History Main / VillainsWantMercy

* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': Right before being [[spoiler: EatenAlive by a transformed Armin,]] the Colossus Titan begs the Survey Corps, who he had just tried to kill, to save him.

** In the final installment "Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows, Dark Lord himself beggs everyone, anyone to save him, while knowing what would await him after death, despite how ,any innocent people, wizards and muggles, he previously murdered.

* In ''Manga/DeathNote'', part of [[VillainProtagonist Light Yagami's]] VillainousBreakdown is calling out to someone, ''anyone'' to save him; despite having slaughtered countless innocents (alongside the criminals he [[MotiveDecay initially set out to punish]]), he's absolutely ''terrified'' at the thought of dying himself.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'', Wormtail begs Ron, Hermione, and Harry to protect him from Sirius and Remus (after he's already begged for mercy, to no avail, from the latter two).

* In the last installment of Creator/DJMacHale's ''Literature/{{Pendragon}}'' series, the BigBad Saint Dane is defeated. He proceeds to beg the heroes to save his life.
* In the Literature/PaladinOfShadows book ''A Deeper Blue'', an interrogated terrorist attempts this. Mike chews him out majorly, reminding him that he never offered his victims mercy and does not deserve any.
* In the ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheStars'' novella ''The Deacon's Tale'', this is [[spoiler: the Deacon's]] reaction to getting a CareBearStare.

** At the end of "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E22TheGift The Gift]]", [[PhysicalGod Glory]], having finally met her match thanks to Buffy using a [[DropTheHammer magic hammer]], starts begging Buffy to stop. Considering all of the hell Glory put her through, up to and including kidnapping Dawn and [[AndYourLittleDogToo openly threatening Buffy's loved ones and friends]], Buffy will have none of it:

'''Marley''': ''[[AintTooProudToBeg COME ON, MAN! JUST LET ME GO AND I PROMISE I’LL TURN OVER A NEW LEAF]]'' ''[[KilledMidSentence Please-]]''

'''Narration''': [[BurningWithAnger The Slayer felt his anger increasing with each pitiful plea that came from the merc’s mouth.]] After everything this organization had done to [[HeroKiller Heroes worldwide,]] one of them wanted to surrender? How many Heroes were gunned down without mercy? How many families did they ruin? How many young Heroes had their lives cut way too short because of them? How many Heroes begged for their lives only to be put down like they were some kind of rare game? The Steel Sabers did not deserve mercy. ''[[KillEmAll None of them did.]]''\\

'''Marley''': [[OhCrap NONONONONO!]] [[AintTooProudToBeg WHAT THE FUCK?! I DON’T WANNA FIGHT ANYMORE! I GIVE UP!]]\\

Sometimes when the heroes defeat the BigBad, he [[GracefulLoser goes down gracefully]]. Sometimes [[GetItOverWith he realizes he's doomed and demands you stop fooling around]]. Sometimes he tries to [[LoadBearingBoss take the heroes with him]]. Sometimes the villain is so badass he just [[DefiantToTheEnd stays defiant]] and [[{{Determinator}} won't stop fighting]] until he's DeaderThanDead and [[UnwantedRescue sometimes a villain may rather die than accept charity or mercy from their enemies.]] [[WellThisIsNotThatTrope This trope is not about those villains]].

* ''Series/BreakingBad'': In the last episode, Walt turns the tables on Jack and the Neo-Nazis, activating a makeshift turret that mows them down. Jack is left bleeding out and hapless as Walt prepares to finish him, but Jack tries to bargain for his life by offering to tell Walt where he hid his barrels of money. ItsPersonal at this point, so Walt blows Jack's brains out [[KilledMidSentence before he's even finished talking]]. This is in direct contrast to Jack's victim, Hank, [[DefiantToTheEnd who refused to beg and cursed Jack out with his last breaths]].

** At the end of ''VideoGame/MegaMan7'', Mega Man clearly showed he was tired of Dr. Wily's games, and [[ZerothLawRebellion was considering killing Dr. Wily]] himself before Bass intervened.

* Marvelous Chester of ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' begs for your mercy right ''after'' you killed him.

