History Main / SparedButNotForgiven

This trope can appear in the works from both ends on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, as it can be used to emphasize either the noble nature of the hero or the abhorrent nature of the villain's crimes. Such a decision will almost always be portrayed in a positive light, the only exception being the works that give forgiveness a strong moral significance. Compare CruelMercy, where someone is spared or aided because what they'll survive to suffer is far worse than any direct revenge.

* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': in the pacifist ending [[spoiler:toriel will come to stop you from fighting asgore , saying even he deserves mercy , but doesn’t forgive him for killing 6 children and refuses to be friends]]

* Even though Megatron abandoned the Decepticon cause to become an Autobot in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersDarkCybertron'' and manages to make a good enough case to at least delay his execution, no one was prepared to forgive him for millions of years of war and genocide, [[IHatePastMe least of all himself]]. [[spoiler:Ultimately subverted as when he returns to Cybertron after the Lost Light's quest to find the Knights of Cybertron ends he is retried, found guilty, and either executed or imprisoned for life]]

* In ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'', Carrie spares [[spoiler:Sue]] after learning that [[spoiler:she]] had no part in the prank, but she still doesn't forgive [[spoiler:her]], although it's admittedly only minutes before Carrie herself dies.

* ''Literature/EgilsSaga'': Sailing from Iceland to England, Egil and his crew are shipwrecked off Northumbria and thus fall into the power of Egil's old enemy Eirik Bloodaxe, who unbeknownst to Egil now rules as King of York. As Egil has committed numerous severe offences against King Eirik, including but not limited to the killing of Eirik's son, Eirik wants to have Egil executed at once. However, his advisor Arinbjorn, who is also a friend of Egil, persuades Eirik to grant Egil a single night so Egil can compose a praise-poem in honor of Eirik. After Egil has recited the poem the next day, Eirik lets Egil go alive as his reward for the poem but makes clear that there is no reconciliation and that if Egil should ever fall into Eirik's hands again, he will certainly die.
* ''LightNovel/AnotherWorldReincarnation'' Kain is [[TheUnapologetic completely unrepentant]], [[EntitledBastard entitled]], and [[TheyJustDontGetIt has great difficulty understanding]] why Ren utterly hates him for his abuse, she utterly refuses to forgive him, no matter how he apologizes, but rather than give him the grief she believes he deserves, because she simply finds it too troublesome, she gives him indifference. She's not going to go after him, but she's not helping him either. If he does benefit from her actions, it's entirely unintentional.

* ''VideoGame/Undertale'': in the pacifist ending [[spoiler:toriel will come to stop you from fighting asgore , saying even he deserves mercy , but doesn’t forgive him for killing 6 children and refuses to be friends]]

* ''VideoGame/Undertale '': in the pacifist ending [[spoiler:toriel will come to stop you from fighting asgore , saying even he deserves mercy , but doesn’t forgive him for killing 6 children and refuses to be friends]]

* ’’VideoGame/Undertale’’: in the pacifist ending [[spoiler:toriel will come to stop you from fighting asgore , saying even he deserves mercy , but doesn’t forgive him for killing 6 children and refuses to be friends]]

Different stories have different takes on {{Forgiveness}}. In some works, forgiving wrongdoers is always a good thing and VengeanceFeelsEmpty is in full effect, while in others, {{revenge}} will not only be [[PayEvilUntoEvil justified]], but also necessary for emotional closure. There is also some grey area, as evidenced by tropes such as RestrainedRevenge, ReformedButNotTamed or ForgivenButNotForgotten.

