History Main / CruelToBeKind

* Gabriel ''thinks'' he's doing this in ''Fanfic/SomeoneToWatchOverMe'', when he deliberately torments Adrien in order to advance his plans to revive Adrien's mother. Since that kicks off the whole storyline, Technically he's even right, although not in the way he intended.

* In ''Fanfic/RogerRoger'', the Jedi Council agrees to dismiss Anakin from the Jedi Order after they learn of his marriage because they realize Anakin doesn’t truly belong with the Order and trying to force him into a role where he doesn’t fit will only cause him misery. To make sure he doesn’t think it’s because they don’t approve of him, they promote him to Jedi Master just before they dismiss him.

** Luffy trash talks Koby in front of the Marines and beats the crap out of him when Koby punches him. It’s only afterwards that Koby realizes that Luffy did this on purpose to distance himself from Koby so that Koby could join the Marines.

** ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'': In the noncanonical side-story Shinji meets his counterpart of the original universe. To force his counterpart to know the price of failure and get his act together, Shinji [[spoiler:makes his younger self believing that he is going to behead Asuka.]] When the younger Shinji screams [[BigNo "NO!"]] right before the axe-blow intentionally misses, Shinji suggests him earnestly stopping his self-pity party, growing a spine and fighting to defend [[HeroesWantRedheads Asuka]] and other people he cares about.

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/39225693/chapters/98712189#workskin The Cat and The Bee]]'', Adrien is the one to select Chloe as the holder of the Bee Miraculous, but is frustrated that her AlphaBitch attitude keep causing Akumas, especially as she keeps emulating her mother. Knowing she won't grow unless she stops idolizing her, he stages a meeting between the two, letting her understand firsthand how Audrey treats anyone, [[AbusiveParent especially her own daughter]], is not something that should be followed.

* Chloe Bourgeois plays this straight in ''Fanfic/SpellboundLilafly''. [[spoiler:By keeping up her low-level torment of Marinette, she can claim to the {{Faerie Court}}s that Marinette belongs to her and is off-limits to others, which keeps Marinette safe. Unfortunately, that breaks down when other fae ignore and undermine her claims by ''befriending'' Marinette.]]

* ''Manga/InuYasha'': Sesshoumaru was so obsessed with feeling like TheUnfavourite and trying to obtain his brother's InfinityPlusOneSword that he needed increasingly harsh lessons to try and correct his ways. In the end, his [[AlmightyMom mother]] carried out [[SecretTestOfCharacter instructions left behind]] by his deceased father to drop an anvil on his head about how precious life is and why people with his [[ComesGreatResponsibility level of power]] [[AnAesop must protect it]]. She does this by [[TrainingFromHell putting him in a situation]] whereby he [[PowerAtAPrice fails to protect]] his MoralityPet. Once he's learned the lesson, she [[FirstLawOfResurrection restores the life]] of the MoralityPet to ensure an innocent life is not punished with death for her guardian's shortcomings.

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'':

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': This is ultimately revealed to be the reason why [[spoiler:Gendo [[WellDoneSonGuy treats Shinji the way he does.]] He didn't want to lose his son like he lost Yui before, so he decided to become emotionally detached from him in the hopes Shinji wouldn't get involved with the battle to prevent the Third Impact. When this didn't work, and Rei proved ineffective in controlling the EVA-01 despite having matching genetic material, he was forced to bring Shinji in, and even though he saw for himself the results of his parenting methods (a depressive, borderline-suicidal kid), he didn't change, as he hoped to drive Shinji away again. Gendo only came clean about this when SEELE raided the NERV Geofront in order to shut it down and Shinji was already in too deep into the fate of the world to turn back.]] Of course, this only made everything worse.

*** In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E9TheMeasureOfAMan The Measure of a Man]]", a hearing is conducted to determine whether or not Data is a sentient lifeform in his own right, or just Starfleet property. Because the starbase the ''Enterprise'' is docked at lacks a proper legal team, the JAG officer is forced to draw from the crew, assigning Picard to defend Data and ''Riker'' to prosecute him. When Riker tries to refuse, the JAG threatens to rule summarily against Data if Riker doesn't do his job as prosecutor, and do it properly. Despite his misgivings, Riker's prosecution very nearly condemns Data, but fortunately Picard's defense is able to save him. At the end of the episode, Data personally thanks Riker for what he did, as if Riker hadn't played his part Data wouldn't even have been given the ''chance'' to defend himself.

