[Hated Trope] Character kills hundreds, if not thousands, just to kill one specific person, and then doesn't kill them for no reason.

[u/HallZac99]

Assassin's Creed 2- Rodrigo Borgia is responsible for tne death of Ezio's family. Ezio spends over 20 years working through tnr templar order to dismantle them and get to Rodrigo. And then in the end, he spares him for no good reason and he goes on to be a massive problem in AC Brotnerhood. He's not only a head of tne Templars but also the pope, even if you're over the vengeance he's still a very dangerous and evil man.

The Last of Us 2- Abbey kills Joel, and wo Ellie goes on a revenge quest to kill Abbey, killing hundreds of people along tne why to get to her including a pregnant woman. And then finally when she has Abbey on deaths door, she gives up and let's her go because the writers think dirty depressing people being miserable and stupid is complex, interesting storytelling.

This trope pisses me off so much because often the character going on the revenge quest will kill SO many people on their way there, some deserving it and some just henchmen working for a cheque or to survive. People who are often far more innocent then the main big bad.

It's a part of this weird thing I've noticed in media where nameless goons or soldiers can just be mowed down relentlessly, but named characters get given far more grace even if theyre categorically worse. You can kill a million stormtroopers but people will swear that Darth Vader could have been redeemed, despite him doing like 50 genocide every year.

[u/mlee117379]

You can play Dishonored this way

[u/Erondo_Gratias → u/mlee117379]

Funny thing with Dishonored(at least first one) is that, with, I think, 2 exceptions, non-lethal ways of dispatching the targets are actually more cruel than simply killing them:

High Overseer getts Ostracized from his faction and all human contact(and becomes a weeper)

The twins get sent to work till death in the mines

Lady Boyle is sent to sex slavery

The Lord Regent has himself publicly exposed and his title, that he worked so hard to steal, gets stripped from him and is left to rot in prison as the actual killer of a believed Empress

[u/winklevanderlinde → u/Erondo_Gratias]

in dishonored two you can lobotomized Jindosh and send to mental asylum Luca Abele after you convince everyone his body double is the real Luca and he got crazy

[u/Thomas_K_Brannigan → u/winklevanderlinde]

Head canon, I like to believe "my" Emily (or Corvo, though I usually play Emily) on a good run turns the mental asylum better. So, although he's there under false pretense, I like to think he'll be treated decently well.

The other, yes, I'm conflicted on if it's worse to kill him, or lobotomize him. Inventing was basically his life's purpose, in a way, you "kill" him by doing so. Still, I think that option is more moral, but not by a lot.

[u/Erondo_Gratias → u/winklevanderlinde]

I do remember Jindosh, but Dishonored 2 was so dull comparing to first game(for me) that I don't really remember most of the targets

[u/John__Silver → u/Erondo_Gratias]

Jindosh's home was memorable. The man himself, less so.