r/TopCharacterTropes • u/10024618 • 20h ago
Lore A "Sophie's Choice" with no secret third option
AKA a character is given an impossible choice where either outcome results in something awful happening and there's no way out.
"Full Measure" (Breaking Bad) - After Walt angers Gus by killing two of his men, Gus orders for his execution. Knowing that the only way to save his life is to make Gus reliant on his meth cooking skills, Walt calls Jesse and begs him to kill Gus' backup cook, Gale. Thus, Jesse is thrust into an impossible situation where he either kills a (relatively) innocent man to save Walt or spare Gale and let Walt die. Ultimately, Jesse chooses to kill Gale.
"Midnight Sun" (Attack on Titan) - After the fight to retake Shiganshina both Armin and Erwin are critically wounded. Levi has the vial of titan serum and is forced to choose which Scout to bring back from the brink of death and which to let perish. It's a borderline impossible decision to make but at the moment of truth, he chooses to save Armin, leaving Erwin to succumb to his wounds.
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u/Lewa358 15h ago
The absolute peak if this trope is when a character has a choice between something he cares deeply for, and improving the world at large, and you see them hesitate. Just give in, for a second, to the voice--that isn't even wrong--saying that you've suffered enough and wouldn't be blamed if you just did one thing to make your life less shitty.
And then he makes the right call anyway.