Basic Trope: The villain asks for his enemies to be captured alive.
- Straight: When Emperor Evulz commands his Legions of Terror to invade the heroes' base, he makes the order, "Bring me Alice and Bob alive!"
- Exaggerated:
- Evulz forbids his Legions of Terror from going in guns-blazing; he's most likely going to use diplomacy instead.
- Evulz demands that an entire army be captured alive.
- Downplayed:
- Evulz would prefer that Alice and Bob are brought to him alive, but if that's not possible, then he'll accept their termination.
- Evulz gives the command "Cripple them, but don't kill them - yet."
- Evulz wants both Alice and Bob alive, but he'll settle for just one of them alive if it comes to that.
- Justified:
- Alice and Bob hold vital information that Evulz needs, and killing them means losing that info.
- Evulz believes he is the only one allowed to kill Alice and Bob, so he doesn't want one of his men stealing his kill.
- Evulz is a Noble Demon who wants to keep the body count low.
- Evulz wants to convert Alice and Bob to his side.
- Alice and Bob are Evulz' children, and he doesn't want them dead.
- Evulz wants to use Alice and Bob as hostages to lure Charlie into his clutches.
- Alice and Bob have a special quality that Evulz needs like beauty, youth or superpowers and for whatever reasons, he cannot steal it from them if they are dead. Once he steals the qualities he needs from them, Only Then and If they no longer Need them will they Kill them.
- Evulz wants to torture Alice and Bob instead of outright killing them.
- Killing Alice and Bob would make them martyrs for their followers to rally around, and Evulz doesn't want that.
- Evulz is running low on money, and he's been in contact with certain people who want Alice and Bob for their own purposes. Their ransom could help stabilize his war chest, on the condition they're still alive.
- Inverted: Evulz gives the order to Leave No Survivors, even the noncombatants.
- Subverted: "If possible, try and bring them alive. If not, well, accidents happen."
- Double Subverted: "Just make sure Bob stays alive; I still need him to carry out the plan."
- Parodied: Evulz is doing this because he is a Harmless Villain who's not very good at being a villain.
- Zig Zagged: Evulz says "Do as you will to the passengers, but I need Bob alive." When a minion kills Bob, he explains exactly why he did, and Evulz understands his reasoning, tempered with a "Just don't do it again."
- Averted: Evulz does not take prisoners; he orders Alice and Bob to be killed on sight.
- Enforced: If Alice or Bob died, the story would be over, so the writer keeps them alive for as long as possible.
- Lampshaded: "Damnit... and here I wanted to test out my new Death Ray..."
- Invoked: A minion asks Evulz if he wants him to capture Alice and Bob alive.
- Mission Control or Sergeant Rock addresses The Squad: "Remember, we need intel on the Nebulous Evil Organization more than we need the corpses of their foot soldiers, so live captures are preferred whenever possible."
- Exploited: Alice and Bob know Evulz will want them alive, so they use the capture operation to gain access to his hidden fortress.
- Defied: "They're too dangerous to be kept alive. If you find them, kill them."
- Discussed: "Sir, is there any particular reason you want them alive?"
- Conversed: "Of course he keeps them alive. I wonder how they're gonna get out of it..."
- Implied: The Legions of Terror capture Alice and Bob and bring him to Evulz. Evulz seems pleased of their capture.
- Deconstructed: Evulz shouldn't have left Alice and Bob alive. The danger they represent means their capture put them in a position to defeat Evulz. He would've been better off killing them.
- Reconstructed: Evulz' plan revolves around leaving Alice and Bob alive, by way of a Batman Gambit or else bringing him to his base to torture them, leading at least one of them to break and join his side.
- Played For Laughs: After Evulz gives the order, a minion kills a passer-by and says "My finger slipped."
Bring the main article to me. I want it alive!
