Tropescilloscope: Mercy Kill

Killing someone who is better off dead. (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes Foil Deus ex Machina Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Straight Gay Spiritual Successor Big Brother Instinct Accidental Murder What You Are in the Dark Defrosting Ice Queen Mooks Eye Scream Jerkass The Dragon Ambiguous Disorder Big "NO!" Decoy Protagonist Unusual Euphemism Woman Scorned Celebrity Paradox Domestic Abuse Wounded Gazelle Gambit Bi the Way "Well Done, Son!" Guy Training Montage Not So Stoic Call-Back Non-Indicative Name Drives Like Crazy Evil-Detecting Dog Fat Bastard Reckless Gun Usage Race Lift Psychopathic Manchild Kick the Son of a Bitch Pragmatic Villainy The Mole Death of a Child All There in the Script Worthy Opponent Naïve Newcomer Up to Eleven Grievous Bottley Harm Artistic License – Law Product Placement Cool Car Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Scary Black Man No Celebrities Were Harmed Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Bolivian Army Ending Gory Discretion Shot Beauty Is Never Tarnished "Shaggy Dog" Story Informed Ability Death Seeker Bilingual Bonus The Big Guy Men Are the Expendable Gender Five-Man Band Irony Manly Tears Aside Glance I Have Your Wife Needs Wiki Magic Love Final Girl Rule of Symbolism Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Insistent Terminology Biopic The Ghost Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Loads and Loads of Characters Reality Has No Subtitles Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Immune to Bullets Villainous Breakdown Manic Pixie Dream Girl Black Best Friend Chekhov's Gun Manipulative Bastard Pretty in Mink Chekhov's Skill Re-Cut He Who Fights Monsters Punny Name Villain Protagonist Black Comedy One-Word Title Villain Song Fire-Forged Friends Unresolved Sexual Tension Back from the Dead Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Arc Words Russian Films '80s Hair Dogged Nice Guy Malevolent Masked Men Genre Savvy Adaptational Badass Humans Are Bastards In the Back All for Nothing Empathic Environment Rated M for Manly Berserk Button Becoming the Mask Motor Mouth For Want of a Nail Neck Snap Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Historical In-Joke Bond One-Liner Nice Guy Death by Adaptation It's Personal Well-Intentioned Extremist Black Dude Dies First Parental Substitute Canon Foreigner I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Dull Surprise Canadian Movies Man on Fire Badass in a Nice Suit A.I. Is a Crapshoot Character Development Action Genre Screw the Money, I Have Rules! All There in the Manual Daddy's Girl La Résistance Awesome, but Impractical Romantic False Lead Adult Fear Famous Last Words Gone Horribly Right Black Comedy Rape Continuity Nod Captain Ersatz A Date with Rosie Palms Blood from the Mouth Implacable Man Even Evil Has Standards Call-Forward Casting Gag Action Girl Really Gets Around Enemy Mine Playing Gertrude Protagonist Title Nice Hat Alpha Bitch The X of Y Get Out! Police Brutality Anti-Villain Unreliable Narrator Be Careful What You Wish For Dumb Blonde I'm a Humanitarian Music Stories Riddle for the Ages Parental Incest My Beloved Smother Agony of the Feet Spiteful Spit Reality Is Unrealistic Rousing Speech Revenge Aluminum Christmas Trees You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Amusing Injuries Red Right Hand Sadistic Choice Pretty Little Headshots Insane Troll Logic Curse Cut Short Roger Ebert: Great Movies List In Name Only The Chick Badass Longcoat Loophole Abuse Shown Their Work Laser-Guided Karma Dirty Coward Here We Go Again! Disney Death Token Minority Award-Bait Song Epic Movie Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Actually Pretty Funny Death Glare Leave the Camera Running Dirty Cop Intrepid Reporter Heterosexual Life-Partners Lighter and Softer Butt-Monkey Bloodier and Gorier Ascended Extra Face Death with Dignity Kubrick Stare Not Even Bothering with the Accent Vitriolic Best Buds Hoist by His Own Petard Race Against the Clock Shower Scene Defiant to the End Red Shirt Contrived Coincidence Sci-Fi Horror Arranged Marriage Mad Scientist Paper-Thin Disguise Madness Mantra Rape as Drama Villain Ball It Can Think Storming the Castle Suspiciously Specific Denial May–December Romance For the Evulz Beware the Nice Ones Victoria's Secret Compartment Scare Chord Our Zombies Are Different I Just Shot Marvin in the Face Bland-Name Product Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Roaring Rampage of Revenge Super Strength