History Main / SuicidalPacifism

* ''Literature/TheStainlessSteelRat Gets Drafted'' includes a planet of suicidal pacifists. When their planet is conquered, they refuse to work for the conquerors and patiently wait for them to realize that the locals cannot be compelled by violence. Even when they finally grasp that the villain really is so evil as to end another's life, they decide to disarm him...by walking up to him and taking his gun. They realize that some of them will die, but eventually he'll run out of bullets. Fortunately, the cavalry arrives before the shooting starts, using a device to render weapons inoperable. ** Ironically, this steadfast commitment to their principles of pacifism in the face of death (refusal to cooperate), as well as their decision to resist without killing (aforementioned noncompliance and deciding to take the villain’s gun away even as he murders them with it) are two of the hallmarks of the BadassPacifist, meaning they qualify for that trope as well!

* ''Literature/TidesofWar'' exaggerated [[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft Baine Bloodhoof]], formerly a [[BewareTheNiceOnes docile tauren who turned ferocious when provoked]], into this. When Alliance soldiers were literally sieging onthe gates of Mulgore, the home of the tauren, Baine responded by banishing all tauren who [[CrimeOfSelfDefense defended themselves and Mulgore]].

[[folder:Anime / Manga]]

[[folder:Comics]]
* In ''Comicbook/TeenTitans'', the Cult of Azarath that Raven was born into believed this, not even defending themselves as they were attacked by Trigon's demons.

[[folder:Fanfic]]

[[folder:Film]]

-->'''Winston Churchill''': When will the lesson be learned?! You cannot reason with a tiger WHEN YOUR HEAD IS IN ITS MOUTH!!
* In ''Film/ZombielandDoubleTap'', [[spoiler: the Babylon community absolutely refuses to have guns inside of its walls, even ordering any newcomers to hand theirs away and melting them to make Peace symbol necklaces. ''In the middle of a ZombieApocalypse''. With a humongous bunch of the absolute worst kind of zombie sub-species shambling nearby. And they like to party so loud that they haven't attracted the attention of a massive horde only through sheer dumb luck... until the film's climax. It screams TooDumbToLive so loudly that even a bimbo like Madison can see it, screaming out a BigWhat when she hears about it.]]

-->'''Lya''': I only hid the weapon. I did not fire it.\\
'''Carter''': Ah. Pretty fine line you didn't cross there.\\
'''Lya''': ''[uncomfortably]'' Yes... it is.
* One episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' had Picard and three other abductees put in a room. One of them was an alien from a completely pacifist culture who refused to help them escape until their predicament and persistence made him change his mind.

** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E4MirrorMirror Mirror, Mirror]]" the Halkans tell the Empire that they are willing to "die as a race" to "preserve what we are." On the other side of the mirror, the Halkans mention something similar to the Federation, except in that case (it being ''TheFederation'') it's not suicidal and just gets them an 'I respect your convictions and the way you hold to them even if I don't agree with them' comment from Kirk.

[[folder:Religion]]

* VideoGame/StellaDeusTheGateOfEternity: The Aeque teach that the advancing mist (that ''erases the existence'' of every living thing it touches) is the will of the gods and that everyone should accept their fate.

* ''{{VideoGame/Fallout 4}}'' has Captain Ironsides, sentry bot captain of the ''USS Constitution'', keeps his crew from fighting scavengers and raiders beyond defensive actions despite their constant attacks as his programming registers them as citizens of the Commonwealth, which means that he's to protect them (to an extent, as he can self-defense them to death if need be. In any case, no pursuit). He's actually aware of this and laments the fact that he can't do anything about it.

* Folder from the Literature/WhateleyUniverse refuses to fight back when bullied, leading to a lot of injuries. Had the events of ''A Single Fold'' not played out as they had, he probably would have ended up dead.
* ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'' has both Cell and Android 16 call Gohan on this trope, pointing out that he's refusing to fight even when it will mean the end of the world and everyone he loves.

