History Main / BecauseYouWereNicetoMe

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** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'': This trope is the reason Mog swore fealty to Lightning. Ever since Mog fell into Valhalla, he's been going with the "[[SocialDarwinist weak obey the strong]]" rule there but he's been rejected and abandoned multiple times by many powerful opponents, who didn't want such a weak creature. When he ran into Lightning and lost [[RockPaperScissors his game]], he expected to be abandoned again... but she told him to come with her. Lightning was the first person to accept him as he was and not just ditch him.
** An interesting version of this occurs in the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' mission "Every Little Thing She Does is Magitek". After repairing a captured Garlean Empire Magitek Armor, Biggs, Wedge, and Cid realize that a repaired part still isn't working right and Wedge suggests being nice to it to show it appreciation. However, after you and Cid defend it from a group of Imperial Soldiers, it snaps to life and fixes the problem, accepting them. Cid, however, says that he hopes they don't have to do that with the ''Enterprise''.

** This is heavily implied to be the reason why [[spoiler:Amity]] develops a crush on Luz. In a world like [[DeathWorld The Boiling Isles]], which runs on SocialDarwinism and EverythingIsTryingToKillYou, along with [[spoiler:Amity]] having AbusiveParents and [[BigBrotherBully Big Sibling Bullies]], she is drawn to Luz's constant kindness, even in moments where she doesn't need to be.
** A more direct example from the episode "Labyrinth Runners". After Gus finds [[spoiler:Hunter]] squatting in Hexside's auditorium, he realizes that [[spoiler:Hunter]] has been eating out of trash cans, and despite not trusting him, decides to give him his packed lunch. [[spoiler:Hunter]] pays him back for this by saving him from Graye and the Coven Scouts, and sticking by him for the rest of the episode to try to keep him safe, even though that means blowing his cover and putting himself in extreme danger.

'''Marv:''' She was nice to me. She gave me something I didn't know existed. I wasn't never even able to buy a woman, the way I look.

* [[spoiler:Karathan]] in ''Film/Aquaman2018'' is implied to have been friends with [[spoiler:King Atlan]] because the former won the latter's friendship by talking with them rather than fighting. [[spoiler:Thousands of years later, Arthur does the same.]]

* In ''Film/{{Elizabeth}}'', when Elizabeth is taken to the Tower of London one of her inquisitors gives her his cloak because it is cold. Elizabeth replies "I will not forget this kindness". Years later when the man is one of many who has plotted against her, she has an audience with him and says "all your many kindnesses are remembered".
* Averted in ''Film/{{Exam}}''. [[spoiler:White]] tells [[spoiler:Blonde]] that helping him was a mistake when he has her at gunpoint, not showing any care about her help.
* In ''Film/FullMetalJacket'', Joker is the one person who actually is nice to "Gomer Pyle", encourages him, and actually refers to him by his real name of "Leonard." It's implied this is the reason Pyle [[spoiler:doesn't kill Joker after killing [[DrillSergeantNasty Gunnery Sergeant Hartman]] -- he definitely considers it and even takes aim at Joker, but instead just sits down and shoots himself.]]

* In the film adaptation of ''Film/JamesAndTheGiantPeach'', James finds a spider in his room and helps it escape the house when his aunts try to kill it. Later on, Miss Spider in the peach convinces the others to let James stay and looks after him during the journey. She reveals that ''she'' was the spider in question and is thankful for James' help.
* Near the end of ''Film/Joker2019'', Arthur spares [[spoiler:Gary]] for being the only person who had been nothing but nice to him the entire movie, when everyone else has either done nothing but act like a jerk to him, or treat him nicely at first but then throw him under the bus when convenient.

* ''Film/{{Nightbooks}}'': The cat, Lenore, starts the film as TheMole for Natacha, spying on the kids and reporting to her. After Alex saves him from Natacha's wrath and heals wounds he sustained courtesy of a Shredder, he grows much kinder to Alex and Yazmin, [[spoiler:eventually betraying Natacha by mixing the sleeping potion into the mist she sprays on herself]].

