History Main / StakingTheLovedOne

** [[AvertedTrope Also averted]] by the non-turned members or the Justice League, like Superman, who are under the (false) assumption that Batman is a vampire. Their only interest is to contain Batman and find a cure.

* Becomes a recurring theme in the ''[[ComicBook/DcVsVampires Dc Vs Vampires]]'' [[ComicBook/DCVsVampiresWorldWarV series]], due to the question whether the titualr superheroes, many of them having [[ThouShallNotKill vowed to never take a life]], are willing, capable or succesful in doing so, depending on the character and moment. Some of the less spoilery examples:

** The reverse happens with Green Arrow, who at first fails to kill a friend when Batman tells him to do so, pretending he's missed his shot. He changes his mind later and succesfully stakes him, after seeing how far gone he is.

* Becomes a recurring theme in the ''[[ComicBook/DcVsVampires Dc Vs Vampires]]'' [[ComicBook/DCVsVampiresWorldWarV series]], due to the question whether the titualr superheroes, many of them having [[ThouShallNotKill vowed to never take a life]], are willing, capable or succesful in doing so, depending on the character and moment. SOme of the less spoilery examples:

* Becomes a recurring theme in the [[ComicBook/DcVsVampires Dc Vs Vampires]] [[ComicBook/DCVsVampireWorldWarV series]], due to the question whether the titualr superheroes, many of them having [[ThouShallNotKill vowed to never take a life]], are willing, capable or succesful in doing so, depending on the character and moment:

* In the ''Literature/SherlockHolmes Classified Dossier'' by Christian Klaver, [[spoiler:Watson and his wife each become vampires due to the manipulations of the now-vampire Moriarty. While Watson is able to hold on to his true character and remains Holmes’s ally, Mary succumbs to her darker nature, culminating in Watson being forced to kill her by striking her with an oil-lamp]].

* Best known example from Bram Stoker's ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' when Helsing shows the men first hand of Lucy's undead form after she "dies" and seeing she's more monster than human. Although he notes that he ''is'' willing to deal the final blow himself, he offers her fiancé Arthur the chance to do so instead, rationalizing that if Lucy were able to, she would have wanted Arthur to do it as well. All three suitors agree, and Arthur thanks Van Helsing for the chance.

* Defied in ''ComicBook/XMen'', where the team flat out rejected this as an option after [[ComicBook/JubileeMarvelComics Jubilee]] was turned, although Blade tried to convince them there wasn't any other. She handled herself okay until she was eventually cured.

* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' provides the page image: In Zoey's backstory, her father was bitten by [[NotUsingTheZWord the Infected]] and asked her to shoot him before he turned. A few weeks later, she found out that she was [[TheImmune immune to the infection]]... [[SenselessSacrifice which means that he probably was too]].

* Best known example from Bram Stoker's ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' when Helsing shows the men first hand of Lucy's undead form after she "dies" and seeing she's more monster than human. He forces her fiancee Arthur to do it claiming a loved one should set her soul free.

* The ''Series/{{Heroes}}''/''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' crossover "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12045706/1/Dark-Days Dark Days]]" features a low-key version of this when [[spoiler:the Haitian is revealed to have been turned into a vampire as part of Victoria and Adam’s plans. While Elle wasn’t a close friend of his, she was at least a professional acquaintance, and accepts the Haitian’s request that she kill him after Adam and Victoria have been dealt with as he doesn’t want to exist like that]].

* ''LightNovel/FateZero'' shows us the consequences of ''not'' doing it: after drinking a potion that transformed her in a vampire, Kiritsugu's childhood friend [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom Shirley]] begged Kiritsugu to kill her while she was still capable of resisting her instincts, but when Kiritsugu couldn't go through it (opting instead to ask the local priest for counsel) she caused a [[ZombieApocalypse vampire outbreak]] [[DoomedHometown that claimed everyone on the island but Kiritsugu and his father]]. The experience, including the Church and the Mage Association killing all the vampires and burning down the place and having to kill his own father for experimenting on vampirism, was Kiritsugu's CynicismCatalyst: since then Kiritsugu never hesitated to pull the trigger whenever necessary, and when he got to choose between shooting down a plane with [[ParentalSubstitute his mother surrogate]] and a horde of ghouls on it and risking it to cause another vampire outbreak he immediately shot down the plane.

* ''Series/{{Being Human|UK}}'':

* Krista in ''Series/{{Blade}}'' does it to [[spoiler:her mother]] after her plan to turn [[spoiler:her]] into a vampire goes awry.

** The second season episode "Heart" forced Sam to do this for GirlOfTheWeek Madison, who had become a werewolf.

-->'''Bobby:''' She was the love of my life. [[TearJerker How many times do I have to kill her?]]

* Many times on ''Series/TheWalkingDead'', given the fact that it's a show about the zombie apocalypse. A few notable examples:

* [[TearJerker The most heart wrenching decision]] you'll have to make in ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' [[spoiler:comes at the end where Lee is about to succumb to the infection that will turn him into a zombie, and the player must decide whether to have Clementine shoot him or simply run and leave him. It seems like a pretty clear-cut choice, and it would be for most, but given the hell that poor Clementine has been through for most of the game, having to shoot the man who's faithfully protected her through it all must seem like murder. Whether she does it or not is up to the player, but either way, its hard to watch. This situation comes up more than once a season, with the drama therein played to the hilt every time]].

[[folder:Web Comics]]

** Even worse when Aya meets [[spoiler:[[GreaterScopeVillain the original Eve]], who had been using [[TheHeavy the one that had caused the events of the game]] as a puppet controlled via a donated organ containing the mitochondria that took over and mutated the host. This monster resides in [[LongLostRelative Aya's sister, Maya,]] who [[PoweredByAForsakenChild hasn't aged a day since they were separated]]. To [[KickTheDog twist the knife]], the parasite lets Maya "chat" with her sister for a moment. The little girl clearly has no idea where she is or what she's been used for, not even recognizing her sister since [[AlternateIdentityAmnesia her last memory had Aya just as young as she is]], and almost immediately screaming about "[[ArcWords the heat]] coming back". The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrv26cipNQc&ab_channel=VloudLeonhart somber track]] that plays during the twisted reunion is then overlapped with the typical [[OneWomanWail boss theme of Mitochondria Eve]] after the parasite mutates Maya's body while reminding Aya that this is still her sister after the woman [[IllKillYou justifiably rages]] at [[YankTheDogsChain being taunted with her sister being so close yet out of reach]]. It doesn't stop through the whole [[BonusBoss extremely difficult fight]], as a reminder to [[PlayerPunch the player]] what must be done]].

* In ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs,'' [[spoiler: Henry ends up killing his younger brother Sam after he gets infected. He takes his own life immediatly after.]]