Line #37 Main/ChildrenForcedToKill


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10	[[quoteright:350:[[Film/CityOfGod https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1_cog.png]]]]
11	[[caption-width-right:350:[[WaxingLyrical 'Cause kids with guns]]. [[Music/{{Gorillaz}} Kids with guns.]]]]
12
13	->''"Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch -- this is the Capitol's way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy."''
14	-->-- '''Katniss Everdeen''', ''Literature/TheHungerGames''
15
16	Having to kill another human being is traumatic enough. But when a child has to do it, either in defense of themselves, in defense of another, or being forced at gunpoint or swordpoint themselves to do it, the effect can be all the more horrifying. The fact that even children are forced to hand out violence to defend themselves adds to the [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism cynicism]] of a setting. Children having to kill on a regular basis is a red flag for a CrapsackWorld.
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18	The reasons for a child having to kill vary. They may have been attacked by someone and struck out in defense: they just happened to have the right thing on hand. Equally, they may manage to get the drop on someone who is trying to murder a parent or other carer. As mentioned before, they may be forced to do it, either as some form of TrainingFromHell or just from a complete sadist. This will be made all the more tragic if it was someone close to the character: a friend, relative or, worst of all, [[SelfMadeOrphan their own parent or even parents.]] If this is in a character's past, it will be a [[DarkAndTroubledPast dark and troubled one.]]
19
20	Of course, such an experience is HarmfulToMinors. Can lead to an even more warped form of BloodSplatteredInnocents. Often the cause of a DarkAndTroubledPast. ChildSoldiers must do this as a matter of course. KidHero stories with a particularly dark tone may also have this as normality for the setting, especially if that setting is a TeenageWasteland. {{Tyke Bomb}}s can become this if said Tyke bomb is forced to kill before it can [[DefusingTheTykeBomb be defused.]]
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22	Of course, this goes along with ChildSoldiers.
23
24	Note: Children who kill when they don't have to aren't this; that's some form of EnfantTerrible.
25	----
26	!!Examples:
27
28	[[foldercontrol]]
29
30	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
31	* Several characters in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' feature this within their back story.
32	** Mikasa was kidnapped by a gang of slavers, and was forced to help Eren kill them in self-defense. She's never the same.
33	** [[spoiler:Annie, Reiner, and Bertolt]] are the TykeBomb variant. [[spoiler:Their mission required them to commit acts of mass murder]], and all are shown to have suffered varying levels of trauma as a result. [[spoiler:Reiner states they didn't even understand what they were doing at the time, and being allowed to go home is the one thing all three focus on to keep them going]].
34	* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': Both Casca and Guts had to kill people in self-defense at a very young age as part of the {{backstory}}. In Guts' case, arguably twice; one was maybe more of a revenge thing, but given both that he was a kid and [[RapeAsDrama what the revenge was for]], it could arguably still count as this.
35	* ''Literature/BlackBullet'': Several cursed children are often forced to be ChildSoldiers for criminal gangs, governments, and Civil Security Companies. In particular, [[NiceGirl Tina]] [[FriendlySniper Sprout]] was forced to be an assassin sniper by [[BigBad Ayn Rand]] to kill [[BigGood Seitenshi]], but has also shown [[ReluctantWarrior hesitation on killing people]].
36	* ''Manga/BlackLagoon'': The Vampire Twins started out as this when they were forced to kill other children in paedophilic [[SnuffFilm Snuff Films]]. At some point, they [[BreakTheCutie broke]] [[AxCrazy and began to like it]].
37	* Arises a few times in ''Franchise/CodeGeass'' given the nature of the series. Suzaku killed his father at age 12, but most notable would probably be Rolo Halliburton who was a very effective assassin thanks to being able to freeze people in place with his Geass.
38	* ''Anime/DayBreakIllusion'': Poor, poor Akari Taiyou is a GenkiGirl who just wants [[WeHelpTheHelpless to be like her mom]], and certainly [[LegacyCharacter has powers to do it.]] It's just too bad that, for her, [[TheNeedsOfTheMany to help others]] means [[MurderIsTheBestSolution killing]] the MonsterOfTheWeek, which are possessed humans. [[spoiler:Her first kill is [[KillTheOnesYouLove her dear friend and cousin]] whom she lived with ever since the death of her mother.]]
39	* In ''Manga/DGrayMan'', the average age for an Exorcist seems to be late teens. Allen's fifteenish when things start, Lenalee's about the same but has been working as one since childhood, Lavi's eighteen, and Kanda [[spoiler:has been an Exorcist since the day he was born due to certain experiments performed by the Order.]]
