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Take a Third Option/Anime and Manga

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  • In Naruto, The Power Trio of Nagato, Yahiko and Konan is cornered by Hanzo, who has young Konan as his hostage. Either Nagato had to kill his best friend Yahiko, or refuse and let Konan die. What happens in the end? Yahiko takes the third option: commiting suicide by grabbing Nagato's hand, which held a sharp kunai, and stabbing himself with said weapon.
    • The Chuunin exams in one of the first arcs plays this slightly differently: the point of the insanely-hard test is to force the student ninja to cheat, so either they get caught cheating and are kicked out, or they prove their ninja skills by cheating without getting caught. Naruto turns in his test completely blank, and Sakura works out the answers herself. Both of them pass because they were never caught cheating.
    • After about 450 chapters of waiting, Naruto receives two love confessions in quick succession. One would think he would either accept or reject them, but instead he first takes a third option of forgetting the first one, and then a fourth option of saying "You are lying. You don't mean it." to the second one. Much later, it's subverted in the Last movie: he actually liked the first girl who confessed (he just didn't realize it yet due to his issues), and with the blessing of the other girl, he gives his sweetheart two Love Confessions.
  • While he rarely lets enemies limit his freedom to just two options, the Crazy Awesome Magnificent Bastard Lelouch Lamperouge in Code Geass constantly turns the tide of seemingly lost engagements by doing what nobody would expect of him, i.e. always taking the hidden "third" option.
    • A specific example of this came up in season 2, episode 8: With the re-creation of the Special Administrative Zone, Lelouch was stuck between several undesirable choices - abandon being Zero, get exiled from Japan, or start another battle--an option made unacceptable because his sister has been made the local viceroy, and not only would a fight put her at risk, but she's a pacifist. The third option or maybe fourth: Trick the Britannians using a Literal Genie-type definition of Zero, then get a million of his supporters to dress in Zero costumes so that, rather than be exiled alone, he's free to take his army and the battle to Britannia.
  • The ending of Darker Than Black leaves Hei with the choice whether to envelop Hell's Gate — and Japan with it — in his quantum powers, allowing the Contractors to exist without fear of interference but isolating Japan from the rest of the world (and possibly killing off every non-contractor inside), or do nothing and let the humans destroy Hell's Gate, killing off the other Contractors and returning the world to normal; this choice is Hei effectively choosing whether to be a Contractor or a human. He decides to pick 'both'; his personae, combined, ruin the weapon intended to destroy Hell's Gate. This breaks the Masquerade in the process and leads to an open human/Contractor coexistence.
  • Used in an episode of Trigun involving two lovers on the run from a slaver caravan. Said caravan is en route to a fortified city which will only grant entrance to travelers with a special key, which happens to be tattooed on one of the runaways' arm. The protagonists are faced with two options: help the couple elope, thereby stranding the caravan outside the city and condemning its inhabitants to slow death by starvation, or return them to the caravan, forcing them into a life of slaving and/or slavery. Instead, Vash fakes the runaways' deaths, thus allowing them to live free and sparing the caravan from responsibility for losing the key - nobody is going to blame them for the Six Million Double Dollar Man's actions. The trope is explicitly claimed in Nicholas Wolfwood's closing monologue: "All along I thought there had to be a sacrifice, but there was another answer: Vash the Stampede".
    • In a later episode, in response to a nasty Hostage Situation that is clearly a trap for all concerned, Wolfwood initially favors rushing in as the only course of action that will leave any of them alive. However, he adds...

 Wolfwood: I know a guy who whines and cries until he finds a way to save everyone. A man who takes a stand, though it scars him from head to toe. And he's right here.

    • This is in fact Vash's standard policy in a hostile situation - try to find a way to let everybody live. At one point he suffers a Heroic BSOD when he can't figure out how to save everybody in time and is forced to kill the bad guy before he can harm anybody else. When he finally snaps out of the Heroic BSOD he promises that next time he'll find the third option.
    • This, combined with an examination of pacifism, is the Central Theme of the story. In the backstory, we see a moment when Vash and his twin Knives disagree over how to save a butterfly from a spider's web. Knives simply crushes the spider, while Vash complains that he wanted to save both. Knives points out that this policy would only result in the spider starving anyway. This is the essential conflict: Knives maintains a monoperspective realism about the relationship between humans and his race, while Vash idealistically seeks an alternative that allows everyone to benefit.