* In ''Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu'', this is implied to be [[spoiler:Mewtwo]]'s motivation to helping Detective Pikachu and [[spoiler:Harry and later on, Tim as well]]. Despite being the cause that led to [[spoiler:Mewtwo's capture]], [[spoiler:Harry and Pikachu]] risked their lives to rescue [[spoiler:Mewtwo]] and did so, at the cost of [[spoiler:Harry being critically injured]].

* ''Film/TheProfessional'': Leon is the only person to treat Mathilda with kindness besides her deceased little brother. In fact, this is what led to him allowing her to live at his apartment after her family was killed by Stansfield and his crew.
* At the end of ''Film/{{Slaxx}}'', this is why [[spoiler:the ghost of Keerat lets Libby and Shruti live, and even saves Libby from [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Craig]] after he kills Shruti and tries to kill her. They were the only people who cared about Keerat's plight and how she died, and vowed to tell her story to the world.]]

* ''Film/{{Valentine}}'': Kate was the only one of the girls in the opening scene who lets Jeremy Melton down nicely (Shelley, Lily, and Paige harshly rejected him) and didn't corroborate Dorothy when she framed him for sexual assault. This is why [[spoiler:Adam/Jeremy leaves her alive at the end of the film.]]

** Subverted if [[spoiler:Shepard sabotages the genophage cure when Wrex is leader of Clan Urdnot: Wrex claims he will honor their friendship by giving Shepard a quick death for his/her betrayal.]] Played completely straight, however, if [[spoiler:Shepard successfully cures the genophage. Wrex, Eve and the entire Krogan population become incredibly loyal to Shepard, providing the largest assets after Shepard's own crew and the Alliance, with Wrex basically declaring that he and Shepard are BloodBrothers.]]

* UsefulNotes/StockholmSyndrome generally comes about due to the hostage-taker being nice to the hostages. This often includes an extremely broad definition of 'nice', like 'hasn't hit me for a while'. Its opposite, LimaSyndrome, comes about in much the same way, only it's the hostage-taker who ends up being won over by the empathy and kindness given to them by the hostages.

Will be immune to TwistingTheWords. Often is also TheWoobie. Related to ItMeantSomethingToMe. See also DisproportionateReward. Compare CharacterWitness and its animal version, AndroclesLion. Contrast with its polar opposite, MistreatmentInducedBetrayal, and with UngratefulBastard and TheFarmerAndTheViper. May lead to DefusingTheTykeBomb. Possible overlap with ReformationAcknowledgement. A complete inverse of this trope would likely be ButForMeItWasTuesday.

A character, sometimes the ButtMonkey of a given work, is treated for the [[UnexpectedKindness first time in their lives with genuine kindness]] and friendship. It may extend to the character's life being saved, and as such, they now may feel IOweYouMyLife. As is such, they will be [[UndyingLoyalty exceptionally loyal to their benefactor]], even if the benefactor admits that [[WasItAllALie it was all a lie]].

If the benefactor is a villain, this character could either be their MoralityPet, or someone they cared about before the benefactor turned evil.

* Creator/DaneCook has a routine [[ExploitedTrope exploiting this trope]]. The idea is that every workplace has one person in it who is creepy or awkward in some way, and thus shunned by all of their coworkers. Dane states his approach is to ''always'' befriend such persons, with spontaneous gifts of candy bars and a willingness to talk about the awkward person's strange hobby -- because [[GoingPostal when that person inevitably snaps and starts killing everyone]] in the office, [[YouWillBeSpared you'll be the one spared their wrath]], with a comment of ''"...Thanks for the candy..."'' instead of a shotgun shell to the face like everyone else got:

* ''ComicBook/SinCity'': Quoted above: Marv's attitude toward Goldie in the first issue. He's not an idiot -- he realizes that Goldie almost certainly got close to him because she needed protection from whoever it was that killed her in the opening pages. But as he explains to Goldie's AngstySurvivingTwin Wendy, be that as it may -- she's the only stranger that's ever shown Marv any genuine kindness, and it's also implied that she's the only woman who wasn't too terrified of his appearance to sleep with him. So he searches relentlessly to find her killer.

