History Main / ItNeverGetsAnyEasier

** Mostly because he is at heart [[MartialPacifist a pacifist]]. While Zero has learned to deal with death over his career, X always feels grief and doubt about those who die in the Maverick Wars, even his own enemies. It's even be argued that he ''deliberately'' does this so he always has sympathy for the enemy because becoming callous is not the way to finding real peace. When he finally loses all sympathy centuries into the future, he retires.

* In a DLC conversation in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'', Owain tells Inigo that it was a huge struggle for him to start killing humans instead of [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Risen]].
* Sophie in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' has a line after defeating an enemy that says she never managed to get used to killing.

* In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia]]'', this is OldSoldier Mycen's reaction should a playable character be killed in battle.

* This trope is regularly invoked in the pulp novel series ''Literature/RogueAngel''. Annja Creed, the LaraCroft-like heroine, regularly kills enemies, sometimes in cold blood, yet the books often include moments where she ruminates about having to kill and she often expresses regret, even with the occasional BigBad she has had to end.

Often, in reality, although people might have some problems the first few times, they quickly grow used to what is, after all, part of their profession. For any given person or family, the sudden death of a loved one can be a traumatic and tragic event, but for the people who see it on a regular basis it doesn't have the same impact. Get a bunch of paramedics, firefighters or other first responders together in a room relaxing and inevitably you'll eventually get morbid jokes, [[BlackHumor pitch-black humor]], and stories of "good runs" where "good" would be defined by the average civilian as "scene from a horror movie".

** Subverted when Andrew Waltfeld admits that he was sick after the first time he killed in battle, but that eventually [[ItGetsEasier he got used it it]]. Granted, although Waltfeld is by this point a protagonist, the series does not present it as a positive thing.

* In ''Audioplay/StrikersSoundStageX'', this was a discussion that Subaru had with her [[EmergencyServices Special Rescue Team]] Commander after she had watched a person she was trying to save commit suicide ([[spoiler:or more specifically, [[PeoplePuppet was mind-controlled to suicide]]]]) right in front of her. They talk about how hard it is to see someone die and how they could still see the people they failed to save in their dreams. Then Subaru's superior breaks the tension by saying how idiots such as them shouldn't be having introspective conversations like these and the two share a slight chuckle. ItGetsEasier and It Never Gets Any Easier are both present in TheVerse: everybody normally uses magical guns set to non-lethal - even if the blast had to go through half a warship to hit it's target, it will still be a NonLethalKO, thus ensuring that fighting someone ''is'' psychologically easy right from the start, but reaction to seeing anyone actually die for any reason is no different from non-combatant's reaction.

* Creator/KrzysztofKieslowski's ''Film/AShortFilmAboutKilling'' from his ''Dekalog'', or series on the Ten Commandments. A young advocate in Poland is representing a murderer, whom the audience have seen on camera murder a taxi driver. The lawyer sees his client hang (the death penalty remained in force in Poland until the end of the communist era), with the last shot showing his anguished face and his senior partner remarking that "today, you have become a man".

* In ''Literature/TheSagaOfDarrenShan'' the fact that it ''does'' get easier is included as a plot point. The first time Darren kills a vampaneze in combat, he is horrified to see him slowly die in front of him, and cries over his body. After several years of bloody war against the vampaneze, he finds that he barely feels anything when he needs to fight and kill. [[spoiler: Evanna later cites this as a reason Darren will eventually become "The Lord of the Shadows" and destroy the world.]]

* Although Franchise/JamesBond in the movies follows the It Gets Easier path, in Ian Fleming's original novels, there are numerous occasions in which Bond makes it clear that killing people, even in self defence, never gets easier for him. In the original ''Literature/{{Goldfinger}}'' novel, for one example, he mopes over having to kill a thug. In ''[[Literature/OctopussyAndTheLivingDaylights The Living Daylights]]'', he takes a shot of whiskey while acting as a sniper, and when his spotter protests he counters by arguing that said spotter isn't the one who's going to be killing someone before the day is out. And in ''Literature/DiamondsAreForever'', Bond momentarily imagines the corpse of a man he just killed confronting Bond with the permanence of his actions.
* In the ''Franchise/WarcraftExpandedUniverse'' novel, ''Literature/TidesOfWar'', Jaina tells her apprentice Kinnidy, [[BreakTheCutie distraught after seeing war for the first time]], that war is always difficult to bear, but after a while, it becomes more familiar and you learn to move on. [[spoiler:She's consumeed by grief and rage after Theramore's destruction, and loses sight of this for a while, but comes to her senses]].

* Dr Bernard Rieux from the Creator/AlbertCamus novel ''Literature/ThePlague'', though as he's a StoicWoobie it rarely comes across.

** For instance, very sensitive Doctor Allison Cameron had to tell parents that their baby died. It was the first patient of House's team that died in the series. She literally couldnt do it and broke down.
** Dr. Foreman considers quitting his job and eventually does because a patient died because the team misdiagnosed her. House is disappointed, but felt he and the team did the right thing. Foreman felt that it was House's methods that killed the patient, and eventually quit because he "didn't want to be like House".

