History Main / KillMeNowOrForeverStayYourHand

* In "Literature/CaptivePrince", [[spoiler: Damen]] gives [[spoiler: Laurent]] the opportunity to enact his revenge by killing him. This comes after he demonstrates that the other would have never, ever been able to even challenge him without losing his life ; for all his training, intelligence and underhanded tactics, he's simply not good enough. On the other hand, [[spoiler: Damen]] himself could've taken his life anytime, back when he was being mistreated as his slave. While [[spoiler: Laurent declares that yes, he would've rather died than live without his brother]], he fails to take the chance.

* In "Literature/CaptivePrince", [[spoiler: Damen]] gives [[spoiler: Laurent]] the opportunity to enact his revenge by killing him. This comes after he demonstrates that [[spoiler: Laurent]] would have never, ever been able to even challenge him without losing his life, because for all his training and underhanded tactics, he's simply not good enough. On the other hand, [[spoiler: Damen]] himself could've taken his life anytime. While [[spoiler: Laurent answer that yes, he would've rather died than live without his brother]], he does not take the chance.

* In "Literature/TheCaptivePrince", [[spoiler: Damen]] gives [[spoiler: Laurent]] the opportunity to enact his revenge by killing him. This comes after he demonstrates that [[spoiler: Laurent]] would have never, ever been able to even challenge him without losing his life, because for all his training and underhanded tactics, he's simply not good enough. On the other hand, [[spoiler: Damen]] himself could've taken his life anytime. While [[spoiler: Laurent answer that yes, he would've rather died than live without his brother]], he does not take the chance.

* Delivered by Mal in ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' trying to talk down a psychotic River, only to be rapidly rescinded when she cocks the gun she's holding in reply.

** In Season 4, [[BigBad Habib Marwan]] tells Dina Araz to prove her loyalty by murdering Bauer in cold blood. She takes the gun he offers her and pulls the trigger on Marwan instead. [[spoiler:It's empty. One of Marwan's men kills Dina less than a minute later for her betrayal]].

* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'': [[spoiler: Sgt. Doakes]] discovers proof that the titular character is the infamous Bay Harbor Butcher, but before he can tell anyone, Dexter manages to kidnap him. [[spoiler: Doakes]] knows Dexter won't be able to keep him trapped forever, and implores him to either kill him now (which he is reluctant to do, as he only targets other killers) or set him free (and be exposed as a serial killer).

* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': During the stolen dragon egg arc in Season 1, Rhaenyra dares her uncle Daemon (who stole the egg) to kill her and clear the only thing standing between him and being King Viserys' only (current) heir. As she correctly surmises, he won't do it (either out of fear of the consequences or affection for her) and he's forced to back down, returning the stolen egg.
* One episode of ''Series/TheXFiles'' used this trope: Fox Mulder manages to track down the Cigarette-Smoking Man in his home and pulls a gun on him. A short conversation in the style of the trope then follows with the result that the Man and the Mulder both wind up, well, alive.

* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'':
** The Cylon who would come to be known as Athena inverts trope when, as a prisoner of the Colonials on Kobol, she is handed a chance to kill Adama and escape, but instead saves his life, proves she could have killed him right then if she wanted to, then hands her gun back to her captors.
** In season 3 Adama does this with both Kara and Colonel Tigh, in order to shame them over their spreading malcontent after the events on New Caprica.
** Kara Thrace tries this in season 4. [[spoiler: It backfired spectacularly in several interesting ways, though fortunately Roslin was a poor enough shot that the obvious way didn't kill her. Particularly amusing was Starbuck's cliche 'I'm not a Cylon and you know that as much as I do' moment followed by Roslin essentially saying 'Actually I do think you're a Cylon' and trying to shoot her.]]
* In ''Series/TouchingEvil'', Kreegan tries this with Keller, after allowing him to beat him up. It [[spoiler: doesn't work. It possibly backfires,]] depending on how much import you attribute to Keller's repeated [[spoiler: "remember what you said."]]

