History Main / SwordOverHead

* ''Series/BlakesSeven'': This happens several times in the first two seasons, as Travis (and sometimes Servalan) has PlotArmor, since he has to survive to serve as Blake's ArchEnemy. The reasons given include Blake knowing that the Federation would just send someone else (and he's convinced he can always beat Travis), [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim because he's worried he'd enjoy it]], or as a CruelMercy (because Travis will be punished for failing, or because he's lost everything after going RogueAgent). When AntiHero Avon becomes the leader, he's not burdened by such qualms, so Servalan usually arranges a MexicanStandoff or VillainExitStageLeft However, Avon (and Tarrant in "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS4E9Sand Sand]]", despite Servalan arranging the death of his brother) seem equally [[FoeRomanceSubtext reluctant to kill her]] as Blake was to kill Travis.

* ''VideoGame/MurderInTheAlps'': In the conclusion of ''The Dada Killer'', the eponymous SerialKiller is injured and held at gunpoint by Anna while her police friend calls for help. Wanting to go down in history as an artistic genius, the murderer [[StrikeMeDownWithAllOfYourHatred attempts to make Anna shoot him]] by bragging that all the murders he committed gave the IntrepidReporter juicy content for her article. Enraged and [[ItsPersonal deeply affected]] by [[spoiler:Judit's murder]], Anna points her gun at the Dada Killer for several intense seconds until she lowers the gun and states that she refuses to give him the satisfaction.

** Elan must decide whether or not to [[spoiler:let his brother Nale fall over a cliff to his death. He [[SaveTheVillain pulls him up]]]].
** Subverted much, much later in the story, when Elan finds himself in a similar situation with [[spoiler:his father Tarquin. This time, he lets him fall, but only because he knows that as a high-level character, his father has enough hit points to survive the fall, and because it was one of the few ways to deny giving Tarquin anything he wanted in that situation]].

** In "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheSouthernRaiders The Southern Raiders]]", Katara decides that [[spoiler:if someone is pathetic and weak enough to end up in this position in the first place, there would be no satisfaction in finishing them off anyway]].

If the roles are reversed and the villain has the hero at his mercy, it can go either way. If he chooses to spare the hero, we might be looking at INeedYouStronger. Otherwise he'll decide to finish the hero off, but be prepared for a ThwartedCoupDeGrace.

* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin':

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[[quoteright:349:[[Film/RevengeOfTheSith https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s_l400.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:349:[[MemeticMutation DO IT!]]]]

* Happens a lot with Vash in ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', especially once the Gung Ho Guns show up. [[spoiler:He is ultimately forced to go through with it and kill TheDragon Legato Bluesummers.]]
** It [[RedemptionEqualsDeath didn't work out so well]] when Wolfwood did it, though.

* Subverted in ''Manga/RurouniKenshin''. Eiji is stopped from killing a helpless Senkaku by the AntiHero Saitou, but only because there is a law against revenge killing, and Saitou needs the criminal for interrogation where a more grisly fate awaits Senkaku in the form of torture ''and'' the death penalty. Kenshin, however, appeases the vengeful youth by appealing to his better nature.
** See also Kenshin with Kurogasa/Jin-e.
*** Who kills himself rather than be [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness disgraced and useless]].
* This happens to Winry in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''; She had just discovered that [[spoiler:Scar]] killed her parents and levelled a gun at him. Fortunately, [[spoiler:Ed convinces her that "IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim"]]
** And then we have [[spoiler:Roy with his flame powers and Envy in his fetus form]]. He is convinced by [[spoiler:Ed, Scar, and Riza]] to [[spoiler:not go through with finishing Envy off]]. [[spoiler:Envy dies anyway by committing suicide because Ed inadvertently makes him feel too insulted to live.]]
* Subverted in ''Manga/RaveMaster'' when [[spoiler:Haru the sword over Shuda's head, drops it, and then Shuda picks it right back up, drops AnAesop, then [[RedemptionEqualsDeath falls to his death.]] Only, not quite his death.]]
** It happens again later when Haru goes berserk on Lucia. The later actually faints, and everyone starts pressing Haru to sever his head, but Haru still can't bring himself to [[TechnicalPacifist take a life]].
* In ''Literature/{{Corsair}}'', Canale does this at the end of the fight with his brother. He does follow through in actually killing him.
* ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'': When Ja Wangnan spared Kim Lurker. Ja's friend Nia had been set up to betray Ja and the team by the loan company Lurker was working for so that Lurker and his team could advance to the next floor. After the successful betrayal, Lurker killed Nia [[YouKnowTooMuch to be on the safe side]], since he was betraying his employers as well and couldn't risk leaving any witnesses behind. When Lurker is defeated and Ja is about to activate the grenade jammed between his jaws, he realizes that the only thing he can do is forgive him, because he forgave Nia for betraying him just as Nia was betrayed, because the three of them were basically not so different in being coerced to stop others, causing their inevitable demise[[note]] even Lurker had his reasons[[/note]] and because in a world of constant struggle, a pragmatic reason for killing somebody is way better than any ethical justification of revenge.
* Played almost perfectly straight in ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'', during the climactic duel between [[spoiler:Keiichi and Rena]], when [[spoiler:Rena]] is holding her [[spoiler:hatchet]] over her head.
* In ''Manga/AliveTheFinalEvolution'', Taisuke spends the whole of the series coming to terms with the fact that his best friend (Hirose) is not only capable of murder but a mass murderer with no sense of guilt. Cue the final showdown between the two of them, when Taisuke overpowers Hirose and has him in a chokehold. Taisuke ends up [[spoiler:trying to kill him twice before breaking down and letting go. This turns out to be the right decision, however, as it's only with Hirose's power that they manage to destroy the incoming Nuke.]]
* In ''Literature/LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes'', the Battle of Vermillion ends with [[spoiler:Yang having Reinhart's flagship -- and Reinhart with it --]] dead to rights and defenceless and only an order away from killing him. While the cast begins discussing amongst themselves [[KillHimAlready whether to finish him off or not]], [[spoiler:Reuental and Mittenmeyer conquer TheFederation's headquarters, and the politicians surrender and order Yang to stand down. He does.]]
* ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' when Barnaby and Kotetsu defeat Jake, Barnaby ultimately decides to have him arrested, though Jake [[HoistByHisOwnPetard dies while trying to escape.]]

