History Main / TheyWereHoldingYouBack

A more sinister variation happens when Bob [[PsychoSupporter wants]] to.[[ToxicFriendInfluence "help"]] Alice by killing her LivingEmotionalCrutch and MoralityChain. The reason? "[[TitleDrop They were holding you back]] from achieving your true potential."

A more sinister variation happens when Bob [[PsychoSupporter wants]] [[ToxicFriendInfluence to "help"]] Alice by killing her LivingEmotionalCrutch and MoralityChain. The reason? "[[TitleDrop They were holding you back]] from achieving your true potential."

* ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'' would have Dr. Nefario [[spoiler:taking the orphans back to Miss Hattie because he thinks of them as a distraction for Gru.]]

* In ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'', [[spoiler:Shirazumi Lio]] is convinced that the only thing holding Shiki back from a murderous existence is [[MoralityChain Mikiya]], and attempts this along with MurderTheHypotenuse. [[spoiler:Mikiya survives, but thinking he's died pushes Shiki enough that she eviscerates Lio, but she gets pulled back by Mikiya, implying that Lio is correct. Ironically, Lio himself takes Mikiya's "death" pretty badly]].

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has a curious case: Sasuke's only goal from the beginning was to kill his brother, Itachi, to avenge his clan. As the series progressed he started to develop bonds with his teammates, only for the Sound Four to arrive and give him a beating and a HannibalLecture, to convince him that his bonds are holding him back and he should leave the Leaf Village to search for power.

* In ''VideoGame/GodOfWarI'', [[spoiler:this is Ares' rationale for tricking Kratos into murdering his wife and daughter. Naturally, this backfired.]]
--> [[spoiler:'''Ares''': I was trying to make you a great warrior!]]

* Incubus from ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'' is Allison's EvilMentor and advises her to cut contact with her companions and strike out on her own as another Demiurge. [[spoiler:This comes to its head in ''Breaker of Infinities'' when Jagganoth causes Allison to suffer a breakdown; Incubus first tries to rally Allison with a SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids speech (which only makes things worse), and when Cio intercedes Incubus kills her and says to Allison that it was for the best since Cio was only holding Allison back anyway.]]

* In ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'' this is done to Goren by [[spoiler: his old mentor.]]

* ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey's'' David Cain once found two ''very'' promising martial arts-practicing sisters who he believed would be able to give him a suitable heir. Problem is, neither was dedicated enough to become that potential perfect mate. So he killed one of the twins and enraged the other to release the full power of her training as [[Comicbook/LadyShiva Lady]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Shiva]].
* In the early issues of the new ''[[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman Batman and Robin]]'' series, Damian Wayne's mother Talia put control devices in his spine and manipulated his body in order to have him kill Batman (Dick Grayson). Her reasoning was that Dick was holding Damian back by making him Robin, though it was clearly more along the lines of unhappiness that Damian was not obeying her since when using the machine she even commented that "this is what it's like to have a son who does what I want." Damian refused her "help" after Dick freed him from the control, and his mother has since cut ties with him via Cloning Blues now that he's siding with his father's legacy.

* In Franchise/StarWars it is elaborated upon in the Expanded Universe that Palpatine had plans to kill off Padme anyway, he felt that Vader's love for her was holding him back.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', Harm did this to ''himself'' [[spoiler:murdering his younger sister Greta, the only person he loved]], so that he could become pure evil since the Sword of Beowulf will only bestow power on a [[PureIsNotGood "pure"]] individual. It ultimately failed; [[spoiler:seeing Greta's ghost]] shatters Harm's "purity" and the Sword rejects him.

* The non-lethal variant is [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] in the ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' episode "The Original Fry Cook"; the titular Fry Cook (as in, the Fry Cook that worked at the Krusty Krab before Spongebob) visits Bikini Bottom, and to Spongebob's dismay, [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter can fry a patty better than Spongebob ever could]]. However the Fry Cook does recognize Spongebob's skills and tells him he has the true potential to surpass him...but only if Spongebob leaves the limitations of the Kusty Krab behind. However, Spongebob turns down the suggestion out of [[HonorBeforeReason loyalty to the Krusty Krew]].

So how does Bob get her into the fold? He [[TooHappyToLive kills these happy people]] to remove all her links to mundane life. Usually he's smart enough to frame one of his enemies, or at least MakeItLookLikeAnAccident, that way he can [[CrusadingWidower channel Alice's rage and despair towards his cause]]. If Bob is especially malicious and grand in scope, he may even give Alice a DoomedHometown and make her ConvenientlyAnOrphan.

A more sinister variation happens when Bob [[PoisonousFriend wants]] [[ToxicFriendInfluence to "help"]] Alice by killing her LivingEmotionalCrutch and MoralityChain. The reason? "[[TitleDrop They were holding you back]] from achieving your true potential."

* In the manga version of ''Whistle!'' Shigeki does this when [[spoiler:When he defects to the other side and challenges Sho's team. This angers Mizuno in the process]]

A more sinister variation happens when Bob [[TheFarmerAndTheViper wants to "help"]] Alice by killing her LivingEmotionalCrutch and MoralityChain. The reason? "[[TitleDrop They were holding you back]] from achieving your true potential."

* ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'' would have Dr. Nefario [[spoiler:taking the orphans back to Miss Hattie because he thinks of them as distraction for Gru.]]

* In ''ComicBook/AmericanWay'' the US government wants a college football coach to come back to work for them, training their super hero squad. The coach refuses for the sake of his wife, so the US government kills her so he'd come work for the gov't. Except it turns out they just gave her a million dollars to move to Wisconsin. [[spoiler:Except not really, they did actually kill her.]]

* In the comic book ''American Way'' the US government wants a college football coach to come back to work for them, training their super hero squad. The coach refuses for the sake of his wife, so the US government kills her so he'd come work for the gov't. Except it turns out they just gave her a million dollars to move to Wisconsin. [[spoiler:Except not really, they did actually kill her.]]