History Main / ThwartedCoupDeGrace

** ''Episode III: Filmp/RevengeOfTheSith'' has Mace Windu having just beaten Chancellor Palpatine in a lightsaber duel. Anakin charges in and tells Windu not to finish Palpatine as Palpatine is begging for his life. Just as Windu is about to KillHimAlready, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Anakin hacks Windu's hand off]] and Palpatine breaks out the Force Lightning.

* Happens to Frollo at the end of ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' as a result of him saying [[DeathByIrony "And he shall smite the wicked]] [[KarmicDeath and plunge them into the fiery pit!"]] while trying to kill the heroes. Bonus points for [[DisneyVillainDeath falling to]] [[DeathByIrony the flames he started to kill one of the protagonists.]]

* During the climax of ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'', when Elinor bear is tied down and Fergus is about to deal her a finishing blow, an arrow from Merida [[BlastingItOutOfTheirHands blasts the sword out of his hand]].

* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', the duel between [[FragileSpeedster Oberyn Martell]] and Gregor Clegane a.k.a. [[WorldsStrongestMan The Mountain]]. Oberyn dominates the big man for most of the fight, making it apparent that this will be a CurbStompBattle. However, [[RevengeBeforeReason in his attempt to get Gregor to confess to the murder of his niece and nephew and the rape and murder of his sister]], he delays the finishing strike so long that his opponent manages to recover long enough to trip him and deliver a finishing strike of his own. [[spoiler:(By which we mean "grasp Oberyn's skull [[EyeScream like a bowling ball]], [[IronicEcho confess just for the sake]] [[KickTheDog of rubbing salt into the wound]], then ''[[CruelAndUnusualDeath crush his head like a grape]]''.")]] To rub salt into the room, [[spoiler:Gregor does succumb to his injuries and the poison, but is "saved" as an undead servant. Oberyn is just dead]].

* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', the duel between [[FragileSpeedster Oberyn Martell]] and Gregor Clegane a.k.a. [[WorldsStrongestMan The Mountain]]. Oberyn dominates the big man for most of the fight, making it apparent that this will be a CurbStompBattle. However, [[RevengeBeforeReason in his attempt to get Gregor to confess to the murder of his niece and nephew and the rape and murder of his sister]], he delays the finishing strike so long that his opponent manages to recover long enough to trip him and deliver a finishing strike of his own. [[spoiler:(By which we mean "grasp Oberyn's skull [[EyeScream like a bowling ball]], [[IronicEcho confess just for the sake]] [[KickTheDog of rubbing salt into the wound]], then ''[[CruelAndUnusualDeath crush his head like a grape]]''.")]]

Oh, no! The villain has beaten the hero in a fight! Our hero is down on the ground, battered, bloodied and helpless. The villain triumphantly raises his weapon, delivers his [[EvilGloating gloating one-liner]]. This is it, our hero is done for! The BigBad gleefully readies the CoupDeGrace . . .

. . . and dies.

Types of Thwarted Coup De Grace:

[[folder:Anime And Manga]]

[[folder:Fanworks]]

[[folder:Film - Animated]]

[[folder:Film - Live Action ]]

* ''Franchise/StarWars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith'' has Mace Windu having just beaten Chancellor Palpatine in a lightsaber duel. Anakin charges in and tells Windu not to finish Palpatine as Palpatine is begging for his life. Just as Windu is about to KillHimAlready, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Anakin hacks Windu's hand off]] and Palpatine breaks out the Force Lightning.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

** "What am I [[PsychicPowers thinking]] now, Parkman?"
* In ''Series/StargateSG1'' this happens in the episode ''The Warrior'' when Teal'c kills [[spoiler:Kytano/Imhotep]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Twice in ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}''[='=]s Volume 3 climax:
** [[spoiler:Roman Torchwick]] is killed this way by a Grimm. So much for [[FamousLastWords "lie, steal, cheat, and survive"]], eh?
** [[spoiler:Ruby]] attempts this on [[spoiler:Cinder]], but arrives just in time to see [[spoiler:Pyrrha murdered in cold blood]].
[[/folder]]

* Happens to Frollo at the end of ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' as a result of him saying [[DeathByIrony "And he shall smite the wicked]] [[KarmicDeath and plunge them into the fiery pit!"]] while trying to kill the heroes.
** Bonus points for [[DisneyVillainDeath falling to]] [[DeathByIrony the flames he started to kill one of the protagonists.]]

Oh, no! The villain has beaten the hero in a fight! Our hero is down on the ground, battered, bloodied and helpless. The villain triumphantly raises his weapon, delivers his [[EvilGloating gloating one-liner]]. This is it, our hero is done for! The BigBad gleefully readies the CoupDeGrace...

...and dies.

If the good guy has the bad guy at his mercy, then a SwordOverHead is the usual result. In that case, the hero will either stop himself or go through with it. The distinction between the two is that the good guy almost always gets to make the choice himself and live with the result. Occasionally, somebody ''else'' will kill the bad guy, either while the hero is thinking it over or just after the hero decided [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim he couldn't do it]]. This will often happen eventually if the game makes use of a CoupDeGraceCutscene. May be the result of a successful DiagonalCut.

