History Main / WouldNotShootAGoodGuy

* Mentioned but not used very much in ''MetalGearSolid2''. Snake sneaks aboard a tanker that is crewed by Marines who are guarding a new Metal Gear variant. As such, he is armed only with a tranquilizer gun so that he won't cause any fatalities amongst the Marines who are simply doing their duty. However, that all goes out the window when the ship is taken over by Ocelot's mercenaries.

* Totally and completely [[AvertedTrope averted]] in the first season of ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex''. After [[spoiler: the whole of Section 9]] is falsely accused of a crime, you would need an accountant to keep track of the dead among the black-ops military team sent to ''arrest'' them.

* There's an odd example in ''[[XWingSeries Solo Command]]''. Lara Notsil gets discovered to be the woman who caused the deaths of Talon Squadron, and she's well aware that the fact that she [[BecomingTheMask became the mask]] and went through a HeelFaceTurn doesn't change her history. Despite being shot at by her love interest, the only surviving member of Talon Squadron, all she does is flee. She goes to the enemy, Warlord Zsinj, as a FakeDefector, and when she actually has to face the squadron she powers down her lasers. Suspecting the situation, Wedge Antilles orders that she isn't to be fired on.

* During the Heavenly Emperor Arc in ''FistOfTheNorthStar'', Kenshiro comes to realize that Falco and his soldiers are honorable good people, so he avoids fighting them while figuring out why they seem forced to do evil deeds.

* In a Marvel ''What If?'', CaptainAmerica refused to lay aside the name (instead of the arc when he was just The Captain). Soldiers come after him, having been told he's an imposter; one actually thinks it's hard to believe that it's not CaptainAmerica, but jumps into the fray. CaptainAmerica doesn't want to hurt them.

* The final run of Creator/GarthEnnis' ''Comicbook/ThePunisherMAX'' involved Frank being in the sights of a cabal of Corrupt US Army Generals...who use their connections to send a group of special operations soldiers after him. [[CaptainObvious Frank doesn't kill them]], but that doesn't mean he doesn't ''fight'' them. This would appear to only apply to ''American'' soldiers, too; he has few qualms stop him shooting up Russian soldiers in a nuclear missile base. Frank also usually takes it easy on superheroes who get between him and his targets. Of course, "taking it easy" for Frank Castle still usually involves fisticuffs, non-lethal shootings, stabbings, and on one occasion, a ''steamroller''. In that particular story, he was fighting {{Wolverine}} and was allowed to go all out since [[GoodThingYouCanHeal Wolverine can always get better]].

* The heroes in the film version of ''{{RED}}'' go out of their way not to kill any of the police, feds or secret service agents trying to catch them, instead pinning them down with suppression fire and running away. The only people they ever do kill are the mercenaries and CIA spooks actively trying to kill them.

** Later, it does indeed all go downhill for him in the eyes of the law and the public when he [[spoiler: takes the blame for the murder of Harvey Dent.]]

* In ''CallofDutyBlackOps2'' one of the missions has the player in the role of the mole in [[BigBad Menedez's]] organisation who has no choice but to kill any Yemeni soldiers who gets in his way for self-defence and to keep his cover.

* During the ''Chaos Rising'' expansion of ''DawnofWar 2'', this can be played straight by killing only Chaos tainted members of the [[spoiler: Blood Raven Honour Guard]] to preserve purity points or averted by killing everyone who gets in your way to corrupt your squad.

* Shirou has this attitude during the [[FateStayNight Grail War]], which causes every single one of his allies to facepalm or threaten him with death. Seriously, only going after bad guys in a ThereCanBeOnlyOne fight to the death?

* The final run of Creator/GarthEnnis' ''Comicbook/ThePunisherMAX'' involved Frank being in the sights of a cabal of Corrupt US Army Generals...who use their connections to send a group of special operations soldiers after him. [[CaptainObvious Frank doesn't kill them]], but that doesn't mean he doesn't ''fight'' them. Frank also usually takes it easy on superheroes who get between him and his targets. Of course, "taking it easy" for Frank Castle still usually involves fisticuffs, non-lethal shootings, stabbings, and on one occasion, a ''steamroller''. In that particular story, he was fighting {{Wolverine}} and was allowed to go all out since [[GoodThingYouCanHeal Wolverine can always get better]].

* In Creator/DanAbnett's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Literature/{{Eisenhorn}} novels, Eisenhorn has to kill several fellow Inquisitors, because they were set on his trail by a rogue Inquisitor and if he dies, no one will stop the rogue. He feels it very hard.