* In ''ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder'', Batman brings Dick Grayson the man who killed his parents, gagged and tied up. He then offers Dick a battleaxe and tells him to 'Choose. Avenger or detective.' Dick raises the axe over his head and brings it down... right next to the thug's face, slashing open the gag and one of his cheeks, but not his skull. The thug spills the beans.
* Subverted in Jamie Delano's run on ''ComicBook/CaptainBritain''. After sister Betsy replaces Brian Braddock as Captain Britain, Brian's old foe Slaymaster takes her on and beats her savagely before putting both of her eyes out. An appalled Brian arrives, and a titanic fight ensues, which ends with Slaymaster on his back and Brian holding a huge rock over his head. At the last moment, he seems to force himself to stop. Slaymaster, being a villain, can't stop himself from coming out with an I-Don't-Think-You've-Got-The-Grapes taunting speech. In a flash of fury, Brian sweeps the rock down on Slaymaster's head. SPLAT.
* In a non-canon ''Franchise/StarWars'' [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]] comic, a NotQuiteDead Darth Maul tracks Obi-Wan Kenobi down to Tatooine and engages in a short but vicious fight with him that ends with Obi-Wan's deactivated lightsaber against Maul's forehead. Thumb hovering over the activation stud, Obi-Wan wavers indecisively until [[spoiler:a badly injured and pissed off Owen Lars blows Maul's head off]].
* In ''[[ComicBook/{{Swordquest}} Swordquest: Fireworld]]'', Torr spares a pair of fire-goblins (who were previously attacking him) after they are backed into a corner and cowering for mercy.
* ''ComicBook/MarvelsVoices: Indigenous Voices'': Echo handily beats Saarl and holds a spear over his face, but decides not to kill him because there has been enough violence.
* ''ComicBook/XMen'':
** Occurs complete with actual sword over actual head when ComicBook/{{Rogue}} defeats Vargas in a swordfight at the end of the ''ComicBook/XTremeXMen'' "Invasion" arc. Vargas encourages her to kill him [[YouCantFightFate as predicted by Destiny's diaries]], and the ultimate result is deliberately not shown, but Rogue's reactions both during and after the incident make it fairly clear that she didn't go through with it.
** Comicbook/{{Jubilee|MarvelComics}} faced this choice after she hunted down the men who killed her parents. In a slight variation, Wolverine -- the only witness -- told her exactly how she could use her powers to [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident make the deaths look like natural causes]]. She let them live, of course.
** Another example went the opposite way, this time involving ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}. In ''ComicBook/WhatIf'' v2 #43, "What if Wolverine had married Mariko?", Mariko is eventually killed by her brother, Harada Yashida AKA Silver Samurai, in a plot with the Kingpin. Wolverine is enraged by this and after beating Harada within an inch of his life, Wolverine has a sword of honour held over his head. He swings it...and deliberately misses. Harada breathes a sigh of relief....until Wolverine shoves his fist under Harada's chin, growling "Just decided the honor sword's too good for you. It shouldn't be stained with a traitor's blood. Me? I'm not so fussy." and since this is Wolverine we're talking about, the very next panel we see is blacked out with a VERY telling SNIKT sound effect overlaid on it.

* An ([[AntiVillain anti]]) villainous example in the ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' fanfic ''Webcomic/ADreamerReborn''. Chara eventually [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=786bb0vGdJM has Asriel at their mercy]]-- he has barely a single hitpoint of health left, they're poised over him with a knife, he's helpless to stop them killing him... and then:

[[folder:Films — Animation]]
* In the climax of ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'', Beast [[NeckLift is holding Gaston by the neck]] over the ledge of the castle threatening to drop him to death. However, [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim he can't go through with it and grudgingly spares Gaston]] giving him a firm {{Get Out}}. However, Gaston responds by [[BackstabBackfire stabbing Beast in the back still trying to kill him, only to lose his balance and fall to his death.]]

* When heroic Justin and wicked Jenner engage in a swordfight in Creator/DonBluth's ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'', Jenner raises his sword for an overhead stroke. Justin uses the opportunity to deliver a simple jab that pierces Jenner's left lung. Jenner cries in pain, drops his crooked sword and reels backward, clutching his wound. Justin, having no desire to hack at a wounded adversary, drops his sword to extol his fellow rats to complete the exodus that the slain Nicodemus planned. Jenner, however, recovers his sword and makes another attempt to cleave Justin. [[spoiler:Jenner's cohort Sullivan, in a HeelFaceTurn, throws a dagger that fells Jenner before he can strike.]]
* In Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'' movie, Tarzan has Clayton at his mercy, aims Clayton's gun at his throat, and ''imitates'' the sound of a gunshot. He then destroys the gun. Clayton tries to attack Tarzan afterward but inadvertently hangs himself, ''despite Tarzan attempting to warn him that he's doing so''.
* This happens at the ''beginning'' of ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2010''. Hiccup has always wanted to make a name for himself by killing a dragon, and has finally succeeded, catching the most feared Night Fury in a net. Now all he has to do is to strike at the defenseless creature. Hiccup stands resolute, dagger over head... then realises he can't do it, and frees the dragon instead. Then the trope gets an instant role reversal, as the dragon (who will eventually become his [[ForbiddenFriendship friend]] Toothless) pins Hiccup to a rock, seems to prepare a killing breath of fire... then just roars in his face and flies off.

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
* ''Film/KaamelottPremierVolet'': At the end, Myth/KingArthur [[spoiler:readies Excalibur to deliver the CoupDeGrace to a disarmed [[BigBad Lancelot]] who's laying on the ground... but ultimately doesn't kill him and lets him flee, after having a tragic flashback of his youth in the Roman army.]]
* A version of this trope without ''any'' weapons happens twice in the film ''Film/TheKarateKidPartII''. At the very start of the film, Mr. Miyagi sees the bad guy teacher from the first movie physically abusing his own students and decides to put a stop to it. After some DeadlyDodging, when he has the EvilTeacher at his mercy, Miyagi repeats that teacher's own motto that mercy is for the weak, winds up for a major blow... then harmlessly tweaks his nose. At the very end, Daniel holds his opponent's life in his hands and asks him, "Live or die, man?" When his opponent says "Die!" Daniel instead copies [[{{Mentors}} his mentor]] and just gives his opponent's nose a tweak.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** In ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', Anakin [[AnArmAndALeg disarms]] Count Dooku and finds himself in a position where he can decide Dooku's fate. Palpatine tells Anakin to kill Dooku. Though reluctant, [[StartOfDarkness he actually goes through with it and scissors Dooku's head off]] ([[ManipulativeBastard at Palpatine's encouragement]]).
** Also in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', when Mace Windu attempts to arrest Palpatine after finding out he's the Sith Lord behind the Clone Wars and has him disarmed and at swordpoint. Anakin shows up despite being warned not to get involved and pleads with Mace not to kill Palpatine, while Mace himself mentally debates whether he should kill him (which would be better for the galaxy but goes against the Jedi's morals) or leave him alive (which would be morally right but extremely risky). There is plenty of DramaticIrony since Anakin found himself in the exact same situation before with Count Dooku but still executed him even though he knew it was wrong.
** Also in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', at the Battle of Mustafar, Obi-Wan prepares to finish off Anakin in an overhead downward swing, only for his efforts to be blocked. Strangely, the maneuver seemed more appropriate for Anakin's aggressive fighting style, rather than Obi-Wan's defensive style.
** In ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', Anakin, now Darth Vader, disarms Luke and has him at his mercy in the carbon-freezing chamber on Cloud City. He takes a swing at Luke, but doesn't really try to kill him because he wants Luke alive [[INeedYouStronger so he can become stronger]] and [[DragonWithAnAgenda help overthrow Emperor Palpatine.]] Instead, he tries to herd Luke into the carbonite pit to turn him into a HumanPopsicle, but Luke [[InASingleBound jumps out of it]], retrieves his weapon and continues fighting.
** In ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', Luke finally defeats Vader and is about to kill him until he is encouraged by Palpatine, and Luke [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim quickly realizes what he is extremely close to becoming in doing so]]. This convinces Luke to [[SheatheYourSword toss his lightsaber aside]] and show mercy instead of killing his own father, creating a sort of [[CallBack point of divergence]] between Luke and Anakin's histories. In the exact opposite of Anakin killing Dooku 23 years back, Luke spares Vader. This act of mercy is what ultimately causes Vader to [[HeelFaceTurn return to the Light Side of the Force and become Anakin Skywalker once again]].
* A variation in ''Film/{{Predator}}''. Dutch does this over the fallen title monster, but using a large rock instead of a sword. He relents after noticing the Predator [[BloodFromTheMouth coughing up (green glowing) blood]], showing that he's no longer a threat.
* In ''Film/Deadpool2016'', the titular hero has the big bad who tortured him nonstop to activate his mutant genes, ruined his body and kidnapped his girlfriend under a gun and helpless. Colossus attempts to intervene with a heartwarming speech about what it means to be a 'hero', encouraging Deadpool to relent in his anger and be the better man. [[spoiler:Deadpool, [[SociopathicHero being Deadpool]], responds by blowing the big bad's brains out.]]
* Variant in ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights''. After Robin defeats the Sheriff of Rottingham, he turns away, compliments his sword, and makes to sheathe it ... and ''accidentally'' runs the Sheriff through as he tries to backstab Robin.

