Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 111 (click to see context) from:
to:
* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}} does this on the true pacifist route. [[spoiler: [[BigBad Flowey]] has been watching your progress and sees how you are going around befriending all the monsters. Relying on a BatmanGambit, Flowey also tricks Papyrus into gathering all the monsters in one area to get Asgore and the player character to stop fighting. Once everyone gathers around, Flowey swoops in with 6 human souls he stole and absorbs the souls of all the monsters that arrived. In short, Flowey gained godhood because you tried to be a pacifist and gotten everyone to like you, allowing him to steal everyone's souls. Whoops.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 89,90 (click to see context) from:
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'' has a nack for this. In a show where the heroes prove they're the good guys by [[ThouShallNotKill choosing not to kill their enemies]], the villains manage to rub it in their faces and, as one villain said, "make them wish they ''did'' kill them when they had the chance". The heroes actually put one of the villains through a SecretTestOfCharacter exploiting this trope. The failure resulted in them being unable to harm the main target or anyone related.
to:
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'' has a nack knack for this. In a show where the heroes prove they're the good guys by [[ThouShallNotKill choosing not to kill their enemies]], the villains manage to rub it in their faces and, as one villain said, "make them wish they ''did'' kill them when they had the chance". The heroes actually put one of the villains through a SecretTestOfCharacter exploiting this trope. The failure resulted in them being unable to harm the main target or anyone related.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 130 (click to see context) from:
to:
* In early episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'' Otto tries to convince Tuddrussel throughout various missions that he'd have better luck getting historical figures to go back on the right path if he'd just show some patience, and use his words instead of violent beatings. While this worked some of the time, most of the time it backfired because some of the historical figures in question were just too stupid or stubborn for anything else but a punch to the face.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 23 (click to see context) from:
[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
to:
[[folder: Anime and
Changed line(s) 34 (click to see context) from:
[[AC:ComicBook]]
to:
[[folder: Comic Book ]]
Changed line(s) 37 (click to see context) from:
[[AC:{{Film}}]]
to:
[[folder: Film ]]
Changed line(s) 42 (click to see context) from:
[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
to:
[[folder: Literature ]]
Changed line(s) 52 (click to see context) from:
[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
to:
[[folder: Live Action TV ]]
Changed line(s) 69 (click to see context) from:
* In one episode of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', the brothers find themselves trapped in a building with a small number of survivors and a huge number of demons trying to enter and kill them all. Ruby arrives and tells them about a spell that would save them all, but it requires a human sacrifice. The Sam and Dean refuse to do it, insisting that they must find another way. However, while the two of them end up escaping just fine, after they leave, the demons return and all of the survivors, including the intended sacrifice, are killed.
to:
* In one episode of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', the brothers find themselves trapped in a building with a small number of survivors and a huge number of demons trying to enter and kill them all. Ruby arrives and tells them about a spell that would save them all, but it requires a human sacrifice. The Sam and Dean refuse to do it, insisting that they must find another way. However, while the two of them end up escaping just fine, after they leave, the demons return and all of the survivors, including the intended sacrifice, are killed.
Changed line(s) 76 (click to see context) from:
[[AC:TabletopGames]]
to:
[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]
Changed line(s) 80 (click to see context) from:
[[AC:{{Theatre}}]]
to:
[[folder: Theatre ]]
Changed line(s) 84 (click to see context) from:
[[AC:VideoGames]]
to:
[[folder: Video Games ]]
Changed line(s) 88 (click to see context) from:
[[AC:WebOriginal]]
to:
[[folder: Web Original ]]
Changed line(s) 91 (click to see context) from:
[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
to:
[[folder: Western Animation ]]
Changed line(s) 100 (click to see context) from:
----
to:
[[/folder]]
----
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 64 (click to see context) from:
** Had the Doctor not toppled the regime of Harriet Jones as revenge for her blowing up alien invaders in [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion The Christmas Invasion]] she would have been still been Prime Minister and the Master wouldn't have been able to rise the power as Prime Minster Harold Saxon and assassinate the U.S. president or cause world wide devastation in The Year That Never Was.
to:
** Had the Doctor not toppled the regime of Harriet Jones as revenge for her blowing up alien invaders in [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion The Christmas Invasion]] she would have been still been Prime Minister and the Master wouldn't have been able to rise the power as Prime Minster Harold Saxon and assassinate the U.S. president or cause world wide devastation in The Year That Never Was. The ''Series/TorchwoodChildrenOfEarth'' crisis would have also gone differently.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 18 (click to see context) from:
There may be real life examples, [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement but perhaps it's best if we don't go there]]. NoRealLifeExamplesPlease
to:
There may be real life examples, [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement but perhaps it's best if we don't go there]]. NoRealLifeExamplesPleaseAdministrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease [[noreallife]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 50 (click to see context) from:
to:
* Creator/HarryTurtledove once wrote a short story about Ghandi attempting to use the same peaceful protest tactics that had won significant gains against the British on the invading forces of Nazi Germany. That ends in rather spectacular failure.[[note]]Critics have pointed out that Ghandi was a ''lot'' more GenreSavvy than this in real life.[[/note]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 6,7 (click to see context) from:
Perhaps s/he is a really [[WideEyedIdealist an idealist]] and a forgiving person who [[GoAndSinNoMore just tells bad guys to go away after said baddie is stopped.]] Perhaps s/he is a PrinciplesZealot, believing that no end justifies the means of violence, including that of preventing worse violence. Perhaps s/he is a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter, not realizing that avoiding such a fight would cause more of it. Or maybe s/he is a DirtyCoward who just wants to wash his or her hands of the situation.
to:
Perhaps s/he is a really an [[WideEyedIdealist an idealist]] idealistic]] and a forgiving person who [[GoAndSinNoMore just tells bad guys to go away after said baddie is stopped.]] Perhaps s/he is a PrinciplesZealot, believing that no end justifies the means of violence, including that of preventing worse violence. Perhaps s/he is a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter, not realizing that avoiding such a fight would cause more of it. Or maybe s/he is a DirtyCoward who just wants to wash his or her hands of the situation.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 40 (click to see context) from:
to:
* In ''Film/TheCobbler'', the hero impersonates a mobster boss and saves another criminal from being killed. His kindness is not being repaid as later said baddie turns out to be an UngratefulBastard who kidnaps the hero (disguised as the mobster boss) in order to off him and pities him for his poor choice.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 1,3 (click to see context) from:
->''If [the number of pacifists] is large enough [to cripple the state as a belligerent], then you have handed over the state which does tolerate Pacifists to its totalitarian neighbour who does not. Pacifism of this kind is taking the straight road to a world in which there will be no Pacifists.''
