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| 4 | %% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks! |
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| 9 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1318108530058803800 |
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| 12 | [[quoteright:177:[[Webcomic/{{Fluble}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/if-youre-so-evil-eat-this-kitten_1759.gif]]]] |
| 13 | |
| 14 | ->'''The Forehead:''' Wait a second... something smells fishy here. I don't think you guys ''are'' villains!\ |
| 15 | '''The Tick:''' Oh no, we're — we're bad!\ |
| 16 | '''Arthur:''' Oh yeah, the worst!\ |
| 17 | '''The Forehead:''' Okay. If you guys are so evil, why don't you just... ''eat this kitten!''\ |
| 18 | [''holds out an appealing kitten, which meows plaintively''] |
| 19 | -->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'', "Armless but Not Harmless" |
| 20 | |
| 21 | A villain challenges someone (usually [[TheMole a good character undercover]] or a suspected turncoat) to do something evil to verify [[CardCarryingVillain his villainous credentials]]. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | Whenever the Bad Guys test another person's willingness to do immoral deeds by ordering them to do one -- either to demonstrate they aren't a Good Guy in disguise or just to prove that they won't shy away from dirty work -- this trope is in play. While the trope name suggests cartoonish supervillainy, more serious versions are right at home in dramatic works: if you're really with us, take these drugs; strangle this prostitute; shoot this cop. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | In almost all circumstances, the hero either [[TakeAThirdOption Takes A Third Option]] or fails this particular test. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | Note that in RealLife this very rarely happens, since even sincere recruits would likely be turned away by such a "test." If someone's only joining a gang to [[PunchClockVillain make a living and get some allies]], as many criminals do, committing murder on the first day is probably a lot further than they're willing to go. However, it's not unheard of for those who want to rise up into the leadership of some organized crime groups, as a means to weed out possible [[TheInfiltration undercover cops]], who have some latitude to do some illegal acts to maintain their cover but are never allowed to commit murder or other serious offenses[[note]]If necessary, some acts can be faked or staged. For instance, induction into the Hell's Angels requires an aspiring member to commit murder. The FBI was able to embed an undercover agent into the organization by taking low-quality polaroids of a volunteer covered in cherry-pie filling[[/note]]. |
| 28 | |
| 29 | In anime and manga this is frequently called a ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fumie fumi-e]]'' from the analogy with the historical practice of making people step on Christian religious symbols to prove they were not Christians. |
| 30 | |
| 31 | ShootYourMate is a subtrope. Related to AllegianceAffirmation, which refers to declarations of allegiance in general, and DeadlyGraduation, where the victorious 'kitten' is the one who eats the rest of the litter. Compare ProveIAmNotBluffing. Contrast SecretTestOfCharacter, GodTest, GoodnessExam and EvenEvilHasStandards. KillMeNowOrForeverStayYourHand is an inversion (Bob gives Alice a chance to kill him, hoping she'll realize that she's too good a person to do it). The InitiationCeremony can be a far milder version of this trope, although certain subtropes, such as the GangInitiationFight, may not be so mild. |
| 32 | |
| 33 | No relation to EmergencyFoodSupplyAnimal, although both can overlap if a ''literal'' kitten is targeted as a food. |
| 34 | |
| 35 | [[noreallife]] |
| 36 | |
| 37 | ---- |
| 38 | !!Examples: |
| 39 | |
| 40 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 41 | |
| 42 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 43 | * In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', it's revealed that [[spoiler: Reiner]] forced [[spoiler: Annie]] to take [[spoiler: Marco]]'s gear and leave them for dead as a way to prove that [[spoiler: Annie]] wasn't compromised. Ironically, this act ended up emotionally and mentally breaking both [[spoiler: Reiner]] and [[spoiler: Annie]]. |
| 44 | * Inverted in ''Manga/BladeOfTheImmortal'' when Shira feeds Rin a dog she befriended (without her knowing) and tells her the equivalent of: "You ate the dog, you must be evil". |
| 45 | * In the [[FillerArc Zanpakutou Unknown Tales arc]] of ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', Senbonzakura is distrustful of Byakuya joining the zanpakutou side of the war, so he makes him a challenge to prove his loyalty. That challenge is [[spoiler: to murder Sode no Shirayuki, Rukia's zanpakutou, and hand the broken remains to her afterward]]. Of course, Senbonzakura [[WrongGenreSavvy wasn't expecting Byakuya to actually pull it off]]. His reaction afterward is simply ''priceless''. |
| 46 | * ''Manga/CaseClosed'' has Kir being under FBI surveillance in a hospital for a long time. When Kir manages to return to the organization, Gin demands proof that she hasn't gone soft or switched sides to the FBI. Gin wants Kir to call Akai Shuuichi, one of the FBI's best agents, former [[TheMole infiltrating spy]] in the organization, and personal thorn in Gin's side, and kill him. And insists that the meeting be done right now, no time to waste because he doesn't want to give anyone a chance to come up with a plan to stop Akai's death. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for him, long before Kir even went back to the organization, Conan had [[BatmanGambit already laid steps out to fake Akai's death and fool Gin]].]] |
| 47 | * ''Anime/CodeGeass'' had "If you're so evil, shoot this Britannian!" and "If you're so evil, murder the innocents!" as tests for [[Characters/CodeGeassSuzakuKururugi Suzaku Kururugi]]. Not to mention "If you're so evil, execute your childhood mentor!" [[spoiler: He disobeyed orders on the first (and was promptly shot as a response), then lucked out the rest of the time when someone interrupted.]] |
| 48 | * Also used in ''Anime/{{Dangaioh}}'', when [[spoiler: Garimoth]] defies Pai Thunder [[spoiler: aka Barius, his daughter]] to kill [[spoiler: Roll]] in front of him. [[spoiler: Miya and Lamda intervene, though, and Pai rejects her evil father.]] |
| 49 | * At the beginning of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' Raditz, on top of kidnapping his son, tells Goku to prove his loyalty to the Saiyans by killing a hundred humans and dumping their bodies on Master Roshi's island. Funny enough, Raditz is surprised that Goku gives him a big fat 'hell no' when he tracks him down and fights him instead. |
| 50 | * In ''Manga/GunsmithCats'', bounty hunter Rally Vincent is asked to shoot a hostage with a gun with one bullet to prove she's in with the bad guys. Using that one bullet she fires [[ImprobableAimingSkills at such an angle]] to sever the ropes holding the hostage and also hit one of the hostage-takers in the leg. Originally, the gun wasn't loaded at all, and she's such a gun expert that she knew it from the weight and called the bad guys out on it, that's when they gave her one bullet. It helped that she was not on particularly good terms with the hostage. |
| 51 | * Early in ''Anime/KurauPhantomMemory'', Kurau is asked to shoot her (incognito) friend to prove she's not with him. She pulls the trigger, but surreptitiously uses her powers to make the gun misfire. |
| 52 | * ''Manga/{{Kinnikuman}}'' |
| 53 | ** During the American Tour arc, Kin goes CharlieBrownFromOuttaTown to infiltrate an organization of evil Choujin. When the World Choujin Federation suspect 'Chanelman' of being Kin, they put out a picture of Mayumi, as part of a Fumi-e. Kinnikuman gladly stomps on the photo, to which Meat silently remarks that this sort of test is easy for Kinnikuman, who has the least respect for his father. |
| 54 | ** Later, it's revealed that the WCF has something similar as their normal entrance test - to join them, you must bring in the severed head of a heroic Choujin. Two of the applicants try to fake it and are kicked out, while one passes by bringing the head of a rival company's former champion. |
| 55 | * Early in the ''Manga/MegaManX'' manga, a maverick attempts to convince X to kill a human girl to prove he's a not a "traitor" to the reploid race. [[BewareTheNiceOnes X is not pleased.]] |
| 56 | * In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'', [[TheStoic Trowa]] infiltrates OZ by posing as a volunteer pilot from the colonies. When he demonstrates skill above and beyond the rest of the recruits, [[ColonelBadass Lady Une]] instantly suspects that he's a Gundam Pilot trying to infiltrate OZ. To test him, she brings out the Gundam Deathscythe (captured and badly damaged but still intact) and orders him to finish the job. Trowa does so without hesitation, [[NotSoStoic but is surprised to discover that doing so made him cry]]. |
| 57 | * In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', [[spoiler:Number 2 ranked pro hero Hawks]] naturally faces suspicion in his infiltration of the [[LegionOfDoom League of Villains]] despite the very real intel he's feeding them. Thus, he brings them [[spoiler:the apparent corpse of Number 3 pro hero Best Jeanist]], proving his loyalty in rather dramatic fashion. [[spoiler:Except that Hawks is actually [[TheMole still entirely loyal to the heroes]], and exposes all of the League's secrets. While it's implied that [[DirtyBusiness he killed the already critically wounded Best Jeanist for real]] in order to sell his infiltration, the latter hero eventually shows up just fine to pull a BigDamnHeroes; the body ''was'' Best Jeanist's, but induced to a death-like trance similar to the Nomu when they have no orders. Hawks does admit he was lucky they let him keep the body after all is said and done; however, and Jeanist complains his body still hurts like hell after his revival.]] |
| 58 | * Subverted in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': [[spoiler:Sasuke]] tells [[spoiler:Sakura]] to do this by killing [[spoiler:his teammate Karin [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness (who had outlived her usefulness as far as he was concerned)]], when she claims she wants to join him. She wasn't going to do either, it was just a ploy to kill him. Before she can do either, he tries to stab her in the back, [[GambitPileup as]] ''[[GambitPileup that]]'' [[GambitPileup was just a ploy]] to kill '''her'''.]] |
| 59 | * ''Manga/OnePiece'': |
| 60 | ** An early story had Nami stabbing Usopp and pushing him into the water in order to prove her loyalty to Arlong. Of course, she was only pretending to do it, and stabbed her own hand to help with the ruse. |
| 61 | ** Even before that, Zoro did a non-verbal one on her to see if Nami is truly as cold-blooded as Arlong claims by throwing himself into the pool while tied up. Nami leaps after him without hesitation. |
| 62 | ** She was also told to shoot Luffy even earlier to prove her loyalty to Buggy. Short story shorter, she failed the test that time - lucky for the next 500 chapters or so. |
| 63 | ** Hordy Jones' men force the people of Fishman Island to step on a picture of their beloved, assassinated Queen Otohime to prove their acceptance of Jones over the old monarchy. Somewhat subverted, in that Hordy Jones plans to kill those who had signed Otohime's petition even if they did go through the Fumi-e. |
| 64 | * ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'': |
| 65 | ** Inverted: When Kuwabara has [[KindHeartedCatLover his cat]] taken hostage by another student (who was possessed), he's ordered to steal some comics (paying for them wasn't enough) because the demon possessing the student thinks this will ''make'' Kuwabara evil. |
| 66 | ** [[AntiHero Weird heroic example]] occurs later on. Genkai gives Yusuke one final test to prove he's worthy of her power: he must be willing [[MentorOccupationalHazard to take her life]], proving himself TheUnfettered. [[spoiler: Yusuke debates the matter thoroughly, but refuses in the end. Turns out this was the exact reaction Genkai wanted: she'd ''never'' bequeath her power to a student [[TheFarmerAndTheViper willing to kill her for it]] any more than [[TheFettered to a student too soft to even consider it]]. Instead, she wanted someone [[GoodIsNotSoft brave enough to weigh the value of the power she offered against their own loyalty, THEN refuse]]. [[SoProudOfYou Yusuke was that someone]]]]. |
| 67 | [[/folder]] |
| 68 | |
| 69 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 70 | * ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': |
| 71 | ** An early story featured Bats and Comicbook/GreenLantern attempting to infiltrate an evil group of fascists, but getting caught almost immediately. Batman is put through brainwashing while Green Lantern watches helplessly (devoid of his ring), and afterward, the final "test" to see if Batman truly has been brainwashed, is to hand him a gun and ask him to shoot Green Lantern. Which he does -- but the gun isn't loaded, fortunately. As soon as the villain relaxes his guard, however, the heroes turn the tables on him and escape. Batman hadn't been brainwashed after all; he just knew that the gun wouldn't be loaded, since [[BatmanGambit the villain wouldn't want to risk having Batman shoot]] ''[[BatmanGambit him]]'' [[BatmanGambit instead]]. |
| 72 | ** People tend to forget that though Batman [[DoesntLikeGuns Does Not Like Guns]], he [[CrazyPrepared knows near everything about them]]. In less effed-up situations, he always knows when the {{Mooks}} need to reload - and in that particular one, he would have instantly known the gun was empty due to its weight. |
| 73 | * In ''ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures'' comic, Batman goes undercover in Black Mask's organization, which then captures Batgirl. As Black Mask suspects a traitor in the group, he has each member step forward and turn a wheel, filling a tank containing Batgirl 1/7 full of water. There are seven mooks being tested, including Batman. |
| 74 | * ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'': |
| 75 | ** After his training was completed, ComicBook/RedSkull received his first order: kill a Nazi officer who had failed Hitler. He instead merely taunts the officer by [[ImprobableAimingSkills shooting the buttons off his jacket]], explaining that a dead officer is useless, but an officer who survives and knows what you'll do to him if he fails again is an asset. |
| 76 | ** ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfCaptainAmerica'': When ComicBook/BuckyBarnes pretends to be brainwashed under Doctor Faustus's control, Faustus tests his loyalty by ordering him to kill [[{{ComicBook/Agent 13}} Sharon Carter]]. Bucky uses the chance to instead shoot Faustus, but to no avail since the gun is filled with blanks. |
| 77 | * During one arc of ''ComicBook/CaptainBritainAndMI13'', part vampire superhero Spitfire is being mentally controlled by Dracula. To test if she really is under his control or working as a mole for the good guys she is ordered to kill an innocent prisoner. [[spoiler:She does. Even though she's not actually under Dracula's mental control.]] |
| 78 | * In the first ''ComicBook/{{Deadshot}}'' miniseries, Deadshot is infiltrating a drug cartel for the Comicbook/SuicideSquad; he's asked to shoot a man they claim is an undercover FBI agent -- and immediately does just that, to the dismay of his field commander Rick Flag. The FBI agent assigned to the case assures Flag that they didn't have an agent inside, but Flag points out that Deadshot [[HowDidYouKnowIDidnt didn't know that]] and in any case wouldn't have cared. |
| 79 | * In ''ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel'', Snake Eyes appears to be trying to rejoin his old ninja clan along side Storm Shadow. Storm Shadow orders Snake Eyes to kill the kidnapped Scarlet (whom Storm Shadow knows was in a relationship with Snake Eyes) before the incoming force of Joes could rescue her. Snake Eyes runs her through with his katana, without hesitation, and escapes with Storm Shadow just as the Joes bust in. Not only is Scarlet still alive when they find her, but when they get her to a hospital, they find that Snake Eyes' blow was somehow just a really deep flesh wound, missing every major organ and blood vessel in the blade's path. [[TheMedic Lifeline]] notes that the odds of such a blow were near-impossible, even for a master swordsman like Snake Eyes. Cut to Scarlet, smiling with tears in her eyes: She knew there was no way Snake Eyes could [[ImplausibleFencingPowers strike such a non-lethal blow accidentally]], so knew Snake Eyes was still on their side. |
| 80 | * In ''ComicBook/{{Lanfeust}}'', Thanos orders Cixi, who has the ability to manipulate water, to prove her loyalty by killing his brother by boiling his blood. Cixi reluctantly executes the order. [[spoiler: She's later revealed to be a FakeDefector]]. |
| 81 | * ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' storyline "ComicBook/ThoseEmeraldEyesAreShining": After capturing several Legionnaires, Emerald Empress orders Ontiir to execute them to prove his loyalties lie with her instead of his previous masters, the Dark Circle. |
| 82 | * ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'': When reincarnated as his child self with no memory of his evil ways, Loki kept trying to convince the people whose help he needed to save Thor and Earth that he was still the evil manipulator who is totally on their level (and [[LampshadeHanging lampshades it to his companions]]) |
| 83 | -->'''Loki:''' "More to fear than me"! Oh Tyr, how fun this villainous talk is! (issue 625)\ |
| 84 | '''Loki:''' And the Tongue will give it to us, or else I'll tear it out at its bloody root. *turns to Ikol* That's the sort of thing I'm meant to say, yes? (issue 624) |
| 85 | * Played with in one ''ComicBook/NewGods'' comic that shows the origin of Granny Goodness. She was trained alongside a dog, who she bonded with. To graduate, her trainer ordered her to kill it. Instead, she turns around and kills ''him''. ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} demands an explanation, so Granny responds that the dog was more useful, since it would obey her first, but Darkseid foremost. Darkseid commands the dog to attack her, and she kills it in self-defense. Impressed, Darkseid promotes her to her current status. |
