History Main / BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork

* Creator/{{Christopher Priest|Comics}}'s ''ComicBook/{{Justice League|Of America}}'' run introduced a character called the Fan. As one of the technicians who helped build the Justice League's Watchtower HQ, the Fan had managed to spy on the team and uncover many of their secrets, leading to a situation that made it impossible to simply send him to prison. ComicBook/{{Batman}} and ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} debated what to do with him, with the latter arguing that killing him would be the only way to ensure more people didn't get hurt, while the former argued that [[ThouShallNotKill heroes never kill]]. Ultimately, they never got to finish their debate, as ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}} ended up shooting the Fan to death, thus taking care of the problem for them.
* Namor has a history of this. During the ''Emperor Doom'' graphic novel, he was the one who ultimately stopped ComicBook/DoctorDoom's mind control machine by killing the Purple Man.

* In WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee the crew of the USS Exit Strategy needs a bit more time to counterattack the villains, who are already locked on to them and might just win. Cue [[spoiler:Mechakara, whom those same villains betrayed at the end of the last episode, beating up the whole evil bridge]].

** In Volume 10, Neo summons an army of [[spoiler:Jabberwocker]]-type Grimm to ''eat'' [[spoiler:the Curious Cat]] ''alive''. Team RWBY is visibly disturbed.

** The remnants of The Black Glove that tried to utterly destroy Batman (and utterly failed) in ''[[ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison Batman RIP]]'' could have caused problems in the future. It's probably for the best that [[spoiler:Joker as Oberon Sexton]] killed them all. Later on, the same thing happens to [[spoiler:Simon Hurt]].
*** Similarly, when Batman finally goes after the leadership of the [[ComicBook/NightOfTheOwls Court of Owls]], he finds that they've all already been killed by [[spoiler:Lincoln March]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', the Earth Queen becomes a major thorn in Korra's side after Korra and her allies liberate a bunch of Airbenders from her Kingdom. She rules as a brutal tyrant who is driving the Earth Kingdom into ruin, but as the only authority over the land, her assassination would cause the Earth Kingdom to descend into chaos. Korra doesn't dare kill her, so she has no real way to deal with her. Then she gets on Zaheer's bad side and he asphyxiates her to death. He's fine with creating chaos.

* ''Fanfic/SpiderNinja'': In the chapter "Shred of Green", [[spoiler:the Shredder is defeated in a fight with Splinter. However, Splinter doesn't kill him and orders him to surrender (seeing as how the Turtles and Spider-Ninja have defeated his soldiers and the entire building is surrounded by SHIELD agents). Before Shredder can get up and keep fighting, however, the Green Goblin enters the scene. He gets the Hamatos and Fury to leave by telling them he planted a bomb outside that they need to disarm. Once they're alone, Goblin gives Shredder a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech and ''[[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath stabs him through the heart]]''.]]

* In ''Fanfic/TheEndOfEnds'', [[spoiler:Dr. Beljar makes it really easy for the Titans to not kill Beast Boy since he takes over control of the Dark Prognosticus, and it's required that whoever controls the Prognosticus must die in order to close the void. This arguably ends up being a moot point, though, when Beast Boy dies anyway from injuries sustained in the battle.]]

* ''Literature/TheCulture''

* Near the end of ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', the BigBad Momokuma/[[spoiler:Junko Enoshima]] invites the remaining students to vote for execution for putting everyone through the Killing School Life. Having survived this long without doing so, none of them are willing to pull the trigger and break out, especially since it just plays into the villain's hands. [[spoiler:So she pushes the execution button herself, happily following the Monokumas as they lead her to her doom.]]

* Invoked and dissected in ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney''. Any criminal suspect who escapes conviction by Barok van Zieks mysteriously dies by other grisly means within months, while he himself has a SuspiciouslyCleanCriminalRecord and an ironclad alibi for each death. Everyone recognizes that ''something'' is going on, but since all the victims are [[AssholeVictim bastards]] done in by other bastards, most just chalk it up to karma. Barok himself expresses disinterest when pressed, but the feeling of guilt builds up enough over the years that he simply gives a KarmicNod when [[spoiler:he's falsely charged with all of their deaths]]. Then it's revealed [[spoiler:Stronghart actively engineered this correlation, outside of van Zieks's knowledge, knowing the public would accept karmic justice far more readily than [[SecretPolice extrajudicial assassinations]]]]. Van Zieks is appalled, particularly at himself for tacitly endorsing the murders through his indifference.

* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomverse''
** ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail''

** ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBoilingPoint'': [[Characters/InfinityTrainBoilingPointHazel Hazel]] saves The Innocence from [[spoiler: The Trauma]] and then [[NeckSnap snaps their neck]] while verbally breaking down Grace.

* ''Fanfic/SpiderNinja'': In the chapter "Shred of Green", [[spoiler:the Shredder is defeated in a fight with Splinter. However, Splinter doesn't kill him and orders him to surrender (seeing as how the Turtles and Spider-Ninja have defeated his soldiers and the entire building is surrounded by SHIELD agents). Before Shredder can get up and keep fighting, however, the Green Goblin enters the scene. He gets the Hamatos and Fury to leave by telling them he planted a bomb outside that they need to disarm. Once they're alone, Goblin gives Shredder a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech and ''[[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath stabs him through the heart]]''.]]
* ''Fanfic/TheButterflyEffectElfenLied'': Kaede is going out of her way to avoid killing anyone. Lucy has no such qualms, going after anyone who targets Kaede and her loved ones.

* ''Fanfic/JulekaVsTheForcesOfTheUniverse'': When Juleka learns that Ms. Bustier is a ShipperOnDeck who intends to pair Marinette and Adrien up for an assignment despite how Marinette gets TongueTied and [[HumiliationConga constantly humiliated]] around him, she knows that their teacher won't listen to anything ''she'' has to say. So she points [[RichBitch Chloe]] her direction, knowing the SpoiledBrat will throw a fit over not getting her way -- and that Ms. Bustier constantly caves to Chloe's bullying.
* ''Fanfic/PhoenixsTearReignition'': {{Inverted}} by Avila in ''Protectorate of the Color Pandora''; after Stone Dragon proves to be a BadBoss, she deliberately turns a blind eye towards Hare and Mocchi's plan to stop him from [[spoiler:filling the shrine with flames]]. She then considers finishing him off herself, but decides to leave it to the rebels instead, sardonically referring to them as 'heroes'.

* ''[[Fanfic/GlassMarionetteNaruto Glass Marionette]]'': Kankuro recognizes that he can't deal with [[AbusiveParents Rasa]] himself; so instead, he opts to leave him to [[spoiler:Orochimaru, letting him KillAndReplace him as part of his scheming]].

* ''Fanfic/SonicBoomHauntedMansionMystery'': {{Discussed}} near the ending, when Sticks warns the others that they should probably escape the titular mansion before Eggman carpet-bombs it out of existence.
* In ''Fanfic/TheEndOfEnds'', [[spoiler:Dr. Beljar makes it really easy for the Titans to not kill Beast Boy since he takes over control of the Dark Prognosticus, and it’s required that whoever controls the Prognosticus must die in order to close the void. This arguably ends up being a moot point, though, when Beast Boy dies anyway from injuries sustained in the battle.]]

* Played With in ''[[https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13188285/1/Young-Justice-Outsiders-Now-We-Can-Be-Diamonds-Together Now We Can Be Diamonds Together]]''. In the story, Lian Harper draws a ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' OriginalCharacter base on her dad, and Will posts it online to show it to their friends and family. Unfortunately, this draws the unwanted attention, ire, and insults of the more toxic members of the fandom, [[DisproportionateRetribution with one man named Adam declaring that he'll find Lian and do something unspeakable to her]] [[WouldHurtAChild despite (or likely because) she's a child]]. Artemis manages to stop Will [[PapaWolf from heading out and killing the harrasser before he could hurt Lian]], and the heroes focus on exposing Adam's intended harassment at the girl along with his other crimes to his family and the police. As for actually killing him? That task is handled [[MamaBear by Lian's mercenary mother Jade Nguyen, AKA Chesire]].