-->--'''Creator/CSLewis''', ''Why I Am Not a Pacifist''
-->--'''Creator/CSLewis''', ''Why I Am Not a Pacifist''
to:
-->--'''Creator/CSLewis''',
-->-- '''Creator/CSLewis''', ''Why I Am Not a Pacifist''
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 24 (click to see context) from:
* In ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', Vash the Stampede will ''not'' kill his enemies... nor hurt them in any major way... and the show takes great pains to show that it's a noble calling, but possibly misguided considering the CrapSackWorld circumstances (Vash's body is a mass of scars, the sixty billion double dollar bounty (until it's removed) means that anybody with a gun and a desperate need of money (which is practically the whole planet) is out to get him, he's constantly arguing with his companions (or at least Wolfwood) about the usefulness/futility of his ThouShaltNotKill code, the QuirkyMinibossSquad and the BigBad are out to make Vash suffer by any means possible, which usually involves [[KillEmAll killing everything that moves]] [[AndYourLittleDogToo and going the extra mile with anybody that Vash so much as gave the time of the day to]], increasing in cruelty/kill count up to ApocalypseHow levels as the series goes on...)
to:
* In ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', Vash the Stampede will ''not'' kill his enemies... nor hurt them in any major way... and the show takes great pains to show that it's a noble calling, but possibly misguided considering the CrapSackWorld CrapsackWorld circumstances (Vash's body is a mass of scars, the sixty billion double dollar bounty (until it's removed) means that anybody with a gun and a desperate need of money (which is practically the whole planet) is out to get him, he's constantly arguing with his companions (or at least Wolfwood) about the usefulness/futility of his ThouShaltNotKill code, the QuirkyMinibossSquad and the BigBad are out to make Vash suffer by any means possible, which usually involves [[KillEmAll killing everything that moves]] [[AndYourLittleDogToo and going the extra mile with anybody that Vash so much as gave the time of the day to]], increasing in cruelty/kill count up to ApocalypseHow levels as the series goes on...)
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 39,40 (click to see context) from:
* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings: The Two Towers'', King Theoden's first impulse upon being freed from Saruman's magical influence is to kill Grima Wormtongue, the treacherous advisor responsible for said magical influence. Aragorn stays his hand, saying "Enough blood has been spilled on his account." But Wormtongue rejects the offer of absolution for his crimes and flees to Saruman. There, Wormtongue provides intelligence to Saruman (the path that the people of Rohan will take to reach Helm's Deep, and the weakest point of the walls at Helm's Deep), enabling Saruman's army to kill many more than they otherwise would have.
to:
* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings: The Two Towers'', King Theoden's Théoden's first impulse upon being freed from Saruman's magical influence is to kill Grima Gríma Wormtongue, the treacherous advisor adviser responsible for said magical influence. Aragorn stays his hand, saying "Enough blood has been spilled on his account." But Wormtongue rejects the offer of absolution for his crimes and flees to Saruman. There, Wormtongue provides intelligence to Saruman (the path that the people of Rohan will take to reach Helm's Deep, and the weakest point of the walls at Helm's Deep), enabling Saruman's army to kill many more than they otherwise would have.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 2,3 (click to see context) from:
-->--'''Creator/CSLewis''', ''Why I'm Not a Pacifist''
to:
-->--'''Creator/CSLewis''', ''Why I'm I Am Not a Pacifist''
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
->''If [the number of pacifists] is large enough [to cripple the state as a belligerent], then you have handed over the state which does tolerate Pacifists to its totalitarian neighbour who does not. Pacifism of this kind is taking the straight road to a world in which there will be no Pacifists.''
-->--'''Creator/CSLewis''', ''Why I'm Not a Pacifist''
-->--'''Creator/CSLewis''', ''Why I'm Not a Pacifist''
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 49 (click to see context) from:
* ''Series/BattlestarGalacticaClassic''. In the pilot episode the Council of Twelve takes all of the Battlestars to a peace conference with the Cylons, leaving the Twelve Colonies completely undefended. Naturally the Cylons decide to use AggressiveNegotiations: they take the opportunity to ambush not only the Battlestars, destroying all but the ''Galactica'', but almost entirely wiping out the colonies as well. In a later episode it's stated that the colonies had planetary defenses, which were sabotaged by a confederate of Baltar's.
to:
* ''Series/BattlestarGalacticaClassic''.''Series/BattlestarGalactica1978''. In the pilot episode the Council of Twelve takes all of the Battlestars to a peace conference with the Cylons, leaving the Twelve Colonies completely undefended. Naturally the Cylons decide to use AggressiveNegotiations: they take the opportunity to ambush not only the Battlestars, destroying all but the ''Galactica'', but almost entirely wiping out the colonies as well. In a later episode it's stated that the colonies had planetary defenses, which were sabotaged by a confederate of Baltar's.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 21 (click to see context) from:
* In ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', Vash the Stampede will *not* kill his enemies... nor hurt them in any major way... and the show takes great pains to show that it's a noble calling, but possibly misguided considering the CrapSackWorld circumstances (Vash's body is a mass of scars, the sixty billion double dollar bounty (until it's removed) means that anybody with a gun and a desperate need of money (which is practically the whole planet) is out to get him, he's constantly arguing with his companions (or at least Wolfwood) about the usefulness/futility of his ThouShaltNotKill code, the QuirkyMinibossSquad and the BigBad are out to make Vash suffer by any means possible, which usually involves [[KillEmAll killing everything that moves]] [[AndYourLittleDogToo and going the extra mile with anybody that Vash so much as gave the time of the day to]], increasing in cruelty/kill count up to ApocalypseHow levels as the series goes on...)
to:
* In ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', Vash the Stampede will *not* ''not'' kill his enemies... nor hurt them in any major way... and the show takes great pains to show that it's a noble calling, but possibly misguided considering the CrapSackWorld circumstances (Vash's body is a mass of scars, the sixty billion double dollar bounty (until it's removed) means that anybody with a gun and a desperate need of money (which is practically the whole planet) is out to get him, he's constantly arguing with his companions (or at least Wolfwood) about the usefulness/futility of his ThouShaltNotKill code, the QuirkyMinibossSquad and the BigBad are out to make Vash suffer by any means possible, which usually involves [[KillEmAll killing everything that moves]] [[AndYourLittleDogToo and going the extra mile with anybody that Vash so much as gave the time of the day to]], increasing in cruelty/kill count up to ApocalypseHow levels as the series goes on...)
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 57 (click to see context) from:
** The Eleventh Doctor has acknowledged this is a problem with his TechnicalPacifism. His attempts not to hurt anyone may not directly have ''him'' going against his morals, but he "got clever" and has indirectly caused his friends and companions to fight pretty nasty battles for him or manipulated villains into killing themselves.
to:
** The Eleventh Tenth Doctor has acknowledged this is a problem with his TechnicalPacifism.TechnicalPacifism in ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime The End of Time]]''. His attempts not to hurt anyone may not directly have ''him'' going against his morals, but he "got clever" and has indirectly caused his friends and companions to fight pretty nasty battles for him or manipulated villains into killing themselves.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 31,32 (click to see context) from:
* DependingOnTheAuthor, this is one of ''{{Batman}}'''s biggest problems, ''especially'' because his refusal to kill is one of the biggest reasons for JokerImmunity to exist, and SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker ''loves'' to commit atrocities for the sake of rubbing this in Batman's face (HannibalLecture where he points this out, and other characters committing some time to an AuthorFilibuster speech about this, wholly optional).
to:
* DependingOnTheAuthor, this is one of ''{{Batman}}'''s ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'''s biggest problems, ''especially'' because his refusal to kill is one of the biggest reasons for JokerImmunity to exist, and SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker ''loves'' to commit atrocities for the sake of rubbing this in Batman's face (HannibalLecture where he points this out, and other characters committing some time to an AuthorFilibuster speech about this, wholly optional).