| 86 | * ''ComicBook/ThePowerpuffGirls'': Issue #50 (DC run), "Deja View" puts the girls in Viletown, an alternate universe Townsville where their hero is the noble chimpanzee Jomo Momo (alternate Mojo Jojo). The girls are imprisoned by Jomo, who doubts their word that they are heroes in their world. Jomo tests them: |
| 87 | -->'''Jomo:''' Pop quiz! There is a cuddly little kitten stranded in a tree. Do you '''A.)''' Rob a nearby bank? '''B.)''' Eat the kitten ''then'' rob a nearby bank? '''C.)''' Rescue the kitten?\ |
| 88 | '''Girls:''' '''''C!'''''\ |
| 89 | '''Jomo:''' (''surprised'') Holy Toledo! They ''are'' good! |
| 90 | * ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'': |
| 91 | ** In an early issue, Frank Castle is attempting to infiltrate a drug cartel. He is given a gun with one bullet and told to shoot a narcotics agent the cartel had captured. He is also surrounded by several heavily armed thugs just in case he decides to use the bullet on someone else. |
| 92 | ** A later Punisher story had him infiltrating a white supremacist organization, and being told to prove his loyalty by killing a Latina reporter who'd been nosing around the group's hideout (who also happened to be his current tech guy's girlfriend). The twist is that [[spoiler:the villain of the piece employs technology that enhances the aggression and anger of those exposed to it, which causes Frank to actually do it]]. Neither he nor the tech guy respond well, and [[spoiler:the tech guy ends up as the new Jigsaw by the end of it]]. |
| 93 | * In one of Creator/AlanMoore's ''ComicBook/ThargsFutureShocks'', a mild-mannered repairman who has fallen on hard times decides on a new career as a {{supervillain}}. At the villain training school, the applicants are required to demonstrate their evilness by taking candy from a baby. |
| 94 | * ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel UK'' had an issue wherein the Decepticons had captured Hot Rod, Kup, and Blurr, but an infiltrator in their midst had helped the Autobots escape. Megatron suspected that the spy had to be one of four possible suspects: Octopunch, Stranglehold, Bludgeon, and Warmonger. To suss out said spy (and to perhaps also remove a possible rival for power) Megatron sent Octopunch, Stranglehold, and Warmonger to hunt down Bludgeon. Warmonger got the drop on a weakened Bludgeon but was too noble to kill an unarmed and defenseless enemy in cold blood. Having watched events from the sidelines, Megatron promptly blasted the scrap out of him, rightly guessing that only an Autobot would have that kind of moral objection. This was something of a ForegoneConclusion as the story was a flashback and would later require Octopunch, Stranglehold, and Bludgeon to be alive for their stories, and Warmonger was a ToylessToylineCharacter in a franchise famous for its toys. |
| 95 | * ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'': In one issue, Shang-Chi is applying undercover for the job of the Kingpin's bodyguard. Unfortunately, he fails the 'randomly kill that guy' test. |
| 96 | [[/folder]] |
| 97 | |
| 98 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 99 | * One ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' strip, in which a jungle researcher's attempt to go undercover is met with: "So, you're a gorilla, huh? Well, then you wouldn't mind eating these grubs. In fact, we wanna to see you chug 'em." |
| 100 | [[/folder]] |
| 101 | |
| 102 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 103 | * ''Fanfic/AdviceAndTrust'' has a non-villainous (but otherwise very on-point) example when Misato is told about Shinji and Asuka's relationship, and assumes that they're pranking her. |
| 104 | --> '''Misato''': My my, Asuka. Who knew you'd be knocked head over heels for 'that baka Shinji'. It's so romantic! Let me see you plant a nice juicy kiss on your sweetie's lips. Go ahead. |
| 105 | * ''Fanfic/AllAlone'': Hookwolf is angry about Animator disrupting the Empire's initiations, because having new members break ribs or crack skulls is a reliable way of filtering out undercover police. |
| 106 | * ''Blog/BetterBonesAU'': This is part why Sol asks for [[HumanSacrifice sacrifices]] he doesn't actually need; it proves the cat working for him can be manipulated into doing anything for him. In Harry's case this involves killing literal kittens. |
| 107 | * ''Fanfic/TheChoicesThatMakeUs'': After Regulus captures one of Eliphias Doge's granddaughters during a mission, his fellow Death Eaters tell him to use the Imperius curse on the girl largely to observe if he has the resolve to. He makes an effort to, but her magic is too strong, and he doesn’t really want to anyway. |
| 108 | * In ''Fanfic/{{Daemorphing}}'', Visser Three tries to out Visser One as a ‘host sympathizer’ by demanding she shoot one of the children of her previous host dead. Visser One wasn’t a sympathizer in general but was attached to that life… but by this point had been kill-and-replaced by Aftran, who decidedly is. Aftran does it anyway. |
| 109 | * In the ''Manga/DeathNote'' [[AlternateUniverseFic AU]] ''Fanfic/FeverDreams'' Light does this as part of his BatmanGambit when he has Rem [[LaserGuidedAmnesia wipe the memories]] of all the police officers by tricking them into accepting and giving up ownership of [[ArtifactOfDoom the notebook]]. He does this in order to ensure that none of them will keep the notebook-if any of them try to keep it Rem is to tell them that [[SecretTestOfCharacter they passed the test of bravery]] and that she had selected them to be the next Kira, and if they would just [[PaterFamilicide slaughter their families]] and fifty additional innocent people then they could have the power of Kira. |
| 110 | * In ''Fanfic/NoGodsOnlyGuns'', Roland is [[SadisticChoice forced by his commanding officer]] to prove he is a SociopathicSoldier who is loyal to the [[PrivateMilitaryContractors Crimson Lance]] by ordering him to execute unarmed Hyperion scientists, or be summarily executed himself by the majority of his squad. |
| 111 | * In the ''TabletopGame/FreedomCity'' fic ''Olympus Delendam Est!'', OriginalCharacter Overpower has a public brawl with the Freedom League and is taken into the Crime League HQ, where she's asked to kill a bound prisoner. She does this without any hesitation ... much to the annoyance of [[GadgeteerGenius Gimmick]], who has to teleport the prisoner away and an LMD into his place without anyone noticing, and would have appreciated a little more time to do it in. |
| 112 | * ''Fanfic/ThePowerOfSeven'': Downplayed when Pansy Parkinson is ordered to stab Draco Malfoy in the heart for his role in the recent failed attempt to kill Dumbledore; [[spoiler:Malfoy is protected by a ward that stops the blade actually penetrating his body, but the fact that Pansy was willing to do it is enough for Bellatrix]]. |
| 113 | * ''Fanfic/TeamSMASK'' (a ''Series/DoctorWho'' macro fanfic), to test John to see if he wants to enter the league of evil characters, he is told to shag the Racnoss. He complies. |
| 114 | [[/folder]] |
| 115 | |
| 116 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 117 | * In Pixar's film ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'', Syndrome basically tells Mr. Incredible, to paraphrase, "If you've actually been driven over the edge, go right ahead and crush my subordinate Mirage to death!" This calls Mr. Incredible's bluff and Mr. Incredible can't bring himself to do it...but Mirage is justifiably pissed off that Syndrome was ''even willing to take that chance.'' |
| 118 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie'': [[BigBad President Business]] demonstrates his super-weapon, the Kragle, by forcing [[TheDragon Bad Cop]] to use it upon his parents. [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes He initially refuses]], thanks to his good cop side, before President Business removes his Good Cop persona (with a Q-tip and nail polish remover). He is then perfectly willing to go through with the deed. |
| 119 | [[/folder]] |
| 120 | |
| 121 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 122 | * In ''Film/AsianSchoolGirls'', Charles forces the crooks who supply the girls for his rape ring to rape one of the girls they supply so that they are fully implicated in the crimes and cannot go to the police. |
| 123 | * In the Russian [=WW2=] film ''Film/{{Ballada o Bombere}}'' (2011), Linko has to denounce, then shoot a fellow prisoner before he's allowed to join a collaborationist police unit. The German officer in charge says it's the first time he ever saw one of them not hesitate to kill a man for a bowl of soup (the unit gets better rations than the other Soviet POW's). |
| 124 | * In ''Film/TheBattleOfAlgiers'', when Ali-La-Pointe first joins the Algerian resistance, he's given a gun and assigned to shoot a policeman. He tries, but the gun is empty, and he has to run away to avoid arrest; later he's told that it was a test; if he had been a spy, the French might have let him kill an Algerian, but not a cop. Of course, whether this is a test of evil or good or something else isn't a question the movie really lets you answer. Amusingly, the test goes badly because he was [[GoneHorriblyRight too committed to the cause.]] He was ordered to sneak up behind a policeman and shoot him in the back. Instead, he [[PrepareToDie angrily confronts the policeman]] and pulls the trigger [[OhCrap of an empty gun.]] |
| 125 | * In ''[[Film/BirdsOfPrey2020 Birds of Prey]]'', when Dinah Lance finds that Cassandra Cain has swallowed the Bertinelli Diamond that Roman Sionis is after, Sionis's right-hand man Victor Zsasz, who has already found evidence that Dinah may be planning to betray Sionis, orders Dinah to prove herself by literally cutting Cassandra open to retrieve the diamond. Rather than kill an innocent, Dinah turns on Sionis, which results in him being killed when the rest of the titular heroes show up. |
| 126 | * Related to the Child Soldiers in RealLife, ''Film/BloodDiamond'' has this done with Solomon's son, Dia, who [[spoiler: was brainwashed to the point of hating his father and ratting him out when he was about to be rescued from the army. The reason was then made clear later on - that Dia believed that, after what he had done, he didn't deserve to lead a normal, happy life.]] |
| 127 | * ''Film/BlueStreak'': |
| 128 | ** Played with when Miles is trying to prove himself to a gang. The man they want him to shoot had previously betrayed him, and was currently claiming he was a cop. |
| 129 | --->'''Jean:''' Shoot this man.\ |
| 130 | '''Miles:''' No problem. ''[shoots him in the arm]''\ |
| 131 | '''Jean:''' I meant kill him!\ |
| 132 | '''Miles:''' Well, you didn't say that! |
| 133 | ** Miles is actually a former jewel thief, so he's not exactly a moral person. However, Deacon was part of the heist at the start of the film and killed Miles's protege. The strange part is that Jean is told that Miles is a {{Mook}} hired to help run drugs through customs. For some reason, Jean assumes that Miles would be willing to murder someone. |
| 134 | * In ''Film/TheBourneUltimatum'', Bourne is ordered to shoot a complete stranger at the end of his training. This is less to prove his evilness than to show that he's accepted absolute obedience to orders, no matter whether the target was known to be bad, or not, or totally innocent. But mostly the principle is the same. [[spoiler:He accepts it, because he's tortured by waterboarding when he refuses.]] |
| 135 | * The ending of ''Film/{{Cthulhu}}''. The protagonist is told to kill his male lover as a HumanSacrifice in order to become the leader of the cult of Dagon. The movie ends [[NoEnding without showing us what happens next]]. |
| 136 | * ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'': |
| 137 | ** ''Film/BatmanBegins'': Downplayed when Henri Ducard and Ra's Al Ghul instructs Bruce Wayne to [[KnightTemplar execute a criminal]] in order to complete his initiation into the League of Shadows ([[ThouShaltNotKill naturally]], Bruce refuses). However, the League is not challenging him to prove that he's evil[[note]]after all, ''they'' certainly don't consider themselves or their acts evil, so why would they order Bruce to act evilly?[[/note]]--they are asking him to prove his commitment to a cause they think is right. |
| 138 | ** ''Film/TheDarkKnight''; After the Joker kills a mobster and takes over his operation, he forces the mobster's former mooks to duel each other to the death to see which of them he'll recruit into his own gang of thugs. Also a case of DeadlyGraduation. |
| 139 | * ''Film/DeepCover'': Russell is a cop working undercover as a drug dealer. When it becomes necessary to take out a competing drug dealer, he actually goes ahead and kills him. |
| 140 | %%* Done over and over again in ''Film/TheDeparted''. |
| 141 | * In a variant from ''Film/DogSoldiers'', one of the troopers washes out of training as a commando because he refused to kill the tracker dog sent to pursue him in a field operation. Not an infiltration, but a similar moral quandary that his commander berates him for shying away from. |
| 142 | * ''Film/DonnieBrasco''. Creator/JohnnyDepp's character must prove his worth and trustworthiness to the bad guys by killing the son of an enemy mobster. The FBI instead decides to [[TakeAThirdOption terminate the operation at the last hour and arrest the mobsters]]. |
| 143 | * ''Film/EasternPromises''; Nikolai is implied to have done a variety of nasty things to get where he is. |
| 144 | * In ''Film/EnterTheDragon'', Han tests Roper's moral limits with a near-literal example of this by placing his own cat in a guillotine. Roper balks. It turns out the guillotine was fake. |
| 145 | * ''Film/TheGreatStLouisBankRobbery'': On learning that the newcomer George Fowler hs no criminal record, he takes George with him and forces him to steal the licence plates the gang will require for the BankRobbery to prove his criminal credentials. |
| 146 | * In ''Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy'', there happens to be a monster disguised as an old lady who Hellboy and Co are trying to get info out of by pretending to be non-good monsters. However, when Hellboy finds out her ''diet'' is kittens as she moves to start eating one, [[KindheartedCatLover Hellboy]] immediately blows his cover by stopping her. By knocking her out cold and across the room. |
| 147 | * In ''Film/HighSchoolHigh'', Jon Lovitz tries to infiltrate some heroin dealers. They notice that he has no needle marks on his arms, which he explains by saying that he usually takes his drugs "''in the ass''". They suspect his story and tell him to shoot up. He tries but doesn't know how, and ends up snapping the rubber hose in one of the thugs' face. |
| 148 | * PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/HopeAndGlory'' where the hero proves his worthiness to join a boy's club by his knowledge of real swear words. |
| 149 | * ''Film/TheIceman''. A Mafia underboss tells Kuklinski to kill a homeless bum he's picked at random to see if Kuklinski has what it takes to be a ProfessionalKiller. |
| 150 | * In ''Film/InsideMan'', the lead detective believes that the bank robbers are not murderers and therefore won't go through with any hostage executions. While inside the bank to check on the hostages, he insults the lead bank robber and attacks him specifically trying to provoke him into shooting him. When he leaves, he's convinced that he's proven his point... until they shoot a hostage in retaliation for his behavior. [[spoiler: In the end he was right. They faked the whole thing just to make him believe they would eat kittens.]] |
| 151 | * In the prologue to ''Film/InTheLineOfFire'', Frank is meeting with his forger, Mendoza, who tells him that he had Frank's partner Al followed, and discovered that he was actually with the Secret Service. Mendoza asks him to shoot Al to prove he isn't also undercover, which Frank does - but the gun is empty. Frank immediately shoots Mendoza's two accomplices and arrests Mendoza himself: He ''was'' undercover. Later, Al asks how Frank knew the gun was empty, whether he could tell by the weight of the pistol that it was unloaded. Frank says yes, but when pressed, he admits [[spoiler:"Well...there might have been ''one'' bullet."]] |
| 152 | * Subverted in ''Film/InTooDeep.'' When undercover cop Cole is asked to prove his loyalty (and uh, not a cop) by killing a rival drug dealer, he takes the gun, an Uzi, and promptly and determinedly begins to ''shoot like crazy'' -- [[ATeamFiring everywhere except at the drug dealer]] (or anyone else). His exuberance convinces the gang's henchmen that he's legit, and maybe even a little ''too'' hardcore, although a terrible shot. |
| 153 | * ''Film/JojoRabbit'': To prove to the Nazis that he's tough enough, Jojo is asked to snap the neck of a rabbit. He ultimately chooses to let the rabbit go, earning him the nickname "Jojo Rabbit," [[KickTheDog at which point one of the Nazis grabs the rabbit and snaps its neck anyways]]. |
| 154 | * ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'': Eggsy is given a puppy to raise as part of his training upon joining the Kingsmen. Once his training is apparently over, he is asked by Arthur to prove his dedication to their cause by shooting the puppy.[[spoiler: It is later revealed that the gun was loaded with blanks, and that the entire training program was created to give the illusion of risk without putting anybody in harm's way.]] |
| 155 | * Other than it being positioned as a test of loyalty to a cult leader rather than evil, ''Film/MarthaMarcyMayMarlene'' plays this almost literally. Patrick, the cult leader, challenges Martha to shoot a cat, heard just offscreen, telling her it has terminal cancer and is in excruciating pain. After she fails, another cult member does it almost without hesitation. The trope is then subverted into EvenEvilHasStandards when another cult member shoots the other cat only to have Patrick criticize him. |
| 156 | * In ''Film/TheNegotiator'' a hostage negotiator is framed for a crime, and knows most of his precinct is corrupt and probably in on it, so he takes hostages himself in order to attract the involvement of another precinct's negotiator, who he knows to be honest. In order to keep up the charade, he seems to execute an officer who came after him. Even the audience doesn't learn until much later that the man is still alive, merely bound and gagged out of sight. |
| 157 | * In ''Film/NewJackCity'', Nino Brown relates a tale from his youth: His gang initiation involved killing someone, but it couldn't be a rival gang member ("''too easy''"). He ends up shooting a schoolteacher on the street in broad daylight. Unfortunately for Nino, the person he relates this tale to is undercover cop Scotty, ''the schoolteacher's son''. |
