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Jane: Just do it. We don't wanna hear your little speech. Just fucking do it.
Lady Trieu: Do... what?
Jane: You're gonna kill us, right?
Lady Trieu: Oh, yeah. Of course I am.

A situation where a defeated character, in a battle to death, requests to be killed by the victor.

The reasons for this scenario vary depending on the story. Maybe the defeated character is gravely wounded; they have no reinforcements and can expect no rescue; perhaps they face an overwhelming force they have no hope of triumph over. Either way, the defeated character is waiting for their final moments. But the victor is taking an unreasonably long time. Defiant to the End, cue the scream from the defeated character: "JUST GET IT OVER WITH THIS!". Bonus points if the defeated character asks the victor why they're taking so long to finish them.

This scenario has two outcomes, either the character is promptly executed, or spared. If spared, it turns out that the defeated character's life was never in danger to begin with. Perhaps their enemy is honorable and/or impressed by their courage, the defeated character passed a Secret Test of Character, or perhaps it's because they need the defeated character. Or maybe they were mistaken about who was their enemy, because of the way they were lied to about this character. Or perhaps they know that they'd rather die than suffer the humiliation of having to live with the loss.

Can be a form of Shut Up, Hannibal! or Shut Up, Kirk! In which case, it may give the hero or villain an opening to turn the tables — partly because it's commonly the most egotistical villains or sanctimonious heroes that inspire it. Compare Sword over Head. Contrast You Will Be Spared and Villains Want Mercy. It might serve to Wring Every Last Drop Out of the Villain.

May overlap with Kill Me Now, or Forever Stay Your Hand. If someone else asks, it's Kill Him Already!; if someone else orders, Finish Him!; If someone asks to be killed because they can't kill themselves, it's I Cannot Self-Terminate. See also Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?. Contrast Face Death with Dignity, Scheherezade Gambit, Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred!. Compare Bolivian Army Ending, where the characters are defeated, but refuse to die without a fight.

As a Death Trope, all spoilers are off, so proceed with caution. You Have Been Warned.


Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Anime & Manga 
  • In Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, Capt. Packard manages to fry Shiro's cameras, blinding him in the middle of combat. As Shiro fumbles around for a spare circuit to repair the camera, his Gundam shakes violently. When nothing actually happens, he screams "Just finish me already!", believing that Packard is playing with him before killing him. He's not, he's actually using Shiro's Gundam as a shield against the rest of the 08th Team, who have just arrived to help.
  • One Piece:
    • Big Bad Captain Morgan is revealed to have been a part of Captain Kuro's backstory, when Kuro massacred an entire ship that Morgan had been part of the crew of, leaving only Morgan alive. Morgan then pulls this, only for Kuro to reveal that he needs Morgan alive as part of his plan to fake his own death. Thanks to hypnosis, Morgan doesn't remain aware of this long.
    • Daddy Masterson also does this after losing a duel with Yassop, a member of Shank's pirate crew and Usopp's father. Yassop spares him upon realizing that Masterson had a daughter; having abandoned his own family to be a pirate, Yassop reasons that "One useless father like me in the world is more than enough", and further justifies it by pointing out that pirates don't have to kill unless they feel like it.

    Comic Books 
  • In Deathstroke, a young assassin named Janissary came after Deathstroke. The fight ended with Janissary's hanging by one hand from a bridge with Deathstroke standing over him and telling Deathstroke to end it. Deathstroke retorts that if J wants him to kill him, J will have to hire him.
  • Hillbilly: Lucille the bear catches a fish, who pleads for its life. Lucille counterargues that sparing it out of pity and allowing it to die an ignominious death of old age would be an insult to one so great. The fish decides to Face Death with Dignity, acknowledging that "Your points are valid. Finish me quick, bear."
  • Rose Walker from The Sandman (1989); she is a vortex of the Dreaming and it is within Morpheus' obligations to kill her, and after apologizing for the nth time she just tells him to shut up and do it. Played straight in that her grandmother, the original vortex, appears to take her place.
  • Starfire's Revenge: Believing that Supergirl is about to murder him, Rodney Marlowe tells her to get it over with. Annoyed, Kara tells him to stop spouting stupidity.
    Rodney Marlowe: All right, get it over with!
    Supergirl: With what?
    Rodney Marlowe: Why, killing me, too! That's what you brought me out here for, isn't it? Lonely woods — no witnesses!
    Supergirl: Oh, stop talking nonsense!

