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|''[[The Acts of Caine|Heroes Die]]''}}
The hero makes it uncomfortably plain that they value the life of their [[Love Interest]] over those of everyone else: friends, [[Thicker Than Water|family]], [[True Companions]], or even all other life in the universe.
As long as the hero [[Take a Third Option|takes a third option]] or at least [[Dirty Business|shows a decent amount of angst]] over the decision, the audience ''may'' sympathize. But the hero will seem to suffer from [[Moral Dissonance]] if he makes the choice a little too easily, or if the exchange of life is ridiculously high. It can go full-on [[Wall Banger]] if the couple in question were [[Strangled by the Red String]] or [[The Dulcinea Effect|if they've only known each other for a short time]]. Then again, it could also be done in such a way that makes the audience feel [[Kick the Son of a Bitch|the hometown/nation/world deserved it]] for [[Humans Are the Real Monsters|
Another ridiculous aspect is that ''only'' the hero can rescue his [[Love Interest]]. The hero is [[Strong as They Need to Be|able to rescue her]] while allies who should be more efficient are helpless.
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See also [[Hostage for Macguffin]]. Contrast [[Duty First, Love Second]].
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime
* The ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' manga features a subversion. Ed's [[Love Interest]] is used as a hostage by one of the more [[Ax Crazy]] villains in the story, who tells him to obey some murderous orders from the military higher ups. Ed seems to comply pretty quickly, but in reality he is already planning to [[Take a Third Option]].
** Also averted when {{spoiler|a villain attempts to force [[Colonel Badass|Roy Mustang]] to attempt human transmutation by having a mook [[Kick the Dog|cut]] [[Action Girl|Riza]] [[Bodyguard Crush|Hawkeye's]] throat; recognizing an eye signal from the wounded Hawkeye, Mustang realizes that if he saves her, not only will he lose limbs or organs and become the last tool the [[Big Bad]] needs to bring about the end of the world, Hawkeye will kill him. He refuses. Unfortunately, even after a [[Big Damn Heroes]] moment, the villain's bosses manage to somehow force him to do human transmutation against his will.}}
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** Accelerator doesn't care if you're an angel, an esper, or the entire world's militaries combined; he won't let ''anything'' happen to Last Order.
* ''[[Wolf Guy Wolfen Crest]]'' has Inugami the hero who's biggest [[Berserk Button]] is if someone messes with Aoshika. Haguro did in a huge way and now he's gonna pay.
== Comic Books ==
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* Absolutely subverted at the end of the Argentine comic book [[El Eternauta]] (the second volume). After blowing up the [[Supervillain Lair|enemy headquarters]], the hero flies to help [[La Résistance]]. When he arrives to the war scene, he must choose to help either his wife and daughter at one side of the battlefield, or the bulk of the women and children of the small population of [[Dying Race|last remaining humans]]. He goes for the later and saves them, but by the time he can go to help his wife and daughter, they [[Downer Ending|have died]].
==
* In ''[[The Castle of Cagliostro]]'', Lupin's original intention is a simple snatch and grab of the high-quality plates used to make near perfect counterfeit bills, then a pretty girl is chased past him by bad men with guns and the movie happens.
* Disney's ''[[Hercules (1997 film)|Hercules]]'' pulls this {{spoiler|with Hercules giving of his powers to make Megara safe. It leads to [[Fridge Horror]] when you consider what would have happened if an unlucky accident hadn't killed Megara and returned his powers.}}
* The Joker is ''counting'' on this in ''[[The Dark Knight]]'', as he {{spoiler|tells Batman the two hostages' locations backwards to ensure that he saves Dent even though he wanted to save the girl}}.
* Also ''[[Batman Forever]]'', but subverted as Batman knows he wouldn't be able to save either the girl or Robin, then he goes and saves both anyway because he's [[Charles Atlas Superpower|just that good]].
* ''[[Star Wars]]'':
** ''[[Attack of the Clones]]'' play with the trope. Anakin finally accept to continue the more important mission while Padmé seems to be hurt. But when a clone trooper rescue her, she can rise without even taking his hand.
** Deconstructed in ''[[Star Wars|Revenge of the Sith]]''. Anakin Skywalker turns to the Dark Side, kills off all the Jedi, and turns a Republic into an Empire to save the life of his wife Padme Amidala. She dies anyways, and he likely caused her death through a self-fulfilling prophecy, as he Force Chokes her when, after confronting him over his actions, Obi-Wan arrives, having snuck onto the ship.