| 158 | * In ''Film/TheParallaxView'', Joe Frady--a reporter investigating a political assassination--notices all the witnesses are dying. After narrowly escaping an attempt on his life, he decides to allow people to assume he's dead (so he can go undercover). He finds a clue to the shadowy conspiracy in documents from The Parallax Corporation, some of which are a psychological test. With expert assistance Frady answers all the questions [[DressingAsTheEnemy the way a sociopath would]], and ''voila'' he's recruited as an assassin himself. From there, things only get murkier and more frightening... |
| 159 | * The [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution Revolutionary War]] film ''Film/ThePatriot2000'' has Captain Wilkins, a Loyalist who joins the British [[EliteMooks Green Dragoons]]. The Dragoons' commander, [[GeneralRipper Colonel Tavington]], asks Wilkins why he should trust a man who would sell out his own neighbors, and Wilkins replies "[[MyCountryRightOrWrong Those neighbors of mine who stand against England deserve to die a traitor's death]]". Tavington throws these words back at Wilkins later in the film, ordering him to burn down a church with the aforementioned neighbors inside. |
| 160 | * In ''Film/PhilTheAlien,'' in a flashback, we see CIA agent Jones' early training, which involves being order to kill a box of puppies -- [[WithThisHerring with a cheese grater]]. |
| 161 | * Parodied in ''Film/{{Popeye}}''; when Popeye meets Poopdeck Pappy and notes the resemblance between them, Poopdeck decides to see if it's really Popeye by having him eat the spinach straight from the can. As soon as he starts whining and muttering that he doesn't want to eat his spinach, Pappy knows that only Popeye could be so disobedient about eating spinach, just like when he was two years old. |
| 162 | * In ''Film/QueenOfTheDamned'', when the other Ancients rejects Akasha's plans to subject the world again, she demands that Lestat kill Jesse to prove his loyalty to her. He does feed on Jesse, but fails to kill her, and then attacks Akasha. |
| 163 | * In ''Franchise/StarWars'' Episode VIII: ''Film/TheLastJedi'', Kylo Ren takes Rey to Supreme Leader Snoke, [[ColdBloodedTorture who tortures her]]. Then, Snoke orders Kylo to kill her to prove his loyalty to the Dark Side of the Force. [[spoiler:Instead, [[TheStarscream he kills Snoke]] and [[KlingonPromotion makes himself the new Supreme Leader]].]] That said, Expanded Universe materials make the example a different case of this: [[spoiler:Snoke was created for the sole purpose of seeing if Kylo Ren would ultimately kill him to seize power. Which he did, passing that test with flying colors.]] |
| 164 | * In ''Film/{{Trade}}'', Creator/KevinKline's character infiltrates an auction where a 13-year-old girl is being sold as a sex slave. When he wins the auction and goes to pick her up, her captors won't allow him to leave with her until he's taken her virginity. But since they don't insist on watching, he simply has the girl break her own hymen, so that when the captors check the bedroom and see the blood on the bed, they'll assume he had sex with her. |
| 165 | * ''Film/Traffic2000'': A drug dealer is asked to take a hit of the cocaine she's selling to prove it's real. She refuses on the grounds that she's eight months pregnant, and walks out--the guy she's selling stops her, and takes the cocaine himself, as he thinks her refusal was quite reasonable. |
| 166 | * ''Film/TrainingDay'': Throughout the film, Alonzo is constantly asking new recruit Jake to do things contrary to his morality and the law, arguing that to survive in the real world as an undercover cop, you need to be hard enough to do such things. Whenever Jake tries to beg off, Alonzo lectures Jake from a position of authority that refusal will prove that Jake is is too soft for the job, causing him to go against his better judgment and conform to peer pressure. It turns out that [[spoiler:Alonzo is manipulating Jake the whole time to incriminate himself]]. |
| 167 | * ''Film/{{Vilaine}}'' ("Mean"): Downplayed hilariously when the protagonist wants to become mean to take revenge on all of those who constantly abuse her. One step of her self-training is trying to convince herself not to buy a kitten in a pet shop, even knowing that if no one buys them they will eventually be sent to euthanasia. [[spoiler: She buys the last one, but later completes her FaceHeelTurn by tossing it in the trashcan. Don't worry, he's alive...]] |
| 168 | * ''Film/XXx'': The main character shoots a cop to get into Anarchy 99. He uses a fake bullet that's essentially a tranquilizer and red dye, and the cop is his fellow agent. Unfortunately this both [[spoiler:influences that agent's FaceHeelTurn]] ''and'' delays [[spoiler:the girl's HeelFaceTurn]]. |
| 169 | * ''Film/TheWarriorsWay'' have one of these turning up in Yang's flashback, when his mentor, Saddest Flute, made him the "Greatest Swordsman of the East". Part of Yang's training have him raising a puppy, and in order to complete his traning into becoming a full-fledged assassin, Yang must then kill said puppy. |
| 170 | [[/folder]] |
| 171 | |
| 172 | [[folder:Jokes]] |
| 173 | * A common secret organization joke uses this trope, with another variation shown on DeadlyGraduation: |
| 174 | --> Two men and a woman are candidates as assassins for the CIA. They are given a gun, and told that for their final test, they are to enter a room and kill the person they find there. The first man enters and sees his wife tied to a chair; he gives up on the spot. The second man enters his room; several minutes pass before he exits the room in tears, refusing to kill his wife. The woman then enters her room; several shots are immediately heard, followed by several minutes of crashing, banging, and screaming. The woman exits the room and says, "You could have told me there were blanks in the gun. [[MoreDeadlyThanTheMale I had to beat him to death with the chair!]]" |
| 175 | [[/folder]] |
| 176 | |
| 177 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 178 | * In ''Literature/AlaraUnbroken'', the tie-in novel for ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'''s ''Shards of Alara'' block, Rakka Mar offers to lead Ajani Goldmane to [[BigBad Nicol Bolas]]... if he'll slaughter all the friends he brought to help him search. |
| 179 | * ''{{Literature/Animorphs}}'': In "Visser", Visser One is ordered to shoot one of "her" children (the biological children of a previous host, but she and her mate were in control when they decided to have them, so they consider them theirs) who's been infested. She stalls for time, both because she doesn't want to kill him... and to give the Animorphs, who snuck into the room while everyone is looking at the Vissers, time to finish going into battle morphs. {{Subverted}} in that apart from caring about Darwin and Madra, which is why she advocates a slow invasion instead of an open one in which there'd be a higher chance of her children getting killed, Visser One ''is'' very evil. |
| 180 | * In ''Literature/ArcOfAScythe'', the final test to be a scythe is to [[spoiler:basically kill a family member]], although they do it so the worst thing you will ever have to do is behind you. |
| 181 | * In the Creator/AndrewVachss ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' novel ''The Ultimate Evil'', a paedophile organization requires new members to have sex with a child before being shown any of the group's operations, in order to weed out undercover cops. |
| 182 | * In Creator/JRRTolkien's ''Literature/BerenAndLuthien'': When Sauron is interrogating a group of suspicious-looking orcs, guessing they are disguised Elves, he demands they prove their allegiance by swearing loyalty to Morgoth and cursing "Light, law, love" and anything good. |
| 183 | * In Wen Spencer's ''Literature/BitterWaters'' one of the characters is captured by a cult who think they are fighting a holy war against demons. They lock him in a room with a kitten. Their rationale is that if he eats the kitten he's evil, if he starves to death he's okay. [[spoiler:They named the kitten Schrodinger 4.]] |
| 184 | * ''Literature/TheVorkosiganSaga'': In ''Captain Vorpatril's Alliance'' it turns out that the hired killers sent after Tej and Rish had been contracted by a Barrayaran deep cover agent to protect his op. The same agent recruited Ivan to invite Tej on a date to make sure that the assassin and Tej didn't cross paths. |
| 185 | * In the ''Literature/CHERUBSeries'', recruits are asked to kill a rabbit as part of the entrance exam, though it's really a SecretTestOfCharacter and they're not supposed to. In the second series, Ning (an orphan from rural China) calmly and professionally ''does'' kill her rabbit, then asks for a knife to gut it while discussing curing the pelt to make a hat. |
| 186 | * In ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAncientDarkness'', Torak takes the place of an apprentice Soul Eater, in order to infiltrate them and save [[NonHumanSidekick Wolf]]. He has to help them with a ceremony that involves killing one of each of hunting animals: A bear, a lynx, an eagle, a wolverine, a wolf, an otter, an owl, a fox and [[spoiler:a human. The Soul Eaters are planning on Torak being the human]]. In the book's society, killing a hunter is seen as extremely dishonorable and evil. He's asked to kill the owl, and for Wolf's sake, he does. |
| 187 | * ''Literature/{{Creepers}}'': In a non-evil variant, an investigator poses as a destitute New York City tunnel-dweller. To prove his identity and grit to the head of an underground homeless enclave, he has to eat a fire-roasted rat, guts and all. |
| 188 | * Subverted in the ''Franchise/CthulhuMythos'' short story ''The Disciple'' by David Karr Kirtley. Those wanting to join an exclusive study program run by a DarkMessiah professor have to drown a mouse as their 'application'. It turns out to be a sting operation by Miskatonic University to get rid of potentially dangerous people, and the mouse-drowning test is just to assuage the professor's conscience, so he can tell himself the applicants are evil and deserve their fate. |
| 189 | * The final test to become an assassin in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', very appropriately given the nature of the business, is to travel to a certain location and kill the person you find there. The person you kill [[spoiler:is not a real person, just a dummy, but it's to make sure you aren't squeamish about killing another person.]] |
| 190 | * In ''Literature/DragonBones'' the villain has the heroes watch while he feeds a man to a monster. ''Alive''. Ward hides his shock, and casually asks what happens to the chains with which the man was bound. The villain replies that the monster will spit them out, and Ward says that's "just like owls". The villain is pleased with this display of indifference, and offers Ward a deal without asking him to kill a kitten first. However, Ward ''does'' insult the man whose brother was just fed to the monster, and claims the brother deserved it. Just to make sure no one will suspect him when the prisoners mysteriously vanish from their cells... |
| 191 | * According to ''Literature/EncyclopediaBrown'' himself, this is how Bugs Meany decides who's fit to be a Tiger and who's not. A [[ExactWords test of dishonesty,]] if you will. |
| 192 | * ''Literature/TheExecutioner'': |
| 193 | ** In "American Nightmare", Colonel Gaddafi hires an American mercenary for a terrorist operation in the United States. However the Libyan despot has doubts an American will kill other Americans, so orders him at gunpoint to kill an American hostage he's had brought from Lebanon. The American refuses -- being forced to kill will prove nothing, and he only kills for money. So Gaddafi offers him $25000. The mercenary refuses the pistol he's offered, takes out a knife and castrates, then eviscerates, the hostage. Gaddafi is entirely satisfied. |
| 194 | ** In one of the ''Able Team'' novels, Carl Lyons pretends he's defected to the Unomondo organization. To test him they use Carl for the assassination of a US senator. A junkie is to rob, then shoot the senator, whereupon Carl will fire a second bullet into the senator's head to ensure his death. Carl works himself up to kill the senator, only to have the junkie (who's wired up and bouncing around) jump into the line of fire and get shot instead. |
| 195 | * In the book version of ''Literature/TheGodfather'', former cop Al Neri is not fully accepted into the Mafia until after he has "made his bones"; in other words, committed a murder for the organization. A similar demand is made of rising mobster Rocco Lampone. Unlike many examples of this trope, Neri and Lampone don't seem to feel too much angst about this. |
| 196 | * ''Literature/GulliversTravels'': Weary of his disappointing time in Luggnagg, Gulliver is finally able to secure passage on a boat bound for Japan, and he arrived at the port of Xamoschi on 21 March 1710. His stay in the island country is brief, however, as he finds himself in trouble once again. It seems the custom for Dutchmen in Japan is to trample the crucifix, in order to demonstrate that they are not Christians, and none have ever refused to do so. The Japanese Emperor excuses Gulliver from this tradition, but later, a Dutchman again tries to force Gulliver into trampling the cross, a sacrilegious act in his eyes. |
| 197 | * ''Literature/HarryPotter'': |
| 198 | ** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', this gets subverted, played straight, then ''subverted again'' when it comes to [[spoiler:the murder of Albus Dumbledore]]. [[spoiler: Draco Malfoy]] was sent to do the deed, but "his soul was not yet so damaged" as to accomplish it, and so he failed. In the end, [[spoiler:Severus Snape]] ended up doing it, thus "proving his loyalty" to the BigBad. This appears to be played straight, until the end of the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows 7th Book]], when it was revealed that [[spoiler:Snape had killed Dumbledore on ''Dumbledore's orders'', [[ThanatosGambit since he was dying anyway]]]]. |
| 199 | ** There's a slight example of this in [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]. Right at the beginning, Voldemort and the Death Eaters are sitting at a table with a teacher floating above it, magically restrained. Voldemort doesn't command anyone to kill her, since he's the one who does it, but [[spoiler:she begs Snape to help her, and he does nothing to stop the murder, even scoffing when Voldy asks him if he remembers her. He clearly doesn't want her dead, but he can't do anything to stop it without blowing his cover. The internal struggle the character is suffering at the moment is masterfully represented in the film adaptation by actor Alan Rickman, with just a gaze]]. |
| 200 | * ''Literature/TheLaundryFiles'' (by Creator/CharlesStross): ''The Fuller Memorandum'' has the Nyar lath-Hotep cultists, believing Bob to be the monster that they're attempting to summon (ItMakesSenseInContext), bring out the sacrificial infant intended for the monster. Painfully aware of what would happen (both to him personally and to the world in general) if the cult found out that they don't have the real monster, Bob [[VillainyDiscretionShot gives non-specific background exposition]] as to the [[EatsBabies perceived roles of infants in the rituals of othered cults]] before informing the reader that EvilTastesGood. |
| 201 | * ''Literature/{{Lensman}}'': |
| 202 | ** Not as evil as some of these, but in ''First Lensman'' Virgil Samms is infiltrating one of Boskone's drug rings and is required to take thionite as a test. |
| 203 | ** Later in ''Gray Lensman'', Kimball Kinnisson needs to create [[TheInfiltration a cover story]] so he can roam seedy mining colonies unnoticed. To that end, he decides, though it disgusts him, to start drinking and taking drugs. However, he approaches this very scientifically, studying his tolerances and behaviors as he prepares himself so that he never completely loses his mental capacity (which in the ''Lensman'' universe is your best weapon). He also avoids thionite as too dangerous and instead chooses a more-common and less-dangerous drug (a chewing tobacco-like substance called bentlam) as his apparent vice. His over-the-top violent reaction when offered thionite (it's fake, but "Wild Bill" shouldn't have known that) actually helps convince them he's NOT a patrolman, since they were expecting someone under cover to try to make plausible-sounding excuses, not deck a debutante. |
| 204 | * Used in ''Literature/MariaWatchesOverUs'' (of all things). Noriko denies that a string of Buddhist prayer beads belongs to her, so the other girls counter with "Then you should have no problem if they're destroyed then." Noriko balks, which makes Shimako (who lent them to her) confess that they're hers. [[spoiler:It's all a big act to make Shimako realize her 'secret' of belonging to a Buddhist family while attending a Catholic school is really not an issue.]] |
| 205 | * In the ''Literature/ModestyBlaise'' novel ''The Night of Morningstar'', a CIA agent is trying to infiltrate a terrorist organization that has a murder-the-helpless-teenage-girl type Kitten Eating Test. [[spoiler:After some internal struggle, he goes through with it to preserve his cover long enough to get out a warning about the imminent atrocity they're planning -- and then they tell him that they already knew he was CIA, and made him do the test anyway just to mess with him.]] |
| 206 | * In ''Phoenix Rising: A Literature/MinistryOfPeculiarOccurrences Novel'' by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris, the heroes, undercover as would-be members of a secret society, are asked to join the society in HuntingTheMostDangerousGame. |
| 207 | * Played completely straight in one of Creator/PhillipJoseFarmer's ''Literature/{{Riverworld}}'' novels--taken prisoner by a group run by a Nazi, the heroes have the SadisticChoice of being enslaved or killing another prisoner. Surprisingly, one of the heroes actually ''does'' it. (Two ameliorating factors: the hero in question was a caveman, and DeathIsCheap in Riverworld.) |
| 208 | * In ''Literature/TheSailorWhoFellFromGraceWithTheSea'', there is an example concerning killing an actual kitten: Noboru is asked to kill the kitten to prove he is [[StrawNihilist not affected by nonsensical societal rules]], and he does so. |