    Fan Works 
  • Are You Afraid of the Dark? (Worm): When Danny aka "The Dark" has Hookwolf pinned and about to be crushed, he offers the chance for Any Last Words?, and is told, "Just do it!"
    He stared Death in the eye, and the Dark stared back.
  • Between My Brother and Me: Mors Omnibus has Yusho tell Yvonne to "Do it. Now." but is interrupted by Yuya appearing. At first, one assumes that, given how he's looking at the mark on Yvonne's hand — which allows her to turn someone the mark touches into a puppet — he wants her to transform him into a puppet (for whatever reason). Actually, he's requesting that Yvonne kill him to get him ready to be the Dark Signer of Wiraqocha Rasca which she does after their duel finishes.
  • In Bound (How to Train Your Dragon), Hiccup expects Astrid to march over and kill him when Stoick tells him that he was betrothed to her. When he sees her later, he only asks that she makes it quick and painless.
  • Greyjoy Alla Breve: Joffrey has this reaction when Ramsay Bolton visits him in his cell, after sending him tons of threatening letters and photos. Instead, after some time, Ramsay leaves... not, as Joffrey thinks, because he's planning to do something horrific, but because he was beginning to pity Joffrey, and knew that actually torturing him would not be worth the effort.
  • In The Keys Stand Alone: The Soft World, John traps a number of adventurers neck-deep in mud and Ringo goes to talk to them. While he's standing there wondering what to say, one of the adventurers says to him, in effect, "Hurry up and torture us and get it over with already!" Since Ringo is an Actual Pacifist, his response is a Flat "What".
  • Neon Genesis Evangelion: Genocide: When Ritsuko finally confronts Gendo, he calmly says she should just get it over with, and then he adds he could not care less for her reasons for betraying him.
    "You should get it over with," he said calmly.
    Ritsuko stepped forward, her face clenched in anger. Her green eyes bristled with hatred. "Bastard! You don't even care to know why?"
    "No."

    Films — Animated 
  • DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family: Jason (as Red Robin) tells this to Two-Face, as the latter is about to shoot him if the viewer has Harvey's coin come up the scarred side. In reaction to this, Harv decides on Cruel Mercy instead, giving a "Reason You Suck" Speech to Jason and concluding that letting Jason live with his failures is a Fate Worse than Death.
  • Firing Range is about a telepathic tank that attacks on sensing the enemy's hostility or fear, using the things he's most afraid of to identify fatal weaknesses. One soldier becomes so exhausted trying to stay alive that he collapses in front of the tank and tells it to just go ahead and kill him. The tank doesn't move and he bursts into laughter, realising it won't attack because it doesn't sense his fear. Until he remembers his earlier fear of being crushed under its tracks...
  • Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole: Ezylryb gets beaten by Metalbeak and Nyra in a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown. As Metalbeak pins him down, Ezylryb glares at him and dares him to do it.
    Ezylryb: Be done with it then.
  • During the climax of Shrek the Third, Shrek asks The Evil Prince Charming to kill him first and then sing, much to the amusement of Charming's captive audience.

    Films — Live-Action 
  • At the end of Breaker Morant, Harry and Major Thomas face a firing squad after being found guilty of atrocities ordered by their superiors during the Boer War. Just before they're executed, Harry yells out "Shoot straight, ya bastards! Don't make a mess of it!"
  • Done by the villains in The Cabin in the Woods. The two surviving protagonists are creeping through the Elaborate Underground Base when the voice of the as-yet-unseen Director comes over the speakers, explaining how their deaths are Necessarily Evil. Meanwhile on Ominous Multiple Screens, we see Faceless Goons racing to kill them.
    Director: It's our task to placate the Ancient Ones, as it's yours to be offered up to them. (sound of tramping feet as goons approach) Forgive us, and let us get it over with.
  • The final scene of The Departed features a low-key version as Sullivan returns to his luxury apartment to find Dignam wearing hospital slippers over his shoes to disguise his footprints and holding a loaded gun, ready to avenge his dead comrades (even the ones he never liked). Having known his crimes would catch up with him eventually, Sullivan, in a tone of almost disgusted resignation, sighs, "Okay." Dignam promptly shoots him in the head and makes a quick getaway.
  • The Duellists. After d'Hubert wins the final duel, Feraud eggs him on to kill him. D'Hubert lets him live with his defeat instead.
  • In the film Patriot Games, as the Irish terrorists rescue their leader and begin executing the guards who were escorting him to prison, the leader asks the police inspector in command, Robert Highlands, if he has anything to say.
    Insp. Highlands: "Just get on with it and be on your way."
  • Stalingrad (1993). The soldiers find captured Soviet sniper Irina tied to a bed for use as a 'comfort woman' by German officers. As Hans dithers over whether to help her or rape her, she loses patience and screams, "Either fuck me or shoot me!" Hans gives her his pistol and tells her to go ahead and shoot herself, but she's unable to. Hans lets her escape instead.
  • A Deleted Scene from Suicide Squad (2016) shows a furious Harleen Quinzel confronting Joker for not taking her as his lover after everything she had done for him. She pulls out one of his guns from his coat and points it at his head (after shooting a loudmouth trucker). Joker repeatedly tells her to "do it". Harleen is on the verge of tears that being in love frightens him, yet the threat of death doesn't.
  • In Terminator Salvation, when it seems the T-800 is about to kill John Connor, he defiantly yells at it, "Do it! You son of a bitch!"
  • Thor: The Dark World: Loki is brought before Odin after his attempt to take over Midgard, and Odin starts by dressing him down. Unaware until after the fact that Frigga has pulled strings to have him be kept alive, Loki asks that "If I'm for the axe, then for mercy's sake, just swing it."
  • In The Wild Bunch, they are riding away after a massively cocked-up holdup, and one of the wounded Bunch (who was shot in the face) pleads with Pike to "Please...just ki—" (Pike shoots him before he even says it.) Which cues the following exchange:
    Pike: You boys want to move on or stay here and give him a... decent burial?
    Tector: He was a good man, and I think we oughta bury him.
    Pike: He's dead! And he's got a lot of good men back there to keep him company!
    Lyle: Too damn many!
    Dutch: [removes his hat] I think the boys are right. I'd like to say a few words for the dear, dead departed. And maybe a few hymns'd be in order. Followed by a church supper. With a choir!
    Lyle: You crazy bastards! Both of ya!
  • At the end of Zulu, after a full day of desperate fighting, the Zulu have gathered on the surrounding hills, chanting. The commanding British officer gets sick of their apparent taunting and shouts for them to just attack already, whereupon their Boer guide explains that that is actually a salute, for their courage... and everyone breaks down laughing with relief.