*** One particular instance is noteworthy. In "Help Me", a patient dies after an amputation. House doesn't take it well. When Foreman tries to make him feel better, saying he did nothing wrong, he says that he knows he did everything right, and that it makes him feel even worse..

** Ziva is a walking aversion of the trope. In the season 3 episode "Jeopardy," when a perp drops dead while in her custody, Ziva is unbothered by his death and confident that her actions didn't cause it, and simply wants to know when she can get back to work. Ziva was trained from birth to kill, but not to question. Years later when she kills a serial killer who nearly killed her, she breaks down; she had come literally within a millimeter of death, and started doubting herself for the first time. And then, a year or so after that, she resigns herself to death, only to be rescued by the last person she expected; afterward she changes loyalties (from an external perspective), and her co-workers comment on how relatively subdued she has become.

* Parodied and referenced in the ''Series/{{Monk}}'' episode "Mr. Monk Stays in Bed", when Randy tells Natalie that one gets used to seeing murder victims while working on the police force, especially if one is his rank (a lieutenant). He then adds that "getting used to it" is the worst part of the job, the part he never gets used to.
* A variant is used in ''Series/{{Mash}}'' when Father Mulcahy insist on going to the front for an errand. When there, the battalion aid station is shelled and Mulcahy asks a soldier how does one get used to it. The soldier wryly responds, "You get used to never getting used to it."

* Not actually said on ''Series/CriminalMinds'', but seems to be present to an extent: all the team have had cases that bothered them more than usual, because the cases [[ItsPersonal somehow directly connected to them]], involved someone who reminds them of themselves, or were just that horrible.

* In ''TabletopGame/PrincessTheHopeful'', thanks to [[AllergicToEvil Sensitivity]], it's nearly, if not outright impossible for a Princess to shield themselves from suffering they witness.

* In ''VideoGame/TraumaCenter'', the (player) doctor plays this trope dead straight. Despite working under difficult conditions, against pathogens that would make Ebola seem a walk in the park, if a single patient dies, it's game over because the doctor resigns.
* Part of Luke's CharacterDevelopment in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' comes from him slowly accepting the realities of- and getting used to- killing people in warfare. Though [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman he's fine with killing monsters]], when he first kills a human (accidentally, and in self-defence) he suffers a HeroicBSOD. Both Tear and Jade lecture him on how they don't enjoy killing humans, but as soldiers they ''have'' to kill for a greater cause: in this case, stopping a war that would kill millions. Even so, an extra scene with Jade near the end of the game reveals that Luke still "lay[s] awake, shaking" all night whenever he kills bandits or Oracle soldiers. He also [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructs]] this [[spoiler: as he's ''[[YoungerThanTheyLook only seven]]'' and it's very clear there is absolutely '''no''' getting better for him with that in mind.]]

** Zero doesn't let it bother him. He's not totally heartless though - he just sees it from a different perspective. When a twin dies along with his BigBad brother (because they shared a CPU), he told the upset X that he knew the consequences and he should honor his sacrifice instead of bemoaning it. However, when his [[ItsPersonal love interest Iris]] dies in cruel and pointless war, [[HeroicBSOD he didn't take it well]].

* In the ''Fanfic/EmpathTheLuckiestSmurf'' story "To Everything There Is A Season", which is an adaptation of [[WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs the cartoon show]] episode "Squeaky", when Smurfette has a peaceful talk with Tapper after the death of her pet mouse, Smurfette asks Tapper if it gets easy to deal with losing even her best friends to death, and Tapper responds with this, although as a Christian he does tell her that there's a better world waiting for them where there is no more death.

* {{Parodied}} in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''--After

* Averted in ''Franchise/MetalGear'' as one of the major themes of the series. As Snake points out killing does get a lot easier the more you do it, but in his opinion that is one of the worst things about his job. It's also the reason he works alone and keeps doing the job he hates, so nobody else has to do it.

* In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia]]'', this is BadassGrandpa Mycen's reaction should a playable character be killed in battle.

* Satirized in ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut'', when the doctor (voiced by George Clooney) who has failed to resuscitate Kenny because he replaced his heart with a baked potato cries, verbatim, "[[PunctuatedPounding It never! Gets! Any! Easier]]!" He immediately begins whistling cheerfully as he walks away.

* In the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E7LieToMe Lie to Me]]", after Buffy has just staked a former friend who had become a vampire:

-->'''Giles:''' You mean life?

-->'''Buffy:''' [[TitleDrop Lie to me.]]

-->'''Sophie:''' When does it get any easier?

* This trope is regularly invoked in the pulp novel series Literature/RogueAngel. Annja Creed, the LaraCroft-like heroine, regularly kills enemies, sometimes in cold blood, yet the books often include moments where she ruminates about having to kill and she often expresses regret, even with the occasional BigBad she has had to end.

--> '''Rogue''': When they [the claws] come out... does it hurt?
--> '''Wolverine''': Every time.