-->'''Siren:''' (''emerging from a clamshell [[MasterOfIllusion in the form of]] [[spoiler:an ape mermaid]]'') Oh [[spoiler:Captain Gutt]]...\\

'''Siren:''' (''flashes a terrifying SlasherSmile at him and drags him into her shell'')

'''Shenzi''': [[TheDogBitesBack "Friends?" I thought he said we were the]] ''[[BackstabBackfire enemy.]]''\\

'''Scar:''' [[OhCrap No! L-L-Let me explain!]] No, you don't understand! No, I didn't mean it! I--No! No! Look, I'm sorry I called you--No! '''''NO!''''' (''They all attack at him at once and maul him to death'')

* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/TurtlesForever'', [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 2003 Shredder]] is ultimately destroyed by [[spoiler: [[BumblingHenchmanDuo Bebop and Rocksteady!]]]]

* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'':
** The crew of the Dutchman in ''[[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd At World's End]]'' in the wake of Norrington's HeroicSacrifice as Elizabeth's crew makes their getaway.
** Done in ''[[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOnStrangerTides On Stranger Tides]]'' by the Spanish navy with the intention to [[NoManShouldHaveThisPower ''destroy'' the Fountain of Youth]].

* The climax scene of ''Film/LetTheRightOneIn'' goes...this way, kind of. [[spoiler:As the kid's about to be drowned, Eli shows up and saves the day. But since she's a vampire, she kills three people doing so.]]
* In ''Film/RedSun'', the villains are about to kill the heroes, only to be interrupted by an attack by murderous Comanches.

** Straight example in ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'': Batman's one rule keeps him from [[spoiler:killing Bane. But Catwoman has no such restriction.]]
** Subverted in ''Film/BatmanBegins'': Bruce is about to assassinate Joe Chill when [[spoiler:the mob assassinates him instead for becoming an informant]]. This is when Bruce realizes that crime has become so pervasive, killing one person won't resolve anything.
* ''Film/FiveNightsAtFreddys'': Towards the end, [[spoiler:William Afton dawns the Spring Bonnie suit and comes to the pizzeria to either kill the heroes or have the animatronics do it. Abby, however, is able to remind the children that they were murdered by Afton, who placed them in the animatronics so they could be his servants. Once they remember this, they are the ones to trigger the springlocks in the suit, killing Afton. This allows Mike, Vanessa, and Abby to escape the pizzeria (and keeps them firmly as the protagonists since they didn't kill Afton or destroy the animatronics).]]

* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'':
** ''Film/XMen1'': The Mutant Registration Act is defeated due to the Brotherhood unintentionally killing the Act's main supporter and [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Mystique]] replacing him later on.
** ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': A BrainwashedAndCrazy [[spoiler:Wolverine]] slaughters all of Stryker's soldiers holding our heroes prisoner.
* In [[Creator/SamRaimi Sam Raimi's]] first ''Film/SpiderMan'' film, Peter goes after his uncle's killer immediately after his death. After an intense chase scene, Spider-Man corners the man in an abandoned building and is clearly ready to kill him... but pauses when he realizes that [[ItsAllMyFault the man who killed Ben is the same thief Spider-Man allowed to escape]]. He [[ComesGreatResponsibility takes responsibility for what happened]], and chooses not to kill the thief. The second he hesitates, the thief tries to shoot him, but Spider-Man breaks his wrist. The guy, panicking, trips over a pipe and falls out the window to his death. The bad guy did the dirty work to himself, leaving Spider-Man with his firm [[ThouShallNotKill no-kill policy]].
* Creator/ChrisPine's character in ''Film/{{Carriers}}'' where everyone is a CrazySurvivalist [[ShootTheDog shoots the dog]] many times in order to spare his more innocent brother from doing it himself. It rubs off on his brother though, who later finally gets his hands dirty by killing Pine when he is infected.
* Salim from ''Film/SlumdogMillionaire'' spends most of the movie playing TheCaretaker to Jamal, [[ShootTheDog shooting]] and [[KickTheDog kicking]] the dog alternately allowing them both to survive, but allowing Jamal to remain relatively untarnished.
* In ''Film/TheBadLieutenantPortOfCallNewOrleans'', the title character is being pursued by gangsters who want him to pay $50,000 for roughing up the son of a local real estate mogul. Rather than paying, he lures them to a place where he's meeting a drug kingpin that he's in business with. When the gangsters try to steal the kingpin's product in payment for what the protagonist owes, the kingpin and his men kill them all.
* ''Film/BlueBeetle2023'': [[spoiler:BigBad Victoria's right hand man Carapax is the one who kills Victoria, taking himself in the process]], which spares the hero-protagonist Jaime from having to do it.
* ''Film/EnemyOfTheState'': The film opens with Dean negotiating with mobster Pintero over a compromising videotape that Dean had obtained, and which he gives Pintero in exchange for leaving Dean's clients alone. Later, Dean unknowingly obtains a recording that shows the assassination of a Congressman, which places him in the NSA's crosshairs. When he and Brill are captured by NSA bigwig Reynolds, he tells Reynolds that he will take them to the tape, leading them to Pintero instead. Dean remains vague enough about what he means by "the tape" when introducing them that Pintero assumes Reynolds is the man who made the mob tape coming to blackmail him, while Reynolds thinks that Dean gave the assassination tape to The Mafia, leading to a violent shootout where both Mafia and NSA forces wipe each other out.
* In ''Film/{{Child 44}}'', [[spoiler:Leo finally catches up to the serial killer who's been gruesomely murdering children... and he proves to have a similar back-story to Leo himself, as well as being wracked by guilt about his horrific crimes, which he claims not to be able to control. As Leo hesitates over whether to shoot him as he intended to, [[TheDragon Vasili]] comes along and does it for him.]]

