History Main / WouldNotShootaCivilian

** In ''Literature/NightWatch'', when ordered to fire on unarmed protestors, Vimes's response is to knock the officer giving the order unconscious.

** Indeed, the technical "rules" of the Grail War call for the Masters and Servants to avoid civilian casualties, for the pragmatic reason of not drawing attention to themselves (this is also policy among magi in general). How strictly this is followed depends on the Master in question; Ilya and Rin, for instance, refuse to attack Shirou near witnesses, while Caster is perfectly willing to (covertly) drain civilians for power, and [[LightNovel/FateZero Ryuunosuke and Zero Caster]] openly flout the rule by kidnapping and torturing people.

* Said almost word for word by Suzaku in ''Anime/{{Code Geass}}'', when he is ordered to shoot Lelouch. [[spoiler: He's promptly shot for refusing, although he does survive.]]

* {{Enforced|Trope}} in the German and Japanese versions of ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 2'': the whole point of the "No Russian" mission is to shoot the civilians. However, the local MoralGuardians made that impossible by giving you a NonStandardGameOver when you do as much as graze a civilian with a stray bullet.

* Comes up in ''Film/JohnWick''. John Wick is a retired hit man who used to work for the Russian Mafia stationed inside New York, and gained an infamous reputation for being a professional, no nonsense killer who would make sure the job got done at all costs. He retired from the Mafia when he did an impossible task that killed so many people that his former boss was able to build the criminal empire he has today upon the foundation of those bodies. However, with that said, John is shown to do his best to avoid getting civilians caught in the crossfire. When he has Iosef -- the man he wants revenge on for killing his dog and stealing his car -- in his sights he refuses to take the shot because he has an innocent civilian as a human shield at the time. And later on when he has a clear shot on him while he's in the middle of a crowd he refuses to take the shot unless it would cleanly hit him and only him. John is not above killing bodyguards who are in the way of him and his target, nor shooting his way out when he's been compromised, but John never shoots at someone unless they're armed and a present danger to him.

* In ''Videogame/GoldenEye1997'', there are missions where one of the victory conditions is not killing scientists or civilians. However, the number of civilian/scientist deaths allowed can be high and the level doesn't automatically end when an objective is failed, so players not caring about failing the objective can [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential shoot or even run people over with a tank at will]].

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'', in Season 15, Sarge [[spoiler: sides with the [[PsychoPrototype Blues and Reds]] because he can't function without an enemy to fight]], but quickly draws the line when ordered to shoot civilians.

* In ''Videogame/GoldenEye1997'', there are missions where one of the victory conditions is not killing scientists or civilians. Not that it stops the game, so players not caring about failing the objective can [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential shoot or even run people over with a tank at will]].

* James Bond expresses sentiments like this (in spirit, at least, since his business makes the division between civilian and combatant even fuzzier) in ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'' -- his superiors accuse him of [[WouldntHitAGirl deliberately not killing a (beautiful) female assassin]], but Bond counters that he's perfectly okay with killing females, the reason he shot the gun instead was that he could see from the way she was handling it that she was most definitely ''not'' the professional KGB assassin he'd been told she'd be. Not surprisingly, who she ''actually'' is and why she was involved eventually ends up being crucial to the plot.

* A variation occurs with Reaper from {{VideoGame/Overwatch}} in the "Infiltration" short. Despite being a mercyless gunman who doesn't hesitate a second to eliminate a given target, he immediately stops attacking one russian soldier who very clearly threw his gun and surrendered - having laid his weapon, he is considered a non-combatant, a non-valid target, and Reaper immediately ignores him to focus on those who are still fighting.

TruthInTelevision, at least in theory. Under UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar, targeting civilians is a war crime -- a principle that goes back as far as the KnightInShiningArmor and chivalry. On the other, to encourage combatants to comply, civilians must also not attack combatants lest they be labeled as the enemy, and combatants must not dress as civilians; both are war crimes for which the offenders can be shot if caught and convicted. In addition, if civilians are accidentally or incidentally but unavoidably killed in the process of attacking a legitimate military target, it's (usually) not considered an offense. ObligatoryWarCrimeScene exploits this trope for its punch.

* In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'', Narancia controls the stand Aerosmith(aka [[DubNameChange Lil Bomber]]), a miniature airplane equipped with a machine gun and other weapons that locks on sources of carbon dioxide. Despite his violent and impulsive personality, he's careful not to deploy his stand where it might end up shooting noncombatants by mistake. [[spoiler:He does end up shooting Risotto Nero, the head of the Hitman Team, instead of The Boss despite intending to kill the latter, but since Risotto wanted Narancia and the rest of Bucciarati's group dead, it's not a terrible loss.]]

