->''"We will not fight them at all. We would rather die than to kill others."''
--> -- '''Tee Watt Kaa''', ''StarWarsTheCloneWars'' episode "Jedi Crash"

A person (or, in some cases, an entire nation) who believes that [[ActualPacifist actual pacifism]] is worth dedication even when the call for resistance is a MatterOfLifeAndDeath. This highly principled and strong willed stance, already incredibly difficult to maintain in real life, tends to get the conflict equivalent of ColdTurkeysAreEverywhere with the pacifist people ([[PerfectPacifistPeople perfection optional]]) getting constantly assailed by dire threats where their options are a reduced to a SadisticChoice between [[FrequentlyBrokenUnbreakableVow breaking their unbreakable vow]] or dying for it.

When they choose the latter, some stories treat the decision as being TooDumbToLive; be it because the pacifists think appeasement can work on a BloodKnight, [[DyingLikeAnimals choose to ignore the existence of the threat]], or that the enslaving invaders somehow ''won't'' abuse their power and make life unbearable. Heroes may try to [[CaptainObvious point out the flaws in their reasoning]] and convince them to defend themselves, but [[CantArgueWithElves they will preach]] that he cannot be trusted due to the blood on his hands. If he tries to argue that [[MartialPacifist peace and liberty must be defended]], they may imply IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim. Of course, once the BigBad or {{Mooks}} arrive, he will be forced to take care of the problem for them, [[UngratefulBastard which they will be ungrateful over]] and even [[ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike complain about]]. In these cases there may be a WriterOnBoard trying to {{Anvilicious}}ly force a pro-assertiveness/anti-bullying {{Aesop}}.

More nuanced interpretations may have the pacifists struggle with the ethical dilemma of taking a life to defend their own, whether asking the hero for help defending them violates their pacifism by proxy, if appeasing the villain with money or slaves won't cause suffering to third parties and other issues. They usually end up in a position where they're forced into unwilling slavery they resist with civil disobedience... which is a dicey prospect that ''may'' get them freed in decades or centuries, but as per the trope title, submitting to the aggressor usually amounts to suicide. They may only reluctantly accept the hero's offer to [[TrainingThePeacefulVillagers Train The Peaceful Villagers]], to [[TeachHimAnger Teach Them Anger]], or choose to relocate.

See also ActualPacifist, TooDumbToLive for when this gets to the point of genuine stupidity, and PerfectPacifistPeople.
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!!Examples:

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[[folder: Anime / Manga ]]

* Reiji of ''RebirthTheLunaticTaker''.

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[[folder: Comics ]]

* In ''Formic Wars: Burning Earth'', Kenwe Zubeka, the director of alien affairs, for the U.N. tries to greet the Formics by flying up to their mother ship and offering them gifts and tokens of peace from 187 countries. Needless to say, it does not end well for the director.
* In ''Comicbook/TeenTitans'', the Cult of Azarath that Raven was born into believed this, not even defending themselves as they were attacked by Trigon's demons.

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[[folder: Literature ]]

* The Tuatha'an (Tinkers or Traveling People) in the ''WheelOfTime'' series. One of them, Aram, abandoned their Pacifist ways and soon became a KnightTemplar.
** Eventually [[JumpedOffTheSlipperySlope jumping off the slippery slope,]] and into straight-up AxeCrazy. It wasn't pretty.
* The people of Bandakar in the ''SwordOfTruth'' series, pacifists who are fortunately immune to magical attacks, and not so fortunately helpless against the Imperial Order's dudes with swords. They eventually got over their pacifism and started defending themselves.
* ''TheStainlessSteelRat Gets Drafted'' includes a planet of suicidal pacifists. When their planet is conquered, they refuse to work for the conquerors and patiently wait for them to realize that the locals cannot be compelled by violence.
* In a short story in one of the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' [[ExpandedUniverse Field Guides]], a Clan leader refused to fight, afraid to see his warriors injured - even announcing publicly at a Gathering that they were too weak for him to sanction a fight and politely asking the other Clans to stop hunting in [=ThunderClan=] territory. Of course, this was an open invitation to the other Clans to continue hunting there, since they would not be driven off. Eventually the spirit of the leader's mate visits him and explains to him that they need to fight battles, and he agrees.
* The Chahwyn, and their artificial race the Spiders, in the ''QuadrailSeries'', who don't want (and are largely incapable) of using force against anyone in fear of slipping down the slope of violence like other races before them. More than one Spider meets a brutal end because of this. By the end of the fourth book they've realized complete pacifism is unworkable and have gained a (so far) limited ability to enact violence upon other sentients if the cause is important enough.

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[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* After nearly being wiped out in an atomic war (and exterminated by the Daleks) the Thals from ''Series/DoctorWho'' turned to absolute pacifism. In their first appearance (in the series' very second serial, ''The Daleks'') Ian told them that they had to resist the Daleks or the Daleks would exterminate them; their leader Alydon gravely replied that in that case the Daleks would have to exterminate them. Fortunately, Ian was able to TeachHimAnger and make him acknowledge that there were some things worth fighting for and they defeated the Daleks. By the next appearance (several generations later) they had not returned to pacifism.
* The Nox of ''Series/StargateSG1'' are a subversion. They appear to have all the trappings of the trope, refusing even to fight the Goa'uld... until it's revealed that their technology is so far beyond that of the Goa'uld that they aren't really a threat, and their powers of invisibility and healing provide them with plenty of nonviolent ways of keeping themselves alive.
** Which makes their condemnation of the heroes seem a bit hypocritical or at least unfounded. It's all well and good to practice total pacifism when you have impenetrable defenses and perfect cloaking abilities (not to mention the ability to raise the newly dead) to survive, avoid, or undo the damage of any aggressor, but the people they condemn for using violence in self-defense have little choice other than simply being wiped out or enslaved.
* One episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' had Picard and three other abductees put in a room. One of them was an alien from a completely pacifist culture who refused to help them escape, until their predicament and persistence made him change his mind.
* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode ''Mirror, Mirror,'' the Halkans tell the Empire that they are willing to "die as a race" to "preserve what we are."
** "Errand of Mercy" had an entire planet of PerfectPacifistPeople who would not raise a hand against the Klingons invading their home planet, even when the Klingons start killing them. [[spoiler:Turned out they were SufficientlyAdvancedAliens who only appeared in AFormYouAreComfortableWith and they weren't really hurt at all.]]