  • Examined as the subject of ⅓'s episode of Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei, though focusing on everyday third options. You know, the ones where you cannot make up your mind in a choice between two desirable options, and ends up choosing a third, undesirable option instead, and then ends up regretting it later on... Everyone together now: I'M IN DESPAIR!! BEING TROUBLED WITH CHOOSING SOMETHING AND ENDING UP SELECTING A THIRD OPTION HAS LEFT ME IN DESPAIR!!
  • While Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is fond of the heroes choosing difficult options, Episode 26 has a moment when the Anti-Spiral re-explains the consequences of using the Spiral power, then asks Simon if he is willing to destroy the universe for a "fleeting emotion." Simon grips his controls, glares through his star-glasses and declares he will save them both: the girl and the universe. Then he destroys the enemy by blasting through space and time.
  • This was a common tactic of Gon, the Kid Hero of Hunter X Hunter. In particular, in the beginning, the three heroes find that Only Smart People May Pass through town on their way to the Hunter Exam, in the form of a purely hypothetical Sadistic Choice that must be answered immediately with an "A" or "B" response. The two Kid Heroes figure out, by carefully examining the rules for loopholes and using their Super Senses to hear someone that got a "right" answer screaming in the distance, that silence is the real right answer, as no such decision should be taken so lightly. They then have to explain this to The Watson, who only passed because his moral outrage initially stunned him into silence for the duration of the time limit - outrage because no such decision should be taken so lightly. Later, in one of the official rounds of the tourna- I'm sorry, I mean Exam, this trope is played much more straight. Having picked up another hero and a by-then-revealed Lovable Traitor, and progressing down a timed dungeon of trials on a strictly all-or-none basis, they are told they must choose between leaving two people behind (presumably the Lovable Traitor and one close friend and take the short path to victory, or all run out of time together taking the long path. Gon, being The Messiah, refuses either, and since the doors are right next to each-other, he gets them to open the door to the long path, and work together with the LovableTraitor to dig through the wall to the short path.
  • In Rave Master, the main character had to choose between killing his girlfriend or dooming the whole of time to destruction at the hands of her out-of-control powers. Haru instead elects to Take a Third Option, sealing Ellie's powers to stop the threat and spare her life; his Well-Intentioned Extremist opponent, having failed to consider such an alternative due to his eagerness to Shoot the Dog, is broken down in defeat. This trope also played a part in a Prophecy Twist that foresaw the scenario, but lacking appropriate context, implied that Haru really did Shoot the Dog.
  • Gash in Gash Bell is given the choice of either saving a friend and dooming the rest of the world or letting the friend die and save the world from the threat. Of course, he takes the third option of first saving his friend, then the world.
  • In Cowboy Bebop, Spike is given the choice of surrendering or watching a mook put a bullet in Faye's head. Considering Spike is known to be a gunslinger of godlike ability, and that he's pointing a gun straight at said mook's head, you'd think they'd have foreseen his taking the third option...
  • Near the end of Case 6 of Ghost Hunt, the main cast finds out that the haunting is being caused by a a curse that the students of a school unknowingly put on the vice-principal. There are only two ways to end the haunting: allow the curse to complete, thus killing the VP, or turn the curse back on the students, possibly killing all of them in the process. At first it seems like Naru is going to take the latter of those two options, but then he takes a third option: he has Lin create effigies of all of the students, and those effigies are destroyed when the curse 'turns back on the students'.
  • In Irresponsible Captain Tylor, Earth is caught up in an inter-galactic war. Tylor is put in command of the whole fleet, ready for the big face-off with the approaching enemy fleet. All-out conflict seems inevitable, and no-one is sure whom will come out the victor. When the time comes, he gives one order - "Full speed ahead". The enemy commander, Dom, who's Tylor's Worthy Opponent, gives the same order. Members of both sides are screaming at them to order the attack, all while the ships get closer and closer to each other. Their respective flagships get close enough for them to physically see each other, and Tylor goes to the window. Standing there, he sticks out his hand, as if to give the order to attack, and Dom does likewise. Gun batteries are readied. The tension is unbearable. Then Tylor slowly and deliberately salutes the enemy commander, who, seeing his plan, returns and holds the salute until their fleets pass harmlessly by. War averted, both sides win.