    Literature 
  • Percy Jackson and the Olympians: In The Last Olympian, Percy interrupts a (divine!) quarrel to tell them that if they mean to kill him, they should get on with it.
  • In The Pilgrim's Regress, John meets Death in a mountain pass on a stormy night. John realizes that it has been the fear of death that has motivated him his entire life. Death hammers home that he only has two choices:
    "What am I to do?" said John.
    "Which you choose," said the Voice. "Jump, or be thrown. Shut your eyes, or have them bandaged by force. Give in or struggle."
    "I would sooner do the first, if I could."
    "Then I am your servant and no more your master. The cure of death is dying. He who lays down his liberty in that act receives it back."
  • The Saga of the Jomsvikings: The fourth Jomsviking to be beheaded, when he is asked how he feels about dying, replies that he is content to die the same way as his father did, and tells the executioner to "slash away!"
  • In "The Scarlet Citadel", Conan the Barbarian, facing a giant snake, stands still out of instinct; reason would have told him to get it over with by provoking the snake into an attack.
  • Sherlock Holmes: Colonel Moran would rather go straight to jail and skip the bit where Sherlock gloats over his capture with an extended tiger-hunting metaphor.
    "You may or may not have just cause for arresting me," said he, "but at least there can be no reason why I should submit to the gibes of this person. If I am in the hands of the law let things be done in a legal way."
  • Sienkiewicz Trilogy:
    • In The Deluge, as Andrzej Kmicic (who's not a hero yet) duels the deceptively short Master Swordsman MichaÅ‚ WoÅ‚odyjowski, he gets a Curb-Stomp Battle and is reduced to begging to be spared the humiliation. WoÅ‚odyjowski obliges (and then leaves before Kmicic is quite dead, allowing the rest of the plot to happen).
    • In the opening duel of Potop, Kmicic eventually just tells WoÅ‚odyjowski (his opponent, who has spent three minutes utterly humiliating him in swordplay without even hitting him once) to just finish it and save him further shame. Two seconds later, Kmicic is downed.
  • In Small Favor, when Harry defeats the gruff at Union Station, it tells him to finish it. Twice. Whereupon Harry says he does not kill unless necessary, much to the shock of the gruff, who had assumed he was actually in Winter Court.
  • A Song of Ice and Fire:
    • In A Clash of Kings, the rangers want captive wildling warrior Ygritte executed, to which Jon Snow objects and wants to spare Ygritte's life because she yielded, but Qhorin Halfhand gives this task to Jon. Jon Snow tries to ready himself to execute her, which he is reluctant to do both on account of her gender and because she had surrendered. Ygritte, who faces death with equanimity although it's plain she'd rather not die, finally tells him to hurry up and get it over with because she "can't stay brave forever." Jon can't bring himself to kill Ygritte and saves her life by letting her go.
    • Tyrion is in his cell waiting for execution. When someone opens the door, he says, "Come on you son of a whore, are you afraid of a dwarf?" However, it's his brother come to rescue him, so Jaime just says that's no way to talk about their mother.
    • After Brienne cuts off the hand of a Dornish sellsword, he cries "Finish it. Send me back to Dorne, you bloody bitch!" She obliges.
  • An even darker variation of this occurs in Peter David's novelization of Spider-Man, during a moment that's quite a bit of an Adaptation Deviation from the film. Upon realizing that Uncle Ben's killer is the same man he could've stopped earlier, an emotionally-devastated Peter Parker makes no attempt to stop the carjacker from shooting him, and mentally tells him to just pull the trigger already. When it turns out that the carjacker is out of bullets, Peter screams out in anguish, causing the carjacker to back away from him in terror and fall out of a window to his death.