!!Examples

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film]]

* There is an inter-party argument at the end of your first visit to Onderon in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicII'' about whether throwing grenades during a BlastOut at a crowded bar is an acceptable tactical option. Light Side companions advise against it, while Dark Side companions suggest tossing some and using the chaos to cover your escape.

-->-- '''Article 3(1) of the ''Fourth Geneva Convention'' of 12 August 1949'''

* Walker and company in ''Videogame/SpecOpsTheLine'' would ([[ZigZaggingTrope initially]]) never intentionally shoot at civilians, as they are trying to save the refugees from the ruins of Dubai; until they [[spoiler: inadvertently dump several [[KillItWithFire white phosphorus mortar rounds]] onto a civilian refugee camp full of families. [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Oops]]]]. It all goes [[FromBadToWorse downhill from there]], up until Adams [[spoiler: begs Walker for permission to open fire on a mob of civilians after they lynched his friend. However, he won't shoot until you do; if you take a [[TakeAThirdOption nonviolent option]], he will follow suite.]]

* In the various ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' games, the good guys are by default not able to shoot civilians, since they are not marked as targets (though [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential force-fire still works on them]]). The bad guys generally consider civilians valid targets, and the various incarnations of Nod, the Soviets, and especially the GLA make a point to slaughter civilians if it benefits them. A cut mission of the GLA campaign in ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerGenerals'' even had "kill the civilians" as its sole mission objective for the purpose of testing biological weapons.
** One ''major'' exception to this comes in the first ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert Red Alert]]'' game: in the Allied campaign, once they begin the invasion of Russia, civilians and civilian buildings become normal targets without needing to use the force-fire option.

* Some depictions of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''[='s=] Chaos god Khorne once hinted at this, having him only interested in warrior blood and warrior skulls. Rarely evoked in these {{Grimdark}} days.

** And then there's the Literature/GreyKnights, who will mercilessly butcher civilians if there is a ''risk'' they are [[TheCorruption tainted.]] [[NothingPersonal Not out of malice,]] but because they know that a single act of mercy can and likely will doom an entire world when it comes to daemonic corruption.

* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', during the fight for Mechanicsburg, a soldier objects to an order to shoot civilians -- though the commander does point out they have been fighting almost nothing but "civilians" who have taken up arms against them... and the civilians are winning. Before that, the [[LargeAndInCharge Big Green Hairy Guy]] instructs the troops [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080811 during]] the attempted capture of Gil:
-->'''Sergeant Nak''': Do ''not'' hit the crowd, or I'll ''eat your ears!''

--> '''Vimes''': It might hit an innocent person, even in [[WretchedHive Ankh-Morpork]].

* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', after Worf is accused and then exonerated of blowing up a civilian transport during a skirmish with the Klingons, Captain Sisko makes it clear that he got lucky this time. Starfleet officers make sure who they are shooting at is a legitimate target before opening fire, even if that hesitation risks their own deaths.

** The Guild of Assassins are supposed to practice this: they may kill people for money, but they will ''not'' harm or kill any innocents -- particularly servants or family members -- in the process, whether due to a twisted sense of morality or merely because it would be 'bad form'. (Bodyguards are fair game, though.) This is why they tend to assassinate (or ''attempt'' to, anyway) targets in their homes rather than on the street or at their places of work, so that no one else comes into their line of fire. There's no actual ''rule'' against this, however, as [[Discworld/{{Hogfather}} Mr. Teatime]] demonstrates.

* James Bond expresses sentiments like this (in spirit, at least, since his business makes the division between civilian and combatant even fuzzier) in ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'' -- his superiors accuse him of [[WouldntHitAGirl deliberately not killing a (beautiful) female assassin]], but Bond counters that he's perfectly okay with killing females, the reason he shot the gun instead was that he could see from the way she was handling it that she was most definitely ''not'' the professional KGB assassin he'd been told she'd be.

* A variation occurs with Reaper from [VideoGame/Overwatch] in the "Infiltration" short. Despite being a mercyless gunman who doesn't hesitate a second to eliminate a given target, he immediately stops attacking one russian soldier who very clearly threw his gun and surrendered - having laid his weapon, he is considered a non-combatant, a non-valid target, and Reaper immediately ignores him to focus on those who are still fighting.