--> '''Mathilda:''' Is life always this hard, or is it just when you're a kid?
--> '''Leon:''' Always like this.

* When an officer dies under Wedge's command in the ExpandedUniverse novel ''[[Literature/XWingSeries Wraith Squadron]]'', he finds it hard to write the letter informing next of kin. (That the next of kin is in this case his supreme commander probably makes it a bit more difficult.) However, while it takes him all night to word it properly, and he doesn't have much time for sleep, he's ''able'' to sleep for the hour or so, and is faintly proud that it ''isn't'' any easier than it was the first time he had to do it. It's also come up that since he half expects new pilots to die soon, he doesn't let himself get to know most of them, even keeping to a LastNameBasis.
* The trope is discussed in the first Stackpole novel, at a funeral for a pilot killed in her sleep by Imperial commandoes:
--> "It never gets any easier, does it?"
--> "No, and it never should. Because if it ever does, [[WeHaveReserves we've become]] [[TheEmpire the enemy]]."

* Although Franchise/JamesBond in the movies follows the It Gets Easier path, in Ian Fleming's original novels, there are numerous occasions in which Bond makes it clear that killing people, even in self defence, never gets easier for him. In the original ''Literature/{{Goldfinger}}'' novel, for one example, he mopes over having to kill a thug, and in ''Literature/DiamondsAreForever'', Bond momentarily imagines a corpse of a man he just killed confronting Bond with the permanence of his actions.

* Outside of PR events, animals used in testing or observed in the field are /never/ referred to with names... because then ItsPersonal if they die. Contrary to what PETA tells people, [[TearJerker it still feels terrible anyway.]]

* Krzysztof Kieslowski's ''AShortFilmAboutKilling'' from his ''Dekalog'', or series on the Ten Commandments. A young advocate in Poland is representing a murderer, whom the audience have seen on camera murder a taxi driver. The lawyer sees his client hang (the death penalty remained in force in Poland until the end of the communist era), with the last shot showing his anguished face and his senior partner remarking that "today, you have become a man".

** The only character who actually ''acts'' on this Aesop, though, is Dr. Kelso, but that's just because he has to keep himself together in order to effectively run the hospital. However, has stated that he doesn't ''want'' to be one of the doctors that just doesn't care anymore. One of the reasons he respects Dr. Cox so much is because when he loses a patient, it still hits him hard (granted Dr. Cox was responsible for the deaths of three patients all in one day. That kind of thing can [[HeroicBSOD take a toll on your psyche]].)

* While a variation of this trope may seem to be played straight in the game ''VideoGame/BrothersInArms: Hell's Highway'', it can be excused on account ThatOtherWiki claims the Operation Market Garden that the game takes place in seems to be a rather big failure as there are around 18000 casualties or losses by the Allies' forces that you play versus the 8000 casualties by the Germans. ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Market_Garden see the proof here!]]) Operation Market Garden was, strategically speaking, a colossal failure, committing resources to a risky attack that failed within ''days'' and had to be defended for ''weeks'', requiring even more resources.

---> Sigma: [Even after all that's happened, a room full of dead bodies has a significant impact.]

---> Hadvar: (Paraphrased) Do... Do you ever feel for the people you kill?
---> Dovahkiin: [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Only a monster kills without feeling]]
---> Hadvar: I guess so. Some of the men say it gets easier, I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

---> Sophie: When does it get any easier?

* Part of Luke's CharacterDevelopment in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' comes from him slowly accepting the realities of- and getting used to- killing people in warfare. Though [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman he's fine with killing monsters]], when he first kills a human (accidentally, and in self-defence) he suffers a HeroicBSOD. Both Tear and Jade lecture him on how they don't enjoy killing humans, but as soldiers they ''have'' to kill for a greater cause: in this case, stopping a war that would kill millions. Even so, an extra scene with Jade near the end of the game reveals that Luke still "lay[s] awake, shaking" all night whenever he kills bandits or Oracle soldiers.

* In ''Audioplay/StrikersSoundStageX'', this was a discussion that Subaru had with her [[EmergencyServices Special Rescue Team]] Commander after she had watched a person she was trying to save commit suicide ([[spoiler: or more specifically, [[PeoplePuppet was mind-controlled to suicide]]]]) right in front of her. They talk about how hard it is to see someone die and how they could still see the people they failed to save in their dreams. Then Subaru's superior breaks the tension by saying how idiots such as them shouldn't be having introspective conversations like these and the two share a slight chuckle. ItGetsEasier and It Never Gets Any Easier are both present in TheVerse: everybody normally uses magical guns set to non-lethal - even if the blast had to go through half a warship to hit it's target, it will still be a NonLethalKO, thus ensuring that fighting someone ''is'' psychologically easy right from the start, but reaction to seeing anyone actually die for any reason is no different from non-combatant's reaction.

* In ''TraumaCenter'', the (player) doctor plays this trope dead straight. Despite working under difficult conditions, against pathogens that would make Ebola seem a walk in the park, if a single patient dies, it's game over because the doctor resigns.