Line #37 Main/MakingTheChoiceForYou


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6	->''"And in the middle of this, before anything had been said outright or any decisions made (before fire would make those decisions for them), right then, mid-waltz, they heard explosions in the distance, and looked down to see, in firelight, the Greek Army in full retreat."''
7	-->-- ''Literature/{{Middlesex}}''
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9	Making a choice isn't easy for some people. Sometimes making one choice can [[InnocentlyInsensitive hurt someone's feelings when you didn't mean to]], cause a MoralDilemma about what's right, and in some cases a hero can suffer a HeroicBSOD because of it, asking themselves WasItReallyWorthIt
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11	Then there are situations where someone has to make a difficult choice that is too much for someone or their personality makes choosing something hard. In dramatic example: The BigBad has TheHero in a HostageForMacGuffin situation, or a character is presented with a SadisticChoice where there is no ability to TakeAThirdOption. [[DidntSeeThatComing Then something unexpected happens]]: the hostage [[MoreExpendableThanYou offs themselves]] to save TheHero that choice or someone else suddenly leaps in and chooses for TheHero. A PsychoSupporter PsychoSidekick is particularly likely to intervene in these situations.
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13	In a more comedic example: Bob is trying to figure out what to eat between hawaiian pizza, or pepperoni pizza. Knowing it'll take Bob a while to figure it out, Alice simply tells Bob to order the pepperoni pizza, which Bob goes along with as a result.
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15	This is what we call Making The Choice For You. See SadisticChoice for examples of what puts a character here. Compare and contrast TakeAThirdOption where a character is able to find a solution that exists outside the two obvious choices. When someone is presented with options but they both force you to make the same choice, see ButThouMust. If a more pragmatic hero takes on the deed that the hero is reluctant to do, it's SparingThemTheDirtyWork. If the villain or TokenEvilTeammate themselves make the choice for the hero, see BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork. When this is used to solve a MoralDilemma, it's an example of a DebateAndSwitch. When someone accepts slavery because this trope will be in play and they find it liberating, it's FreedomFromChoice.
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17	This trope is often used for RuleOfDrama but can also be used for RuleOfFunny. The situation itself does not have to be fatal, so long as a tough decision is made by another character. Due to the nature of this trope, be warned for spoilers.
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19	!!Examples:
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21	[[AC:Anime and Manga]]
22	* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'':
23	** ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond is Unbreakable]]'': During the final battle, [[spoiler:Yoshikage Kira, puts a bomb onto the body of Josuke's friend Okuyasu thanks to his Stand, Killer Queen. Josuke wants to use the HealingHands power of his Stand to save Okuyasu before he dies for real, but since he would need to touch Okuyasu to do, he'd be blown up by it and die. Torn between trying to heal his friend and very likely die, or let Okuyasu die, Josuke isn't sure what to do at first. Seeing this, [[TagAlongKid Hayato]] leaps and grabs Okuyasu, blowing himself up, which allows Josuke to heal him right away, thus allowing him to heal Okuyasu safely]].
24	** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureSteelBallRun Steel Ball Run]]'': When caught by Pork Pie's Wired, Johnny is unable to attack with Gyro being used as a shield and is forced to give up the corpse part. [[spoiler:Once he hands it over, Gyro utilizes Johnny's Tusk by passing it onto the fingers of the corpse part, therefore letting him attack and taking down Pork Pie]].
25	* The main issue of the first season of ''Anime/PsychoPass'' is what TheHero Akane Tsunemori should do about the BigBad Shogo Makishima. On one hand Akane believes he's too dangerous to be kept alive, but on the other [[spoiler:if he becomes part of the Sibyl System it could lead to the system becoming much more capable of fixing what flaws it does have]]. Ultimately though Akane never personally makes the final say; [[spoiler:Shinya Kogami is the one who kills Makishima]].