* Literature/TheHungerGames plays with averting this trope as Katniss continually has to remind herself that she might have to kill sympathetic competitors such the child, Rue, or her friend Peeta in order to survive the game. Ultimately, [[spoiler: she doesn't have to kill any sympathetic characters, however in the third book of the trilogy, ''Mockingjay'', the trope is finally averted when she cold-bloodedly shoots an innocent bystander during the final battle.]]
* Harry Dresden of Literature/TheDresdenFiles goes way out of his way to keep cops out of harm's way, even when they're shooting at him. While it has nothing to do with his intentions - and in fact it's doubtful whether Harry ''ever'' thinks that far in advance - that position buys him credibility and favors from many skeptical cops.
* The SwordOfTruth has the titular sword magically enforce this trope - the wielder physically cannot harm someone they ''believe'' to be innocent. Of course, that necessitates that only incredibly perceptive and quick-thinking people are qualified for the position, because there's a deep gulf between belief and fact. [[spoiler: Richard discovers that the restriction only applies when the sword is powered by anger. When it's powered by love, it's no-holds-barred. Interestingly, this turns out to ultimately be the key to the power of Orden - being able to unlock the love mode and do what has to be done, regardless of the cost. YMMV.]]

* In CallofDutyBlackOps2 one of the missions has the player in the role of the mole in [[BigBad Menedez's]] organisation who has no choice but to kill any Yemeni soldiers who gets in his way for self-defence and to keep his cover.
* During the ''Chaos Rising'' expansion of DawnofWar 2, this can be played straight by killing only Chaos tainted members of the [[spoiler: Blood Raven Honour Guard]] to preserve purity points or averted by killing everyone who gets in your way to corrupt your squad.

* Discussed in VideoGame/{{Battlefield 3}}, as a GRU Spetsnaz team attempts to stop a terrorist plot to nuke Paris. The team leader points out that there will be no time to establish their credentials with French police, who won't see the difference between them and the terrorists, and that in the grand scheme of things, sacrificing a number of French cops to prevent a war in which ''millions'' of Russians die is no contest. He's clearly unhappy about doing this, however, but feels it has to be done.
* Mentioned but not used very much in MetalGearSolid2. Snake sneaks aboard a tanker that is crewed by Marines who are guarding a new Metal Gear variant. As such, he is armed only with a tranquilizer gun so that he won't cause any fatalities amongst the Marines who are simply doing their duty. However, that all goes out the window when the ship is taken over by Ocelot's mercenaries.

* The final run of GarthEnnis' take on ''ThePunisher'' involved Frank being in the sights of a cabal of Corrupt US Army Generals...who use their connections to send a group of special operations soldiers after him. [[CaptainObvious Frank doesn't kill them]], but that doesn't mean he doesn't ''fight'' them. Frank also usually takes it easy on superheroes who get between him and his targets. Of course, "taking it easy" for Frank Castle still usually involves fisticuffs, non-lethal shootings, stabbings, and on one occasion, a ''steamroller''. In that particular story, he was fighting {{Wolverine}} and was allowed to go all out since [[GoodThingYouCanHeal Wolverine can always get better]].

* Totally and completely [[AvertedTrope averted]] in the first season of ''[[GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex Ghost in the Shell]]''. After [[spoiler: the whole of Section 9]] is falsely accused of a crime, you would need an accountant to keep track of the dead among the black-ops military team sent to ''arrest'' them.

* ''TheExecutioner'' novel series. Mack Bolan decided early on that he would not fire on police officers, even though being arrested would end his war against the Mafia (and result in his death once the Mafia got to him in prison).That may, however, have been pragmatism as much as anything. Bolan was savvy to the fact that as long as only bad guys died, the law would feel inclined to look the other way. As soon as innocents or cops start dying, the boys in blue will tear heaven and earth apart to find you.

* In the original ''SplinterCell'', killing CIA security forces while trying to break into CIA Headquarters resulted in an instant mission failure. In ''Chaos Theory'' you could kill U.S. National Guard forces while sneaking around New York, but it'd automatically drop your mission score to 0%. The same applies to the ROK soldiers during the Seoul mission. Killing the guards at the Panamanian bank however won't incur that penalty however - despite them being rent-a-cops and the bankers being the ones brokering for terrorists. In the final mission, killing JSDF personnel while breaking into a Japanese base results in an instant mission failure (although it's more due to political consequences rather than moral considerations). Completely thrown out the window in ''Double Agent'', where you're undercover as a member of a domestic terrorist group, and can kill prison guards, security guards and Mexican marines at your leisure (although doing so drops your NSA trust meter, which can lead to a game over if you overdo it). This trope is played straight in ''Convictions'' for the most part where the POTUS orders Sam not to kill the DC Metro Police who confronts him. In ''Blacklist'', this extends to the American soldiers while [[spoiler:breaking out of the Guantanamo Bay prison]] and Indian soldiers in one mission of the co-op campaign.
** The NintendoGameCube version ''forced'' you to avert this trope at times. There was only one trust meter, which went back and forth between NSA and JBA. Sometimes you had no choice but to gun down a couple of security guards or police if you were leaning too close to the former.
** For a certain definition of good guys,[[spoiler:the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps]] gets no such protection in ''Blacklist'' despite [[spoiler:Iran being framed and actually attempting to apprehend one of the villains involved with the attacks.]] This is likely because the country is an adversary state to the US, [[spoiler:and the IRGC is listed as a terrorist organisation, even if they are innocent of backing the Engineers.]]

