you a baby?
-->'''Never Doubt The Blob''': ...Uh-huh.
-->'''Margaret''': OH, oh baby, I'm SO sorry *beat* FOR THIS!
-->*punches [[spoiler:Jake's biological mother]] to steal venom*
-->'''Margaret''': I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry...

** "[[Recap/TheLegendOfKorraS1E7TheAftermath The Aftermath]]:" When [[spoiler: Asami discovers her father, Hiroshi, is working for the Equalists]].

* Joe Jitsu uses this when giving the villains the onceover on ''WesternAnimation/TheDickTracyShow'' ([[AsianSpeekeeEngrish "So solly. Excuse, prease"]]).
* ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'': In the episode "Busted", the gang is trying to fix Madame Foster's bust that Bloo accidentally broke before Mr Herriman finds out. Unfortunately, Frankie catches them in Mr Herriman's office and when they confess she angrily threatens to tell Mr Herriman about Bloo. To stop Frankie, Eduardo immediately knocks her out with a headbutt and locks her in a closet while screaming "I'M [=SORRY=]!!!! I'M [=SORRY=]!!!! I'M [=SORRY=]!!!"
* In ''WesternAnimation/FriskyDingo'', when Xander Crews and Killface were forced to fight to the death. They had originally agreed to fake it, and figured they'd think of something eventually, but when the audience wasn't buying it, Killface apologized to Xander before ''biting his ear off'', escalating the fight into actual to-the-death territory.

* In the French cartoon ''Once Upon a Time... Space'', the [[RobotWar Humanoids]] beg the [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Cassiopeians]] to surrender during most their battle, as they don't wish to [[CurbStompBattle obliterate them]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'' episode "Pizza Face" Mikey does this when he fights against his pizza zombified brothers except Raph

-->'''Michelangelo:'''(to Leonardo) Oh man!Sorry Leo!

* MMA fighter Creator/BasRutten went down to apologize after winning by KO his first fight, as his opponent was a Japanese guy who he knew from the dojo. In fact, he hit him so hard that he thought he had killed him.
* In some places, the local customs dictated that executioners should apologize to their soon to be victims. i.e., the martyrdom of [[http://www.ruilclubgenk.be/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=104 Blessed Maria Dolorosa van Brabant]] [[note]]Link is in Dutch[[/note]] (a young woman who was executed by being BuriedAlive and then ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice, for supposed theft and witch craft) had the guy about to execute her apologize for it and then ask her to pray for him in Heaven, which she promised to do.
* In [[https://twitter.com/gryking/status/1270786621059760128 this 2020 viral video]] we see a guy standing up against a white supremacist who becomes increasingly more agitated, until despite the former's attempts to de-escalate, the white supremacist becomes violent and the guy is forced to defend himself [[CurbStompBattle which ends badly for the racist guy]], after which you can hear the guy apologizing to his aggressor and even tries to move him away from the street.

* [[MellowFellow Lucoa]] does this during the dodge ball match in ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid''. While the manga just had it in a small panel, the anime ramped it up with a looming shadow, gratuitous {{Gainaxing}}, and an echoey laugh for maximum hilarity.

* Mr. Nice, a minor villain from ''ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures'', is not only apologetic, but outright helpful to his victims, even going so far as to give money and his doctor's card to security guards he's tied up and beaten.

** In the ''ComicBook/{{Bizarrogirl}}'' story arc, Supergirl apologizes to Jimmy Olsen after blowing him away, and to Dr. Light before knocking her out and making off with her Bizarro clone.

** And in "Operation - Annihilate!" a whole colony does this: they've been infected by {{Puppeteer Parasite}}s, and they apologize and beg their victims to run away even as they're attacking.

** In "Bye Bye Nerdie", [[TheBully Nelson]] apologizes as he is forced to attack Drederick Tatum who has been swabbed with "Poindextrose".
** In "Dogtown", Marge calls "I'm sorry!" to the alpha dog, the Van Houtens' chihuahua, when she literally kicks it out of the park to assert her dominance to the dog pack.
* In ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks,'' [[GenkiGirl Tendi]] does this when she's mistaken for some badass secret agent and taken along on a classified mission.

* Starfire from ''WesternAnimation/{{Teen Titans|2003}}'' often acts regretful when attacking people, such as wondering if she blasted Plasmus too hard. In "Mother Mae Eye" Starfire does this when she is about to hit the Titans with a giant rolling pin so they regain their senses.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'', Donatello got one of these while attempting to save a power plant worker from a cooling tower that he'd just rigged to [[StuffBlowingUp blow up]]. ItMakesSenseInContext...