* ''Literature/EgilsSaga'': On his last voyage from Iceland, Egil and his crew are shipwrecked off Northumbria and thus fall into the power of Egil's old enemy Eirik Bloodaxe, who unbeknownst to Egil now rules as King of York. As Egil has committed numerous severe offences against King Eirik, including but not limited to the killing of Eirik's son, Eirik wants to have Egil executed at once. However, his advisor Arinbjorn, who is also a friend of Egil, persuades Eirik to grant Egil a single night so Egil can compose a praise-poem in honor of Eirik. After Egil has recited the poem the next day, Eirik lets Egil go alive as his reward for the poem but makes clear that there is no reconciliation and that if Egil should ever fall into Eirik's hands again, he will certainly die.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'', Literature/HarryPotter persuades his deceased parents' friends not to kill TheMole who sold out said parents to [[BigBad Voldemort]]. The argument is that Harry's parents wouldn't have wanted their friends to stoop to murder just to get {{revenge}} on such a pathetic backstabber, and that turning the traitor over to the authorities so they can send him to [[HellholePrison Azkaban]] is a [[CruelMercy better punishment anyway]]. [[spoiler:This bites them in the ass after the traitor escapes and heads off to join Voldemort. And then it ultimately comes back to ''help'' them when the traitor is unable to kill Harry later because of the life debt he now owes him for sparing his life.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout4}}'', Elder Maxon will, with a little bit of persuading, spare [[spoiler:Danse]], but he makes it clear that the offending character will be recorded as a traitor who was officially executed by the player character, and should his path ever again cross that of the Brotherhood there will be no mercy.

* In ''VideoGame/Persona5'', the Phantom Thieves are able to look past their well-deserved grudge against the traitor for [[spoiler:framing them Kunikazu's murder]] in order to work together to take down the mastermind behind the conspiracy. However, they also make it clear that while they understand why the traitor did it, they do not forgive any of the traitor's actions.

* This is the point of the song ''Not one of us'' in ''Disney/TheLionKingIISimbasPride''.

* In ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'', Shang refrains from executing Mulan to repay her for saving his life, but he is still resentful over her pretending to be a man to join the army. He doesn't get over himself until she persuades the other soldiers to follow her in rescuing the Emperor.

** In Goku's case, this would come many years later in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper''. Beerus and Whis warn him many times that being too leniant on his opponents is his biggest weakness, which Goku continuously brushes off due to his desire to fight stronger opponents. When SSGSS Vegeta battles Golden Frieza, and regresses him back to his original form, Frieza is again at his lowest, but refuses to lose again, [[spoiler:and instead blows up Earth, killing everyone except for a small handful of people whom Whis was protecting]]. Understanding what Beerus and Whis have been telling him, Goku finally lets go of his desire for once, and [[spoiler:after Whis rewinds time temporarily]], goes through with the deed of killing Frieza, with no mercy.

* Subverted with Gollum in ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings The Two Towers]]'': Frodo has a chance to kill him, fully aware of all of the evils he's done, and even once remarked to Gandalf that Gollum deserved death. However upon finally seeing Gollum himself, he takes pity on him and spares his life. The subversion is that Frodo largely forgives Gollum's misdeeds to that point after his HeelFaceTurn. However it's ''Sam'' who doesn't. Ironically, Sam's continuing suspicion and refusal to forgive is part of what plays a role in the end of Gollum's reformation by the time they reach Shelob's Lair.
* In ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'', Szeth is an assassin responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people and the destabilization of many kingdoms and triggering a massive civil war. He accepts all responsibility for the deaths he has inflicted and refuses to forgive himself, because he is "Truthless" - a form of criminal who is enslaved to the service of others and force to obey their commands. At the end of ''Literature/WordsOfRadiance,'' he learns that the crimes he was accused of are false and thus he isn't Truthless, and lets himself be killed. However, he is resurrected before his death can be permanent, and continues blaming himself for the deaths he has inflicted, and when he [[BigDamnHeroes shows up to save the day]] at the end of the ''Literature/{{Oathbringer}}'', the characters who he had previously fought against accept his help but refuse to forgive him for his previous killings.
* ''Literature/EgilsSaga'': On his last voyage from Iceland, Egil and his crew are shipwrecked off Northumbria and thus fall into the power of Egil's old enemy Eirik Bloodaxe, who unbeknownst to Egil now rules as King of York. As Egil has committed numerous severe offences against King Eirik, including but not limited to the killing of Eirik's son, Eirik wants to have Egil executed at once. However his advisor Arinbjorn, who is also a friend of Egil, persuades Eirik to grant Egil a single night so Egil can compose a praise-poem in honor of Eirik. After Egil has recited the poem the next day, Eirik lets Egil go alive as his reward for the poem, but makes clear that there is no reconciliation and that if Egil should ever fall into Eirik's hands again, he will certainly die.