* ''Film/ThePrincessBride'': After the Man in Black defeats Inigo, Inigo begs for a quick death... but is knocked out with the hilt of the sword.
-->'''Inigo:''' Kill me quickly.\\
'''Man In Black:''' I would sooner destroy a stained-glass window than an artist like yourself. However, since I can't have you following me, either... ''[hits him with the hilt]'' Please understand, I hold you in the highest respect.
* Miraz in ''Film/PrinceCaspian''. Three times in one movie, by two characters, twice in fairly rapid succession, and none of them in the original book.
* In ''Film/BadBoys1995'', Mike does this at the end with the drug kingpin who murdered the woman he [[UnresolvedSexualTension kinda loved]]. He doesn't fire. Then the baddie pulls a gun from behind his back, giving Mike all the excuse he needs to empty his gun's clip into his body.
* Inverted at the end of ''Film/MadMaxBeyondThunderdome'', which finishes with Max surrounded by Auntie Entity and her armed goons. She lets him go:
-->'''Auntie:''' Well, ain't we a pair? Raggedy man.
* In ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'', this seems to be the standard end to a matchup when one gladiator is disarmed. Caesar is supposed to decide what happens, but Maximus lets his opponent live anyway.

* Near the end of ''Film/{{Maverick}}'', Marshall Zane Cooper does this (with a stick) to the Commodore.
* Played straight in ''Film/TheLionInWinter'', when King Henry II lifts his sword over his head to execute [[spoiler:his son Richard]], but can't bring himself to go through with it.
* In ''Film/Serenity2005'', Captain Malcolm Reynolds [[spoiler:(after his moved nerve cluster allows him to escape a [[TheParalyzer paralyzer]] from The Operative) hits the man in the larynx and steals his sword, but instead of killing him uses the sword to secure him to a railing, forcing him to watch as [[GovernmentConspiracy the truth about Miranda]] is revealed]].
* ''Film/LockUp'': A variation is used since swords aren't exactly common in prison. After Frank wins a fight against a gang leader who made it personal by [[spoiler:killing First Base]], Frank places him on a bench press and holds the weights over his head, ready to drop it. Despite much prompting from the prisoners and even a distant Warden who's looking on from his office window, Frank realizes that killing the man will put him away for life and relents. [[spoiler:He gets shivved for his troubles.]]
* ''Film/Fearless2006'': The unarmed variation. Jet Li's character Huo Yuanjia knows a DangerousForbiddenTechnique that causes his opponent's heart to explode. He himself is dying from poison and the only way he can win the match is to use it. [[spoiler:Right before he dies, he shows his opponent that he could pull it off, but chooses not to, having gone through a movie's worth of CharacterDevelopment to realize that pride, even for one's own nation, is not worth murdering somebody over.]]
* ''Film/{{Maverick}}'': Cooper knocks the unarmed [[spoiler:Commodore Duvall]] (who had just double-crossed him) to the ground. Coop picks up a heavy branch and is about to smash his head in:

* ''Film/Daredevil2003'': Daredevil has the Kingpin at his mercy and is about to deliver a skull-crushing blow with the Kingpin's own walking stick (which may have been used to kill Matt Murdock's father), but instead slams it on the floor and allows the police to arrest him.
* ''Film/GeminiMan'': Henry Brogan and Clay Jr. know that Clay Varris will go on to create a CloneArmy if left alive, but Henry stops Junior from killing his ParentalSubstitute, knowing the act will scar him for life. Henry takes the shotgun off Junior, and Varris smiles in triumph...only to be [[ShootTheDog shot dead by Henry]].

* The nature of this trope, particularly the alternate ending (namely, that killing in self-defense is acceptable, but killing in cold blood is not), is explored towards the end of the ''[[Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia Narnia]]'' book ''Literature/TheHorseAndHisBoy''.
* Subverted in the novel ''[[Literature/TheLegendOfDrizzt The Silent Blade]]'' by RA Salvatore, Drizzt and a nearly suicidal Artemis Entreri have just finished a fight to the not-quite-death. Drizzt sheaths his sword and walks away when Artemis charges him from behind. Drizzt gets his guard up, draws his blades, and stabs Artemis through the torso...but unbeknownst to either of them, a psionic barrier has been placed around Artemis' body by one of [[MagnificentBastard Jarlaxle's]] lieutenants, which channels the kinetic energy from Drizzt's strike into Entreri, who then uses it unconsciously to punch a hole barehanded through Drizzt's chest. [[spoiler:Unbeknownst to Entreri however, he gets better.]]
* ''{{Literature/Discworld}}'':
** Played straight in ''Literature/MenAtArms'' when Vimes wants to kill a man (to be fair, he was under the influence of the gonne). Carrot eventually convinces him not to, saying "Personal isn't the same as important." Of course, when the man himself goes for the gun, Carrot kills him, running the man through as well as piercing the foot-thick granite column behind him.
** A different force is tugging at Vimes's base urge for vengeance in ''Literature/{{Thud}}!'', and when it lets loose he leaves a significant body count, but relents before he either strikes the BigBad or rips apart from the stress of not doing so.
** This is a manifestation of one of his defining traits - the constant temptation to take the law into his own hands (by killing the villain), and his constant refusal to give in to that temptation. Even when he kills Wolfgang in ''Literature/TheFifthElephant'', he gives Wolfgang every warning and chance to surrender first. Wolfgang doesn't ''really'' believe "Mister Civilized" is capable of killing him. [[YourHeadAsplode He's wrong]].
** In the climax of ''Literature/{{Mort}}'', the title character is in a position to seemingly kill Death but knows that doing so would just mean [[FateWorseThanDeath taking his place]] for the rest of Eternity. Death responds by [[GroinAttack kicking him in the groin]].
%%** It happened ''previously'' in ''Literature/{{Night Watch|Discworld}}'' with [[spoiler:the villain Carcer]].
* Akin to the Hornblower example below, the first ''Literature/{{Flashman}}'' novel has a variant on the pistol duel--after his opponent has shot his ball and missed, Flashman spends some time trying to make him squirm, before dramatically pointing his pistol to one side and firing without looking. By sheer fluke, Flash's shot takes the top off a wine bottle on a nearby table, giving him an unwarranted reputation as a crack shot...
* OlderThanFeudalism: ''Literature/TheAeneid'' invokes this trope when Aeneas pauses with his sword raised over his vanquished archenemy Turnus... only to see Turnus [[KillTheCutie wearing the belt ]] of Aeneas' protegé Pallas. Even in antiquity, this subversion was upsetting to numerous commentators.
* This happens twice in Creator/EEDocSmith's ''Literature/SkylarkSeries'' (from the 1930s). Twice the arch-enemy gets in so far over his head that he's forced to call on the hero to rescue him, and incidentally wipe out a threat to human civilization.
* Near the end of book 1 of the Literature/{{Gone}} series, Sam has just defeated Caine and could easily kill him with his [[EnergyWeapon super powers]]. Caine tells Sam to "Go ahead and do it", but Sam just tells him to leave Perdido Beach. Might be a case of ThickerThanWater since they are also twin brothers.
* Late in ''Literature/BloodMeridian'', the kid (well, he's a teenager) and the ex-priest Tobin find the monstrous Judge Holden trapped and at their mercy, and Tobin actually tells the kid to take his gun and do it, kill him now, but the kid -- even though the alternative is to let him die of thirst -- chooses not to. The judge gets out, later, and nothing good comes of it.