40	* ''Manga/ElfenLied'': The Diclonius are all young girls. The iconic bloody first episode shows Lucy kill scores of men, and she's only 18. Several other Diclonii are forced to deal lethal attacks to each other throughout the series.
41	* ''Literature/FateZero'': [[spoiler:Kiritsugu's DarkAndTroubledPast kicks off when his surrogate big sister, Shirley, turns into a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Dead Apostle]] after drinking one of his [[MadScientist father]]'s potions in an attempt to prove Kiritsugu's dad wasn't an evil person. Kiritsugu later comes across Shirley, who begs him to MercyKill her, but he doesn't. As a result, [[FromBadToWorse the entire island turns into Dead Apostles]]. Kiritsugu, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realizing his mistake]], confronts his father, who is planning for their escape since the infection has gathered the attention of the Mage Association and their mercenaries, who want him dead. Realizing that his father has no regret for what happened to Shirley and the island and only cares about Kiritsugu so that he can have someone to continue his work, Kiritsugu kills him to prevent further deaths. And it goes downhill from there...]]
42	* Happens in various ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' franchises where the protagonists are young enough and the universe serious enough. Although combat is generally personified by mechas, the protagonists generally never forget that there is a person inside the war machine that is so easy to objectify, and spend time angsting over it.
43	** In ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'' the protagonist was brainwashed as a young child into becoming a member of a terrorist organisation. Part of the initiation involved killing his own parents.
44	** Taken to a whole different extreme with ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury The Witch from Mercury]]''’s prologue, where Ericht Samaya—a ''four-year-old girl''—operates Gundam Lfrith to get her and her mother Elnora out of an attack by the Benerit Group’s Dominicus Corps. In the process, Eri kills three other MS pilots, all the while remaining none the wiser to her carnage and simply pointing out how the explosions [[ChildrenAreInnocent look like the candles on a birthday cake]].
45	* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'' is all about this. The oldest girl is 16 and the youngest can't be older than 12, but all of them have been taken by the Social Welfare Agency ostensibly as charity cases, but actually so they can be conditioned via brainwashing and cybernetic implants into black ops assassins to kill enemies of the Italian government.
46	* Killua from ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' is an example. Being a member of a BigScrewedUpFamily of assassins, he's taught to kill from infancy, and forced into the life of an assassin without being given much of any choice in the matter. He was murdering people before he turned 6, and by the time he appears in the show - at the age of 12 - he's already killed hundreds of people.
47	* ''Anime/{{Madlax}}'' has this as part of the BackStory: [[spoiler:the plot stems from the fact that Margaret had to kill her BrainwashedAndCrazy father Richard in self-defense when she was 5 years old, and to protect herself from going mad, her mind created the titular Madlax]].
48	* The heroines of ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'' are all tender 14 years old girls who got thrown to a fantasy world of sword and sorcery where they find themselves attacked by monsters while attempting to save that world's princess. They mostly have to just kill monsters, never people, except the one who sent the monsters, the princess' kidnapper Zagato, and also the guy who threw the world to chaos... [[spoiler:or so they thought. Turns out, the princess summoned the girls to ''kill her'' because she fell in love with her kidnapper and because of this and a contract she made to forbid her to think of nothing but the world, the world ends up in turmoil and she can't kill herself. Needless to say, when the girls returned home, they were severely traumatized.]]
49	* Subverted in ''Manga/{{Monster}}'' where Wim appears to have shot his bullies dead during a townwide riot, but it's revealed he just picked up the gun but didn't fire it. He's still troubled as he admits he'd wished they were dead.
50	* This is the whole premise of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', basically. Regular shinobi become genin at 12 and are expected to live the rest of their lives in the field infiltrating, guarding, fighting, and killing in an endless cycle of hatred and violence. For extreme examples we have shinobi like [[ChildProdigy Itachi]], who was exposed to war at four and made his first kill at seven.
51	* ''Anime/NowAndThenHereAndThere'': Children are kidnapped from their home villages and forced to fight for the monstrously insane King Hamdo.
52	* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' has its MagicalGirl killing, not purifying, the MonsterOfTheWeek or losing their power [[spoiler:before finally dying and turning into the very monsters they fought]]. There's no way around it the moment they made their contract. They also forced to fight and, implied in ''Manga/PuellaMagiKazumiMagica'', to kill their rivals in turf wars or be killed themselves.
53	* In the manga version of ''Manga/SailorMoon'' the Sailor Guardians often have to kill the MonsterOfTheWeek and even the members of the QuirkyMinibossSquad starting at the tender age of 14. Especially hard on Sailor Venus, who not only had her first kill at ''13'' ([[Manga/CodenameSailorV having started her career a year before the others]]), but the youma happened to be her ''first crush'', and by the time she joins the others [[BrokenAce she's by far the most skilled but heavily traumatized]], [[StepfordSmiler though she hides it behind her flamboyant personality]].