Different stories have different takes on {{Forgiveness}}. In some works, forgiving wrongdoers is always a good thing and VengeanceFeelsEmpty is in full effect, while in others revenge will not only be [[PayEvilUntoEvil justified]], but also necessary for emotional closure. There is also some grey area, as evidenced by tropes such as RestrainedRevenge, ReformedButNotTamed or ForgivenButNotForgotten.

* In ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'', Szeth is an assassin responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people and the destabilization of many kingdoms and triggering a massive civil war. He accepts all responsibility for the deaths he has inflicted and refuses to forgive himself, because he is "Truthless" - a form of criminal who is enslaved to the service of others and force to obey their commands. At the end of ''Literature/WordsOfRadiance,'' he learns that the crimes he was accused of are false and thus he isn't Truthless, and lets himself be killed. However, he is resurrected before his death can be permanent, and continues blaming himself for the deaths he has inflicted, and when he [[BigDamnHeroes shows up to save the day]] at the end of the ''Literature/{{Oathbringer}}'', the characters who he had previously fought against accept his help but refuse to forgive him for his previous crimes.

* Even though Megatron abandoned the Decepticon cause and became an Autobot in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersDarkCybertron'' and manages to make a good enough case to at least delay execution, no one was prepared to forgive him for millions of years of war and genocide, [[IHatePastMe least of all himself]]. [[spoiler:Ultimately subverted as when he returns to Cybertron after the Lost Light's quest to find the Knights of Cybertron ends he is retried, found guilty, and either executed or imprisoned for life]]

* Even though Megatron abandoned the Decepticon cause and became an Autobot in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersDarkCybertron'' and manages to make a good enough case to at least delay execution, no one was prepared to forgive him for millions of years of war and genocide, [[IHatePastMe least of all himself]]. Ultimately [[Subvertedtrope subverted]] [[spoiler:as when he returns to Cybertron after the Lost Light's quest to find the Knights of Cybertron ends he is retried, found guilty, and either executed or imprisoned for life]]

* Even though Megatron abandoned the Decepticon cause and became an Autobot in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersDarkCybertron'' and manages to make a good enough case to at least delay execution, no one was prepared to forgive him for millions of years of war and genocide, [[IHatePastMe least of all himself]]. Ultimately [[Main/Subvertedtrope subverted]][[spoiler:as when he returns to Cybertron after the Lost Light's quest to find the Knights of Cybertron ends he is retried, found guilty, and either executed or imprisoned for life]]

* Even though Megatron abandoned the Decepticon cause and became an Autobot in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersDarkCybertron'' and manages to make a good enough case to at least delay execution, no one was prepared to forgive him for millions of years of war and genocide, [[IHatePastMe least of all himself]]. [[spoiler:Ultimately [[Main/Subvertedtrope subverted]][[as when he returns to Cybertron after the Lost Light's quest to find the Knights of Cybertron ends he is retried, found guilty, and either executed or imprisoned for life]]

* Even though Megatron abandoned the Decepticon cause and became an Autobot in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersDarkCybertron'' and manages to make a good enough case to at least delay execution, no one was prepared to forgive him for millions of years of war and genocide, [[IHatePastMe least of all himself]]. [[spoiler:Ultimately [[Main/Subvertedtrope subverted]][[ as when he returns to Cybertron after the Lost Light's quest to find the Knights of Cybertron ends he is retried, found guilty, and either executed or imprisoned for life]]