* ''The Killer Ascendant'' by Creator/BarryEisler. HitmanWithAHeart John Rain considers doing this with CIA RogueAgent Jim Hilger (who had kidnapped and tortured his friend Dox) because he's considering changing his ways from being a cold-blooded killer. As a concession he allows Hilger to make a phone call to his sister as a LastRequest, has a sudden thought that Hilger is using the call to activate a bomb remotely and kills him. Later Rain wonders if he allowed Hilger to make the call just so he'd have an excuse to kill him.
* In the third book of the PrinceRoger series, Roger does exactly this to his traitorous father, and is only talked down by his fiance'.
* Occurs near the end of ''Literature/ShadowOfTheConqueror'' when [[spoiler: Ahrek, after managing to beat Daylen in their TrialByCombat, struggles with their similarities and his [[VengeanceFeelsEmpty years of empty hatred]] while Daylen [[PleaseKillMeIfItSatisfiesYou urges him to do it]]. To Daylen's utter surprise, Ahrek instead chooses [[{{Forgiveness}} to forgive him]], and the sword doesn't fall.]]

* ''Series/TwentyFour'' did it in season one when Jack caught an escaping Nina. The same scene was repeated in season three, [[spoiler:except that on that occasion Jack shot her dead. And the first time, he didn't know she had just killed his wife.]]
* ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperboy'' episode "Mine Games" features a ''shovel''-over-head moment. Lex Luthor and Superboy are trapped in a mine, and Luthor starts attacking Superboy with chunks of Kryptonite over Superboy's protests that they could ''both'' die. It ends with Superboy standing over Luthor, poised to kill him, and Luthor [[StrikeMeDownWithAllOfYourHatred outright eggs on him]] as hammily as possible.

* In ''Series/{{Bones}}'', Booth escapes serial killer Howard Epps by one hand as he dangles over a ledge and can't hold on. He later goes to psychological counseling for a different matter, where it comes up that he feels guilty because he isn't sure if he tried hard enough to keep Epps from falling to his death.
* ''Series/BreakingBad'': An early episode had Walt debating whether or not to kill the captive [[WarmUpBoss Krazy-8]], even going so far as to write up a pros and cons list. He eventually realizes that Krazy-8 is too dangerous to let live and strangles him to death.
* In the mini-series ''Brotherhood of the Rose'', adapted from the novel by David Morrell, CIA assassin Saul is confronting his treacherous ParentalSubstitute Elliot with an Uzi. Elliot has killed Saul's brother and [[BackstabBackfire has just tried to kill him under the guise of a truce]], so at this point in the novel, he dies. In the mini-series however, Saul knocks him out with the Uzi but then blows up the secret cache of blackmail files Elliot has been using to maintain his power in the CIA, forcing him into retirement.

* Variations of this trope happen several times on ''Series/{{Chuck}}'':

** A lot of times in the Classic series the Doctor plays this straight. Even in the DarkerAndEdgier New Who series, it's [[WeUsedToBeFriends played straight with the Master]], whom the Doctor is reluctant to kill despite having every reason to do so.
** [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion "The Christmas Invasion"]]: The Doctor, who has defeated the Sycorax Leader in a swordfight while maintaining a running monologue about what sort of person his new incarnation is, accepts the alien's surrender and walks off. When the Sycorax gets up and charges at him, he uses a satsuma to knock him off the ship, without breaking stride. "[[BackstabBackfire No second chances.]] I'm ''that'' sort of a man."
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E6TheDoctorsDaughter "The Doctor's Daughter"]]: [[spoiler:After the nearly happy ending, the baddie kills the Doctor's daughter (OppositeSexClone) out of spite. The Doctor takes his gun and points it at his head, breathing fast and heavy for several seconds before throwing it away and saying "I never would", finally encouraging those around him to forge their society on the principles of the man who "never would". It should be noted his daughter came back to life, though she didn't regenerate...]] Having two hearts sure comes in handy.

* An unusual choice occurs in the ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' episode "Shades of Gray": Sylar finally confronts [[spoiler:his father, Samson Grey, his motives for finding him having changed after realizing that he is responsible for killing his mother.]] A few interesting facts and one borderline HannibalLecture later, he gives Sylar a choice point-blank -- kill him now... or ''kill the fuzzy bunny''. Sylar hesitates, then kills the bunny and they keep talking.
* A couple in ''{{Series/Highlander}}''. Richie can't bring himself to kill Annie during his first duel as an immortal, and Duncan won't kill Kristen despite being betrayed by her twice in "Chivalry".
* ''Series/HoratioHornblower'', "The Duel": Midshipman Hornblower fights a duel with Midshipman Simpson. Simpson fires early and causes only superficial injury before begging for his life, and Hornblower points his pistol up into the air and fires, refusing to kill Simpson [[CruelMercy purely out of spite]]. This psychs out Simpson who tries to stab Hornblower InTheBack with a knife and is killed by Captain Pellew, their commanding officer.
* Defied in ''Series/KamenRiderDrive'' with [[spoiler:Professor Banno. He's at Gou's mercy, who he had played like a fiddle thanks to being his father. When Banno tries to have Gou spare him under the pretense of improving the world, Gou doesn't even listen and simply takes his dead friend's weapon and murders Banno for all the things the asshole's ever done.]]

* ''Series/Merlin2008'' Arthur has several of these moments: with Olaf in series 2 (though he's not exactly a villain), with Derian in series 4, and with Odin in series 5.
* In ''Series/{{Numb3rs}}'', the guy helping the cops killed several people, but has the real baddie's money. The baddie kills his dad and holds the sister hostage, and after a complex series of actions, ends up with the BigBad's gun with a SWAT team pointing guns at them. Since he vowed to confess to his earlier crimes if they rescued his sister (they had), he says he has nothing to live for. Don convinces to lower the gun.

* ''Series/RizzoliAndIsles'' Jane Rizzoli has Hoyt, "The Surgeon" in this situation, though with a scalpel instead of a sword (incidentally, a scalpel he had just cut her and Dr. Isles with). Unlike most of the trope examples, ''She follows through''.