* ''Series/GarthMarenghisDarkplace''. Garth bares his chest to a trio of supernatural claymore-armed Scotsmen seeking revenge for Garth's discriminatory comments against the Scots. Deciding that he's shown "the courage of a highlander (Scottish person)" they present Garth with a kilt and bagpipes and let him live.

* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Buffy and Angel do this with each other after TheReveal about Angel's vampire nature in Season One. Angel gives Buffy a chance to shoot him with her crossbow; Buffy lays down the crossbow and bares her neck for him.
* In ''Series/{{Angel}}'', Angel gives Charles Gunn a stake, after he faces ConflictingLoyalties between his old vampire-hunting gang and his new friends at Angel Investigations.
-->'''Angel:''' Here, Charles — let me make it simple for you. (morphs into GameFace) Take a look. This is what I am. Deal with it or don't. But make a damn choice.
* In Season 3 of ''Series/{{Outlander}}'' Jamie gives Lord John Grey the chance to kill him after escaping from prison. Grey refuses, arguing that this counts as a final repayment of his debt of honor to Jamie from years before during the Jacobite Rising.

* A non-fatal variant in season 1, episode 3 of ''Series/HouseOfCardsUS''. Underwood tells a grieving family, whose daughter died when a peach-shaped water tower Underwood had fought to maintain distracted her while driving, that he will resign if it will give them any peace. [[ManipulativeBastard By this point, however, he knows he has neutralised their hatred of him.]]
* In ''Series/BurnNotice'', Michael believes that Rebecca killed [[spoiler:his brother]]. After trying to kill her throughout the episode, she finally turns herself over to him. She explains she is ''not'' the one responsible, but isn't going to spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder. So he can either kill her right now, or let her go. He lets her go. [[spoiler:It wasn't her.]]
* This trope is literally the final words spoken in the first season of ''Series/{{Andor}}''. In the final scene (excluding the post-credits stinger), Cassian Andor confronts the Rebel spymaster, [[MagnificentBastard Luthan Rael]] whom he knows has specifically travelled to the planet Ferrix to tie up a loose end.
-->'''Cassian:''' You came here to kill me, didn't you?\\
'''Luthan:''' You don't make it easy.\\
'''Cassian:''' I will now. ''[indicates his pistol]''\\
'''Luthan :''' ''[ponderously picks up the gun]'' What game is this?\\
'''Cassian:''' No game. Kill me -- or take me in.\\
''[Luthan smiles; Cassian briefly glances down before holding Luthan's gaze; blackout; roll credits]''

** Technically subverted if [[spoiler:Jason decides to defy and insult Citra. Dennis takes this as a sign of betrayal (what with Citra being his whole life and all) and tries to kill him. We never figure out if Jason would have killed him in self-defense; it... doesn't work out.]]

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' prequel book ''[[Recap/TheOrderOfTheStickStartOfDarkness Start of Darkness]]'', [[spoiler:Xykon to Redcloak]] at the end, is an incredibly dark and tear-jerking version that involves [[spoiler:Xykon]] betting on [[spoiler:Redcloak killing his own brother]], with the twist that [[spoiler:Xykon]] was never in any danger to begin with, but just wanted to make sure [[spoiler:Redcloak]] would actually [[spoiler:disintegrate his own brother]] for [[spoiler:Xykon]]'s (or [[spoiler:"the plan's"]]) sake.

--->'''Tarvek:''' Oh, are you going to ''threaten'' me? Then ''here''. ''[places the man's hand on his own throat]'' ''Do it right''. Because if you don't believe by ''now'' that I will do ''anything'' for Agatha, ''then it all ends here, anyway''. ''[[spoiler:Doesn't it, General?]]''
** This slightly backfires [[spoiler: as said character makes it ''very'' clear he could kill him... except he sees how useful he is to Agatha and that he is genuine with his affections for her. Thus grants a very creepy kind of approval for their relationship while making it clear that Tarvek is ''not'' in control here.]]