* In ''Literature/{{Insurgent}}'', [[spoiler:Tori, one of Tris's friends, kills Jeanine near the end of the novel to avenge her brother]]. In its film adaptation, ''Film/TheDivergentSeriesInsurgent'', [[spoiler:it's Evelyn who does the job, likely to foreshadow the fact that she is much crueler than she appears to be]].
* In ''Film/TheBigHeat'', Debby kills Mrs. Duncan and brings down the titular big heat on the mob — sparing the TechnicalPacifist hero from doing it.
* In ''Film/TheHandmaiden'', [[spoiler:Kouzuki brings Fujiwara back to his estate after being tipped by Hideko as to his location, and then Fujiwara [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled kills himself]] [[TakingYouWithMe and Kouzuki]]. Sook-hee and Hideko are able to escape without needing to kill either of them directly.]]
* ''Film/DevilInABlueDress'': Easy Rawlins discovers that a friend was involved in a woman's murder. He leaves the man to be guarded by his PsychoSidekick Mouse while he goes to save the DamselInDistress. When he comes back, his friend has been strangled by Mouse. When Easy gets upset, Mouse pointedly asks, "If you didn't want him dead, Easy, why did you leave him with ''me?''"
* Discussed but ultimately averted in ''Film/BestSeller'', in which a psychopathic ProfessionalKiller teams up with a detective turned novelist to write his story about his work for a CorruptCorporateExecutive. The novelist decides to publicly expose the executive instead of shooting him, causing the killer to quip that he ruined a perfect ending for the book.
* Downplayed examples in ''Film/TheTreasureOfTheSierraMadre''. Cody discovers Dobbs, Curtin, and Howard's secret prospecting operation, and tries to join their group for a share of the gold they dig up. Dobbs and the rest don't want to share, but they also fear Cody will expose them if they send him away. They vote (2-to-1) to murder Cody--but before they can act on this decision, {{bandito}}s attack their camp. Cody gets shot and killed in the ensuing gunfight, and the survivors feel guilt over the murder they planned but never carried out.
* This is the reasoning behind assembling the eponymous ''Film/SuicideSquad2016,'' though in this case, it's not about saving "good guys" (the US government) from having to do things they're morally opposed to. It's to allow them to make the "hard decisions" while maintaining their reputations, having villainous fall guys (and [[TheSmurfettePrinciple Harley]]) take the blame for their morally dubious acts. It still allows "heroic" characters to keep their hands clean. [[note]]That's the theory, anyway. The fact that they're escorted by uniformed military personnel on their first excursion sort of defeats the purpose.[[/note]]
* Ultimately subverted in ''Film/{{Exam}}''; as [[spoiler:White]] is going into a coma, [[spoiler:Brown]] tries to prevent him from getting his medicine. His plan doesn't work when [[spoiler:Blonde]] gets the pill anyway.