* ''Series/{{Sharpe}}'': In ''Sharpe's Revenge'', Richard Sharpe gets involved in a pistol duel at dawn. He lets his opponent shoot first, and miss. The opponent and the witness beg Sharpe to show mercy, and eventually, after much consideration, Sharpe does: he shoots his opponent in the arse instead.
** The book averts this -- Sharpe aims for the other man's belly, hoping to give him a slow and painful death (bear in mind that this guy had left Sharpe and a handful of men to face certain death, and a lot of them didn't make it out). Unfortunately, the pistol pulls slightly to one side and instead pierces his buttocks.

* Musical example: in Music/{{Queensryche}}'s ''Music/OperationMindcrime II'', the protagonist has the BigBad Dr. X at gunpoint for a song, debating whether or not to do him in. [[spoiler:On the last line, he pulls the trigger.]]
* Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'': As Claudius kneels to pray, Hamlet is given the perfect chance to slay him and avenge his father's murder. Unfortunately for everyone, Hamlet decides that killing Claudius in prayer would send him to {{Heaven}}, and he'd rather send him to {{Hell}}[[note]]Made especially funny by the fact that during the course of his praying, Claudius admits that he knows what he did was evil, and does not feel regret for it. So had Hamlet killed Claudius, he most likely would've gone to Hell instead of Heaven.[[/note]]. He spares Claudius for the time being, ultimately causing the tragic end to the play.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Tenchu}} 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins'', Lord Gohda is engaged in a swordfight with his uncle, who has led a revolt against him, and ends up knocking his uncle's sword away. Of course, being the good and noble lord, Gohda hesitates and lowers his weapon. His uncle then repays this kindness by pulling out a gun and shooting him. It is then that the player-controlled Rikimaru steps in, cuing a boss fight. After the fight, the trope occurs again, with Rikumaru poised over the uncle. Of course, being a ninja, Rikimaru slashes, but Gohda leaps in and takes the slash to his back. The uncle, touched by this, proceeds to scamper off and kill Gohda's wife and kidnap his daughter. Nice guy.
* Happens constantly in the ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors / VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors'' series of games especially cutscenes thanks to scripted deaths (beating the prior to the time you should, personally, just makes them run away and say a snarky comment or berate themselves), though sometimes accomplishing totally unrelated missions will allow you to dispatch a few of them early.
** In ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors 6 Special'', Cao Pi has a moment of this having captured [[spoiler:[[TreacherousAdvisor Sima Yi]] ]] after the latter failed coup d'etat. [[spoiler:He spares his life, and the scene fades to black with Sima Yi mocking the entire Cao family.]]
* Used in both endings of ''Franchise/{{Star Wars|Expanded Universe}}: VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed''.
** In the "Dark Side" ending, [[spoiler:Emperor Palpatine tells Starkiller to prove his loyalty by killing Kota, a Jedi. After a moment's hesitation, he turns and attacks Palpatine. It doesn't end well.]]
** By contrast, the "Light Side" ending has [[spoiler:Palpatine not only at his mercy, but ''demanding'' that Starkiller [[StrikeMeDownWithAllOfYourHatred strike him down]]. Starkiller nearly goes ahead and does it, but is talked into not giving into his anger and spares him. This turns out to be ''exactly'' as bad an idea as it sounds when a moment later, Stormtroopers flood in while Palpatine catches his breath, gets back up, takes another shot at Starkiller and [[DoomedByCanon successfully kills him]] in a rematch. Whoops.]]
* Different variations are used a lot of times in ''VideoGame/JediKnight'' and the sequels.
** After Kyle defeats the first of [[BigBad Jerec's]] Dark Jedi, Yun, he has him at his mercy but lets him live, leading to [[spoiler:his extra-quick RedemptionEqualsDeath later on in the Light Side story or another duel in the Dark Side one.]]
** With Maw, the situation is similar, but Kyle is being tempted by the Dark Side and simply cuts him down.
** In the Light Side ending, [[spoiler:Kyle has disarmed Jerec but decides to give him another chance and give him back his lightsaber. Jerec lunges at him again, and, well, if you read the trope description you'll know what happens.]]
** In ''VideoGame/JediOutcast'', instead of literally threatening someone with a weapon, Kyle dangles Tavion in the air with Force Grip at the end of their duel and is about to kill her. [[spoiler:He lets her go after she tells him she didn't really kill Jan Ors.]]
** After Jaden Korr defeats Rosh Penin in ''VideoGame/JediAcademy'', they seem to be about to enter a situation like this, but are interrupted by the arrival of Kyle Katarn and Tavion. They return to the setup when they next meet when Rosh is hardly much of a villain anymore but Jaden is still angry at him. [[spoiler:Whether the player chooses to attack Rosh next or not determines whether you get the Dark Side or Light Side ending.]]
** Towards the end in the Light Side story in ''VideoGame/JediAcademy'', [[spoiler:Tavion is determined to avoid this fate after being beaten by Jaden, and as a result ends up possessed by the dead Sith Lord she has been worshipping. In the Dark Side version, she tells Jaden to GetItOverWith, and they comply. And then have to fight Kyle Katarn instead.]]
* Happens in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' shortly after TheReveal, with [[spoiler:Kratos]] raising his sword to deal the finishing blow to Lloyd. [[spoiler:He can't do it, because Lloyd is his son.]] The BigBad shows up a moment later to [[HeadsIWinTailsYouLose kick the party around more]] and then do it himself, which provides LaResistance enough time to mount a rescue.
** If you do actually win the battle, the situation is reversed; Lloyd is about to finish off [[spoiler:Kratos]] when the BigBad arrives.
* At the end of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' Ezio kneels beside [[spoiler:Rodrigo Borgia]] in the same Animus back room used for every major assassination in the series. Then, he retracts his blade and walks away.

* If you play as a [[FighterMageThief Fighter]] in VideoGame/QuestForGloryII, you will encounter TWO duels which provide an example of this trope. First time is a duel which you have to pass in order to be accepted to the Fighter's Guild, where you are encouraged by the guild to kill your opponent, yet are able to spare him. Second time is the swordfight with Khaveen, in which you knock his sword from his hand and can either finish him off or allow him to pick his sword. Khaveen will knock your sword as well, and will not hesitate before hitting you. It does take him some time to do this, though.
* In ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' if you have a katana or nearly any sword and do a [[OneHitKill fully charged killing blow]], after the enemy is knocked into a kneeling position, Neo raises the sword above his head before bringing it down.
* ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKainSoulReaver2:'' Raziel holds the Soul Reaver over his head in order to execute Kain, [[spoiler:only to spare him in the last second, changing his destiny and the course of history forever.]]
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6'' is an odd case of this being between two ''heroes'', namely series veteran Chris Redfield and newcomer Jake Muller, [[spoiler: the son of series villain Albert Wesker]]. When it's revealed in the final chapter of both their routes that [[spoiler: [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil5 Chris is the one who killed Wesker]] before the events of this game]], Jake grows enraged and draws his gun on Chris, intending on shooting him in the face. He pulls slightly to the side at the last second, grazing the side of Chris's face.

