Line #18 PlayingWith/WouldHurtAChild


1	'''Basic Trope''': A character, almost always a villain, has no moral compunctions about hurting, killing or tormenting children.
2	* '''Straight''': Officer Alice, an amoral KillerCop known for PoliceBrutality, doesn't care if her target is a child and has already killed some.
3	* '''Exaggerated''':
4	** Officer Alice doesn't kill anyone BUT babies and young children.
5	** Officer Alice kills her target's child ForTheEvulz.
6	** [[AbusiveParents Officer Alice]] also [[OffingTheOffspring kills her own children]].
7	** Officer Alice [[ForcedMiscarriage forcefully aborts]] Betty's unborn child.
8	** ChildEater
9	** EatsBabies
10	* '''Downplayed''':
11	** Alice would give the child a less painful death than she would adults.
12	** Alice does not like the idea of hurting children, but she knows [[KidHero our hero Bob]] is quite dangerous.
13	** Alice has a BlackAndWhiteMorality mentality and she only hurts/kill children that are evil, doesn't hurt/kill children that are good.
14	** Alice doesn't physically harm children, but will threaten or smear any who try to expose her corruption.
15	** Alice wouldn't hurt the under-10s who can't defend themselves, but thinks tweens and teenagers are still fair game.
16	** Alice is willing to hurt children, but refuses to kill them.
17	* '''Justified''':
18	** Alice had [[FreudianExcuse an abusive childhood]] and is enviously taking out her trauma on children who have it easier.
19	** The child she is sent killing is an EnfantTerrible.
20	** The child in question is an EldritchAbomination.
21	** The child in question [[ChildSoldiers can fight back]], so Alice has to be on her guard.
22	** Alice, a terrorist, has convinced a child to place a bomb or wear a vest made of explosives and be in a public place. Then...
23	*** 1. Either Alice detonates the explosives while the child is nearby them, or a sniper sees what Alice's up to and is forced to BoomHeadshot the child (as the SadisticChoice would have been let the child's explosives kill countless others).
24	*** 2. It might also be that there is only time to just act and not think; in which first instinct is "take the shot and deal with the consequences later." In a war-based or anti-terrorist piece of work this wouldn't be that far from the truth.
25	** Alice just [[ChildHater hates children]].
26	** Alice is a ChildSoldier herself and knows how dangerous children can be.
27	** Alice is an EvilOverlord or similar conqueror, and is GenreSavvy enough to know that sparing children is dangerous when torching a DoomedHometown. Therefore, if she deems a place worthy of conquest, she ensures that no children survive the purge.
28	** Alice knows that sometimes [[CruelToBeKind pain is the only teacher]].
29	* '''Inverted''':
30	** [[DoubleStandardViolenceChildOnAdult Alice, a child, has no qualms about hurting or killing adults]].
31	** WouldHarmASenior
32	* '''Subverted'''
33	** Alice is in a shootout, and shoots a child. But she fires with a tranq gun to prevent them being shot by someone else.
34	** The "child" turns out to be an evil robot built with the appearance of a child to fool the heroes.
35	** Alice thought about shooting a child, but once she confronts one, [[EveryoneHasStandards she cannot bring herself to do it]].
36	* '''Double Subverted''':
37	** The tranq gun is poisoned.
38	** The dose turns out to be too much for a child, and he dies. Or he dies because he's allergic to the drug.
39	** It turns out Alice had no way of knowing the child was an evil robot, and just shot it because she wanted to.
40	** Alice is about to shoot someone, realizes it's a child, hesitates and then shoots anyway.
41	* '''Parodied''': Alice, about to make her escape, breaks into a child's bedroom and draws on his face with permanent marker.
42	* '''Zig Zagged''': Depending on her own whim or the amount of her contract, Alice carries out child execution or doesn't.
43	* '''Averted''':
44	** ImprobableInfantSurvival.
45	** Alice is about to shoot someone, realizes it's a child, and [[WouldntHurtAChild stays her hand]].
46	* '''Enforced''':
47	** "We want Alice to be taken seriously as a villainess. There's no other way to do that than have her kill children intentionally."
48	** "[[KidHero Our hero of the story is a child]] and his conflict with Alice would be pretty boring if she has moral compunctions about hurting children."
49	* '''Lampshaded''': "Alice, you wouldn't shoot a child, would you?" "Why not?"
50	* '''Invoked''': "Killing is killing, death is death. Man, woman, child... What difference is there once the body is cold?"
51	* '''Defied''':
52	** "No thanks. I don't do children, no matter the bounty you offer. It's my sole principle."
53	** The child characters are aware that Alice is out to hurt them, so they launch a pre-emptive attack on her.
54	** "I don't give a damn whether or not you think it was necessary -- you ''hit'' a kid, I break your spine. You ''kill'' a kid, and your brain will get splattered all over a wall a split-second later. Do you all ''get me''?"
55	* '''Exploited''': Alice is hired to assassinate families, as they know she can go through with it.
56	* '''Implied''': Alice is shown to keep trophies from her victims, and a brief shot of her trophy room shows that some of them seem to be children's toys...
57	* '''Discussed''': "Don't you feel any remorse whatsoever? He was just a kid..." "Why should I? I'm just doing what I'm paid for."
58	* '''Conversed''': "Geez... you ever notice whenever Officer Alice comes around, infant mortality starts skyrocketing, statistically speaking?"
59	* '''Deconstructed''': Alice is seen as a monster and treated accordingly for what she's done. ''[[EvenEvilHasStandards Even by other villains]].''
60	* '''Reconstructed''': Said child was an EnfanteTerrible, or a KidHero in the villains' way. Alice is treated well, depending on the side she's on.
61	* '''Played For Laughs''': Alice's daughter comes home from school in a bad mood because her classmates bullied her. The next day, she's the only one left in class, and clearly annoyed.
62	* '''Played For Drama''': Alice, a sniper, notices that a child has explosives on him, as well as a detonator. She sees he's about to detonate them and take out a lot of folks with him. She prevents the explosives from going off, either by shooting the detonator and wounding the child, or shooting the child's head and killing him. She's shaken in that it's one of those things she never thought she would need to do, and it haunts at her in there was no time to [[SadisticChoice think of a better way]]. Even "wartime realities" don't ease the grief.
63	* '''Played For Horror''': Alice is a cannibal who eats children's flesh. Any child she chooses to spare is instead sold for slavery.
64	----
65	What, you thought I made exceptions for children? Go to WouldHurtAChild and see if I do.

Context PlayingWith / WouldHurtAChild