26	** Early in the first season Akane is presented with a SadisticChoice from Makishima: [[spoiler: Shoot him with a real gun, or he'll kill her best friend. Akane grabs the gun and wants to shoot but her own moral code of not taking a life causes her to hesitate. Seeing this, Makishima, disappointed in her, kills her best friend.]]
27	* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': This is what triggered Nagato's FaceHeelTurn and his transformation into Pain. Back when he, Konan and Yahiko founded Akatsuki, they were lured into a trap by Hanzo of the Salamander (who was in cahoots with Danzo Shimura of Konoha) under a false pretense of peace negotiations. Hanzo took Konan hostage and threatened to kill her unless Nagato killed Yahiko. Nagato hesitated, so Yahiko instead jumped into Nagato's kunai to make the choice for him.
28	* A [[NightmareFuel horrifying example]] occurs in ''Manga/TokyoGhoul''. TheProtagonist Kaneki Ken has been captured by [[BigBad the Aogiri branch]] and is being tortured by [[AxCrazy Yamori]]. To further break Kaneki, Yamori brings in a captured human lady and her daughter and tells him to choose which he'll spare. Kaneki, being a AllLovingHero whose [[ExtremeDoormat afraid to hurt people and believes it's better to "be hurt then to hurt others"]], can't make the choice. [[spoiler:Yamori, angered by this, murders both.]] This scene was changed in the Anime. Instead it's a Ghoul couple who'd promised to help rescue him that he has to choose between and just like the above example, [[spoiler:Kaneki refuses to decide, so Yamori kills them both]].
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30	[[AC:Fan Works]]
31	* ''Fanfic/TheLastSon'': Subverted in the climax of Book 3, after the heroes manage to lead General Zod into a trap to depower him, they're left with the problem on how they're going to deal with him, since he's too dangerous to be kept alive but at the same time Superman [[ThouShaltNotKill does not want to kill him]]. Wolverine is more than willing to finish him off instead, but the choice is rendered moot when General Lassider decides to launch a Kryptonite nuke at them. Superman does manage to TakeAThirdOption, ordering Sentrius to open a Phantom Zone singularity and giving Zod the choice to get inside to save his own life, or stay out and get killed by the nuke, while he and the other heroes escape from ground zero.
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33	[[AC:Film - Animated]]
34	* When, in ''WesternAnimation/PussInBoots'', Puss has to choose between [[spoiler:saving Humpty and the golden goose from falling, Humpty lets go and falls to his death. He even says: "I won't make you choose."]]
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36	[[AC:Film - Live-Action]]
37	* In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', the Joker rigs two ferries to explode and leaves the detonator for each on the other ship. He informs the passengers that they need to blow up the other ship (one of which contains civilians, the other full of convicts) or their own ship will blow up. While the authorities on the convict ship try to decide what to do, one of the convicts menaces them into handing over the detonator and takes the decision out of their hands -- by throwing it overboard, ensuring the civilians' safety.
38	* ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'': British agent [[Characters/JamesBond James Bond]] is handcuffed to a ticking nuclear bomb, and has only seconds to figure out how to disarm it. He's about to go for some wires when another arm reaches in and flicks an off switch. The arm belongs to American agent Felix Leiter.
39	* In ''Film/TheGunsOfNavarone'', its clear that TheMole must be killed if the operation is to succeed. Despite this Captain Mallory is reluctant to do so, but The Mole is killed by Maria before he can execute them.
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41	[[AC:Literature]]
42	* In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' ''Megamorphs #2: In The Time Of Dinosaurs'', the Animorphs get sent back to the dinosaur era and learn that two races of aliens - one good and one evil - live on Earth. The Animorphs steal a nuke from the evil aliens intending to recreate the incident that sent them back in time so they can return to the future, but then the good aliens ask if 'they' can use the nuke to destroy a meteor that's heading for Earth. The Animorphs hand the nuke over, only for Tobias to reveal after it's launched that he had Ax sabotage it. Tobias realized that they're at the end of the age of dinosaurs, that the meteor heading for Earth is 'supposed' to wipe out the dinosaurs and the aliens, and that if it doesn't then the future will change and mankind will probably never come to be. Tobias chose to have Ax sabotage the nuke without telling Jake, Rachel, Marco or Cassie until it was too late to spare them the guilt of having to choose to do so themselves.
