History Main / SparingTheAces

-> Mitth'raw'nuruodo, brilliant tactician. Equally brilliant strategist. A being who could take on Republic warships, nomadic pirates, and even Jedi, and win against them all. And Doriana was actually considering killing him?\\

* ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod''
** Ultimately subverted when [[SecretPolice Ren]] admires Bam's incredible talent and would love to recruit him into the Royal Enforcement Division, but decides to still kill him.
--->'''Ren:''' It's really a shame...but I can't let an Irregular live.
** Played straight when Love, despite his desire to enact his revenge on the organization Viole belongs to, decides to spare him out of curiosity where his immense talent will take him, under the condition that Viole renounces his affiliations with FUG.

* ''Manga/DragonBall''
** Happens at the climax of the Saiyan Saga: After pushing Goku to use Kaio-ken x3, blasted into the stratosphere by Kaio-ken x4-charged [[KamehameHadoken Kamehameha]], having his tail chopped off, hit with the [[CombinedEnergyAttack Spirit Bomb]], having his back cut and crushed by a Giant Ape Gohan falling on him; Vegeta still had enough strength to crawl back to his space pod. While briefly impressed [[WhyWontYouDie with his sheer resilience]], Krillin decides to kill him with Yajirobe's sword to finally end the Saiyan threat. But Goku calls out to Krillin to ask for Vegeta's life to be spared, since he admired his incredible strength, and thought it'd be a waste to deprive the universe of such a strong warrior. While not convinced he'd [[HeelFaceTurn turn like Piccolo]][[note]]Though he eventually did[[/note]], Goku wished to have the opportunity to fight him once again, and Krillin accepts Goku's request.
** Frieza, despite being a paranoid racist, did this to fighters he found especially strong and talented. It was the primary reason why he spared Vegeta when he destroyed the Saiyans' home planet. He offered Goku the chance to serve him, saying that it would be a waste to destroy such talent, and was quite upset when he got turned down. He also lamented what a shame it was to kill Nail when he saw how powerful he was.
** In the film ''Anime/DragonBallZBattleOfGods'', Lord Beerus turns this on Goku. [[spoiler:Though Goku failed to defeat him, he spares him because he put up a good fight, and spares Earth itself for producing such a fine warrior.]]
** In ''Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF'', instead of killing Frieza after he exhausted his golden form, Goku tells Frieza to leave and come back to challenge him again once he had mastered his new form, since he was so impressed that Frieza managed to become so powerful in such a short amount of time. [[spoiler:Unlike Vegeta, this comes back to royally bite Goku in the ass. He's shot in the heart by a sneak attack by one of Frieza's minions and the Earth is destroyed after Frieza loses to Vegeta. Goku laments that he should have killed Frieza instead of offering him mercy again]].
* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', it's been revealed that [[spoiler:Kenpachi]] subconsciously does this. [[spoiler:He enjoys a good fight so much that he holds the majority of his power back from fear that he will kill anyone talented enough to challenge him.]]
* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' flashbacks, it's shown that before Hanzo became paranoid and power-hungry, he used to spare the lives of enemies strong-willed enough to put up a good fight against him. Notable examples were Konaha's Legendary Sanin (Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru, who were given that title by Hanzo himself because they impressed him by holding their own despite their youth) and the [[SamuraiInNinjaTown samurai]] Mifune. [[spoiler:This somewhat comes back to bite him when he fights Mifune again decades later. While Hanzo had stagnated after his descent into paranoia, Mifune had grown in skill and surpassed him. But Hanzo is actually fine with this, because (1) he'd been revived as an [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Edo Tensei zombie]] and was less than thrilled with the situation and (2) fighting Mifune again reawakened his [[BloodKnight love of a challenging battle]] one last time.]]

* {{Creator/Marvel}} at one point introduced a character known as "The Champion of the Universe", who fought and defeated nearly every warrior on Earth in a boxing match (after disqualifying heavy hitters like Thor, Hulk, and Namor for various reasons), threatening to destroy the planet if it couldn't produce a WorthyOpponent. However, he was ultimately so impressed with the determination of [[ComicBook/FantasticFour The Thing]] (who didn't even come close to winning, but ''refused to stay down'' and kept coming back for more) that he spared the planet out of respect.

* ''Fanfic/FateLongNight'': After Shirou manages to evade her several times, Nymeria is impressed by his skill and determination and comments it would be a waste to kill him, so she tries to convince him to come with her and become her Master's apprentice. He refuses, not wanting to join someone willing to kill innocent bystanders. Nymeria then decides to take him by force before Arturia is summoned to stop her.

* In ''Film/ThePrincessBride'', The masked man spares Inigo Montoya after expressing admiration for Inigo's swordsmanship.
-->'''Inigo:''' ...Kill me quickly.
-->'''Man in Black:''' I would as soon destroy a stained-glass window as an artist like yourself. However, since I can't have you following me... ''[[TapOnTheHead *conk!*]]'' Please understand [[WorthyOpponent I hold you in the highest respect]].