** Averted by one of the bosses, [[spoiler:Asgore, actually [[NinjaProp DESTROYS]] the "Spare" command that you normally use to give mercy]], which prevents you from sparing them normally. [[spoiler: While Asgore eventually [[DefeatMeansFriendship accepts mercy after being beaten on long enough]], he would rather have you [[SuicideByCop kill him]]. ]]

** And the rest of them are either [[AntiVillain not really villainous]] or won't accept mercy, averting the trope.

* A dark variation of this trope is in play in ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'': [[spoiler:Shogo Akuji murdered Johnny Gat's girlfriend Aisha, then [[LastDisrespects crashed her funeral]] in order to start a fight with Johnny. This gets a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown from Johnny Gat (after Johnny gave him a chance to simply walk away) that ends with the Ronin captain being tossed into a coffin. Shogo begs for a MercyKill instead of being BuriedAlive, but Gat and the Boss ignore him and silently bury him.]]
* In the English translation for the Hard Mode GoldenEnding of ''[[VideoGame/StreetsOfRage Streets of Rage 3]]'', Mr. X--whose [[BrainInAJar preservation vial was broken, exposing his brain]]--begs for his life, then subverts it by noting that the protagonists will all die if he dies, setting off his base's self-destruct mechanism before dying. In the Japanese version, he does not beg for his life, only noting he is dying, and saying they won't escape alive.

** Dr. Eggman attempts this in the opening to ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' after Super Sonic has him cornered. In this case, [[ISurrenderSuckers it was just a trick]] to get Sonic to lower his guard so Eggman could capture him and use his power to kickstart his newest scheme.

** From the moment Eggman Nega is introduced, it's made clear he's the VilerNewVillain to Eggman himself, relishing causing mass destruction even when it isn't necessary and trying to destroy the world outright ForTheEvulz. At the end of Silver's story in ''VideoGame/SonicRivals2'', he's pinned down by debris following the defeat of the Ifrit, an EldritchAbomination he himself tried to unleash on the world, and has the sheer nerve to beg Silver and Espio to help him. They refuse and depart, leaving him [[TrappedInAnotherWorld stranded in the Ifrit's dimension]].

* ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime'': The Nobleman enemy that shows up in the starter area has a move "Spare Me!" that he uses if his health falls down to 25% or lower without him dying- he falls ot the ground and grovels for several seconds. If allowed to complete it, the fight ends automatically. You won't get the XP that would have been awarded for killing him, but you do get a significantly larger amount of money.
* The very end of ''VideoGame/ConquestsOfCamelot'': [[spoiler:After the EVIL EVIL EVIL EVIL thief steals the Grail from King Arthur and tries to escape, he fails, and after returning the grail, the thief then tries to backstab Arthur and fails that as well. The thief then begs for mercy. No matter what you choose, mercy is denied and the thief will be killed, either chopped to bits by Arthur's blade or burned alive by the holy power of the Grail]].

* ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheTriad'' did the same thing, with a certain type of mook dropping to his knees when damaged and yelling "No! Don't shoot, please!" over and over. This too is a trick, since if you do leave them be, they'll drop down and play possum for a moment, [[ISurrenderSuckers then get right back up and keep shooting at you]].

---> [[spoiler:'''Daryan Crescend''']]: ''(While flailing his head around like a maniac.)'' '''Please!''' '''''DON'T TALK!'''''

** The rest of them are either [[AntiVillain not really villainous]] or won't accept mercy, averting the trope.

--> [[spoiler:'''Matt Engarde:''']] If I get a not guilty verdict, I'll be killed...

--> [[spoiler:'''Daryan Crescend''']] (while flailing his head around like a maniac): '''Please!''' '''''DON'T TALK!'''''