  • Al of Fullmetal Alchemist does this when Kimblee asks him which option he and Edward will choose: getting their original bodies back or saving the world? Al asks why they can't do both, and goes on to explain that striving for what shouldn't be possible is the road to progress. Kimblee turns right around and deconstructs the trope by suggesting that, if the third option exists, there must then be a fourth option: fail in both their goals.
  • In Mahou Sensei Negima, Setsuna is forced by Evangeline in a Secret Test of Character to either be a cold, limitless swordswoman to better serve her princess Konoka or take her happiness beside the girl and live her life in peace without protecting anything. She choose to have both.
    • This comes up again in later chapters, post 250, where Setsuna having lost, more or less, to the crazy swordswoman who's got a crush on her, believes she may actually have to give up on happiness, or leave protecting Konoka to others. she fails to notice, and it fails to interrupt her inner conflict, when a weapon comes flying out of a nearby fight. she slices with weapon in half without even breaking stride, leaving dear Konoka standing in awe. Konoka then proceeds to berate her, convinces her to make up her mind, and then we finally get the kiss we've all been waiting for. well, most fans have been waiting for...
  • In Gundam Wing, Heero Yuy given the choice to either give Wing Gundam to his enemies or have them slaughter everyone in the colonies by a Lady Une who's in full puppy-kicking mode. What does he do? He calmly steps out of the cockpit, says his mission in life is over and pushes the self-destruction button, destroying his Gundam and almost killing himself in the process. That way Une won't have the Gundam, but she won't be able to kill the colonists due to the intervention of her leader Treize.
  • Gundam Seed and its sequel, Gundam Seed Destiny, has the patented method of resolving the wars of the Cosmic Era by building up another faction that proceeds to wipe the galaxy with the original sides.
  • Busou Renkin has the tendency of Kazuki, the main character, to always choose a third option, even actually calling them out loud while doing so in certain occasions. The series also cruelly mocks this by revealing Kazuki is really using a Black Kakugane and is actually Victor The Third. Yeah. The Third.
    • Kazuki is faced with the choice to either use the white kakugane on himself and save his own life, or use the white kakugane on Victor and save the world. With Papillon's help he comes up with a third option of simply making another white kakugane and saving them both, but of course the white kakugane doesn't work entirely on Victor. So obviously he comes up with the fourth option of sending them both to the moon and supposedly killing both of them.
  • In Bleach, Zangetsu asks Ichigo: "Do you want to fight? Or do you want to live?" Ichigo's answer to that is "I want to win!".
    • Actually, Zangetsu gave Ichigo three options. He actually said "Do you want to fight? Do you want to win? Or do you want to live?"
    • In the anime, at least, Zangetsu does NOT ask Ichigo if he wants to win. Whether or not that happens in the manga is still up for debate. Either way, Ichigo's mentality is always that of taking the third option, like his decision to Invade Hueco Mundo to save Orihime and kill Aizen before he can attack Karakura. Of course, it was all according to plan, but it's not like Ichigo knew it...
    • In the Filler Bount arc, thanks to Mabashi, Orihime has to either attack a mindcontrolled Rukia or take a potentially fatal beating from her. Hisagi openly tells her that she'll have to fight Rukia, and Rukia herself had begged Orihime to kill her before she was taken over, but there's no way an All-Loving Heroine like Orihime would kill one of her friends... She decides to give Rukia a Cooldown Hug and activate her healing/barrier powers as she does so, managing to save Rukia without either attacking or letting her attack her.
    • It's speculated that Byakuya subtly invoked the trope in his last fight against Ichigo, at the end of the Soul Society arc. If he wins said match, his sister-in-law Rukia will be executed and the promise he made to protect her (and to his dying wife, Rukia's sister!) will be broken, which will emotionally destroy him. If he openly loses the fight, his whole clan will be dishonored. So what does he do? Byakuya shows up, fights Ichigo, and then throws the fight at the last moment, letting Ichigo win. That way Ichigo and his friends rescue Rukia and everyone thinks Byakuya did what he could to protect his honor. (And then comes The Reveal so everything else is forgotten, but Byakuya couldn't know that.)
