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{{trope}}{{Needs Image}}
{{quote|'''Majesty:''' Burn the whole city... that's pretty extreme for the life of one woman.
'''Caine:''' Fuck the city. I'd burn the world to save her.
|''[[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 [[
▲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. Can come about as the result of a [[Sadistic Choice]], only having enough time to rescue one person out of several, or whatever other requirements the plot puts in their way and well, plainly making a decision.
Another ridiculous aspect is that ''only'' the hero can rescue his [[Love Interest]]. The hero is [[Strong
▲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 (Darth Wiki)|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]] [[Humans Are Bastards|for relentlessly abusing the hero.]]
▲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.
Sometimes the hero will find a way to save both the love interest ''and'' everyone else. If done right, the hero can come out looking even more clever and badass. Often times, though, the "[[The Needs of the Many]]" argument will fall on deaf ears.
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Despite the name, it doesn't actually have to be the love interest or even a single person. A [[Most Important Person]], members of the hero's Nakama, or [[Papa Wolf|beloved]] [[Mama Bear|family]] [[Knight Templar Big Brother|members]] work just as well.
See also [[Hostage for Macguffin]]. Contrast [[
{{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.}}
** Earlier, when Roy is giving into [[Revenge Before Reason]], Riza stops him from going too far by threatening to shoot
{{quote|
* In ''[[Chaos
* ''[[Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]]''. At the beginning, it was touching and powerful when Syaoran was willing to give up everything he knew, and even Sakura's love for him, at the expense of saving her life. In more recent chapters, when we find out that, for Sakura's sake, he has {{spoiler|purposely damned an entire town, watching them melt before his eyes, chosen staying with her over his own world and family at the age of ''seven,'' and then made a [[Deal
** {{spoiler|The town and its people were fake, things ended up okay (sort of), and he really didn't have a choice in the matter anyway.}}
* The end of ''[[Slayers
* ''[[
** Then again, Takumi was already ''Akira's'' Most Important Person.
** While Mai is gradually becoming closer to Yuuichi, Takumi is trying to become independent from Mai, which upsets her and slightly downgrades his importance. Natsuki suggests that Takumi was Mai's Most Important person at first, but Yuuichi replaced him {{spoiler|before Takumi died}}.
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** May not be played as straight as it seems. Michiru's posture and expression implies that she was calling the puppet's bluff the whole time, and just saying something witty to top it all off.
* In ''[[Rave Master]]'', the villain Sieg Hart wants to kill {{spoiler|Elie}} to prevent the destructive power of Aetherion from awakening and tearing the world apart. He tries to make Haru see his point that one life is a small sacrifice for saving the world, to which Haru replies, "If peace can only come through killing someone, then I don't want it." When the power awakens anyway, Hart is unable to do anything, and it's up to Haru to make the decision... {{spoiler|And he decides to [[Take a Third Option]] and [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|seals the power without killing her.]]}}
* Sanji from ''[[
** A good example is seen in the Foxy filler; Sanji nearly gives up a game of a Red Light-Green Light by jumping after an enemy girl to rescue her. Sanji is still in the game by kicking his legs really fast so he floats perfectly still, but the game master can't see. {{spoiler|He loses when the girl hugs him.}}
* In ''[[
* Played very straight by Shinji in ''[[Rebuild of Evangelion]]'': "I don't care what happens to me... I don't even care what happens to the world... but I'm bringing Rei back! I'll promise I'll save you Rei, '''EVEN IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!!!'''" In classic Evangelion form, saving her means ''killing everyone in the world''. Oops. {{spoiler|Thankfully, the world is saved at the last moment by none other than Kaworu.}}
** In the [[Neon Genesis Evangelion
* Belldandy in ''[[
* ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'', just like everything else, takes this trope and cranks it past absurdity all the way into heartbreaking. While there is the excuse of having to fight off the evil swarm, the last few episodes boil down to Simon's perfect willingness to march into Hell to come for Nia. Even when it costs {{spoiler|him enough energy to create detritus galaxies and fill the cockpit with blood, the lives of the Gurren Brigade, and comes close to destroying the universe.}} That's some Goddamned love.
** Of course, this only happens in ''Lagann-hen''. In the anime, there's a lot less blood.
* Played straight right after the timeskip in ''Mythic Quest''. Tragic has decided to put off defeating the Chaos Sorcerer indefinitely so he can fully concentrate on finding Aramusha. He gets back on track after {{spoiler|discovering most of the information about her is lies and misdirections planted by Shadow himself to keep Tragic distracted from him.}}
* Subverted at the last second in ''[[Weiss Kreuz]]''. This is pretty much Youji's default mindset, but he ends up {{spoiler|killing the woman he loves in order to save his teammates}}.
** Aya also makes it pretty clear that he doesn't give a single fat damn about Weiss's mission to make the world a better place if it interferes in any way with his ability to [[Big Brother Instinct|protect his little sister]].
* ''[[The Place Promised in Our Early Days]]'' has the heroes risk the entire planet Earth to {{spoiler|wake Sayuri from a coma induced by the world-ending machine}}.
