History Main / FinishHim

** ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'':
*** After Anakin defeats Count Dooku, he is ordered to Finish Him by the watching captive, [[ManipulativeBastard Palpatine]]. After surprisingly little fight (or, perhaps, [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter not so surprising]]), Anakin complies, and instantly regrets it.
*** Mace Windu defeats Palpatine with a swift boot to the face, knocking him backwards and causing him to drop his lightsaber which goes flying out the window. However, right before he deals the final blow on him, Anakin chops his right arm, which allows Palpatine to use Force Lightning for a deadly comeback that costs Windu's life.
*** After a well-aimed shot at Grievous' biomechanical heart, Obi-Wan tops him off with two more shots, incinerating him from inside. Also, during the movie's climax, he uses a particularly brutal strike on Anakin when he tries to jump over him, chopping off both his legs and his left arm in one swift motion.

** ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'': After Anakin defeats Count Dooku, he is ordered to Finish Him by the watching captive, [[ManipulativeBastard Palpatine]]. After surprisingly little fight (or, perhaps, [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter not so surprising]]), Anakin complies, and instantly regrets it.

* In ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'', Creator/MatthewMercer has his catchphrase "How do you want to do this?" to (a) indicate a tough enemy has been defeated and (b) give the player whose character has done the attack a chance to shine by describing what the attack does.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheTwelveTasksOfAsterix''. Julius Caesar is watching a gladiator rehearsal fight when one of his minions tries whispering some information in his ear. Caesar can't hear what he's saying because of the noise, so he gives the thumbs down to get them to stop, only to find out afterwards the gladiators have all killed each other.

[[folder:Films ]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheTwelveTasksOfAsterix''. Julius Caesar is watching a gladiator rehearsal fight when one of his minions tries whispering some information in his ear. Caesar can't hear what he's saying because of the noise, so he gives the thumbs down to get them to stop, only to find out afterwards the gladiators have all killed each other.

** Sisko rescues Dukat from the Maquis. While holding a phaser on Maquis members to give them a message, he's told by an increasingly irritated Dukat, "What are you waiting for? Shoot them!"

* In ''WesternAnimation/ExoSquad'', Lt. Marsh refuses to kill a pirate warrior he previously defeated in a ritual fight to the death, in spite of Simbacca encouraging. him to do so.

** In ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', [[TheEmperor Emperor Palpatine]] gives Luke the same instruction as he stands over the defeated Darth Vader. This time, however, it doesn't work, and Luke's refusal to kill his own father is a major factor in the latter's HeelFaceTurn.

* ''Film/{{Flash Gordon|1980}}'' (1980):
** Flash and Prince Barin are fighting on the tilting floor (with pop-up knives). While Flash is lashing Barin with a whip, Prince Vultan yells "Come on boy, finish him!". Flash's refuses and his mercy wins over Vultan ''and'' Barin.

* Film/{{Tron}}: As Crom struggles to climb back up onto a ring platform, Sark tells Flynn to "finish the game". When he refuses, Sark removes the platform and drops Crom to his de-resolution anyway (and almost does the same to Flynn, only reluctantly holding back when he remembers the MCP's orders to keep Flynn around until he dies in combat).
** Also used in ''Film/TronLegacy'' when Clu 2 tries to make Rinzler, [[spoiler:a corrupted version of Tron,]] take down the Flynns and Quorra, only for him to reply, "I fight for the Users", and turn against his former master.

** John Kreese in ''Film/TheKarateKid1984'' says this, just before Johnny gets his ass handed to him by Daniel's Crane kick.
*** Kreese delivers two of these in a more menacing way in ''Series/CobraKai''. In season 2, he says it while Miguel is giving Hawk a brutal beatdown for trashing Miyagi-Do. In season 3, he says it while Hawk is giving a vicious one-sided beating to Brucks.

As he enjoys his hard fought victory, he is congratulated by the onlooker, who then coldly orders him to finish the job and [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown finish off his opponent]], killing them and taking the rightful place as the most brutal and powerful fighter in the land.

* In ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'', Creator/MatthewMercer has his CatchPhrase "How do you want to do this?" to (a) indicate a tough enemy has been defeated and (b) give the player whose character has done the attack a chance to shine by describing what the attack does.

** In "[[Recap/GameOfThronesS5E9TheDanceOfDragons The Dance of Dragons]]", a Braavosi swordsman gets Ser Jorah Mormont on his back in the arena and looks to Queen Daenerys, clearly expecting this trope. Daenerys just stares in shock, [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask not wanting Jorah dead yet unwilling to stop events]]. At the urging of the crowd, he decides to finish Jorah anyway, only to get speared InTheBack by another fighter.