** Anakin, his apprentice, Ahsoka Tano, and some of their troops crash-land on Maridun, where they encounter a village of refugees. When the Separatists arrive, their leader blames the Republic for bringing them there and refuses to fight them for any reason. And when they are told that the Separatists are going to use their village as target practice, he decides to just sit there and let it happen. Some of the younger Lurmen go against his wishes and help the Republic forces defend their village though, meaning that this is was caused by a ruling ideological dogma, rather than it being a PlanetOfHats trait. This is egregious for two reasons. One is that, realistically, they should try to ''run away'' instead of fighting, due to Fight or Flight instincts (the leader does not indicate that he thinks the protagonists are lying about the attack). Secondly, the forces attacking the village ''[[MechaMooks are droids]]'', removing any ThouShaltNotKill justification. Also, this is just as much an example of a StrawCharacter. Compare them with Duchess Satine of Mandalore, who is a fellow ActualPacifist but also a [[BadassPacifist badass one]] who valiantly stands up to oppressors (non-violently, of course).
** [[spoiler:...But tragically, Satine is ultimately ''also'' an example of Suicidal Pacifism. Her refusal to fight is exploited by Death Watch and Darth Maul, who set up EngineeredHeroics that make themselves look like strong defenders while Satine is too weak to stop attacks, thereby getting the people on their side to overthrow Satine's rule. The series' original run ends with Mandalore plunged into civil war and Satine murdered just to spite her lover Obi-Wan.]]

* [[CloudCuckooLander Wander]] of ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' believes that violence is '''never''' the answer, even when dealing with an OmnicidalManiac that destroys galaxies [[ForTheEvulz for fun.]] On one occasion he helped pilot a HumongousMecha during an EnemyMine but refused to help fight the BigBad and [[ShaggyDogStory allowed her to destroy the robot and the planet they were trying to protect.]] When the survivors of her rampage across the galaxy decided to take up arms against her, [[TooDumbToLive he went up to her ship to warn her and attempted to befriend her]]. It went about as well as you'd expect. He even admitted he was wrong at the end of the episode, though the blow was lessened since the BigBad was stopped by [[spoiler: a former BigBad acting in defense of everyone else, who supported ''him'' with friendship to give him the power to win.]]
** The one time Wander ''does'' outright fight someone, it's A) with music in a BeamOWar and B) he loses. The guy is just ''bad'' at going on the offensive. He's a helper, not a fighter.

* The sad story of the Moriori people of Chatham Islands, who lived by a code of pacifism that forbade them to kill. When the Maori invaded their island and began to exterminate and eat them, some of the Moriori argued that pacifism shouldn't apply. In the end, however, their chiefs decided that the principle of pacifism was never intended to be a strategy for survival - it was a moral imperative. Consequently, the Moriori allowed themselves to be completely wiped out, except for those kept alive as slaves. Today only about 700 are left. To make things worse, it turns out that the Moriori were Maori who settled there in the 16th century, meaning their own long-lost cousins massacred them.

** Similarly, Norman Morrison, a Baltimore Quaker, self-immolated below Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's Pentagon office to protest U.S. involvement in the war.

* In his book ''The End Of Faith'' Sam Harris talks about this trope, which he calls "absolute pacifism", and observes that while many people consider it a morally unassailable position, it's [[DeconstructedTrope really not when you think about it,]] as one [[AxCrazy psycho]] with a knife could murder an entire city of absolute pacifists and [[KarmaHoudini get away with it]], as they would be powerless to stop him. Though the argument was made in the context of a justification for launching preemptive military strikes against Muslim nations on the grounds that they might, at some point in the future, choose to attack the US.

** Anakin, his apprentice, Aayla Secura, and some of their troops crash-land on Maridun, where they encounter a village of refugees. When the Separatists arrive, their leader blames the Republic for bringing them there and refuses to fight them for any reason. And when they are told that the Separatists are going to use their village as target practice, he decides to just sit there and let it happen. Some of the younger Lurmen go against his wishes and help the Republic forces defend their village though, meaning that this is was caused by a ruling ideological dogma, rather than it being a PlanetOfHats trait. This is egregious for two reasons. One is that, realistically, they should try to ''run away'' instead of fighting, due to Fight or Flight instincts (the leader does not indicate that he thinks the protagonists are lying about the attack). Secondly, the forces attacking the village ''[[MechaMooks are droids]]'', removing any ThouShaltNotKill justification. Also, this is just as much an example of a StrawCharacter. Compare them with Duchess Satine of Mandalore, who is a fellow ActualPacifist but also a [[BadassPacifist badass one]] who valiantly stands up to oppressors (non-violently, of course).