54	* ''Manga/SchoolLive'' takes place in a ZombieApocalypse with [[TeenageWasteland no adults]] so this is obligatory. Zombies aren't technically alive in the first place, however they act similarly enough.:
55	** Kurumi was forced to kill her [[KillTheOnesYouLove crush]] by [[ShovelStrike sticking a shovel through his throat]], which understandably ended in her [[BloodSplatteredInnocents soaked in blood]]. After that, she is the main ActionGirl of the series who kills zombies of all [[UndeadChildren ages]] and [[RaisingTheSteaks species]]. She was unable to kill [[spoiler:her former teacher and fellow survivor, Megu-nee,]] which led her [[spoiler:to become infected. She was saved by a MagicAntidote but it's later shown that she's a DeadManWalking]]
56	** Yuki is the most [[KiddieKid immature]] of the teens and [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness doesn't even know about the zombies]] due to being in a hallucinatory state. She was forced to kill a zombie in the manga (in the anime she simply tried, and failed, to hit one) when [[spoiler:she encounters it while cleaning up a classroom all alone]]. She attacks it [[spoiler:with a mop and promptly starts to FreakOut]]. This event is a major point in her CharacterDevelopment where she begins to act more reliable.
57	* ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'': Shino Asada was eleven years old when an armed thief attacked the post office she was in. When the thief threatened to shoot one of the workers, Shino bit him and grabbed his gun, shooting him when he attempted to get it back. She came out of it with PTSD and an acute phobia of guns (to the point she will collapse just from ''someone making a finger gun''), along with getting shunned by pretty much everyone, including ''her own mother''.
58	* ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'': [[spoiler:During the final fight against Mugan and Fugan, Magical Cat blasts [[MakingASplash releases a water jet]] to push Mugan away from Thomas, which causes him to be fatally impaled on twisted metal from a fence and shocks the 14-years-old girl. However, Mugan doesn't die from the injuries. Instead he teleports himself and an equally wounded Fugan to their adopted father Brahe, right before they are all killed by [[BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork Gregory Sunshine]]]].
59	* ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' has this as [[spoiler: Wolfwood's]] backstory. At a young age he kills [[spoiler:his abusive guardian who happens to be his uncle]] and soon gets adopted by an assassin, who teaches him the Bible, and how to kill.
60	[[/folder]]
61
62	[[folder:Comic Books]]
63	* Cassandra Cain, the third ComicBook/{{Batgirl\|2000}}, was trained to be this when she was younger. Subverted in that, after her first kill, she panicked and ran off, vowing never to take another life.
64	* ComicBook/{{Grimjack}} as a child was arrested for stealing and was sentenced to take part in GladiatorGames.
65	-->''"Before I was nine, I killed my first man. Before I was sixteen, most of the kids I entered into the Wolfpac with were dead. Some I'd killed myself."''
66	* In ''ComicBook/TheWalkingDead'', [[spoiler:Carl's shooting saves the lives of both his parents within a day of each other]].
67	-->''"It's not the same as killing the dead ones..."''
68	* In ''ComicBook/WarlordOfMars'', Dejah's most vivid memory is killing a Green Martian at the age of ''eight'' to save her mother Heru. Unlike most examples of this trope, which are played for tragedy or horror, it was a moment of triumph for her [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy as she embraced her birthright as a Princess of Helium.]]
69	* ComicBook/{{X 23}}, the X-Men's resident TykeBomb, was created from Wolverine's DNA and born and raised to be an assassin. Over the course of several years, she killed hundreds of people before eventually escaping from the lab. The bad guys still got the last laugh in the end, since [[spoiler: her mother was exposed to a "trigger scent" that caused X-23 to fly into an involuntary UnstoppableRage, effectively forcing Laura to kill her own mother.]]
70	[[/folder]]
71
72	[[folder:Fan Works]]
73	* Part of [[spoiler:Rose's]] background in the Series/DoctorWho Alternate Universe fic ''[[http://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=57612 Duplicity]]''.
74	* 12-year-old Maria shot a man in ''Fanfic/EchoesOfEternity'' in order to save her friend Shadow.
75	* In ''[[Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm Ghosts of the Past]]'', the Red Son is just a teenager and is forced to kill everyone in the Red Room's way by his programming. Given additional punch by the reveal that he's [[spoiler:Harry. Or to be more specific, he's Harry's body after his mind was removed to protect and the MacGuffin it was contained in was swiped by the Red Room]].