* In ''TheHungerGames'', during the "feast" at the Cornucopia, Clove gets Katniss pinned down with a knife to her throat. She takes the time to gloat, and is promptly [[spoiler:killed by Thresh for saying that she killed Rue.]]

Types of ThwartedCoupDeGrace:

* In ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemistBrotherhood'', Mustang, who has [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge just incinerated Envy back down to his parasitic state in a vengeful rage]], has the now slug-like homunculus under the sole of his boot and is ready to kill him, until Riza Hawkeye [[ClickHello shows up with a gun to his head]], threatening to kill him per their promise. Scar and Ed soon join them, with Ed springing Envy away from Mustang, who he pointedly asks if [[HeWhoFightsMonsters this is what he wanted to be]] when he were to become Fuhrer. Mustang finally calms down, and after Envy fails at [[BreakingSpeech breaking them by mocking them for their failures]], he [[VillainousBreakdown breaks down in tears]] and [[DrivenToSuicide commits suicide]].

* In ''Literature/{{Twig}}'', the Duke of Francis has routed the forces of the rebel Reverend Mauer, defeated his ISurrenderSuckers gambit by having his infiltrators defuse the explosives that Mauer had planned to use in a TakingYouWithMe, and is about to cut his head off, only to discover in [[BoomHeadshot the most painful way possible]] that the rebel forces have developed working rapid fire sniper rifles.
* During the Volume 3 climax of ''{{WebAnimation/RWBY}}'', [[BigBad Cinder]] has an arrow trained point-blank on [[spoiler:Pyrrha]]. [[TheHero Ruby]] arrives on-scene just in time to [[spoiler:see her friend executed in cold blood; a particularly cruel subversion of the trope.]]

* In ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'', Emperor Commodus has ordered General Maximus to be executed. The soldier orders him to kneel so he can stab him. Maximus (with his hands tied) head-butts the soldier, takes his sword and then kills every other soldier who was guarding him. Maximus is {{Badass}}.

* In ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'', after completing a [[ForTheEvulz series of horrific and unimaginable deeds]] to his former friends Guts and Casca, Griffith, now Femto, leaves our StarCrossedLovers unconscious and dying on the ground of hell and is about to let the Apostles finish them off. Luckily for these two, [[MysteriousProtector the Skull Knight]] breaks through the Vortex and [[BigDamnHeroes saves them]] [[JustInTime just in the nick of time]].
* In ''{{Manga/Naruto}}'', at the climax of a heated battle between Sasuke and Itachi, Itachi has Sasuke cornered and is about to take Sasuke's eyes (and the PsychicPowers they impart) for his own. Itachi touches Sasuke on the bridge of his forehead... and then keels over, dead. [[spoiler:Sasuke later finds out that Itachi was suffering from a terminal illness the whole time and was actually implanting his eyes' powers onto Sasuke just before his death.]]
* In ''Manga/PandoraHearts Retrace LXXVIII'', [[spoiler:Oz]] is at [[spoiler:Oswald/Glen]]'s mercy, and the latter has just raised his sword to strike when he's shot in the hand by [[spoiler:Gilbert]]. Of course, since he's NighInvulnerable, [[spoiler:Glen]] didn't die, but [[spoiler:Gil's]] "betrayal" of him was still [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments heartwarming]].

* In ''[[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End]]'', the climactic battle nears the end as Davey Jones has Bootstrap Bill dead to rights. Right as he's about to finish Bill, his son William (whose mortal wound inflicted by Davey ForTheEvulz was the instigator for attacking Davey) stabs Davey's heart (with some assistance from Jack Sparrow), thwarting the finisher.

* This happens in ''ASongOfIceAndFire'' during the duel between [[spoiler:Oberyn Martell and Gregor Clegane. Martell spends the entire fight using HitAndRunTactics to wear Clegane down. Finally, he delivers what seems to be the final blow by impaling Clegane with a spear. Unfortunately, Martell is obsessed with hearing Clegane confess to the rape and murder of his sister (and the sister's children), so he gets too close while trying to force a confession, allowing Gregor to grab him, pull him down, and then beat him to death. Doing the SwordOverHead routine on a guy who is both the [[WorldsStrongestMan World's Strongest]] and Most Psychotic Man is a ''very bad idea''. And yet despite this Oberyn still manages to get his revenge since his spear was coated in a deadly poison that leaves Clegane in unimaginable agony for days until he finally succumbs to his injuries]].
* In Franchise/WarriorCats: The Last Hope, [[spoiler:Ivypool is trapped by Hawkfrost and would have died if it weren't for Hollyleaf with a ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind. Hollyleaf gets a throat wound, however, and she [[TearJerker dies while saving her]].]]

