History Main / ViolenceReallyIsTheAnswer

* In [[VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4 Norse]] [[VideoGame/GodOfWarRagnarok Era]] of ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'', Kratos genuinely wants to not fight and be left alone... so naturally, he keeps coming up against enemies who simply won't stop until he's dead or they are, so he's forced to kill them after they reject his attempts at peace- and usually [[AndYourLittleDogToo threaten to kill]] [[PapaWolf his son]], for good measure. [[spoiler:Baldur in the first game is too [[SanitySlippage far gone]] to listen to reason and refuses to stop trying to kill Freya, and Heimdall in the second game outright refuses Kratos's attempts to spare him due to DontYouDarePityMe, forcing Kratos to kill him.]]
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'': In La Cité des Cloches, when Riku asks Esmeralda if Judge Frollo was always an evil bigot and requests to know where he could be located so that he could speak to him, it is subtly implied that Riku intends to try to reason with Frollo, having fallen into the darkness once himself. However, when Riku sees Frollo trying to burn down a villager's home because the inhabitant was suspected of harboring gypsies, he concludes that Frollo is [[MoralEventHorizon beyond saving]] and will have to be stopped by force.

* ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' had always tried to be a pacifist, but he quickly concluded (or at least, decided before the first game) that fighting was necessary to bring about peace, to the point that he states that he is not afraid to fight [[spoiler:his best friend Zero to stop him from getting corrupted in ''X5'', and his enemy Sigma if he keeps showing up to stop the reconstruction of the world in ''X6''.]] Then he suddenly made a decision to become an ActualPacifist in ''X7'', and players were [[ReplacementScrappy given Axl as a result]]) Once you save enough Reploids or beat all 8 Mavericks however, X decides (again), that yes, violence is necessary. [[GameBreaker Then he becomes playable.]]

** This stance is better seen in ''X8'', where X is clearly displeased by the start of yet ''another'' conflict started by Sigma, but immediately jumps into the fray without the slightest word of complaint, as he knows that a lack of involvement will only end with more innocents in the crossfire and he doesn't want the situation to snowball. In fact, when [[spoiler:Lumine (a New Generation Reploid able to go Maverick at will and [[TheManBehindTheMan the real mastermind]] of ''X8'') tries his hand at [[BreakThemByTalking psychological warfare]] and seems to succeed at getting X and Zero to hesitate, it is [[TalkToTheFist a bullet]] [[ShutUpHannibal from Axl]] that rouses the two out of their brief HeroicBSOD]] and the epilogue has Zero reassuring X that fighting is necessary, not only to combat Mavericks but to [[spoiler:ScrewDestiny when it comes to the evolution Lumine spoke of]].
* ''VideoGame/PhantomBrave'' has the Big Bad Demon Sulphur get pushed out of the dimension by the PowerOfFriendship, sacrifice, tears and blood. Then he just comes back at full power as a {{Superboss}} and it turns out LevelGrinding and hitting him really, really, ''really'' hard works better.

* ''VideoGame/SuikodenII'' is probably one of the best examples of an exception. In most endings, the major conflict is resolved just by successfully seizing an important location. In the best ending, [[spoiler:the more personal conflict for Riou is resolved by confronting Jowy at the stone where they promised to meet back up at the beginning of the game ''and allowing Jowy to beat him [[DeathIsCheap to death.]]'' He gets better]].

* ''Webcomic/JoeVsElanSchool'' relates a very, ''very'' twisted RealLife example. "The Ring" forces a rebellious kid to put on boxing gloves and fight other kids who are chosen to represent Elan, and it is meant to teach students that Elan will always win. It's another tool that Elan uses to not only demoralize students, but to allow students to brutalize their peers for the sadistic glee of their captors. What's worse, no one is allowed to opt out.

** The story of the Silver Prince Kassadis and his Three Wives is in many ways the microcosm of the whole thing: [[spoiler:Kassadis attempts to escape his home because his three wives are all AxCrazy {{Dark Action Girl}}s who will kill each other to become his FirstWife. However, Kassadis finds that there is nowhere he can escape where his wives will not track him down in order to drag him back home and force him to witness them killing each other. However, his wives are so immersed in violence that they cannot even conceive of a non-violent solution to which one of them gets to drag him back home, and so they almost kill each other and allow Kassadis to escape them again. Kassadis, on his end, declares that he will keep tending their wounds and saving their lives whenever they fight, until the day they have crippled themselves so much that they have no choice but to accept peace.]]