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': Anakin, his apprentice, Aayla Secura, and some of their troops crash-land on Maridun, where they encounter a village of refugees. When the Separatists arrive, their leader blames the Republic for bringing them there and refuses to fight them for any reason. And when they are told that the Separatists are going to use their village as target practice, he decides to just sit there and let it happen. Some of the younger Lurmen go against his wishes and help the Republic forces defend their village though, meaning that this is was caused by a ruling ideological dogma, rather than it being a PlanetOfHats trait. This is egregious for two reasons. One is that, realistically, they should try to ''run away'' instead of fighting, due to Fight or Flight instincts (the leader does not indicate that he thinks the protagonists are lying about the attack). Secondly, the forces attacking the village ''[[MechaMooks are droids]]'', removing any ThouShaltNotKill justification. Also, this is just as much an example of a StrawCharacter. Compare them with Duchess Satine of Mandalore, who is a fellow ActualPacifist but also a [[BadassPacifist badass one]] who valiantly stands up to oppressors (non-violently, of course).
** [[spoiler:...But tragically, Satine is ultimately ''also'' an example of Suicidal Pacifism. Her refusal to fight is exploited by Death Watch and Darth Maul, who set up EngineeredHeroics that make themselves look like strong defenders while Satine is too weak to stop attacks, thereby getting the people on their side to overthrow Satine's rule. The series ends with Mandalore plunged into civil war and Satine killed.]]

Some people (or, in some cases, [[PerfectPacifistPeople entire nations]]) believe that [[ActualPacifist actual pacifism]] is worth dedication even when the call for resistance is a MatterOfLifeAndDeath. This highly principled stance, in both fiction and in real life, tends to get the conflict equivalent of ColdTurkeysAreEverywhere, in which the pacifists are constantly assailed by dire threats. Oftentimes, their options are a reduced to a SadisticChoice between [[FrequentlyBrokenUnbreakableVow breaking their unbreakable vow]] or dying for it.

This trope is about when they choose the latter, or some cases, they initially do. They often argue that fighting makes them NotSoDifferent from those threatening them, and that HeWhoFightsMonsters [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim will become just like them]]. TheHero, if not also a pacifist, will likely treat the pacifists at best as [[HonorBeforeReason noble but foolish]] and at worst as TooDumbToLive. If he tries to argue that [[MartialPacifist peace and liberty must be defended]], the pacifists may respond that TalkingTheMonsterToDeath is more effective than fighting (to which the hero will respond that EvilCannotComprehendGood), or that any suffering they face -- including death -- is [[ThouShallNotKill preferable to killing]].

[[folder: Anime / Manga ]]

* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', it's revealed that the King who built the Three Walls believed that humanity was sinful and thus deserved their fate to be confined in the territory surrounded by those Walls, [[spoiler: he was in reality Karl Fritz, the 145th King of the Eldians, who lamented the suffering the Eldian Empire had inflicted upon the world]], and thus adopted a pacifist policy upon his subjects and successors called "The Will of the First King", in which he would never retaliate against ''any'' aggression from the outside, even if it would mean the complete destruction of his people. His successors were infected by this pacifism and refused to save their citizens from being eaten alive; the most anyone got out of them was [[spoiler:when Professor Jaegar murdered the princess' mother and siblings while she fought back in self-defense.]]

[[folder: Comics ]]

[[folder: Fanfic]]
* In ''Fanfic/ByTheHandsOfThePeople'', a revolution breaks out against [[WesternAnimation/Frozen2013 Queen Elsa]], based partly on the fear of Elsa's [[AnIcePerson icy magical powers]]. Despite her advisor's urging, Elsa refuses to use said powers against those rebels, and ultimately surrenders to them. Eventually, she and Anna are executed by a firing squad, something Elsa does nothing to stop.

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

** The Da'shain [[spoiler:Aiel]] were the Tuatha'an's ancestors in the Age of Legends, when their vows of peace and [[ServantRace servitude]] won them profound respect. The exceptions weren't suicidal so much as HeroicSacrifice: ten thousand of them once surrounded a violently insane PersonOfMassDestruction and distracted him with song while he killed them one by one, buying enough time for the rest of the city to evacuate.

** The Chahwyn, and their artificial race the Spiders, don't want (and are largely incapable) of using force against anyone in fear of slipping down the slope of violence like other races before them. More than one Spider meets a brutal end because of this. By the end of the fourth book they've realized complete pacifism is unworkable and have gained a (so far) limited ability to enact violence upon other sentients if the cause is important enough.

