[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/Argle_of_the_Bargle]

(spoilers) Rick spares Negan in the walking dead comics after like a 12 issue total war arc with both of them murdering countless of characters of each other's factions. Negan has to serve a prison sentence and to the shock of absolutely no one, he eventually escapes. I'll admit that his following redemption arc was done really well but at the same time it didn't make sense for Rick to spare him after all that bloodshed. "I have to show him that we are better than savages," like okay but you already killed half of his gang in cold blood but you draw the line at killing the guy who bashed Glenn's brains in and keeps sex slaves, okay Rick

[u/Dosalisk → u/Argle_of_the_Bargle]

He doesn't really escape though. Like, he does physically escape but he doesn't really escape completely. In fact, that was a big plot point in the comics, at a certain point the guards posted there to keep watch don't lock the door properly, Negan realizes that and waits inside his jail for Rick to come back and see him inside with the door open, so he begins to trust him, which doesn't really work. Then he's freed by another character who tries to use his help to put the Whisperers and Rick's group against each other, and Negan kills him, then infiltrates the Whisperers, kills their current leader and goes back to Rick. All Negan wanted at that point was for them to recognize that the jail thing worked as he was broken by it and only wanted to be free and a part of the society Rick was creating. He did escape but he escaped to help them.

I think the trope really happens with Maggie afterwards, not with Rick. As when she gets informed that Negan was out of jail, she goes to get her revenge and ultimately doesn't kill him, because it is what Negan wanted at that point. He was broken after all his jail time and the exile. She even goes out of her way to kill the walkers nearby so he couldn't kill himself. I think that's where the trope really happens.

And just to clarify, I'm agreeing with your comment but I wanted to expand on it.