* ''Literature/ThePrincessBride'': The Man in Black declines to kill his WorthyOpponent Inigo Montoya because Inigo is an extremely gifted swordsman who has made swordfighting his life's study in order to be able to one day get revenge on the man who [[YouKilledMyFather killed his father]]. Not only that, but Inigo had plenty of chances to easily kill the Man in Black, but chose not to, out of a sense of honor. The moment is portrayed faithfully [[Film/ThePrincessBride in the film as well]].
-->'''The Man in Black:''' I would as soon destroy a stained glass window as an artist like yourself. However, since I can't have you following me either... ''[{{tap on the head}}]''

'''Doriana:''' ''[puts blaster down]'' Don't be absurd, Vicelord. [[Film/ThePrincessBride I would sooner shatter a thousand-year-old crystal as kill a being such as this]].\\

* TheAce of ''Literature/LabyrinthsOfEcho'' series by Max Frei was convinced that the life of people who show a talent for the magic using forces of the Universe -- as opposed to forces of the world, which anyone can in a magical enough place -- is "almost sacred". Which is why he devised a complicated trap to capture the BigBad instead of killing him. That's the man who slaughtered so much powerful mages that he became [[TheDreaded the most feared and hated being]] for the magical Orders in the middle of a civil war despite pretending he's no one's enemy and kills [[ProfessionalKiller just for money]] (they still hired him, of course).
* In ''Literature/MemorySorrowAndThorn'', this is part of the reason why Prester John spares Camaris. Camaris was widely considered to be the greatest knight who ever lived, with John being the only one who had a chance of holding his own against him in battle.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'''s Havelock Vetinari can be ruthlessly pragmatic at times, so this is probably why he keeps [[OmnidisciplinaryScientist Leonard of Quirm]] in a LuxuryPrisonSuite instead of having him executed. Leonard is a genius capable of drawing the blueprints for devices that would deliver explosive payloads to the other side of the Disc, and naive enough to think that no person would be cruel enough to use them on other people. Still, some of the other things he doodles can be benign and/or useful, and sometimes Vetinari needs someone utterly guileless to talk to.
* ''Literature/{{Oathbringer}}'' (third book of ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive''): In the flashbacks, an enemy assassin snipes at Dalinar from nearly four hundred yards away--an impossible distance for a bow. Once Dalinar runs the man down and captures him, he immediately recruits him, not even bothering to wait for him to surrender first.
* In the world of ''Literature/TheDemolishedMan'', society as a whole thinks this way in a downplayed way about people such as clever murderers -- they're such intelligent individuals they can't be wasted. They will, however, be demolished, which basically means being reset to a BlankSlate.

** Played with in "Asylum of the Daleks". The Daleks have an entire planet for Daleks they deem too insane or out-of-control to be of any use. When asked why they don't destroy these mad Daleks, as they tend to do to anything they feel has [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived its usefulness]]:

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' has Charlie, [[spoiler:who is spared from being copied by a Leviathan because Rick claims that she has a spark that cannot be perfectly mimicked.]]

* In ''Series/Daredevil2015'' season two, [[ComicBook/TheKingpin Wilson Fisk]] tries to have [[ComicBook/ThePunisher Frank Castle]] killed when they wind up in the same prison. When Frank survives this attempt, Fisk is so impressed by his abilities that he revises his whole plan.
-->'''Fisk:''' I assumed that the stories that I read in the paper about your attacks on the criminal world were apocryphal. How could [[OneManArmy one man]] be capable of such... violence? But then I saw it... with my own two eyes. And when one comes across someone with such talent -- with such a ''gift'' -- well, you don't let that go to waste.

* In TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}, the [[DemonLordsAndArchDevils kyton demagogues]] Inkariax and Morrobahn take this to two different unsettling extremes. Inkariax despises how the passage of time, even a single instance, can spoil perfection and so seeks to capture victims forever in their moment of perfection, whether that be the perfect swing of the sword, the perfect note, or the perfect pain. Morrobahn seeks to preserve perfection in a different way, collecting perfect artists, reproducers, killers, and more, and propagate them like a virus through the multiverse so that no single disaster can ruin perfection, but with lethal consequences if its subjects lapse in its exacting standards.

--> ''I truly value you. To the gardener, you are a means to an end. To me, you are majestic. Majestic. You are full of the only thing worth anything at all.''

* One ''Dial M for Monkey'' segment of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' homaged the above-mentioned ''Marvel'' comics example. An alien called "Wrasslor" (voiced by Macho Man Wrestling/RandySavage no less) challenged Earth's heroes to battle for the fate of Earth, only sparring it when he was impressed by Monkey's refusal to stand down to him.