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': At the end of "Raging Abe Simpson and His Rumbling Grandson in The Curse of the Flying Hellfish", Mr. Burns is cornered by Grampa Simpson (whom he had been trying to kill throughout the episode to claim a collection of German paintings) and screams "Don't kill me!". Fortunately, [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim Grampa wasn't going to kill him anyway.]] He just wants to watch him ''squirm''.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' episode "Smurphony In 'C' ", Gargamel disguises himself as a fairy, and gave Harmony an enchanted horn (the "Shazalakazoo") claiming it will cure his tone-deafness. Of course, it's a trick, and Harmony realizes his mistake when it sends the other smurfs into a deep slumber that they can't wake up from. When Harmony goes to find the fairy and Gargamel reveals himself, he tries to use the horn against the wizard, but Gargamel merely covers his ears and tries to stomp him - until he unwisely chases him across a log bridge over a chasm and falls. Gargamel is now holding on for his life, unable to cover his ears, and Harmony is right in the position to finish him off. He's about to do it too, but Gargamel pleads and begs for his worthless hide, and Harmony changes his mind, realizing not good to kick somebody when they're down; so he just simply blows his foe a raspberry and runs off. (He would likely regret it later.)

** ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'': In "[[Recap/TransformersAnimatedS1E05TheThrillOfTheHunt Thrill of the Hunt]]", Lockdown begs Ratchet, the very same Autobot whom he scarred, mutilated, and traumatized during the Great War millions of years ago, to put him out of his misery with the same EMP generator that Lockdown stole from him when Ratchet had Lockdown wracked with pain and dead to rights. Possibly subverted, as it's implied this was entirely a WoundedGazelleGambit.

** And the rest of them are either [[AntiVillain not really villainous]] or won't accept mercy, averting the trope.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': At the end of "Raging Abe Simpson and His Rumbling Grandson in The Curse of the Flying Hellfish", Mr. Burns is cornered by Grampa Simpson (whom he had been trying to kill throughout the episode to claim a collection of German paintings) and screams "Don't kill me!". Fortunately, [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim Grampa wasn't going to kill him anyway.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' episode "Smurphony In 'C' ", Gargamel disguises himself as a fairy, and gave Harmony an enchanted horn ( the "Shazalakazoo") claiming it will cure his tone-deafness. Of course, it's a trick, and Harmony realizes his mistake when it sends the other smurfs into a deep slumber that they can't wake up from. When Harmony goes to find the fairy and Gargamel reveals himself, he tries to use the horn against the wizard, but Gargamel merely covers his ears and tries to stomp him - until he unwisely chases him across a log bridge over a chasm and falls. Gargamel is now holding on for his life, unable to cover his ears, and Harmony is right in the position to finish him off. He's about to do it too, but Gargamel pleads and begs for his worthless hide, and Harmony changes his mind, realizing not good to kick somebody when they're down; so he just simply blows his foe a raspberry and runs off. (And would likely regret it later.)

** ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'': In "[[Recap/TransformersAnimatedS1E05TheThrillOfTheHunt Thrill of the Hunt]]", Lockdown begs Ratchet, the very same Autobot whom he scarred, mutilated, and traumatized during the Great War millions of years ago, to put him out of his misery with the same EMP generator that Lockdown stole from him when Ratchet has Lockdown wracked with pain and dead to rights. Possibly subverted, as it's implied this was entirely a WoundedGazelleGambit.

In popular works, such as ''Film/JamesBond'' and such, where killing the villain is considered standard operating policy, you will rarely, if ever, actually see someone begging for mercy and then be killed by the hero as the resulting MoodWhiplash would be too great and might result in the audience turning against the hero. Of course, there are always DarkerAndEdgier exceptions, such as with ''Series/TwentyFour'' and its licenced-to-kill lead character Jack Bauer. And if the villain has been particularly merciless, than the refusal to give the requested mercy can be played up as a heroic moment, as the villain has just proven themselves to be a hypocritical coward who deserves whatever punishment the hero dishes out to them!

** [[spoiler:[[{{Mooks}} A random soldier]] of the Misurugi Empire tries to tell [[FallenPrincess Ange]], who has just shot him, that he was JustFollowingOrders. Ange is having none of it as he is one of many soldiers trying to kill all the Normas on Arzenal and ruthlessly shoots the crying soldier in the head. And ''keeps'' shooting the corpse to vent.]]

