Basic Trope: Someone fully capable of killing an enemy and getting away with it decides not to even bother, as they don't think it's worth the effort.
- Straight: Alice the muggle comes face-to-face with Dark Lord Kevin, looking to take him down. He laughs and doesn't even bother to fight her, saying that she's not worth the effort to kill.
- Exaggerated:
- Kevin says this to literally everyone who makes him remotely angry or annoyed, even his allies. Every single minor convenience he faces leads to him calling out the person responsible and saying that he'd kill them if it were worth the effort.
- Cruel Mercy
- Downplayed:
- Kevin still takes on Alice in a fight, but doesn't bother killing her, believing the take-down to be enough of a message to her that she can't defeat him.
- Kevin decides that Alice isn't worth killing face-to-face, but she still needs to be disposed of. He decides to blow up the building instead, as that would possibly kill Alice's allies as well as finishing her off as an afterthought.
- Justified:
- Alice holds valuable information that Kevin wants to get from her to help his plans succeed. If he were to kill her, he'd no longer have any chance of succeeding.
- Kevin knows that merely taking his revenge on Alice will make him a fugitive, and he doesn't want to risk falling into that cycle.
- Inverted: Kevin will kill his weakest enemies any chance he gets, but he avoids killing more powerful ones, as he's not sure if he actually can kill them.
- Subverted:
- Kevin initially refuses to kill Alice because he doesn't see her as much of a threat, but as he's about to walk away, he considers that she may be more powerful than she's letting on, so he decides to kill her right there.
- Double Subverted: ...But when he tries to kill her, he pulls a muscle and decides he isn't going to bother fighting someone as weak as Alice in his condition.
- Zig-Zagged: Kevin isn't sure if she's is worth killing or not, so he starts considering the pros and cons of killing Alice right in front of her for several hours.
- Parodied:
- Kevin wants to kill Alice, but wasting his power to kill a person who isn't worthy of it could risk him getting his Dark Lord license suspended
- When Alice threatens to kill Kevin, he laughs in her face, saying that someone as weak as her isn't even worth fighting. While he's laughing, she pulls out a mace and curb stomps him.
- Averted:
- Kevin simply attempts to kill anyone who threatens him. No exceptions.
- Kevin isn't capable of killing Alice, or at least isn't capable of getting away with it if he did.
- Enforced: The original script had a scene where Kevin killed a bunch of minor characters who threatened to remove him from power. However, an executive forced the writers to change this scene to use this trope, as it could be too violent for the age rating they were going for.
- Lampshaded: "You kept her alive?! You have no idea who this person is and what they're capable of! What if she comes back stronger? Haven't you read the Evil Overlord List? It's literally the fourth most important thing there!"
- Invoked: Alice purposefully makes herself appear weaker than she really is in front of Kevin, hoping that she'd be spared.
- Exploited:
- Alice not only makes herself appear weaker than she really is in front of Kevin, but she uses this as an opportunity to fly under his radar so she can take him down when he doesn't suspect it.
- Kevin says it is not worth the effort to kill Alice because he can make more money from selling her alive.
- Defied: Kevin declares that Alice isn't worth killing, but when his boss, Darker Lord Steve, realizes what he's done, he forces Kevin to kill Alice to be absolutely sure they face no potential threats.
- Discussed: "He didn't kill me because he didn't think of me as a threat, but let me tell you, he's gonna regret keeping me alive when I'm done with him."
- Conversed: "Did the villain really just say 'you aren't worth the effort to kill?' No doubt he's gonna regret it."
- Deconstruction: By sparing Alice, she eventually grows up full of vengeance, wanting to kill Kevin. Kevin's decision ends up getting him killed in the by Alice, resulting in a Karmic Death.
- Played for Horror: Kevin cripples Alice so badly that she couldn't move, and ensures that she won't get any help at all. Alice then meets her death by either freezing to death to the elements or by getting mauled by a wild animal. Kevin couldn't give less of a damn that she died; He didn't even directly kill her.
Back to Not Worth Killing