The Smart Guy Bowdlerise Expository Hairstyle Change This Is Gonna Suck Death by Sex Bare Your Midriff Villain with Good Publicity Mythology Gag Drill Sergeant Nasty Historical-Domain Character No OSHA Compliance Sexy Discretion Shot Bunny-Ears Lawyer Retirony Boom, Headshot! How We Got Here Bittersweet Ending Not What It Looks Like Easily Forgiven Fingore Breaking the Fourth Wall Danny Peary Cult Movies List Eyepatch of Power Abusive Parents Mexican Standoff She Cleans Up Nicely Rasputinian Death Card-Carrying Villain Cassandra Truth Homage Chase Scene Exact Words Screw This, I'm Outta Here! The Faceless Truth in Television Unusually Uninteresting Sight The End... Or Is It? Australian Movies BFG Based on a True Story MacGuffin Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Insult Backfire Expy Small Name, Big Ego Reasonable Authority Figure Christmas Movies Index More Dakka Air-Vent Passageway Adaptational Heroism Karmic Death The Cavalry Catapult Nightmare Fiery Redhead Karma Houdini Artistic License – Geography Love at First Sight Camp Gay Drugs Are Bad Would Hurt a Child Off-into-the-Distance Ending Failed a Spot Check Big Eater Stuff Blowing Up Nothing Is Scarier Hell Is That Noise One Steve Limit Greater-Scope Villain Chiaroscuro Darkest Hour Ghost Fiction Drowning My Sorrows Dual Wielding Married to the Job Disguised in Drag Girl-on-Girl Is Hot My God, What Have I Done? Retcon Evil Counterpart Intergenerational Friendship Sinister Minister Blackmail No-Sell Happily Married Framing Device Together in Death Historical Hero Upgrade Whole Plot Reference Male Gaze Martial Arts Movie The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Running Gag Hope Spot Facial Horror Bury Your Gays Naked People Are Funny Coming-of-Age Story Fate Worse than Death Shoot the Shaggy Dog Improvised Weapon Lock and Load Montage Guile Hero And I Must Scream Dramatic Irony Not So Different There Is No Kill Like Overkill Neck Lift What Happened to the Mouse? Beta Couple Real Life Documentary Accidental Misnaming Meaningful Echo Red Eyes, Take Warning The Stoic Important Haircut Dramatic Gun Cock Downer Ending Closed Circle The Mafia Plucky Comic Relief An Aesop The Remake Cool Old Guy Superhero The Brute Ambiguously Gay Broken Pedestal The Voiceless Cat Scare Animal Title Index Shell-Shocked Veteran Four-Temperament Ensemble Beard of Evil Freeze-Frame Bonus Car Fu The Musical Those Two Guys Cruel and Unusual Death Central Theme Jerk Jock Vomit Discretion Shot Peek-a-Boo Corpse Stepford Smiler One-Man Army Foreshadowing Made of Iron From Bad to Worse Attempted Rape Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer 20 Minutes into the Future Adaptational Attractiveness Spared by the Adaptation The Bad Guy Wins N-Word Privileges As Long as It Sounds Foreign Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Broken Aesop Very Loosely Based on a True Story Groin Attack Rule of Three Self-Deprecation Artistic License – Biology Pimped-Out Dress The Casanova "Awesome McCool" Name Morality Pet Brick Joke Slasher Smile Determinator Punctuated! For! Emphasis! He Knows Too Much Take a Third Option Guns Akimbo Bad "Bad Acting" Deal with the Devil Driven to Suicide Half the Man He Used to Be Would Hit a Girl Antagonist Title Shipper on Deck Demonic Possession Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Epic Fail An Axe to Grind It Will Never Catch On Those Wacky Nazis Redemption Equals Death Tranquil Fury Names to Run Away from Really Fast Crapsack World Fake Shemp Femme Fatale The '90s Pay Evil unto Evil Market-Based Title Fainting Diabolus ex Machina Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Ominous Latin Chanting Dying Moment of Awesome Face–Heel Turn Bloodless Carnage Ripped from the Headlines Genre Shift Evil Laugh The Lost Lenore Outrun the Fireball True Companions Flashback Badass Normal Tagline Retired Badass Kill It with Fire Jerkass Has a Point Disney Villain Death Stealth Pun Ass Shove Sealed Evil in a Can Knife Nut Rich Bitch French Films Hidden Depths Bond Villain Stupidity Pragmatic Adaptation Body Horror Scenery Porn Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other Authority Equals Asskicking Thriller Camera Abuse Artistic License – History Daylight Horror Only Known by Their Nickname Heroes Want Redheads Time Skip Big Bad Film Noir The Hero Love Triangle Animated Credits Opening Setting Update Fourth Date Marriage Stylistic Suck Dressing as the Enemy Psychological Thriller Actor Allusion Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Star-Crossed Lovers