History PetTheDog / Literature

** Subverted in the third book of ''Literature/TheImmortals''. Emperor Ozorne genuinely loves and cares about his songbird menagerie (that's why Daine is there, because they've taken sick). His nephew Kaddar, though, complains that Ozorne cares way more about the birds than the actual people of Carthak and Ozorne winds up being the BigBad.

** Subverted again in the second ''Literature/BekaCooper'' book. BigBad Pearl Skinner likes dogs, and she's quite outraged when Beka tells how she separated scent hound Achoo from an abusive handler. Beka's a bit irritated to find that Pearl has ''one'' redeeming quality among her cruel, self-centered ruthlessness.
* In the first book of ''Literature/TheTraitorSonCycle'', de Vrailly's "angel" tells him that [[spoiler:the King of Alba is going to be killed in an ambush]], and that de Vrailly should take this opportunity to become the new king, as he's wanted. De Vrailly's code of honour, however, perseveres, and he [[spoiler:switches places with the King and almost dies in his stead]]. Unfurtunately, the "angel" spins it as a SecretTestOfCharacter, further securing de Vrailly's loyalty.

** Significant is Jaime Lannister, who is the only member of his immediate family to show any kindness to his brother Tyrion. [[spoiler:He gets a few more as the series progresses.]]

** Lord Vetinari has several pet the dog moments -- most related to his ancient terrier Wuffles, and more recently, Mr. Fusspot. It said that, once a week, Vetinari goes to the grave of the late Wuffles and puts a dog biscuit on it. Yes, the tyrant of Ankh-Morpork, trained at the Assassin's Guild and who would kill people without a second thought if he thought it was in the interests of the city, still cares for his dear little dog.

* Although Chichikov (the main character of ''Literature/DeadSouls'') is a cheapskate, the author informs us that he'll always give a copper to a beggar.
* It's easy to spot the hero of Creator/RobinMcKinley's ''Literature/{{Deerskin}}'' as heroic. Not because he's a prince of the blood (he is, but he didn't ask to be born one), not because he's tall and blond and heroically built (he's none of those), not because he gallops into battle on his mighty charger (he doesn't) ... but because he ''sits up at night with orphaned puppies''.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''
** Lord Vetinari has several pet the dog moments -- most related to his ancient terrier Wuffles, and more recently, Mr Fusspot.
*** Its said that, once a week, Vetinari goes to the grave of the late Wuffles and puts a dog biscuit on it. Yes, the tyrant of Ankh-Morpork, trained at the Assassin's Guild and who would kill people without a second thought if he thought it was in the interests of the city, still cares for his dear little dog.

* In ''Literature/DragonBones'' about the only nice thing Ward's abusive father ever did was to employ Stala, a woman, as trainer for his guard. She is ''good'', so this didn't affect him negatively; she is his wife's half-sister, so she's family; ''and'' he had an affair with her. It is unclear at which point in time the affair started, though.

--->'''Harry''' ''thinking:'' A direct promise from one of the Sidhe is a rare thing. A kindness is even rarer. But maybe I shouldn't have been surprised: Even in winter, the cold isn't always bitter, and not every day is cruel.

*** It is also revealed Mab celebrates Christmas and will give gifts and rewards to her loyal subjects who do well. [[spoiler:When it comes to Winter Knight Harry Dresden, she gifts him a gift for his daughter: A simple looking ring which will gift the wearer all the powers [[WesternAnimation/{{Frozen2013}} Elsa]] has until noon and play Elsa's signature song]].

** The reader can even use Azzur's care of the Serpent Queen (the lady with the snake head) to their advantage in ''Literature/{{City of Thieves|1983}}''. If the player character enters the Serpent Queen's home, they can avoid a fairly difficult fight by presenting her with flowers and saying they are from Lord Azzur. She takes the gift with delight and gives the player a small tip.
* In Joe Abercrombie's ''Literature/TheFirstLaw'': BloodKnight Ferro about to kill TheIgor Severard because he was trailing her. When Ferro asks him for a reason why she shouldn't, Severard reflects and says that he's worth killing, but the birds he usually feeds don't deserve it. Considering both characters affinity for violence and the general brutality of the setting, both Severard having a love of feeding birds and Ferro not killing him as a result is a rare Pet the Dog moment in the series.
* In ''Literature/FromTheEarthToTheMoon'' by Creator/JulesVerne, the antagonist, Captain Nicholl, eventually challenges one of the protagonists, Mr. Barbicane, to a duel in the wilds of Florida. When two other protagonists try to stop the duel, how do they find Captain Nicholl? He has put his weapon aside, to save a small bird who has gotten stuck in a tarantula's net.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', we see that Narcissa Malfoy might be a snobby pureblood supremacist like her husband, but she still is willing to risk Voldemort's wrath to find Snape (who, at this point, is morally suspicious to the good guys, the bad guys, and the readers in general) and beg him to protect her son from the suicide mission he's been given. Bellatrix, meanwhile, cements herself as a monster by dismissing Narcissa's fears and panic as her failing to realize what an honor her son was granted.
** This is taken even further in the final book. Narcissa is the one who [[spoiler: checks Harry's body after Voldemort used the Killing Curse on him. Of course she realizes he is alive, but she does not reveal this information to Voldemort. Instead, she asks him one question: ''Is Draco alive?'' At Harry's confirmation of her son's welfare, she turns to Voldemort and, with a completely straight face, lies through her teeth. This action leads almost directly to Voldemort's demise.]]

