Board Thread:Off Topic/@comment-25266931-20161112032800/@comment-14138255-20161115032524

We aren't advocating a coward who would hesitate in killing Hitler. We are advocating a person who would rather have lived a normal life, but have had a great responsibility thrust upon them that they must complete (they may even have volunteered). They see it through, but they still acknowledge their lives are worse off for doing it.

Take Frodo from Lord of the Rings for example. Frodo was a simple hobbit, living a rather perfect life in The Shire and being very much happy. Then he is given the One Ring and is given the task of delivering to Rivendale, where along the way he gets a near mortal wound that stays with him for the rest of his life. Then in Rivendale he volunteers to leave paradise again (Rivendale this time) to take The Ring to Mordor to destroy it because no one else would/should. He says verbatim "I wish this ring never came to me" and in the end is completely destabalised and can't peacefully retire in The Shire, being still hurt by his experiences and his wound. He's forced to essentially move on to the Grey Isle Retirement Home of the beyond, he couldn't stay in Middle Earth because so much about him changed.

Contrary to how that sounds, he had plenty of moments where he considered leaving, which is how we know of his feelings to the whole situation. We know he will make the right choices, but he doesn't, he's completely stunned and afraid of what to do and how it will affect him, but he will do what needs to be done when it matters, something important.

As for a character who does fit your failed Hitler-sassin, that character appearing after he panicked and chickened out of killing Hitler could be interesting, showing a character who not only chickened out of killing Hitler, but got another person killed and has to deal with all that. Eventually he might redeem himself and grow enough of a spine to blow not only Hitler up, but the rest of the Nazi leadership by himself. That's a satisfying character arc.