* Before UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt became president, while he was away on a hunting trip, someone hired a man named Paddock to either scare him off his land or just shoot him off it. When Teddy came back and found out that Paddock had been hired to kill him, he personally went to Paddock's house and told him "I understand you have threatened to kill me on sight. I have come over to see when you want to begin the killing.” Obviously, the threats ended then and there.

* Toward the end of ''Anime/WitchHunterRobin'', the eponymous pyrokinetic (now on the run) pulls this on her former partner Amon after learning he was assigned to take her down.
* Filia from ''Literature/{{Slayers}} Try'' does this with Jillas. When Jillas points a gun at her, she holds his hand with the gun and tells him to shoot. He's shocked and unable to do it, and eventually does a HeelFaceTurn when she saves his life.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** [[spoiler:Ulquiorra]] does this [[spoiler:while he's dissolving into ash]].
** Sosuke Aizen has this sort of relationship with pretty much all of his minions, especially [[spoiler: Gin and Baraggan. After years of trying to be in a position where he ''could'' kill Aizen, Gin takes his chance as soon as it arrives but fails due to bullshit.]]
* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', Lelouch dared his fellow rebels, the Black Knights, to kill him when they questioned his leadership. They step back, in part because he also points out that they're completely screwed without him acting as their [[TheStrategist strategist]]. One of them even [[LampshadeHanging comments]] that that must have taken an incredible amount of guts.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Utawarerumono}}'', After Hakuouro completely defeats fellow Emperor and friend Kuya, he stands in front of her barely functional HumongousMecha... and surrenders. If she kills him, she will have won the war she's practically lost, her country will flourish, and her people will no longer be [[FantasticRacism persecuted]]. Kuya realizes she can't kill a friend in cold blood, and moreover, that cooperation is what she should have tried, rather than forced unification. Unfortunately, things [[MindScrew go downhill]] [[BigNo from there]] [[BreakTheCutie rather quickly]].
* ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'''s manga versions of Vash and Wolfwood have a moment like this, where they're having a fairly friendly moment, Wolfwood stares at Vash's back and thinks, ''he's open, I could kill him right now;'' the motivation being that Vash is Knives' twin brother and if Knives by ''himself'' is a threat, [[spoiler:and Knives' orders to him as Chapel were to protect Vash, and if the BigBad wants him protected,]] well... And he doesn't. And then Vash looks around at him, one of those really sad smiles he does, and Wolfwood sort of smiles and thinks Vash knew exactly what he was thinking. They're kind of messed-up for best friends.
* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed'', Lacus combines this with FullNameUltimatum. It was probably Athrun's last chance to keep her as a fiancée despite their parents having now turned against an ArrangedMarriage between them.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'': After Arlong is released from prison, thanks to Jimbei becoming a Warlord, an unimpressed Arlong decides to break away from the Sunny Pirates and lead his own crew again, promising to spread the hatred of the Fishmen for humans wherever he goes, and goads Jimbei to kill him where he stands if he has a problem with it. Jimbei is so enraged that Tiger's last wishes were going to waste that he nearly does by savagely beating him, but he stops at the last moment, as he could never could bring himself to kill his own "brother".

* Achilles to Briseis in the movie ''Film/{{Troy}}'' with a knife to his neck. More like "kill me or have sex with me, [[MrFanservice your choice]]."
* In ''Film/JohnCarter'' [[TheDragon Sab Than]] arrives with Dejah's father to rescue her and the titular character from a tribe of [[MultiArmedAndDangerous Tharks]]. He reiterates his original offer to marry Dejah, so that the feud between their city-states Zodanga and Helium ends. He then takes out his sword and offers it to Dejah, getting on his knees, explaining that, if she wishes his death, she can take his head right now. Dejah appears to seriously think about doing that, then gives him the sword back and tells him they have a wedding to plan. However, Sab Than knows that Dejah is too much of a good person to kill even someone like him in cold blood. [[spoiler:He himself plans to stage an all-out attack on Helium during the ceremony to wipe out his ancient enemy once and for all]].