  • The Star Beast: Johnny's alien pet Lummox has been sentenced to death. Johnny helps Lummox escape, but they're hunted down and trapped. One of the pursuers approaches them.
    Johnnie found that tears were streaming down his face and that he could not stop them. "Go ahead!" he cried, his voice misbehaving. "Get it over with! He never meant any harm! So kill him quickly . . don't play cat-and-mouse with him." He broke down and sobbed, covering his face with his hands. [snip]
    The officer looked distressed. "What are you talking about, son? We aren't here to hurt him. We have orders to bring him in without a scratch on him—even if we lost men in the process. Craziest orders I ever had to carry out."
  • Star Wars Legends:
    • In the Tales of the Bounty Hunters anthology, there's a story about how Boba Fett escaped the Sarlacc. The Sarlacc, as the story reveals, is more or less sentient, sort of having the mind of its first victim, and preserves its victims for millennia, getting it to tell them their life stories and forcing them to relive the memories of others while being kept immobile and dissolving; it keeps them even after death. Fett, hearing this, demands to know why it doesn't just kill these people, is told/shown an old joke. It's about a farmer with a meat animal that has one leg missing, that apparently can sing and speak and take care of the farmer's children. Asked why it has a missing leg, the farmer says "A barve like that, you don't eat it all at once." Much later, after escaping and healing, Fett hovers in his ship with the weapons pointed at the Sarlacc, and it tells him You liberate me from the long Cycle. But he doesn't shoot it, and when it wants to know why, he repeats that joke's punchline.
    • When Bevel Lemelisk, the designer of the Death Star — who Emperor Palpatine had painfully killed and cloned back to life again and again for missing the flaw that got the Death Star destroyed — is finally executed by the New Republic, his last words are "Do it right this time."
  • In Twig, Sylvester, Jamie, and Lillian are trapped in the wartorn city of Lugh, and Sylvester, having given up hope of getting himself out, asks their enemy Reverend Mauer to Please Kill Me if It Satisfies You, even going to the point of trying to pull the trigger on Mauer's rifle himself in the hope that his death will spare Jamie and Lillian. He's then astonished when Mauer refuses him, instead opting to recruit the three into his forces.
  • Warhammer 40,000:
    • In the Ultramarines novel The Killing Ground, in their third ordeal, Leodegarius defeats Uriel and Pasanius, knocking Pasanius unconscious and leaving Uriel unable to rise. Uriel, angry that this man, who should have fought beside them, is going to kill them, tells him to get it over with. Whereupon Leodegarius tells him that the ordeal is to lose, because the only way they could have defeated him was the use of warp-based powers. Failure has shown that they don't have them.
    • In Titanicus, when cornered by a skitarii, one of Cally Samstag's soldiers says this. The skitarii, startled, says it had just sent for help — and then asks whether they took it for an enemy.
    • In the Gaunt's Ghosts novel First & Only, Flense threatens to shoot Dorden, whom he is holding hostage, if Gaunt mocks him. Dorden tells Gaunt to mock on, so he can be shot rather than listen to Flense's "garbage."
    • In the White Scars novel Hunt for Voldorius, when Voldorius reveals he knows that Malya sent information to his foes, she tells him to kill her. He reveals worse plans.
    • In the Night Lords novel Lord of the Night, when the Inquisitor summons Mita — for execution or mind-wipe, she assumes — she tells him during the meeting to do it and get it over with.