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 75,76 (click to see context) from:
* Tony suffers this in ''Theatre/WestSideStory''. He goes to the rumble to stop it happening, and tries to resist Bernardo's baiting, but it backfires horribly and he ends up knifing Bernardo who has stabbed Riff.
to:
* Tony suffers this in ''Theatre/WestSideStory''. He goes to the rumble to stop it happening, and tries to resist Bernardo's baiting, but it backfires horribly horribly. The rumble, which was supposed to be a simple fistfight, turns into a knife battle between Bernardo and he Riff. Tony ends up knifing Bernardo who has stabbed Riff.
* Similarly in ''West Side Story's'' inspiration, ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', Mercutio is fatally stabbed when Romeo comes between him and Tybalt, trying to break up their fight. Romeo's guilt over this directly or indirectly causes every single other death in the play.
* Similarly in ''West Side Story's'' inspiration, ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', Mercutio is fatally stabbed when Romeo comes between him and Tybalt, trying to break up their fight. Romeo's guilt over this directly or indirectly causes every single other death in the play.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 68 (click to see context) from:
to:
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'' has a nack for this. In a show where the heroes prove they're the good guys by [[ThouShallNotKill choosing not to kill their enemies]], the villains manage to rub it in their faces and, as one villain said, "make them wish they ''did'' kill them when they had the chance". The heroes actually put one of the villains through a SecretTestOfCharacter exploiting this trope. The failure resulted in them being unable to harm the main target or anyone related.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 29 (click to see context) from:
to:
* Subverted in ''Anime/DragonBallZ''. Goku gives Frieza mercy... which the latter uses to try and kill the former. To quote Goku of how well it worked: "YOU FOOL!"
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 49 (click to see context) from:
* Parodied in the pilot of ''Series/{{Jessie}}''. In the first scene we see with the kids, Emma and Luke are fighting, with Ravi pleading with them to stop[[note]]which may be slightly reminiscent of [[MahatmasGandhi Gandhi]][[/note]].
to:
* Parodied in the pilot of ''Series/{{Jessie}}''. In the first scene we see with the kids, Emma and Luke are fighting, with Ravi pleading with them to stop[[note]]which may be slightly reminiscent of [[MahatmasGandhi [[UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi Gandhi]][[/note]].
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 54,56 (click to see context) from:
* ''Series/DoctorWho''
** In general, the Doctor has acknowledged this is a problem with his TechnicalPacifism. His attempts not to hurt anyone may not directly have ''him'' going against his morals, but he "got clever" and has indirectly caused his friends and companions to fight pretty nasty battles for him or manipulated villains into killing themselves.
** Had the Doctor not toppled the regime of Harriet Jones as revenge for her blowing up alien invaders in [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion The Christmas Invasion]] she would have been still been Prime Minister and the Master wouldn't have been able to rise the power as Prime Minster Harold Saxon and assassinate the U.S. president or cause world wide devastation in The Year That Never Was.
** In general, the Doctor has acknowledged this is a problem with his TechnicalPacifism. His attempts not to hurt anyone may not directly have ''him'' going against his morals, but he "got clever" and has indirectly caused his friends and companions to fight pretty nasty battles for him or manipulated villains into killing themselves.
** Had the Doctor not toppled the regime of Harriet Jones as revenge for her blowing up alien invaders in [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion The Christmas Invasion]] she would have been still been Prime Minister and the Master wouldn't have been able to rise the power as Prime Minster Harold Saxon and assassinate the U.S. president or cause world wide devastation in The Year That Never Was.
to:
* ''Series/DoctorWho''
** In general, the Doctor has acknowledged this is a problem with his TechnicalPacifism. His attempts not to hurt anyone may not directly have ''him'' going against his morals, but he "got clever" and has indirectly caused his friends and companions to fight pretty nasty battles for him or manipulated villains into killing themselves.
** Had the Doctor not toppled the regime of Harriet Jones as revenge for her blowing up alien invaders in [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion The Christmas Invasion]] she would have been still been Prime Minister and the Master wouldn't have been able to rise the power as Prime Minster Harold Saxon and assassinate the U.S. president or cause world wide devastation in The Year That Never Was.''Series/DoctorWho'':
** In general, the Doctor has acknowledged this is a problem with his TechnicalPacifism. His attempts not to hurt anyone may not directly have ''him'' going against his morals, but he "got clever" and has indirectly caused his friends and companions to fight pretty nasty battles for him or manipulated villains into killing themselves.
** Had the Doctor not toppled the regime of Harriet Jones as revenge for her blowing up alien invaders in [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion The Christmas Invasion]] she would have been still been Prime Minister and the Master wouldn't have been able to rise the power as Prime Minster Harold Saxon and assassinate the U.S. president or cause world wide devastation in The Year That Never Was.
Added DiffLines:
** Had the Fifth Doctor aided the humans in defending themselves from the Silurians and Sea Devils in "Warriors of the Deep", he could have prevented all three sides being slaughtered. It's made clear he knew this was the only solution from the start, but put off making the decision in the hope he'd find another way, and didn't.
** The Eleventh Doctor has acknowledged this is a problem with his TechnicalPacifism. His attempts not to hurt anyone may not directly have ''him'' going against his morals, but he "got clever" and has indirectly caused his friends and companions to fight pretty nasty battles for him or manipulated villains into killing themselves.
** Had the Doctor not toppled the regime of Harriet Jones as revenge for her blowing up alien invaders in [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion The Christmas Invasion]] she would have been still been Prime Minister and the Master wouldn't have been able to rise the power as Prime Minster Harold Saxon and assassinate the U.S. president or cause world wide devastation in The Year That Never Was.
** The Eleventh Doctor has acknowledged this is a problem with his TechnicalPacifism. His attempts not to hurt anyone may not directly have ''him'' going against his morals, but he "got clever" and has indirectly caused his friends and companions to fight pretty nasty battles for him or manipulated villains into killing themselves.