** A lot more ambiguous in [[WesternAnimation/AllStarSuperman the cartoon adaptation.]] "I don't think I have any left."
** At the end of ''ComicBook/WhoIsSuperwoman'', ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and Superwoman square off. The latter gloats over framing the former for her own murders after killing her. When the Girl of Steel proceeds to pummel her, Superwoman pleads for mercy. Supergirl replies -rightly- that she doesn't deserve any and keeps bashing her.

--->'''Buffy''': You're a god. ''Make'' it stop. [''proceeds to beat Glory into a bloody pulp'']

** And in the Series 5 finale "The Big Bang", a ''Dalek'' of all things asks for mercy from River Song. [[spoiler: [[GoodIsNotSoft It doesn't receive it]].]] Shooting the Doctor right before this probably didn't help its case.

** In "Dalek", the eponymous creature wanted pity from the Ninth Doctor. It wasn't coming (at least, not at first).

* ''Series/TrueBlood'': [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Debbie Pelt]] begs Sookie not to kill her in the Season 4 finale. Right after shooting Tara (Sookie's TokenBlackFriend) with a shotgun. And the shot was [[HeroicSacrifice intended to hit Sookie]]. Did she really think begging was going to save her in that situation?
* In the final episode of ''Series/BreakingBad'', [[spoiler: Jack is the last of his gang left alive after Walt's machine-gun trap. As Walt stands over, ready to finish him off, Jack tries to negotiate, saying Walt will need him alive if he wants to know where his stolen money is. However, Walt no longer cares about the money and shoots him in the head [[KilledMidSentence before he can even finish his sentence]].]]

* The fight between Sonya and Kano in ''Film/MortalKombatTheMovie'' ends this way; after a brutal fight where Kano actually kicks her in the ribs after knocking her down, she has him in a leg-hold and pleading for his life, begging her to "give me a break!" (And she obliges, [[NeckSnap snapping his neck]].)

'''Luther:''' [[PreMortemOneLiner I just ran out]]. [injects fatal dose]

* ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'': When Anakin is sent to [[DeadlyEuphemism “take care of”]] the Separatist Council on Mustafar, the last one left alive is [[DirtyCoward Nute Gunray]], who spends his final moments snivelingly begging for his own sorry hide. Of course, [[FallenHero Anakin]] shows him no mercy, and immediately cuts him down [[KilledMidSentence before he’s even finished speaking]].

* In the Creator/StephenKing short story "The Deathroom", when the protagonist is about to kill a villain, he thinks that "in the end there might only be one way to tell the thugs from the patriots: when they saw their own death rising in your eyes like water, patriots made speeches. The thugs, on the other hand, gave you the number of their SwissBankAccount and offered to put you on-line."

* In the Literature/PaladinOfShadows book ''A Deeper Blue'', an interrogated terrorist attempts this. Mike chews him out majorly, reminding him that he never offered his victims mercy and did not deserve any.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm'', the Joker angrily and ironically calls Batman crazy when the bat grabs hold of Joker's jetpack causing them to fly out of control, and if he doesn't let him go they'll likely both die. And shortly after that, he tries to surrender to the ruthless vigilante killer who wants revenge on him, personally, after Batman had beaten him up and the bombs in the base are still on the verge of going off. But when they ''do'' go off, the Joker, being ComicBook/TheJoker, starts gleefully LaughingMad as everything explodes all around them in a fiery inferno while the vigilante killer teleports them both away to kill him. [[spoiler: She lets him go, offscreen.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'': The minute Simba corners Scar, the latter pathetically starts begging him for mercy, going to such lengths as pulling the family card and [[NeverMyFault blaming the hyenas for his own actions]]; Simba doesn't buy any of it for a second, but ultimately decides not to kill Scar because [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim he doesn't want to stoop to Scar's level]], instead opting to [[CruelMercy banish him]]. Scar starts to walk away, [[ISurrenderSuckers but then]] [[AHandfulForAnEye flings burning embers into Simba's eyes]] and attacks him viciously. When he loses the fight and is thrown down to the hyenas (who heard ''everything''), he desperately tries to reason with them and insist he didn't mean what he said, but the hyenas will have none of it and, as vengeful as they are starving, attack him en masse, mauling and devouring him off-screen.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'': After losing the fight with Optimus Prime and staring down the barrel of his recovered rifle, Megatron spots a gun just beyond his reach and out of Prime's line of sight. Megatron then begs Prime for mercy [[ISurrenderSuckers as he starts to shift his way towards it]]. Optimus calls him out on it ("You, who are without mercy, now plead for it? I thought you were made of sterner stuff.") Unfortunately for Prime, Megatron is able to snatch the gun and then Hot Rod jumps in trying to wrestle the gun away, which distracts Prime from getting a clear shot [[spoiler:and for Megatron to shoot Prime repeatedly, ultimately providing the fatal wound that would kill him.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'': When Tiana [[spoiler:destroys his amulet and his "[[WithFriendsLikeThese friends]]" show up to claim his soul, chanting [[IronicEcho "Are you ready?"]], Facilier spends his final moments desperately begging them for mercy and more time to pay off his debt. None of it works, and he's ultimately [[DraggedOffToHell dragged off to their world]], screaming all the while.]]