    Live-Action TV 
  • In the first season episode of Angel "Eternity", actress Rebecca Lowell tries to persuade Angel to turn her into a vampiress so that she won't have to worry about aging; needless to say he refuses. In an effort to change his mind, she drugs him, thinking just to render him more pliable, not realizing that this will turn him evil instead. He stalks her through his office complex, toying with his prey, deliberately putting off the murder so as to enjoy her fear; she is clearly terrified, but finally gets fed up with this, stops running, and turns to face him, saying "Whatever you're going to do, do it." Of course, that's when Wesley and Cordelia show up to save the day.
  • Arrow:
    • The Huntress holds a crossbow on Frank Bertinelli, her mafia boss father who ordered her fiancé's death.
      Frank: Well, what are you waiting for? (beat) I said, what are you waiting for?!
    • Roy Harper, when asked by a murderous vigilante at gunpoint why he should be allowed to live, can't think of anything, and gives this trope. He's visibly shocked when the Hood intervenes to save him.
    • When Thea discovers her father, supervillain Malcolm Merlyn, is still alive, she shoots him and then drops the pistol in shock. Malcolm however is wearing a Bulletproof Vest. Thea thinks she will be killed and tells him to just get it over with, but Malcolm expresses his approval that his daughter had the emotional fortitude to shoot him.
  • Babylon 5: Lennier blocks Kalain's attempt to kill Delenn.
    Lennier: If you are going to kill me then do so. Otherwise I have considerable work to do.
  • Battlestar Galactica (2003):
    Lee Adama: No. Unless... The clean slate. The fresh start. Maybe they are illusions like you said. But at a certain point, faith in ourselves, in our right to survive as a species, as a people, that's not a given, that's a choice. Well, I've made mine. And if you can't stomach that, then you had damn well better squeeze that trigger right now. Go on. What are you waiting for?
  • Charles Vane's Dying Moment of Awesome on Black Sails. After making a stirring speech from the gallows, urging the people to rise up against authority, he turns to the hangman and says simply: "Get on with it, motherfucker."
  • Blake's 7: In "Sarcophagus", Avon cuts through the crap when an alien intelligence offers him submission or death.
    Alien: Think about human death, Avon, irrevocable...
    Avon: I have thought about it; what's keeping you?
    Alien: What did you say?
    Avon: You claim you can kill me. You'd better get on with it. Make me die. There's nothing else you can make me do.
  • Breaking Bad: When Hank finds himself being held at gunpoint by Jack while Walt is pleading for his life, he simply tells Walt that begging isn't going to save him, then he tells Jack to do what he's going to do. Jack kills him before he can finish his sentence.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
    • In "This Year's Girl":
      Joyce: Were you planning to slit my throat any time soon?
    • Toru begs Dracula to kill him honorably after cutting off his arms and a leg, but Dracula waits for Xander to arrive and allow him to do it.
    • "Sleeper":
  • The fourth episode of Chernobyl has three men charged with rounding up all the animals (most of them pets) in Pripyat and shooting them to prevent the spread of radiation. The leader of the unit makes the following demand of a rookie:
    "...if you hit an animal and it doesn't die, keep shooting until it does. Don't let them suffer. Or I'll kill you, understand?"
  • Victor Baskov demands this of Dexter.
    Victor Baskov: Is there anything I can do to keep you from killing me?
    Dexter Morgan: No.
    Victor Baskov: Then get it over with!
    Dexter Morgan: I don't normally take requests, but in your case I'd be happy to oblige.
  • Doctor Who:
    • Jo Grant once told the Master to get it over with.
    • Twisted a little with Hugh in "The King's Demons". He tries to demand it after the Doctor had persuaded the king to spare him, as he is humiliated by his failure.
    • In "The Caves of Androzani", facing a firing squad, Android Peri, asked for her last words, replies "Just get on with it."
    • Rose, when confronted by a Dalek.
      Rose Tyler: Go on, then, kill me.
    • In "Evolution of the Daleks", the Doctor ends up screaming "Do it!" at one of the Daleks, who is only prevented from doing so by the human-hybrid Dalek Sec.
    • "The End of Time": The Master, confronted by the Doctor:
      "You never would, you coward. [pause] Go on then. Do it!"
  • An episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman had the sheriff preparing to hang a man convicted of rape and murder. When the minister asks if he has any last words, the man simply snarls, "Get it done."
  • Firefly:
  • Forever: When Henry is kidnapped in "The Ecstasy of Agony" and wakes up chained to a Saint Andrew's Cross, he politely asks his captor to kill him quickly. The request is denied, as he's looking forward to torturing Henry and wants to enjoy it.
  • Game of Thrones:
    • In "The Old Gods and the New", Qhorin Halfhand leaves the task of executing wildling warrior Ygritte with Jon but Jon has trouble finding it in himself to go through with it. Jon is reluctant to execute her so Ygritte urges Jon to hurry up with killing her because she's having trouble keeping her composure, but Jon can't bring himself to do it and he spares her life instead.
    • The black cells seem to have this effect:
      • Knowing a fair trial is out of the question, when Ned Stark learns a prisoner exchange is also out, he tells Varys to slit his throat and be done with it.
      • Tyrion curses the person opening his cell with this trope in "The Children" when he is falsely accused of killing Joffrey and imprisoned for it.
    • When Brienne sentences Stannis to death, he clearly doesn't give a darn about it. He says this in so many words to her, simply telling her to do her duty. Understandable, as his crusade has failed, he'll never be king now, he's lost his family and as such, has nothing left to live for.
    • In "The Dragon and the Wolf", Tyrion goes alone to negotiate with his sister Queen Cersei, who's wanted him dead since the day he was born. When Tyrion gives his sister a blatant invitation to do so, Cersei gives a Psychotic Smirk and her eyes move irresistibly to the Mountain. Tyrion responds by walking right up to the undead killing machine and goading her to give the order.