* A story arc in ''ComicStrip/ForBetterOrForWorse'' revolved around April dealing with a bully in school named Jeremy Jones. Things come to a head when while chasing her on his bike, he ends up getting hit by a car. April stuck with the driver and called for help. She later came to visit him in the hospital, convinced by Elly. It's revealed she was the only kid who did, not even his so-called friends showed up. Afterwards, he eases up on her and later that Halloween when some kids vandalized her dad's model train set, he tipped April off to the culprits. They never become friends but he mostly leaves her alone afterwards.

* There is an old fairy tale where a young man who wants to woo a princess heads off to do so. On his way there, he meets an old man with whom he shares his meal. When the young man makes it to the castle, the girl's overprotective father sets an impossible condition for him to do so; he must produce a man who can eat a mountain of bread. When the young man is wandering through a forest bemoaning this task, he meets an old man who says he is incredibly hungry; the young man tells him of the mountain of bread and the old man then offers to help and eats the entire thing. The king then declares that the boy must produce a man that can drink an entire warehouse full of ale; he goes back to the forest and meets the man again, who this time claims to be incredibly thirsty and drinks all the ale. As a final task, the king demands that the boy produce a ship that can sail on both water and land, and when the distraught young man returns to the forest one final time, his mystical friend invokes this trope.

* Aesop's story "The Lion and the Mouse" has this trope at it's core: One day a lion was sleeping and a mouse, by complete accident, woke him up. The Lion, annoyed at the mouse, threatened to eat it. The Mouse begged for forgiveness, and claimed that, due to its size, it would make a poor meal. The Lion agreed, and let the mouse go free. Sometime later, a group of hunters set a trap for the Lion, wrapping him in nets. The Lion roared in anger and fear. His cries were heard by the Mouse. Out of gratefulness for sparing him, the Mouse chews through the ropes and frees the Lion.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'': Colette starts off rather harsh towards Linguini, but softens up to him over time because he actually takes her advice seriously.

** Nux's MookFaceTurn comes when Capable, one of the Wives, shows him actual compassion for the first time since his induction into the War Boys death-cult.

* ''Film/ProblemChild'': Junior is shown to actually like Ben as a father, since Ben was the first person to adopt him to actually treat him better.

* ''Film/{{Valentine}}'': Kate was the only one of the girls in the opening scene who let Jeremy Melton down nicely (Shelley, Lily, and Paige harshly rejected him) and didn't corroborate Dorothy when she framed him for sexual assault. This is why [[spoiler:Adam/Jeremy leaves her alive at the end of the film.]]

** In series 2 Crowley and Aziraphale play [[TheMatchmaker matchmakers]] for two mortals, and Crowley's idea of falling in love is to be sheltered during [[RomanticRain the rain]], he's very insistent on it, brings it up multiple times, and later in the season actually tries it out on the mortals Nina and Maggie to bring them together. He is so fixed on this idea precisely because that was how he fell in love with Aziraphale.

* In ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'', LabRat Stuckey is happy to kill his boss and Elliot to cover up his own crimes, but is genuinely upset when Olivia walks in on the scene because she was generally decent to him and he doesn't want to have to hurt her. Olivia is able to use this against him in order to save Elliot.

** Later in the series, Reese admits that he was once on the verge of committing suicide (''Film/LethalWeapon'' style -- he had a special bullet and everything) until the events of the pilot, when Carter showed him kindness and empathy.

* The song ''People Are Crazy'' is about a guy (the singer) hanging out with a lonely old man, he didn't even know and having a general good time, before the mysterious old man left, never to see the singer again. [[spoiler:Turns out the old man was a millionaire and left his fortune to the man he barely knew, that showed him a genuinely good time, before his death.]]

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', the Warden can be played as demonstrating genuine kindness toward everyone he/she meets, including the members of the party. Since many of the party members have a history of being friendless, the Warden's consideration toward them can inspire them to UndyingLoyalty. This trope is pronounced to Morrigan (who actively avoids any sentiments and attachments), Oghren (who suffers from ridiculement by his own people), and Zevran (who is desentisized by his job as a Crow).

--> "Hmm. You know, I get everything I want the moment I want them. You must really be good at your work, Master."

