Line #34 PlayingWith/KickThemWhileTheyAreDown


1	'''Basic Trope''': Attacking a helpless foe.
2	* '''Straight''': Jack keeps on hitting and kicking Tom while he's down.
3	* '''Exaggerated''':
4	** Jack breaks into the hospital to kill all the wounded.
5	** NoHoldsBarredBeatdown
6	** ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill
7	** PummelingTheCorpse
8	* '''Downplayed''':
9	** After Tom is down and can't fight back, Jack... sticks a needle in him.
10	** Jack hits Tom in the process of getting up.
11	* '''Justified''':
12	** Jack is sadistic and enjoys the feeling of tormenting those who are helpless.
13	** Jack is too weak and/or [[DirtyCoward cowardly]] to challenge Tom at his best, so he waits until Tom is in a vulnerable state to carry out his attack.
14	** Jack is in a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
15	** Jack caught Tom trying to slaughter innocents and beat him so badly that, in his rage, Jack didn't realize that Tom can't fight back anymore.
16	** Tom is MadeOfIron and/or is a CombatPragmatist who has pulled ISurrenderSuckers or PlayingPossum before. Jack is smart enough to know that OnceIsNotEnough.
17	** Tom is trying to murder Jack, so Jack being honorable would be stupid.
18	* '''Inverted''':
19	** Being rendered helpless triggers Tom's bomb to kill Jack.
20	** Jack barely even seems to spare Tom a thought now that he's down, and goes after whoever's next. [[PragmaticVillainy Keep it businesslike.]]
21	* '''Subverted''': Tom's ability to regenerate means he's not out of the fight until dead.
22	* '''Double Subverted''':
23	** But Jack neither knew nor cared about that.
24	** Or Jack made it up to justify attacking him.
25	* '''Parodied''': Jack keeps on shooting Tom with paintballs even though he "incapacitated" him. Everyone else decries this as foul play.
26	* '''Zig Zagged''': ???
27	* '''Averted''':
28	** Jack ignores Tom once he is incapacitated, as he longer poses a threat.
29	** Tom is down but not out and [[GroinAttack punches Jack in the balls]] when he comes to check on him.
30	* '''Enforced''': The writers want to show Jack is an incredibly cold-blooded CombatPragmatist and thus that he is not above disobeying tournament rules or even basic human decency [[TheUnfettered to achieve his goal.]]
31	* '''Lampshaded''': "Screw honor, I want him dead."
32	* '''Invoked''': "If I don't finish him now, he'll just get better."
33	* '''Exploited''':
34	** Tom is not faking being hurt but it was a worthy sacrifice because he knows Jack will value his destruction over common decency or common ''sense'' and get close enough to allow him to attack Jack's legs.
35	** Tom set things up so his fight with Jack would be recorded. With video proof that Jack is the kind of man who would literally step on the throat of an injured person if that allowed him to win, Tom has made sure Jack's reputation is inescapably tarnished.
36	* '''Defied''':
37	** Jack's lair is equipped with padded safety restraints which come down on a helpless person and shield him/her from further harm.
38	** Explicit rules of warfare prevent this from being done, with extremely harsh enforcement on anybody who is caught (or even suspected) of having done this.
39	** [[TheLancer Bob]] pulls a gun and points it at Jack's head as he approaches his enemy with obvious intent to do this, and says a deadpan "he's already down."
40	** Jack doesn't even ''let'' Tom fall, he punches the latter against a wall and pummels him against it.
41	* '''Discussed''': "You can't trust Jack. He kicks his foes while they're down."
42	* '''Conversed''': ???
43	* '''Deconstructed''':
44	** ISurrenderSuckers means failing to do this risks the lives of your own comrades.
45	** The hero Jack nobly refuses to finish off the wounded, but doesn't take them prisoner; his foes end up dying slowly and painfully from dehydration, hunger, and animal attacks.
46	** Jack miscalculated the strength of his kick (or Tom's toughness) and accidentally kills Tom. Now he [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone has blood on his hands (and feet)]] and bad reputation.
47	** Jack discovers the hard way that this is considered the most extremely low in a competition, even the most down-low, allegedly no-rules ones.
48	** Jack develops a reputation as a sadist that destroys him in the long run (either because [[HatedByAll people want nothing with such a cruel man]] or [[ScrewTheRulesTheyBrokeThemFirst because enemies, now knowing the full extent of his ruthlessness, will be even more ruthless themselves]]). Sometimes you just need to deal with the fight in front of you ''right now'', with (some semblance of) honor, not "[[Literature/EndersGame win all future fights]]".
49	** Trying to invoke this trope will result in the person you're trying to kick to either trip you, [[AgonyOfTheFeet bite your ankles]], or both. Jack has learned the hard way, and he's now getting [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown an MMA ground and pound from Tom]].
50	* '''Reconstructed''':
51	** But adhering to honor persuades the civilians that you are reliable, and they help you and your men.
52	** Jack's enemy, having already [[ThisIsUnforgivable showcased himself do not deserve any mercy]], gets none.
53	* '''Played For Laughs''': Jack's attack of Tom takes [[SingleStrokeBattle one second of knocking him down]] and [[OverlyLongGag twenty-three hours of stomping on his face]].
54	* '''Played For Drama''': Jack's attack of Tom demonstrates that [[HeWhoFightsMonsters this war has completely wore down on his humanity]].
55	* '''Played For Horror''': For Jack, it's not "''kick'' them while they're down", it's "''[[FlayedAlive flay their skin]]'' while they are down".
56	----
57	"You wouldn't [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown go back to the main entry while I'm down]], [[TemptingFate would you?]]" KICK "URK!"
58	----
59	%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
60	%%
61	%%* '''Implied''': ???
62	%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???
63	%%* '''Played For Laughs''': ???

Context PlayingWith / KickThemWhileTheyAreDown