  • "Finish it, Highlander!" says Slan Quince in the very first episode of the Highlander TV series.
  • Timon of Maddigan's Quest screams at Garland to shoot him when she discovers that he's being forced into becoming an heir to the Nennog. Boomer approves of the idea, but Garland ultimately says no.
  • In the miniseries Merlin (1998): after Mab kills Morgan, Frik rages at her in his grief, calling her an "evil old crone." In revenge, Mab strips him of magic. When Mordred asks why she didn't just kill him, she says "Because that's what he wanted me to do."
  • Rome:
    • Titus Pullo and Octavian interrogate a man they suspect of sleeping with Vorenus' wife. He readily confesses once they start to torture him and gives this trope. Pullo is entirely willing to oblige, but Octavian stops him, realising that he's willing to die to cover up something. He's fathered a child by her, who would be killed if the truth got out.
    • When Pullo is sentenced to death in the arena, he refuses to pick up a sword; he just sits on the ground and tells the gladiators to kill him. They're rather flummoxed by this, until (unfortunately for them) they succeed in goading him to fight via his Berserk Button.
  • Power Rangers in Space: A variation, in that the universe is close to being completely conquered, and the main mentor, Zordon, has one final desperate gambit to save it. He asks the Red Ranger of the series, Andros, to shatter his energy tube, which will send out a wave of good energy, purging all evil forces. Understandably, Andros is extremely hesitant to do it, as he's spent the whole season searching for him. After Andros fights his turned-villain sister, and his right-hand bodyguard, Zordon pleas to him...
    Zordon: Andros, listen to me. It is your duty as a Power Ranger to save the Universe. Now is the time.
  • Stargate Atlantis: In the third-season episode "Common Ground", the Wraith Todd is first introduced. After repeatedly feeding on Sheppard to the point that he's almost become a desiccated corpse, Sheppard intones him to do this. Then Todd gives back all the life-energy he took from him because Sheppard helped him escape from a Genii prison.
    Sheppard: Finish it.
    "Todd": As I told you, John Sheppard, there are many things about Wraith that you do not know.
  • Star Trek: The Original Series:
    • Dr. McCoy has a version of this when he is attacked by Khan in Sickbay in the episode "Space Seed".
      Dr. McCoy: Well, either choke me or cut my throat. Make up your mind.
      Khan: English... I thought I'd dreamed hearing it. Where am I?
      Dr. McCoy: You're in bed, holding a knife at your doctor's throat.
      Khan: Answer my question.
      Dr. McCoy: It would be most effective if you would cut the carotid artery, just under the left ear.
    • He also says it right out in "The Empath" after having chosen himself for torture that had an 87% chance of killing him.
      Lal: Doctor, please understand that if there was any other way to accomplish our purpose—
      McCoy: Get on with it.
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation: Played for Laughs in "Qpid". In Q's Robin Hood simulation, Captain Picard and Vash are led out to the execution block, arguing Like an Old Married Couple. Q, as usual, prefers to talk them to death instead of waiting for the axeman.
    Q: Now tell me, Robin, as you stand here facing the termination of your insect existence, do you see what brought you to this end? Was she worth it?
    Picard: Can we just get this over with?
    Vash: Are you implying that I'm not worth it?
  • Supernatural
    • In season 4, Dean is given an ultimatum: hand another character over to die, or go back to Hell. He initially doesn't think they'll do it, but once he's convinced that they will still tells them to go ahead. They switch to threatening Sam instead, and he complies exactly as Sam had planned.
    • In the season 5 episode "Dark Side of the Moon", Dean is sitting in his hotel room at gunpoint as Roy and Walt argue over whether or not to kill him. He finally growls, "Go ahead, Roy, do it. But I'm gonna warn ya—when I come back, I'm gonna be pissed." This can be viewed as a variation on the trope because Dean knew Zachariah would just resurrect him anyway.
    • In "The End", Dean travels into the future where the Apocalypse has happened and Lucifer is winning. After a final desperate attempt to kill Lucifer leads to the death of his friends, Dean witnesses Lucifer-in-Sam's body casually snap future Dean's neck. Realizing all is lost, Dean tells Lucifer to go ahead and kill him. Lucifer quips, "Don't you think that would be a little... redundant?"
    • In "Two Minutes to Midnight", Dean discovers The Problem with Fighting Death is not only that you can't kill an immortal Eldritch Abomination, you're so insignificant he can't even be bothered indulging this trope.
      Dean: Is this the part where you kill me?
      Death: [after staring at him incredulously] You have an inflated sense of your importance. To a thing like me, a thing like you... well. Think how you'd feel if a bacterium sat at your table and started to get snarky.
  • Subtle double subversion in the first season finale of Terriers. After Hank is framed for murder and hauled off to jail along with the actual murderers who almost certainly mean to do away with him as soon as they're alone, he starts yelling at them to get it over with and kill him right there in the police car. Doubly subverted in that a) he's partly doing it to get the cops to take him seriously and help him, and b) the cops were already secretly on his side and were planning to let him go anyway.
  • The page quote comes from the season 1 finale of Watchmen (2019), where Jane Crawford tells Lady Trieu to stop reading Will Reeves's speech to the leaders of Cyclops and just kill them already. As evident by her response, Trieu happily obliges.
  • Season Three of The Wire, Omar Little and Brother Mouzone, discover Stringer Bell's plan to have them murder each other and team up to track him down. They end up having him cornered at gunpoint, and Stringer at first tries to bargin for his life. But when Omar reveals to him that Avon not only sold him out to them, but even did so willingly, Stringer at first freezes up in shock. Then, with clear feelings of betrayal and defeat in his voice, he resigns himself and says "Well, get on with it, motherf—". They do.