* ''Literature/VampireAcademy'' has a variant; the philosophy of the Moroi isn't about violence specifically, but about using their elemental magic for violence. This turns out to be a suicidal stance for them. When attacked by Strigoi, they usually do not even think to fight back. This makes them surprisingly easy victims. Particularly bad because fire users have the ideal power to kill their attackers. This is less a principled stance and more cowardice, because their preference is to let the Dhampir Guardians do the fighting and dying for them, even trying to lower the minimum age for joining the Guardians, i.e. send ''undertrained teenagers'' into combat so they don't have to get their hands dirty.
* In ''Literature/TheDinosaurLords'', the Gardeners sect is staunchly pacifist and when they're about to be invaded, many of them protest learning how to fight. Notably, one of them states that "we shouldn't abandon our principles just because they became inconvenient", when said inconvenience involves very real possibility of death, rape, being MadeASlave or any combination of those.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

** After nearly being wiped out in an atomic war (and exterminated by the Daleks) the Thals turned to absolute pacifism. In their first appearance (in the series' very second serial, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E2TheDaleks The Daleks]]") Ian told them that they had to resist the Daleks or the Daleks would exterminate them; their leader Alydon gravely replied that in that case the Daleks would have to exterminate them. Fortunately, Ian was able to TeachHimAnger and make him acknowledge that there were some things worth fighting for and they defeated the Daleks. By the next appearance (several generations later) they had not returned to pacifism.

** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E11TheGodComplex The God Complex]]" featured a being from a planet whose people ''never'' put up a fight. In fact, they get conquered so often that one of their industries is decorating everything for future conquerors. Their anthem is "Glory to [insert name here]". The Doctor has nothing but contempt for them, but he does say cowardice has historically been a very effective survival strategy for the species. A planet full of willing slaves is more useful to most conquerors than a planet full of corpses. The later episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E4BeforeTheFlood Before the Flood]]" showed another member of the same race, this time actively on minion duty; he seemed to be [[TooKinkyToTorture thoroughly enjoying]] being ordered around, and keeps hinting how he has tools to properly "oppress" him in his gear.

* One episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' had Picard and three other abductees put in a room. One of them was an alien from a completely pacifist culture who refused to help them escape, until their predicament and persistence made him change his mind.

** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E4MirrorMirror Mirror, Mirror]]" the Halkans tell the Empire that they are willing to "die as a race" to "preserve what we are." On the other side of the mirror, the Halkans mention something similar to the Federation, except in that case (it being ''TheFederation'') it's not suicidal and just gets them a 'I respect your convictions and the way you hold to them even if I don't agree with them' comment from Kirk.

* An episode of ''Series/LegendOfTheSeeker'' has a warlord threaten a peaceful village whose people never fight. Richard offers to teach them to defend themselves. However, as soon as one of them attempts to strike in anger, he goes catatonic. Zedd figures out that these people are under a curse that causes this effect on any attempts at aggression. Despite his reservations, Zedd agrees to lift the curse. Unfortunately, this causes the newly-trained warriors to go absolutely berserk on the warlord's soldiers, and Richard goes berserk along with them. Zedd finds out that these people's ancestors were magically bound to an evil ancestor of Richard's ([[spoiler:a Lord Rahl]]) until a curse was placed on them to stop them from going berserk. The reason they go berserk is because they are tied to Richard the same way. They agree to let Zedd restore the curse and trick the warlord into leaving them alone.

[[folder: Religion ]]

* The [[BadassPacifist people of Ammon]] in Literature/TheBookOfMormon were once bloodthirsty Lamanites, until they converted to Christ and vowed never to shed blood again. When their Lamanite brothers came to fight them, the people of Ammon didn't take up arms; instead, they prayed. Miraculously, the number of Lamanites who repented and joined the people of Ammon that day exceeded the number slain. Note that they didn't believe violence is ''never'' justified; they merely [[TheAtoner didn't trust themselves after their violent past]].

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Discussed by Javik in one of his idle banters with Garrus on the Normandy in ''Videogame/MassEffect3''. Javik recounts that in his cycle, a race called The Syndril claimed to have found the path to eternal peace, but they were all wiped out by another race called The Ditakur who preferred war. And then there's the Reapers and their [[MoreThanMindControl indoctrination tactics]], which turned anyone who spend a long time in contact with them into this. Everyone who's indoctrinated will willingly drop down their weapons, convinced that the Reapers aren't here to wipe out all organic life in the galaxy, and actively tries to sabotage any effort to stop them.