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* In the [[Mystery Science Theater 3000|MST3Ked]] film ''[[The Magic Sword]]'', a young prince leads a band of knights on a quest to rescue his lady love. All the knights are killed along the way. At no point does anyone even mention that fact that several good men have died to save a single life and several more are likely to before the thing is done.
** Pretty much the same thing happens in ''[[Krull]]''. At least the prince manages to kill a horrible beast that would likely murder countless people if not stopped in the process (and a few of his allies survive), but it's clear that he's only in it to save the princess.
== Literature ==
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* Subverted in [[Adam Hall]]'s [[Spy Fiction]] ''The Sinkiang Executive''. British spy [[Quiller]] murders an opposition agent that has him under routine surveillance, breaking the unwritten rule of the intelligence services and jeopardising the secrecy of the [[Government Agency of Fiction|Bureau]]. Apparently the agent had a peripheral involvement in the death of a local girl who helped Quiller on a previous mission; she was captured and an exchange offered—Quiller for the girl. Quiller agreed, the girl was released but Quiller didn't keep his side of the bargain, jumping on a plane to Austria instead. The girl was then tracked down and killed by the opposition in an act of revenge.
* ''[[Discworld]]''
** Subverted hard with [[The Cape (trope)|Captain Carrot]], who says "Personal isn't the same thing as important." and, while he wanted to get [[Action Girl|Angua]] back, joined Vimes's group to stop the war in ''[[
** Played somewhat more straight in ''[[
** Subverted ''again'' with Susan and [[Thief of Time|that whole time-crisis bit]], although it was {{spoiler|an old man, and Time and Existence were almost destroyed because of it. (Apocalypse averted?)}}
* Subverted in Donald Hamilton's ''Matt Helm'' novels. The hero's professional standards don't allow him to jeopardize the mission for "irrelevant females."
* In the ''[[Star Wars]]'' [[Expanded Universe]], Luke Skywalker is very protective of Mara Jade. [[Action Girl|Much to her annoyance.]] So much so to the point that {{spoiler|when she dies, Luke actually considers suicide and Ben has to (rather bluntly) talk him out of it.}}
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* In ''[[Nightside|A Hard Day's Knight]]'', renegade knight Stark plans to hand Excaliber over to an evil incarnation of Merlin—one who's already decimated his own world, and will invade ours if he gets the sword—in exchange for the resurrection of his dead wife. {{spoiler|He eventually subverts this trope, but only because his wife's ghost calls him out on it, insisting that she'll kill herself again if he buys her life at such a price.}}
▲== Live Action TV ==
* [[The BBC]]'s ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]'', when the outlaws and Marian are all taken hostage. Take a wild guess who Robin's the most afraid for. (Poor [[Bumbling Sidekick|Much]].)
** Happens again in Season Three in which all the outlaws abandon a house that has caught on fire in order to rush off and [[Damsel Scrappy|save Kate]]. One can only assume the villagers were not too impressed.
* Kira in ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' found out about Odo's feelings about her when she encountered an alternate future where she had died when the ''Defiant'' crashed on a planet and the crew formed a town. The cast were subject to [[The Time Traveller's Dilemma]] as going back to change things would result in those being born in the town never existing. Odo pretty much committed chronocide, not just on himself but on the crew of the ''Defiant'' ''and their descendants'' without even thinking about it. Unlike many instances of this trope, however, Kira's knowledge of this would create a rift between them that would take months to heal.
** Worf in ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' fails to save a Cardassian dissident because he goes back to save an injured Jadzia Dax (who dies anyway a few episodes later).
* In ''[[Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]'', one of the villains presents Zoe with a [[Sadistic Choice]] between a captive Mal and Wash. She surprises the villain by ''immediately'' choosing her husband over her captain/war-buddy before he can even finish. Subverted in that, while Wash does qualify as [[The Chick]], she did it for the coldly logical reason that Mal will survive the villain's [[Torture Technician|"gentle" ministrations]] long enough for her to [[Take a Third Option|rescue him as well]].
* In ''[[Doctor Who]]'', the Doctor, particularly Ten, puts his companions (who are usually, if not always, young and female) before anyone else. Also the new Doctor Who series suggests that his companions represent his humanity in a universe full of mass death; as seen in "The Fires of Pompeii" when Donna convinces him to go back for one family among all those destroyed in Pompeii. It's mentioned some times that he feels responsible for them because it's his fault that they are in danger, since he brought them to wherever it is they are.