* In ''Film/CitySlickers'', after several personality clashes between Mitch and [[CoolOldGuy Curly]], the former finally delivers this combined with an apology and a ReasonYouSuckSpeech, all the while Curly is sharpening a ''massive'' knife.
-->'''Mitch:''' You know the first time I tried to talk to you, you embarrassed me, so I teased you a little, which maybe I shouldn't have done, so I'm sorry. But now you're sitting over there, playing with your knife, trying to frighten me... (nervously) which you're doing a really good job! (coldly) But if you're going to kill me, get on with it. If not, shut the hell up! I'm on vacation.
* In ''Film/MurderOnTheOrientExpress2017'', Poirot gives this ultimatum to the conspirators after TheSummation. It turns out to be a SecretTestOfCharacter.
-->'''Poirot:''' You wish to go free without punishment for your crime, then you must commit one more.
* In ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'', [[BluffingTheMurderer Kirk and Spock set a trap for]] TheMole on the ''Enterprise'', who turns out to be [[spoiler:Spock's protege, Lt. Valeris]].
-->'''Spock:''' You have to shoot. If you are logical, you have to shoot.\\
[[spoiler:'''Valeris:''']] I do not want to.\\
'''Spock:''' [[TranquilFury What you want is irrelevant. What you have chosen is at hand!]]\\
'''Kirk:''' ''[entering]'' I'd just as soon you didn't.\\
''[[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness Spock smacks the phaser out of]] [[spoiler:her]] [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness hand]]]''
* Eddie in ''Film/EightMM'' tries this on Tom Welles. Welles has him dead to rights, but Eddie mocks him, pointing out that Welles's gun is registered and that he doesn't have the guts to kill him, even leaning in and ''licking'' the gun. [[spoiler:Welles steps outside, calls the snuff film victim's mother, and asks for permission to kill Eddie. Once he gets it, he steps back inside and [[PistolWhipping beats Eddie to death with his gun]].]]

* In the ''Literature/WarlockOfGramarye'' book ''The Warlock in Spite of Himself'', Rod Gallowglass has his servant Big Tom lower him from a roof so he can see something. Afterward, he tells him a story from Japan about an overlord, who had a subordinate who wanted to rebel: he invited the man into a garden and gave him his own sword to carry on the grounds he was old and tired, and they talked, and the subordinate was faithful for the rest of his life. Big Tom admits to being a spy, and is faithful for the rest of his life, [[spoiler:which is about eighty pages long]].
* In the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' book ''Shards of Honor'', Aral Vorkosigan deals with a mutineer by giving him a gun and sitting down with his back to him. "I told him I couldn't work with a man who made my shoulder blades itch, and this was the last chance I was going to give him for [[KlingonPromotion instant promotion]]." Subverted in that Aral admits he didn't know if it would work, and the reason he did it was that he was so damned ''tired'' he didn't ''care'' if he killed him or not.

** In the Literature/XWingSeries, TheMole Lara Notsil gets Wedge Antilles in her sights, but ThePowerOfTrust gets to her. Not only does she not kill him, she [[BecomingTheMask becomes the mask]].

---> '''Anakin:''' [[YouExclamation You.]] It's ''you''. It's ''been'' you all ''along''! I should ''kill'' you. I ''will'' kill you!\\

* While Bink and Chameleon in ''[[Literature/{{Xanth}} A Spell For Chameleon]]'' do not actually want to kill Trent, they certainly regard him as "Evil Magician Trent", mistrust him, and would cause his defeat if they could. Their EnemyMine situation caused them to reevaluate him, but a particularly important event was when Trent handed Bink his sword, to keep guard, and went to sleep. Chameleon explicitly states that an evil man [[EvilCannotComprehendGood would not have trusted them]].
* In the ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'' trilogy, Hagbard Celine uses this as the climax of his program to convert people away from authoritarianism.
** That is, he intimidates people with a loaded gun, and after awhile gives the gun to them, telling it's their turn now.