| 209 | * In ''[[Literature/TheRedVixenAdventures Shadow of her Sins]]'' Bloody Margo tells [[spoiler: Alinadar]] to gouge out [[spoiler: Lady Sallivera's natural]] eye to prove that she's sincere about wanting to come back to her crew. Instead [[spoiler: Ali stalls long enough for her brother to line up a shot at Margo.]] |
| 210 | * In ''Literature/{{Sharpe}}'s Tiger'', Sharpe and Lawford are infiltrating the enemy by pretending to be deserters. To prove they're truly deserters, Sharpe's ordered to fire on a captured British prisoner (the same one they are supposed to be rescuing). He does so without hesitation because he knew the gun had no powder. Although he later assures him that he still would have done it without hesitation even if the gun had been loaded. |
| 211 | * Most of the plot of Shusaku Endo's novel ''Film/{{Silence}}'' and many of his other works centers around the treading of the fumie. |
| 212 | * There is a scene in ''Literature/SomeoneElsesWar'' where [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Lieutenant Panga]], who has infiltrated the Lord's Resistance Army, has to "discipline" one of the child soldiers in front of a commanding officer because not doing so would look suspicious. He breaks the poor boy's ribs. |
| 213 | * George Martin's ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': |
| 214 | ** Toward the end of the second book, Jon Snow must do this at the orders of his Night's Watch superior officer Qhorin Halfhand, who orders Jon to do whatever is asked of him. Qhorin's first order to Jon is to [[spoiler: kill him in a battle Qhorin and him have to fight. As a result, he is forced to kill Qhorin as Qhorin has ordered him to do]] so he can [[FakeDefector infiltrate]] the wildlings, after which Jon feels incredibly guilty, but the plan works and Jon takes on the role as [[FakeDefector spy for the Night's Watch]]. However, in book three, the wildling leaders eventually (correctly) suspect Jon is [[FakeDefector still loyal]] to the Night's Watch so they order him to kill an old man to prove otherwise -- but Jon ''can't'' bring himself to kill him. At which point, a battle between Jon and the wildling leaders ensues and Jon (though he loves Ygritte and he has compassion for ordinary wildling people, who he learns only want to survive) escapes with a few arrows in his leg and returns to the Night's Watch, the order he has remained loyal to. |
| 215 | ** In the same series, the Unsullied, at the end of their TrainingFromHell, are required to kill a baby. At an earlier point in their training, they also have to strangle a dog they received as a puppy. It's explicitly noted that more trainees fail the "''kill your dog''" test than the "''kill a baby''" test. (Those who fail to kill the dog are killed themselves... and then ''fed to the surviving dogs'' as an example to the surviving Unsullied.) |
| 216 | * ''Literature/TheSpecialist'' by Gayle Rivers. Rivers is training Iraqi special forces during the first Gulf War, and notes that their commander had a technique for weeding out anyone he didn't think had what it took to be in the unit. He'd hand a gun to a candidate and invite them to fire it out the doorway, while at the same time inviting another dubious candidate to walk down the corridor and take the random chance of being shot. If either person refused to walk or fire, he was thrown out of the unit. |
| 217 | * In the ''Literature/StarTrekTheFall'' novel ''The Crimson Shadow'', a working-class Cardassian who's got mixed up with an anti-Federation group is asked to come along as muscle when they teach some "collaborators" a lesson, and realises this is at least partly a test of how far he would go for the cause. [[spoiler: He's actually a Cardassian military officer, seconded to the ''Enterprise'', officially on leave and working undercover for Garak. He ''does'' go along with it, since the alternative is breaking cover, although he's deeply disturbed by what he was part of.]] |
| 218 | * From the Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse: |
| 219 | ** In ''Iron Fist'', the second ''[[Literature/XWingSeries Wraith Squadron]]'' novel, Face, Kell and Dia, [[TheInfiltration impersonating pirates to gain the trust of Warlord Zsinj]], are invited aboard the titular Star Destroyer to meet with him. In the middle of the meeting, Castin Donn, a fellow Wraith that had snuck aboard and been captured without the other Wraiths knowing anything about it, is brought into the room and Zsinj, suspecting that Castin is one of theirs, orders them to execute him as a proof of loyalty. Face tries to talk his way out of it (claiming to have a twisted moral code that does not allow him to kill anyone unless he will make money from it) and Kell prepares himself for action in case Face's bluff fails, but Dia promptly takes the blaster offered by the Warlord and explains that she has no such moral code. Face thinks this means that she has some sort of plan and prepares for a dramatic escape, only to be shocked and horrified when Dia ''shoots Castin in the throat''.[[spoiler: It is revealed afterward that he was probably already dead, but it is left somewhat ambiguous even to the reader and Dia was still [[HeroicBSOD pretty shaken up about it]].]] |
| 220 | ** Darth Bane had this as his first test of Zannah's dedication to the dark side in the second novel of the Literature/DarthBane Trilogy. She slowly gained the confidence of a local creature, coming to think of it almost as a pet. She then gets it to follow her back to camp, where Bane snaps its neck and tells her to throw it in the pot, it's now dinner. |
| 221 | * In Terry Goodkind's ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' series; the final stage of Mord Sith training requires them to [[BreakTheCutie torture their own parents to death]]. Those who are unable to do so don't survive long. |
| 222 | * ''Literature/ThatHideousStrength'', the final part of Creator/CSLewis's Ransom Trilogy features, near the climax, one of the heroes, Mark Studdock, being tested to see whether he truly considers himself part of the evil anti-Christian organization N.I.C.E. How? [[spoiler:By ordering him to deface an ancient crucifix. He finally refuses; fortunately, his interrogator is distracted by the sudden invasion of the institute by Merlin (yes, that one).]] He even [[LampshadeHanging pointed out]] that to rational men like themselves such a symbolic act is completely pointless. This example is interesting because Mark isn't really an undercover "hero" so much as an Everyman who's been ingratiating himself with NICE because it's been good for his career. He's nominally Christian, but regards it as more of a country club than something to actually ''believe'' in (he's actually embarrassed about the fact that his wife has recently begun taking it seriously). Also, as he's just pointed out, from a "rationalist" viewpoint the requested act is both meaningless and considerably ''less'' "evil" than some things he's ''already done''. |
| 223 | * John D. [=MacDonald=]'s Literature/TravisMcGee novel ''The Green Ripper''. Travis tries to join the Church of the Apocrypha, a terrorist religious {{cult}}. As part of his Kitten Eating Test he is ordered to shoot someone. |
| 224 | * In ''{{Literature/Valhalla}}'', Violet and all Valkyries are required to kill someone to prove their willingness to carry out assassinations. In a subversion of the trope, it's the good guys who make her, and she does so efficiently and without remorse. |
| 225 | * In the back-story of the Literature/SherlockHolmes novel ''Literature/TheValleyOfFear'', the narrator describes being inducted into a Molly Maguires-type gang, including going along with them on criminal activities, including one raid in which a man is killed. [[spoiler: At the end, he is revealed to have been a Pinkerton detective who infiltrated the gang.]] |
| 226 | * In ''Literature/WarriorCats'', Ivypaw goes undercover in the Dark Forest after [[spoiler: finding out they're using her.]], only to find out that she's up to her final loyal Dark warrior test- [[spoiler: murder Flametail.]] Made funny by the fact that Flametail is an actual CAT, albeit not a kitten. |
| 227 | * In Jonathan Coe's ''Literature/WhatACarveUp'' a journalist infiltrates an arms-dealing organization looking to do an expose; he's with some of them in a bar in a Middle Eastern country where they force the waitresses to take part in a "William Tell" game. They expect him to do it too, his target being a waitress he's made friends with. [[spoiler:He does.]] |
| 228 | [[/folder]] |
| 229 | |
| 230 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 231 | * On ''Series/TwentyFour'', Jack Bauer is frequently subjected to kitten-eating tests: |
| 232 | ** Season 3: To further validate his deep-cover identity in a drug cartel, Jack gets a gang tattoo and a heroin addiction. [[spoiler: The heroin was really a bonus for Jack, who had already earned the cartel's trust by that point.]] |
| 233 | ** Season 3 (again): The Salazars order Jack to kill his partner, Chase (who has no idea what's going on). Jack pulls the trigger, but the gun is empty. |
| 234 | ** ''Another'' Season 3 example, [[spoiler: Nina]] decides to see if Jack has gone rogue or if he's still a government agent (and plotting her death), ... by making out with him? This is the test he actually fails, he returns the kiss, but she can tell he's faking it. Which is a nice bit of ConvictionByCounterfactualClue, since all that ''proved'' is that he still (justifiably) loathed her. |
| 235 | ** Season 4: [[BigBad Marwan]] gives the test to Dina Araz, ordering her to shoot Jack. [[spoiler: She fails and tries to shoot Marwan instead. The gun is empty. Oops.]] Possibly an homage to ''Film/TheBattleOfAlgiers''. |
| 236 | ** In short: Jack Bauer's ''real'' superpower is that half the time, he'll eat that kitten. |
| 237 | * In ''Series/ThirtyRock'', Jack insists that anyone he mentors be truly ambitious, not just trying to get closer to him out of love and admiration. Thus, "if you're so ambitious, cut off my pinkie." Jonathan refuses, horrified, because then Jack wouldn't be perfect anymore. |
| 238 | * ''Series/{{Alias}}'' featured a story arc in which Sydney Bristow undergoes brainwashing and takes on the identity of an assassin named Julia Thorne. As a test of her skill, she is ordered to stab a bound prisoner who is tied to a chair. She does so. Later, after regaining her personality, Sydney is disturbed by her actions, especially when she realizes that, due to conditioning, [[spoiler: she was never fully brainwashed and therefore killed the man of her own volition]]. |
| 239 | * ''Series/{{Angel}}'': |
| 240 | ** This happens in "[[Recap/AngelS05E21PowerPlay Power Play]]" [[spoiler:in a rare example where the hero passes the test by actually eating "the kitten", or rather, the warrior of good. He isn't turning evil again, nor is he going KnightTemplar like his team assumed. He had no idea this would happen going in and refusing would mean that the Circle would kill both of them anyway. Also, the goal of this infiltration was to stop the Apocalypse.]] |
| 241 | ** In "[[Recap/AngelS02E07Darla Darla]]", Angel had been given a similar ultimatum by his girlfriend, Darla. She noticed that after getting his soul back, he would only prey on murderers, rapists, and other lowlifes and evildoers, so she challenged him to kill a baby. He refused and decided to run away and bring the baby to safety instead. |
| 242 | ** In "[[Recap/AngelS01E09Hero Hero]]", in order to infiltrate a group of racist 'pure' demons (who look down on humans and hybrids, like vampire and werewolves) Angel snaps Doyle's neck. However, it's revealed that Doyle, who is half demon, comes from a species that can actually survive this. |
| 243 | ** An accidental (and fairly inoffensive) version occurs in "[[Recap/AngelS02E06GuiseWillBeGuise Guise Will Be Guise]]", where Wesley, pretending to be Angel, is handed a glass of blood. He tries to explain he doesn't usually drink blood in front of people but his host insists that he not mind them, and he reluctantly drinks it down. |
| 244 | * A variant in season 4 of ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' when the military gives Buster a kitten to test if he really can't control his [[spoiler: robotic hand.]] |
| 245 | * ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'': |
| 246 | ** ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': |
| 247 | *** In "Vertigo", TheMafiya boss will only introduce Oliver Queen to the Count if he kills an underling who has displeased him. Oliver appears to strangle him, but actually just renders him unconscious and temporarily stops his heart. Oliver carries the 'corpse' outside, then tells Diggle to get him out of town and set him up in a new identity. |
| 248 | *** In "Promises Kept", Slade Wilson and Oliver Queen track down Slade's missing son Joe, only to find he's become an amoral mercenary killer in emulation of his father when he was ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}}. Joe tells his father to kill Oliver as proof that he's sincere about joining him. Slade draws his sword and [[StabTheScorpion cuts Oliver bonds instead so they can escape]], but admits afterwards that he was tempted to kill Oliver if that was what it took to reconcile with Joe. |
| 249 | *** In ''Series/CrisisOnEarthX'', Oliver Queen infiltrates the Earth-X Nazis by impersonating his Nazi counterpart. Eventually, he is handed a gun and urged to execute the counterpart of his love interest Felicity Smoak. Enraged, he turns around and tries to shoot them, [[ItWorksBetterWithBullets but it clicks empty]] as they gloat that they now know who he really is. Oliver then proves he doesn't need it to kill them all and rescue her. |
| 250 | *** In "Lost Canary", Felicity dares Black Siren to kill her if she really is irredeemable. Dinah and Sara also follow suit. This is a variation because, rather than genuinely wanting to see if she is evil, Felicity wants to prove that there is still some good in her that can be saved. It works and Siren undergoes a full HeelFaceTurn. |
| 251 | ** In ''Series/TheFlash2014'' episode [[Recap/TheFlash2014S3E7KillerFrost "Killer Frost"]], there's a rare heroic inversion. [[Comicbook/TheFlash Barry]] lets Killer Frost, [[spoiler: his friend Caitlin under the influence of her SuperPoweredEvilSide]] out of her cell and says she's free to go... all she has to do is murder him first, to prove she's really Killer Frost at heart, [[spoiler: not Caitlin Snow]]. She [[spoiler: can't kill him in cold blood and Caitlin takes back control]]. |
| 252 | --->'''Barry:''' You wanna be the villain? This is what they do. They kill their friends because nothing matters to them anymore. |
| 253 | ** In an episode of ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'', the team go undercover as Nazis in a German nightclub in 1942. However, a general challenges Ray to give the Nazi salute. He can't do it, and punches the general instead, starting a BarBrawl. |
| 254 | ** In the ''Series/Supergirl2015'' episode [[Recap/Supergirl2015S2E8Medusa "Medusa"]], in order to prove her loyalty to Cadmus, Lilian tells Lena she has to release the Medusa-carrying missile to wipe out all the aliens on Earth. Despite Kara's pleas, Lena launches the missile...but none of the aliens were affected, as Lena had already destroyed the virus beforehand and [[FakeDefector has been double-crossing her mother all along]]. |
| 255 | * ''Series/BabylonFive'': |
| 256 | ** In a first season episode "[[Recap/BabylonFiveS01E17Legacies Legacies]]", Sinclair is put in this situation, having infiltrated a fanatical pro-Earth group, and is asked to prove his sincerity by killing an alien (and one he met previously at that). Defied—Sinclair and Ivanova start a firefight instead; Garibaldi and security soon locate them and secure the scene. |
| 257 | ** Later, in the episode "[[Recap/BabylonFiveS05E15DarknessAscending Darkness Ascending]]" G'Kar tells Lyta Alexander that the Narn will provide money, support, and ships in exchange for telepath DNA. He also tells her that the government is insisting she scan the other ambassadors for intelligence. Lyta refuses as she feels it would be wrong of her to do so and prepares to leave. G'Kar stops her and explains that he had made that up about scanning the other ambassadors, that he wanted to be sure there were still some lines she would not cross, and that if she had agreed to scan others he would have called off the deal as it would have showed she couldn't be trusted. |
| 258 | * In an episode of the delightfully campy live action ''Series/Batman1966'', when Robin is offered a cigarette when he tries to blend in with some rough types. |
| 259 | * In the GrandFinale of ''Series/BladeTheSeries'', Blade's sidekick/VoiceWithAnInternetConnection Shen is captured by [[MagnificentBastard Marcus]] [[BigBad van Sciver]]. Van Sciver tells [[TheMole Krista]] to torture Shen for information, given her past as a soldier in Iraq. Krista replies that she never tortured anyone, and Marcus simply says that she must have ''seen'' torture or the results of it. Shen secretly nods her to go ahead, and Krista mouths "I'm sorry" before she starts ''pulling out his fingernails''. When even that is not enough to make Shen talk, she pretends to break his finger, except she breaks her own finger, knowing it'll heal, and Shen makes a pained sound. |
| 260 | * ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': |
| 261 | ** A great (funny) example comes from "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E16Doppelgangland Doppelgangland]]": When Willow is impersonating her vampire self and is asked to "prove it" she says, "I'm a bloodsucking fiend! Look at my outfit!" Later, when challenged again, she comes up with a way to signal her friends. |
| 262 | --->'''Willow:''' Oh yeah? Could a human do this ''[screams her head off]''\ |
| 263 | '''Anya:''' Sure.\ |
| 264 | '''Head Vampire:''' Yeah, I think, yeah.\ |
| 265 | '''Anya:''' Humans do that.\ |
| 266 | ''[[[BigDamnHeroes the Scooby Gang storms in]]]'' |
| 267 | ** An earlier scene plays the trope seriously, though also averts it. Faith has told the Mayor that Willow is trying to hack into his computer files, so the Mayor decides that Willow must be killed. When Faith looks upset, the Mayor assures Faith that it's too early in her FaceHeelTurn to expect that of her, and says he'll send a couple of vampires to do the job instead. |
| 268 | ** A meta example occurs in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E14Innocence Innocence]]", where Angelus (Angel turned evil) commits murder before the opening credits. In the DVDCommentary, Creator/JossWhedon says that he didn't want anyone in the audience thinking it was a fake-out. |