43	* In the end of ''Literature/FarRainbow'', the inhabitants of the dying title planet are having a huge debate about who should be evacuated on the sole available spaceship, when TheCaptain of said ship, Leonid Gorbovsky, reveals that he had already ordered his crew to take every child on Rainbow on board, along with the most important pieces of art and research, leaving all adults behind to die. As the crowd silently accepts this decision and begins to disperse, Gorbovsky muses on how, despite all the progress humanity has made, it's still a very human thing to be relieved when someone else makes a hard choice for you.
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45	[[AC:Live-Action Television]]
46	* The ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' episode "Sad Sack" has the FBI realize that Michael knows where his fugitive father is. They later discover a picture of what appears to be a map of Iraq showing the locations of [=WMDs=]. They give Michael a choice: turn in his father for treason (even though he claims innocence) or go to jail instead (even though his father is guilty of so much more). He's about to announce his decision with lawyer Barry present when Barry sees the picture for the first time. He points out something that renders the decision moot: the picture is actually a close-up of Tobias' genitals. The FBI withdraws their ultimatum out of embarrassment.
47	* Pierce from ''Series/{{Community}}'' becomes much more erratic during season two. In the finale, the study group holds a vote whether or not to kick him out. Their first vote is inconclusive because it's not unanimous. Afterwards, Pierce ends up saving the day and the study group takes him back with open arms. He quits instead. (But returns without question at the start of season three.)
48	* ''Series/{{Jessica Jones\|2015}}''. In "AKA 1,000 Cuts", Hope realizes that Jessica's biggest hurdle in taking down [[BigBad Kilgrave]] is that Jessica wants to take him alive so she can prove his powers in order to exonerate Hope, who killed her parents under Kilgrave's direction. Hope takes this dilemma out of Jessica's hands by [[spoiler:killing herself]].
49	* ''Series/SamuraiGourmet'': Kasumi is ''just'' about to tell off the noisy café patrons for [[JapanesePoliteness bothering everyone]], but the waitress beats him to it. Thus she gets to be the real "samurai" of the episode.
50	* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}''. In "The Wizard," George is torn on the decision of whether to have his parents continue to live in New York so he can still have access to their money, or have them move to Florida so he can be rid of them and bask in freedom. He eventually decides to go with the former, only to have his parents announce they're going with the latter; George reminds them that they left the decision up to him, but Estelle tells him, "we were just being nice."
51	* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Empath": The Vians give Captain Kirk a SadisticChoice: which of his officers will be subjected to torture. If Dr. [=McCoy=] is chosen there's an 87% chance he will die, but if Spock is chosen there's a 93% chance he will suffer permanent insanity (a FateWorseThanDeath to the intellectual Vulcan). Dr. [=McCoy=] makes the decision for Kirk by injecting him with a sedative, then injects Spock with a sedative when he decides to sacrifice himself and go.
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53	[[AC:Video Games]]
54	* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' can potentially have this happen twice, and both times it's the same character doing it for you.
55	** During the Landsmeet, regardless of how well you did things [[spoiler:Loghain]] forces a DuelBoss against you (unless you messed up badly, in which case it's a absolute chaotic battle between everyone) and after he's defeated you are presented with a choice: Kill him, or make him a Grey Warden. [[spoiler:However, if Alistair is the one you pick to fight him, Alistair outright kills Loghain without any chance for the player to decide.]]
56	** In the normal ending, you have to decide who among the Grey Wardens in your party (your PlayerCharacter, Alistair, or [[spoiler:Loghain]]) will sacrifice their life in order to kill the Archdemon for good. [[spoiler:However, if you have romanced Alistair, did not order him to participate in Morrigan's ritual, and did not leave him behind to hold the Denerim gates, he will charge off to kill the Archdemon on his own, denying you the option to sacrifice your life for him.]]