** Had the Doctor not toppled the regime of Harriet Jones as revenge for her blowing up alien invaders in [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion The Christmas Invasion]] she would have been still been Prime Minister and the Master wouldn't have been able to rise the power as Prime Minster Harold Saxon and assassinate the U.S. president or cause world wide devastation in The Year That Never Was.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* Series/{{Animorphs}}: Elfangor knocked out Alloran so that he wouldn't drain the Yeerk Pool into space. Knocking him out allowed Esplin to infest him.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 89 (click to see context) from:
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', it was eventually shown that the good Avatar Roku and world-conquering Fire Lord Sozin had been best friends. Roku's spirit tells Aang that he was too-easy on his friend when he discovered his ambitions, and that his aversion to violence in the matter allowed for 100 years of war to reign.
to:
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', it was eventually shown that the good Avatar Roku and world-conquering Fire Lord Sozin had been best friends. Roku's spirit tells Aang that he was too-easy on his friend when he discovered his ambitions, and that his aversion to violence in the matter allowed for 100 years of war to reign.reign.
----
----
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 38 (click to see context) from:
* An important theme in Robert Merle's novel ''The Island'', which is based on the story of the mutiny on the Bounty. English mutineers and Tahitians start a settlement on an island, but tensions quickly build up between them, because some of the English treat the Tahitians as inferior. The protagonist, Purcell doesn't allow his friends to kill the main troublemaker because of his pacifistic Christian beliefs. Eventually war breaks out, and all men on the island die, except for Purcell and a Tahitian. Purcell ends up blaming himself.
to:
* An important theme in Robert Merle's novel ''The Island'', which is based on the story of the mutiny on the Bounty. English British mutineers and Tahitians start a settlement on an island, but tensions quickly build up between them, because some of the English British treat the Tahitians as inferior. The protagonist, Purcell doesn't allow his friends to kill the main troublemaker because of his pacifistic Christian beliefs. Eventually war breaks out, and all men on the island die, except for Purcell and a Tahitian. Purcell ends up blaming himself.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 3,4 (click to see context) from:
Perhaps s/he is a really forgiving person who [[GoAndSinNoMore just tells bad guys to go away after said baddie is stopped.]] Perhaps s/he is a PrinciplesZealot, believing that no end justifies the means of violence, including that of preventing worse violence. Perhaps s/he is a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter, not realizing that avoiding such a fight would cause more of it. Or maybe s/he is a DirtyCoward who just wants to wash his or her hands of the situation.
to:
Perhaps s/he is a really [[WideEyedIdealist an idealist]] and a forgiving person who [[GoAndSinNoMore just tells bad guys to go away after said baddie is stopped.]] Perhaps s/he is a PrinciplesZealot, believing that no end justifies the means of violence, including that of preventing worse violence. Perhaps s/he is a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter, not realizing that avoiding such a fight would cause more of it. Or maybe s/he is a DirtyCoward who just wants to wash his or her hands of the situation.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 3,4 (click to see context) from:
Perhaps s/he is a PrinciplesZealot, believing that no end justifies the means of violence, including that of preventing worse violence. Perhaps s/he is a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter, not realizing that avoiding such a fight would cause more of it. Or maybe s/he is a DirtyCoward who just wants to wash his or her hands of the situation.
to:
Perhaps s/he is a really forgiving person who [[GoAndSinNoMore just tells bad guys to go away after said baddie is stopped.]] Perhaps s/he is a PrinciplesZealot, believing that no end justifies the means of violence, including that of preventing worse violence. Perhaps s/he is a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter, not realizing that avoiding such a fight would cause more of it. Or maybe s/he is a DirtyCoward who just wants to wash his or her hands of the situation.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
A character insists on not exacting violence.... and he or she ends up causing more fighting in the long run than was at first avoided.
Perhaps s/he is a PrinciplesZealot, believing that no end justifies the means of violence, including that of preventing worse violence. Perhaps s/he is a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter, not realizing that avoiding such a fight would cause more of it. Or maybe s/he is a DirtyCoward who just wants to wash his or her hands of the situation.
A downplayed variant of this is when someone who is willing to fight but [[ThouShaltNotKill unwilling to kill]] refuses to kill someone no matter how dangerous he is. That someone ends up causing more trouble later.
Indeed, the moral ([[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop if you can call it a "moral"]]) is that ViolenceReallyIsTheAnswer.
A common (but not always) telltale of this trope is when someone says "I should've killed/stopped him when I had the chance/back then."
One of the many ways to CreateYourOwnVillain. May stem from GoodCannotComprehendEvil. Compare HeadInTheSandManagement, which sometimes overlaps with this, and TheFarmerAndTheViper (aka "Hospitality Backfire"). Compare also WeHaveBecomeComplacent when a community who has never experienced war for a long time is forced into a war situation and they are unable to fight back. See also NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished, NiceJobBreakingItHero, SuicidalPacifism and NeutralityBacklash.
Contrast BadassPacifist when a pacifist manages to stop the conflict/help others using entirely non-violent means.
There may be real life examples, [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement but perhaps it's best if we don't go there]]. NoRealLifeExamplesPlease
----
!! Examples:
[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* In ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', Vash the Stampede will *not* kill his enemies... nor hurt them in any major way... and the show takes great pains to show that it's a noble calling, but possibly misguided considering the CrapSackWorld circumstances (Vash's body is a mass of scars, the sixty billion double dollar bounty (until it's removed) means that anybody with a gun and a desperate need of money (which is practically the whole planet) is out to get him, he's constantly arguing with his companions (or at least Wolfwood) about the usefulness/futility of his ThouShaltNotKill code, the QuirkyMinibossSquad and the BigBad are out to make Vash suffer by any means possible, which usually involves [[KillEmAll killing everything that moves]] [[AndYourLittleDogToo and going the extra mile with anybody that Vash so much as gave the time of the day to]], increasing in cruelty/kill count up to ApocalypseHow levels as the series goes on...)
* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' and ''Anime/{{Grenadier}}''. The main character subscribes to a ThouShaltNotKill mentality backed up by impressive combat skills, and the BigBad(s) sends outrageously powerful enemies that have absolutely no problem in killing anybody that gets in the way of their fight with the main character, and actually do so in order to [[TheyWereHoldingYouBack unlock the full combat capability of the main character]] via UnstoppableRage, while gloating that the pacifism and using non-lethal attacks (which require more finesse than simply slashing/shooting someone dead) has "made them weak".
* Happens almost constantly in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''
** Hashirama spares Madara, Madara becomes the BiggerBad.
** Sarutobi spares Orochimaru, many people die including Sarutobi himself.
** Naruto lets Sasuke go, Sasuke ends up helping the BigBad.
** Naruto and [[spoiler:Minato spares Obito]], [[spoiler:Madara]] gets revived.
* ''Franchise/OnePiece''. In Law's flashback, when Rocinante, after being beaten to near death, revealed his true nature to his boss and big brother Doflamingo that [[spoiler:he's a Marine who's going to stop him]], the two pointed their guns at each other. Doflamingo pointed out that Rocinante is too kind to actually pull the trigger [[note]]played with in that, while Roci is known for being violent himself, he still views his big brother as special[[/note]] and then the former killed the latter. And then Doflamingo went on to conquer the island of Dressrosa (something that Roci wanted to prevent) and caused a reign of sugarcoated terror there.