* {{spoiler|Akemi Homura}} of ''[[
** This is deconstructed, like so many other tropes in the series' manga spinoff. {{spoiler|At the end of the manga, Homura, Mami, and Kyoko are all alive, and neither Madoka or Sayaka had to sign Kyubey's contract. Then a witch kills Madoka and Homura decides to press the [[Reset Button]] again, despite the fact that she's pretty much achieved the [[Golden Ending]]. In the main series, this is eventually [[Reconstructed]] when Homura's perseverance finally pays off and Madoka uses her wish to rewrite reality.}}
* In ''[[
* [[To Aru Majutsu no Index (Anime)|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.▼
* Deconstructed in the [[Rescue Arc|Conviction Arc]] of ''[[Berserk]]''. Guts saves Casca from being {{spoiler|[[Burn the Witch|burned at the stake as a witch]] by [[Light Is Not Good|Bishop Mozgus]] [[Torture Technician|and his henchmen]], who are being backed by all of the citizens [[Gullible Lemmings|who blindly follow whatever he says just to save themselves from damnation]]. They want to burn her because they think she is responsible for the influx of monsters and evil spirits around St. Albion and, well, technically they're correct, since the Brand of the Sacrifice on Casca's breast attracts evil spirits that are nearby.}} But Guts, being her [[Love Interest]] and thus [[I Will Protect Her|vowing to protect her]], doesn't give two shits about what will happen so long he and Casca survive at the end of it all. He pretty much tells Mozgus and the refugees to go fuck themselves.
* [[This Ugly Yet Beautiful World]]: Hikari is {{spoiler|the anthropomorphic personification of extinction}}. Takeru is {{spoiler|a mutation born to stop her}}. And he still does everything in his power to protect her, consequences be damned. Granted he doesn't know either of those facts for most of the series, but even after he learns the truth it doesn't change anything.
* ''[[A Certain Magical Index]]:''
*
▲**
* ''[[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 ==
* Extremely subverted in ''[[Sin City]]: The Big Fat Kill'', Dwight McCarthy offers Jackie Boy's head to Manute (which will allow Manute to tie Jackie Boy's death to Old Town) in exchange for Gail. Dwight's stuffed the head with explosives and as soon as it's in Manute's hands, blows it up as dozens of Old Town girls show up on the rooftops, raining bullets into the alley, killing Manute and all his men.
* Also extremely subverted in ''[[Ultimate Fantastic Four]]'' during the ''Ultimatum'' storyline. {{spoiler|Reed Richards chooses to confront Doctor Doom and save the world at large, abandoning his dying girlfriend, Sue. Eventually, she calls him out for it and breaks up with him. He explains that he made the "logical" choice, as saving the world would ultimately mean saving her as well. Sue remarks that she always felt that their love ''defied'' logic, and leaves him.}}
* 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
* Disney's ''[[Hercules (
* 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 ''[[
* ''[[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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** And lampshaded to a degree by the Architect, who makes some cynical comment regarding Neo's "[[The Power of Love|emotional response designed to overwhelm logic]]".
** Someone (probably the Architect) also pointed out that the previous "One's" loved humanity in a general sense, leading them to sacrifice most of the population for the sake of the species as a whole. Due to the Oracle's influence, Neo loved Trinity more than humanity, directly leading to humanity's freedom.
* There's the choice given in the first ''[[Spider-Man (
* In the first ''[[Hellboy (
{{quote|
** In the second film, however, this is played straight by both Abe and ''Liz''. Abe tries to save his porcelain princess by giving her brother the [[MacGuffin]] that controls the Golden Army (the one, which, you know, nearly drove humanity extinct last time it was used) while Liz, after being told by an ''Angel of Death'' that Hellboy would bring about the Apocalypse, ''tells Hellboy's Angel of Death to sod off and save him anyway.'' This is also a [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]], since it shows just how much Liz really trusts Hellboy, but she still screwed the world to save her boy.
* Parodied in ''[[
* In ''[[
** Of course, until the Ark is opened, Indy doesn't believe it has any supernatural powers; he just thinks it's an ancient artifact. A very valuable artifact of immense cultural significance, but still just an artifact... until the faces started melting.
* The King in ''[[
* Parodied in ''[[
* [[Subverted Trope|Subverted at first]] in ''[[Austin Powers|The Spy Who Shagged Me]]'' where Austin decides to save the world and let the [[Girl of the Week]] die, {{spoiler|but later [[Double Subverted]] when he lets Dr. Evil escape so he can use Evil's [[Time Travel|time machine]] to [[Stable Time Loop|save her]].}}
* ''[[James Bond (
** In ''[[
** In ''[[
* A gender flip of this occurs in the 2010 version of ''[[
* Subverted in ''[[Plunkett and Macleane]]'' when despite {{spoiler|Plunkett's warnings he'll be captured, Macleane attempts to to go back and save Lady Rebbecca despite the risks. It is a trap and General Chance is waiting to arrest him}}.
* In ''[[The
* ''[[A Boy and His Dog]]'' {{spoiler|averts this pretty darned hard in the last ten minutes.}} It makes for one of the best movie endings ever put on film.