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* Celia from ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' has shades of this. She's perfectly willing to use her flight to help others survive, but won't harm anyone alive even when they're trying to kill her and reanimate her corpse as a golem (she will zap golems, [[UnwantedAssistance but that just made things worse]]). She also has no problem using her lightning zappy beams to create an impressive display as a set up to legally negotiating her way out of the situation. It's lampshaded and justified in-universe as something almost akin to BlueAndOrangeMorality; as an Outsider[[note]]that is, a native denizen of a plane of existence other than the Prime Material--Celia is a sylph, a race that look like human-sized fairies of the "bug-winged elf" style which are native to the Elemental Plane of Air[[/note]], Celia will [[TheNothingAfterDeath fade away into nothing upon dying]] and cannot be restored. As such, all Outsiders in the Order of the Stick's multiverse are naturally averse to killing, unless they're evil. By comparison, humanoids treat death far more lightly, because they ''know'' for an objective fact that not only will their souls survive after death in one of myriad personally tailored paradises, but magic also exists that can almost casually revive those slain by violence. So, to a humanoid, death and killing are far less of a moral "deal" than they are to an Outsider. For her part Celia thinks that respect for life is the norm, and it's really only villains and adventurers that deal out death so casually.
* In ''[[http://www.electricsheepcomix.com/jain/01.html The Jain's Death,]]'' a Jainist monk refuses to harm any living thing, which includes practices like eating only fruit and carrying a broom to carefully sweep away insects. Her death comes about when she is confronted by a tiger, but refuses to run because of an ant in her hair that she refuses to take from its colony. [[spoiler:However, this trope is subverted when she is reincarnated in another life as an organic mothership, now carrying every living thing from Earth. One could interpret it as TheCuckoolanderWasRight. The comic as a whole is pretty sympathetic to Jain beliefs, from what one can tell.]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': Anakin, his apprentice, Aayla Secura, and some of their troops crash-land on Maridun, where they encounter a village of refugees. When the Separatists arrive, their leader blames the Republic for bringing them there, and refuses to fight them for any reason. And when they are told that the Separatists are going to use their village as target practice, he decides to just sit there and let it happen. Some of the younger Lurmen go against his wishes, and help the Republic forces defend their village though, meaning that this is was caused by a ruling ideological dogma, rather than it being a PlanetOfHats trait. This is egregious for two reasons. One is that, realistically, they should try to ''run away'' instead of fighting, due to Fight or Flight instincts (the leader does not indicate that he thinks the protagonists are lying about the attack). Secondly, the forces attacking the village ''[[MechaMooks are droids]]'', removing any ThouShaltNotKill justification. Also, this is just as much an example of a StrawCharacter. Compare them with Duchess Satine of Mandalore, who is a fellow ActualPacifist but also a [[BadassPacifist badass one]] who valiantly stands up to oppressors (non-violently, of course).

* [[CloudCuckooLander Wander]] of ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' believes that violence is '''never''' the answer, even when dealing with an OmnicidalManiac that destroys galaxies [[ForTheEvulz for fun.]] On one occasion he helped pilot a HumongousMecha during an EnemyMine, but refused to help fight the BigBad and [[ShaggyDogStory allowed her to destroy the robot and the planet they were trying to protect.]] When the survivors of her rampage across the galaxy decided to take up arms against her, [[TooDumbToLive he went up to her ship to warn her and attempted to befriend her]]. It went about as well as you'd expect. He even admitted he was wrong at the end of the episode, though the blow was lessened since the BigBad was stopped by [[spoiler: a former BigBad acting in defense of everyone else, who supported ''him'' with friendship to give him the power to win.]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* The sad story of the Moriori people of Chatham Islands, who lived by a code of pacifism that forbade them to kill. When the Maori invaded their island and began to exterminate and eat them, some of the Moriori argued that pacifism shouldn't apply. In the end however, their chiefs decided that the principle of pacifism was never intended to be a strategy for survival - it was a moral imperative. Consequently the Moriori allowed themselves to be completely wiped out, except for those kept alive as slaves. Today only about 700 are left. To make things worse, it turns out that the Moriori were Maori who settled there in the 16th century, meaning their own long-lost cousins massacred them.