** Subverted in the case of Mad-Eye Moody. After he seriously upsets Neville on his first day of class, he invites the kid for tea, talks to him about Herbology (the one class Neville is very good at), and loans him a book about magical plants of the Mediterranean. [[spoiler:We later find out that "Moody" was secretly one of the people who tortured Neville's parents to insanity and only gave him the book as a way for Harry to figure out how to beat the Second Task, to get him one step closer to the plan to resurrect Voldemort.]]
** Filch's best known redeeming quality is his love for his cat, Mrs. Norris. Of course, most of the students hate her almost as much as they hate her owner.
*** Filch is also more fond of the school than he's willing to admit. His status as a [[MuggleBornOfMages Squib]] would have barred him from attending classes, or even living at Hogwarts, if Dumbledore had not showed pity for him. Thus, Filch chooses to stay and fight at Hogwarts during the Last Battle [[BadassNormal even though he has no magic.]] And when the Battle is over, [[spoiler: he resumes his duties as groundskeeper by quietly and respectfully tidying up the hallways so the wizards who died in battle have a proper resting place.]]
** While Voldemort seems to actually care for his giant monster-snake Nagini, it is not known if it out of genuine empathy for another being or just because he [[spoiler:[[SoulJar put a piece of his soul into her]]]]. As Dumbledore puts it, "he is as fond of her as he can be of anything." {{Subverted}}, however, with [[TheDragon Bellatrix]]: she's utterly devoted to him and he at times seems to care about her, but [[BaitTheDog other times he makes it clear that he doesn't]].

* To distinguish Literature/JamesBond from his enemies, and show he is morally better than them despite also being a killer, Creator/IanFleming gave him a great empathy for animals. In ''Literature/{{Thunderball}}'' this even extends to a barracuda that tried to eat him; he's noticeably upset when he sees the fish has been mortally wounded by a depth charge detonated by the bad guys.

* "Literature/MyDinnerWithAres": When [[TheGrimReaper Ogbunabali's]] presence aggravates a man's preexisting heart condition, he causally wills it so that the condition won't kill him for another few years.
* In Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literature/OrdealInOtherwhere'', Jagan is clearly distressed by Sheeha's insanity, and Charis suspects they were close before it.

* ''Literature/TheRunningMan'': Early in the novel, Richards manages to convince an asshole cop to give him some money for a phone call to his family. The man adds that if he tells anyone that he's a "softy", he'll come back and kick Richards' ass.
* In ''Literature/TheSapphireRose'' by Creator/DavidEddings, Sparhawk arrives for the showdown with his former friend-turned-nemesis, Martel. As they prepare for a final fight to the death, Sparhawk reveals that [[spoiler:his beloved squire, Kurik,]] was killed by one of Martel's lieutenants. Martel is stricken by the news and offers his sincere condolences, remarking that he'd always liked that person and is genuinely sorry to hear of their death.
* Blake Snyder's ''Save the Cat: The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need'' doesn't just discuss this trope -- he's the alternate TropeNamer.

** Significant is Jaime Lannister, who is the only member of his immediate family to show any kindness to his brother Tyrion. [[spoiler: He gets a few more as the series progresses.]]
** Jaqen H'ghar pets Arya. [[spoiler: Which is horrific news for several of the nastier villains]].

** Melisandre's creepy magic and morally dubious methods (including assassination and human sacrifice) frequently put her in conflict with King Stannis' other advisor, the loyal and upright Davos Seaworth. But in ''A Dance With Dragons'', she tries to keep Davos' 12-year-old son out of danger because she feels sorry for Davos and doesn't think he needs to suffer any more grief.