76	* In the ''Anime/LoveLive''[=/=]''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure'' crossover ''Fanfic/HonokasBizarreAdventure'', Honoka's journey as a Stand user begins with an encounter with the criminal stand user Yoshikawa Fuhai, who attacked her family's candy shop and nearly killed her parents. After facing him in a battle to the death where she unlocks her Stand's powers, Honoka realizes that if she lets him live, he'll return to threaten her loved ones again. [[spoiler:So she uses her Stands to [[LiterallyShatteredLives break apart his flattened, wall-attached body into pieces]]. While it was self-defense as he tried to kill her and Yoshikawa is still alive (albeit [[AndIMustScream in literal pieces and unable to reform]]) the experience is haunting for Honoka, seeing herself as a murderer]].
77	* ''Fanfic/HoursVerse'': Sojiro is horrified to learn that [[spoiler: Wakaba]]'s murderer was a fifteen-year old child.
78	* ''Fanfic/TheMoonCriesInReverseNaruto'' offers a variant: in addition to being raised as ChildSoldiers, Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru are forced to learn how to ''torture'' by Ibiki, who mistakenly believes this is the best way to combat their growing disillusionment with Konoha and make them ''useful''. Instead, their time at T&I has only made the trio even more distrustful of authority and desperate to prove their loyalty so that they don't end up getting tortured themselves.
79	** Shikamaru also kills a team of Kumo-nin in order to protect Ino, Chouji and Sasuke. While this incident is initially treated as further evidence that he's "dangerously similar to Orochimaru", Jiraiya later overhears Naruto and Sakura comforting him while he cries, reassuring him that he did what he needed to do to save his friends.
80	* ''Fanfic/MyHeroAcademiaUltraAchievement'': During the USJ incident, [[spoiler:Aoyama]] kills a villain that was about to murder two of his classmates [[spoiler:[[WhatYouAreInTheDark even though]] [[HeelRealization he knows]] [[BigBad All for One]] will target him as a result]].
81	* ''Fanfic/ReBoundRWBY'': Neo was raised by Raven from age six to be an assassin. She made her first kill at eight and was already going solo at nine.
82	* The Loud children in ''Fanfic/RickAndTheLoudHouse'' sometimes have to resort to killing in self-defense when the moment calls for it. One good example would be in "Look Who's Spelling It Out Now", where Lincoln shoots a cat-like alien who came close to killing Lucy in the head.
83	%%* A major plot point of ''Fanfic/TheSevenHunters''.
84	* In the ''Manga/DeathNote'' {{Dark\|Fic}} KidFic ''Fanfic/ShadowOfTheValley'', [[VillainProtagonist Light]] forces his 12-year old daughter [[OriginalCharacter Hikari]] [[SerialKillerKiller to follow in his footsteps]].
85	* As a ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' fanfiction, it's a foregone conclusion that this trope is at play in ''Fanfic/SomeSemblanceOfMeaning''. However, that doesn't mean that all of the tributes have to like it.
86	* Some of the stuff that happened during the Grazton arc of ''FanFic/TheTaintedGrimoire'' was at least partly because Cid and Ensei wanted to avoid this trope. [[spoiler:They now accept that given their circumstances, they can't avoid it and the younger members of Clan Gully will be ready for it should they have to kill someone.]]
87	* In ''Fanfic/ViridianTheGreenGuide'', [[spoiler:Izuku is forced to kill [[BigBad All for One]] with a screwdriver because it is the only way for him and Aizawa to survive]].
88	* ''Fanfic/YourMoveInstigatorDrawYourWeaponAndHoldYourTongue'' is set in an AlternateUniverse where the Third Shinobi War continued for years past its canonical ending. Sakura, Kiba and Tenten are among the children deemed disposable enough to be shunted into special classes at the Academy and forced out onto the front lines to fight as ChildSoldiers. At the start of the series, Sakura and Kiba are both five, with Kiba getting his first kill by ripping out an enemy's throat. He attempts to brag about how this means he scored his first kill younger than his sister Hana did, only to have to [[VomitDiscretionShot duck away and vomit]].
89	[[/folder]]
90
91	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
92	* ''Film/BloodDiamond'' has [[ChildSoldiers an army of children]] forced to kill during the Sierra Leone Civil War.
93	* ''Film/CityOfGod'' has an infamous example in which a ganglord forces one small child to kill his even younger friend after they steal from him.
94	* ''Film/FridayThe13thTheFinalChapter'' has a climax where [[spoiler:Tommy Jarvis, a 12-year-old kid, kills Jason in self-defense]].
95	* ''Film/FullMetalJacket'': [[spoiler:the Vietcong sniper, who turns out to be a teenage girl]].
96	* ''Film/HornetsNest'' features Italian kids taking up arms against the Nazis after their parents are massacred by the SS.
