History Main / PacifismBackfire

** There's also the two part episode, "Defenders of Peace", which revolves around a society of [[IntelligentGerbil alien Lemurs]] who are nearly exterminated when the Separatists decide to test a new weapon on them and the refusal of their village elder to fight back even in self-defense because of his staunch pacifism.

** Another ''Treehouse'' episode has Bart and Lisa going to Marge and telling her that [[IAmAHumanitarian the teachers at Springfield Elementary are eating the students]] and treating them like cattle to fatten and slaughter, and Marge's only proposed solution to the problem [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath is for the kids to look at the teachers straight in the eye and tell them "Don't eat me"]]. [[KillThemAll They are both killed the following day]]. [[spoiler:[[AllJustADream It turned out to be a crazy nightmare Bart was having]].]]

** In ''Anime/DigimonGhostGame'', when Gammamon first awakens to his SuperpoweredEvilSide [=GulusGammamon=] he looks to his AllLovingHero partner Hiro for the order to finish off the KnightOfCerebus, [[SerialKiller Sealsdramon]]. Hiro refuses, so [=GulusGammamon=] goes rogue and kills it himself before turning on the others [[VirtueIsWeakness over Hiro's weakness]]. Hiro and his friends are later called out for their tendency towards SuicidalPacifism by several Digimon, and learn that sometimes ViolenceReallyIsTheAnswer.

** In ''Anime/DigimonGhostGame'', when Gammamon first awakens to his SuperpoweredEvilSide [=GulusGammamon=] he looks to his AllLovingHero partner Hiro for the order to finish off the KnightOfCerebus, [[SerialKiller Sealsdramon]]. Hiro refuses, so [=GulusGammamon=] goes rogue and kills it himself before turning on the others [[VirtueIsWeakness over Hiro's weakness]].

* Henry Wong of ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' has his ardent refusal to have his partner Terriermon fight (caused by a traumatic event in their shared past where Henry's choices got Terriermon nearly fatally hurt) nearly get both of them plus Takato and Guilmon killed. And it ''still'' takes him a while to get comfortable with the idea of fighting sometimes being necessary. Episode 45 (The dub anyway) reveals that this is due to using his martial arts to hurt a neighborhood kid, it's never revealed whether it was justified or not, which scared him so much he decided that fighting at all was never good.

* In ''TheBoys2019'', NaiveNewcomer Hughie ends up being promoted to TheLeader after the Boys officially become government agents in Season 3. However, his distaste for violence leads to him and by extension the rest of the team being easily manipulated by the MoleInCharge and playing right into [[EvilInc Vought]]'s hands.

* In the ''ComicBook/{{Inhumans}} vs ComicBook/XMen'' event, Storm doesn't destroy the Terrigen Clouds or let anyone else do so because the Cloud is so vital to Inhuman culture [[note]]''not'' life[[/note]] that destroying it could trigger war between their species. In the meantime, the Clouds continue to drift around Earth, gassing every mutant in their paths to death, and even after ''months'' of research, neither side has found a cure for the afflicted. Eventually, a splinter faction of X-Men get so sick of watching fellow mutants die that they disobey Storm's orders and destroy one of the clouds. So war breaks out anyway: all Storm's diplomacy "accomplished" was to enable the meaningless slaughter of hundreds of mutants and significantly weaken her side. To add additional insult to injury, in one following issue of ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} and the Mercs for Money'', Deadpool travels to an AlternateUniverse in which a mutant managed ([[HeroicSacrifice at the cost of her life]]) to convert the Terigen Clouds back into Terigen crystals, with the Terigen in perfect condition and ready to be used by the Inhumans the way they have done for thousands of years with no muss and no fuss and hopefully no more M-Pox. So it looks like JustEatGilligan has been accomplished, right? Nope. [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished The Inhumans got so outraged over this]] that they declared war on mutantkind ''[[MortonsFork anyway]]''.

** At the end of ''To Where And Back Again'' Starlight attempts the same pacifist EasilyForgiven treatment she got from Twilight Sparkle on Queen Chrysalis. [[HeelFaceDoorSlam It's soundly rebuked]] and Chrysalis escapes, swearing to come back later for revenge (which she does).

