Would You Kill Your Best Friend to Make your Greatest Wish Come True?

[lelouch]

Basically what the title explains. Also, you are guaranteed that nobody would know that you killed him/her. I got the idea from the question game forum, and I decided to bring it out to the open to see what other people's opinions were. I got this idea from the Naruto anime when Itachi kills his best friend for near-ultimate power.

Would you kill your best friend if it in return, your greatest personal wish was granted? By personal wish I mean it would have to be something that benefits only you, not anyone else.

I thought long and hard about this one, and eventually I came up with the answer that no, I would not. Why? Because I don't own the life I would be paying with. I like to treat my neighbors the way I like to be treated, and I wouldn't want someone paying with my life to obtain something without my consent, especially my best friend.

What are your thoughts?

[Kraco]

You can't kill your best friend for personal profit. Cases that allow killing a friend are quite rare in general. By definition a friend is someone you feel attached to, who is not hostile, and whom you would by default like to help. The only case where you could kill a friend is when he wishes for that himself, and it would be thus an act of mercy, a coup de grâce.

So, you cease to consider the person a friend, not to mention a best friend, if you attempt to kill him for personal profit. Thus, you aren't actually killing your best friend, just a person you know.

Semantics aside, I wouldn't. It wouldn't be me anymore who did it, as it would assume a change of personality. Still, strange circumstances can change people a lot so nothing's impossible.

[XanBcoo]

The only case where you could kill a friend is when he wishes for that himself, and it would be thus an act of mercy, a coup de grâce.

There's also the case of creating weird topics for a hypothetical situation where no sane person would answer "yes" to.

What's the matter lelouch, were you not satisfied with saman's answer in the Question thread? I'm not trying to kill conversation or anything, but you're basically asking a question as complex as "would you gouge out both your eyes for a free pizza?" What are you really expecting people to say?

Edit to below: I did have an inkling that this was part of some strange justification.

[Animeniax]

I fear this is no hypothetical question for lelouch. It's research before the big occasion. His best friend better watch his back.

[Board of Command]

Yes. Yes I would as long as my wish doesn't require the friend to be alive.

However, at the moment I don't have any wishes great enough to justify it.

[Abdula]

How about if my wish is that my best friend never dies how would that work, because that would benefit me. I couldn't possibly imagine a situation that would require me to kill my best friend. Well not that I couldn't imagine the situation in fact I can think of a few but since he specifically said the only person who can benefit from the wish would be myself it excludes those situations.

Other than that I would gladly sacrifice myself for my best friend , that is if I had one.

[Assertn]

Yeah....this only works if your wishes are selfish ones....

If it was me, I would probably wish to come across incredible amounts of wealth....
Although probably the first thing I would do with that wealth is create a small neighborhood of kickass houses for my friends and I to live in...

Seriously, what's the point of having a dream when you have nobody to share it with?

[animus]

Honestly, atleast for me there is no "Greatest Wish" in this world worth losing your best friend for.

If you do attain your wish, and are alone without him/her, where's the fun in that? Even the smallest dumb shit you can do with such a friend trumps it.

"A good friend will bail you out of jail, but a best friend will be right in jail with you saying how fucking awesome that was." Seemed like a good time for that quote I guess?

[Genma]

I'm not big on friends, and the only person I MIGHT consider a best friend I wouldn't mind killing to make my greatest wish come true.

I'm a selfish person, honestly.

[Abdula]

I understand what you're saying its just that I don't consider those kind of people friends so it doesn't really apply to this situation.

[Animeniax]

What if you wished for 10 new best friends and got that by killing the one? Problem solved.

[shinta|hikari]

I guess it depends for me.

Basically I feel like I am trapped in endless despair, and it is my greatest wish to get out of that (if you rephrase it, finding happiness might fit). If killing my best friend (which is probably one of the last things I would ever want to do) will allow me to attain that wish, then I will do it. The problem here is the content of the matter. What does ending despair/attaining happiness mean? Since that is unclear, or is not even feasible, then my final answer would be a No.

@Animeniax - wait, your greatest wish is to have 10 best friends? You clearly don't understand what the word "best" means. Besides, what's the point? In this case, quantity is not a factor anyway.

[Kraco]

What if you wished for 10 new best friends and got that by killing the one? Problem solved.

To be realistic, whoever offered you such a deal is the mother of all back-stabbing bastards and thus very soon you would likely find one of those 10 new "best friends" sticking a knife between your shoulder blades, because he received a similar offer. Considering how that new friend was gained in the first place, it'd be no less than you deserved to get killed by one of them in turn.

[shinta|hikari]

Well, if the wish to be granted is to exchange the current best friend for 10 new best friends, I don't think they are supposed to, or even capable of betraying you. But then, a best friend relationship is not always mutual. Just because one party believes the other to be his/her best friend does not necessitate the other party to feel the same. I assume that having 10 new best friends means that you gain 10 people that you consider to be your best friends (I still have trouble with this phrasing, but I will accept it for the sake of argument), but they might hate your guts, and kill you for a selfish reason as Kraco proposes.

[Sandldan]

I would kill him then use the wish to resurrect him, just for the lulz

[Animeniax]

Does one act necessarily follow the other? Cause if not, your friend will remain dead, and your ruse is foiled.

[Abdula]

Well he did say that in return for the death of your best friend your greatest wish will be granted and since he got the idea from Itachi then killing your friend comes first and that is the price of your wish being granted. I wonder if the quality of your friendship or the person sacrificed would affect what kind of wish can be granted. For example I don't think anyone would get much for killing Animeniax.

[shinta|hikari]

Hahaha LOL.

I doubt the person to be sacrifice matters at all, as long as that person is your best friend. The conditions are best friend and "greatest wish" after all.

[IFHTT]

Well I will answer this from the opposite side, I think if my best friend were to wish for something bigger than himself, that bettered everyone's lives, I'd be willing to allow him to kill me. I think the same could be said in reverse. As long as the wish isn't a selfish wish and was something that allowed everyone on the planet to benefit from, I think my friend would understand and accept a knife wound to the chest. Anything below that though, I don't think I could agree with. Real friends are just too valuable.

[Carnage]

This thread has given me an idea.