97	* ''Film/TheHungerGames'': Yet another horrifying aspect of the Hunger Games. Perfectly ordinary children are forced in a situation where, if they do not kill others, they themselves will die (excepting the Career Tributes).
98	* Implied in ''Film/{{Icebox}}''. Oscar is forced into a gang and escapes from Honduras to America to avoid violence. He mentions that he saw a classmate get shot and killed. Oscar never outright says it, but his intense reaction implies he shot the boy himself.
99	* ''Film/TheQuickAndTheDead'' had [[spoiler:The Lady, as a young girl, attempt to [[ShootTheRope shoot a hanging rope in two to save her father]], but she missed the rope and hit him [[PrettyLittleHeadshots square in the forehead]] instead.]] Not forced to kill her father, but forced to take an action that took her father's life.
100	* Likewise in ''Film/SinNombre'' a gang leader forces a boy to kill a rival gang member held prisoner to be accepted into their gang. Said dead rival is then cut into pieces and fed to dogs.
101	[[/folder]]
102
103	[[folder:Literature]]
104	* Every one of the ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' at one time or another, since they're fighting a PuppeteerParasite species where often the only option is to kill the host. At first they tried to limit it to [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman alien]] enemies, but as the war wears on they're forced to break that vow and kill humans as well.
105	* The premise of ''Literature/BattleRoyale'' is that a group of 64-ish students are taken to an island and [[InvoluntaryBattleToTheDeath forced to kill]] each other until [[ThereCanOnlyBeOne only one survives]]. Adding to the "forced" aspect is the fact that they're wearing explosive collars and if no one dies for twenty four hours, the guys in charge will kill everyone...
106	* Done with downright creepy frequency and [[AngstwhatAngst casualness]] in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia''. In one incident, Aslan even keeps away the adult soldiers when Susan is threatened by wolves, so that Susan's brother Peter, a mere child, can prove himself capable of fighting the wolves. The fact that this could have gotten Susan killed is never discussed, nor is the morality of turning Peter into a soldier.
107	* In the ''[[Literature/{{Dragonlance}} Dark Disciple Trilogy]]'' this is the most terrible facet of the Children of Chemosh. This otherwise NighInvulnerable version of TheUndead created by Chemosh can only be destroyed if a child strikes them. The destruction of the creature is so horrifying that it also traumatizes the child and robs them of their youthful innocence forever.
108	* Creator/{{Saki}}'s "The Easter Egg".
109	* ''Literature/EndersGame'' is the epitome of ChildrenForcedToKill. All of the characters are prepubescent or slightly older ChildSoldiers being trained to kill an invading alien force.
110	* Robert Muchamore's "Home" in which the protagonist is a very young guerilla soldier. After doing it he is nicknamed "Psycho".
111	** Another Muchamore series has the protagonist (This time a very young super spy) shoot someone and require counseling afterward.
112	* The whole plot of ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' books is that there's an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged 12–18 from each of the twelve districts surrounding the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle to the death until one winner remains.
113	* In ''Literature/{{Hurog}}'', Ward's father was abusive, and taking young Ward with him while hunting down bandits might have been one of his nicer traits. Ward knows how to kill when he's nineteen, and as he has been ObfuscatingStupidity since he was twelve, one can draw some conclusions ... it is not mentioned whether his father stopped taking him along when it seem like Ward had brain damage from being beaten, but it is pretty clear he started this early.
114	* ''Literature/KagerouDaze'' has Tsubomi Kido kill her father with an ornamental spear after he goes mad, sets his house on fire, and plans on killing Tsubomi's sister Rin. Even though Tsubomi was never close with her father, she's still horrified by her actions.
115	* Alindar from ''Literature/TheRedVixenAdventures'' was taken in by pirates after her family was murdered by them. By age eight she was a {{Child Soldier\|s}} being forced to hunt down other children aboard the ships they attacked.
116	* Some beasts pulled into the fighting in the ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' novels were quite young (as young as preteens - [[ImprobableAge or younger]]). Some of whose reactions were understandable, [[CreepyChild while others]] [[NotAGame were not]].
117	* Horseshoes from ''Literature/SecretAgentsFour'' wrangles with himself after he's forced to kill a guard. [[spoiler:It all turns out to be a misunderstanding, and he ends up learning he didn't actually kill the guard.]]
118	* ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'': In ''Queste'', [[spoiler:Septimus and Jenna are forced to throw the [=InHabited=] Toll-Man into the Abyss to escape from the [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Thing]] that is controlling his body.]]
119	* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', nine-year old Arya Stark has to do this more than once when she's thrust into a wartorn countryside. She moves from simple self-defense to pre-meditated murder, and eventually [[spoiler: becomes the apprentice of a guild of assassins]].
