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| rdfs:comment | - "...you'd be dead already." Line uttered by a villain or Big Bad to "prove" their specific involvement. Maybe a group of unknown assailants attacked the hero and he tries grilling the most likely suspect; some mafia boss or the like. No, he didn't order it because he's just so totally Badass that if he did, he wouldn't have failed. This reasoning is also used for heroes who muse about whether or not to trust a villain who offers them hospitality or aid. You can pretty much accept this line to be true whenever it is spoken; (almost) nobody ever bluffs a failed assassination attempt this way.
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| abstract | - "...you'd be dead already." Line uttered by a villain or Big Bad to "prove" their specific involvement. Maybe a group of unknown assailants attacked the hero and he tries grilling the most likely suspect; some mafia boss or the like. No, he didn't order it because he's just so totally Badass that if he did, he wouldn't have failed. This reasoning is also used for heroes who muse about whether or not to trust a villain who offers them hospitality or aid. You can pretty much accept this line to be true whenever it is spoken; (almost) nobody ever bluffs a failed assassination attempt this way. It might come up, when a villain who was secretly spying on the heroes or even hiding among their ranks suddenly offers them help, as they happened to have a common goal. Heroes are understandably reluctant to accept such help and are suspicious of his motives, so the villain may resort to this trope to "reassure" the heroes that he means them no harm... this time. Sometimes the argument will be raised by some of the hero's companions to persuade the stubborn hero. A common inversion is to have the person being threatened calmly shake the threat off with the reasoning, "If you were really going to kill me you'd have done it by now." Not to be confused with I Wished You Were Dead. Compare Break-In Threat. Examples of If I Wanted You Dead... include:
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