* In ''{{Manga/Naruto}}'', at the climax of a heated battle between Sasuke and Itachi, Itachi has Sasuke cornered and is about to take Sasuke's eyes (and the PsychicPowers they impart) for his own. Itachi touches Sasuke on the bridge of his forehead... and then keels over, dead. [[spoiler: Sasuke later finds out that Itachi was suffering from a terminal illness the whole time and was actually implanting his eyes' powers onto Sasuke just before his death.]]

* ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' does this twice with Mal's confrontations with the Operative. The first time, Mal is surely beaten, and the Operative is about to finish him off with his sword when Inara's flashbomb goes off and stuns him. The second time, the Operative is about to kill Mal after having paralyzed him by grabbing a specific nerve cluster. [[spoiler: Mal had that nerve cluster removed by shrapnel in the Unification War, and right as the Operative strikes, he twists out of the way and ''dislocates his shoulders''.]]

* In ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'', Largo has Film/JamesBond at gunpoint and is about to shoot him when he is killed by a harpoon fired the girl he had tortured earlier.

* In ''TheHungerGames'', during the "feast" at the Cornucopia Clove gets Katniss pinned down with a knife to her throat. She takes the time to gloat, and is promptly [[spoiler: killed by Thresh for saying that she killed Rue.]]
* ''Literature/TheReynardCycle'': At the end of ''The Baron of Maleperduys'', Drauglir has Reynard down on the ground and is about to finish him off when [[spoiler: Rukenaw and Martin barrel into him. Drauglir is unharmed, but he gets distracted enough that Reynard manages to regain his feet and stab him right between the eyes.]]
* This happens in ''ASongOfIceAndFire'' during the duel between [[spoiler:Oberyn Martell and Gregor Clegane. Martell spends the entire fight using HitAndRunTactics to wear Clegane down. Finally, he delivers what seems to be the final blow by impaling Clegane with a spear. Unfortunately Martell is obsessed with hearing Clegane confess to the rape and murder of his sister, (and the sister's children) so he gets too close while trying to force a confession, allowing Gregor to grab him, pull him down, and then beat him to death. Doing the SwordOverHead routine on a guy who is both the [[WorldsStrongestMan World's Strongest]] and Most Psychotic Man is a ''very bad idea''. And yet despite this Oberyn still manages to get his revenge since his spear was coated in a deadly poison that leaves Clegane in unimaginable agony for days until he finally succumbs to his injuries]].
* In Franchise/WarriorCats: The Last Hope, [[spoiler: Ivypool is trapped by Hawkfrost and would have died if it weren't for Hollyleaf with a ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind. Hollyleaf gets a throat wound, however, and she [[TearJerker dies while saving her]].]]

* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', the duel between [[FragileSpeedster Oberyn Martell]] and Gregor Clegane a.k.a. [[WorldsStrongestMan The Mountain]]. Oberyn dominates the big man for most of the fight, making it apparent that this will be a CurbStompBattle. However, [[RevengeBeforeReason in his attempt to get Gregor to confess to the murder of his niece and nephew and the rape and murder of his sister]], he delays the finishing strike so long that his opponent manages to recover long enough to trip him and deliver a finishing strike of his own.

[[folder:Video games]]

* Between the first and second TimeSkip of ''Webcomic/WhiteDarkLife'', [[RegretfulTraitor Nikolai Velenova]] ''[[ThrowTheDogABone finally]]'' regains Leila Belnades' trust (and reawakens [[OneTrueLove her latent affection for him]]) by pulling one of these, interrupting Bowser Jr.'s NoHoldsBarredBeatdown [[BigDamnHeroes in spectacular fashion]] to save Leila's life. (Granted, [[YouAreTooLate he doesn't make it in time to prevent Leila from being beaten to the point of unconsciousness]], but he makes up for this by bringing Leila to his dorm room (to hide her from follow-up attacks), performing first aid on her, and ultimately calling in her cousin [[TheMedic Anastasia]] to fix her up when his own efforts prove insufficient to treat her injuries.)

* ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' has Mother Brain fire a rainbow beam which stuns Samus. When she prepares the second blast, the baby metroid flies in to protect Samus.

* Inverted and mixed with MercyKill in ''{{Claymore}}''. Theresa, who was in battle with Priscilla, manages to get Priscilla on her knees. Undergoing a SuperPowerMeltdown, Priscilla begs Theresa to kill her before she can turn into a monster, to which Theresa agrees. However, before she can kill her, [[spoiler:Priscilla grabs her sword and slices Theresa's hands off and then decapitates her.]]

** In Episode II, [[MasterSwordsman Dooku]] brings down [[TheObiWan Obi-Wan]], but before he can deliver the final blow, a previously electrocuted Anakin gets better and jumps across the room to block it.

* In ''[[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End]]'', the climactic battle nears the end as Davey Jones has Bootstrap Bill dead to rights. Right as he's about to finish Bill, his son William (whose mortal wound inflicted by Davey ForTheEvulz was the instigator for attacking Davey) stabs Davey's heart, thwarting the finisher.

* In ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'', Largo has Film/JamesBond at gunpoint and is about to shoot hime when he is killed by a harpoon fired the girl he had tortured earlier.