** In "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS05E15ByInfernosLight By Inferno's Light]]", the Vorta running the prison camp tells Ika'tika to do this to Worf during their fight when it's clear the latter [[YouCanBarelyStand can barely stand]]. Ika'tika, however, is impressed by Worf's {{Determinator}} spirit and chooses not to kill him. Not sharing these ProudWarriorRace values, the Vorta has Ika'tika executed instead for refusing to obey orders.

'''Emperor Nero:''' Let him … die!\\

* ''LightNovel/KinosJourney''. Kino is fighting another ActionGirl in a colosseum watched by TheCaligula, who demands Kino kill her opponent after she gets the drop on her. The crowd quickly joins in the chant. Kino accepts her surrender instead, only for the mad king to shoot her opponent dead with a rifle as Kino walks away.

* ''Series/{{Bonanza}}'': Averted in the climatic scene of the 14th-season opener, "Forever." Little Joe has finally beaten the [[VillainOfTheWeek villain's]] muscle-man, Hanley, and contemplates dropping a huge boulder on his head to crush his skull… but relents. The villain, Sloan (a ruthless gambler who had earlier ordered the killing of Joe's pregnant wife), scoffs and taunts Joe for his show of mercy… and it ultimately proves fatal for Sloan, who finds he all of a sudden has to deal with his now-former very angry stooge – who does FinishHim
* ''Series/LittleHouseOnThePrairie'': "For the Love of Blanche," from the final season. Humorously played, however, as Blanche – an orangutan – had played dead when the sheriff (on Mrs. Oleson's orders) had appeared to kill the simian, but she avoided getting shot and was uninjured. When Blanche is revealed to be alive later, Mrs. Oleson orders the sheriff back to make sure that Blanche is dead this time.
* ''Series/TheMandalorian''. In "The Marshal", Gor Koresh shouts this during a ring match between two Gamorreans, but in a subversion, he loses patience, draws a blaster and shoots the contestant himself when Din refuses to join him in a bet on who will lose. He and his goons then turn their weapons on Din, having decided there's more money in robbing him of his beskar armor.

** In "By Inferno's Light," the Vorta running the prison camp tells Ika'tika to do this to Worf during their fight when it's clear the latter [[YouCanBarelyStand can barely stand]]. Ika'tika, however, is impressed by Worf's {{Determinator}} spirit and chooses not to kill him. Not sharing these ProudWarriorRace values, the Vorta has Ika'tika executed instead for refusing to obey orders.
* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' In the episode "Shindig", Mal ends up in a sword duel with a local aristocrat. Predicably (since, well, [[ContractualImmortality one of these guys is a main character and one of these guys is not]]), Mal wins, with the aristocrat lying wounded on the ground. He is informed that to leave his opponent defeated and wounded would leave the man with the stigma of [[FateWorseThanDeath living as a coward]]. Mal responds that "Mercy is the mark of a great man." [[note]]Mal then [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown pokes his fallen opponent twice with a sword]] and proposes that he is instead "all right".[[/note]]

** In "The Dance of Dragons", a Braavosi swordsman gets Ser Jorah Mormont on his back in the arena and looks to Queen Daenerys, clearly expecting this trope. Daenerys just stares in shock, [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask not wanting Jorah dead yet unwilling to stop events]]. At the urging of the crowd, he decides to finish Jorah anyway, only to get speared InTheBack by another fighter.
** Subverted in "A Golden Crown". During the TrialByCombat between sellsword Bronn and Ser Vardis, Lady Lysa calls on the latter to finish him, not realising that he's not holding off deliberately -- it's because Ser Vardis can't land an effective blow on his lightly-armoured yet more skilled opponent. Ser Vardis obediently charges towards Bronn, who expertly dodges him and inflicts a fatal wound.
* ''Series/{{Rome}}''. During the assassination of Julius Caesar, Brutus [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone just stares in shock]] as Caesar is stabbed multiple times, an unused dagger dropping from his hand. After Caesar collapses, one of the conspirators picks up the knife, places it in Brutus' hand and insists that he strike the final blow, it being necessary for propaganda reasons that Brutus be directly involved.

* In Zen Studios' pinball adaptation of the 2014 film ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', after the player manages to land enough blows on Ronan during Rocket and Groot's fight against him, the scoring display will tell the player to "finish him" by shooting a sinkhole right under where Ronan stands.