* [[UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi Mohandas Gandhi]] allegedly believed that the Jews should willingly kill themselves or give themselves over to slaughter by UsefulNotes/NaziGermany rather than employ violence against their aggressors, or that they should resist by nonviolence alone in spite of knowing the DisproportionateRetribution that Hitler's regime had become known for.[[note]]More charitable interpretations of Gandhi's statements suggest that the Jews had nothing to lose by non-violent resistance, since they were destined for a horrible death regardless, and Gandhi's suggestion was a middle way between doing nothing and fighting a losing battle. Less favorable interpretations suggest that Gandhi actually supported the Nazi regime, since they were fighting a war against the imperial powers of Britain and France.[[/note]] With the exception of several areas occupied by Japanese military forces and the Axis-aligned Indian National Army (the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and parts of Manipur and Nagaland) India remained under Allied control for the duration of World War II so this policy was never put to the test on a large scale. However, during their presence in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Japanese did prove that any resistance or suspected resistance to the Axis war effort would not be tolerated, and would be punished by imprisonment, forced labor, or summary execution. When the true scope of the Nazi Germany's plans became understood later on, Gandhi had to admit that even if passive resistance ''could'' work against the Nazi war machine, it would be "not without great losses."[[note]]Hitler actually did make offhand remarks about Gandhi himself to British politicians during diplomatic meetings between Germany and the UK on how to "deal" with the Indian National Congress that amounted to an escalating series of mass executions until they would be too terrified to resist their colonial overlords.[[/note]] Creator/HarryTurtledove wrote a short story of AlternateHistory in which Nazi Germany occupies India and Gandhi tries his ''satyagraha'' tactics against them, to total disaster (possibly a TakeThat against his view, as Turtledove himself is Jewish).
* George Orwell was noted for saying that pacifism generally only works when there's someone else around to protect you, and that people who preach pacifism without protection generally either get killed or taken advantage of.

-->-- '''UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr''', "[[Literature/TheFourGospels Love Your Enemies]]," ''Strength to Love''

** In Jesus' teachings he tells people to turn the other cheek when struck (though ValuesDissonance means that this was [[PassiveAggressiveCombat much more badass in his day]] than through modern eyes), to repay evil with good, and to show kindness to one's enemies. When his enemies show up to take him to his death, he not only doesn't resist in the least, he heals a man injured by one of his disciples. He explains that he ''could'' call twelve legions of angels to fight for him, but that's not what he's about.

* ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' added an [[MultipleEndings alternate ending]] in 1.7 that allows Iji to go ''too'' far with pacifism. By having fewer than 270 kills and refraining from meeting Ansaksie in Deep Sector (who would normally kill Iosa herself in this scenario), Iji gets the choice to spare Iosa at the end of Sector 9. If she does, then [[spoiler:after she defeats Tor, Iosa will show up with an illegal Nanogun and blast her to smithereens. She then tries to threaten Tor into going through with the Alpha Strike, stopped only by the fact that [[EngineeredPublicConfession Tor's second-in-command has been listening in on the whole conversation]] and strips her of her rank.]]

* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', it's revealed that the King who built the Three Walls believed that humanity was sinful and thus deserved their fate to be confined in the territory surrounded by those Walls, [[spoiler: he was in reality Karl Fritz, the 145th King of the Eldians, who lamented the suffering the Eldian Empire had inflicted upon the world]], and thus adopted a pacifist policy upon his subjects and successors called "The Will of the First King", in which he would never retaliate against ''any'' aggression from the outside, even if it would mean the complete destruction of his people. His successors were infected by this pacifism and refused to save their citizens from being eaten alive; the most anyone got out of them was [[spoiler:When Professor Jaegar murdered the princess' mother and siblings while she fought back in self-defense.]]

* Celia from ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' has shades of this. She's perfectly willing to use her flight to help others survive, but won't harm anyone alive even when they're trying to kill her and reanimate her corpse as a golem (she will zap golems, [[UnwantedAssistance but that just made things worse]]). She also has no problem using her lightning zappy beams to create an impressive display as a set up to legally negotiating her way out of the situation. It's lampshaded and justified in-universe as something almost akin to BlueAndOrangeMorality; as an Outsider[[note]]that is, a native denizen of a plane of existence other than the Prime Material--Celia is a sylph, a race that look like human-sized fairies of the "bug-winged elf" style which are native to the Elemental Plane of Air[[/note]], Celia will [[TheNothingAfterDeath fade away into nothing upon dying]] and cannot be restored. As such, all Outsiders in the Order of the Stick's multiverse are naturally averse to killing, unless they're evil. By comparison, humanoids treat death far more lightly, because they ''know'' for an objective fact that not only will their souls survive after death in one of myriad personally tailored paradises, but magic also exists that can almost casually revive those slain by violence. So, to a humanoid, death and killing are far less of a moral "deal" than they are to an Outsider.