* At the climax of ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'', Shulk is preparing to strike down [[spoiler:Egil, the engineer of the Mechon and mastermind behind the attacks on the Bionis]], but Shulk hesitates, even as [[spoiler:Zanza]] yells at him to go through with it already. While Shulk takes the swing, he refuses to go through with killing [[spoiler:Egil]], as he realizes that the two [[NotSoDifferentRemark aren't so different,]] and seeks to reach a mutual understanding.

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Elan must decide whether or not to [[spoiler:let his brother Nale fall over a cliff to his death. He pulls him up.]]
** Subverted much, much later in the story, when Elan finds himself in a similar situation with [[spoiler:his father Tarquin. This time he lets him fall, but only because he knows that, as a high-level character, his father has enough hit points to survive the fall, and because it was one of the few ways to deny giving Tarquin anything he wanted in that situation.]]
* In the "To Thine Own Self" arc of ''Webcomic/GeneralProtectionFault'', Nega-Trudy ponders killing Nega-Nick, but Nick-Prime convinces her not to do it by saying that having been around his EvilCounterpart, what he could potentially have been, and that Nega-Trudy could, by doing so, become what she hated most.
* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': Jenka gets Othar disarmed and has her sword to his throat, but threatens him rather than kill him, possibly because she was hoping to learn what he'd done with Da Boyz. Da Boyz interrupt by pseudo fighting her which throws her for a loop and she tosses Othar aside even though she could have easily removed his head at any point.
* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Raven has Abraham at his mercy after their sword fight and asks him to surrender so he doesn't have to kill him.

[[folder:Web Video]]

** Prince Zuko leaves his arch-rival, Commander Zhao, unscathed when he's perfectly poised to kill him after defeating him in a Firebending duel. Zhao does rise up to deliver a flaming kick to the head from behind but is effortlessly deflected by Zuko's [[MentorArchetype mentor]], his uncle Iroh. Zuko appears more than ready to finish the fight after this action but is instructed by Iroh not to taint his victory and honor.
** Katara decides in "The Southern Raiders" that [[spoiler:if someone is pathetic and weak enough to end up in this position in the first place, there would be no satisfaction in finishing them off anyway]].
** In the [[spoiler:FinalBattle, Aang]] passes up two opportunities to kill [[spoiler:Ozai]]; including a FinishingMove when he is trapped and helpless. [[spoiler:Instead he takes away his [[ElementalPowers Firebending]]]].
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Reboot}}'': After an intense showdown, Matrix has Megabyte in this situation but with a trident instead of a sword, Matrix says how Megabyte has ruined his life and brings the trident down... just an inch from his and then says: "Surprised? Don't be. You're not worth it. Mainframe will ''always'' endure. Remember this defeat, this humiliation! Remember that you can ''never'' win!
* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' episode "Double Date", Huntress prepares to shoot Stephen Mandragora, the thoroughly despicable mob boss who killed her parents in front of her at a young age, and seems perfectly willing to put a crossbow bolt through him... until [[spoiler:his son, Edgar, shows up behind him, and she finds she can't bring herself to inflict the same trauma on the boy.]]
* Subverted in the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Red Sleigh Down" where after being freed from his torture, Santa takes a gun and shoots the person who tortured him. It looks and sounds like he shot to the side but then we see the victim and Santa says "I just couldn't do it, I just couldn't let him live. He shocked Santa's balls." It's probably a reference to a scene from the movie ''Film/ThreeKings'', where after saving Barlow from his Iraqi torturers Major Gates hands Barlow his pistol. Barlow stares at the pistol, then at his interrogator, who wasn't so different, and finally points it to the side at the last minute and empties the clip into the wall.
* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' "Endgame" [[spoiler:Optimus Prime has Megatron at his mercy a is filled with a vengeance after learning that Prowl has been KilledOffForReal, he swings the mighty Magnus Hammer to deliver the final blow, only to strike his fusion cannon and merely cuff Megatron instead.]]
** [[spoiler:Since the Magnus Hammer needs a few moments to charge for a full-powered lightning strike, it's possible that Optimus only hesitated to charge rather than the moral dilemma of letting Megatron live.]]
* At the tail end of ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003''' "City at War" arc, Karai does this to one of the defeated Foot Elite. She takes the swing but refrains from cleaving his head, settling for destroying his hat instead.
* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime.'' Arcee is about to kill Megatron (who is badly damaged and on life support), but is convinced to stand down because Megatron has information the Autobots need. As soon as they get it, Arcee cuts Megatron's life support. Megatron survives this, but only because Arcee was in too much of a hurry to make sure she succeeded.
** Played straight twice later with Optimus and Megatron.
* The ''WesternAnimation/DanVs'' episode "Dan Vs. Chris" culminates in an "Amok Time"-esque battle in the rain over a piece of sci-fi memorabilia, ending with Chris at the edge of a cliff, Dan apparently considering it... but a montage of memories seems to convince him otherwise. A minute later, spoofing the formula, Dan gives us the following dialogue:

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'', the Decepticon Starscream finds himself hammered into submission with Arcee's blade against his neck. Having promised to defect to her side, boasted about killing her partner without thinking, tried to snivel his way out of a fight to the death and nearly killed her himself when she started to show mercy, he's certain that begging for his life won't do him any good at this stage, so (seemingly recognizing the routine) he pleads with her, with wide eyes, to [[GetItOverWith finish him herself and get it over with]].
-->'''Starscream:''' Go on! Do it! Megatron will only terminate me for treason if I dare return to the Decepticons now. You may as well be the one to put me out of my misery.\\
'''Arcee:''' ''[hesitates, then pulls blade back]'' [[spoiler:[[NoSell As if I needed convincing.]]]]\\
[[spoiler:'''Starscream:''' ''[realizes she's actually going to do it]'' What?! WAIT! ''NO!!'']]
** [[spoiler:At that moment, her fellow Autobot Bumblebee happens to show up, and ''that'' puts her off of killing him.]]

* In ''Film/{{Deadpool|2016}}'', the titular hero has the big bad who tortured him nonstop to activate his mutant genes, ruined his body and kidnapped his girlfriend under a gun and helpless. Colossus attempts to intervene with a heartwarming speech about what it means to be a 'hero', encouraging Deadpool to relent in his anger and be the better man. [[spoiler:Deadpool, [[SociopathicHero being Deadpool]], responds by blowing the big bad's brains out.]]

* The climax of the film ''Film/TheEndOfTheSpear'', which is based on a true story, is built around Steve Saint struggling with whether or not to kill the tribesman who killed his father. (However, as Website/TheOtherWiki notes, "the dramatic climactic reconciliation between Steve as an adult and Mincayani did not actually happen as depicted in the film". They did, however, become and remain friends.)

* In the Creator/MichaelBay film ''Film/BadBoys1995'', Will Smith's character does this at the end with the drug kingpin who murdered the woman he [[{{UST}} kinda loved]]. He doesn't fire. Then the baddie pulls a gun from behind his back, giving Smith's character all the excuse he needs to empty his gun's clip into his body.

* In ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', Captain Malcolm Reynolds (after [[spoiler:his moved nerve cluster allows him to escape a [[TheParalyzer paralyzer]] from The Operative) hits the man in the larynx and steals his sword, but instead of killing him uses the sword to secure him to a railing, forcing him to watch as the [[GovernmentConspiracy truth about Miranda]] is revealed.]]
* In ''Film/TheTenthKingdom'', the heroes have the evil Huntsman at their mercy and Wolf is preparing to kill him when Virginia stops him. Wolf correctly points out that this will only leave him to follow them and that she would regret the decision. This leads to pretty much every reversal the heroes face for the rest of the story.