Missing Mom Adaptation Distillation Improbable Weapon User Yandere The Quiet One Historical Villain Upgrade B-Movie Unwitting Instigator of Doom Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Affably Evil The Starscream Gainax Ending Bloody Hilarious War Is Hell Pyrrhic Victory Dark Reprise Auto Erotica Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Early-Bird Cameo Big Bad Duumvirate Cluster F-Bomb Even Evil Has Loved Ones Demoted to Extra Only Sane Man Narrator A Minor Kidroduction Only a Flesh Wound And the Adventure Continues Stock Footage Smoking Is Cool Heel–Face Turn Silence Is Golden Blood Knight Spanner in the Works Batman Gambit Sir Swears-a-Lot Bullying a Dragon Cat Fight Cool Old Lady Male Frontal Nudity Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Composite Character Never Found the Body Evil Sounds Deep Sequel Escalation Never My Fault Totally Radical Good Is Not Nice Too Dumb to Live Match Cut Crucified Hero Shot Plot Hole Author Appeal Arch-Enemy Sole Survivor Soft Glass Rule of Cool Does This Remind You of Anything? Parental Abandonment As the Good Book Says... Obviously Evil Heel Realization Room Full of Crazy The Atoner Adaptation Expansion No Antagonist Smug Snake All Just a Dream Video Credits Department of Redundancy Department Amoral Attorney Brainless Beauty Parental Neglect Book-Ends Big Damn Heroes Covers Always Lie Bottomless Magazines Sanity Slippage Hypocritical Humor Annoying Younger Sibling Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds A Father to His Men Took a Level in Jerkass Serious Business Laughing Mad Henpecked Husband Does Not Like Shoes Horror Comedy Action Prologue Pet the Dog Offscreen Moment of Awesome Bald of Evil Depraved Bisexual Suddenly SHOUTING! Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Took a Level in Badass Evil Plan No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Reality Ensues Rewatch Bonus I Did What I Had to Do Dutch Angle Zombie Stories Creator Cameo Everyone Has Standards As You Know Due to the Dead Anachronism Stew As Himself Those Two Bad Guys Fish out of Water Handicapped Badass Creepy Child The Load Green-Eyed Monster Bad Boss Mystery and Detective Films My Greatest Failure Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Deliberate Values Dissonance Humiliation Conga Once More, with Clarity! Sports Stories Sequel Hook Silent Movie Didn't Think This Through Cowboy Cop Toplessness from the Back Adaptation Name Change Credits Gag The Dreaded Not Quite Dead Adaptation Dye-Job Hypocrite Shut Up, Hannibal! "The Reason You Suck" Speech Stalker with a Crush No Name Given Imagine Spot Hollywood Darkness Double-Meaning Title Chewing the Scenery Wham Shot Make It Look Like an Accident Deliberately Monochrome Lampshade Hanging Fantastic Racism German Films Redshirt Army Dark and Troubled Past Let's Get Dangerous! Evil Is Petty Evil Is Hammy Fanservice Extra Visual Pun Ax-Crazy Corpsing Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Ungrateful Bastard Japanese Films Rule of Funny Properly Paranoid Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Fatal Family Photo The Bully Taking the Bullet "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Alas, Poor Villain Slap-Slap-Kiss Real Life Writes the Plot Extremely Short Timespan Badass Boast Comically Missing the Point Manchild Funny Foreigner Evil Brit Gorn Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Spell My Name with an "S" Dwindling Party Instant Death Bullet Unspoken Plan Guarantee The Hero Dies Gratuitous English Trailers Always Spoil Bound and Gagged Brother–Sister Incest Vomit Indiscretion Shot Ship Tease The Smurfette Principle Death by Irony Maybe Ever After Chekhov's Gunman Put on a Bus Meaningful Background Event Mama Bear Abhorrent Admirer Anguished Declaration of Love Establishing Character Moment Calling the Old Man Out Meet Cute Double Entendre The Stinger Your Cheating Heart Mercy Kill Fantasy Films NO INDOOR VOICE Military and Warfare Films Word of God Moment Killer The '60s The Un-Reveal You Killed My Father Every Car Is a Pinto Advertised Extra Genre Throwback Disproportionate Retribution Break the Haughty Meaningful Name Cold-Blooded Torture Evil vs. Evil Light Is Not Good Gender Flip The Cameo Posthumous Character Not Using the "Z" Word Badass Grandpa Wham Line The Place Film Series Made of Explodium Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies The Vamp Conspicuous CG What the Hell, Hero? British Films Dropped a Bridge on Him Sacrificial Lion The '50s Eagleland Mr. Exposition Hate Sink The Film