--> [If] a situation appears in that the Master deepens their bond with Mephistopheles while accepting all that is childish and wicked, it seems he will fight while gambling his life for the sake of his Master with pleasure and while laughing.

** Grey exhibits a weird variation. She holds high respect for Lord El-Melloi II because he was one of the few people who ''didn't'' [[ItMakesSenseInContext like her face,]] since that means he doesn't care about her lineage like so many others did. This applies to the protagonist as well, as she is happy, they look at her like any other person and not as a Saberface.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'': This trope is the reason Mog swore fealty to Lightning. Ever since Mog fell into Valhalla, he's been going with the "[[SocialDarwinist weak obey the strong]]" rule there but he's been rejected and abandoned multiple times by many powerful opponents, who didn't want such a weak creature. When he ran into Lightning, and lost [[RockPaperScissors his game]], he expected to be abandoned again... but she told him to come with her. Lightning was the first person to accept him as he was and not just ditch him.

* In ''VideoGame/Ghost10'', Jacker and Boogan are the first clients to treat Ghost like a person rather than an asset. They communicate with her throughout her mission, show concern for her wellbeing, and generally make her feel like part of their team. As such, when Ghost's boss Viktor kidnaps Jacker toward the end of the game, Ghost immediately enacts a plan to rescue him.

** If Shepard saves David Archer from Cerberus's clutches in the "Overlord" DLC questline, he'll repay the kidness during Cerberus's invasion of Grissom Academy by helping his fellow students place their trust in Shepard before leaving the security office's lock hacked so Shepard can take the weapons inside to rout Cerberus.

** [[AFatherToHisMen Big Boss]] uses this trope to play the benefactor role a LOT. This has essentially become his MO for converting enemies to his side and inspiring [[UndyingLoyalty unwavering loyalty]] in his men, and he has become frighteningly efficient at this. One prominent example of this is in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' with Quiet, an XOF assassin originally sent to kill Big Boss. After surviving their first encounter, they run into each other again in Afghanistan, where they engage in a SniperDuel. Big Boss not only defeats her, but opts to spare her life, thus winning her loyalty and leading to her defecting from Cipher to the Diamond Dogs.

** Basically the reason why Phoenix becomes a lawyer -- he remembers this one incident when he was nine years old, where [[spoiler:Edgeworth was in his class, and stood up for him in a class trial after Edgeworth's pocket money was stolen, and it was thought Phoenix had been the culprit. It later turned out that Larry had been the culprit all along, but the event is ultimately no less important to Phoenix for that.]]

** This is why the Monster In The Darkness in helps O-Chul. On the other hand, since he's got a rather hazy view of "nice", it's also why he helps Xykon:

* ''WesternAnimation/CampLazlo'': One episode has the Acorn Flats Scout Mistress named Jane Doe show kindness to the Camp Kidney campers named Chip and Skip. So much so that she takes them in as if they're orphans. It soon gets out of hand, however, when they take advantage of her kindness, followed by a few of their fellow campers joining in on the fun. To the point where they break one of her valuable gifts, [[RageBreakingPoint causing her to lose it and kick them out]]. They do apologize and make up for it at the end of the episode.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': Deconstructed with Meg. Since everyone treats her like complete garbage most of the time, she will fall in love with any guy that shows her any amount of kindness, sometimes to an obsessive degree.