*** During the last season, [[HeelFaceTurn the Cardassian leader Damar defects from his alliance to the Dominion and leads a resistance movement to force them out of Cardassia]]. Sensing a golden opportunity to sabotage the Dominion, Sisko sends Major Kira, who served in Bajoran resistance movements against the Cardassians, to help him out. In "Tacking Into The Wind", Damar learns that the Dominion successfully tracked down his family and murdered them. As he asks himself "What kind of state tolerates the murder of innocent women and children? What kind of people give those orders?", Kira replies "[[SarcasmMode Yeah, Damar]], [[ArmorPiercingQuestion what kind of people give those orders]]?", obviously evoking memories of Cardassia's own occupation of Bajor, [[HeelRealization which leaves Damar so shocked]] that Kira wants to apologize till Garak talks her out of it, saying that Damar's romanticized view of the old Cardassia desperately needed a reality check.
** ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'': In the pilot, an alien woman is holding up a mask to her son's face, which allows him to breathe, but periodically pulling it away while he gasps for air. Trip is pissed, assuming that this is abuse, but T'Pol explains that they are Lorillian, and they breathe methyl oxide until they gain the ability to breathe oxygen at a young age, hence the mother is weaning her child off the less-common air mix.
* ''Series/TrueBlood'': When Eric Northman imprisons a kicking and screaming Sookie and chains her up in his creepy basement, she does not know (and he does not bother to tell her) that it's all part of his plan to save her and other peoples lives by using Sookie's blood as bait. He also wants revenge for himself, so it´s not a completely altruistic act, but his cruelty still serves a higher purpose with clear benefits for Sookie in the end, i.e. her staying alive.
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': In "What Are Friends For?", Jeff Mattingly's NotSoImaginaryFriend Mike tells him that he was only pretending to be his friend and that he hates him after realizing that his presence is preventing Jeff from becoming friends with real children. Mike did this as he knew that it was the only way to convince Jeff to stop playing with him. The closing narration describes Mike, who previously appeared to Jeff's father Alex in his youth, as "one special friend, one who loved them both enough to vanish when the time was right."

* On ''Series/TheXFiles'', Scully shoots Mulder in the shoulder to prevent him from shooting Alex Krycek. Why? Because Krycek shot Mulder's father and is framing Mulder. If Mulder shoots him, there will be no way to prove that it ''wasn't'' Mulder. Though a little NotHimself because of a tainted water supply in his apartment, Mulder is eventually grateful that Scully is a good shot and apparently missed doing much permanent damage.

* ''[[Literature/Twilight2005 Twilight]]'': Bella deliberately picks a fight with her dad, using some of the same words that her mother did when she left him, before storming out of the house, so that James won't go to her house and kill her dad.

* ''[[https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/45331/horizon-of-war-the-realistic-isekai-chronicles/ Horizon of War]]'': Lansius persuades the three Nicopolan envoys that continuing to follow their power-hungry leader Sergey is a lost cause -- and then he has them all flogged into unconsciousness before sending them back. As he quietly explains to Servius, it's the only way to prevent Sergey from becoming suspicious that they're colluding with him; since Sergey sent them with a highly insulting "gift", it's clear that he doesn't actually want them back alive, and would pounce on any excuse to get rid of them.

* In ''Fanfic/APrizeForThreeEmpires'', Marie Danvers forces her daughter [[ComicBook/CarolDanvers Carol]] to face the fact she has been blaming everyone else for her own issues so Carol can finally overcome their trauma instead of wallowing in anger and self-pity.

** In "Kill The Moon", when it's revealed that the moon is a gigantic egg and it's starting to hatch, which could result in worldwide catastrophes on Earth, it comes down to a SadisticChoice whether or not to kill it. Rather than help, the Twelfth Doctor bails and makes the humans make the choice themselves. Despite all of humanity wanting to kill the creature, Clara decides to spare it, which turns out to be for the best as the creature ends up laying an egg that becomes a new moon after it is born, something the Doctor knew would happen. Unfortunately, his SecretTestOfCharacter backfired horribly as Clara was upset with him for abandoning her and mankind like he did, with it nearly destroying their friendship beyond repair.

** At the start of the series, Ed and Al meet Rose, a woman who's lost her boyfriend and believes that [[StarterVillain Father Cornello]], the spiritual leader of the city of Liore, can bring him back. After the brothers reveal that Cornello is a fraud and defeat him, Rose begins to despair, but Ed harshly tells her to stand on her own two feet. He and Al had lost their mother and made a failed attempt to bring her back that cost Ed his leg(symbolic of his ability to move forward) and Al his body(forcing Ed to sacrifice an arm to bind Al's soul to a suit of armor), so they know what it's like to lose someone. Much later in the series, as Liore is starting to rebuild, Ed and Al's ChildhoodFriend Winry meets Rose, who's much more determined and hopeful. After Rose tells Winry what Ed did for her, Winry's shocked at how much of a jerk [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Ed]] can be, but Rose says that's Ed's way of showing kindness.

* In most contexts, using another person as a HumanShield against their will is considered, not only cruel, but [[DirtyCoward downright cowardly]]. That is, unless you are a lifeguard saving a drowning victim, and you are about to be slammed against a hard surface by strong currents. In this case, putting the victim in front of yourself so they get hit instead of you is actually necessary to save both the victim and yourself. The logic being is that the lifeguard is the one who needs to be able to swim, meaning if they are injured, they will no longer be able to swim and both people will most likely end up drowning. Meanwhile, the drowning victim is already in danger, so it doesn't matter if they sustain any addictional injuries during the rescue, and would still have a chance to be save.

* Homework, the bane of most children's life. However, it is important to the child's education, and also teaches time management. Whilst many anti-homework groups have expressed concern that it causes stress, [[StrawmanHasAPoint which is not wrong]], in reality, this "stress" is pretty much a [[FirstWorldProblems first world problem]]. If homework induced stress was a ''serious'' issue, we would be getting ''millions'' of reports of children who have (unironically) suffered as a result of it. [[note]]It only becomes a serious (non-fault) issue if the child is getting unfairly criticized by parents/peers and/or they have an undiagnosed mental problem that might make homework difficult. This is why it's important for parents to be supportive and help kids with homework when needed, as well as for both parents and teachers to look out for signs of mental issues.[[/note]]