| 269 | ** The trope gets a tongue-in-cheek nod when it's revealed in Season 6 that the demon world uses kittens as currency in poker games, and they're delicious too. |
| 270 | * ''Series/BurnNotice'': |
| 271 | ** Used preemptively in an episode. Sam, in his cover as a crooked cop, pulls the bad guy of the week over, hops into his passenger seat, and snorts a pinch of white powder before introducing himself. One of the show's signature voice-overs informs the audience that snorting a crushed-up lactase tablet isn't comfortable, but goes a long way toward establishing criminal credibility. |
| 272 | ** Not just Sam, but the ''whole crew'' use this trope frequently to maintain their cover identities with the bad guys. During the course of the show, they've yelled at, threatened, punched, and even shot at ''each other'' to prove whatever various identity they were under at the moment. Michael even mentions over voice-over how much skill/training it requires to shoot and deliberately miss but make it look like you're trying to hit. |
| 273 | * ''Series/{{Caprica}}'': Daniel Graystone's order to the U-87 to shoot his dog. He wasn't testing for evil so much as total ''amorality'' (or, more accurately, he hoped to see otherwise, indicating Zoe was inside). Zoe later says that she could feel the gun was unloaded. If it hadn't been, she might have instead shot Daniel Graystone himself (her father). |
| 274 | * A season 6 episode of ''Series/{{Castle|2009}}'' has Beckett forced to pretend to be a woman who she discovers is a hired assassin. Her "boss" requires her to prove she's the woman she's claiming to be, in the obvious way, and she appears to do just that. (Several minutes into the episode later, it's revealed that she improvised some prop blood in the victim's kitchen, then told him to play dead. Beckett is awesome.) |
| 275 | * On ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'', the episode "Wrestling With Demons" is about a demonic academy whose graduation ritual is killing an innocent. Though in this case, the act serves the purpose of stripping them of their humanity. It's not a test to see whether they're evil, it's the act that's going to ''make'' them evil. |
| 276 | ** Borderline example: In another episode, Piper and Leo are infiltrating a group of demons who are after the innocent of the week. The pair of demons guarding the hideout asks for a password, and Piper -- having no idea what it could be -- blows one of them up. The other responds that that actually was the password and lets them in. It works on the same principle of ensuring anyone who enters is evil enough to kill, even if it wasn't an initiation test per say. |
| 277 | * This happens a couple of times on ''Series/{{Chuck}}''. |
| 278 | ** While posing as a mafia hitman, Chuck has to torture Casey. Casey takes this rather well, commenting that Chuck did him a favor by ripping out a tooth that had a cavity and saving him a trip to the dentist. |
| 279 | ** While posing as an arms dealer, Morgan invokes this on himself by pulling out his cell phone and orders someone to murder a puppy. |
| 280 | --->'''Morgan:''' I told you, ''murder the puppy!'' [hangs up] It's so hard to find good henchmen these days. |
| 281 | * An episode of ''Series/TheCleaner2008'' had Arnie infiltrating a biker gang. Unfortunately for him, they force him to smoke meth, his drug of choice before he got clean, to prove he's not a cop. Things... don't end well. |
| 282 | * {{Discussed}} in ''Series/CloakAndDagger2018''. Detective O'Reilly is trying to get close to vice squad Detective Connors, whom she suspects is [[DirtyCop corrupt]], so she snorts a line of coke in a back room as he walks in. The two of them commiserate over how counterproductive the department's drug policy is, with O'Reilly mentioning that back in Harlem she worked a club where they wouldn't let you in the back room unless you'd used a little. |
| 283 | * ''Series/CobraKai'': In "Nature vs. Nurture," Kreese introduces his Cobra Kai students to a mouse, and lets Bert hold it and name it "Clarence". Kreese then produces a tank containing a large cobra, which he instructs Bert to feed Clarence to. When Bert objects to this, Kreese asks the students to raise their hands if they also object. Several do, and Kreese expels all of the objectors from the class (including Bert). |
| 284 | * ''Series/TheColbertReport'': |
| 285 | ** An episode ''literally'' invokes this trope when Colbert asks Kentucky representative John Yarmuth his opinion on the topic of putting kittens in woodchippers...and Yarmuth plays straight-man in advocating the use of woodchippers in reducing the kitten overpopulation problem. |
| 286 | ** Made even more hilarious by the fact that at the time, John Yarmuth ''himself'' was showing commercials (parodying some very negative advertising by the Other Team) that had such statements as "John Yarmuth goes golfing with Saddam Hussein! John Yarmuth ''kicks puppies!''" This is what happens when you get the main editor-slash-humour-columnist for the major "alternative" newspaper in Louisville running for public office. |
| 287 | * ''Series/CriminalMinds'': |
| 288 | ** In the episode "The Internet Is Forever" (5x22), in order to get accepted to the [=UnSub's=] online club, which provides access to live footage of him killing people, prospective members have to download child porn onto their computers. There's a subtle difference in this example in that the child porn is not specifically a morality test. The new members are not required to like or to watch child porn. The reasoning is that the mere presence of child porn saved on your computer is a serious felony, so the leaders will have a threat to hold over everyone's head. |
| 289 | ** The child porn version is mentioned in another episode, "P911", where the head of the Crimes Against Children unit explains that pedophile rings routinely trade content for that very reason (weeding out undercover cops). It isn't used as a test within the episode, just an explanation for why finding the source of a particular video is difficult (since it's been passed multiple times). |
| 290 | ** Mentioned again in "Supply and Demand", wherein they work with another team tracking a human trafficking setup. The BAU asks how they can have undercover agents on the case, since they'd obviously have to commit a crime to be accepted into the club, and the team leader explains that they set their undercover agents up as potential targets instead. Though they're later able to track the criminals with the logic that white collar crime like real estate fraud would be enough to qualify them, and it seems like that would be easy enough for them to set up a fake. |
| 291 | * In ''Series/CSIMiami'', a woman working with an undercover agent ends up murdered because 1) she refuses to take her dealer's heroin (she was pregnant) and 2) her handler refuses to step in when she gives him the code phrase for "I want out". |
| 292 | * The ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWho2015CSTheHusbandsOfRiverSong The Husbands of River Song]]" features "The Harmony and Redemption", a space pleasure cruiser exclusively for use by the galaxy's worst dictators and criminals. The provable murder of multiple innocent lives is one of the minimum requirements of boarding, and even the staff are required to have "a verifiable history of indiscriminate slaughter" in order to work there. |
| 293 | * ''Series/{{Galavant}}'' parodies this when Madalena goes to gain the powers of D'DEW (Dark, dark, evil way) and proves unnervingly overeager to eat the kitten unasked. [[EvilSorceror Chester Wormwood]] turns around holding a knife and a baby and she refuses, reconsiders, and tells him to [[WouldHurtAChild hand it over]] before he even has a chance to explain he's just [[PetTheDog babysitting]] and she only needs to sign a contract. Handing her the knife he goes to find it, then turns around at her squeak of pain to explain she doesn't need to sign in blood either. |
| 294 | -->'''Chester:''' Now step away from the baby. You really freaked me out before. |
| 295 | * ''Series/GameOfThrones'': The wildlings demand that Jon Snow kill the horse trader they've captured in "The Rains of Castamere." He can't do it, thus proving he's a FakeDefector. |
| 296 | * A ''Series/GetSmart'' episode had Max infiltrating KAOS by pretending to go bad and getting fired from CONTROL so they'd hire him. Once in, they give him his first assignment - to kill 99, who they'd just captured. [[spoiler: It turns out, however, that this nest of KAOS agents was [[FlockOfWolves made entirely of good-guy agents from different agencies who'd infiltrated]].]] |
| 297 | * ''Series/Halo2022''. In "Homecoming", Silver Team reveal that Dr. Halsey did a variation on the puppy-killing test. During a survival exercise each trainee was given a pet animal--Kai had a puppy, Riz had a cat, while Vannak had a pig--and were formed into teams to compete against each other. The losing side had to kill their own pets to [[HardTruthAesop learn that every failure had consequences]]. Vannak never lost, but Halsey killed his pet anyway as she only wanted the [=SPARTANs=] to bond with each other. |
| 298 | * In season three of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', Hiro Nakamura attempts to infiltrate a group of villains. When he confronts them one of them gives him a sword, and demands he kill his best friend Ando, who was trying to infiltrate their group as well, to prove he's as bad as he says. Much to their surprise Hiro actually goes through with it! [[spoiler: Well, not actually. Since he can [[TimeMaster stop time and teleport,]] he was able to switch the sword with a fake and hide a packet of fake blood in Ando's shirt, who then [[PlayingPossum pretended to die]] after Hiro "stabbed" him.]] |
| 299 | ** An instance is implied in the BadFuture in season 1: President [[spoiler:Sylar!]]Nathan gets his scientific adviser Mohinder to agree to his plan to eradicate all superhumans. But first, he's captured Hiro and intends to have him executed, so after a moment's thought he decides to have Mohinder carry out the execution, apparently to test whether he's all right with getting his hands dirty. [[spoiler:But instead, Mohinder lets Hiro go so he can fix the past.]] |
| 300 | * A variant occurs in an episode of ''Series/HumanTarget'': the head villain of the episode doesn't ''know'' Chance snatched the actual hitman and is now pretending to be him. Still, this otherwise plays out fairly straight: Chance, undercover, is given the order to kill a prisoner... which he '''does'''. Then, when the boss leaves the room, he improvises a [[MagicalDefibrillator defibrillator]] and [[OnlyMostlyDead resuscitates]] the guy. |
| 301 | * In ''Series/{{Informer}}'', Gabe discusses this as an unavoidable part of being TheInformant, and it happens when Raza beats up a fast food shop employee rather than blow his cover. |
| 302 | * Not done as a test, but in TheMovie of ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'', the catsuit-wearing ActionGirl Inga Blink is revealed to be a good guy when she refuses to shoot [[GothChick Tomoko]] in the back. This is the point where [[SixthRanger Ryusei]] actually stops to listen to her and discovers that the ''real'' villains [[NiceJobBreakingItHero were manipulating the Kamen Rider Club the whole time]]. |
| 303 | * A variation in one episode of ''Series/KnightRider'', in which Michael is suspended from FLAG on trumped-up charges and joins up with the villain du jour. He then has to break into Foundation HQ to retrieve a MacGuffin; but Devon catches him in the act and Michael shoots him. He wasn't specifically told to kill Devon, and it wasn't really a test of Michael's loyalty either, but he knew the villain was tapped into FLAG's video surveillance and wanted to give the guy a good show. Also, [[spoiler:it turns out Devon was in on the whole charade, including the fake firing]]. |
| 304 | * ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' |
| 305 | ** Stabler faces this when he goes undercover as a suburban drug dealer. The drug syndicate he's "contracting" with to be his new suppliers tries to get him to sample some of his own product. Stabler hotly refuses, saying that his day job runs random drug tests. It works. |
| 306 | ** In another episode, Stabler, having gone undercover to gain the trust of a serial rapist, has to rape a woman that the real rapist kidnapped. [[spoiler:Fortunately, he's able to worm his way out of it by telling the rapist that he doesn't like doing it in front of another guy, so the rapist obliges and leaves the room. Stabler then tells the victim that he's a cop, and she needs to scream convincingly. It works.]] |
| 307 | * Frequently invoked in ''Series/TheLoneRanger'' more or less every time the Lone Ranger pretends to join a gang of bad guys. Usually the Lone Ranger can brazen his way out of it with some variation of "would a good guy wear a mask?" However, in one episode, the gang challenges him to shoot an Native American character, and so the Lone Ranger simply tells the boy in a Native language to play along and then pretends to shoot him. The boy agrees and pretends to be shot and the gang--not having understood what was said--is convinced. |
| 308 | * ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': In "Partings", Waldreg leads the group of villagers who've decided to surrender into the Orcs' camp and vows to serve them. Adar, the Orcs' leader, hands Waldreg a knife and orders him to prove his loyalty by killing Rowan, one of the teenagers that came from the village. The scene cuts away before we see Waldreg make his decision but by the next episode Waldreg is a key part of Adar's plan for the region, and [[KilledOffscreen Rowan is never seen again]]. |
| 309 | * On ''Series/{{Lost}}'', Benjamin Linus has to participate in the Purge perpetrated by the group later known as the Others, so as to become one of them for good (or, should we say, ''for evil'') ; which means helping to murder the entirety of the DHARMA Initiative people with gas poison, including his own father (whom Ben kills himself inside a van in a remote area – he later brags about killing all the people in the pit but he didn't do it all alone, and he didn't even give the order, which probably came from the leader, advised by Richard Alpert). |
| 310 | * When ''Series/{{MacGyver|1985}}'' tries to join a pack of terrorists as a mole, he is given a gun and asked to kill another terrorist to prove his loyalty. Being a TechnicalPacifist, he doesn't, saying that he despises leaders who are so eager to lose their men. It works. |
| 311 | * In the fourth finale of ''Series/TheMentalist'', Jane is asked to bring [[spoiler:Lisbon's dead body]] to Red John as proof of his change of heart and willingness to join him. |
| 312 | * In an episode of ''Series/MiamiVice'', Detective Gina Calabrese is attempting to infiltrate a crime lord's organization by going undercover as a prostitute. The crime lord insists she has sex with him. To protect her cover, Gina agrees. |
| 313 | * ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'': Sam infiltrates an al-Shabaab cell trying to rescue a kidnapped Saudi prince. As they arrive, the hostage, who is about nine, makes a break for it, and the cell leader hands Sam a gun and tells him to kill the prince. Sam just hands the gun back, cracking that [[ItWorksBetterWithBullets he should trust him and give him a gun that's loaded]]. The cell leader smiles, then loads the gun and [[YouHaveFailedMe executes the guy who had been guarding the prince]]. |
| 314 | * In Season 4 of ''Series/OnceUponATime'', Regina has to prove she's still evil to Cruella and Ursula, in order to find out their plans. The first thing we see them doing is playing chicken with Cruella's car on the railway tracks ("It's called 'Don't Be A Hero'. First one to save us loses.") which she understandably thinks is ridiculous. From what she reported to Emma later, the rest of the "test" consisted of getting drunk and smashing up property. If You're So Evil [[PokeThePoodle Poke This Poodle]]. |
| 315 | * ''Series/TheOrville'': Happens in the episode ''Identity, Part 2''. After taking over the Orville, Kaylon Prime orders Isaac to kill Ty as a test of his loyalty. The plan backfires as it causes Isaac to turn against the Kaylon and aid the humans in retaking the ship. |
| 316 | * In the one-season [[TheEighties '80s]] show ''Series/{{Outlaws}}'', the heroic time-traveling wild west outlaws with hearts of gold who are super rich from antique pocket money attempt to infiltrate an Evil Construction Company and are "invited" essentially to rape two serving girls to seal the deal. Upon their righteous refusal the Big Bad of the episode says something like "Betrayed by their own morals, here you have them, folks, the Good Guys!" (This is a bit weird because the only villainy they were attempting to impersonate was the Corporate Evil kind, and they could at least have tried to fake squeamishness about violent assault.) |
| 317 | * ''Series/{{Oz}}''. Undercover cop Desmond Mobay uses various tricks to appear to be a user, such as palming or only partially snorting the drug. Unfortunately the inmates are wise to these tricks and force him to snort several lines of cocaine while they surround him. They insist on witnessing one of his drug deals; Mobray gets round this by selling to another undercover cop, so no law is being broken. Later they tell Mobay that to join their gang he must kill someone. Mobay, who now has a serious drug habit, murders a corrupt cop who's threatened to expose him. He eventually confesses to the crime when it sinks in [[BecomingTheMask how far he's strayed]]. |
| 318 | * Jarod on ''Series/ThePretender'' would face this kind of challenge when he went undercover as a shady occupation like hitman or bank robber. He'd always find a way to finesse the issue until he could bring the actual criminals to justice. |
| 319 | * ''Series/RaisedByWolves2020'': Marcus apparently used to force his son Paul to kill animals to prove his Mithraic resolve. When Caleb, in the guise of Marcus, presents him with a pet mouse, Paul assumes he wants him to kill it. |
| 320 | * An unusual example occurs in the last two episodes of ''Series/RobinOfSherwood''. Guy of Gisborne, captured by the murderous wolf cultists, accepts their invitation to join them because he's finally fed up with being the Sheriff's flunky (the last straw was when the Sheriff tried to blame Gisborne for a failure of his own, which would get him executed). Later they capture the Sheriff as well, and eventually tell Gisborne to kill him. What's unusual is that [[spoiler:he fails the test not because he's unwilling to kill the Sheriff but because [[EvenEvilHasStandards he insists on doing it cleanly with a sword rather than butchering him with an axe]]. In the end they both escape and are reconciled]]. |