* In ''Film/StarTrekInsurrection'', the Ba'ku refuse to so much as lift a phaser, claiming they'd lose their entire way of life if they defended it. It's left to the five-man Starfleet team to do the job.

* ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' added an [[MultipleEndings alternate ending]] in 1.7 that allows Iji to go ''too'' far with pacifism. By having fewer than 270 kills and refraining from meeting Ansaksie in Deep Sector (who would normally kill Iosa herself in this scenario), Iji gets the choice to spare Iosa at the end of Sector 9. If she does, then [[spoiler:after she defeats Tor, Iosa will show up with an illegal Nanogun and blast her to smithereens.]]

* In ''Fanfic/ByTheHandsOfThePeople'', a revolution breaks out against [[Disney/{{Frozen}} Queen Elsa]], based partly on the fear of Elsa's [[AnIcePerson magical powers]]. Despite her advisor's urging, Elsa refuses to use said powers against those rebels, and ultimately surrenders to them. Eventually, she and Anna are executed by a firing squad, something Elsa does nothing to stop.

* The [[BadassPacifist people of Ammon]] in Literature/TheBookOfMormon were once bloodthirsty Lamanites, until they converted to Christ and vowed never to shed blood again. When their Lamanite brothers came to fight them, the people of Ammon didn't take up arms; instead, they prayed. Miraculously, the number of Lamanites who repented and joined the people of Ammon that day exceeded the number slain.

** After nearly being wiped out in an atomic war (and exterminated by the Daleks) the Thals turned to absolute pacifism. In their first appearance (in the series' very second serial, ''The Daleks'') Ian told them that they had to resist the Daleks or the Daleks would exterminate them; their leader Alydon gravely replied that in that case the Daleks would have to exterminate them. Fortunately, Ian was able to TeachHimAnger and make him acknowledge that there were some things worth fighting for and they defeated the Daleks. By the next appearance (several generations later) they had not returned to pacifism.
** The Dulcians in "The Dominators" were intended as a satire on hippie anti-war protesters, in their high-minded refusal to accept that the people invading their planet actually were aggressive militarists who had to be fought.
** "The God Complex" featured a being from a planet whose people ''never'' put up a fight. In fact, they get conquered so often that one of their industries is decorating everything for future conquerors. Their anthem is "Glory to [insert name here]". The Doctor has nothing but contempt for them, but he does say cowardice has historically been a very effective survival strategy for the species. A planet full of willing slaves is more useful to most conquerors than a planet full of corpses. The later episode "Before the Flood" showed another member of the same race, this time actively on minion duty; he seemed to be [[TooKinkyToTorture thoroughly enjoying]] being ordered around, and keeps hinting how he has tools to properly "oppress" him in his gear.
** Played for laughs in "Doomsday" where the Doctor insists to Rose that though Torchwood may pump them full of bullets, he'll still have the moral high ground.

** In the episode ''Mirror, Mirror,'' the Halkans tell the Empire that they are willing to "die as a race" to "preserve what we are." On the other side of the mirror, the Halkans mention something similar to the Federation, except in that case (it being ''TheFederation'') it's not suicidal and just gets them a 'I respect your convictions and the way you hold to them even if I don't agree with them' comment from Kirk.
** "Errand of Mercy" had an entire planet of PerfectPacifistPeople who would not raise a hand against the Klingons invading their home planet, even when the Klingons start killing them. [[spoiler:Turned out they were SufficientlyAdvancedAliens who only appeared in AFormYouAreComfortableWith and they weren't really hurt at all.]]

* A literal example in the ''Series/BlakesSeven'' episode "Volcano". The population of Obsidian have been [[BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood brainwashed from birth to remove all violent impulses]]. So they won't fall victim to TheWarOfEarthlyAggression being waged by the Federation, they have a DoomsdayDevice that will be detonated if any aggressor lands on their planet.