* ''Manga/BladeOfTheImmortal'': In her first appearance, Hyakurin steals a kimono from a woman as part of an assassination plot, leaving the woman and her husband bound and gagged in a closet. She actually thanks them for the outfit and apologizes for inconveniencing them before she leaves.

** In ''ComicBook/LetMyPeopleGrow'', Superman manages to enlarge the Kandorians shrunk by ComicBook/{{Brainiac}}, but their city crumbles down. When Superman says he wants to stay and help rebuild Kandor, Van-Zee thanks him. Then, apologizing for rejecting his selfless gesture, Van punches Superman out and asks Supergirl to take him away, since they need to succeed on their own.

* A villainous example in ''[[ComicBook/XMen Uncanny X-Men #217]]'', when ComicBook/{{Dazzler}} picks a fight with [[ComicBook/JuggernautMarvelComics the Juggernaut]]. It turns out Cain is a huge fan of her music, and when she confronts him he apologises and tries to leave without violence. When she eventually collapses from exhaustion he has a breakdown, thinking he's killed a woman he worshipped.

-->'''Black Widow:''' We're still friends, right?
-->'''Hawkeye:''' Depends on how hard you hit me.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': In ''Literature/{{Changes}}'', Harry Dresden whispers "God forgive me" when [[spoiler:he kills Susan, the mother of his child. She had just turned into a full vampire and if he killed her on the altar, the powerful bloodline curse would run through the vampires and end them forever. Susan allows Harry to kill her to save her child from these monsters.]]

* In ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', the two cops who let loose fusillades upon fusillades of Kill-O-Zap guns on our protagonists try to make it absolutely clear that they're really quite sensitive and intelligent guys and "firmly opposed to needless violence," and they most definitely don't enjoy gratuitously shooting up people.

** There was also the fight that Ned Stark had with Ser [[KnightinShiningArmor Arthur Dayne]] of the Kingsguard years prior to the main events of the story. Ned remembers Dayne as having had a sad smile on his face before they began their fight. Given the events that preceded their fight,[[spoiler: in which Ned's father and older brother were murdered by the king Dayne was pledged to, which in turn led to a terrible war in which Dayne lost several of his closest comrades (including his best friend) as well as utterly failing in his mission as a Kingsguard, it's no wonder Arthur wasn't particularly eager to do battle against Ned.]]

* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': Szeth in ''Literature/{{The Way Of Kings|2010}}'' doesn't want to kill people, but by the rules of his culture he has no will of his own; he has to follow every command of whoever holds his Oathstone, with the exceptions that he can't give up his [[AbsurdlySharpBlade Shardblade]] or kill himself. And if you have complete control over the world's only [[HealingFactor regenerating]] [[MasterSwordsman expert fighter]] GravityMaster with a sword that can cut through anything... what else are going to do with him? Over time he stops apologizing and comes to hate the people he fights for not being able to kill him.

* ''Series/TwentyFour''.

* ''Series/TheBoys''. In "You Found Me", Hughie Campbell (who unlike the rest of the Boys has [[NaiveNewcomer no experience in military or intelligence work]]) has to provide covering fire during their escape, screaming "I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!" as he blazes away with an automatic weapon at the GasMaskMooks shooting back at him.

** During an early episode, Walt breaks down crying and apologizing after more-or-less being forced to kill a captive drug dealer. In season 5, [[spoiler: Walt apologizes to Mike after fatally shooting him when he realizes the information Mike refused to give him could have been easily gotten from Lydia. Mike just tells him to "[[PrecisionFStrike Shut the fuck up and let me die in peace]]]]".

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E12ThePandoricaOpens "The Pandorica Opens"]]: [[spoiler:Auton!Rory apologizes desperately to Amy as he's forced to kill her.]]

* In the 2020 miniseries ''Series/TheHead'', [[spoiler:Maggie's boyfriend Aki comes across her sabotaging a Snowcat during her RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the people who covered up her mother's murder. He's entirely innocent of this crime, but [[YouKnowTooMuch she stabs him to death]] during a DeadlyHug while sobbing, "I'm sorry!" At the end a hallucination of Aki asks Maggie if she really is sorry. She doesn't answer.]]

* ''Series/MsMarvel'': In Episode 6, "No Normal", after Kamala [[LetsGetDangerous "embiggens"]] and smashes the Department of Damage Control sonic cannon, she makes a point of asking the DODC agents in the truck that was hauling the cannon if they were okay.