| 321 | * ''Series/ScarecrowAndMrsKing'': In one episode Lee infiltrates a group recruiting burned-out agents to do their dirty work, who lure Amanda to their base and tell him to shoot her to prove he's genuine. He seemingly goes through with it; however it turns out that he'd purposefully missed and she'd had the foresight to fling herself into the ditch and play dead (allowing her to wait until they'd left and fetch help). The scene is used to highlight the trust and unspoken communication that has developed between the pair by this point in the series. |
| 322 | * In an episode of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', to avoid harassment by a street gang George claims to be a former member. They don't believe him so to "prove it" he has to mug somebody on the street. Jerry's parents walk by and George tries to get them to pretend he's robbing them but they dismiss him. |
| 323 | -->'''George:''' Shhh! Listen, you gotta do me a favor. Give me your wallet. I'll give it back to you later.\ |
| 324 | '''Morty Seinfeld:''' How're your folks?\ |
| 325 | '''George:''' Eh, they're trying to pick out a new couch -- you don't want to know. ''[remembering watching the Van Buren Boys]'' Give me your wallet, or I'll spill your guts right here on the street!\ |
| 326 | '''Morty:''' What did you say?\ |
| 327 | '''George:''' Come on, hurry up, old man! I'm an animal!\ |
| 328 | '''Helen:''' You're being very rude. Come on, Morty.\ |
| 329 | '''George:''' Please, please, they're gonna hit me! ''[attempts to grab Helen's purse, she starts hitting George defensively, he backs off]''\ |
| 330 | '''Morty:''' Tell your parents we said 'Hi!' |
| 331 | * ''Series/TheShield'' |
| 332 | ** One of these tests is given (off screen) to a Federal mole in the Salvadorian mafia. We are later shown the carved up remains of the guy he was ordered to kill, showing that he "passed." |
| 333 | ** On another episode, Tina and Julian go undercover as an aspiring porn star and her boyfriend. When the director/drug dealer they were meeting with demands a blow job right there in his office, Tina manages to stall him until he implicates himself. |
| 334 | * In ''[[Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand Spartacus: War Of The Damned]]'', Julius Caesar infiltrates the rebels by pretending to be an escaped slave who wants to join them. Nemetes tests him by presenting a captured Roman woman named Fabia whom Nemetes had raped several times and orders Caesar to rape her. Instead, Caesar gives her a MercyKill. Nemetes is impressed, thinking he did it because he ''really'' hates the Romans. |
| 335 | * ''Series/TheSpy'': While touring a Syrian fortification under the guise of being a Zionist-hating zealot, Israeli secret agent Eli Cohen is invited by a Syrian general to open fire on Israeli civilians with a machinegun. Cohen makes several attempts to beg off, but must ultimately either go along with it or break his cover identity. |
| 336 | * In the ''Series/StarskyAndHutch'' episode "The Committee", Starsky is a FakeDefector trying to infiltrate a group of murderous vigilante cops. As his initiation ritual they tell him to kill a slimy defense lawyer; Starsky just grabs the guy and runs. (He gets away with it mainly because his partner picks that moment to show up with backup.) |
| 337 | * A slightly tamer, yet still unnerving example in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' during the episode "Conspiracy". Several Starfleet officers are taken over by an alien symbiotic species at Starfleet Command. When this is revealed, Riker is given a fake "tail" of the creatures to disguise himself as a possessed member of the ''Enterprise-D'' when he goes to help Picard. As the other possessed officers are eating bowls of worms, they offer Riker one as well. Riker gets a handful up to his mouth to make good on his disguise before phaser ass-whupping commences. |
| 338 | * Also in one episode of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', where the former Maquis crew members were [[ItMakesSenseInContext forced to begin rebelling again by hypnotic suggestion]], with the only one unaffected being Tuvok. He's handed a phaser and told to kill Captain Janeway. Tuvok presses the trigger and nothing happens. When Janeway asks him about this later, he answers, "They would not have given a person they were suspicious of an active weapon." Janeway finds this bit of logic to be... less than ironclad. |
| 339 | * In season 9 of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', Castiel is asked by fellow angel Hannah to kill his human friend Dean to prove that he's still loyal to Heaven. In this case, [[spoiler: Dean also killed one of them under the influence of the Mark of Cain]]. Cas can't bring himself to hurt Dean even if [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl it means to have his brothers and sisters turned against him.]] Metatron who assisted to the scene comments: "His true weakness is revealed. [[HomoeroticSubtext He's in love]]... ''({{beat}})''... [[BaitAndSwitch with humanity.]]" |
| 340 | * ''Series/SyndromeE''. An 8mm film of an experiment into Syndrome E conducted back in TheSixties shows several children being given a rabbit each to play with. [[TestedOnHumans When their Syndrome E is activated]], the children weep TearsOfBlood and strangle their rabbit in a rage. |
| 341 | * Done in Season 2 of ''Series/ATouchOfCloth'', after Macratty begins to suspect Jack is an undercover cop. He gives him a gun and orders him to shoot Twitch. Jack duly pulls the trigger (it helps that [[spoiler:this is the man who killed [[AsHimself Todd Carty]]]]), but the gun isn't loaded. Convinced Jack isn't a cop, Macratty kills Twitch himself for good measure. |
| 342 | * Subverted amusingly in one episode of ''Series/VeronicaMars''. Veronica actually tries to do this when she thinks she has found an AnimalWrongsGroup by advocating outright terroristic tactics, but it doesn't work out because the activists are the sensible, law-abiding sort who don't believe in extreme methods. |
| 343 | * ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'': Season 9's "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS9E19UnsafeSpeed Unsafe Speed]]" had a version where to get into a group, a pair of undercover cops (Gage and Sydney) have to go with the gang to town to commit a crime. [[spoiler:They're able to avoid causing real trouble by having a cop stop them and [[FakingTheDead pretending to kill him]], which is good enough.]] |
| 344 | * Averted in ''Series/WhiteCollar'' when an [[DirtyHarriet undercover-as-a-hooker]] Diana has to pick up a client to prove her worth and Neal steps in to play the part of her john: |
| 345 | -->'''Neal:''' What were you going to do if I hadn't come in?\ |
| 346 | '''Diana:''' Well, I'd have put this strawberry in that guy's mouth, taken him up to my room, put a gun between his ribs and told him to shut up and sit tight, or I'd arrest him for solicitation. |
| 347 | * ''Series/TheWire'' plays the trope straight to its logical conclusion. |
| 348 | ** Stringer Bell tasks young Bodie to kill Wallace for snitching, and he does so. Afterwards, Bodie is shown to be a key member of the Barksdale crew. |
| 349 | ** Marlo Stanfield needs Michael to kill someone to become a full fledged trusted underling, but also won't send him after Bodie, because they know each other, rather demanding he shoot another dealer he doesn't know, with the instructions to walk up and look him in the eye first. |
| 350 | ** Namond price fails the test, after he has to get his stash back from Kenard, but freezes up after Michael beats the much smaller kid. |
| 351 | * ''Series/{{Wiseguy}}'': |
| 352 | ** In season one, deep cover agent Vincent Terranova is instructed to murder a federal agent to gain mobster Sonny Steelgrave's trust. He compliantly goes to the agent's house and shoots him [[spoiler: ... or rather, shoots the bulletproof vest Vinny covertly warned his fellow fed to don]]. |
| 353 | ** Vinnie has another test later in the first season when he's infiltrating a different organization. Mel Profitt gets annoyed with one of the guests on his yacht and orders Vinnie to throw her overboard. Vinnie refuses. But it works out because Mel respects Vinnie for standing up to him. |
| 354 | * ''[[Series/WonderWoman1975 Wonder Woman]]'': In "Light-fingered Lady", Diana must steal [[MacGuffin plans]] for [[BigBad Caribe]] to prove her worthiness and standing as a criminal. She does so as Wonder Woman, but unbeknownst to her, Caribe sends someone else to check on Diana. Diana's plans go awry when she runs into him as Wonder Woman and is forced to lock him in a closet. [[spoiler: As Diana, she rescues the {{Mook|s}} and gets bonus points for pulling off the job right under Wonder Woman's nose!]] |
| 355 | * ''Series/TheXFiles'': In "[[Recap/TheXFilesS05E18ThePineBluffVariant The Pine Bluff Variant]]", Mulder is forced to participate in a bank robbery when undercover with a terrorist group and is ordered to kill one of the hostages. He aims his gun but hesitates until one of the other members of the group sends him away and kills the hostage himself. |
| 356 | * ''Series/ZeroZeroZero'': An interesting variation has one of the Leyra brothers tell Manuel that, before they'll let him and his commandos join TheCartel, Manuel has to execute the least-skilled member of his squad to prove his loyalty and ruthlessness. Manuel refuses and produces a hidden gun, so the test instantly devolves into a MexicanStandoff. The other Leyra brother quickly vetoes the test and admits the commandos into the cartel. |
| 357 | [[/folder]] |
| 358 | |
| 359 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 360 | * In DJ Kintaro's "FREE", the CulturePolice make people step on a vinyl record (vinyl being outlawed). The one who can't do it is hauled away. |
| 361 | * The Music/DrDre song "187 (Deep Cover)" opens with Music/SnoopDogg forcing a guy to hit off a crack pipe to prove he isn't a cop. |
| 362 | * Dance With The Devil by Immortal Technique. In order to join a gang, as an initiation, a guy jumps way over the MoralEventHorizon. [[spoiler: He rapes and kills his mum]] |
| 363 | [[/folder]] |
| 364 | |
| 365 | [[folder:Myths & Religion]] |
| 366 | * When [[GodOfEvil Ahriman]], the "destructive spirit" of [[UsefulNotes/{{Zoroastrianism}} Iranian folklore]], was asked whether he performed his role out of [[AlwaysChaoticEvil cosmic]] [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil necessity]], or simply [[MoreThanMindControl out of choice]], he responded... by [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking creating the peacock.]] |
| 367 | * Many Christian thinkers believe that the MarkOfTheBeast will simply be an outward sign of having gone through some sort of CompleteMonster training, details not known at this juncture. |
| 368 | [[/folder]] |
| 369 | |
| 370 | [[folder:Radio]] |
| 371 | * ''Series/DeadRingers:'' In the contest for leadership of the Tory Party, Jeremy Hunt goes around the various hard-core Brexiters, trying to curry their loyalty by proclaiming all the horrifically evil things he'd do, such as killing kittens or stabbing people to death with blunt scissors. He's rejected for not being psychotically evil ''enough''. |
| 372 | [[/folder]] |
| 373 | |
| 374 | [[folder:Roleplay]] |
| 375 | * A dramatic example in ''Roleplay/EquestriaChronicles'': Icarus, established as a kind and loving pony, is told to execute a prisoner in front of the entire city. On penalty of death. While his Dad looks on. He's given five minutes to prepare. |
| 376 | [[/folder]] |
| 377 | |
| 378 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 379 | * ''TabletopGame/ChroniclesOfDarkness'': A common theme in demonic pacts (as seen in ''Inferno'') is that the one making the DealWithTheDevil must commit an evil act appropriate to the sins involved. Someone wanting great strength and durability might have to kill a man in a fair fight, while someone who wants to be able to steal the powers and skills of others might have to [[EyeScream tear out a man's eye]]. |
| 380 | * ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': |
| 381 | ** The final test to join the ChaoticEvil Ravagers is to sacrifice an innocent to Erythnul, the god of slaughter. This serves as a means of weeding out good-aligned infiltrators seeking to destroy the Ravagers from within. |
| 382 | ** One default prerequisite for a character to take up the Assassin prestige class is that they must commit a murder for no other reason than to be accepted into the class. |
| 383 | [[/folder]] |
| 384 | |
| 385 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 386 | * A rare heroine-to-villain example in [[Music/GeorgeFredericHandel Handel]]'s ''Rodelinda''. Rodelinda tells Grimoaldo (who had usurped the throne and banished her husband) she'll agree to marry him, but in that case he must [[MoralEventHorizon go the whole way]] and kill her little son in front of her eyes. Grimoaldo can't bring himself to do it – which was the point of Rodelinda's plan all along. |
| 387 | [[/folder]] |
| 388 | |
| 389 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 390 | * While not really a test of evilness, in ''7.62 High Caliber'', the first thing the rebels demand of you is to kill a captured government official. If you refuse, they ''will'' kill you (as you're heavily outnumbered and outgunned). The problem arises when you have a mission to ''save'' that same official. The solution is to [[spoiler: find out about the conveniently delivered blanks and blood packs, and [[StagedShooting use them to stage the death of the official]]]], thus causing both sides to like you more. |
| 391 | * Justified in ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'', evil-aligned characters may ally themselves with the Dark Elves late in the game. To prove your worth to them, the first quest they give you requires you to kill the entire population of Stillwater Village. However, if you ask about the reasons, the quest-giver points out that the Dark Elves are inherently magical and their culture places a strong emphasis on magic. Stillwater, meanwhile, was primarily occupied by humans and dwarves, and adopting technology at a rapid rate. Since technology and magic in this setting disrupt each other, and Stillwater was on the border of Dark Elf lands, it was quite literally becoming a threat to the Dark Elf way of life. |
| 392 | * ''VideoGame/BaldursGate II'': |
| 393 | ** You can try to complete one quest nonviolently. However, the people you're trying to get an artifact back from will want to know you're loyal to their cause, and ask you to praise Talos, the ChaoticEvil TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms god of storms. If you do, you're ''struck by lightning'' (though it doesn't necessarily kill you) and the battle begins. (The meeting takes place indoors incidentally.) Unless your main character actually is a priest of Talos. Hilariously, if you're wearing the cloak that reflects lightning, the ostensibly god-sent bolt bounces back and incinerates the guy you're talking to, ending the conversation prematurely and stopping the normally ensuing fight scene. |
| 394 | ** And of course there are the [[spoiler: Ust'Natha quests where you have to pretend to be Drow]]. Though, it is possible to cheat in the one quest where you actually have to kill some innocent people. |
| 395 | ** Amusingly, during the drow kitten-eating quest, [[spoiler:the guy they send with you in order to make sure you kill them is himself an undercover follower of [[TokenGoodTeammate Ellistrae]]. He would probably have cheated if you weren't around, as he thinks you're "proper" drow, and you can't cheat while he's around because you think he's a "proper" drow.]] |
| 396 | * In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'', you can overhear one of Joker's goons telling his buddies that Joker once ordered him to kill his sister to prove his loyalty. He did so with zero hesitation, claiming he never liked her anyway. Another mook one-ups him, saying that Joker made the same request of him even though he had no sister, but Joker kept asking him anyway. So he got in his car and ran over the first woman he saw. |
| 397 | * ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'' puts YOU in this position. [[BigBad Menendez]] and his men have captured [[TheLancer Harper]], and is telling you to prove your loyalty by shooting him in the head. There's a catch to this, though: Farid, the character you're playing as, has killed his allies to maintain his cover, and Harper is one of his closest friends. You can choose to shoot Menendez, but it doesn't work out well for you. Notably, [[spoiler:to get the GoldenEnding, you must eat the kitten, as this gets Menendez to trust Farid enough to [[SpannerInTheWorks put him in a position to majorly screw up his plans further down the road]].]] |
| 398 | * The ''VideoGame/ChzoMythos'' has the Order of the Blessed Agonies' Agony of the Soul, where someone must prove their loyalty to the cult of pain by killing someone they love and rely upon. |
| 399 | * Near the end of ''VideoGame/{{Driver}}'', {{the Mafia}} tasks Tanner with assassinating the President as part of his rite of passage. Tanner refuses and flees with the Pres, resulting in the corrupt NYPD and FBI [[NintendoHard relentlessly pursuing him]] [[ThatOneLevel in the final mission]]. |
| 400 | * ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'': |
| 401 | ** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'': |
| 402 | *** In order to join the [[MurderInc Dark]] [[ReligionOfEvil Brotherhood]], you have to murder an innocent (ie, not in self defense) person. The next time you sleep, you'll be offered membership. (For some bizarre reason, though, killing the Grey Prince in a match at the end of the Arena gladiator storyline counts for this.) |
| 403 | *** At one point in the main quest, you go undercover as one of the evil cultists you've been searching for. Turns out their initiation rite is sacrificing some poor sap to their god. It's very hard to save the guy as [[DroppedABridgeOnHim a statue]] falls on him if you just ignore him. Killing him when they ask you to makes the quest a little easier as it causes the audience watching you to leave. On the other hand, if you deliberately free him, or simply hack-and-slash your way in, you can save the victim and [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Jeelius he will reward you later.]] |