'''Batman:''' ''(considers it)''\\
'''Joker:''' BATMAN! ''(Batman pulls him up)''
** [[ZigZaggingTrope Though the series wasn't consistent on this.]] Sometimes the Joker is genuinely afraid of dying and will beg to be saved, while other times he goes to his apparent demise laughing all the way. Then again, it ''is'' ComicBook/TheJoker. Consistency is not exactly a hallmark of the character. For his part, Charlie Collins guesses that the Joker thinks any kind of death outside of an epic battle with Batman is beneath him.

* ''Literature/TheMisfitOfDemonKingAcademy'': When Anos throws Emilia Lud(o)well to the ground of the arena following the murder attempt on his mother and fanclub who were allhybrid demons, he fatally wounds her and explains to her that she has around a minute to live. She initially does not beg, but he twists his blade which culminates in her begging for mercy as she is bleeding out with Anos telling her to be louder about it. Ultimately, he stabs her to death before reincarnating her into a completely naked HumanDemonHybrid to humiliate her.

* Jirobo in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', after spending his whole fight against Choji insulting and making fun of him, shamelessly tries to beg for his life when Choji has him pinned to the ground and is about to deliver a MegatonPunch to his chest. At this point, having pressed his {{Berserk Button}}s one too many times and way past the RageBreakingPoint, Choji is having none of it.

* ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs'': After [[spoiler:he sets up Winston to be murdered]], Dogeyes utterly loses his mind when Wei comes after him. His last minutes are begging Wei [[spoiler:and Mrs. Chu]] to let him go. [[spoiler:He is promptly reduced to soup meat.]]

* In the ''Manga/HighschoolOfTheDead'' fanfic ''FanFic/WorldOfTheDead'', [[spoiler:Shido cuts off the escape of two of his followers to save his own hide, but when he's being grabbed by some of his other zombified followers, he freaks out and desperately begs Rei to save him, shedding tears as he does so. Recognizing them as CrocodileTears and knowing that he'd most likely throw her to [[NotUsingTheZWord Them]] to save himself, Rei throws Shido's SocialDarwinist views back in his face and walks away, leaving him to be DevouredByTheHorde.]]

** [[ZigZaggingTrope Though the series wasn't consistent on this.]] Sometimes the Joker is genuinely afraid of dying and will beg to be saved, while other times he goes to his apparent demise laughing all the way. Then again, it ''is'' ComicBook/TheJoker. Consistency is not exactly a hallmark of the character.

--->'''Brainiac:''' ''"What...have...you...done...to...me...?"''\\
'''Supergirl:''' ''"I did nothing, Brainiac-- You've done this to yourself!"''\\
'''Brainiac:''' ''"Please, Supergirl-- You've got to help me!"''\\
'''Supergirl:''' (coldly) ''"I'm sorry, but there isn't enough energy left in the enlarging ray to save Superman-- Kandor-- and you!"''\\
'''Brainiac:''' ''"Can you be so callous-- So cruel? I beg you-- Don't let it end like this!"''