** This comes to a head in the comic's final arc, [[spoiler:where it is to some degree subverted. While violence was ''necessary'' in order to obtain the ending, ultimately lasting peace is only possible through consensus, trust, and those who had previously stayed on the sidelines being willing to step up to the plate and help make the galaxy a better place, because at some point the violence has to ''stop''... But the Pa'anuri had to be beaten halfway into submission first in order for them to accept it.]]

* PlayedForLaughs in an episode of ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue''. A [[spoiler:newly-villainous Agent Washington]] needs to get information out of a group of aliens and is fully prepared to simply force it out of them, but [[ActualPacifist Doc]] convinces him to try negotiation first. [[spoiler:The aliens mock and insult him for it.]] [[spoiler:Washington's]] response to this says it all:
--->'''[[spoiler:Wash]]:''' [[TranquilFury It means]] [[PreAsskickingOneLiner peace talks have broken down]].
* Phase of the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'' comes from a super-wealthy family where violence is never the answer, because they have security forces and lawyers and layer after layer of protection from the real world. But then Phase manifests as a mutant and gets kicked out of the family, at which point he has to live in a superhero universe where the appropriate response is often an energy blast to the face. He still has trouble with this, although in stories like "Ayla and the Networks" he demonstrates that sometimes the answer is months of scheming and sneakiness beforehand.

** In "Cock of the Sleepwalk" Stan tallys his 100th kill (a count that includes a fellow agent he refused to donate bone marrow to despite being a perfect match). This triggers his "Good Side," a personality that activates when Stan falls asleep and performs incredibly generous acts. Additonally, the lack of sleep and his Good Side's machinations prevent Stan from killing. Stan invites his family and every friend his Good Side made to a pancake restaraunt he knows a [[ItMakesSenseInContext Belgian Waffle Suicide Bomber]] will strike and falls asleep when the terrorist arrives. His Good Side tries to use reason, then non-lethal force, to stop the terrorist, but is finally forced to brutally beat him to death, realizing that sometimes killing is necessary and Stan returns to normal.

** Steven also, reluctantly, comes to a related conclusion as his character arc goes on: while he's an AllLovingHero who would rather not fight, who has more than once made an enemy into a friend, there are times it may be necessary. He'll be as empathetic as possible, but if it's the only way to stop a Gem monster or Homeworld invader, he'll do what it takes to stop them. He won't ''like'' it, he'll try and do it as ethically as possible, but he'll do it. In one episode, he's told that [[spoiler:Jasper and Peridot]] are dangerous and cruel, and that means he and [[spoiler:Lapis]] can't fight them:

* In ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'' it's official from the start of the series that this is Buck Tuddrussel's go-to philosophy-- punch first, ask questions later! Otto at first tries to intervene at every chance, trying to explain that most problems that the Squad comes across could easily be solved with their words and can be manipulated into an agreeable compromise. But eventually its shown that there's just some problems in life that can't just be "talked" into fixing, sometimes a little butt kicking goes a long way.

* When asked in 1944 if the passive resistance he employed against British colonial rule in India (and had previously recommended for the oppressed populations under Nazi rule) could defeat Hitler and the Nazis, UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi himself admitted that he wasn't sure, and even if it could, "Not without defeats." He admitted that the British were not bloodthirsty in general, and had serious qualms about shooting unarmed civilians; the same could not be said of the Nazis. However, he was noted various times of various quotes about violence to prevent subjugation of a race or nation and to defend oneself in a dangerous situation. In particular he once stated "Better to risk using violence a thousand times than have an entire race emasculated." Gandhi was a pacifist, yes, but he wasn't naive, and [[GoodIsNotDumb knew that his ideological opposites didn't coach from his playbook]].
** Let there be no mistake, Gandhi was [[https://apnews.com/article/f40d8c2c7d8d4ffeadd576ded89acc0c unambiguously and totally against military opposition to the Nazis in WW2]], and though he expressed sympathy for the Jews he went so far as to say they should have "offered themselves to the butcher's knife" and "thrown themselves into the sea from cliffs" on the grounds that this would have "aroused the world and the people of Germany". However he did recruit Indians for combat service for Britain in World War 1.
* A few of the above fictional examples are loosely based on the 1835 [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moriori_people#Invasion_by_Taranaki_M.C4.81ori conquest of the Moriori]] by Māori invaders. They refused to abandon their principles of nonviolence, and as a result were effortlessly annihilated without resistance.
* US Army Sgt Alvin York was America's most decorated soldier of the first World War. But prior to the war, he had belonged to a pacifist religious order called "Churches of Christ in Christian Union", which opposed all forms of violence. When York registered for the draft, he responded to a question asking if he claimed any exemption with the statement "Yes. Don't Want To Fight." Later in life, he said "I was worried clean through. I didn't want to go and kill. I believed in my Bible." Never the less, his objections were rejected by the Army and he was called up to fight. Near the end of his basic training, York was considering desertion, but a frank conversation with his commanding officer, G. Edward Buxton Jr, who was also a deeply religious man, convinced him to stay. Granted 10 days of leave after he completed training, he returned to the Army convinced that God meant for him to fight and was as committed to his service as he had previously been to pacifism.