* In early episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'' Otto tries to convince Tuddrussel throughout various missions that he'd have better luck getting historical figures to go back on the right path if he'd just show some patience, and use his words instead of violent beatings. While this worked some of the time, most of the time it backfired because some of the historical figures in question were just too stupid or stubborn for anything else but a punch to the face.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'': Simba decides not to execute Scar, because "I'm not like you," and banishes him instead. Scar uses it as an opportunity to ambush him and nearly kill him.

* An important theme in Robert Merle's novel ''The Island'', which is based on the story of the mutiny on the Bounty. British mutineers and Tahitians start a settlement on an island, but tensions quickly build up between them, because some of the British treat the Tahitians as inferior. The protagonist, Purcell doesn't allow his friends to kill the main troublemaker because of his pacifistic Christian beliefs. Eventually war breaks out, and all men on the island die, except for Purcell and a Tahitian. Purcell ends up blaming himself.

** There's also the two part episode, "Defenders of Peace", which revolves around a society of alien Lemurs who are nearly exterminated when the Separatists decide to test a new weapon on them and the refusal of the village elder to fight back even in self-defense because of his staunch pacifism.

* In ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'', with the background of [[ProudWarriorRace Mandalore's bloody past]], Duke Adonai Kryze ushered Mandalore in an age of the New Mandalorians, who follow {{Actual Pacifist}} ideology (with exceptions such as self-defense). After his death in the recent civil war that took place over ten years before the present, his eldest daughter Duchess Satine continues his ideals by having Mandalore lead the neutral side of the Clone Wars, albeit struggles to do so with pressures from the war as well as internal pressures from nationalist-extremists who are upset over their loss of culture, which causes Mandalore to be stepped on by the Republic, the Separatists, and Death Watch on numerous occasions. This conflict eventually leads to another civil war, which leads into a PowerVacuum that makes Mandalore vulnerable to Imperial rule in the intended SeriesFinale. As some viewers have pointed out, this might've been less of a problem if Satine had chosen to let Mandalorian principles continue in some way while establishing other rules that could keep the troublemakers in check, instead of doing things like exiling anyone who wants to preserve the warrior culture.

* Henry Wong of ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' has his ardent refusal to have his partner Terriermon fight (caused by a traumatic event in their shared past where Henry's choices got Terriermon nearly fatally hurt) nearly get both of them plus Takato and Guilmon killed. And it ''still'' takes him a while to get comfortable with the idea of fighting sometimes being necessary.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* In ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', Vash the Stampede will ''not'' kill his enemies... nor hurt them in any major way... and the show takes great pains to show that it's a noble calling, but possibly misguided considering the CrapsackWorld circumstances (Vash's body is a mass of scars, the sixty billion double dollar bounty (until it's removed) means that anybody with a gun and a desperate need of money (which is practically the whole planet) is out to get him, he's constantly arguing with his companions (or at least Wolfwood) about the usefulness/futility of his ThouShaltNotKill code, the QuirkyMinibossSquad and the BigBad are out to make Vash suffer by any means possible, which usually involves [[KillEmAll killing everything that moves]] [[AndYourLittleDogToo and going the extra mile with anybody that Vash so much as gave the time of the day to]], increasing in cruelty/kill count up to ApocalypseHow levels as the series goes on...)
** Perhaps the worst case of this has to be in the anime version. Vash managed to blow up a city [[NoEndorHolocaust without killing the people living in it]]. Then he's later told that [[SubvertedTrope pretty much everybody from that city died of starvation and dehydration]], as happens when you blow up a town and leave its people to fend for themselves on a barren, hostile desert planet without any supplies.
* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' and ''Anime/{{Grenadier}}''. The main character subscribes to a ThouShaltNotKill mentality backed up by impressive combat skills, and the BigBad(s) sends outrageously powerful enemies that have absolutely no problem in killing anybody that gets in the way of their fight with the main character, and actually do so in order to [[TheyWereHoldingYouBack unlock the full combat capability of the main character]] via UnstoppableRage, while gloating that the pacifism and using non-lethal attacks (which require more finesse than simply slashing/shooting someone dead) has "made them weak".

* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'':
** During the Saiyan Saga, Goku gives in to Raditz's [[VillainsWantMercy pleas for mercy]] and lets go of his tail, only for Raditz to [[ISurrenderSuckers knock him down]] and mercilessly break his ribs all while openly mocking him for falling for such a trick. When he manages to restrain Raditz again for Piccolo to finish him, Raditz tries begging for mercy again, but Goku doesn't fall for the same trick twice.
** Much later, during the Frieza Saga, despite having every reason in the world to just kill Frieza and be done with it, he spares Frieza's life not once, but twice, and both times, Frieza just keeps trying to kill him when his back is turned. Of course, to be fair, Goku's attempts to spare him were more out of CruelMercy than pacifism, and he obliterates Freeza the ''second'' [[GoodIsNotSoft he betrays his last chance]].
* ''Manga/GunsmithCats'': BountyHunter Rally Vincent doesn't like to shoot to kill unless there is absolutely no other choice, preferring to shoot to wound (which includes doing such things as ''blowing people's thumbs off'' to make them unable to handle a gun). This is a decision that has allowed a couple of [[ArcVillain Arc Villains]] to return later seeking revenge (and become even more psychotic in their tactics because of the rage at being maimed) and Rally herself implies once that explaining it to the police is a bureaucratic nightmare and has sometimes cut down on the amount of money the bounty rewards.
* Henry Wong of ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' has his ardent refusal to have his partner Terriermon fight (caused by a traumatic event in their shared past where Henry's choices got Terriermon nearly fatally hurt) nearly get both of them plus Takato and Guilmon killed. And it ''still'' takes him a while to get comfortable with the idea of fighting sometimes being necessary.

* In the ''Inhumans vs ComicBook/XMen'' event, Storm doesn't destroy the Terrigen Clouds or let anyone else do so because the Cloud is so vital to Inhuman culture [[note]]''not'' life[[/note]] that destroying it could trigger war between their species. In the meantime, the Clouds continue to drift around Earth, gassing every mutant in their paths to death, and even after ''months'' of research, neither side has found a cure for the afflicted. Eventually, a splinter faction of X-Men get so sick of watching fellow mutants die that they disobey Storm's orders and destroy one of the clouds. So war breaks out anyway: all Storm's diplomacy "accomplished" was to enable the meaningless slaughter of hundreds of mutants and significantly weaken her side. To add additional insult to injury, in one following issue of ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} and the Mercs for Money'', Deadpool travels to an AlternateUniverse in which a mutant managed ([[HeroicSacrifice at the cost of her life]]) to convert the Terigen Clouds back into Terigen crystals, with the Terigen in perfect condition and ready to be used by the Inhumans the way they have done for thousands of years with no muss and no fuss and hopefully no more M-Pox. So it looks like JustEatGilligan has been accomplished, right? Nope. [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished The Inhumans got so outraged over this]] that they declared war on mutantkind ''[[MortonsFork anyway]]''.

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW'': Sonic is willing to let an [[AmnesiacsAreInnocent amnesiac Eggman]] be free to do some good, and even reactivates Metal Sonic to offer a truce and let him go free. Both bite him in the ass when Eggman regains his memory thanks to Metal's return and goes back to his old tricks, leading directly to the [[UnwillingRoboticisation Metal]] [[ZombieApocalypse Virus]] outbreak. Both Shadow ''and'' Espio give Sonic a WhatTheHellHero at different points, holding him responsible for the disaster, and come issue 23, Sonic [[ItsAllMyFault outright kicks himself over it]], bitterly remarking that he put his faith in the idea that Eggman had a tiny bit of good in his heart, and now the entire world is paying the price.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