** In "The Hand that Rocks the Wheelchair" Meg is asked to take care of Joe while Bonnie is out of town. Joe's kindness to Meg causes her to fall in love with him. She begins to act as though she were Joe's wife (going as far as attempting to breastfeed baby Susie). When she finds out that Bonnie will be returning early, Meg goes to the airport and places a gun in her bag, leading her to be arrested. And she did this just so she could have more time with Joe.
** In "Quagmire and Meg" Meg is saddened that nobody came to her 18th birthday. Nobody except Quagmire that is, who is clearly there just to make a pass at her now that she's a legal adult. While she never goes to the lengths that she went to with Brian and Joe, she's so desperate for love that she actually starts dating Quagmire, who is not only older than her father, but is also a notorious sexual predator. She is even willing to have sex with him at his cabin before Peter and Lois put a stop to it.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2002'', Adam and Teela stumble upon a creature trapped in collapsed cave, with Adam taking pity on it and helping to free it. Later on, when He-Man and the Masters are tangling with a trio of dragons that Skeletor unleashed on them, a larger dragon appears, with it turning out to be the creature Adam had freed. Recognizing He-Man as him, it came to the Masters' aid by taming the smaller dragons (who turn out to be its children, its eggs having been stolen by Beast-Man) and leading them home. Man-At-Arms then had to run interference and prevent Teela from suspecting Adam was He-Man when she wondered why the dragon helped out He-Man.
* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': In "Helga On The Couch," it's shown that Helga fell for Arnold when she was in preschool because [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan he was the only person in her life that noticed her and treated her kindly]], by complimenting her, giving her his crackers at snack time, and providing her with an umbrella when it was storming outside.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Hoops}}'', Matty has adamantly refused to join the basketball team. Ben spends most of "The Pilot" trying to convince him to do so, even going so far as to hire a hooker to try to get him laid. The plan doesn't work out and both Hopkins and the hooker get arrested before the hooker even makes it through Matty's door. At the end of the episode, however, when Ben is about to throw in the towel, he finds that Matty has joined the team. Matty says that he did so because what Ben did is the first time anyone has ever done anything like this for him.
* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'': Although Zim was pretty mean to Keef for the most part, because he called them "friends" and pretended to enjoy his company (for appearance's sake) Keef became obsessed with Zim even after Zim made it clear he wanted nothing to do with him.

** In episode "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS1E2LawnmowerDog Lawnmower Dog]]", Snuffles is turned into a super-intelligent dog with one of Rick's helmets. Having been mistreated by Summer and Jerry, he decides to create his own dog army and punish humans (with castration and conquest). Morty, who was the only one nice to him, is spared and allowed to live a life of luxury.
** The main reason [[Characters/RickAndMortyBethSmith Beth Smith]] would keep her verbally and mentally abusive, alcoholic, arrogant, lazy, manipulative and irresponsible [[Characters/RickAndMortyRickSanchez father]] around her children, regardless of all the havoc he leaves behind, is because she thought he was a great father to her when she was a child. But this is ultimately subverted when she begins to realize that he was very neglectful of her, having him build dangerous toys to spend time with him, which led him to assume she was crazy, so he created Froopyland to keep her away from the neighbour and keep her occupied, instead of doing it himself.

** Hordak warms up to Entrapta because she's friendly and cheerful and isn't afraid of him. When he confesses to her that [[spoiler:he's a defective clone and has spent his whole life trying to prove he has worth in spite of that, she says she sort of knows how he feels -- [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer she's pretty weird, too, and is sometimes isolated because of it]]. She then surprises him by saying she's genuinely okay with that, because "defections" and uniqueness aren't just okay, but something to be cherished. Hordak is genuinely touched, and assures Entrapta that, in his opinion, anyone who dismisses her for her weirdness is an idiot, anyway.]]

** Lapis Lazuli has this attitude towards Steven. He befriended her while she was still [[spoiler:trapped in a mirror for thousands of years before Steven who set her free]]. Afterwards, she actually tried to kill him after she stole the Earth's ocean to try to get back to Homeworld, but their friendship was confirmed when [[spoiler:[[PetTheDog he healed her cracked gem]]]]. Ever since then, she's made several efforts to protect him or at least warn him of danger, and eventually, [[spoiler:[[SealedEvilInADuel she held Jasper]] [[FusionDance in a fusion]] [[PutOnABus at the bottom of the ocean]] [[HeroicSacrifice to prevent her from harming Steven.]]]] While she's still shown to be hostile, or at least ambivalent towards the other Crystal Gems, it's very clear that she wants to do whatever she can for Steven, the only being in thousands of years who was nice to her and treated her kindly. [[spoiler:It ultimately results in her deciding to officially join the [[MagicalGirlWarrior Crystal Gems]] when the Diamonds invade Earth in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E23Reunited "Reunited"]].]]