of the Book Anti-Hero Animal Motifs Heroic BSoD Dramedy World of Ham Slasher Movie Anachronic Order Fun with Acronyms Mistaken for Gay Obfuscating Stupidity All Men Are Perverts Dark Is Not Evil Deadpan Snarker Big Applesauce Refuge in Audacity Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Overprotective Dad Hero Antagonist Eiffel Tower Effect Kick the Dog Crazy Jealous Guy Red Herring The Power of Love Badass Bookworm Alliterative Name Artistic License – Physics Improbable Aiming Skills Index of Film Westerns Broken Bird Shirtless Scene The Ace Recycled IN SPACE! Creative Closing Credits Dirty Old Man Poor Communication Kills Early Installment Weirdness Bring My Brown Pants Fan Disservice Cool Guns Take That! The Great Depression After the End Children Are Innocent Twist Ending Age Lift timeperiod Mugging the Monster Random Events Plot Getting Crap Past the Radar Shout-Out The Chessmaster Our Vampires Are Different Corrupt Corporate Executive Taking You with Me Artistic License – Gun Safety Kids Are Cruel Did Not Get the Girl Mind Screw From Nobody to Nightmare Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Eureka Moment Dies Wide Open Dark Action Girl Interrupted Suicide An Arm and a Leg Police are Useless Translation Convention You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Sassy Black Woman Not So Above It All Scenery Gorn Monumental Damage Line-of-Sight Name Grey and Gray Morality Tempting Fate Mood Whiplash Crazy-Prepared Hair-Trigger Temper Have a Gay Old Time Destination Defenestration The Ditz Hero of Another Story The Dog Bites Back Honor Before Reason Novelization The Alcoholic Left the Background Music On Freudian Excuse Adapted Out Suspiciously Similar Substitute No Ending Jump Scare Only in It for the Money Oh, Crap! Leitmotif Frame-Up Brutal Honesty Armor-Piercing Question Show Within a Show Horror Films The '80s You Have Failed Me Noodle Incident Despair Event Horizon Captain Obvious Punch-Clock Villain The '70s I Need a Freaking Drink Throwing Your Sword Always Works Science Fiction Films Heroic Sacrifice The Alleged Car Killed Mid-Sentence Your Head A-Splode Knight Templar In Medias Res Gold Digger Only One Name The Oner Belligerent Sexual Tension Ambiguous Ending Fatal Flaw Distracted by the Sexy Cool Shades Ms. Fanservice Fanservice Title Drop Bavarian Fire Drill Disappeared Dad Damsel in Distress Kill 'em All Big-Bad Ensemble Leaning on the Fourth Wall Combat Pragmatist Mr. Fanservice Psycho for Hire Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Bait-and-Switch Almost Kiss Gilligan Cut It's All About Me Wrong Genre Savvy Tap on the Head The Lancer Anyone Can Die The Sociopath Developing Doomed Characters Blatant Lies Exactly What It Says on the Tin Vampire Fiction Dissonant Serenity Same Language Dub Pre-Mortem One-Liner Older Than They Look Country Matters Adults Are Useless Last-Name Basis Skewed Priorities Offscreen Teleportation Betty and Veronica O.O.C. Is Serious Business Costume Porn Idiot Ball Overly Long Gag Red Oni, Blue Oni Soundtrack Dissonance Villain Opening Scene Break the Cutie Earn Your Happy Ending Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Hong Kong Films Action Survivor Cain and Abel Major Injury Underreaction Extreme Doormat Faux Affably Evil folderlabel Funny Background Event All Girls Want Bad Boys Precision F-Strike Faking the Dead Flipping the Bird Television Movie Index Bar Brawl Affectionate Parody Ironic Echo Say My Name Never Trust a Trailer And Starring Slashed Throat Black and Gray Morality Darker and Edgier Apocalypse How Asshole Victim Wretched Hive Jitter Cam Mighty Whitey Cloudcuckoolander Wicked Cultured Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Romantic Comedy Stealth Hi/Bye Politically Incorrect Villain Catch-Phrase Logo Joke Determinator aka: The Determinator Adaptational Villainy Eldritch Abomination Deconstruction Film Noir Index Hollywood Law The Stoner Babies Ever After Jerk with a Heart of Gold Adorkable She's Got Legs Mundane Made Awesome Vacation Films A God Am I Serial Killer Author Avatar Works Set in World War II Large Ham Obstructive Bureaucrat Big Fancy House Curb-Stomp Battle Artistic License – Military The Reveal Friend to All Children Woman in White Papa Wolf Undying Loyalty Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Italian Films Better to Die than Be Killed No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Hooker with a Heart of Gold Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Off with His Head! Foregone Conclusion Public Domain Feature Films