| 404 | ** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'': |
| 405 | *** The initiation to join the Dark Brotherhood this time involves killing one of three individuals tied-up with bags over their heads. However, each are possible contracts (one is a mercenary, one is an unrepentant criminal, and one is simply an annoying nag). You can also TakeAThirdOption and kill Astrid, which changes the questline to hunting down the Dark Brotherhood instead. Killing all three of them gets you compliments on your ruthlessness. |
| 406 | *** The quest for the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Prince]] Boethiah (whose sphere includes betrayal, deceit, and murder) requires you to prove that you're treacherous enough to work for her. To do that, you need to find someone who [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder trusts you enough to follow you]], take them to Boethiah's altar, and [[HumanSacrifice sacrifice]] that person. |
| 407 | *** Molag Bal, the Daedric Prince of [[TheCorrupter Domination and Corruption]], requires that you murder a friendly [[KnightTemplar Vigilant of Stendarr]] before he'll give you his quest proper. |
| 408 | ** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsOnline Elder Scrolls Online]]'' |
| 409 | *** The Dark Brotherhood's initiation goes the same as in Oblivion, only this time in the [[Main/NotSoSafeHarbor Gold Coast]]. This time, however, some of the justice system [[Main/NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] have rather abrasive personalities, so some possible targets may make you feel [[Main/VideoGameCrueltyPotential a bit less guilty this time around]]. |
| 410 | * In 'The Shadow Odyssey' expansion pack for ''VideoGame/EverQuestII'', one quest to infiltrate a group of troll pirates involves getting ordered to kill an arena full of kittens. If you choose not to do it, you can stuff them into a sack and hide them, instead. The dialog for not killing the kittens has your player telling the troll that you ate them. |
| 411 | * ''VideoGame/{{Fable}}'': |
| 412 | ** ''VideoGame/FableI'': One Demon Door won't open unless you "perform an act of great evil" in front of him or you're already at the bottom of the KarmaMeter. You can betray and murder an ally... or just eat ten Crunchy Chicks from your inventory. |
| 413 | --->'''Demon Door:''' That was ''wicked''! Literally. |
| 414 | ** ''VideoGame/FableII'': |
| 415 | *** The entrance exam of the [[AffablyEvil Temple of Shadows]] used to be something easy like kicking the crutches out from under a lame man. Nowadays, you have to eat five whole live baby chicks, raw, while the sort-of evil guy comments on how horrible it is. |
| 416 | *** In the Spire, you have to infiltrate the BigBad's headquarters. You go through progressively eviler and eviler acts, starting with obeying/disobeying [[TheDragon the Commandant]], proceeding to either keep food away from or feed starving prisoners, and finally choosing to kill/not kill a fellow guard who has been quite friendly. Taking the good choices [[spoiler:doesn't expose you as a spy or anything, but it does cost you some of your precious, precious experience points.]] |
| 417 | * ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' has an example of this; to befriend some Raiders, you must execute two girls they have taken as prisoners. |
| 418 | ** ''VideoGame/Fallout3'': |
| 419 | *** One way to gain entrance to Paradise Falls to rescue the Little Lamplighters is to hypnotize and enslave the four people on gatekeeper Grouse's "VIP List". |
| 420 | *** To get [[PlayerHeadquarters the nice suite in Tenpenny Tower]], you have to nuke Megaton for Mr. Burke. |
| 421 | ** To rescue your dad from the Tranquility Lane VR simulation, you must first assist [[MadScientist Dr. Stanislaus Braun]] in torturing the residents of the simulation. Or you can TakeAThirdOption and put them out of their misery with the Failsafe. |
| 422 | ** In ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', you can witness the leader of [[{{Pyromaniac}} The]] [[AxCrazy Forged]] telling Jake, their newest "recruit", to kill a prisoner. Jake can't bring himself to KickTheDog, showing that he isn't as lost as his father believed; he is just too innocent to understand that Raiders are a bunch of AxCrazy psychopaths who won't stop at merely robbing people. |
| 423 | --->'''Slag:''' Prove to me that you can kill, it's him or you. |
| 424 | * ''Videogame/FarCry3'': |
| 425 | ** After Jason steals a uniform and ID from a mercenary in order to infiltrate [[AmoralAfrikaner Hoyt's]] drug-smuggling and people-trafficking ring, he's told to torture one of the captives in order to gain Hoyt's favor. Jason, [[ItGetsEasier who's been pretty thoroughly desensitised to violence by his experiences]], goes through with it, although he angsts about it afterwards, especially because [[spoiler:the captive turned out to be his younger brother, Riley.]] |
| 426 | *** [[spoiler:And then, at a high-stakes poker game between Hoyt and Jason, the crime kingpin tells Jason that he knew who he was along. So Jason torturing his brother was AllForNothing except [[ForTheEvulz Hoyt's sick entertainment]].]] |
| 427 | ** The final storyline mission of the game ends with Citra trying to get Jason to [[spoiler:kill the friends he's spent the game trying to rescue]] in order to prove his commitment to the Rakyat's warrior philosophy. If you follow through with this, she invokes YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness and kills Jason after using him to impregnate herself. |
| 428 | * ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': In a variation, during the initial mako reactor attack, Barret tells Cloud he doesn't fully trust him, and orders him to set up the bomb himself to prove he's not some undercover Shinra agent. The same happens in the Remake, but in the Remake, [[spoiler:an undercover Shinra agent [[FalseFlagOperation would have blown up the reactor all the same]].]] |
| 429 | * In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'', Tibarn calls out [[spoiler:Sephiran]] on this during a boss dialogue against him in Chapter 4-Endgame-4 |
| 430 | --> '''[[spoiler:Sephiran]]:''' Hello, King Tibarn. I thought I might see you. Only the strongest reach the top. It’s only natural that you would be among them. \ |
| 431 | '''Tibarn:''' You know what? I don’t believe you’re the big, bad, evil guy you want us all to think you are. \ |
| 432 | '''[[spoiler:Sephiran]]:''' What could you be talking about? \ |
| 433 | '''Tibarn:''' Ah, I was right! I see it in your eyes. I’ve been around for a while, and learned a bit about spotting fakes. So now that your secret’s out, maybe you’d like to open up and tell me: Who are you really? \ |
| 434 | '''[[spoiler:Sephiran]]:''' … |
| 435 | * In the ''Conquest'' path of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', the PlayerCharacter's loyalty to the evil King Garon is repeatedly questioned. For the [[PlayerCharacter Avatar]], it's a constant struggle between appearing to meet Garon's very high standard of ruthlessness, and preserving moral integrity. Especially when the time comes to kill the Avatar's Hoshidan family... |
| 436 | * In ''VideoGame/FreeSpace2'', in order to prove your loyalty when working as a spy amongst the Neo Terran Front rebel faction, they dare you to gun down a civilian transport. If you refuse (by waiting), they brand you a traitor and a spy and try to kill you. If you accept and destroy the ship, they call you heartless but say they knew you were a spy and try to kill you. Due to a [[ScriptBreaking mission scripting oversight]] it doesn't actually matter in the end what you do here. If you destroy the civilian ship you get a severe reprimand from your superiors, are told that you're to be tried for treason, and generally implying the end of your career as a pilot. However the game still considers the mission a success and allows you to continue through the campaign as if nothing happened - possibly [[GodzillaThreshold because of the Shivans]]. |
| 437 | * ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'': |
| 438 | ** Either subverted or played absolutely dead straight, depending on your KarmaMeter position. In order to gain full access to the Sith school on Korriban (and therefore the Star Map in a tomb there), you have to demonstrate yourself to be a hard-ass bastard in the true Sith style by destroying assassin droids, executing runaway students, and betraying pretty much every other student. The subversion is that while you ''can'' behave like a murderous bastard by betraying and murdering your rivals, you can also do what any good undercover Jedi would do: cheat like crazy. You can fake the deaths of the renegade students, calm the assassin droid with a conscience down, and even redeem the ghost of a Sith Lord from centuries ago and still get in. Heck, there's a HoistByHisOwnPetard moment when a Sith student thinks he's backstabbing you by demanding what he ''thinks'' is the right sword and letting him have it. You can even get the Star Map and then lecture the leaders of the Academy about how their backstabbing ways let you accomplish it all. |
| 439 | ** In probably the best example of subversion you stumble into a Sith mentor testing some students. They suck so he ponders on a proper punishment for them: death or torture- and turns to you for an advice. You can approve violent choices OR you can tell him to simply let them go. Just because [[BecauseISaidSo that's what you want]]. If you manage to push it across hard enough the Sith is impressed with your badassitude and vehement adherence to [[ItsAllAboutMe Sith MO]] and indeed lets them go. |
| 440 | * If you try to join up with the BigBad in ''[[VisualNovel/LongLiveTheQueen Long Live The Queen]]'', his first command is for you to kill [[spoiler: your father.]] Depending on how you've been building your character through the game, you may or may not be able to go through with it. |
| 441 | * ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': In Samara's recruitment mission, Pitne For tells you that the Eclipse mercenaries on Illium have to commit murder to earn their uniforms. You can later find an audio file left by one of the mercs boasting about who she killed to join them. |
| 442 | * In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', [[spoiler: The Boss is suspected of being a traitor due to the Cobras' deaths (and covering for a spy, as well). She is told to stab out Naked Snake's eyes. She is about to do it when she is stopped by EVA/Tanya.]] This is especially tense since we know [[spoiler: That Big Boss lost an eye at some point in his life. He loses the eye soon after in a somewhat unrelated incident.]] |
| 443 | * In the ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic'' games where you have to choose between the Light and Dark paths, some Promotion Quests on the Dark Path require doing something simply to prove you're Dark enough. For example, in ''VI'', the Assassin quest requires killing a young noblewoman in Celeste (she's defenseless, and simply sneaking up on her while invisible will finish her in one hit) while the Villain quest requires kidnapping a young girl. (Even easier. The hardest part of both quests is simply escaping the town or city in question, but a Town Portal can do that.) Oddly enough, completing both will lower your Reputation Score even in Deja, a place allied with the Dark Path; it seems EvenEvilHasStandards regarding this sort of thing. |
| 444 | * ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'': |
| 445 | ** This is what comprises the entire mission "No Russian" in ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare2'', in which you're undercover in a group of Russian terrorists as they massacre an airport full of defenseless civilians. You're not actually required to actively participate in the civilian massacre, but eventually the riot police show up and you inevitably have to fight through them to complete the mission. Trying to kill the terrorist leader results in a HopelessBossFight of sorts, where the terrorist members become invincible and start shooting at you instead. FromBadToWorse: [[spoiler:It turns out the terrorist leader already knew your character was undercover and kills him at the end of the level. He deliberately let your character join so he could leave your body behind at the scene, thus pinning the whole incident on an American and pushing Russia to invade the U.S.. In other words, everything your character did only played right into his hands.]] And even then, there's an even bigger [[TheReveal reveal]] towards the end of the campaign. |
| 446 | ** Also, ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare3'' reveals that [[spoiler:a member of Makarov's inner circle defected to the Loyalists rather than participate in the mission. There's a flashback where you get to play as him after he gets shot for being a traitor, then staggers through the airport futilely trying to stop the massacre before he passes out. That's right, one of Makarov's own men wouldn't eat the kitten -- and suffers for it.]] |
| 447 | * In the Evil Ending of ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'', you must prove you have no allegiance to your former party members by killing them all singlehandedly. |
| 448 | * Played with in ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}''. Most players will remember Test Chamber 17: the home of the famed CompanionCube. [=GLaDOS=] coaxes Chell to use the cube in various ways to get through the test, then, in typical [=GLaDOS=] fashion, springs the trope on her by indicating that in order to complete the test, she has to "euthanize" the Cube by dumping it into the incinerator. Barring CargoShip, most players just get it over with since the Cube isn't alive (it's exactly like all the other Cubes you use for tests, except it has hearts on the sides instead of the Aperture logo), but [=GLaDOS=] keeps on implying your "evil" nature once you finish: "''You euthanized your faithful Companion Cube more quickly than any other test subject on record. Congratulations.''" |
| 449 | * In ''VideoGame/NiNoKuniIIRevenantKingdom'', after Roland supposedly [[spoiler:betrays Evermore and Evan for King Mausinger (Evan's deposer) in Ding Dong Dell]], Mausinger orders him to the dungeons where he wants him to [[spoiler:kill Batu's colleague, Khunbish, who was caught trying to sneak in after Roland. He fakes it by shooting Khunbish with a trick bullet that only knocks Khunbish out and makes it seem like he's dead. Mausinger is seemingly satisfied, though it later transpired that he wasn't entirely convinced.]] |
| 450 | * ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryII'' has this in the form of a test to join the Eternal Order of Fighters, by having you kill a man after defeating him in a trial by combat. If you kill him, you get a higher rank in the EOF, which has absolutely no in-game benefit; if you spare him, you get a lower rank, but the in-game KarmaMeter gets points and he speaks on your behalf in the finale, which can earn your character the title of Paladin. Of course, whether you decide to or not, the man stands up alive and well after the fight is over. |
| 451 | * In ''Videogame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' if you want to side with the Yosuga (the MightMakesRight faction and the most explicitly evil of the three Reasons), you must assist in their massacres of the Manakins (who are, for the most part, defenceless) and kill the manakin leader Futomimi. |
| 452 | * In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'', the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado eventually gets torn apart [[spoiler: by the Black Samurai's Literature and its effects on the social order.]] So the [[spoiler:Four Archangels]] decide to have the remaining loyal Samurai randomly ask the remaining Casualries to perform the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fumi-e E-fumi]] test. No points for guessing how everyone reacts. |
| 453 | * In ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs2012'', protagonist [[TheMole Wei Shen]] is quickly singled out by the Water Street Boys' [[TheDragon Conroy]] [[DumbMuscle Wu]] as a possible undercover cop or rat for ''not'' being as immediately bloodthirsty as Conroy, and because the last guy they had like that turned out to be a cop[[note]]Then again, it could also be interpreted as a GeniusBruiser sticking out in a gang full of Dumb Muscle...[[/note]]. When their leader orders an assault against a rival gang's drug warehouse and Wei amends it to at least taking the warehouse leader alive, Conroy coerces Wei to get ''some'' blood on his hands to prove that he's not a cop. Wei ''does'' go through with this though, so afterwards Conroy apologizes to Wei, admitting that "''you showed your true colors tonight''", and fully accepts him as a member of the Water Street Boys... unaware that [[spoiler:while Wei's handler may not like it, ''his'' superior Superintendant Pendrew ''doesn[='=]t'' mind Wei killing criminals to maintain his cover, and indeed Wei's personal body count ''skyrockets'' after this]]. |
| 454 | * ''VideoGame/SplinterCellDoubleAgent''. Sam Fisher is infiltrating the terrorist group John Brown's Army. He faces a Kitten Eating Test several times, including being ordered to kill three people (the helicopter pilot who helped him escape from prison, a CIA agent and his boss Colonel Lambert), and blowing up a cruise ship. The order to shoot Colonel Lambert is also ShootYourMate. [[spoiler:The sequel reveals that the canon choice was to maintain your cover]]. |
| 455 | * ''VideoGame/{{Tyranny}}'': [[TheHorde The Scarlet Chorus]] recruit their ranks from the survivors of their onslaught by pitting them against each other, usually by pairing up friends and family. If they can kill the other guy first, they're in. If not, then they're dead and that's that. |
| 456 | * In a meta example, if you want to take the [[LeaveNoSurvivors Genocide route]] in ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', you'll have to murder several prominent, lovable characters in cold blood, despite the fact that they're not trying to fight you at all. [[spoiler:First Papyrus, then the Glad Dummy, then ''almost'' the Monster Kid (though they're saved by Undyne TakingTheBullet, you're still required to ''try'').]] Not to mention that you can OneHitKill several bosses before they get off a single attack. This strongly contrasts a Neutral run; while killing monsters can still earn you a WhatTheHellHero or two, everything you can kill ''was'' trying to kill you first. |