** [[AFatherToHisMen Big Boss]] uses this trope to play the benefactor role a LOT. This has essentially become his MO for converting enemies to his side and inspiring [[UndyingLoyalty unwavering loyalty]] in his men, and he has become frighteningly efficient at this. One prominent example of this is in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' with Quiet, an XOF assassin originally sent to kill Big Boss. After surviving their first encounter, they run into each other again in Afghanistan, where they engage in a Sniper Duel. Big Boss not only defeats her, but opts to spare her life, thus winning her loyalty and leading to her defecting from Cipher to the Diamond Dogs.

** [[AFatherToHisMen Big Boss]] uses this trope to play the benefactor role a LOT. This has essentially become his MO for converting enemies to his side and inspiring [[UndyingLoyalty unwavering loyalty]] in his men, and he has become frighteningly efficient at this.

** In "Quagmire and Meg" Meg is saddened that nobody came to her 18th birthday. Nobody except Quagmire that is, who is clearly there just to make a pass at her now that she's a legal adult. While she never goes to the lengths that she went to with Brian and Joe, she's so desperate for love that she actually starts dating Quagmire, who is not only older than her father, but is also a notorious sexual predator. She is even willing to have sex with him at his cabin before Peter and Lois put a stop to it,

* ''Comicbook/BirdsOfPrey'': Huntress' devotion to the Black Canary definitely has shades of this.

* ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'': ComicBook/MilesMorales [[ItMakesSenseInContext gives Molecule Man a hamburger.]] Even in context, it's pretty weird (as Miles had it in his pocket forgotten for ''[[{{Squick}} three weeks]]''), but it's also the first act of kindness that anybody has shown Molecule Man in eight years, as [[spoiler:he's been tucked away to be used as a LivingBattery.]] At the end of the storyline, [[spoiler:Owen repays the debt by [[CosmicRetcon cosmically retconning]] Miles and his loved ones to the [[RealityWarper new Marvel Universe, and while he's at it]], bringing Miles' mother BackFromTheDead.]]

* This is why the Monster In The Darkness in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' helps O-Chul. On the other hand, since he's got a rather hazy view of "nice", it's also why he helps Xykon:
-->'''O-Chul''': Who do you know that treats you as a friend?\\

** In the ''Old World Blues'' DLC of ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', if you manage to befriend or help out four of the Think Tanks, [[spoiler:they'll stand up to Dr. Klein when he tries to [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness do away with you]], meaning you won't have to kill them]].

* In ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'', when Doc Magnus single-handedly takes down the MadScientist think tank, he lets T.O. Morrow escape. When Morrow asks why, Magnus says that it's because Morrow was one of the only people who actually took his theories seriously when he was first starting out.
* Huntress' devotion to the Black Canary in ''Comicbook/BirdsOfPrey'' definitely has shades of this.
* In ''ComicBook/{{BPRD}}: 1947'', agent Jacob Stegner gives a coin to a homeless beggar woman. The woman later appears to him to tell him that [[spoiler:one of his missing comrades is still alive]]. Before she mysteriously disappears, she says, "I tell you this... because you were kind."

* In ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'', ComicBook/MilesMorales [[ItMakesSenseInContext gives Molecule Man a hamburger.]] Even in context, it's pretty weird (as Miles had it in his pocket forgotten for ''[[{{Squick}} three weeks]]''), but it's also the first act of kindness that anybody has shown Molecule Man in eight years, as [[spoiler:he's been tucked away to be used as a LivingBattery.]] At the end of the storyline, [[spoiler:Owen repays the debt by [[CosmicRetcon cosmically retconning]] Miles and his loved ones to the [[RealityWarper new Marvel Universe, and while he's at it]], bringing Miles' mother BackFromTheDead.]]
* Quoted above: Marv's attitude toward Goldie in the first issue of ''ComicBook/SinCity''. He's not an idiot -- he realizes that Goldie almost certainly got close to him because she needed protection from whoever it was that killed her in the opening pages. But as he explains to Goldie's AngstySurvivingTwin Wendy, be that as it may -- she's the only stranger that's ever shown Marv any genuine kindness, and it's also implied that she's the only woman who wasn't too terrified of his appearance to sleep with him. So he searches relentlessly to find her killer.
* During the ''Gauntlet'' storyline in ''Franchise/SpiderMan'', the ComicBook/{{Juggernaut|MarvelComics}} helped Spider-Man after the wall-crawler tried to help the villain when he was attacked by the latest Captain Universe.
* Franchise/{{Tintin}} gets several allies this way: in ''Prisoners of the Sun'', for instance, he defends a boy from some bullies, and the boy later offers to guide him to a secret Inca temple, even though he could be killed for doing so.