57	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'':
58	** Chrom is forced into a SadisticChoice early on by ArcVillain Gangrel: Either give him [[MacGuffin the Fire Emblem]], or he'll execute Chrom's older sister Emmeryn, whose also the ruler of Ylisse. Chrom is hesitant in what to do and considers giving the Fire Emblem over to save Emmeryn. [[spoiler: Emmeryn however willingly falls to her death rather then make Chrom decide, since the Fire Emblem is too important for him to give up.[[note]]It gets better, Emmeryn survived the fall but she lost her memory.[[/note]]]]
59	** Later on Lucina discovers that the Avatar/Robin [[spoiler: is likely the one who betrays Chrom in the future and kills him since [[TheDragon Validar]] can control them. She then tries to kill the Avatar/Robin and the player is presented with a choice: Allow Lucina to do it, or refuse. Regardless of the players choice, Lucina hesitates long enough for Chrom to drop in and decide not kill the Avatar/Robin for Lucina]].
60	* [[DefiedTrope Defied]] in ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn''. The party makes a promise to the WiseTree Laurel that they won't power up the [[DoomsdayDevice Alchemy Dynamo]] [[spoiler:and bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt]]. After encountering the [[RocBirds Mountain Roc]] and completing their quest to obtain one of its feathers, the BigBadDuumvirate shows up and blackmails them into retrieving the orb necessary to power up the Dynamo from the Roc's stomach [[IHaveYourWife using the lives of party member Eoleo and a young girl as leverage]]. [[spoiler:The KnightTemplarBigBrother of the girl in question, their JerkWithAHeartOfGold traveling partner Prince Ryu Kou, then dramatically makes off with the orb and warns the party not to interfere [[TakingYouWithMe so it doesn't explode and kill them all]]. However, TeamMom Karis suggests that he's taking responsibility for whatever happens so that the others don't have to feel guilty about breaking their promise to Laurel [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom and playing into the villains' hands]]. However, he angrily retorts that he doesn't care about any of that and just wants his sister back.]]
61	* The player has several choices to make in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis''. (For example, if the Nemesis corners you in a newspaper office, do you set off a trap or dive out of the window?) If you take too long to decide, the game makes the choice for you.
62	* At roughly the halfway point of ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia2'' Ludger gets hit with a SadisticChoice while on the ESS Pelune. [[spoiler: Ether he tries to save Alt Milla from falling to what will likely be her death, or drop her and go save Elle from [[HateSink Rideaux]]. If the player tries to save Alt Milla and her RelationshipValues is high enough though, she willingly lets go so the real Milla Maxwell can return and so Ludger can save Elle.]]
63	* ''VideoGame/TalesOfZestiria'':
64	** Following the battle with the corrupted Cardinal Forton the party tries to purify her only to discover that because of how corrupted and sure of herself she is, they can't do it. Sorey as a result finds himself unsure if killing her is right or if he should try to purify her again. [[spoiler: Before he can MercyKill her though, Rose stabs and kills her to prevent Sorey from dealing with the guilt of having to do it]].
65	** {{Defied}} during the FinalBoss. [[spoiler:Sorey and Mikleo are faced with a SadisticChoice of killing Gramps, who Heldalf has absorbed, or try to defeat Heldalf which means they'll leave him to suffer in agony till Heldalf dies. Rose attempts to do it for them but [[ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself Sorey and Mikleo prevent her because they want to save Gramps]].]]
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67	[[AC:Web Comics]]
68	* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': A massive-scale version is revealed to have happened in the JustBeforeTheEnd era. [[spoiler:At some point, the options with dealing with the Rash were letting the patients die or give them an unfinished cure whose side effects are ultimately lethal. The "possibly turning into a zombie" complication attached to the Rash made people in charge decide to get the cure to as many people as possible without informing anyone of the side effects.]]
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Context Main / MakingTheChoiceForYou