"And you will know my name is the LORD, when I lay my vengeance upon thee."
A hitman or bodyguard frequently quotes Biblical verses while killing people. He may actually also be a priest, but may also just be using them to be ironic. Or doesn't know what the verses in question are actually referring to.
Although The Bible is a frequent source for the quotes (there
is a lot of vengeance being laid down in it,) any religious text qualifies, as well as things that sound biblical or religious.
The verses quoted may change depending on who the hitman is talking to, or he may just have one "favorite" that he always uses.
Related to
Warrior Poet and
As the Good Book Says. A subtrope of
In the Name of the Moon.
Examples:
- Ben Wade in 3:10 to Yuma constantly quotes from the Bible - because he read it all over the course of three days as a child when his mother abandoned him.
- The two brothers in The Boondock Saints recite the family prayer before killing the mob bosses.
- Samuel L. Jackson's character in Pulp Fiction quotes Ezekiel 25:17 before killing folks. He admits at the end that he doesn't actually know what it means, just that he thought it was "Some coldblooded shit to say to a mothafucka before you pop a cap in his ass." (And what he's actually quoting is a speech from the 1976 martial arts flick Karate Kiba, of which only the last couple of sentences come from Ezekiel 25:17.)
- Reverend Ray in Call of Juarez game, a The Gunslinger-turned-Church Militant. In fact, instead of doing Guns Akimbo, you can actually hold a gun in one hand and The Bible in the other and have him read random passages from it every time you make a kill.
- In the Hellsing manga, Alexander Anderson of Iscariot often quotes bible verses and psalms when fighting.
- Though he's really more of a Badass Preacher, since he's an actual agent of the Vatican.
- Before 666(Triple-Six) and 777(Triple-Seven) go on their slaughter of the prisoners in Dead Leaves, the latter says "Heavenly Father, forgive us for the trespasses we are about to commit."
- He also makes a few references to God in his fight with Retro and Chinko, like "Hacking a robot? Nice try, but God is waiting for you." and "Say hi to God for me."
- The Operative in Serenity.
- In The Night of the Hunter, Robert Mitchum fancies himself a preacher, even going so far as to tattoo LOVE and HATE on his knuckles, which he explains with a tenuous biblical allegory.
- He also thanks God for giving him widows to kill.
- In Saikano, several soldiers repeat "Namu Amida Butsu" (a Buddhist prayer, I think) quite mechanically every time they shoot someone.
- In Samurai Warriors, Uesugi Kenshin's victory taunt is "may the gods have mercy", and he believes himself to be the avatar of Bishamonten.
- The sniper in Saving Private Ryan.
- Father Grigori from Half-Life 2.
- Dogma features a notable example with the fallen angel Bartleby. Before killing a crowd of people, he announces, "Ladies and gentlemen, you have been judged guilty of sinning against our almighty God, and I promise you, you shall pay for your trespasses, in blood!"
- The Fraternity of the Stone, a novel by David Morrell, is about a US government hitman who becomes a monk (and is forced to go back to his old profession when his monastery is attacked in an attempt to kill him), who encounters an ancient Christian order of assassin-priests created during the Middle Ages.
- Silas in The Da Vinci Code, murdering a nun and giving her the last rites.
- Caleb the priest in Buffy, the "Dirty Girls" episode, going on mostly about the sin of woman. Combined with talk about her 'gaping maw' swallowing a man whole, for maximum squick. Your Mileage May Vary, but when "Buffy the Patriarchy Slayer" cuts him in half (upwards), is she addressing the religious brand of misogyny?
- Brother Mouzone, the Muslim hit man of The Wire, who dresses and acts like a member of the Nation of Islam (though it's never said whether he actually is).
- The hitman pair in Nurse Betty are both very religious and will cite chapter and verse when killing.
- While they only pretend to be a church, the members of the Church of Violence in Black Lagoon sometimes fit this.
- Lyle Porter in Flyboys: He stencils a reference to 2 Timothy 4:7 on his plane (I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith) and also sings the hymn "Onward Christian Soldiers" during a dogfight.
