History Main / ChildrenForcedToKill

* ''Roleplay/{{Kyuupiikei}}'': The students are trapped and told that if they want to go home, they have to kill and get away with it.

* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'': Shino Asada was eleven years old when an armed thief attacked the post office she was in. When the thief threatened to shoot one of the workers, Shino bit him and grabbed his gun, shooting him when he attempted to get it back. She came out of it with PTSD and an acute phobia of guns (to the point she will collapse just from ''seeing'' a replica gun), along with getting shunned by pretty much everyone, including ''her own mother''.

** Yuki is the most [[KiddieKid immature]] of the teens and [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness doesn't even know about the zombies]] due to being in a hallucinatory state. She was forced to kill a zombie in the manga (in the anime she simply tried, and failed, to hit one) when [[spoiler:she encounters it while cleaning up a classroom all alone]]. She attacks it [[spoiler:with a mop and promptly starts to FreakOut.]] This event is a major point in her CharacterDevelopment where she begins to act more reliable.

* ''Anime/IlSolePenetraLeIllusioni'': Poor, poor Akari Taiyou is a GenkiGirl who just wants [[WeHelpTheHelpless to be like her mom]], and certainly [[LegacyCharacter has powers to do it.]] It's just too bad that, for her, [[TheNeedsOfTheMany to help others]] means [[MurderIsTheBestSolution killing]] the MonsterOfTheWeek, which are possessed humans. [[spoiler:Her first kill is [[KillTheOnesYouLove her dear friend and cousin]] whom she lived with ever since the death of her mother.]]

* The entire premise of [[Franchise/DanganRonpa the Danganronpa series]]. 15 to 16 high schoolers are imprisoned in a location (school, island, school respectively for the three main titles) and forced into a “killing game” by the sadistic teddy bear mascot Monokuma. The first person to kill someone else and not be voted as the killer in a trial by the (remaining) students gets to escape and live, while everyone else dies. If they are voted as the killer, they instead are executed by Monokuma in an ironic [[spoiler:(including a chef being cooked alive, a biker being forced into one of those motorcycle ball stunt things and [[ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext turned into butter]] and a woman in GothicLolita fashion who pretends to be European being burned at the stake)]] and over the top fashion. Even if you don’t kill and aren’t killed, you have to send others to their death for doing so.

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** And much later came [[Manga/MobPsycho100 Mob]] vs. [[WebComic/OnePunchMan Tatsumaki]], in which the former is only eight years old. [[spoiler:Unlike the two earlier battles, Mob is defeated and killed by his foe.]]

* ''WebOriginal/SurvivalOfTheFittest'': Even if you don't count the teenagers (who are usually 15-19) being forced to kill each other, there have been a few younger characters on the show as well, such as 12-year olds who did fit this.

* ComicBook/{{X 23}}, the X-Men's resident TykeBomb, was created from Wolverine's DNA and born and raised to be an assassin. Over the course of several years, she killed hundreds of people before eventually escaping from the lab. The bad guys still got the last laugh in the end, since her mother was exposed to a "trigger scent" that caused X-23 to fly into an involuntary rage, effectively forcing Laura to kill her own mother.

* Grimjack as a child was arrested for stealing and was sentenced to take part in gladiatorial games.

* Killua from ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' is an example. Being a member of a BigScrewedUpFamily of assassins, he's taught to kill from infancy, and forced into the life of an assassin without being given much of any choice in the matter. He was murdering people before he turned 6, and by the time he appears in the show - at an age of maybe 10 or 11 - he's already killed hundreds of people.

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* Example from, of all places, ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive''. Well, depending on your definition of 'child', but [[spoiler:Susan and Nanase]] probably weren't much more than 12 when, during a class-trip to France, they wind up being targeted by a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Somewhat Different Vampire]]. He's not technically human, but he LOOKS human - mostly - and while [[spoiler:Nanase]] does most of the fighting, it's [[spoiler: Susan]] who ends up having to kill him - with an axe, even. Unsurprisingly, she was traumatized, and the recent arc that featured the flashback culminated in an Immortal decrying the irresponsibility of the two french Immortals who originally equipped [[spoiler: Nanase and Susan]] for the battle, while giving them no apparent alternative save dying at the hands of the vampire. Apparently, they could have simply informed the French Government's anti-supernatural-creature-squad instead, but elected to drag two pre-teens into a battle in order to 'recruit them for the fight against evil'.

* The reason the fourth episode of ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'' was yanked from broadcast was because the killer of the week brainwashed children into killing their families. Bryan Fuller felt that it was TooSoon after certain events.

* [[ChildMage Coin]] of ''Discworld/{{Sourcery}}'' is forced to kill some of the wizards (and ForcedToWatch) by the ghost of his [[AbusiveParents father]] Ipslore.

* Besides the more impersonal versions of blowing up enemy ships, Pidge, the youngest Paladin of Voltron, personally kills a Galra early in the series.