* In ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice,'' the League of Shadows is trying to kill Serling Roquette so that she can't create a virus against their [[GreyGoo new weapon]] ([[ReluctantMadScientist which they had previously forced her to invent]]). Cheshire manages to catch her just as she receives word that the weapon has already failed; she lets her go, since killing her won't achieve anything and League policy is to spare anyone who might prove useful later.

Frequently, the "genius" in question becomes a MoralityPet. A subtrope of YouWillBeSpared. Compare CantKillYouStillNeedYou, where the sparer in question has a ''specific'' use for life of a person (and will probably kill them when they don't need them anymore), and WorthyOpponent, a frequent reason behind it.

** Happens at the climax of the Saiyan Saga: After pushing Goku to use Kaio-ken x3, blasted into the stratosphere by by Kaio-ken x4-charged [[KamehameHadoken Kamehameha]], having his tail chopped off, hit with the [[CombinedEnergyAttack Spirit Bomb]], having his back cut and crushed by a Giant Ape Gohan falling on him; Vegeta still had enough strength to crawl back to his space pod. While briefly impressed [[WhyWontYouDie with his sheer resilience]], Krillin decides to kill him with Yajirobe's sword to finally end the Saiyan threat. But Goku calls out to Krillin to ask for Vegeta's life to be spared, since he admired his incredible strength, and thought it'd be a waste to deprive the universe of such a strong warrior. While not convinced he'd [[HeelFaceTurn turn like Piccolo]][[note]]Though he eventually did[[/note]], Goku wished to have the opportunity to fight him once again, and Krillin accepts Goku's request.

* ''LightNovel/LordMarksmanAndVanadis'': This is the reason why Eleonora takes Tigre prisoner instead of executing him; Tigre is a supremely skilled archer and killing him would waste his talent. The fact that they eventually fall in love is a bonus.

* {{Creator/Marvel}} at one point introduced a character known as "The Champion of the Universe", who fought and defeated nearly every warrior on Earth, threatening to destroy the planet if it couldn't produce a WorthyOpponent. However, he was ultimately so impressed with the determination of [[ComicBook/FantasticFour The Thing]] that he spared the planet out of respect.

* Joseph Joestar convinces Wham to spare him with a variation of this sort of argument in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency''. Realizing that Wham's a ProudWarriorRaceGuy who wishes to fight a WorthyOpponent, he suggests that maybe it'd be worth sparing the one guy who has a chance of becoming that.

* According to legend, when the Roman proconsul Marcellus captured Syracuse during the Second Punic War, he specifically ordered that the Greek mathematician Archimedes not be harmed despite Archimedes having helped defend the city, but the soldier who found Archimedes ended up killing him despite the order.

** Frieza, despite being a paranoid racist, did this to fighters he found especially strong and talented. It was the primary reason why he spared Vegeta when he destroyed the Saiyan's home planet. He offered Goku to come into his service, saying that it would be a waste to destroy such talent and was quite upset when he got turned down. He also lamented what a shame it was to kill Nail when he saw how powerful he was.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Paperclip Operation Paperclip]] was a secret mission by OSS (CIA's predecessor) to extract German rocket scientists and medical doctors after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII to the US, regardless of their past affiliations with the Nazi party or even war crimes. Similarly, many Japanese military doctors from Unit 731, Imperial Japan's bioweapon research program, were given secret immunity from prosecution for war crimes over their actions in exchange for turning their research over to the US.

* The Greek mathematician Archimedes was supposedly killed by a Roman soldier despite orders that he not be harmed.

-->'''Inigo:''' "...Kill me quickly."
-->'''Man in Black:''' "I would as soon destroy a stained-glass window as an artist like yourself. However, since I can't have you following me..." ''[[TapOnTheHead *conk!*]]'' "Please understand [[WorthyOpponent I hold you in the highest respect]]."

-->'''Man in Black:''' "I would as soon destroy a stained-glass window as an artist like yourself. However, since I can't have you following me..." ''[[TapOnTheHead *conk!*]]''

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Paperclip Operation Paperclip]] was a secret mission by OSS (CIA's predecessor) to extract German rocket scientists and medical doctors after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII to the US, regardless of their past affiliations with the Nazi party or even war crimes.

** This is also stated to be the reason Bill hasn't been disbanded even though his predilections cause real problems at home and are even a minor international embarrassment. As a caster he's simply too useful.

Frequently, the "genius" in question becomes a MoralityPet. A subtrope of YouWillBeSpared. Compare CantKillYouStillNeedYou, where the sparer in question has a ''specific'' use for life of a person (and will probably kill them when they don't need them anymore).

* In ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', the titular samurai is at one point faced against the [[OutsideContextProblem Outside-Context]] AntiVillain The Guardian. In spite putting up a fight, The Guardian defeats Jack and very nearly kills him, but spares him when he realizes it will one day be Jack's destiny to defeat him.