| 457 | * ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': |
| 458 | ** Some quest lines have you undermine evil guys. Not all of them make you do really evil stuff, but a particular quest line in Zul'Drak definitely qualifies; slaughtering an entire village of trolls and subjecting their chieftains to cruel experiments. One may argue that the trolls are evil anyway but they are definitely less of a threat than the Scourge. |
| 459 | ** Death Knight starting zone. You are called upon to kill a member of your own race from the Argent Dawn to prove your ruthlessness. When you go inside, you find out that your quarry is a friend from your old life, who recognises you as soon as they stand. At first they remind you who you were before undeath and then try to pull IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight on you. A cry of "What's taking so long?" from the Scourge commander outside is enough to put a stop to that possibility and you have no option but to ShootTheDog, as your friend is dying from their injuries anyway and if you don't, they'll kill both of you. |
| 460 | ** Being a Blood Elf embodies this Trope. One early [[MemeticMutation meme]] was that a usual quest was "Kill this kitten. '''FOR FUN!'''" |
| 461 | ** There's a questline in Stranglethorn Vale that involves joining the Bloodsail Buccaneers(temporarily, you won't lose your Booty Bay reputation). To prove that you're on their side you must kill the fleet master in Booty Bay and bring them his head. Because the Fleet Master is a Tauren, a humanoid bull, you get away with handing them a cow's head wearing a pirate hat, and they're so stupid they can't tell the difference. |
| 462 | ** Arthas, after revealing he was a Death Knight publicly, ordered Thassarian to kill his own mother to prove his loyalty. So he did. |
| 463 | ** During the Mount Hyjal questline, you are tasked with infiltrating the Twilight's Hammer cult. One quest to prove your loyalty to the cult involves killing unarmed unworthy initiates cowering in fear. Unlike some other examples, there is no way to fake it; whatever your feelings on the matter, you ''have'' to kill them to continue. |
| 464 | * ''VideoGame/XCOMChimeraSquad'': Inverted. Aliens that were formerly serving ADVENT can be integrated into human society only after proving they have "capacity for compassion", and a typical method of doing so is taking care of a government-issued cat. Note that the alien members of Chimera Squad bypassed this test; Verge defected to humanity by inadvertently taking empathy lessons from the politician he was brainwashing (and for some reason cats naturally ''hate'' him), Axiom broke free from his detainment during a bug apocalypse only to save his captors and march back to the prison van, and Torque got by on nepotism (her stepmother is in XCOM high command). |
| 465 | ** Of note, one of the gang leaders failed this test ''multiple times'' but was allowed to leave because they showed constant guilt at accidentally getting their cats killed. It turns out, this was a bad call; someone who accidentally eats the kittens and then breaks down in genuine remorse is still someone who ''needs to be watched for more kitten eating''. |
| 466 | [[/folder]] |
| 467 | |
| 468 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 469 | * In the ''WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail'' "[[Recap/StrongBadEmailE193Rated rated]]", Strong Bad claims that all his favorite movies have been banned in Transylvania, "where you're required by law to eat puppies for breakfast." |
| 470 | [[/folder]] |
| 471 | |
| 472 | [[folder:Web Comics]] |
| 473 | * ''Webcomic/AxeCop'': In comic #137, Axe Cop and Dinosaur Soldier try to enter the villains' secret lair, which is guarded by a giant evil head. They decide to go undercover as bad guys to get in, but the head demands that they kill a good guy to prove their badness. Luckily for them, Mr. Stocker, the useless superhero with no powers, shows up... and Axe Cop, being written by a young child, isn't one for moral dilemmas. (They can always have Uni-Man bring Mr. Stocker back to life if they need him again.) |
| 474 | * In ''Webcomic/EverBlue'' it's more like "if you're so loyal to the city, kill your best friend who is terribly dangerous, and I won't tell you why". Seta goes and does it [[spoiler: not. He pretends to, because he thinks if he just [[BreakHisHeartToSaveHim told Luna what's going on, she'd want to stay]] and help, and he has to do this by himself.]] |
| 475 | * ''Webcomic/{{Fluble}}'' parodies this in [[http://techhouse.brown.edu/cgi-bin/fluble/vault.pl?date=19980302 a scene]] where Mack The tells Fluble that [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys women will only date scum]]. When Fluble insists that he can be scum, Mack The challenges him to eat a puppy. Fluble falters, Mack The eats the puppy and is immediately surrounded by women. |
| 476 | * In ''Webcomic/TheHandbookOfHeroes'', Anti-Paladin's introduction sees him being asked to kick a puppy to prove how evil he is. Anti-Paladin refuses on the grounds that it's not only cruel but also pointless; [[PragmaticVillainy he's evil, not Snidely Whiplash]]. |
| 477 | * In ''Webcomic/TheLegendOfAnneBunny'', which is very loosely based on real history, Anne is told she can't join the pirates until she kills someone. She claims to have already done it, and at least one pirate believes her. Later she confesses otherwise, but they decide she's cool off to have around anyway. Heck, they [[spoiler:elect her captain after the mutiny]]. |
| 478 | * In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Belkar's test to multi-class as a barbarian is to choose from one of three other barbarians to fight. Belkar chooses to kill all three. Subverted when the recruiter informs him that the fights weren't supposed to be to the death. |
| 479 | * One ''Webcomic/OzyAndMillie'' strip has Millie give up on trying to be evil after she can't bring herself to kill a spider. |
| 480 | * This is how Xaneth vets Sebastian as a potential evil henchman in ''Webcomic/TrueVillains'': "If you're so evil, [[http://www.truevillains.com/comic-2008-02-08~N-Assignment-jpg.htm annihilate this peaceful village."]] Given that Xaneth is TheChessmaster and a demon of the God of Knowledge, there is almost certainly an ulterior motive, but Sebastian sees it as this trope [[spoiler:and does it anyway]]. |
| 481 | [[/folder]] |
| 482 | |
| 483 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 484 | * The ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' article [[http://www.cracked.com/article_21257_5-insane-things-i-learned-about-drugs-as-undercover-agent.html 5 Insane Things I Learned About Drugs As An Undercover Agent]] discusses this trope. As it turns out most criminals, real or not, aren't very interested in getting a murder rap just to test someone's loyalty. The article even links to this very page. |
| 485 | * An article by ''Website/TheOnion'' on new regulations of the stock market mentions requiring brokers to pass a "Kitten-and-Hammer Ethics Test", presumably to reveal those who are evil. |
| 486 | [[/folder]] |
| 487 | |
| 488 | [[folder:Web Videos]] |
| 489 | * ''WebVideo/DrHorriblesSingAlongBlog'': |
| 490 | ** "He rides across the nation, the thoroughbred of sin. He got the application that you just sent in. It needs evaluation, so let the games begin. A heinous crime, a show of force, a murder would be nice of course..." |
| 491 | ** And more so later: "So now assassination is just the only way. There will be blood, [[YouHaveFailedMe it might be yours]], so go kill someone. Signed Bad Horse." |
| 492 | ** There's a discussion between Moist and Horrible where Moist mentions someone named "Hourglass" (presumably with some kind of time-based powers) knows a kid who's going to grow up to be President, and suggests that Horrible could kill the kid. Or that he could smother an old lady. |
| 493 | [[/folder]] |
| 494 | |
| 495 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 496 | * ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' has the episode "Web Weirdos", where Finn and Jake get caught in a spider's web along with two insects. When the spider couple comes back, Finn tries to convince the male that he's not in cahoots with the other food just trying to escape, to which the spider says "Well okay then, eat your friend here." to which Finn then pretends to eat one of the insects. |
| 497 | ** "We Fixed a Truck" has BMO expose "Princess Bubblegum" as an imposter by ordering "her" to eat a bug it offers her. The imposter immediately grabs the bug with their lizard tongue. |
| 498 | * In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'', when [[FantasticRacist The Huntsman]] was [[ProperlyParanoid (correctly)]] suspicious that his protégé Huntsgirl had [[HeelFaceTurn switched sides]] and was [[DoubleAgent acting as a spy for the dragons]], he orders her to bring him the pelt of the dragon she had previously claimed to have slain. [[spoiler: [[ContrivedCoincidence Luckily]], Jake was about to shed his skin...]] |
| 499 | * In ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'', Jetstorm challenged Thrust to prove his loyalty to Megatron by extracting Blackarachnia's spark. Thrust almost did it, but was interrupted by Nightscream, forcing Jetstorm to do the deed himself. This becomes rather disturbing when later information is revealed. |
| 500 | * There's a literal example in ''WesternAnimation/{{Catscratch}}'', when one of the cats is pretending to be a dog, and has to prove it by eating a cat. |
| 501 | * The trope is parodied in its fullest in ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgers'' when the Cadet is made into the lord of a race of Klingon-like aliens. When the dethroned leader brings him dessert, it turns out to be... a live kitten. And this is not a deliberate test, their race really considers kittens a delicacy! |
| 502 | * In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'', Mrs. Beakley ends up pinned under a train car, with only [[ConflictingLoyalties Lena]] around to see what happened to her. Her aunt [[LivingShadow Magica]], in order to make sure she's fully dedicated to her plan, [[WhatYouAreInTheDark tells her to leave Beakley there to die.]] Lena instead chooses to save her. (She justifies this later by claiming that she's "playing the long game", but Magica is skeptical.) |
| 503 | * In the last episode of the ''Toys/EverAfterHigh'' "Dragon Games" arc, [[WhiteSheep Raven Queen]] is given this ultimatum by [[BigBad the Wicked Queen]] while pretending to be [[DaddysLittleVillain Mommy's Little Villain]] to buy time for [[TheCavalry her friends]]: throw the [[ForcedTransformation Ever After High faculty and Snow White]] into a portal to the void. Raven declines. |
| 504 | * This happens in the second ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' movie, when Bender wants to make a deal with the robot devil to get an army of robots to attack Yivo's dimension. The Devil tells him that a deal such as that will require a very evil act from Bender - giving him his first born son! Bender does it. The Robot Devil is impressed. |
| 505 | -->'''Robot Devil:''' Wow! That was brutal, [[EvenEvilHasStandards even by my standards!]]\ |
| 506 | '''Bender:''' [[CrossesTheLineTwice No backsies!]] |
| 507 | * When Dusty on ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'' was sent to infiltrate COBRA as TheMole, Cobra Commander has him fight a Mook in gladiatorial combat. He's told the battle is to the death, but wriggles out of having to kill the man in cold blood by humiliating the Mook instead. He even has an answer when he's called on it: |
| 508 | -->'''Cobra Commander:''' Why did you save him? Do I detect a vestige of mercy?\ |
| 509 | '''Dusty:''' We can always use extra help on K.P. |
| 510 | * In ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2002'', Kobra Khan had been separated from other [[SnakePeople Snake Men]] all his life, and was thus reluctant to feed on sentient beings, something they had no problem with. When he succeeded in freeing the others, they saw this reluctance as "soft", and some of them tried to urge him to do so when the opportunity presented itself. (He never got the courage to do it, at least not before one or more of the heroes arrived to interrupt him.) |
| 511 | * ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited:]]'' |
| 512 | ** A heroic variant comes up in a character's back story. Shining Knight, a knight in modern times, relates that he was tasked to raze a village to the ground by his lord King Arthur. Knowing Arthur couldn't have been so evil as to ask that, so he let them live. In return, he is ''rewarded'' for thinking rather than obeying blindly. He uses this as a metaphor for why the Shaggy Man/General Eiling is using flawed logic when he considers all super humans a threat, and only blindly obeying "duty", regardless of harmed InnocentBystanders, mattered. |
| 513 | ** Inverted (or perhaps done preemptively) by The Flash when he's [[FreakyFridayFlip body swapped]] into Lex Luthor and he's with villains who don't know it yet. |
| 514 | --->'''Polaris:''' You gonna wash your hands? |
| 515 | --->'''The Flash:''' No. 'Cause I'm ''evil''. |
| 516 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', "Dragon Quest": Spike tags along with a dragon migration, and falls in with a pack of rowdy teenage dragons. They force Spike to prove that he's a ''real'' dragon by making him undergo a series of challenges that are easy for them but naturally difficult for Spike. Once they finally accept him, they demand he breaks open a phoenix egg he found just for fun and that's where Spike draws the line. |
| 517 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'': In "Bubble Boy", after kidnapping Boomer, Bubbles dresses up as him to spy on the Rowdyruff Boys. In order to maintain her cover she has to prove that she's evil which involves [[ArsonMurderAndJayWalking taking a beating, shooting a snot rocket and graffiti.]] Brick does eventually get suspicious at one point and forces "Boomer" to eat a cockroach to prove it's really him. Bubbles actually complies leading Butch to comment on how even ''he'' [[EvenEvilHasStandards found that disgusting.]] |
| 518 | * In ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', Jack once had to blow up a house to enter a criminal gang. He did it, but sneakily evacuated the inhabitants first. The house was inhabitted by a kindly old man and his many cute kittens and puppies. As soon as he opens the door, Jack looks despondent. |
| 519 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': |
| 520 | ** When Bart is undercover in Shelbyville, the local kids ask him to write the graffiti "Springfield sucks" to prove himself. He seems to obey at first but really paints "Springfield rules, suckers!" instead, effectively blowing his cover with style. |
| 521 | ** Another episode had Burns [[ItMakesSenseInContext adopting Bart]] and tested him to fire Homer (and drop him in a trap door). Burns ends up getting dropped instead. |
| 522 | ** One that doesn't involve Bart, in "Separate Vocations" where Lisa makes a temporary FaceHeelTurn, she tries to fit in with a group of tough girls at school, but she hasn't gone quite so far that she's willing to smoke when then give her a cigarette. However, they're ''really'' impressed when she says she'll save it to smoke in class. |
| 523 | * Inverted in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'''s retelling of ''Literature/GreatExpectations''. Pip wants to prove that Estella isn't evil and gives her a bunny and insists there's no way she could kill it. She does. Pip gives her another bunny and she kills that one. This continues for a while, and only stops because she gets bored. Which is lucky, because he'd just run out of bunnies. |
| 524 | * ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': In "Full Disclosure", after dangerous battle against Homeworld Gems, Steven starts avoiding Connie, until he finally texts her saying that [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies he doesn't wanna be friends anymore]]. Connie gets fed up and demands that if Steven is really that serious about breaking up with her, he should do it face-to-face. He ultimately relents and still wants to be friends with her. |
| 525 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'' half-episode "Cry Turmoil", T-bone feigns allegiance to the eponymous villainess, Turmoil, until Razor is found running around Turmoil's airship. Turmoil is suspicious, until T-bone volunteers to show his loyalty by personally tossing Razor off the ship. [[spoiler:Ultimately subverted when T-bone undoes Razor's shackles just before kicking him out of the airlock, allowing Razor to jetpack to safety.]] |
| 526 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'' is the TropeNamer, in which the eponymous hero and his sidekick are attempting to blend in with a bunch of ObviouslyEvil villains to pump them for information on the location of The Enemy Awards. The Forehead gets suspicious of their villain credentials and tests them with this line. The Tick fails the test immediately, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVkednNhFAg as seen here.]] |
| 527 | -->'''The Tick:''' [[AndThatsTerrible Eating kittens is just plain wrong, and no one should do it, ever!]] |
| 528 | * ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'' featured this as a brainwashing test. Unable to step on a randomly (and illogically) present mouse, Alex kicks the lone instructor in the face. |
| 529 | * In the Season 4 episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', "Bright Lights, Dean City," Baron Underbheit thinks he needs to do something along these lines to join the Revenge Society. So he, without hesitation, snaps his manservant's neck. Turns out they just wanted him to sign some forms. |
| 530 | * Used in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010''. Kaldur [[spoiler:kills ([[TheMole not really]]) Artemis]] in line with this trope, but what really convinces his father to trust him is that he didn't take credit for something he didn't do. Unfortunately, the rest of the Light still don't think that's enough and give an "eat this kitten" ultimatum in capturing Blue Beetle. [[spoiler:He goes above and beyond, capturing Blue Beetle, Impulse and Beast Boy, ''and'' blowing up Mount Justice. It's still all a ruse, but it's a pretty darn convincing one.]] |
| 531 | [[/folder]] |
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