** In ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'', D'Vorah is given the go ahead to kill Baraka by Kotal Kahn. While he does not shout the trope name outright, the thumbs-down motion he gives is as good as doing so, and the quick-time prompt that shows up on screen is for D'Vorah's one of in-game Fatalities. In this case, doing so is dependent on the player inputting them in time, though Baraka somehow dies either way.

* Parodied in the episodic ''VideoGame/SamAndMax'' games. At the climax of "They Stole Max's Brain!" Sam duels General Skun'kape in a gladitorial arena. After stunning him in traditional adventure game fashion, the only options given are "Finish Him." Instead of killing the General, however, Sam just slaps him senseless for his finisher.

* In ''[[Literature/XWingSeries Starfighters of Adumar]]'', Cartanese culture calls for the winner of a ground duel to offer this choice to someone in the crowd (usually either the ''perator'' or their LoveInterest), who can choose either mercy or death. [[spoiler: Part of Cheriss's plan to commit honorable suicide involves her giving the ''perator'' the choice and then ''refusing'', knowing that after that, no one would offer her mercy.]]

** Played heartrendingly straight in the episode Party Favors, when Spartacus and [[spoiler: Varro fight an exhibition match for a boy's coming-of-age party. The boy in question orders the defeated Varro killed. Spartacus must follow through with the deed or they will both die, and no one will be left to look after Varro's wife and child.]]

* ''Series/TheMandalorian''. In "The Marshal", Gor Koresh shouts this during a ring match between two Gamorreans, but in a subversion he loses patience, draws a blaster and shoots the contestant himself when Din refuses to join him in a bet on who will lose. He and his goons then turn their weapons on Din, having decided there's more money in robbing him of his beskar armor.

* The ''VideoGame/MechCommander'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MQPWE_M_EM intro video]].

* In the first ''VideoGame/{{Fable|I}}'', you fight alongside Whisper in the Arena. Since two people can't be the Arena Champion, you're ordered to fight each other to the death. The two of you make a deal to "just give them a good show," with the winner just leaving after nearly killing the other, but it's up to the player whether or not to honor it.
* ''VideoGame/GuitarHero III''. After defeating Lou in the final boss battle in Hell, you get an opportunity to play the final section in the song and Finish Him to regain your soul. Why does he come back in GH:WT? He got sent back to hell.
** The devil always comes back. He came back to Georgia, after all.

* The ''VideoGame/MechCommander'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MQPWE_M_EM intro video]].
* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', Commander Shepard can, if his/her Renegade points are high enough, encourage [[spoiler:Jack to kill one of her childhood inmates]] to prevent him from reopening the facility (or alternately use paragon material to talk her out of it). If you let him go, then you get a message in ''Mass Effect 3'' that he has gone straight and thanks you for your mercy. You also get informed that he went down fighting the Reapers and protecting evacuation shuttles.
* Parodied in the episodic ''VideoGame/SamAndMax'' games. At the climax of "They Stole Max's Brain!" Sam duels General Skun'kape in a gladitorial arena. After stunning him in traditional adventure game fashion, the only options given are "Finish Him." Instead of killing the General, however, Sam just slaps him senseless for his finisher.

'''Comicus:''' Oh. Uh... Tough shit!

'''Emperor Nero:''' Let him … die!

-->-- ''Film/HistoryOfTheWorldPartOne''

** Flash and Prince Barin are fighting on the tilting floor (with pop-up knives). While Flash is lashing Barin with a whip, Prince Vultan yells "Come on boy, finish him!".
** As well as Flash's mercy wins over Vultan ''and'' Barin.

* In Zen Studio's pinball adaptation of the 2014 film ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', after the player manages to land enough blows on Ronan during Rocket and Groot's fight against him, the scoring display will tell the player to "finish him" by shooting a sinkhole right under where Ronan stands.

* ''Series/TheMandalorian''. In "The Marshal", Gor Koresh shouts this during a ring match between two Gamorreans, but in a subversion he loses patience, draws a blaster and shoots the losing contestant himself when Din refuses to join him in a bet on who will lose. He and his goons then turn their weapons on Din, having decided there's more money in robbing him of his beskar armor.

* ''Series/TheMandolorian''. In "The Marshall", Gor Koresh shouts this during a ring match between two Gamorreans. , but in a subversion he loses patience, draws a blaster and shoots the losing contestant himself when Din refuses to join him in a bet. He and his goons then turn their weapons on Din, having decided there's more money in robbing him of his beskar armor.