* At the end of ''Film/BlueBeetle2023'', [[spoiler:Carapax has a HeelRealization, drags BigBad Victoria Kord into an inferno, and detonates the reactor core of his OMAC suit]], neatly disposing of the villain without Jaime having to dirty his own hands.

* ''Fanfic/SpiderNinja'': In the chapter "Shred of Green", [[spoiler:the Shredder is defeated in a fight with Splinter. However, Splinter doesn't kill him and orders him to surrender (seeing as how the Turtles and Spider-Ninja have defeated his soldiers and the entire building is surrounded by SHIELD agents. Before Shredder can get up and keep fighting, however, the Green Goblin enters the scene. He gets the Hamatos and Fury to leave by telling them he planted a bomb outside that they need to disarm. Once they're alone, Goblin gives Shredder a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech and ''[[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath stabs him through the heart]]''.]]

* Happens a lot in ''ComicBook/TheAvengersJonathanHickman''. With the Incursions threatening all existence, the Illuminati reform to try and find a way to stop them. However, their first option doesn't work, and their next option they consider far too horrific to actually do it. So [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]] [[spoiler: reforms the Cabal, who for eight months handle the Incursions themselves, albeit with the wholesale slaughter of other universes thrown in for good measure. Elsewhere, Doctor Doom sets about analysing the Incursions, and learns far more about their mechanisms than the Illuminati ever did.]]
* In the 1947 ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' story that introduces Joe Chill, the [[DeathByOriginStory killer of Bruce Wayne's parents]], Batman confronts Chill and, in a fit of anger, reveals his SecretIdentity to him. Since this was back when recurring villains didn't get to learn such secrets, but Batman doesn't kill, Chill is instead killed by his own enraged men after he tells them he is responsible for creating [[TheDreaded Batman]]... and, naturally, dies before he can say just who's behind the mask.
** The story was later adapted for ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', but tweaks it by having Chill die in a freak accident before Batman's enemies could get him -- which was heavily hinted to have been arranged by ComicBook/TheSpectre. It still qualifies as this trope, as the Spectre is considered a hero but one that's far, ''far'' less scrupulous than Batman.
** In Post-''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' continuity, Joe Chill would be killed off by psycho vigilante The Reaper just as Batman is struggling with the decision to kill him himself or not.
* The remnants of The Black Glove that tried to utterly destroy Batman (and utterly failed) in ''[[ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison Batman RIP]]'' could have caused problems in the future. It's probably for the best that [[spoiler:Joker as Oberon Sexton]] killed them all. Later on, the same thing happens to [[spoiler:Simon Hurt]].
** Similarly, when Batman finally goes after the leadership of the [[ComicBook/NightOfTheOwls Court of Owls]], he finds that they've all already been killed by [[spoiler:Lincoln March]].

* At the end of ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', [[BigBad Alexander Luthor]] has managed to escape the FinalBattle and is planning to start over. Unfortunately, he forgot that he had pissed off everyone's [[ComicBook/TheJoker favorite homicidal clown]]. Not content with the possibility that Luthor [[NotQuiteDead might]] [[GoryDiscretionShot return]], the writers have Mister J [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill burn him with acid, electrocute him and shoot him in the head.]]

* In ''ComicBook/SecretSix'', someone once put out a hit on the Six, resulting in Scandal's beloved girlfriend Knockout being critically injured, and Scandal tracked down the would-be assassin and brought her back to their base. However, having tied the woman to a chair, she was unable to bring herself to finish her off. Her teammate Deadshot stepped in and shot the woman himself, sparing Scandal the trouble.
* In the final issue of ''[[ComicBook/RatMan1989 Rat-Man]]'', the title character struggles with the idea of killing Topin, even after his former apprentice nearly destroyed the world, [[spoiler: kidnapped his daughter and was revealed to have influenced him into not contacting her or her mother]]. Before Rat-Man can steel himself and do the deed, [[TokenEvilTeammate Valker stomps on Topin's head]].