* This trope applies to Adrien Agreste in many ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' “salt” fics following the events of “Chameleon”, where he asks Marinette not to expose Lila’s BlatantLies of glamour and grandiose to their clueless classmates to avoid her getting akumatized. There are [[DependingOnTheWriter many different interpretations of his advice from fanfic writers]]. Some bitter fans use this ill-fated advice to write him off as a DirtyCoward who [[BetrayalByInaction blatantly ignores the harm Lila’s lies cause, even when he sees Marinette being bullied and ostracized by the class]], and often have ended their stories with him being ostracized himself, stripped of his Miraculous, put back in homeschooling to be all alone, and/or rejected by Ladybug and all his other love interests except Lila. Other writers are kinder to Adrien, remembering other details in the episode and/or series, like how Adrien is [[AbusiveParent emotionally abused by his father]] and how Marinette conveniently left out Lila’s bullying threats to her when she found out Adrien knew of her lies as well. They write him finding out just how bad Lila is, perhaps through a balcony visit to Marinette as Chat Noir, where she gives him the full story she kept from Adrien. After that, Adrien has a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment and works harder to redeem himself, working to take down Lila, or at least trying his best to.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Starfire}}'', ''Nexus'' magazine #7 article "The Drolian Conquest". After Khanate of Orion warships attacked several Drolian ships, the Drolian "peaceful expansion" lobby prevented the Drolian government from expanding its space navy. Six months later the Khanate of Orion invaded in force and quickly conquered the Drolians. During the invasion, the "peaceful expansion" lobby was lynched by other Drolians.

* Similarly in ''West Side Story's'' inspiration, ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', Mercutio is fatally stabbed when Romeo comes between him and Tybalt, trying to break up their fight because he wants to make peace with the Capulets because of his love for Juliet. Romeo's guilt over this directly or indirectly causes every single other death in the play.

* This is how Alan "Spam" Webster's mercenary career with A.I.M. ended in the ''VideoGame/JaggedAlliance'' series. Coming from the UN peacekeeping forces background, his MO was to negotiate enemy surrender first and only shoot if that fails. One of such failures led to the death of fellow A.I.M. member Johnny "Snake" Edwards, leading to Spam's dishonorable discharge.
* ''VideoGame/MegaMan7''. Perhaps justified in that he's still a ThreeLawsCompliant robot, but still, in the end of the game, when Mega Man finally has Wily at his mercy, he points his Mega Buster at him and charges it, but he hesitates long enough for Bass to take Wily out of his castle. And of course, it leads to Wily being the BigBad for the games after it.

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' shows us that Bane caused Joker to fall down a skyscraper, only to be rescued by Batman. Just minutes later, he turns his own gun to his head and taunts Batman, only to be taken down and arrested. Had Batman allowed Joker to die in either of these moments, so many lives would have been spared, such as over 100 employees of [[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum Arkham Asylum]] and [[MyGreatestFailure Jason Todd]]. On a more personal note, this moment caused the Joker (who until now had just been interested in causing mayhem and chaos ''in general'') to develop an obsession with the man who saved his life after he'd done nothing but hurt people. All of the twisted, ''personal'' interest The Joker had for Batman came from this rescue.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'''s Genocide Route, Papyrus will attempt to get the VillainProtagonist to change using this trope, saying that they can become a better person if they just try. A battle with Papyrus starts in which Papyrus [[ZeroEffortBoss won't even attack the protagonist]], allowing him to be spared instantly. If the player attacks, it's a OneHitKO. Though in a {{Subver|tedTrope}}sion of this trope, a lot of players attempting Genocide runs report stopping the genocide when made to mercilessly kill such a harmless, innocent NiceGuy like Papyrus. In a way, Papyrus was more effective at stopping the player's rampage than [[ThatOneBoss Undyne or]] [[spoiler:[[ThatOneBoss Sans the skeleton]]]].
* In ''VideoGame/{{Miitopia}}'', heroes with a Kind personality will sometimes attempt to persuade an enemy to leave the fight peacefully. Sometimes, this backfires by getting the hero attacked--since his or her guard is down, that strengthens the attack. It also results in annoyance from one of the other team members, and if it happens too often, it will cause them to dislike each other.
* In ''VideoGame/PathfinderKingmaker'', some enemies, if you take the pacifist route and spare them, can be encountered later. Several of them have reformed, though some of them have not. In one particular instance, [[spoiler:Ekun can be convinced to spare the children of [[CrusadingWidower a troll who killed his wife and family]]. If you do, the trolls will show up later, having joined Irovetti's army and killed more people in the process. Ekun will sourly note that he was right all along as you put them down.]]
* ''Videogame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' shows that Ezio sparing Rodrigo Borgia (primarily due to to the fact that [[PlotArmor the real Alexander VI didn't die that year]]) at the end of ''Videogame/AssassinsCreedII'' backfires horribly since the Borgia and the Templars are still in power and the game starts off with the other Borgias besieging his town and killing his uncle. As such, he not only vows to actually finish the job this time but the game is centered around pushing the Borgias out of power. This is actually a subversion to some extent, however, as Rodrigo actually wanted nothing more to do with the Assassins, but Cesare was much more aggressive.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', it was eventually shown that the good Avatar Roku and world-conquering Fire Lord Sozin had been best friends. Roku's spirit tells Aang that he was too easy on his friend when he discovered his ambitions and that his aversion to violence in the matter allowed for 100 years of war to reign. Made even worse because Roku had previously smashed into Sozin's castle and threatened to kill him if he continued his imperialist ambitions, but couldn't go through with it when Sozin did it anyway.