120	* [[ChildMage Coin]] of ''Literature/{{Sourcery}}'' is forced to kill some of the wizards (and ForcedToWatch) by the ghost of his [[AbusiveParents father]] Ipslore.
121	-->''"I don't like killing people. I'm sure it can't be right."''
122	* ''Literature/SurvivorDogs'': Lick kills a dog for the first time before she's even been given her adult name. During a fight in ''The Broken Path'', she [[spoiler:tears off Terror's jaw]] protecting her pack. It isn't considered BloodSplatteredInnocents because Lick still remains innocent afterward; she only saw it as protecting her loved ones.
123	* ''Literature/TheTomorrowSeries'': Ellie and her friends didn't set out originally to be guerrillas...
124	* In ''Literature/TreasureIsland'', teenager Jim Hawkins kills pirate Israel Hands in self-defense.
125	* Gregor from ''Literature/TheUnderlandChronicles'' has latent warrior skills that makes him skilled at assassination. In fact, [[spoiler:if he finds himself near death, he involuntarily goes berserk and kills anything in fit of rage]].
126	* In ''Literature/{{Velocity}}'' by Creator/DeanKoontz, 14-year-old Billy Wiles (later the protagonist of the book) has to kill his homicidally deranged father to protect himself and his wounded mother. Then he's forced to MercyKill his mother, whose injuries were probably not survivable anyway.
127	* In the first ''Literature/WingsOfFire'' book, the adolescent Tsunami is forced to kill her opponent in a [[InvoluntaryBattleToTheDeath life or death duel]]. Tsunami tries to convince Queen Scarlet to let them both go after her opponent is unable to battle, but Scarlet refuses to let that happen.
128	[[/folder]]
129
130	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
131	* The ''Series/TwentyFour'' MadeForTVMovie ''Redemption'' included some children being trained to kill by the followers of an African general.
132	* In ''Series/CriminalMinds'' episode "North Mammon" an [=UnSub=] kidnaps three girls and imprisons them in his basement cellar, he will let two of them go if they kill one of them.
133	** The guy in "Psychodrama" tried to force young boys to kill, or otherwise just attack, their mothers under threat of death.
134	** Two young men in "The Wheels on the Bus" kidnap a bus of younger teens and force them to fight in a real-life version of a video game.
135	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
136	** This happens to Arya Stark, starting in "The Pointy End" once she flees the castle and takes to the streets of King's Landing. While traveling, she creates a list of people who she want to kill for the deaths of her family and friends. Later on, she traveled to Braavos and takes up assassination lessons from the Faceless Men. After returning to Westeros, [[spoiler:she kills Walder Frey, who orchestrated the Red Wedding that killed her mother, her oldest brother, her sister-in-law and their bannermen]].
137	** Like his older sister, Bran Stark has racked up a body count during his travel, including a couple of Wildlings and Locke. Right now, he's responsible for five deaths.
138	* The reason the fourth episode of ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'' was yanked from broadcast was because the killer of the week brainwashed children into killing their families. Bryan Fuller felt that it was too reminsicent of certain events.
139	* To a lesser extent in ''Series/KidNation''. The children end up having to kill chickens to feed themselves.
140	* Comes up in an episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit''. The individual in question is an adult by the time of the episode, but as a child, he was forced to become a {{Child Soldier\|s}} in Uganda, and he's permanently traumatized by his experiences and the memory of the people he was forced to kill, [[spoiler:leading to him [[DrivenToSuicide committing suicide]] at the end of the episode.]]
141	* On ''Series/{{Lost}}'', Sayid got his start in murder by covering for his brother when forced to kill a chicken. Eko did the same thing, but with a person.
142	* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': It turns out that a young [[spoiler: Bobby Singer]] killed his abusive father while he was threatening his mother. Hunters in general too -- many of them start off being trained by their parents while still quite young. Krissy Chambers kills her first demon at 14.
143	[[/folder]]
144
145	[[folder:Roleplay]]
146	* ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'': Even if you don't count the teenagers (who are usually 15-19) being forced to kill each other, there have been a few younger characters on the show as well, such as 12-year olds who did fit this.
147	[[/folder]]
148
149	[[folder:Video Games]]
150	* Referenced by Lucil in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2 Final Fantasy X-2]]'' in which she mentions her hope of a new age "in which children will never have to lift a sword."
151	* ''VideoGame/FugaMelodiesOfSteel'' has the main cast kids ranged from 4 to 12 piloting a giant tank through their war-torn country to fight back against an invading military force, realizing early on that they have to take lives in order to save their friends and family. This hits them as early as the first chapter.
152	--->'''Malt:''' [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone We just... killed someone...]]