* In ''Literature/TheLastChancers'' books, Lieutenant Kage has expressed a desire to kill Colonel Schaeffer, including one to his face, and in fact has had several opportunities to do so. He always decides against it, and the Colonel always smirks at him afterwards. As for the admittance to his face?
-->"I hate what you've done to me, and one day I'll kill you for it."
-->"But not today, Kage."
-->"No, not today."
* ''Literature/LesMiserables'', between [[spoiler:Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert]]. No HeelFaceTurn here -- [[spoiler:Javert commits suicide]] rather than live in a world where his enemy does the right thing, and ''he'' is in the wrong.
* In the ''Cirque Du Freak'' novels, Mr. Crepsley gives Darren a chance to kill him when he lets him control his spider. It turns out that he had taken most of the poison out of the spider, meaning he was never in danger.
* In ''[[Literature/KittyNorville Kitty and the Midnight Hour]]'', after [[spoiler:Cormac]] tells Kitty that he will never shoot her by accident, she walks up to him and tells him to do it if he intends to do it on purpose.
* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', Dumbledore tests [[spoiler:Draco]] this way, knowing [[spoiler: Voldemort has given Draco the task of killing Dumbledore]]. He doesn't believe that the character he tests has it in him to kill. [[spoiler: He's right. [[ItWasHisSled Snape]] does it instead. Which was ''also'' [[ThanatosGambit all part of the plan]].]]
* At the end of ''Brotherhood of the Rose'' CIA-trained assassin Saul is sneaking up on the hotel where his surrogate father, DiabolicalMastermind Elliot, is staying...only to find Elliot standing out in the open waiting for him, clearly exposed to his fire. [[spoiler:Elliot asks for an end to this conflict between him and his 'son', and to be allowed to retire peacefully. Saul nearly shoots him anyway, but realises he could have been killed while they were talking. So he agrees to a truce and follows Elliot into his hotel room where he gets jumped by Elliot's bodyguards. After all, as Elliot says, what's to stop Saul from changing his mind later on? This way he can dispose of Saul without alarming the hotel guests. [[BackstabBackfire Saul is able to overcome the attack and promptly submachine-guns Elliot to death]]. No point in making the same mistake twice.]]
* In ''Literature/DuneMessiah'', the second ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' book, Duncan Idaho comes back to life with the help of [[ScienceIsBad magical Tleilaxu scientists]] who brainwash him to kill Paul-Muad'Dib. Paul knows this, and deliberately gives Idaho a chance near the end of the book to kill him. [[spoiler:Idaho snaps out of his brainwashing and lets Paul live, regaining his memories from before death in the process.]]
** In the sequel "Literature/GodEmperorOfDune", [[spoiler: this has become the ''standard'' method used to awaken the memories of Duncan Idaho's series of clones]]
* In a mild form, in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/MakingMoney'', Vetinari hands Moist a sword while questioning him. He observes afterward that Moist was more nervous while holding the sword than Vetinari was.
* In Jim Butcher's Literature/TheDresdenFiles novel ''Literature/SmallFavor'', when Nicodemus points out to Harry that his friends don't trust him, Harry demands that Michael speak to him alone, and has him draw his sword. Whereupon Harry gets the sword to point at his throat and demands his trust. He convinces him sufficiently that Michael points out the evidence that his mind's been tampered with, and when Harry reacts, carefully tends him.
* In Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literature/TheBeastMaster'', Hosteen has to persuade an alien that a spaceship, landing in a forbidden area, is not a human ship but that of their enemies. He concludes by giving him a knife and telling it to drive it home if he doesn't believe him.
* Used in Orson Scott Card's ''Literature/EnderInExile''. However, while [[DeadGuyJunior Achilles Jr.]] does stop short of killing Ender, he does beat the shit out of him.