* '' ComicBook/XMen'':
** In ''ComicBook/NewXMenAcademyX'', X-23 goes to considerable lengths to protect Dust from the Purifiers when they attack the academy, because Dust was one of the only people at the academy who was nice to her when she arrived. And on the other end, Dust was nice to Laura because she was a refreshing change from her old roommate Surge, who didn't agree with her beliefs.
** In ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen'', former supervillain ComicBook/{{Rogue}} was made to feel distinctly unwelcome when she first joined the X-Men. In UXM #172 she accompanies her new teammates to Tokyo to attend Wolverine's wedding. On seeing her, Wolverine comments that if it were up to him, he'd cut out her heart, but his fiancee, the aristocratic Mariko Yashida, says that Rogue [[SacredHospitality as a guest is entitled to all due courtesy and respect]] and welcomes her. Effectively Mariko was merely acting in accordance with the ethic and social rules of her class, but it still was the first time Rogue was unreservedly welcomed by anyone since she left the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and so in the following issue Rogue shows no hesitation to lay down her life to prevent her death ("Lady Mariko was kind t'me -- she accepted me, right off -- ah won't let her come to any harm!"). The fire from Viper's blaster actually hurts her badly, but Rogue accepts her likely death philosophically. However, Logan now feels indebted to her for saving the woman he loves and makes Rogue absorb his healing factor.

* ''Webcomic/{{Digger{{'': At the end of the comic, it turns out the bandersnatch would not go overland because [[spoiler:"the Shadow"]] asked it not to. It didn't mind obeying, since it was asked nicely, and "hardly ''anyone'' asks us nicely."

* ''WebComic/BloodIsMine'': [[spoiler:[[ActionGirl Michelle]]]] was meant to betray the protagonist from the very beginning, but when the time came, she just couldn't make herself do it because of how genuinely nice she was treated. [[InteractiveComic Even the author was surprised at such a turn of events]].

* ''VideoGame/MetalGear's'' [[AFatherToHisMen Big Boss]] uses this trope to play the benefactor role a LOT. This has essentially become his MO for converting enemies to his side and inspiring [[UndyingLoyalty unwavering loyalty]] in his men, and he has become frighteningly efficient at this.
** This trope, combined with UsefulNotes/StockholmSyndrome, are the reasons why Otacon fell for Sniper Wolf.

** It is [[HomoeroticSubtext heavily implied]] ([[spoiler:confirmed in season 2]]) that [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Crowley]] fell in love with [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Aziraphale]] because of his kindness. In their first ([[spoiler:not the first]]) [[MeetCute meeting]] at [[GardenOfEden the Garden of Eden]] Aziraphale sheltered Crowley [[WingShield under his wing]] when it started [[RomanticRain raining]]. Also, Crowley was impressed that Aziraphale had given away his flaming sword to save the humans.

** It is heavily implied ([[spoiler:confirmed in season 2]]) that Crowley fell in love with Aziraphale because of his kindness. In their first ([[spoiler:not the first]]) meeting at the Garden of Eden Aziraphale sheltered Crowley under his wing when it started raining. Also, Crowley was impressed that Aziraphale had given away his flaming sword to save the humans.

Will be immune to TwistingTheWords. Often is also TheWoobie. Related to ItMeantSomethingToMe. See also DisproportionateReward. Compare CharacterWitness and its animal version, AndroclesLion. Contrast with its polar opposite, MistreatmentInducedBetrayal, and with UngratefulBastard and TheFarmerAndTheViper. May lead to DefusingTheTykeBomb. Possible overlap with ReformationAcknowledgement.