* ''Film/{{Fearless 2006}}'' : The unarmed variation. Jet Li's character Huo Yuanjia knows a DangerousForbiddenTechnique that causes his opponent's heart to explode. He himself is dying from poison and the only way he can win the match is to use it. [[spoiler:Right before he dies, he shows his opponent that he could pull it off, but chooses not to, having gone through a movie's worth of CharacterDevelopment to realize that pride, even for one's own nation, is not worth murdering somebody over.]]

--> '''Coop:''' I've never committed a cold blood murder in my life!\\
[{{Beat}}]\\
'''Coop:''' ... and I won't. Not 'til I find Maverick.
* Film/{{Daredevil}} has the Kingpin at his mercy and is about to deliver a skull crushing blow with the Kingpin's own walking stick (which may have been used to kill Matt Murdock's father), but instead slams it on the floor and allows the police to arrest him.
* ''Film/GeminiMan''. Henry Brogan and Clay Jr. know that Clay Varris will go on to create a CloneArmy if left alive, but Henry stops Junior from killing his ParentalSubstitute, knowing the act will scar him for life. Henry takes the shotgun off Junior, and Varris smiles in triumph...only to be [[ShootTheDog shot dead by Henry]].

%%** It happened ''previously'' in ''Literature/{{Night Watch|Discworld}}'' with [[spoiler:the villain Carcer]].

* Akin to the Hornblower example below, the first {{Literature/Flashman}} novel has a variant on the pistol duel--after his opponent has shot his ball and missed, Flashman spends some time trying to make him squirm, before dramatically pointing his pistol to one side and firing without looking. By sheer fluke, Flash's shot takes the top off a wine bottle on a nearby table, giving him an unwarranted reputation as a crack shot...

* The series finale of ''Series/{{Daredevil}}'', [[spoiler: Matt Murdock has Wilson Fisk dead to rights, beaten to a pulp, and is sorely, ''sorely'' tempted to snap the villain's neck with his bare hands; Fisk even dares him to do so, with Matt's hands in place on his jaw and skull. Matt instead roars in fury, screaming a blistering ReasonYouSuckSpeech in Fisk's face; Matt leaves Fisk to be arrested, warning him that if Fisk tries to seek retribution on Matt's friends, Matt will ensure that Fisk's wife is also sent to prison for ordering the murder of Ray Nadeem.]]
* In ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' when he is about to kill [[spoiler:Rudy by draining him of all his blood, holds the knife above his neck. But he then kills him anyway, mid-sentence no less.]]

* Occurs complete with actual sword over actual head when ComicBook/{{Rogue}} defeats Vargas in a swordfight at the end of the ''[[ComicBook/XMen X-Treme X-Men]]'' "Invasion" arc. Vargas encourages her to kill him [[YouCantFightFate as predicted by Destiny's diaries]], and the ultimate result is deliberately not shown, but Rogue's reactions both during and after the incident make it fairly clear that she didn't go through with it.
* Comicbook/JubileeMarvelComics faced this choice after she hunted down the men who killed her parents. In a slight variation, Wolverine -- the only witness -- told her exactly how she could use her powers to [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident make the deaths look like natural causes]]. She let them live, of course.
* Another example went the opposite way, this time involving Wolverine. In ''ComicBook/WhatIf'' v2 #43, "What if Wolverine had married Mariko?", Mariko is eventually killed by her brother, Harada Yashida AKA Silver Samurai, in a plot with the Kingpin. Wolverine is enraged by this and after beating Harada within an inch of his life, Wolverine has a sword of honour held over his head. He swings it...and deliberately misses. Harada breathes a sigh of relief....until Wolverine shoves his fist under Harada's chin, growling "Just decided the honor sword's too good for you. It shouldn't be stained with a traitor's blood. Me? I'm not so fussy." and since this is Wolverine we're talking about, the very next panel we see is blacked out with a VERY telling SNIKT sound effect overlaid on it.

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': In addition to the examples of Gollum and Wormtonuge, noted above under the Films entry, Frodo does this to Saruman at the end. After Saruman has all but destroyed the Shire out of spite, he then tries to personally kill Frodo (to no avail thanks to the mithril shirt). The other hobbits are just about to kill Saruman when Frodo to stop them, partly because he wants no more killing at all, and partly out of respect for Saruman's former status and nature. Saruman starts to leave, apparently honestly this time, only to mistreat Wormtongue for the last time...

* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers'' Frodo captures Gollum and holds him at swordpoint, but decides to spare him [[TheWoobie out of pity]]. [[KarmicDeath It pays off in the end]].
** Aragorn decides not to kill [[EvilChancellor Wormtongue]]. This is a [[NiceJobBreakingItHero very nice job of breaking it]] since Wormtongue goes to tell Saruman that the people of Rohan are going to Helm's Deep, and how the fortress can be attacked.

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' is this in spades as far as Gollum is concerned.
** Frodo does this to Saruman at the end. After Saruman has all but destroyed the Shire out of spite, he then tries to personally kill Frodo (to no avail thanks to the mithril shirt). The other hobbits are just about to kill Saruman, only for Frodo to stop them (partly out of respect for Saruman's former status and nature). Saruman prepares to leave (apparently honestly), only to mistreat Wormtongue for the last time...

** Subverted much, much later in the story, when Elan finds himself in a similar situation with [[spoiler:his father Tarquin. This time he lets him fall, but only because he knows that, as a high-level character, his father has enough hit points to survive.]]

* ''Film/{{Maverick}}'': Cooper knocks the unarmed [[spoiler: Duvall]] (who had just double-crossed him) to the ground. He picks up a heavy branch and is about to smash him in the head:

* Played almost perfectly straight in VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry, during the climactic duel between [[spoiler:Keiichi and Rena]], when [[spoiler:Rena]] is holding her [[spoiler:hatchet]] over her head.

* On ''Series/{{Angel}}'', "A Hole In The World", Gunn had Knox incapacitated and held a large object over his head, wanting to smash Knox's head in, but couldn't do it. Probably because he knew the team needed to get as much info out of Knox as they could. (Wesley does him in later).
** Subverted at the end of Angel's fight with Connor in "Home". After interrupting his trauma-ridden son's SuicideByCop attempt, Angel ends up holding a knife over him. He promises to prove he really does love Connor - and brings the knife down. Thanks to a deal with Wolfram & Hart, Connor is magically given a normal life.
* ''Series/BlakesSeven''. Happens several times in the first two seasons as Travis (and sometimes Servalan) had PlotArmor, as they had to survive to serve as Blake's ArchEnemy. The reasons given include Blake knowing that the Federation would just send someone else (and he's convinced he can always beat Travis), [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim because he's worried he'd enjoy it]], or as a CruelMercy (because Travis will be punished for failing, or because he's lost everything after going RogueAgent). When AntiHero Avon becomes the leader he's not burdened by such qualms, so Servalan usually arranges a MexicanStandoff or VillainExitStageLeft However Avon (and Tarrant in "Sand", despite Servalan arranging the death of his brother) seem equally [[FoeRomanceSubtext reluctant to kill her]] as Blake was to kill Travis.
* On ''Series/{{Bones}}'' Booth had escaped serial killer Howard Epps by one hand as he dangled over a ledge, and couldn't hold on. He later went to psychological counseling for a different matter, where it came up that he felt guilty because he wasn't sure if he tried hard enough to keep Epps from falling to his death.