* ''Anime/{{Madlax}}'' has this as part of the BackStory: [[spoiler:the plot stems from the fact that Margaret had to kill her BrainwashedAndCrazy father Richard in self-defense when she was 5 years old, and to protect herself from going mad, her mind created the titular Madlax]].

* In ''Manga/DGrayMan'', the average age for an Exorcist seems to be late teens. Allen's fifteenish when things start, Lenalee's about the same but has been working as one since childhood, Lavi's eighteen, and Kanda [[spoiler:has been an Exorcist since the day he was born due to certain experiments performed by the Order.]]

* ''Manga/ElfenLied'': The Diclonius are all young girls. The iconic bloody first episode shows Lucy kill scores of men, and she's only 18. Several other Diclonii are forced to deal lethal attacks to each other throughout the series.

* ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' has this as [[spoiler: Wolfwood's]] backstory. At a young age he kills [[spoiler:his abusive guardian who happens to be his uncle]] and soon gets adopted by an assassin, who teaches him the Bible, and how to kill.
* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': Both Casca and Guts had to kill people in self-defense at a very young age as part of the {{backstory}}. In Guts' case, arguably twice; one was maybe more of a revenge thing, but given both that he was a kid and [[RapeAsDrama what the revenge was for]], it could arguably still count as this.

* Several characters in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' feature this within their back story.
** Mikasa was kidnapped by a gang of slavers, and was forced to help Eren kill them in self-defense. She's never the same.
** [[spoiler:Annie, Reiner, and Bertolt]] are the TykeBomb variant. [[spoiler:Their mission required them to commit acts of mass murder]], and all are shown to have suffered varying levels of trauma as a result. [[spoiler:Reiner states they didn't even understand what they were doing at the time, and being allowed to go home is the one thing all three focus on to keep them going]].
* ''Anime/IlSolePenetraLeIllusioni'': Poor, poor Akari Taiyou is a GenkiGirl who just wants [[WeHelpTheHelpless to be like her mom]], and certainly [[LegacyCharacter has powers to do it.]] It's just too bad that, for her, [[TheNeedsOfTheMany to help others]] means [[MurderIsTheBestSolution killing]] the MonsterOfTheWeek, which are possessed humans. [[spoiler:Her first kill is [[KillTheOnesYouLove her dear friend and cousin]] whom she lived with ever since the death of her mother.]]

* The heroines of ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'' are all tender 14 years old girls who got thrown to a fantasy world of sword and sorcery where they find themselves attacked by monsters while attempting to save that world's princess. They mostly have to just kill monsters, never people, except the one who sent the monsters, the princess' kidnapper Zagato, and also the guy who threw the world to chaos... [[spoiler:or so they thought. Turns out, the princess summoned the girls to ''kill her'' because she fell in love with her kidnapper and because of this and a contract she made to forbid her to think of nothing but the world, the world ends up in turmoil and she can't kill herself. Needless to say, when the girls returned home, they were severely traumatized.]]
* ''Manga/FateZero'': [[spoiler:Kiritsugu's DarkAndTroubledPast kicks off when his surrogate big sister, Shirley, turns into a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Dead Apostle]] after drinking one of his [[MadScientist father]]'s potions in an attempt to prove Kiritsugu's dad wasn't an evil person. Kiritsugu later comes across Shirley, who begs him to MercyKill her, but he doesn't. As a result, [[FromBadToWorse the entire island turns into Dead Apostles]]. Kiritsugu, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realizing his mistake]], confronts his father, who is planning for their escape since the infection has gathered the attention of the Mage Association and their mercenaries, who want him dead. Realizing that his father has no regret for what happened to Shirley and the island and only cares about Kiritsugu so that he can have someone to continue his work, Kiritsugu kills him to prevent further deaths. And it goes downhill from there...]]

The reasons for a child having to kill vary. They may have been attacked by someone and struck out in defense: they just happened to have the right thing on hand. Equally, they may manage to get the drop on someone who is trying to murder a parent or other carer. As mentioned before, they may be forced to do it, either as some form of TrainingFromHell or just from a complete sadist. This will be made all the more tragic if it was someone close to the character: a friend, relative or, worst of all, [[SelfMadeOrphan their own parent or even parents.]] If this is in a characters past, it will be a [[DarkAndTroubledPast dark and troubled one.]]

* ''Manga/BlackLagoon'': The Vampire Twins started out as this when they were forced to kill other children in paedophilic [[SnuffFilm Snuff Films]]. At some point they [[BreakTheCutie broke]] [[AxCrazy and began to like it]].

Can lead to an even more warped form of BloodSplatteredInnocents. Often the cause of a DarkAndTroubledPast. ChildSoldiers must do this as a matter of course. KidHero stories with a particularly dark tone may also have this as normality for the setting, especially if that setting is a TeenageWasteland. {{Tyke Bomb}}s can become this if said Tyke bomb is forced to kill before it can [[DefusingTheTykeBomb be defused.]]