A question for the heroes

HeroA has been called in to stop a bank robbery, upon arriving at the bank robbery you see its your nemesis who you have been trying to track down for months. Your nemesis has been on a killing spree now for all that time and this could be your best chance to put an end to his crimespree however just before you head into the room to face off against him . . . .

You find out that he also has your husband/wife and kids in a seperate building which is rigged to explode very soon, now you are faced with a dilema. Which do you do?

• Defeat the nemesis and put an end to his crime spree but at the cost of the lives of your family

• Let the nemesis escape one more time to save the lives of those you love

Are we to assume a spouse and offspring that you actually like?

Save the family, then go after him - it's not really a difficult choice - especially with super speed

I think this would belong in the RP forum, but that's not my call.

I would save my family. It's my nemesis: I'm sure I'll have another chance to capture him. Probably within the week.

This kind of predicament is why I don't write my characters with secret identities and many "normal" friends. Most of my characters are either loners, or have associates who are as dangerous as they are.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

Obviously, the family is first, so that's that.

However, if you were being the vigilante, you would then use every means possible to acquire said villain quickly. At which point, you slowly rend them apart one piece at a time, perhaps with a dremel with a wirebrush attachment, sewing up the wounds so they don't bleed out, and prolonging their dispatchment.

This does two things: Vigilante justice for the family being put in jeopardy (regardless of the idea that being the vigilante itself is jeopardizing the family) and sends the message: Don't **** with me or my family, or you will be horribly disposed of.

Perhaps that's more villainous than it should be, but this is mah family. Do. Not. Touch.

I don't even see where it has to be family -- the hero's primary goal should be the safety of others. A couple people in real, immediate distress should trump hypothetical (even if probable) distress in the future.

The question comes down to urgency and magnitude.

If my nemesis just stole The Blowing-Up Device that's going to, y'know, blow up Manhattan, or something, then I, as a Hero, suck up my personal losses, and stop him from using the device.

But that's if he's planning on using it, like, right now; if it's "Stop your nemesis from getting away with the device" or "save your family", you probably save your family, because hey, you can get another crack at your nemesis later.

As GG points out, with some heroes, and some of these situations, the fun is watching them "choose the third option". If you're using this diabolic choice outside of a video game (...or inside, really...), make sure to leave space for the 'chooser' to say, "I'll try very, very hard to do both!".

Stop nemesis.
Collect insurance.
Retire.

Depends on the character, though most would probably save the people.

Lyc doesn't have any family to speak of. He kind of left his past behind when he got turned into a werewolf, though he didn't have a wife or any kids either. I figured by the time he got a handle on it, he'd been presumed dead for years, and both he and his home had changed so much (when Salamanca re-opened it's access to Paragon- I didn't have a specific 'home' determined for Lyc before then) he didn't really look back.

In any event, even if it were total strangers, he would go to save them first. He had to work hard to hold on to his humanity, and he would see letting them die as a perilous step away from it, even if it meant letting the bad guy get away.

However, he wouldn't forget, and would make the villain regret ever putting innocents in jeapordy the next time they crossed paths... Even as a hero, a werewolf isn't a gentle creature...

Oh, but they wouldn't because I'd be a super enough hero to stop them and save the world. Again.