Simon Gruber: John, in the back of the truck you're driving, there's 13 billion dollars worth of gold bullion. I wonder, would a deal be out of the question?
John McClane: Yeah, I got a deal for you. Come out from that rock you're hiding under, and I'll drive this truck up your ass.
An
Affably Evil villain (or a
Punch Clock Villain, or even a
Well-Intentioned Extremist that hasn't gone
Ax Crazy) may very well at some point offer
The Hero the opportunity to run away or not interfere in the villain's plans. Because he/she may very well not actually wish to harm the hero, they simply want to complete the robbery/rule the world/raise the undead, what have you. A
Magnificent Bastard or
Smug Snake might do this to highlight just how assured their victory is. Thus, this can be a fashion of
Evil Gloating. Expect some sort of bribe: usually a cut of the stolen goods, a sip of the forbidden elixir if it's a fantasy or sci-fi story, or a
Shiny New Australia.
In the majority of cases,
The Hero will refuse to quit their crusade against evil, some might even be insulted by the villain's audacity and self-assuredness. Thus, this can also be a fashion of
"The Reason You Suck" Speech. A number of things may happen after getting a Last Chance. If the villain's cockiness is rightfully assured, chances are the good guys are in for
Curb-Stomp Battle. Otherwise, the good guys may respond with a
Screw Your Ultimatum.
The opposite use when someone is
Bullying a Dragon, or bullying someone who will let it go, but has less forgiving friends. Then there's a reasonable warning along the lines of "Leave it. Just walk away now." If that's not taken, there's trouble.
A slightly more generous (or desperate) villain will up the ante to
We Can Rule Together instead.
Examples
Anime and Manga
- The Magical World arc climx of Mahou Sensei Negima! has Fate give Negi two chances to walk away from the conflict offering safe passage back to the non-magical 'real' world for our hero and his friends. Negi seriously considers it.
Comics
- God does this repeatedly in Preacher: First by using Tulip as an intermediary, then Cassidy, and finally appearing to Jesse in person. He is denied three times.
Fan Fic
- A non-lethal, but still serious, variant from Calvin and Hobbes: The Series - Calvin offers Socrates a chance to apologize after a scuffle goes wrong. He refuses, as "he doesn't apologize."
Film
Live-Action TV
Video Games
- Toward the end of Deus Ex, Bob Page gets increasingly desperate as you hinder his "preparations."
Bob Page: All right. I get the picture. You want a piece of the pie, or you're going to toss the whole pie out the window. Fair enough. You can have anything you want. How about Europe? Your own continent. Just let me complete my preparations.
- In Planescape: Torment, the Big Bad gives this offer to your party members — but not to The Nameless One himself — when you finally reach its lair. There are no takers. It leaves no survivors.
- The backstory implies it did the same thing to The Practical Incarnation and his party. Of the people left over from that party at least two are alive (though in Morte's case that's figurative), which implies that some of them took it.
- In the Dragon campaign of Battle Realms, Zymeth offers Kenji a peace between the Dragon and Lotus clans because he believes The Serpent's Orb will make him invincible once he's unlocked its power. Kenji, who knows the orb is useless except as a Magic Feather, doesn't take it.
Zymeth: I'm giving you a chance to walk away, boy.
Kenji: You're wasting your time.
Web Comics
Western Animation
- Superman: The Animated Series: In the episode that marked the debut of kryptonite, Lex Luthor offered Superman a deal: if Supes agreed not to interfere with Lex's plans in the future, Lex wouldn't try to kill him. Superman refused.