    Theatre 
  • In Shakespeare's Henry VI Part 3, Queen Margaret has just seen King Edward and his brothers stab her son to death. She cries out, "O, kill me too!" Edward won't let Richard, who leaves, so she keeps begging George, who refuses. In the end, Edward just sends her back to France.
  • In Act III of Thornton Wilder's play The Skin of Our Teeth, Henry, having just come back from the war and intercepted at gunpoint by his father, encourages him to go ahead and shoot. He doesn't.
  • Jesus Christ Superstar, in the midst of Judas and Jesus's row, Jesus asks Judas "Why don't you go do it?", that is, go on and turn me in:
    Christ: Hurry, you fool, hurry and go, save me your speeches, I don't want to know! GO!
    • Later, Jesus urges God to get his arrest and execution over with quickly.
      Jesus: God, thy will is hard, but you hold every card [...] Take me now, before I change my mind!
      • Depending on the production, the delivery of the latter may translate to "I trust you and I'm as ready as I'm going to get, so let's do it", or to "I can't stop you, so for the moment I'm not bothering to resist."

    Video Games 
  • Bastila in Knights of the Old Republic insist you kill her, as she has come too far to turn back to the good side if you persist in trying. However, she relents and comes back if you roll a really high Persuade check.
  • In The Last of Us Part II, this occurs early on in the game. Joel takes a bullet to the leg and is restrained by other members of the Washington Liberation Front. Joel realizes their intentions and accepts he's doomed, telling Abby to give whatever speech she's rehearsed and to get it over with. However, while takes some Extreme Mêlée Revenge by way of a golf club upside Joel's head, she doesn't finish off Joel until Ellie is Forced to Watch him die.
  • In Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Raiden's boss battle with Monsoon ends with him saying this before getting sliced to pieces, though if you have an S Rank for the level, then he's begging for his life.
  • Mortal Kombat:
    • In Mortal Kombat X, Mileena makes this demand to Kotal Kahn after being captured, refusing to beg. He obliges but says she isn't worthy of his hands, telling D'Vora to do it. (What happens next is rather disturbing; Cassie Cage, who witnesses, says "Thank you, I know I'll never eat again.)
    • In Mortal Kombat 1, Reptile (Syzoth) is introduced as Shang Tsung's jailer, having imprisoned the Earthrealm party sent by Lord Liu Kang, as well as Baraka. Then, Tsung orders Syzoth to plunge them into experimentation chambers. After Baraka fights against other Tarkatans (including a beefy Super Tarkatan), he fights and defeats Syzoth, who puts himself at Baraka's mercy in the hopes that Tsung may spare his family. It's eventually revealed that Tsung actually murdered Syzoth's family, with the latter immediately joining the Earthrealm party on their quest after learning the Awful Truth.
  • Aribeth in Neverwinter Nights insist you kill her, as she has come too far to turn back to the good side if you persist in trying. However, she relents and comes back if you previously completed her Romance Sidequest. And even if you convince her to surrender, later events establish she didn't live long after anyway.
  • No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle features Nathan Copeland, an enlightened Dance Battler fought early on who seeks combat against Travis Touchdown in order to liberate one or both of them from their cruel, pointless lives as assassins. His last words as Travis impales him for the killing blow?
    Nathan: DELIVERANCE!
  • Subverted by the Boss in Saints Row 2. After outright cheating in a sword duel, the Boss catches Akuji with no weapons, with a gun pointed at his head. Akuji utters this trope. Instead of finishing him, or leaving him alive, the Boss goes to his/her back, picks another sword, stabs through Akuji's defenseless body, calls his/her friend Mr. Wong, and purposefully aggravates the wound to make Akuji scream in pain to the phone. Then (s)he leaves him alive, in a burning, soon-to-explode ship.
  • Alexei Stukov in the Terran campaign StarCraft: Brood War. After discovering who Samir Duran actually is, he went rogue, with Admiral DuGalle spending a mission to recover him for interrogation. When Duran, under the orders of DuGalle, finally finds him, Stukov tells him to go over with it, quickly followed by a Final Speech, a My God, What Have I Done? from DuGalle who was manipulated by Duran into ordering the execution, and a Race Against the Clock, in quick succession:
    Stukov: Lieutenant Duran... I'm not surprised. We both know exactly what it is that you're here to terminate. Get on with it.
  • The Walking Dead:
    • Andy St. John tells Lee this after the rest of his family has either been killed or incapacitated, depending on your choices, and it's up to you whether or not you finish your fistfight with him by ending his life.
    • At the end of Season 2, if you let Kenny kill Jane, immediately after he stabs her, the reality of what he's done sets in, and he seems to think that, if you were to decide to kill him too, it would be justified; your gun is trained on him, and he tells you do "just do it." It's your call as to whether or not to pull the trigger.
  • In The World Ends with You, 777 fails to defeat Beat and asks him to finish him. Beat declines, letting him live for about a minute until Konishi erases him.