153	* In the [[AfterTheEnd world]] of ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'', 14 year old [[{{Deuteragonist}} Ellie]] is forced kill not only [[TechnicallyLivingZombie Infected Humans]] but other humans too in self-defense. The Resort level particular has Ellie taking on an entire town of bandits by herself and killing their leader at the end.
154	* The prequel novel to ''VideoGame/MarySkelterNightmares'' reveals that [[TheBerserker Blood Skelter]] was discovered after a tragedy in which a ten-year-old Red Riding Hood inadvertently caused a fellow Blood Maiden to go insane by splashing [[AlienBlood Marchen blood]] all over them, resulting in said Blood Maiden lashing out and Red Riding Hood instinctively impaling them with her freshly-gifted pair of [[ShearMenace person-sized scissors]]. In ''Mary Skelter 2'', this trope ends up [[spoiler:DoubleSubverted: Otsuu rescues Little Mermaid from her predicament before Red Riding Hood arrives and thus [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong prevents the original tragedy from happening]], but it ultimately ends up creating [[ButterflyOfDoom an even worse timeline]], so Otsuu and Little Mermaid revert things to the original timeline...[[ShootTheShaggyDog resulting in Mermaid's novel death right before the closing credits.]]]]
155	* {{Defied\|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsX''. The first time [[Anime/MashinHeroWataruSeries Wataru]] takes out a [[Franchise/{{Gundam}} Mobile Suit]], he realizes that they are piloted by humans; however, Ryujinmaru quickly assures him that every manned unit that he's fighting has an EjectionSeat and that nobody actually dies.
156	** ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsT'' follows suit with [[Manga/MagicKnightRayearth Hikaru, Umi and Fuu]]. Since they're older than Wataru (they are in their early teens whereas Wataru is a fourth-grader), they immediately know that they're fighting other humans and thus actually urge the enemy pilots to activate their EjectionSeat whenever their suits are about to explode. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:they cannot defy the trope when it comes to Princess Emeraude, just like in the original series]].
157	* ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' has this when you take into account [[spoiler: [[TheHero Luke]] [[YoungerThanTheyLook is actually seven]] which makes his entire freak out and inability to adjust to having to kill humans both more understandable and more horrifying.]] [[GoldDigger Anise]] is thirteen and a [[ChurchMilitant fon master guardian]] but doesn't seem to suffer in this regard.
158	* One of the ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' comics has The Spy teaching a kid to stab [[BadSanta Old Nick]] in the neck. The kid has no moral issues with it after the fact, and [[BlackComedy it's played as a heartwarming experience]].
159	* Can happen in ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead''. For example, Clementine can have to [[spoiler: shoot The Stranger to save Lee if he fails to protect himself]], or even [[spoiler: shoot an infected Lee before he turns - if he tells her she has to do it.]]
160	[[/folder]]
161
162	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
163	* The entire premise of the ''Franchise/DanganRonpa'' series. 15 to 16 high schoolers are imprisoned in a location (school, island, school respectively for the three main titles) and forced into a “killing game” by the sadistic teddy bear mascot Monokuma. The first person to kill someone else and not be voted as the killer in a trial by the (remaining) students gets to escape and live, while everyone else dies. If they are voted as the killer, they instead are executed by Monokuma in an ironic [[spoiler:(including a chef being cooked alive, a biker being forced into one of those motorcycle ball stunt cage and [[ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext turned into butter]] and a gambler who pretends to be European being burned at the stake and run over by a truck)]] and over the top fashion. Even if you don’t kill and aren’t killed, you have to send others to their death for doing so.
164	** In [[VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony the third game]], [[spoiler:Maki Harukaw]]'s backstory involves [[spoiler:her]] being taken away from the orphanage by a group known as the Holy Salvation Society and being forced to become an assassin.
165	[[/folder]]
166
167	[[folder:Web Comics]]
168	* This is standard in the setting of ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'', where children as young as 10 are expected to be able to defend themselves if need be, and the straightest example is when Ariel, who at the time is the equivalent of a 7 year old human child, [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=4501 is forced to choose]] between killing Mir'kiin, an asshole who had tried to kill her, and fighting her cousin to the death. She chooses to kill Mir'kiin, and it's heavily implied this leaves her with PTSD.