[[AC:ComicBook]]
* DependingOnTheAuthor, this is one of ''{{Batman}}'''s biggest problems, ''especially'' because his refusal to kill is one of the biggest reasons for JokerImmunity to exist, and SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker ''loves'' to commit atrocities for the sake of rubbing this in Batman's face (HannibalLecture where he points this out, and other characters committing some time to an AuthorFilibuster speech about this, wholly optional).
[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* ''Film/MarsAttacks''. The U.S. tries twice to make peaceful contact with the Martians. The first time, the Martian leader and his soldiers wipe out the U.S. Army forces at the meeting site. The second time the Martian leader asks to address Congress. While he's doing so he and his soldiers destroy everyone there. Later on the French government tries the diplomatic approach: not surprisingly it ends in a bloodbath.
* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings: The Two Towers'', King Theoden's first impulse upon being freed from Saruman's magical influence is to kill Grima Wormtongue, the treacherous advisor responsible for said magical influence. Aragorn stays his hand, saying "Enough blood has been spilled on his account." But Wormtongue rejects the offer of absolution for his crimes and flees to Saruman. There, Wormtongue provides intelligence to Saruman (the path that the people of Rohan will take to reach Helm's Deep, and the weakest point of the walls at Helm's Deep), enabling Saruman's army to kill many more than they otherwise would have.
[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* An important theme in Robert Merle's novel ''The Island'', which is based on the story of the mutiny on the Bounty. English mutineers and Tahitians start a settlement on an island, but tensions quickly build up between them, because some of the English treat the Tahitians as inferior. The protagonist, Purcell doesn't allow his friends to kill the main troublemaker because of his pacifistic Christian beliefs. Eventually war breaks out, and all men on the island die, except for Purcell and a Tahitian. Purcell ends up blaming himself.
* In the ''Series/BabylonFive'' novel ''Clark's Law'', the station security officers try and break up a fight between the Narns and the Tuchanq using stun guns. Unfortunately, the Tuchanq's brains are wired such that any interruption in consciousness causes them to lose all their long-term and short-term memory and revert to base survival instinct, essentially making them AxCrazy. Fixing this problem requires even more violence, and of course, one of the still-crazy ones gets loose and accidentally kills a human, which sets the real plot of the book in motion.
* In ''Literature/IslandInTheSeaOfTime'', Pamela Lisketter and her followers aid William Walker's betrayal in the hopes that his plot will hobble the Republic of Nantucket so that it can't intervene in the Alban War. Unfortunately, their plan is incredibly stupid (amounting to kidnapping the Chief's wife and shooting Marian Alston, the de facto commander of the navy) and is executed incompetently (the bullet grazes Alston), and their getaway plan involved travelling down to Mexico and hoping that the locals are friendly. Not only do they fail to prevent the Republic from going to war, but they also manage to start a war between the Republic and the People of the Jaguar God. And on top of that, Lisketter and her followers all die, but not before spreading mumps throughout Mesoamerica. NiceJobBreakingItHero, indeed.
* In the Thomas Dixon novel ''Fall of a Nation'', A combined suffragette/pacifist movement not only keeps the United States out of WorldWarOne, but also slashes its military. The war ends in a negotiated stalemate...and then the combined armies of Europe invade the United States!
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. Eddard Stark refused to arrest Queen Cersei and her illegitimate children because he didn't want them to get hurt. This decision is one of the main causes of the War of Five Kings.
* ''HarryPotter'': Harry refuses to allow Peter Pettigrew to be killed, resulting in the return of Lord Voldemort. Downplayed because it was actually an act of CruelMercy and he expects Pettigrew to be put into [[HellholePrison Azkaban]] instead. Although Harry's mercy does get rewarded later, when Pettigrew remembers it and hesitates to attack Harry, giving Harry a crucial chance to escape.
[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* In the ''Series/BabylonFive'' episode "The Fall of Night", a representative of Earth's [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Ministry]] [[GeorgeOrwell of Peace]] visits the station to finalize a non-aggression pact between Earth Alliance and the Centauri--right after the latter use illegal weapons of mass destruction (mass drivers) to bombard the Narn homeworld back to the stone age, and show evidence of being on a dangerously aggressive footing in the galaxy. The minister even uses the phrase [[NevilleChamberlain "peace in our time"]]. Shortly thereafter, the Centauri begin conquests in the territories of many other races.
* ''Series/BattlestarGalacticaClassic''. In the pilot episode the Council of Twelve takes all of the Battlestars to a peace conference with the Cylons, leaving the Twelve Colonies completely undefended. Naturally the Cylons decide to use AggressiveNegotiations: they take the opportunity to ambush not only the Battlestars, destroying all but the ''Galactica'', but almost entirely wiping out the colonies as well. In a later episode it's stated that the colonies had planetary defenses, which were sabotaged by a confederate of Baltar's.
* Parodied in the pilot of ''Series/{{Jessie}}''. In the first scene we see with the kids, Emma and Luke are fighting, with Ravi pleading with them to stop[[note]]which may be slightly reminiscent of [[MahatmasGandhi Gandhi]][[/note]].
-->'''Ravi:''' Luke, Emma, please! Violence is never the answer.
-->'''Emma:''' ''[whacks Ravi with a pillow]''
-->''[[[LaughTrack laughter]]]''
-->'''Ravi:''' ''To heck with the nonviolence! I am on you like stripes on a tiger!'' ''[attacks Emma]''
* ''Series/DoctorWho''
** In general, the Doctor has acknowledged this is a problem with his TechnicalPacifism. His attempts not to hurt anyone may not directly have ''him'' going against his morals, but he "got clever" and has indirectly caused his friends and companions to fight pretty nasty battles for him or manipulated villains into killing themselves.
** Had the Doctor not toppled the regime of Harriet Jones as revenge for her blowing up alien invaders in [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion The Christmas Invasion]] she would have been still been Prime Minister and the Master wouldn't have been able to rise the power as Prime Minster Harold Saxon and assassinate the U.S. president or cause world wide devastation in The Year That Never Was.
** If the Doctor had just killed the [[BigBad Daleks]] before they made off the planet Skaro when he had the chance he could have avoided [[TheGreatOffScreenWar The Time War]] and [[spoiler:seemingly]] becoming TheLastOfHisKind.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek''
** In the [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries original series]] episode "City on the Edge of Forever", the crew accidentally get sent back in time and prevent a woman from being killed by a car. It turns out she was a pacifist campaigner, and will go on to weaken the U.S. so that the world gets taken over by totalitarians and the Trek future never comes about.
** In the Mirror Universe stories, started in the original series and continued in ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'', Kirk manages to convince Mirror-Spock to get the Terran Empire to eschew its warlike ways... and it promptly gets overthrown by the Klingons and Cardassians.
** In an episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' the crew comes across a Douwd, a near Q-level race. He just wanted to live in peace with his human wife, so he retired to a small colony planet. A group of Husnock (another alien race) attacked but the Douwd are all pacifists so he didn't join the fight. The attacking Husnocks killed everyone else on the planet, including his wife, so in retaliation he killed every member of the Husnock ''everywhere in the universe''.
* In one episode of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', the brothers find themselves trapped in a building with a small number of survivors and a huge number of demons trying to enter and kill them all. Ruby arrives and tells them about a spell that would save them all, but it requires a human sacrifice. The Sam and Dean refuse to do it, insisting that they must find another way. However, while the two of them end up escaping just fine, after they leave, the demons return and all of the survivors, including the intended sacrifice, are killed.
* In ''Series/BreakingBad'', this formed Mike's StartOfDarkness. Back when he was a cop, there was one particular guy who he visited over and over on domestic violence calls. Eventually, he became so convinced that the guy was eventually going to murder his girlfriend that he kidnapped him to a deserted place to kill him. However, he backed out at the last minute, merely threatening the guy instead. Only a short time later, the guy did indeed beat his wife to death. He regretted his action ever since.
* In ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'', Gabrielle picks up the IdiotBall more than a few times.
** After her "innocence" is sacrificed by forcing her to stab a woman in self defense (because apparently bashing in people's faces and throats doesn't count), she gives birth to a FetusTerrible that grows to term in a matter of days, and then strangles the KnightTemplar who was watching it within hours of being born. Gabrielle refuses to believe a baby could be evil and fakes out Xena to make her think it's dead.
** When Xena goes to assassinate a tyrant king, Gabrielle decides that this is somehow unacceptable. She goes to the king, warns him, gets Xena captured, imprisoned, and sentenced to death, all to find out that the king is a matricidal dictator.
[[AC:TabletopGames]]
* Due to the ForeverWar nature of the setting, this is pretty much the status quo of ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40K''. Anytime a world is isolated enough from the current conflicts to be at peace just means it'll attract the attention of Ork and Eldar raiders (for the plunder), Chaos (for their souls), Necrons (for being alive) or the Tyranids (for the biomass), and unable to defend itself.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Starfire}}'', ''Nexus'' magazine #7 article "The Drolian Conquest". After Khanate of Orion warships attacked several Drolian ships, the Drolian "peaceful expansion" lobby prevented the Drolian government from expanding its space navy. Six months later the Khanate of Orion invaded in force and quickly conquered the Drolians. During the invasion the "peaceful expansion" lobby was lynched by other Drolians.
[[AC:{{Theatre}}]]
* Tony suffers this in ''Theatre/WestSideStory''. He goes to the rumble to stop it happening, and tries to resist Bernardo's baiting, but it backfires horribly and he ends up knifing Bernardo who has stabbed Riff.
[[AC:VideoGames]]
* This is how Alan "Spam" Webster's mercenary career with A.I.M. ended in the ''VideoGame/JaggedAlliance'' series. Coming from the UN peacekeeping forces background, his MO was to negotiate enemy surrender first and only shoot if that fails. One of such failures led to the death of fellow A.I.M. member Johnny "Snake" Edwards, leading to Spam's dishonorable discharge.
* ''VideoGame/MegaMan7''. Perhaps justified in that he's still a ThreeLawsCompliant robot, but still, in the end of the game, when Mega Man finally has Wily at his mercy, he points his Mega Buster at him and charged it, but he hesitated for long enough for Bass to take Wily out of his castle. And of course, it leads to Wily being the BigBad for the games after it.
[[AC:WebOriginal]]
* [[http://www.snopes.com/college/homework/writing.asp There's a piece of Internet humor floating around]] where a StrawFeminist and a StrawMisogynist are tasked with taking turns writing a story. The woman writes a bad ChickFlick, the man a cheesy sci-fi action movie, with each one derailing the previous one's plot: the woman's character ends the man's MartyStu rampage with peace talks, the man uses this trope to write another AlienInvasion, until both degenerate into name-calling.
[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''
** In the episode "His Hero", the great hero Billy inspires Finn and Jake to practise non-violence at every cost... and of course, everything goes wrong.
** In a later episode, "Crystals Have Power", Jake gets a flashback to when he was a kid, and his dad told him that he would hurt everybody if he got out of control. Jake vows to practise non-violence, which gets problematic when Finn gets kidnapped.
* This popped up on two "TreehouseOfHorror" episodes on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.
** In "Monkey's Paw", Lisa wishes for world peace. This made Earth susceptible to aliens armed only with wooden sticks.
** Once Lisa found the tombstone of a young man who wished for a world without guns. This inspires Springfield to ban guns, and then the young man (who in reality was Billy the Kid) and his fellow outlaws rise from the grave to take over the town.
** A third ''Treehouse'' episode has Bart and Lisa going to Marge and telling her that [[IAmAHumanitarian the teachers at Springfield Elementary are eating the students]] and treating them like cattle to fatten and slaughter, and Marge's only proposed solution to the problem [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath is for the kids to look at the teachers straight in the eye and tell them "don't eat me"]]. [[KillThemAll They are both killed the following day]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', it was eventually shown that the good Avatar Roku and world-conquering Fire Lord Sozin had been best friends. Roku's spirit tells Aang that he was too-easy on his friend when he discovered his ambitions, and that his aversion to violence in the matter allowed for 100 years of war to reign.
Perhaps s/he is a PrinciplesZealot, believing that no end justifies the means of violence, including that of preventing worse violence. Perhaps s/he is a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter, not realizing that avoiding such a fight would cause more of it. Or maybe s/he is a DirtyCoward who just wants to wash his or her hands of the situation.
A downplayed variant of this is when someone who is willing to fight but [[ThouShaltNotKill unwilling to kill]] refuses to kill someone no matter how dangerous he is. That someone ends up causing more trouble later.
Indeed, the moral ([[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop if you can call it a "moral"]]) is that ViolenceReallyIsTheAnswer.
A common (but not always) telltale of this trope is when someone says "I should've killed/stopped him when I had the chance/back then."
One of the many ways to CreateYourOwnVillain. May stem from GoodCannotComprehendEvil. Compare HeadInTheSandManagement, which sometimes overlaps with this, and TheFarmerAndTheViper (aka "Hospitality Backfire"). Compare also WeHaveBecomeComplacent when a community who has never experienced war for a long time is forced into a war situation and they are unable to fight back. See also NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished, NiceJobBreakingItHero, SuicidalPacifism and NeutralityBacklash.
Contrast BadassPacifist when a pacifist manages to stop the conflict/help others using entirely non-violent means.
There may be real life examples, [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement but perhaps it's best if we don't go there]]. NoRealLifeExamplesPlease
----
!! Examples:
[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* In ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', Vash the Stampede will *not* kill his enemies... nor hurt them in any major way... and the show takes great pains to show that it's a noble calling, but possibly misguided considering the CrapSackWorld circumstances (Vash's body is a mass of scars, the sixty billion double dollar bounty (until it's removed) means that anybody with a gun and a desperate need of money (which is practically the whole planet) is out to get him, he's constantly arguing with his companions (or at least Wolfwood) about the usefulness/futility of his ThouShaltNotKill code, the QuirkyMinibossSquad and the BigBad are out to make Vash suffer by any means possible, which usually involves [[KillEmAll killing everything that moves]] [[AndYourLittleDogToo and going the extra mile with anybody that Vash so much as gave the time of the day to]], increasing in cruelty/kill count up to ApocalypseHow levels as the series goes on...)
* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' and ''Anime/{{Grenadier}}''. The main character subscribes to a ThouShaltNotKill mentality backed up by impressive combat skills, and the BigBad(s) sends outrageously powerful enemies that have absolutely no problem in killing anybody that gets in the way of their fight with the main character, and actually do so in order to [[TheyWereHoldingYouBack unlock the full combat capability of the main character]] via UnstoppableRage, while gloating that the pacifism and using non-lethal attacks (which require more finesse than simply slashing/shooting someone dead) has "made them weak".
* Happens almost constantly in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''
** Hashirama spares Madara, Madara becomes the BiggerBad.
** Sarutobi spares Orochimaru, many people die including Sarutobi himself.
** Naruto lets Sasuke go, Sasuke ends up helping the BigBad.
** Naruto and [[spoiler:Minato spares Obito]], [[spoiler:Madara]] gets revived.
* ''Franchise/OnePiece''. In Law's flashback, when Rocinante, after being beaten to near death, revealed his true nature to his boss and big brother Doflamingo that [[spoiler:he's a Marine who's going to stop him]], the two pointed their guns at each other. Doflamingo pointed out that Rocinante is too kind to actually pull the trigger [[note]]played with in that, while Roci is known for being violent himself, he still views his big brother as special[[/note]] and then the former killed the latter. And then Doflamingo went on to conquer the island of Dressrosa (something that Roci wanted to prevent) and caused a reign of sugarcoated terror there.
[[AC:ComicBook]]
* DependingOnTheAuthor, this is one of ''{{Batman}}'''s biggest problems, ''especially'' because his refusal to kill is one of the biggest reasons for JokerImmunity to exist, and SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker ''loves'' to commit atrocities for the sake of rubbing this in Batman's face (HannibalLecture where he points this out, and other characters committing some time to an AuthorFilibuster speech about this, wholly optional).
[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* ''Film/MarsAttacks''. The U.S. tries twice to make peaceful contact with the Martians. The first time, the Martian leader and his soldiers wipe out the U.S. Army forces at the meeting site. The second time the Martian leader asks to address Congress. While he's doing so he and his soldiers destroy everyone there. Later on the French government tries the diplomatic approach: not surprisingly it ends in a bloodbath.
* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings: The Two Towers'', King Theoden's first impulse upon being freed from Saruman's magical influence is to kill Grima Wormtongue, the treacherous advisor responsible for said magical influence. Aragorn stays his hand, saying "Enough blood has been spilled on his account." But Wormtongue rejects the offer of absolution for his crimes and flees to Saruman. There, Wormtongue provides intelligence to Saruman (the path that the people of Rohan will take to reach Helm's Deep, and the weakest point of the walls at Helm's Deep), enabling Saruman's army to kill many more than they otherwise would have.
[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* An important theme in Robert Merle's novel ''The Island'', which is based on the story of the mutiny on the Bounty. English mutineers and Tahitians start a settlement on an island, but tensions quickly build up between them, because some of the English treat the Tahitians as inferior. The protagonist, Purcell doesn't allow his friends to kill the main troublemaker because of his pacifistic Christian beliefs. Eventually war breaks out, and all men on the island die, except for Purcell and a Tahitian. Purcell ends up blaming himself.
* In the ''Series/BabylonFive'' novel ''Clark's Law'', the station security officers try and break up a fight between the Narns and the Tuchanq using stun guns. Unfortunately, the Tuchanq's brains are wired such that any interruption in consciousness causes them to lose all their long-term and short-term memory and revert to base survival instinct, essentially making them AxCrazy. Fixing this problem requires even more violence, and of course, one of the still-crazy ones gets loose and accidentally kills a human, which sets the real plot of the book in motion.
* In ''Literature/IslandInTheSeaOfTime'', Pamela Lisketter and her followers aid William Walker's betrayal in the hopes that his plot will hobble the Republic of Nantucket so that it can't intervene in the Alban War. Unfortunately, their plan is incredibly stupid (amounting to kidnapping the Chief's wife and shooting Marian Alston, the de facto commander of the navy) and is executed incompetently (the bullet grazes Alston), and their getaway plan involved travelling down to Mexico and hoping that the locals are friendly. Not only do they fail to prevent the Republic from going to war, but they also manage to start a war between the Republic and the People of the Jaguar God. And on top of that, Lisketter and her followers all die, but not before spreading mumps throughout Mesoamerica. NiceJobBreakingItHero, indeed.
* In the Thomas Dixon novel ''Fall of a Nation'', A combined suffragette/pacifist movement not only keeps the United States out of WorldWarOne, but also slashes its military. The war ends in a negotiated stalemate...and then the combined armies of Europe invade the United States!
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. Eddard Stark refused to arrest Queen Cersei and her illegitimate children because he didn't want them to get hurt. This decision is one of the main causes of the War of Five Kings.
* ''HarryPotter'': Harry refuses to allow Peter Pettigrew to be killed, resulting in the return of Lord Voldemort. Downplayed because it was actually an act of CruelMercy and he expects Pettigrew to be put into [[HellholePrison Azkaban]] instead. Although Harry's mercy does get rewarded later, when Pettigrew remembers it and hesitates to attack Harry, giving Harry a crucial chance to escape.
[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* In the ''Series/BabylonFive'' episode "The Fall of Night", a representative of Earth's [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Ministry]] [[GeorgeOrwell of Peace]] visits the station to finalize a non-aggression pact between Earth Alliance and the Centauri--right after the latter use illegal weapons of mass destruction (mass drivers) to bombard the Narn homeworld back to the stone age, and show evidence of being on a dangerously aggressive footing in the galaxy. The minister even uses the phrase [[NevilleChamberlain "peace in our time"]]. Shortly thereafter, the Centauri begin conquests in the territories of many other races.
* ''Series/BattlestarGalacticaClassic''. In the pilot episode the Council of Twelve takes all of the Battlestars to a peace conference with the Cylons, leaving the Twelve Colonies completely undefended. Naturally the Cylons decide to use AggressiveNegotiations: they take the opportunity to ambush not only the Battlestars, destroying all but the ''Galactica'', but almost entirely wiping out the colonies as well. In a later episode it's stated that the colonies had planetary defenses, which were sabotaged by a confederate of Baltar's.
* Parodied in the pilot of ''Series/{{Jessie}}''. In the first scene we see with the kids, Emma and Luke are fighting, with Ravi pleading with them to stop[[note]]which may be slightly reminiscent of [[MahatmasGandhi Gandhi]][[/note]].
-->'''Ravi:''' Luke, Emma, please! Violence is never the answer.