* In his book ''The End Of Faith'' Sam Harris talks about this trope, which he calls "absolute pacifism", and observes that while many people consider it a morally unassailable position, it's [[DeconstructedTrope really not when you think about it,]] as one [[AxeCrazy psycho]] with a knife could murder an entire city of absolute pacifists and [[KarmaHoudini get away with it]], as they would be powerless to stop him. Though the argument was made in the context of a justification for launching preemptive military strikes against Muslim nations on the grounds that they might, at some point in the future, choose to attack the US.

-->-- '''UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr''', "[[Literature/TheFourGospels Love Your Enemies]]"

This trope is about when they choose the latter, or some cases, they initially do. They often argue that fighting makes them some NotSoDifferent than those threatening them, and that HeWhoFightsMonsters [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim will become just like them]]. TheHero, if not also a pacifist, will likely treat the pacifists at best as [[HonorBeforeReason noble but foolish]] and at worst as TooDumbToLive. If he tries to argue that [[MartialPacifist peace and liberty must be defended]], the pacifists may respond that TalkingTheMonsterToDeath is more effective than fighting (to which the hero will respond that EvilCannotComprehendGood), or that any suffering they face -- including death -- is [[ThouShallNotKill preferable to killing]].

How this turns out often depends on [[WriterOnBoard the writer's agenda]]. If the writer wants to push an anti-violence message, then the hero and the pacifist will work together to find a way [[ToWinWithoutFighting to win without fighting]], or the hero's use of violence will backfire, leading to an anti-violence {{Aesop}}. If the writer wants to push a pro-assertiveness/anti-bullying message, then once the BigBad or {{Mooks}} arrive, the hero will be forced to take care of the problem for them, [[UngratefulBastard which the pacifists will be ungrateful over]] and even [[ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike complain about]]. Or they may reach a compromise, where the hero [[TrainingThePeacefulVillagers trains the peaceful villagers]] in [[TechnicalPacifist non-lethal violence]], and the pacifists reluctantly accept.

* [[CloudCuckooLander Wander]] of ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' believes that violence is '''never''' the answer, even when dealing with an OmnicidalManiac that destroys galaxies [[ForTheEvulz for fun.]] On one occasion he helped pilot a giant robot during an EnemyMine, but refused to help fight the BigBad and [[ShaggyDogStory allowed her to destroy the robot and the planet they were trying to stop her from destroying.]] When the survivors of her rampage across the galaxy decided to take up arms against her, [[TooDumbToLive he went up to her ship to warn her and attempted to befriend her]]. It went about as well as you'd expect. He even admitted he was wrong at the end of the episode, though the blow was lessened since the BigBad was stopped by [[spoiler: a former BigBad acting in defense of everyone else, who supported ''him'' with friendship to give him the power to win.]]

* In ''ZombielandDoubleTap'', [[spoiler: the Babylon community absolutely refuses to have guns inside of its walls, even ordering any newcomers to hand theirs away and melting them to make Peace symbol necklaces. ''In the middle of a ZombieApocalypse''. With a humongous bunch of the absolute worst kind of zombie sub-species shambling nearby. And they like to party so loud that they haven't attracted the attention of a massive horde only through sheer dumb luck... until the film's climax. It screams TooDumbToLive so loudly that even a bimbo like Madison can see it, screaming out a BigWhat when she hears about it.]]

This trope is about when they choose the latter, or some cases, they initially do. They often argue that fighting makes them some NotSoDifferent than those threatening them, and that HeWhoFightsMonsters [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim will become just like them]]. TheHero, if not also a pacifist, will likely treat the pacifists at best as [[HonorBeforeReason noble but foolish]] and at worst as TooDumbToLive. If he tries to argue that [[MartialPacifist peace and liberty must be defended]], the pacifists may respond that appeasement can work on a BloodKnight, or that any suffering they face -- including death -- is [[ThouShallNotKill preferable to killing]].

This trope is about when they choose the latter, or some cases, they initially do. They often argue that fighting makes them some NotSoDifferent than those threatening them, and that HeWhoFightsMonsters [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim will become just like them]]. TheHero, if not also a pacifist, will likely treat the decision as [[HonorBeforeReason noble but foolish]] and even, more harhsly, as TooDumbToLive. If he tries to argue that [[MartialPacifist peace and liberty must be defended]], the pacifists may respond that appeasement can work on a BloodKnight, or that such suffering is [[ThouShallNotKill preferable to killing]].