** As of Eleven, the Doctor has sacrificed three of his lives for a companion, two of them female.
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* From ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' we have Guinevere on the one hand, and Camelot on the other. For Arthur, Merlin and all the Knights of the Round Table, Guinevere always comes first.
* Given a few twists in ''[[Babylon 5]]'': {{spoiler|The Vorlons send the Inquisitor to see if Delenn has the right stuff to be one of the [[Chosen One]]s in the fight against the [[Big Bad|Shadows]]. At the end of the episode the Inquisitor puts the life of her love interest, John Sheridan, on the line, saying that she can only save him by giving up her fight against the Shadows. She chooses to save him... and it turns out this is ''exactly'' what the Vorlons were looking for: "How do you know the [[Chosen One]]s? No greater love hath a man than he lay down his life for his brother. Not for millions. Not for glory, not for fame... For one person."}}
== Video Games ==
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* In [[Fable III]], at the beginning of the story you can choose between saving your childhood friend and/or lover, or saving a group of protesters who are dissatisfied with your older brother's regime. To make things worse if you're considering choosing the former, your childhood friend will practically beg you to choose him/her, while the protesters will grovel for their lives as you make your decision.
=== Visual Novels ===▼
▲== Visual Novels ==
* ''[[Fate/stay night|Fate Stay Night]]'', in spades. For Shirou, protecting the woman he loves (whether he's aware yet that he loves her or not) trumps everything else. We see it with Saber and Rin in the first two routes, but above all with {{spoiler|Sakura}} in the third route, Heaven's Feel. In this storyline, the girl in question presents an enormous danger to the world, and Shirou must choose between killing her (to save many others) and protecting her no matter what destruction she causes (in violation of his cherished ideals). Assuming you don't go for the [[Bad End]], Shirou chooses the girl.
** To make things worse, she knows and realises this, and is desperately torn between wanting Shirou and wanting Shirou to be happy. Inevitably she can only sit and watch as he throws away his ideals in order to save her. {{spoiler|He does end up both with her ''and'' happy, though, in the true ending}}.
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*** {{spoiler|Saber}} seems to suffer of this in general. In Heaven's Feel, {{spoiler|while not perfectly accurate since she's not the girl in this path, she's still the only girl you can't save. Ilya survives in the Normal Ending and Rin and Sakura survive in both. Saber? Try to save her and you get a Bad End.}}
*** {{spoiler|The worst Bad End in the entire series, no less.}}
== Web Comics ==
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* ''[[City of Reality]]'' averts it in an [[Imagine Spot]]: Todo would [http://cityofreality.com/2010/02/14/06-11-snap/ always]{{Dead link}} go for the [[Bus Full of Innocents]].
* Parodied in ''[[Boy Meets Boy]].'' Cy, while having a [[Tuxedo and Martini]]-flavored dream, is given the choice to either save his "obligatory [[Love Interest]]" from a [[Death Trap]] or stop the villain's doomsday device. Since he knows that it's [[All Just a Dream]], he decides to go with the [[Love Interest]], figuring that he can at least [[Erotic Dream|get some action]] before the world ends. {{spoiler|Unfortunately for him, he soon learns that his dream [[Homoerotic Dream|has cast Skids as the LoveInterest.]]}}
== Web Original ==
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'''Selena''': What if the Lord of Dark had me prisoner, and threatened to kill me unless you -
'''Hirou''': Good. }}
== Western Animation ==
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* ''[[Code Lyoko]]'': [[Smart Guy|Jérémie]] rescues Aelita from drowning. Ulrich, the most athletic of the group, is there the entire time.
* While obviously not a [[Love Interest]], the ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (TV series)|Legion of Super Heroes]]'' animated series has Superman's [[Darker and Edgier]] clone from the future (further in the future than the setting of LOSH) protecting a boy who is being targeted by assassins. Turns out they're from the future, too. The boy will grow up to be largely responsible for the existence of [[Big Bad]] Imperiex. It was to show how ruthless "Superman X" ''isn't'' anymore, when he decides the ends don't justify the means and chooses saving the kid over preventing Imperiex's rise.
== Real Life ==
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:Love Tropes]]
[[Category:Drama Tropes]]
[[Category:Action Adventure Tropes]]
[[Category:Index to The Rescue]]
▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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