* In season 2 of ''Series/StrangerThings'', [[spoiler: Will ends up becoming something like this. As [[EldritchAbomination the Mind Flayer]] takes over his mind, it starts forcing him to undermine the rest of the party, culminating in having him direct the soldiers at Hawkins Lab straight into [[HumanoidAbomination the Demogorgons]]. Will physically can't stop himself from doing it and tearfully apologizes as the lab is being swarmed. The rest of the party is eventually forced to tranquilize him to stop the Mind Flayer from forcing Will to reveal their location.]]

* In the ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' episode "The Pilot, Pt. 2'', Jerry imagines such a person in a standup routine.
-->''Ever notice [[TheJeeves a lot of butlers are named Jeeves]]? You know, I think when you name a baby "Jeeves"... you've pretty much mapped out his future, wouldn't you say? Not much chance he's gonna be a hitman, I think, after that. "Terribly sorry, sir, but I'm going to have to whack you."''

* ''Webcomic/CriticalMiss'': [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comics/critical-miss/10318-The-Canadian-Front Canadian snipers]].

* ''Webcomic/{{TwoKinds}}'' has Laura, a shy introvert who apologizes while attacking a BrainwashedAndCrazy general.

--> [[spoiler: '''Asami''']]: I love you, Daddy. *attacks*

* A villainous example in ''[[ComicBook/XMen Uncanny X-Men #217'', when ComicBook/{{Dazzler}} picks a fight with [[ComicBook/JuggernautMarvelComics the Juggernaut]]. It turns out Cain is a huge fan of her music, and when she confronts him he apologises and tries to leave without violence. When she eventually collapses from exhaustion he has a breakdown, thinking he's killed a woman he worshipped.

* The 'Fallen' Grace versus Damien battle in ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' definitely qualifies. Damien threatens to kill all her friends, she goes CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass on him, rips him to shreds, then reverts to her ordinary personality and apologizes for beating him up, before asking him to surrender. Of course, he DOESN'T, but that's [[TakingYouWithMe another trope]]...
* In ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes'', Mr. Mighty has to [[http://eheroes.smackjeeves.com/comics/1991000/no-not-that-finger/ knock out]] Iron Jane after she attacks him... later, he has to knock her out [[http://eheroes.smackjeeves.com/comics/1991173/rockin-role-model/ again]] to prevent her from killing her former boss in revenge.
* ''Webcomic/ExplorersOfSouls'': [[spoiler: Renée]] when attacking Mel, uttering "No hard feelings, right?" and "I'm just doing my job!". She doesn't actually seem very sorry, though.
* [[Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja Dr. McNinja]] [[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/11p28/ has been shown]], in a throwaway gag to when he was younger and still working out the kinks in balancing his ninja and doctor roles, apologizing over and over and over to the body of an [[{{Mooks}} enemy ninja]] he'd just murdered.

* ''Webcomic/PixieAndBrutus'':
** PlayedForLaughs. Pixie is absolutely ''distraught'' at the notion that she might have hurt Brutus after she playfully throws a tiny toy batarang at him that doesn't even make him flinch.
** In another comic, she makes sure to ask Randal the raccoon if he's okay after she "tackled" him while playing cops-and-robbers (i.e. she leapt harmlessly onto Randal's back, Brutus growled menacingly at him, and the raccoon hastily played along and pretended Pixie "got" him).
* Errol of ''Webcomic/{{Seekers}}'' profusely apologizes to the female Lizaar as he delivers a sound beating to her in a tournament.
* Cale in ''Webcomic/LookingForGroup'' is convinced he has to kill an innocent child to save a kingdom. Up until this point, Cale has been bordering on StupidGood and hates the thought of even ''harming'' a single innocent - but eventually [[ShootTheDog goes through with it anyway]].
--> '''Cale:''' "I'm sorry... I'm sorry."
* ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'': Rachel's last words to [[spoiler: Bam]]: "Sorry. You have to die here."
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. Roy and Belkar are in a gladiator arena in the Empire of Blood (complicated story), and when he sees a peg-legged man threatening Elan with a shiv, he punches him. Before this, however, he apologizes, saying "I just wanted to let you know that this in no way reflects my views on the differently-abled."

* ''Webcomic/{{TwoKinds}}'' has Laura, a shy introvert who apologizes while attacking a BrainwashedAndCrazy general.
--> '''Laura:''' "I-i'm sorry I'm hurting you!."
* In ''Webcomic/AwfulHospital'', [[spoiler:Dr. Man]] apologizes for playing GateGuardian and attacking Fern, explaining that he can't tell whether Hospital's directive to detain her is either absolutely necessary or completely wrong, so he feels obligated to side with his existing loyalties.

* In ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'', the clone troopers apologise when they shoot all the Jedi. Heck, with his different characterisation here, Palpatine is even kind of apologetic about giving the order.