* "The Staff in the Stone", by Creator/GarthNix: When Colrean first moves to a rural area, the locals identify him as a magician because he [[SpeaksFluentAnimal speaks to the village dogs]], and as a ''good'' magician because he speaks to them kindly.
* Franchise/StarWarsLegends:

** ''Literature/SplinterOfTheMindsEye'': Zigzagged when AntagonisticGovernor Grammel (who WouldHitAGirl) expresses gratitude to a medic who just treated his wounds and offers her whatever she wants. What she wants is for him [[YouHaveFailedMe not to execute the guards who let his prisoners escape.]] Grammel seems unhappy with the request but muses that he needs every available soldier for the upcoming fight anyway, and agrees not to execute anyone.

* ''Literature/StarWarsLostStars'': ''Grand Moff Tarkin'', of all people. When he catches young Ciena and Thane playing near his personal shuttle, he gives them a personal tour and inspires them to join the Imperial military when they grow up. Of course, it was probably just to gain future recruits.

* Played straight and subverted a few times in the ''Literature/TortallUniverse'' by Creator/TamoraPierce:

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' novel ''Lord of the Clans'', Grom Hellscream chastises his fellow orcs for kidnapping a child, since that was not how warriors acted.

* One could argue that the entire Literature/GauntsGhosts and Literature/CiaphasCain ('''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!''') book series of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' are extended Pet the Dog moments for the entire Imperium of Man, showing unmodified, poorly equipped, (relatively) poorly trained human beings fighting wholeheartedly for the Imperium and the Emperor, and that many of them are genuinely good people with noble motivations, forced to fight horrors beyond comprehension by sane minds.
** In fact most games, books, whatever that are about one planet or army will be this.

* Within ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' series:

* In the Indian novel ''Literature/TheWhiteTiger'': Even though Balram [[spoiler:kills Mr. Ashok and shamelessly bribes the police to start his own business]], he does have his moments, such as taking his nephew Dharam to the zoo and [[spoiler:compensating the family of the boy one of his taxi drivers killed]]. %% This comment was added automatically by FELH2. In case the wording doesn't make sense, rewrite it as you like and tell this troper.

* In ''Literature/WolfHall'', the Duke of Norfolk hates Cromwell (indeed, he and Stephen Gardiner were responsible for Cromwell's fall and execution after the Anne of Cleves affair) and even when he visits during Cromwell's fever, it's implied that he's ''disappointed'' not to find him dying. Still, he does get one moment approaching kindness the day after Henry loudly and publicly accuses Cromwell of disloyalty by simply asking "all right, lad?" at the next council meeting.

* In ''Literature/EarthTheBook'', the authors (this book is jokingly intended to be read by aliens who visit Earth long after we're all gone) take time to give Pet's a special section when discussing animals, and end their notes saying, "we're good boys. yes they were."

* In Creator/DorothyGilman's ''Literature/TheClairvoyantCountess'', Madame Karitska sends Lt. Pruden away because she has an appointment. It's a small boy who has lost his kitten, which is also something of importance.

* ''Literature/TheCatWhoSeries'': Qwill engages in this as frequently as circumstances allow. If he likes someone, he will go to great lengths to contribute to their happiness and well-being. One example: after the death of Junior Goodwinter's father, his mother auctions off practically everything they own, including a family heirloom desk which had been promised to Junior. Qwill defiantly outbids every challenger in order to purchase the desk, so he can give to Junior as a wedding gift when he marries his sweetheart Jodie.

** Horribly subverted in one chapter of the fifth book: the viewpoint character is a {{mook}} whose plan is going [[YouHaveFailedMe dangerously badly]], and who is thinking about how he would much rather be back home instead and how much he misses his [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes beloved sister.]] Then the plan fails completely and he has to kill an accomplice to cover his tracks; and as he's disposing of the body at the end of the chapter he goes back to reminiscing about his sister, and what a pity it was that she discovered what he was and would have exposed him...
** A similar subversion occurs with a minor villain who has been causing a lot of trouble for the protagonists, yet persistently failed to capture them as per his mission. He's been told that as long as he continues to fail, [[AndYourLittleDogToo members of his family will periodically be killed in horrific ways]] until there are none left. In a segment from his viewpoint, he expresses considerable grief and horror over this, but when a representative of the dark side appears, he immediately begins to babble about how many relatives he has left.

** In a fairly literal example, one Black Ajah Sister -- a DeepCoverAgent of the GodOfEvil in the Aes Sedai MagicalSociety -- goes out of her way to feed and {{Heal|ingHands}} stray animals, particularly cats. Given the sort of things she does to human beings, it says more about her MoralMyopia than about any sort of HiddenHeartOfGold.