169	* Example from, of all places, ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive''. Well, depending on your definition of 'child', but [[spoiler:Susan and Nanase]] probably weren't much more than 12 when, during a class-trip to France, they wind up being targeted by a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Somewhat Different Vampire]]. He's not technically human, but he LOOKS human - mostly - and while [[spoiler:Nanase]] does most of the fighting, it's [[spoiler: Susan]] who ends up having to kill him - with an axe, even. Unsurprisingly, she was traumatized, and the arc that featured the flashback culminated in an Immortal decrying the irresponsibility of the two french Immortals who originally equipped [[spoiler: Nanase and Susan]] for the battle, while giving them no apparent alternative save dying at the hands of the vampire. Apparently, they could have simply informed the French Government's anti-supernatural-creature-squad instead, but elected to drag two pre-teens into a battle in order to 'recruit them for the fight against evil'.
170	[[/folder]]
171
172	[[folder:Web Original]]
173	* Parodied by ''Website/{{Cracked}}'', in [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/an-apology-to-town-that-i-turned-into-the-hunger-games/ an article]] consisting of a man apologizing to his neighbors for kidnapping their children and holding a ''Hunger Games''-inspired event. [[ComedicSociopathy He still thinks it was friggin' awesome, though.]]
174	* One of the matches in ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' was [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Luigi]] vs. [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Tails]]. Since these are battles to the death, KidHero Tails would need to kill Luigi in order to win. [[spoiler:In the end, he does.]]
175	** Another one was [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Gaara]] vs. [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Toph Beifong]], wherein the latter is only 12 years old. [[spoiler:Like Tails, she does kill Gaara.]]
176	** And much later came [[Webcomic/MobPsycho100 Mob]] vs. [[Webcomic/OnePunchMan Tatsumaki]], in which the former is only eight years old. [[spoiler:Unlike the two earlier battles, Mob is defeated and killed by his foe.]]
177	** There is also the case of [[WesternAnimation/BenTen Ben Tennyson]] having to fight, and potentially kill, [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Hal Jordan]]. [[spoiler:Just like Mob, Ben doesn't leave with his life.]]
178	* The subject matter of ''[[http://akaichounokoe.deviantart.com/gallery/?q=mercenary#/d5b7zbq Madgie, what did you do? XIX:Mercenary]]'' and, as the description put it, no one is exempt from fighting, even the youngest must fight, as in if they can hold a weapon and know what it is, they can fight.
179	** One a side note, it's also been pointed out that Bunny was surprised that Doki (the one leading this group) was affectionate and maternal towards them and that they mean a lot to her, thus if she didn't have to, she wouldn't be putting them up to it but she has no choice and they have no choice either, as per the lines:
180	--->"In whatever war that is going on, I was surprised that Doki was very affectionate with them and it occurred to me that, due to what was going on, she didn't want to put them up to killing as so to defend their turf or themselves but it was not like she could take them anywhere else or hide them for very long. As it seemed in the case of Violetta, who was minus a leg, they would have to be damaged in sort of way if they were to be out of duty. Doki's affection towards them proved what no one thought, it proved that they were not expendable weapons and, that to her, they were precious and that, if she didn't have to, she wouldn't be making them do what they are doing."
181	[[/folder]]
182
183	[[folder:Western Animation]]
184	* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' is set in a world at war, and since the protagonists are children, it's only natural that this trope gets discussed. The protagonists face lethal confrontations with soldiers left and right (though only Sokka is unquestionably forced to kill because of it), and at one point we see a group of displaced children who are willing to kill ''innocent civilians'' for revenge against the Fire Nation.
185	** Aang, only 12 years old, absolutely hates this. He believes all life is sacred, and he is horrified at the thought of having to kill Fire Lord Ozai. After allowing the Ocean Spirit to possess him and sink an entire Fire Navy fleet during the Siege of the North, he has nightmares about losing control and killing people while in the Avatar State.
186	* ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'': In "The Wasteland", [[spoiler:MT is forced to kill Agent Mace in self-defense, and it's not helped by [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath the gruesome way it ends up happening]]: she ''grinds him against the wheels of the Train'' while he screams in agony and [[GoryDiscretionShot we see Mace's leaking chrome body splatter against MT's face]].]]
187	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'', a clip from ''The Rusty Venture Show'' shows a young Rusty traumatically having to shoot a bad guy to save his father. Just one of the [[DysfunctionJunction many little events]] that screwed up Rusty. He also briefly mentions being forced to kill a man using a house key at age ten. Played for pitch-black laughs.
188	* ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'': Besides the more impersonal versions of blowing up enemy ships, Pidge, the youngest Paladin of Voltron, personally kills a Galra early in the series.
189	[[/folder]]
190
191	[[folder:Real Life]]
192	* There are [[https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/84357377-157.html numerous]] cases of [[https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/s-boy-13-kills-burglar-mother-gun-police-article-1.2431838 children]] killing [[http://www.fox29.com/news/14-year-old-defends-his-family-against-two-burglary-suspects burglars]].
193	[[/folder]]
194

Context Main / ChildrenForcedToKill