* ''Literature/TheGunslinger'' by Stephen King: In a FriendOrIdolDecision, the [[DarkIsEvil Man in Black]], who TheGunslinger has been pursuing for years in hopes of revenge for the destruction of his kingdom, shouts ''"Come now... or find me'' never!"[[note]]Unfortunately, the Gunslinger's [[TagalongKid child companion]] is [[LiteralCliffhanger hanging over a precipice]] [[WhatTheHellHero at the time]]...[[/note]]

* In ''Literature/TheLastTemptationOfChrist'', Judas has sworn that he will kill the traitorous cross-maker Jesus and follows him to a monastery to do so when he leaves. When Jesus emerges from the monastery and begins fulfilling the role of the Messiah, the two have a depthy conversation about it and Judas instead becomes his surly but most devoted follower. Of course, Jesus knows who he must turn to when the time comes for someone to give him up to the Romans so that he can die and redeem the world. This has the added benefit of allowing Judas to keep from breaking his prior oath.
** And it is Judas who comes to him during the eponymous temptation and confronts him for having shirked his duty to the world in favor of a simple life with a loving family and children.
* The short short [[http://www2.ups.edu/faculty/velez/LAS100/tellez.htm "Just Lather, That's All"]] by Hernando Téllez, in which a barber in Colombia during [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Violencia La Violencia]] has a leader of a guerilla group come to him for a shave, apparently not realizing he's an enemy, and vacillates between just doing his job and slashing the man's throat while he has him in the chair. He recalls all the people the captain has had murdered and mutilated and listens to him talk about what they plan to do to the ones they've recently captured, but ultimately decides he can't kill him and just finishes shaving him. The captain thanks him, pays him, and pauses before leaving to say, "They told me that you'd kill me. I came to find out. But killing isn't easy. You can take my word for it."
* In his autobiography ''About Face'', Colonel David Hackworth is responsible for toughening up a unit in Vietnam, and makes himself so unpopular that a rumor spreads about a contract on his life. When the company supposedly responsible for this contract comes under fire, Hackworth decides to call their bluff by advancing out in front of them so even the most inadequate marksman could hit him. It works perfectly because the troops were more concerned with getting out of the ambush (and hoped their CO would help them do that) than settling scores.
* In "The Detachment", Literature/JohnRain suspects (accurately) that Larison is planning to kill them and keep all the loot for himself. Knowing they aren't so different and aware of how his own viewpoint changed due to the PowerOfTrust from his best friend Dox, he hands Larison a silenced Glock and gives him the option of either leaving with his share or accompanying them to stop a terrorist atrocity. Larison (who was expecting to get shot on the spot) is too stunned to say much, but does end up going with them, despite having refused earlier.

* In Christopher Stasheff's ''Literature/TheWarlockInSpiteOfHimself'', Rod Gallowglass has his servant Big Tom lower him from a roof so he can see something. Afterward, he tells him a story from Japan about an overlord, who had a subordinate who wanted to rebel: he invited the man into a garden and gave him his own sword to carry on the grounds he was old and tired, and they talked, and the subordinate was faithful for the rest of his life. Big Tom admits to being a spy, and is faithful for the rest of his life, [[spoiler:which is about eighty pages long]].
* In Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/ShardsOfHonor'', Aral Vorkosigan deals with a mutineer by giving him a gun and sitting down with his back to him. "I told him I couldn't work with a man who made my shoulder blades itch, and this was the last chance I was going to give him for [[KlingonPromotion instant promotion]]." Subverted in that Aral admits he didn't know if it would work, and the reason he did it was that he was so damned ''tired'' he didn't ''care'' if he killed him or not.
* In Creator/DanAbnett's Literature/GauntsGhosts novel ''Ghostmaker'', Major Rawne and Gaunt are alone in the wintry wilderness. At one point, Rawne stands over him with a knife, ready to cut his throat; he hears Gaunt mutter in {{Past Experience Nightmare}}s (about, incidentally, the ''reason'' he wants Gaunt dead) and instead kills an ork sneaking up on them. Later, when Gaunt is about to slip into the sea of boiling hydrocarbons and drown, Rawne sacrifices his prized silver knife to afford Gaunt a hand-hold. Though he professes a desire to kill Gaunt later -- even to Gaunt's own face -- he never attempts it.
** Unusually, Rawne had made an actual attempt to kill Gaunt earlier, on a battle field. Gaunt had knocked him unconscious and then, [[EmbarrassingRescue despite his own injuries]], [[TurnTheOtherCheek carried Rawne to safety]].
* ''Franchise/StarWars'' [[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Legends]]: