History BecauseYouWereNiceToMe / Literature

* In ''Literature/FoundationAndEmpire'' in the ''Literature/FoundationSeries the Mule lets Bayta go free because she treated him kindly when she thought he was just a poor picked-on clown (instead of the ruler of the Galaxy)

* There's a Creator/BruceCoville edited short story about a [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer tormented and ostracized]] elf child whose school assignment is to interview a troll. Trolls' favorite food is elf children, but the troll doesn't eat the boy because he sees how lonely and kind the poor thing is. At the end of the story, the elf child gets revenge on his schoolmates and teachers by freeing the troll and letting him eat them all, but tells the only other elf child who was kind to him that he won't feed her to the troll because "You're the sweetest girl I know"... [[spoiler:before eating her himself, thus subverting the trope.]]

* : In the last act of ''Coconut Cowboy'' (by Creator/TimDorsey), FallGuy Peter is discretely helped by a ButtMonkey member of a SmallTownTyrant clan due to being the only person to call the local youth by his real name and tell him he's smart instead of calling him "[[EmbarassingNickname Slower]]" (referring to his supposed unintelligence). Peter saving his life during a cave-in also helps.

* In ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'', this is why Sue and Miss Collins survive the Prom Massacre.

* A variant: Thresh spares Katniss on one occasion because she helped his surrogate little sister Rue before she died in ''Literature/TheHungerGames''.

* There is an old fairy tale where a young man who wants to woo a princess heads off to do so. On his way there, he meets an old man with whom he shares his meal. When the young man makes it to the castle, the girl's overprotective father sets an impossible condition for him to do so; he must produce a man who can eat a mountain of bread. When the young man is wandering through a forest bemoaning this task, he meets an old man who says he is incredibly hungry; the young man tells him of the mountain of bread and the old man then offers to help and eats the entire thing. The king then declares that the boy must produce a man that can drink an entire warehouse full of ale; he goes back to the forest and meets the man again, who this time claims to be incredibly thirsty and drinks all the ale. As a final task, the king demands that the boy produce a ship that can sail on both water and land, and when the distraught young man returns to the forest one final time, his mystical friend invokes this trope.
-->'''Old man''': I have eaten for you, and I have drunk for you, and I will also give you the ship; and all because you were kind to me at the first.

* ''Literature/IntoTheDrowningDeep'':

* A DefusingTheTykebomb moment in ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'' works because of this -- the Arrandas were kind to [[spoiler:Eppon]], laughing and playing with [[spoiler:the normal-looking baby, and [[ABoyAGirlAndABabyFamily planning to adopt]]]]. When the BigBad showed up it reverted to its programming and was loyal to him, but later Tash reminded it of their brief time together.

* ''Alot'' of characters in ''Literature/ChroniclesOfNick'' are surprisingly nice to those who are nice to them. Just about every character has been through horrifying moments of loneliness and despair and are very loyal to people who genuinely mean them well.

** [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Luna]], and to a lesser extent [[TheUnchosenOne Neville]], have this sort of relationship to the Trio and Ginny. As a result, they were the only members of the D.A. to help defend the castle in Book Six. Luna is especially blunt about her general loneliness.

** This is definitely one of the series' recurring motifs. Imagine how different Harry would have turned out if Hagrid hadn't been the first person in his life to show him any kindness. It was Malfoy's contempt for Hagrid in Madame Malkins that really kicked off their animosity. The same goes for when he taunts Ron, Harry's first-ever friend, on the train. If it weren't for Harry's loyalty, would he have accepted Malfoy's offer of friendship and been put in Slytherin instead? The entire series would veer off course....

* Keladry of Mindelan, titular protagonist of ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'', has this happen frequently. There's a reason she's called that.
** Her war-horse [[FluffyTheTerrible Peachblossom]] whose last owner was abusive agrees to work on his behavior when she promises not to yank of the reins or ever use spurs, but ''only'' for her: do not imply you are interested in stealing or buying him. [[OhCrap Or in buying Kel]].

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Possibly {{Subverted|Trope}} with Mirri Maz Duur, a {{Blood Mag|ic}}e who is MadeASlave by the [[BarbarianTribe Dothraki]]; Daenerys stops several men from raping her, so Mirri offers to treat her husband's injury. After he ignores her instructions and the wound becomes infected, she's threatened with death if he doesn't recover, so she agrees to use a spell, which leaves him alive [[AndIMustScream but completely unable to move or speak]]. She tells Dany that [[MotiveRant a small measure of mercy didn't change the fact that her entire village had been massacred or enslaved, and Drogo deserved what he got.]] It's [[AmbiguousSituation left unclear whether she'd intended to betrayed Dany]], or was simply taking credit for it, once she knew she was going to be killed anyway.
* In ''Literature/SpinningSilver'', Miryem meets a debtor who can't repay in coin and so demands that his strapping daughter Wanda work off the debt as a maidservant in Miryem's home (which allows Miryem's sick mother to rest and recuperate properly). Because Wanda's father is abusive and negligent, she's stunned by the Mandelstam's basic decency in things like speaking to her politely and including her in the family dinner. When Miryem teaches Wanda math and writing so she can be an assistant and later ''shakes hands'' with her, it makes such an impact that Wanda later defies the fearsome and legendary Staryk King to stop him taking Miryem away.

* Sgt. Bothari to Cordelia in ''Literature/{{Barrayar}}'' by Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold, though it is a little more complicated than that. As Aral later explains to Cordelia, the mentally unstable Bothari doesn't have a strong sense of self, and unconsciously becomes whatever those around him expect out of him: a good soldier, a loyal retainer, a monster.
-->"You..." his voice softened, "you are the only person I know who looks at Bothari and sees a hero. So he becomes one for you. He clings to you because you create him a better man than he ever dreamed of being."

* In ''Literature/SpinningSilver'', Miryem meets a debtor who can't repay in coin and so demands that his strapping daughter Wanda work off the debt as a maidservant in Miryem's home (which allows Miryem's sick mother to rest and recuperate properly). Because Wanda's father is abusive and negligent, she's stunned bythe Mandelstam's basic decency in things like speaking to her politely and including her in the family dinner. When Miryem teaches Wanda math and writing so she can be an assistant and later ''shakes hands'' with her, it makes such an impact that Wanda later defies the fearsome and legendary Staryk King to stop him taking Miryem away.

* A DefusingTheTykebomb moment in ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'' works because of this - the Arrandas were kind to [[spoiler:Eppon]], laughing and playing with [[spoiler:the normal-looking baby, and [[ABoyAGirlAndABabyFamily planning to adopt]]]]. When the BigBad showed up it reverted to its programming and was loyal to him, but later Tash reminded it of their brief time together.

* In the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' graphic novel ''Shattered Peace'', Minty stops her mate from killing Ravenpaw because Ravenpaw was nice to her kits.

* ''Literature/TheScholomance:'' When the Shanghai enclavers attack El (a PersonOfMassDestruction), she holds back against them largely because Yuyan once politely asked her for help translating a spell and then offered to translate one for her as repayment back when she was an unaffiliated 'loser' with no connections she would admit to who [[WillfullyWeak did everything she could to hide the extent of her power]] and could not quite conceal the nature of same (suspected low-end maleficers incapable of damping down [[SupernaturalSensitivity their bad vibes]] [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer being outcasts among outcasts]]).

* ''Literature/TheScholomance:'' When the Shanghai enclavers attack El (a PersonOfMassDestruction), she holds back against them largely because Yuyan once politely asked her for help translating a spell and then offered to translate one for her as repayment.

* In ''literature/FoundationAndEmpire'' the Mule lets Bayta go free because she treated him kindly when she thought he was just a poor picked-on clown (instead of the ruler of the Galaxy)