* This pops up, surprisingly enough, a couple of times in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** In ''One Bad Apple'' the Cutie Mark Crusaders attempt this to deal with the bully Babs Seed, but she's just so hell-bent on spending every waking moment bullying them that it doesn't work. They decide ViolenceReallyIsTheAnswer and that they're going to bait her into stealing a rigged parade float that will crash in the mud, and eventually learn they [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot should have just gone to an adult for help instead]].
** At the end of ''To Where And Back Again'' Starlight attempts the same pacifist EasilyForgiven treatment she got from Twilight Sparkle on Queen Chrysalis. [[HeelFaceDoorSlam It's soundly rebuked]] and Chrysalis escapes, swearing to come back later for revenge (which she does).
** In ''To Change A Changeling'', Thorax as the new king of the changelings tries to invert their formerly antagonistic ways and live in peace but ends up taking it to ExtremeDoormat levels. Under normal circumstances, it likely would have worked, but it's not a very hot plan when there's a [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever gigantic apex predator actively hunting you]]. This along with Starlight's blundering would have led to the thing destroying their hive have had his brother [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Pharynx]], the only changeling who [[BlackShirt preferred their old ways]], been keen on using force instead and inadvertently inspires the entire hive to rise up and attack. In the end, they meet somewhere in the middle, with Pharynx learning to [[TookALevelInKindness lighten up a little]] while everyone else [[TookALevelInBadAss learns they have to stand up and fight sometimes]].

A character insists on not exacting violence.... and he or she ends up causing more violence in the long run than was at first avoided.

** In the end of ''To Where And Back Again'' Starlight attempts the same pacifist EasilyForgiven treatment she got from Twilight Sparkle on Queen Chrysalis. [[HeelFaceDoorSlam It's soundly rebuked]] and Chrysalis escapes, swearing to come back later for revenge (which she does).

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Harry refuses to allow Peter Pettigrew to be killed, resulting in the return of Lord Voldemort. Downplayed because it is actually an act of CruelMercy and he expects Pettigrew to be put into [[HellholePrison Azkaban]] instead - plus, he needs him alive to prove his godfather is innocent of the crimes he is accused of. Although Harry's mercy does get rewarded later, when Pettigrew remembers it and hesitates to attack Harry, giving Harry a crucial chance to escape.

* This trope applies to Adrien Agreste in many ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' “salt” fics following the events of “Chameleon”, where he asks Marinette not to expose Lila’s BlatantLies of glamour and grandiose to their clueless classmates to avoid her getting akumatized. There are many different interpretations of his advice from fanfic writers. Some bitter fans use this ill-fated advice to write him off as a DirtyCoward who blatantly ignores the harm Lila’s lies cause, even when he sees Marinette being bullied and ostracized by the class and often have ended their stories with him being ostracized himself, stripped of his Miraculous, put back in homeschooling to be all alone, and/or rejected by Ladybug and all his other love interests except Lila. Other writers are kinder to Adrien, remembering other details in the episode and/or series, like how Adrien is emotionally abused by his father and how Marinette conveniently left out Lila’s bullying threats to her when she found out Adrien knew of her lies as well. They write him finding out just how bad Lila is, perhaps through a balcony visit to Marinette as Chat Noir, where she gives him the full story she kept from Adrien. After that, Adrien has a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment and works harder to redeem himself, working to take down Lila, or at least trying his best to.