* In a later ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' comic, Shadow confronts Eggman and outright states he's going to kill him. Eggman tries to play the ThouShaltNotKill rule. He turns out to be a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter, as Shadow points out: "Sonic holds such beliefs. But then, he's a hero... I'm not."
* In ''ComicBook/StreetFighterVsDarkstalkers'', [[spoiler: Jedah Domah is killed by Gill (his [[BigBadDuumvirate partner]] whom Jedah [[TheDogBitesBack betrayed]]) by pulling out his heart from his body and then Akuma (a decidedly grey character) delivers the killing blow by striking him with the Dylec sword. Granted, it's not like the heroes weren't trying, it's that Jedah was so powerful that it just so happened the ones to defeat him were bad guys. Ironically, Gill himself is defeated when he tries to claim victory for getting rid of the competition, as he is teleported back to Earth by his own cultists trying to resurrect him. Also the demonic fetus created by the villains is defeated when Morrigan and Lilith Aensland fuse together and deliver a powerful blast at the demonic child. An unusual only-adaptational case giving they are not evil in canon, but in the comic they are depicted as malevolent succubi that kill humans draining their souls.]]
* In an early ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}'' story (#14), the Thunderbolts have to kill an alien leader in order to get out of the dimension they're stuck in. Even though he understands the necessity of it, Abe (MACH-I) can't bring himself to, and Moonstone has to instead.

* ''Wayne Shelton'' exploits this trope: the BigBad is killed by another villain. Shelton confesses that he hoped him to do this, and call this a bargain with his own conscience.
* ''Franchise/XMen'':
** In the graphic novel ''ComicBook/GodLovesManKills'', the X-Men and their erstwhile ally ComicBook/{{Magneto}} have captured a few of the enemy "Purifiers." The heroes are desperate for information about the BigBad's plans, but the Purifier they question refuses to talk. Magneto, who at this point has yet to enter the HeelFaceRevolvingDoor, does...something...to the man to force him to answer.
** Something comparable happens in ''Uncanny X-Men'' #269. Here ComicBook/{{Rogue}} and the personality she absorbed from ComicBook/MsMarvel come out of the Siege Perilous as two separate persons; unfortunately, there is only life force for one of them to survive, and therefore the Ms. Marvel revenant (a separate being from Carol Danvers, who was then in outer space as Binary) tries to kill Rogue. Rogue manages to defeat her, but can't bring herself to kill her even to survive, and so "Ms. Marvel" turns the tables again. She is about to kill Rogue when Magneto intervenes and kills the Ms. Marvel revenant. This could possibly be interpreted as Magneto being a CombatPragmatist, but the subsequent story (#274-275) shows him starting on the road to becoming a villain again.
* ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} considers himself damned already because of his past, so he's willing to cross lines actual heroes shouldn't. He does not want anyone else, especially kids, following his example.

* Scientific variant. [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731 Unit 731]] did tons of illegal, unethical human experimentation during the war. But considering such an experiment could not be conducted legally in the first place and how their data were legitimately reliable and useful, Unit 731 was given immunity from war crime prosecution as long as they hand over their research data.
** More of a subversion, as most of the unit's data was neither preserved nor exported, and the United States considered what little data they received largely useless.

* ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'' has this happen in the finale when [[TheStarscream Darkonda]] destroys [[GreaterScopeVillain Dark Specter]] with a planet-destroying missile, and Dark Specter [[TakingYouWithMe returns the favor by devouring Darkonda whole]]. All of this greatly simplifies the mission of the Rangers to simply having to stop [[BigBad Astronema]] and [[TheDragon Ecliptor]] from taking over the universe.

* [[DefiedTrope Defied]] in ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn''. The party makes a promise to the WiseTree Laurel that they won't power up the [[DoomsdayDevice Alchemy Dynamo]] [[spoiler:and bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt]]. After encountering the [[RocBirds Mountain Roc]] and completing their quest to obtain one of its feathers, the BigBadDuumvirate shows up and blackmails them into retrieving the orb necessary to power up the Dynamo from the Roc's stomach [[IHaveYourWife using the lives of party member Eoleo and a young girl as leverage]]. [[spoiler:The KnightTemplarBigBrother of the girl in question, their JerkWithAHeartOfGold traveling partner Prince Ryu Kou, then dramatically makes off with the orb and warns the party not to interfere [[TakingYouWithMe so it doesn't explode and kill them all]]. However, TeamMom Karis suggests that he's taking responsibility for whatever happens so that the others don't have to feel guilty about breaking their promise to Laurel [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom and playing into the villains' hands]]. However, he angrily retorts that he doesn't care about any of that and just wants his sister back.]]