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* Used in ''Literature/TheTwoTowers'', both book and movie. In the movie, the Ents initially decide to not fight, but they change their minds after finding that Saruman had clear-cut a large section of the forest. It received lots of complaints about being pro-war. It was more subtle in the book, with Treebeard's line, "It is likely that we march to our doom, but if we stayed home and did nothing, doom would find us anyway."

A character who firmly believes in ThouShaltNotKill ends up being presented with a situation extreme enough that despite much compunctions and reservations, [[BatmanGrabsAGun they are compelled to resort to violence]] ― and it works. [[MightIsRight It makes everything all right. It was the right thing to do all along.]]

A character who firmly believes in ThouShaltNotKill ends up being presented with a situation extreme enough that despite much compunctions and reservations, [[BatmanGrabsAGun they are compelled to resort to violence]] ― and it works. It makes everything all right. It was the right thing to do all along.

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''. [[HumbleHero Chrom's]] internal struggle pits his sister [[ActualPacifist Emmeryn's]] pacifistic ideals against the need to wage war on those who would bring harm upon his kingdom. Pacifism was part of the answer to defeat Gangrel, but it had to be backed up with his violent removal from power. Later it is made clear that the ApocalypseCult and ReligionOfEvil, the Grimleal, whom had backed Gangrel, is completely evil and has to be wiped out.

** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' plays with this in the ''Conquest'' route. Unlike with ''Birthright'' and ''Revelations'', Corrin does ''not'' want to kill, and is noted many times to avoid killing as much as possible. While it initially works out, the [[spoiler:possessed corpse of the]] king of Nohr and adoptive father Garon has their pacified foes executed in front of them. This has a heavy toll on them - especially when they're finally forced to kill - but they do continue to try it to the very end with most characters. The [[EvenTheAllLovingHeroHasHAtedOnes exceptions are people]] like Iago, Kotaro and Hans, even Corrin knows they are too evil to be left alive.

** Zigzagged in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''. [[HumbleHero Chrom's]] internal struggle pits his sister [[ActualPacifist Emmeryn's]] pacifistic ideals against the need to wage war on those who would bring harm upon his kingdom. Pacifism was part of the answer to defeat Gangrel, but it had to be backed up with his violent removal from power.

** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' zigzags this as well, at least in the ''Conquest'' route. Unlike with ''Birthright'' and ''Revelations'', Corrin does ''not'' want to kill, and is noted many times to avoid killing as much as possible. While it initially works out, the [[spoiler:possessed corpse of the]] king of Nohr and adoptive father Garon has their pacified foes executed in front of them. This has a heavy toll on them - especially when they're finally forced to kill - but they do continue to try it to the very end.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' has something of a theme that most problems in Creation can be solved, at least temporarily, by punching the right being in the face. The main risk is that today's necessary puncher becomes tomorrow's punchee. Exalted also tends to assert that violence can "solve" problems, but will often create bigger problems in the process. For Example:

* ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'' is set in a multiverse that was born in conflict, where heaven exploded into civil war 4,000 years prior. The remaining seven gods will murder anyone in their way, and their scriptures are centered around violence. In-universe scripture describes violence as 'the Ultimate Art'.
** In the side-story ''Prince Kassardis and His Three (AxCrazy) Wives'', violence is necessary for peace. The trick is, it doesn't have to be ''your'' violence...

** [[https://web.archive.org/web/20180621051323/http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/000428c Megaman is explaining that violence is not the answer when Roll shows up, and immediately resorts to violence.]]
** [[https://web.archive.org/web/20190618122004/http://bobandgeorge.com/archives/001114c Megaman tries it on the Authors.]] [[https://web.archive.org/web/20190513040948/http://bobandgeorge.com/archives/001115c Protoman approves.]]