  • In the "Land of Adults" chapter of Kino's Journey, a little girl (a younger Kino) is given the choice between death and a brain surgery that will render her a cheerful slave to her job. Hermes offers her a third option: escape and become a traveler.
  • Subverted in the original Yu-Gi-Oh!!. Crazy Prepared Dark Malik sets up the Yugi v/s Brainwashed and Crazy!Jounochi duel in such a way that there can't be a third option to take. If one wins, the other dies by being thrown into the sea with his feet cuffed so he'll drown. If one tries to forfeit to help the other, both will die. If someone else tries to interfere from the outside, a girl (Anzu) taken hostage and strapped to a seat near to the arena will be crushed to death by a HUGE metal box dangling over her head (anime) or brainwashed into placing a poisonous capsule in her mouth and be ready to swallow it (manga). How did this end up? Yugi debrainwashes Jounochi and sets himself to die. Jounouchi manages to save Yugi and sets himself to die. Either Jou's sister Shizuka (in the anime) or Kaiba (in the manga) rescue him. Oh, and Anzu is also saved: in the anime Kaiba rescues her right before Jounouchi almost perishes (since she had saved his brother Mokuba earlier), while in the manga she's debrainwashed and spits out the poisoned pill.
    • The video game adaption adds a simple option: Draw.
    • Played more straight in the final duel between Yugi and Yami Marik, where Yami Marik sets up a dark game where the winner would lose the soul of their host; however, unbeknownst to everyone but Yami Marik, Yami Marik could live without his host persona. This is foiled when the original Marik finally gains the spiritual strength to switch places with Yami Marik, and then peacefully surrenders the game, eliminating the evil personality for good.
  • Happens in Akagi where Akagi wins a mah jongg game by basically making what would appear to be a stupid, illogical move. When asked to explain himself, he says "I'm not limited by your reasoning".
  • Sailor Moon will find a way to save everyone, specifically in the first anime. Even when every other soldier is captured, she's beaten to a pulp, and the ONLY way to save the world is to give the bad guys what they want, Usagi will use the power of love, the power of friendship, or straight-up luck to save the world and her friends--and usually the bad guy, too.
    • Although this is heavily subverted in the Manga (and it's a sure thing it'll happen in Sailor Moon Cosmos, the upcoming Animated Adaptation) - Sailor Cosmos tries to take a third option by traveling to the past in the guise of Chibi-Chibi and convincing her past self to destroy the Galaxy Cauldron and the newborn Eldritch Abomination inside it. This is shot down when Sailor Moon realizes that destroying the cauldron won't actually fix anything - said Abomination would be destroyed, yes, but the scenario would just repeat elsewhere. So no matter what happens, millions will die in a war against an invincible enemy. ...yay?
      • She still does take a third option, by purifying the Cauldron of Chaos' influence rather than destroying it or letting it remain as is. It's not a perfect solution as even that won't eliminate Chaos permanently, but it's better than the alternatives which would leave Chaos entirely unchecked, or similarly set him back temporarily and doom the galaxy to a slow death.
  • Prunus Girl: Ambiguously-crossdressing Aikawa puts Maki on the spot about what gender he regards him as by giving Maki a choice of two candies to feed him--to turn him into a boy or girl (respectively) in body and soul. Maki feeds Aikawa both.
  • Attempted in Shitsurakuen. When Sora rescues Tomoko, Tomoko asks to be released back into slavery as she doesn't trust Sora's protection. Sora thinks about the situation and transfers Tomoko to a male accomplice for safety. The accomplice is actually the Big Bad in disguise. Oops.
  • At the climax to the "Chapter of Egg" in Princess Tutu, Kraehe has captured Prince Mytho and challenges Tutu to a competition to win the affection of Mytho's feelings of love. What Kraehe is counting on is the fact that if Tutu confesses her love for Mytho, she will disappear. Of course, this is Princess Tutu, the show where the main character routinely uses her magical ballet dancing to accomplish her goals, so no points for guessing what happens next.