-->'''Emma:''' ''[whacks Ravi with a pillow]''
-->''[[[LaughTrack laughter]]]''
-->'''Ravi:''' ''To heck with the nonviolence! I am on you like stripes on a tiger!'' ''[attacks Emma]''
* ''Series/DoctorWho''
** In general, the Doctor has acknowledged this is a problem with his TechnicalPacifism. His attempts not to hurt anyone may not directly have ''him'' going against his morals, but he "got clever" and has indirectly caused his friends and companions to fight pretty nasty battles for him or manipulated villains into killing themselves.
** Had the Doctor not toppled the regime of Harriet Jones as revenge for her blowing up alien invaders in [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion The Christmas Invasion]] she would have been still been Prime Minister and the Master wouldn't have been able to rise the power as Prime Minster Harold Saxon and assassinate the U.S. president or cause world wide devastation in The Year That Never Was.
** If the Doctor had just killed the [[BigBad Daleks]] before they made off the planet Skaro when he had the chance he could have avoided [[TheGreatOffScreenWar The Time War]] and [[spoiler:seemingly]] becoming TheLastOfHisKind.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek''
** In the [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries original series]] episode "City on the Edge of Forever", the crew accidentally get sent back in time and prevent a woman from being killed by a car. It turns out she was a pacifist campaigner, and will go on to weaken the U.S. so that the world gets taken over by totalitarians and the Trek future never comes about.
** In the Mirror Universe stories, started in the original series and continued in ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'', Kirk manages to convince Mirror-Spock to get the Terran Empire to eschew its warlike ways... and it promptly gets overthrown by the Klingons and Cardassians.
** In an episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' the crew comes across a Douwd, a near Q-level race. He just wanted to live in peace with his human wife, so he retired to a small colony planet. A group of Husnock (another alien race) attacked but the Douwd are all pacifists so he didn't join the fight. The attacking Husnocks killed everyone else on the planet, including his wife, so in retaliation he killed every member of the Husnock ''everywhere in the universe''.
* In one episode of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', the brothers find themselves trapped in a building with a small number of survivors and a huge number of demons trying to enter and kill them all. Ruby arrives and tells them about a spell that would save them all, but it requires a human sacrifice. The Sam and Dean refuse to do it, insisting that they must find another way. However, while the two of them end up escaping just fine, after they leave, the demons return and all of the survivors, including the intended sacrifice, are killed.
* In ''Series/BreakingBad'', this formed Mike's StartOfDarkness. Back when he was a cop, there was one particular guy who he visited over and over on domestic violence calls. Eventually, he became so convinced that the guy was eventually going to murder his girlfriend that he kidnapped him to a deserted place to kill him. However, he backed out at the last minute, merely threatening the guy instead. Only a short time later, the guy did indeed beat his wife to death. He regretted his action ever since.
* In ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'', Gabrielle picks up the IdiotBall more than a few times.
** After her "innocence" is sacrificed by forcing her to stab a woman in self defense (because apparently bashing in people's faces and throats doesn't count), she gives birth to a FetusTerrible that grows to term in a matter of days, and then strangles the KnightTemplar who was watching it within hours of being born. Gabrielle refuses to believe a baby could be evil and fakes out Xena to make her think it's dead.
** When Xena goes to assassinate a tyrant king, Gabrielle decides that this is somehow unacceptable. She goes to the king, warns him, gets Xena captured, imprisoned, and sentenced to death, all to find out that the king is a matricidal dictator.
[[AC:TabletopGames]]
* Due to the ForeverWar nature of the setting, this is pretty much the status quo of ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40K''. Anytime a world is isolated enough from the current conflicts to be at peace just means it'll attract the attention of Ork and Eldar raiders (for the plunder), Chaos (for their souls), Necrons (for being alive) or the Tyranids (for the biomass), and unable to defend itself.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Starfire}}'', ''Nexus'' magazine #7 article "The Drolian Conquest". After Khanate of Orion warships attacked several Drolian ships, the Drolian "peaceful expansion" lobby prevented the Drolian government from expanding its space navy. Six months later the Khanate of Orion invaded in force and quickly conquered the Drolians. During the invasion the "peaceful expansion" lobby was lynched by other Drolians.
[[AC:{{Theatre}}]]
* Tony suffers this in ''Theatre/WestSideStory''. He goes to the rumble to stop it happening, and tries to resist Bernardo's baiting, but it backfires horribly and he ends up knifing Bernardo who has stabbed Riff.
[[AC:VideoGames]]
* This is how Alan "Spam" Webster's mercenary career with A.I.M. ended in the ''VideoGame/JaggedAlliance'' series. Coming from the UN peacekeeping forces background, his MO was to negotiate enemy surrender first and only shoot if that fails. One of such failures led to the death of fellow A.I.M. member Johnny "Snake" Edwards, leading to Spam's dishonorable discharge.
* ''VideoGame/MegaMan7''. Perhaps justified in that he's still a ThreeLawsCompliant robot, but still, in the end of the game, when Mega Man finally has Wily at his mercy, he points his Mega Buster at him and charged it, but he hesitated for long enough for Bass to take Wily out of his castle. And of course, it leads to Wily being the BigBad for the games after it.
[[AC:WebOriginal]]
* [[http://www.snopes.com/college/homework/writing.asp There's a piece of Internet humor floating around]] where a StrawFeminist and a StrawMisogynist are tasked with taking turns writing a story. The woman writes a bad ChickFlick, the man a cheesy sci-fi action movie, with each one derailing the previous one's plot: the woman's character ends the man's MartyStu rampage with peace talks, the man uses this trope to write another AlienInvasion, until both degenerate into name-calling.
[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''
** In the episode "His Hero", the great hero Billy inspires Finn and Jake to practise non-violence at every cost... and of course, everything goes wrong.
** In a later episode, "Crystals Have Power", Jake gets a flashback to when he was a kid, and his dad told him that he would hurt everybody if he got out of control. Jake vows to practise non-violence, which gets problematic when Finn gets kidnapped.
* This popped up on two "TreehouseOfHorror" episodes on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.
** In "Monkey's Paw", Lisa wishes for world peace. This made Earth susceptible to aliens armed only with wooden sticks.
** Once Lisa found the tombstone of a young man who wished for a world without guns. This inspires Springfield to ban guns, and then the young man (who in reality was Billy the Kid) and his fellow outlaws rise from the grave to take over the town.
** A third ''Treehouse'' episode has Bart and Lisa going to Marge and telling her that [[IAmAHumanitarian the teachers at Springfield Elementary are eating the students]] and treating them like cattle to fatten and slaughter, and Marge's only proposed solution to the problem [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath is for the kids to look at the teachers straight in the eye and tell them "don't eat me"]]. [[KillThemAll They are both killed the following day]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', it was eventually shown that the good Avatar Roku and world-conquering Fire Lord Sozin had been best friends. Roku's spirit tells Aang that he was too-easy on his friend when he discovered his ambitions, and that his aversion to violence in the matter allowed for 100 years of war to reign.