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[[folder: Religion ]]

* Present in Literature/TheBible, in the apocryphal book of the Maccabees, where some Jews would rather let themselves be killed on the Sabbath than defend their lives. The eponymous family of the Maccabees decide to skip that rule in order to defend their country. (It's worth noting that most Jewish traditions, at least nowadays, are quite clear on the principle that working to save a life is a duty that must be embraced whatever day it happens to be.)
** In Jesus' teachings he tells people to turn the other cheek when struck (though ValuesDissonance means that this was much more BadAss in his day than through modern eyes), to repay evil with good, and to show kindness to one's enemies. When his enemies show up to take him to his death, he not only doesn't resist in the least, he heals a man injured by one of his disciples.
* There's a story about a group of shakyas (noblemen from his country) whom Buddha had converted. When he left them, he predicted their death by brute force. Soon after, another king attacked and slaughtered them. They did not resist, giving us another example of this trope.
* The [[BadassPacifist people of Ammon]] in Literature/TheBookOfMormon were once bloodthirsty Lamanites, until they converted to Christ and vowed never to shed blood again. When their Lamanite brothers came to fight them, the people of Ammon didn't take up arms; instead, they prayed. Miraculously, the number of Lamanites who repented and joined the people of Ammon that day exceeded the number slain.

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[[folder: Video Games ]]

* StellaDeusTheGateOfEternity: The Aeque teach that the advancing mist (that ''erases the existence'' of every living thing it touches) is the will of the gods and that everyone should accept their fate.
* In ''FinalFantasyIX'' the [[spoiler:Cleyrans]] have lived in isolation from the rest of the world for so long that they have absolutely no self-defense skills at all. When they're attacked by the army of [[spoiler:Alexandria]], they naively try to reason with the soldiers and, unfortunately, die in droves.
** It didn't help that they had an almost unbreakable natural defence protecting them until the moment they were attacked, giving them little reason to believe they would even be targeted.

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[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* In ''SluggyFreelance'' the [[AnotherDimension Dimension of Lame]] (which is populated entirely by sickeningly sweet, naive, and innocent people) gets [[DemonicInvaders invaded by demons]] from the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Dimension of Pain]], who proceed to kill, devour, and rip out the souls of every human being who crosses their path. However, when a resistance group tries to organize, even the most psychotically violent individual on the planet can't do anything more than stub a demon's toe in self-defense without feeling unbearable guilt.
** Eventually the demons ''did'' begin to cooperate with the humans to a slight degree, but because the sheer number of helpless sheep to slaughter necessitated some organization on their part.
* Celia from Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick has shades of this. She's perfectly willing to use her flight to help others survive, but won't harm anyone alive even when they're trying to kill her and reanimate her corpse as a golem (she will zap golems, [[StopHelpingMe but that just made things worse]]). She also has no problem using her lightning zappy beams to create an impressive display as a set up to legally negotiating her way out of the situation.

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[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* ''StarWarsTheCloneWars'': Anakin, his apprentice, Aayla Secura, and some of their troops crash-land on Maridun, where they encounter a village of refugees. When the Separatists arrive, their leader blames the Republic for bringing them there, and refuses to fight them for any reason. And when they are told that the Separatists are going to use their village as target practice, the he decides to just sit there and let it happen. Some of the younger Lurmen go against his wishes, and help the Republic forces defend their village, though, meaning that this is was caused by a ruling ideological dogma, rather than it being PlanetOfHats trait.
** This is egregious for two reasons. One is that, realistically, they should try to ''run away'' instead of fighting, due to Fight or Flight instincts (the leader does not indicate that he thinks the protagonists are lying about the attack). Secondly, the forces attacking the village ''[[MechaMooks are droids]]'', removing any ThouShaltNotKill justification. Also, this is just as much an example of StrawManPolitical.

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[[folder: Web Original ]]

* Folder from the WhateleyUniverse refuses to fight back when bullied, leading to a lot of injuries. Had the events of ''A Single Fold'' not played out as they had, he probably would have ended up dead.

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[[folder: Real Life ]]

* The sad story of the Moriori people of Chatham Islands.
* [[DichterUndDenker German philosopher]] Oswald Spengler claimed in ''Literature/TheDeclineOfTheWest'' that this meant the preference of slavery over death (by fighting). As he explained: At the battle of Cannae, 50,000 Roman soldiers died. When the Mongols overran the metropolises of China and the Muslim world, the population didn't want to fight them, and hundreds of thousands of people died. Per metropolis, that is.
* One ''UndergroundComics'' artist had a father (also artist) who was like this. As he wrote in one comic, when the other kids would beat up the son for having "fish lips", the father would say "don't hit back, don't lower yourself to their level".
* Thích Quảng Đức, the Buddhist monk who set himself on fire in a Saigon street during the VietnamWar as an act of protest. Note that he was not protesting the war itself, but the South Vietnamese government's persecution of Buddhists.

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