  • In Saint Seiya, a rather beaten up Pegasus Seiya is cornered by Dark Action Girl Ophicus Shaina and Silver Saint Crow Jamian. Problem is, he's holding Saori Kido in his arms and cannot fight directly since they're atop of a cliff and she'll inevitably get hurt. The enemy says: "Either fight us or hand us the girl". What does Seiya do? He asks Saori if she trusts him, she says she does, and then they hug and jump off the cliff together. Since it's late at night, Shaina and her partner cannot go for them; Seiya is unconscious for quite a while, but he manages to buy time for himself and Saori and their friends arrive later to rescue them.
  • Seto no Hanayome has the young mermaid Sun saving an Ordinary High School Student Nagasumi's life, but upon doing so and letting him see a glimpse of her - she broke the code of secrecy between merpeople, and their existence will be revealed to humans. To keep the secret, either Sun or Nagasumi must die... but Sun demands Nagasumi to marry her instead so neither of them will be executed.
  • In Yu Yu Hakusho, Doctor Kamiya uses his powers to infect the city with a horrible plague. He informs Yusuke that the plague will disappear if he dies or is knocked unconscious, since he is maintaining it with his powers. Doctor turns out to Feel No Pain, making it pretty much impossible to knock him out. Doctor orders him to choose: break his Thou Shall Not Kill creed, or watch as the innocent people die horribly. Yusuke punches him into the sky, knocking him out of range and unable to maintain the plague.
    • The trope doesn't apply uncut. In the uncut version, Yusuke actually does land a blow that stops his heart, but Genkai revives him with a chest compression. Still, it's enough to break his psychic territory, and although Yusuke is relieved Doctor Kamiya was revived, Genkai assures him that in his case (a policeman's dilemma), deadly force was justified.
    • At the very end, it's revealed that one of these was vital to the backstory. The Demon Lord Raizen snuck into the house of a human known as the Lady Doctor and the owner saw him. Then she told him that he could try eating her, but she was a Poisonous Person due to ingesting corpses to develop the antibodies used in her doctor work and it'd kill him painfully. Faced with either simply killing this person or eating her, he decided... to sleep with her before leaving forever. And it'd have a HUGE consequence: they conceived a kid (though she'd fall victim to Death by Childbirth) and said kid would be the ancestor of Yusuke Urameshi, the main character.
  • In Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya, Illya calls out to this trope specifically at some poiunt.
  • In the anime adaption of Umineko no Naku Koro ni, Battler is given a choice between killing the person he loves most, himself, or everyone else on the island. He states that there's no one he loves most, and elects Beatrice to that spot and chooses her. This failed plan to get rid of Beatrice is pretty ironic considering he marries her in the sound novel.
  • Almost at the end of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Madoka Kaname is in a very tight spot. If she doesn't become a Magical Girl, Walpurgisnacht will happen and the Earth will die. If she does, then she'll become Kriemhild Gretchen and will destroy Earth. For worse, two Magical Girls have died, one became a witch and had to be killed, and the only one left is seriously injured and maybe about to become a witch. What does she do? Madoka does become a Magical Girl... and uses her wish to erase all witches from existence. Which completely changes the Magical Girl System and either prevents them from being born or peacefully mercy kills the ones that already exist. Oh, and it makes Madoka Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence.
  • So brutally averted in Monster by Johan and Nina's mother that the decision (sending off one of her children to a... really unpleasant place when she cannot hide them from the people there anymore) can be considered a Moral Event Horizon, even when the character truly had no other option.
  • Happens in Vinland Saga, when Askeladd is blackmailed by King Sweyn with the following command: "You either kill Prince Canute or we will invade your beloved Wales". What does he do? Reveal his identity, kill Sweyn, and allow Canute to kill him, knowing that Canute will grow into a Reasonable Authority Figure and protect Wales. Magnificent.
  • In a Hentai manga Power Play by Yamatogawa, the protagonist, who is a reincarnation of Evil Sex King, is given a freedom of chosing which Heroine will stay with him, and drain him of the power everyday for the rest of his live, so he won't awaken as the Evil Sex King. He chooses his former familiar who is actively trying to awake him, convincing the heroines that he will stop her from trying to unseal him.
