History Main / MercyRewarded

* The first two games of the ''[[KingsQuest King's Quest]]'' series tends to give you more points for nonviolent solutions to problems. The later games, not so much. For instance, KQ4, KQ5 and the remake of KQ2 all require you to deal violently with the antagonist.

* At one point later on in [[ChronoTrigger Chrono Trigger]], right after [[spoiler:the destruction of Zeal and the death of Crono]], the [[spoiler:remaining]] party members (led by Frog), meet up with [[spoiler:Magus]]. You have a choice to make: fight him, or choose to leave him alone. [[spoiler:If you choose the former, you battle him and kill him (for real). If you choose the latter, Frog sheathes his sword, says attacking him would be pointless, and Magus decides to '''join your party'''. Whoa.]]

** You can also spare some members of the Submarine crew when you take it over. They're the guys you performed with when you masqueraded to send off Rufus Shinra. Taking them hostage rather than killing them nets their thanks and avoids conflict. They never betray you.

* In ''RedSteel'', sparing your enemies in the sword battles will give you more allies in the final level. Of course, you're still free to mow down all the guys with guns with no penalty whatsoever.

* Arguably invoked in [[RiftWar Return To Krondor]]. There are many situations where you get XP for avoiding a fight with various groups, but generally the reward is less than what you get if just kill them.

* Ignoring rival gangs instead of blasting them means your drug-smuggling ventures are that much more profitable and easy. Blasted 'em anyway? You can outright bribe 'em into not hassling you so much.

** Expanded on in the sequel, where showing mercy to certain characters alters the ending. Sparing them is considered good, however sparing one character [[spoiler:means they'll remain a twisted, bloated foetus creature subjected to incredible pain and insanity for the rest of his life]]. [[WallBanger It's considered a good act.]]

* Both ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' and ''MassEffect'' award KarmaMeter points for getting out of certain situations without combat. There's also an achievement in ''Mass Effect'' for diffusing seemingly unwinnable situations with your Charm or Intimidate skill. In one particular twist, doing so will avoid losing a party member.

* Horrifically averted in ''InfiniteSpace''. [[spoiler:Letting a minor villain live will cause an innocent girl to die [[CruelAndUnusualDeath horribly]].]]

* If you're running a good-aligned party in ''[[Might and Magic]] VII'', one of your mandatory quests is to do a pacifist run of a fairly difficult dungeon called the Walls of Mist. You fail it if you so much as damage an enemy, though you can try again. (Evil parties have a quest that takes them here too, but are free to kill anything they like).

* In QueensBlade: Spiral Chaos if you fully break MonsterGirl's armor with TheOneGuy instead of killing her, she'll join your army. Sadly, you can capture only one monster of each type.

* ''Very'' subverted in ''DungeonKeeper''. Setting your enemies free will merely cause them to come back to fight you; in contrast, [[TortureMakesYouEvil torturing them causes them to eventually join your side]].

* ''Very'' subverted in ''DungeonKeeper''. Setting your enemies free will merely cause them to come back to fight you; in contrast, torturing them causes them to eventually join your side.

* ''MetalGearSolid 3'' rewards you with new camouflage if you nonlethally defeat bosses, but they die anyway.

** Expanded on in the sequel, where showing mercy to certain characters alters the ending. Sparing them is considered good, however sparing one character [[spoiler:means they'll remain a twisted, bloated foetus creature subjected to incredible pain and insanity for the rest of his life]]. It's considered a good act. What the fuck?!

*** The decision is complicated further by [[spoiler:a video of the character (pre-insanity) begging you to mercy kill him, knowing the monster that he will become]]. The BrokenBase is less about the decision itself and more about Bioware's decision to label one decision "good" despite the fact that it's designed to be a very grey dilemma.