* In the original ''SplinterCell'', killing CIA security forces while trying to break into CIA Headquarters resulted in an instant mission failure. In ''Chaos Theory'' you could kill U.S. National Guard forces while sneaking around New York, but it'd automatically drop your mission score to 0%. The same applies to the ROK soldiers during the Seoul Mission. In the final mission, killing JSDF personnel while breaking into a Japanese base results in an instant mission failure (although it's more due to political consequences rather than moral considerations). Completely thrown out the window in ''Double Agent'', where you're undercover as a member of a domestic terrorist group, and can kill prison guards, security guards and Mexican marines at your leisure (although doing so drops your NSA trust meter, which can lead to a game over if you overdo it).

** This trope is played straight in Convictions for the most part where the POTUS orders Sam not to kill the DC Metro Police who confronts him. In Blacklist, this extends to the American soldiers while [[spoiler:breaking out of the Guantanamo Bay prison]] and Indian soldiers in one mission of the co-op campaign. For a certain definition of good guys,[[spoiler:the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps]] gets no such protection in the game despite [[spoiler:Iran being framed for involvement in the Blacklist and actually attempting to apprehend one of the villains involved with the attacks.]] This is likely because the country is an adversary state to the US, [[spoiler:even if they are innocent of backing the Engineers.]]

*** This trope is played straight in Convictions for the most part where the POTUS orders Sam not to kill the DC Metro Police who confronts him. In Blacklist, this extends to the American soldiers while [[spoiler:breaking out of the Guantanamo Bay prison]] and Indian soldiers in one mission of the co-op campaign. The [[spoiler:Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps]] gets no such protection in the game despite [[spoiler:Iran being framed for involvement in the Blacklist]] but because Iran is an adversary state to the US.

* In the original ''SplinterCell'', killing CIA security forces while trying to break into CIA Headquarters resulted in an instant mission failure. In ''Chaos Theory'' you could kill U.S. National Guard forces while sneaking around New York, but it'd automatically drop your mission score to 0%, and in the final mission killing Japanese soldiers while breaking into a Japanese base results in an instant mission failure (although it's more due to political consequences rather than moral considerations). Completely thrown out the window in ''Double Agent'', where you're undercover as a member of a domestic terrorist group, and can kill prison guards and security guards at your leisure (although doing so drops your NSA trust meter, which can lead to a game over if you overdo it).

* The final run of GarthEnnis' take on ''ThePunisher'' involved Frank being in the sights of a cabal of Corrupt US Army Generals...who use their connections to send a group of special operations soldiers after him. [[CaptainObvious Frank doesn't kill them]], but that doesn't mean he doesn't ''fight'' them. Frank `also usually takes it easy on superheroes who get between him and his targets. Of course, "taking it easy" for Frank Castle still usually involves fisticuffs, non-lethal shootings, stabbings, and on one occasion, a ''steamroller''. In that particular story, he was fighting {{Wolverine}} and was allowed to go all out since [[GoodThingYouCanHeal Wolverine can always get better]].

* In ''{{Salt}}'', the titular protagonist tries her very best not to fatally injure any of her "good guy" pursuers. Sure, she causes them a lot of pain and broken bones, but nobody dies, [[spoiler: especially not the Russian President, who is merely knocked out with spider venom.]]
* In ''MinorityReport'', Anderton must first dispatch a group of his own pre-crime teammates, and then with a number of FBI agents. Though law enforcement is already mostly geared toward non-lethal weapons in this universe, Anderton takes more care to make sure none of his comrades are hurt too extensively.

* In ''{{Terminator}} 2: Judgement Day'', John Connor forbids the Terminator from killing the SWAT officers who are swarming the building. The Terminator follows orders, strictly speaking, but stops the cops anyway by [[TechnicalPacifist shooting them in their legs]].

* ''TransformersCybertron'': When Starscream's army is spread out searching and the Autobots are working to try and beat them back, the US Military launches several remote-control drone jets to attack. They are unaware of the different factions at this time, and shoot at Autobot and Decepticon alike. But in spite of taking fire from two directions the Autobots only fire on the Decepticons. Col. Franklin observes this and points it out to SecretKeeper [[HotScientist Lucy Suzuki]], assuaging her brief worry that the Autobots had been deceiving her. The episode comes off as something of a TakeThat to how Autobot-Human military relationships tend to go in the Transformers comics.

* In DanAbnett's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} {{Eisenhorn}} novels, Eisenhorn has to kill several fellow Inquisitors, because they were set on his trail by a rogue Inquisitor and if he dies, no one will stop the rogue. He feels it very hard.