    Visual Novels 
  • A variation of this occurs in the fourth episode of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. After the Villainous Breakdown of Manfred von Karma once he's convicted of killing Edgeworth's father, the killer tells the judge to hurry up and hand down his verdict already. Notably, these are von Karma's last words on screen, as he's sentenced to death at some point before the second game.

    Web Animation 
  • Dracula in A Day in Dracula's Life quits trying to do anything to Richter Belmont, who had been made invincible by Maria's Big Damn Heroes moment on top of all the Whoring, and decides to lay down and tell Richter to kill him. When Richter doesn't comply with killing him right then and there, Dracula realizes that the fight is supposed to look convincing because it's Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Or Castlevania: Rondo of Blood or whatever). Dracula, wanting to be put out of his misery already, sighs that he has to do this and tries to attack Richter, who throws another Hydro Storm. Dracula dies, sarcastically saying This Cannot Be!, but manages to call Richter a "fucking ass" one last time after he stops screaming.

    Webcomics 

    Web Video 
  • In KateModern: The Last Work, the dying Tez On Toast starts taunting the heroes, telling them to finish him off. Charlie replies that they don't need his murder on their conscience, to which he retorts, "What are you talking about? You've already killed me!" They walk off, leaving him to bleed to death.

    Western Animation 
  • American Dad!: In "Don't Look a Smith Horse in the Mouth", Stan switches minds with a racehorse and, on the day of the big race, runs into the stands to make amends with Francine. Not yet knowing who the horse really is, Francine thinks it's going to attack yells "Make it quick! Just kill me!".
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender:
    • Zhao towards Zuko in the third episode. Zuko does not comply.
    • A variation occurs in the second season with Zuko. He isn't looking to be killed directly, just for some lightning to strike him (so he can try to redirect it), but the tone is very much in line with this trope as he rails at the heavens not to hold back.
  • Beast Wars:
    • There was an episode where Rhinox was captured by Megatron.
      Rhinox: If you're going to kill me, then shut up and get on with it.
    • During Silverbolt's brief tenure as a Predacon, the Maximals take him down and he tells them to get on with destroying him. Dinobot, admittedly, is happy to take him up on it, but Rattrap and Cheetor firmly refuse; this is what convinces Silverbolt he's on the wrong side.
  • Ben 10: Ultimate Alien: Prisoner 775, after escaping from Area 51 (which is used as an analogue for Guantanamo Bay) and going on a rampage, turns out to have been driven mad with grief after having been locked up for decades while his family were slaughtered by an alien tyrant, and after Ben stops him from getting revenge on an Air Force officer and his family, he breaks down crying begging to be reunited with his lover and child.
    775: Come on, let me join my family, do it, do it!
  • Men in Black: The Series: After a pitched battle, Alpha is Brought Down to Normal - and without all the alien body parts he's stolen, his human form is an emaciated wreck.
    Alpha: Go on, Zed. Destroy me. Do it!
    Zed: No. You're a mere mortal now; you'll be punished like one.
  • In the Rick and Morty Season 1 episode Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind, Evil Rick tells the freed Mortys to "do their worst" and kill him. They are more than happy to oblige. You find out in the Season 7 episode Unmortricken that it's because Evil Morty made a puppet out of him and Evil Rick couldn't kill himself, thus encouraging the Mortys to set him free.
  • Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: Clarice does a variant of this when the Abominable Snow Monster is about to eat Rudolph. "Oh, why doesn't he get it over with?"
  • Shadow Raiders:
    Sternum: What are you waiting for? Finish me!
    Graveheart: I would... but you're not my enemy.
  • The Transformers: Prime episode "Rock Bottom" puts human sidekick Jack in the position to take out Megatron himself. Jack is at the controls of a Drill Tank, Megatron pinned down by a cave-in.
    Megatron: Well, what are you waiting for? Think of the glory! Seize the day! Optimus would.
    Jack: No. He wouldn't. Not like this.
    Megatron: I will be sure to share the details of our little conversation with Optimus... the day I rip out his Spark.

    Real Life 
  • Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore's last words before his execution were: "Let's do it." He actually wanted to be executed.
  • Serial killer Carl Panzram's last words (to the hangman, who was double-checking the noose and knot placement): "Hurry it up, you Hoosier bastard! I could hang ten men while you're fooling around!"
  • Sir Walter Raleigh, famous for somewhat incompetently settling North Carolina, was executed by beheading back in England. His last words were "What dost thou fear? Strike man, strike!"
  • The Australian soldier 'Breaker' Morant was court-martialed by the British for murdering prisoners of war during the Boer War. His last words were reportedly "Shoot straight, you bastards! Don't make a mess of it!"
  • The Nazi war criminal Irma Grese was sentenced to be hanged. At her hanging, she made no speech: she simply said "Schnell!" ("Quickly!")
  • Marshal Michel Ney, ally of Napoleon during his 100-day-long return, was arrested and sentenced to death. The man gave the order to fire himself.
  • Benito Mussolini was executed by Communist partisans. His last words were "Shoot me in the chest!" They didn't.
  • The Roman statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero, upon being caught by his political enemies assassin, is recorded as saying "There is nothing proper about what you are doing, soldier, but do try to kill me properly."
  • Che Guevara's last words were supposedly "I know you've come to kill me. Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man!"

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