  • In Windaria Veronica is torn between a vow to her late mother to protect her kingdom and her love for the prince invading her kingdom. The solution? Kill him and then herself.
  • In Spirited Away, Chihiro is given a pen of pigs and must choose which of the two among them are her parents in order to free her parents and herself from the spirit world. Her choice? "My parents aren't there!" Counts as Fridge Brilliance as the scene has a double meaning that says that her parents are not pigs and Chihiro is human, not just a mere animal.
  • In Shuffle, when Asa and Rin are faced with either having the half-demon girl Asa use her demonic powers freely despite her psychological blocks about them or have her keep them bottled in until they kill her, what happens? Since Asa refuses to use her abilities for her benefit, Rin takes a knife and injures himself gravely to force her use them to heal his wounds. That way, Asa releases the magical energy that endangers her own life, and she does this to save Rin instead of harming herself and others.
  • In Mawaru Penguindrum, Masako is given a very odd Sadistic Choice: she and Mario have to eat potentially poisoned food as a test from her grandfather Sanbei, who is possessing Mario's body. If she chooses the harmless dish, Mario will eat the harmful one and die; if she eats the poisoned food, Mario will win but end up as his grandfather's Soul Jar and puppet. How does this end? With Masako eating both dishes. She ends up in a coma, but saves Mario from Sanbei's soul's control.
  • In One Piece, during the Arlong arc, Nami asks Luffy and crew to leave the island and not interfere with her business. Luffy does not want to argue with Nami, but he does not want to leave the island either, so he goes to sleep in the middle of the road.
  • In the Grand Finale of Solty Rei, Roy Revant gets the Sadistic Choice of having to choose which of his daughters, bio-child Rose or adoptive kid Solty, will he save from Ashley, the Big Bad. What happens? Roy chooses... to attack Ashley via shooting his Combat Tentacles. Ashley counterattacks and wounds Roy, but by that time Solty has managed to free herself and attacks him too.
  • Towards the end of Magi, Aladdin is in a BIG predicament: the local Lady of War, Ren Hakuei, is possessed by the soul of her ancestor Arba, like her mother Gyokuen before her.. Since he cannot afford to just kill her or let Arba keep possessing her, the decision he takes is. . . to use a very powerful spell (Al-Kimia Al Qadima) to pretty much rewrite/remake Hakuei's body from its smallest molecules onwards enough to force Arba's spirit out of her.
  • At the end of a Russian-Japanese movie version of The Swan Lake, this trope came in full play. Here, Rothbart was Odette's Stalker with a Crush whereas Odile was Siegfried's. At the end Odette was willing to give herself to Rothbart so he wouldn't kill Siegfried, but Siegfried invoked the trope — he was too weak to fight both Odile and Rothbart off but also was unwilling to allow Odette to sacrifice herself for him, so he stabbed himself dead instead. His Heroic Sacrifice caused a The Power of Love-driven white light that killed both Rothbart and Odile, then saved Siegfried and undid the spell over Odette.
  • In Fruits Basket, Kyo tells Tohru that he believes himself to have caused the death of her mother Kyoko for not helping her before she was hit by a car and that he's sure she cursed him as she lay dying.. Thiis is followed by him giving her the choice of forgiving him or not for it. The trope takes place when Tohru not only asks "are those two my only choices?" and then says that even if she has to go against her mother's wishes, she loves Kyo.
  • Discussed in Psycho Pass by Masaoka and Inspector Ginoza, as Chief Kasei puts pressure on Division 1 so they'll capture Makishima (unbeknowst to them, so Sibyl can force him join it). Masaoka tells Ginoza that the situation's like a ball game between dogs and their owner, and then tells him "become the ball". Few scenes later, the trope is played completely straight: Kasei hacks on Ginoza's Dominator by touch to force him shoot his enforcer and friend Shinya Kougami lethally for not going along with Kasei's games... but the other Inspector from Division 1, Akane Tsunemori, steps in and uses her non-hacked Dominator to paralyze Shinya, rather than let Kasei kill him through Ginoza or have Ginoza refuse and have his career destroyed (or worse, be killed over it).
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