** In "Angel", the eponymous hero attempts SuicideByCop by provoking Buffy into killing him. Eventually Buffy gets Angel in her crossbow sights; to Angel's surprise, the Slayer intentionally shoots wide and her bolt thunks into the wall beside his head.

** Buffy nearly overpowers Angelus in their first encounter ("Innocence"), but can't bring herself to finish him. So she settles for a kick to the groin instead.

* ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'' Arthur has several of these moments: with Olaf in series 2 (though he's not exactly a villain), with Derian in series 4, and with Odin in series 5.

* A similar variation in the ''Series/{{Star Trek|The Original Series}}: TOS'' episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before". After beating up Gary Mitchell, Kirk holds a large rock over his head, threatening him, but hesitates over killing his friend. He loses his chance when Mitchell regains his power.
** Similarly, in "Arena", Kirk has the Gorn captain at his mercy, then throws his weapon aside and declares that he refuses to kill him. This turns out to be how he passes a SecretTestOfCharacter.
** Subverted on Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration - Duras killed K'Ehleyr, so Worf goes over to his ship to fight him and knocks Duras down onto his back. At this point, Riker and Data arrive and Riker calls out and is completely ignored and Worf kills Duras.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''. Dax balks at killing the Albino, despite having sworn a blood oath to do so. Ironically this is mistaken for OnlyICanKillHim by Klingon warrior Kang, who stabs the Albino InTheBack while he's mocking Dax's lack of resolve. Kang then thanks Dax for allowing him to strike the death blow.

* In ''LightNovel/{{Corsair}}'', Canale does this at the end of the fight with his brother. He does follow through in actually killing him.

* In Episode 13 of ''Anime/CrossAnge'', [[FallenPrincess Ange]], from inside her [[HumongousMecha Villkiss]], has her [[{{BFS}} massive energy sword]] hanging over [[CainAndAbel her traitorous brother Julio]]. [[HateSink This awful man]] was responsible for ruining her life by exposing her as a [[AntiMagic Norma]], resulting in the loss of her rights and being conscripted into serving as CannonFodder. He also had their parents killed to take over the throne, and [[FinalSolution attempted to have her and the rest of the Norma killed in a purge]]. Even though Julio has complied with Ange's demand to stop the massacre, Ange has decided [[DirtyCoward the coward]] is not worth sparing, and [[VillainsWantMercy despite his pleas for mercy]], [[PayEvilUntoEvil she slashes in his general direction]]... [[ThwartedCoupDeGrace only to be stopped by]] [[AGodAmI Embryo]], who [[KillSteal does the deed instead]] so [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim she wouldn't "taint" herself]]... [[BaitTheDog or so he says]].

* In Episode 13 of ''Anime/CrossAnge'', [[FallenPrincess Ange]], from inside her [[HumongousMecha Villkiss]], has her [[{{BFS massive energy sword]] hanging over [[CainAndAbel her traitorous brother Julio]]. [[HateSink This awful man]] was responsible for ruining her life by exposing her as a [[AntiMagic Norma]], resulting in the loss of her rights and being conscripted into serving as CannonFodder. He also had their parents killed to take over the throne, and [[FinalSolution attempted to have her and the rest of the Norma killed in a purge]]. Even though Julio has complied with Ange's demand to stop the massacre, Ange has decided [[DirtyCoward the coward]] is not worth sparing, and [[VillainsWantMercy despite his pleas for mercy]], [[PayEvilUntoEvil she slashes in his general direction]]... [[ThwartedCoupDeGrace only to be stopped by]] [[AGodAmI Embryo]], who [[KillSteal does the deed instead]] so [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim she wouldn't "taint" herself]]... [[BaitTheDog or so he says]].

* In episode 13 of ''Anime/CrossAnge'', Ange, from inside her Vilkiss, has her energy sword hanging over [[CainAndAbel her traitorous brother Julio]] who was responsible for ruining her life by exposing her as a Norma resulting in the loss of her rights and being conscripted into serving as CannonFodder, having their parents killed to take over the throne, and [[FinalSolution have her and the rest of the Norma killed]]. Even though Julio has complied with Ange's demand to stop the massacre, Ange has decided he is not worth sparing, and [[PayEvilUntoEvil slashes in his general direction]]... [[ThwartedCoupDeGrace only to be stopped by Embryo]], who [[KillSteal does the deed instead]] so [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim she wouldn't taint herself]], [[BaitTheDog or so he says]].

-->'''Luthor:''' Go on! Kill me! Kill me! If you don't kill me, I'll kill ''you'', you stupid, spineless, weakling simp! '''[[ChewingTheScenery MURDER MEEEE!]]'''

-->'''Mal:''' Mercy is the mark of a great man.\\
''[Stabs his opponent in the side]''\\
'''Mal:''' Guess I'm just a good man.\\
''[Stabs him again]''\\
'''Mal:''' Well, I'm all right.

* The climax of the film ''Film/TheEndOfTheSpear'', which is based on a true story, is built around Steve Saint struggling with whether or not to kill the tribesman who killed his father. (However, as Wiki/TheOtherWiki notes, "the dramatic climactic reconciliation between Steve as an adult and Mincayani did not actually happen as depicted in the film". They did, however, become and remain friends.)

* In ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'', the Battle of Vermillion ends with [[spoiler:Yang having Reinhart's flagship -- and Reinhart with it --]] dead to rights and defenceless and only an order away from killing him. While the cast begins discussing amongst themselves [[KillHimAlready whether to finish him off or not]], [[spoiler:Reuental and Mittenmeyer conquer TheFederation's headquarters, and the politicians surrender and order Yang to stand down. He does.]]

* At the tail end of ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003''' "City at War" arc, Karai does this to one of the defeated Foot Elite. She takes the swing but refrains from cleaving his head, settling for destroying his NiceHat instead.

* In the Creator/MichaelBay film ''Film/BadBoys'', Will Smith's character does this at the end with the drug kingpin who murdered the woman he [[{{UST}} kinda loved]]. He doesn't fire. Then the baddie pulls a gun from behind his back, giving Smith's character all the excuse he needs to empty his gun's clip into his body.

* ''Series/BlakesSeven''. Happens several times in the first two seasons as Travis (and sometimes Servalan) had PlotArmor, as they had to survive to serve as Blake's ArchEnemy. The reasons given include Blake knowing that the Federation would just send someone else (and he's convinced he can always beat Travis), [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim because he's worried he'd enjoy it]], or as a CruelMercy (because Travis will be punished for failing, or because he's lost everything after going RogueAgent). When AntiHero Avon becomes the leader he's not burdened by such qualms, so Servalan usually arranges a MexicanStandoff or VillainExitStageLeft However Avon (and Tarrant in "Sand", despite Servalan arranging the death of his brother) seem equally [[FoeRomanceSubtext reluctant to kill her]] as [[FoeYay Blake was to kill Travis.]]