* In ''[[I, Robot (
** During the film's climax, Sonny is faced with a similar choice, with Spooner screaming "save the girl!" {{spoiler|As further proof that Sonny has evolved beyond the Three Laws, Sonny rejects the logical choice in favour of the emotional one, crystallising his humanity in the eyes of Spooner.}}
* ''[[Predators]]'': Royce is a [[Combat Pragmatist]] who doesn't hesitate to abandon any one of the team that gets injured or falls behind, unless it's [[The Chick|lone female]] Isabelle. The fact that he shrugs and moves on any time she deliberately stays behind to help the others makes it seem more like a spinal reflex on his part than adherence to any kind of honor code.
* In Peter Jackson's [[King Kong]], one of the members of the rescue party makes the perfectly reasonable observation that Anne is probably dead already, that a good number of the rescuers have just died, and the rest of them will probably either get killed or get left behind, since their ship will sail without them if they are not back in time. He is immediately accused of being a [[Dirty Coward]] by [[The Hero]], and since the character has been an arrogant douchebag for the entire film, we are presumably meant to hate him even more for the heinous crime of not wanting to die horribly for an almost certainly lost cause.
** In fact, the character's [[Scrappy
*** His point is still valid [[It Was His Sled|even though Anne is brought back alive;]] of the 17 people who die on the island, 15 were killed trying to find her. No matter how much you might love Anne, is that really a price you want to pay?
* 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 ==
* [[Playing
* 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
* ''[[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.}}
** Apparently, Luke's overprotectiveness rubbed off on his student, Jacen Solo. It doesn't annoy his girl, Tenal Ka, as much.
* ''[[
* From ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', when a [[Our Vampires Are Different|Red Court Vampiress]] is referring to Harry Dresden's [[Love Interest]], Susan, who was already half-turned into a vampire herself:
{{quote|
'''Harry:''' ''(slams his staff down on the floor)'' For one person! For one life! For one soul! }}
** Earlier, when Bianca smugly thinks she's got Dresden cornered and is going to force him to sacrifice an innocent life, asks him logically if one woman is worth the price of war. He just responds quietly "I love her."
*** Harry is [[Genre Savvy]] enough to see that a policy of appeasement to the [[
** Painfully subverted in ''[[Wham! Episode|Changes]]''. {{spoiler|Susan has crossed the line and become fully vampire. Harry uses her as a human(ish) sacrifice to wipe out the Red Court entirely, winning the war and saving countless lives the Reds would have ended in the future.}} Not that there was much in the way of better options at the moment.
** Also from ''Changes'', not a [[Love Interest]], but instead {{spoiler|a daughter}} Harry makes it very clear he'd let the world AND HIMSELF burn if it means he can keep {{spoiler|Maggie}} safe.
*** In fact, the entire plot of ''Changes'' (as well as most of the preceding books' Red Court-related events) only happens because of people taking advantage of this trait of Harry's. His being the handiest [[Unwitting Pawn]] around is a major reason people he cares about get in danger.
** In ''Ghost Story'' {{spoiler|Uriel calls attention to the consequences his actions in ''Changes'' have had for just one other person he cares about to point out that, basically, this trope is a really stupid approach, while Harry considers some of the [[Evil Power Vacuum|global effects]] of his actions that he might have avoided if he'd been less reckless.}}
* From ''My Dead Body'', fifth book of the ''[[Charlie Huston|Joe Pitt Case Files]]'', Titular [[
* In the ''[[Harry Potter (
** Subverted in ''Deathly Hallows''. Harry worries about Ginny's safety while she's at a Hogwarts run by Death Eaters, but resists the urge to go find her because finding the last horcruxes were more important. Played with later, when Harry pauses in chasing Voldemort to save Ginny from Bellatrix after the latter nearly hits the former with a killing curse. {{spoiler|Before he can do anything, ''[[Mama Bear|Molly Weasley]]'' takes down Bellatrix.}}
* In [[David Weber]] and [[John Ringo]]'s ''[[Prince Roger]]'' series, subverted when {{spoiler|Nimashet Despreaux}} is kidnapped by mobsters. Roger leads the assault {{spoiler|on the Imperial Palace}} whilst some of his ex-SWAT allies rescue her. To be fair though, he did need some convincing to follow this course of action.
* In ''[[Nightside|A Hard Day's Knight]]'', renegade knight Stark plans to hand Excaliber over to an evil incarnation of
* [[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]].)▼
▲== Live Action TV ==
▲* [[The BBC]]'s ''[[Robin Hood (TV)|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
** 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 ''[[
** As of Eleven, the Doctor has sacrificed three of his lives for a companion, two of them female.
** Then you have Rory:
{{quote|
'''Rory:''' {{spoiler|''(punches him)'' She is to me!}} }}
** River Song takes this trope to extremes, disintegrating ''Time itself'' to keep from killing {{spoiler|the Doctor}}.
** Amy gets in on it too. To hell with time and space, Amy Pond wants to be with her husband.
* A mild version in ''[[
** {{spoiler|makes it doubly ironic then that Jack later gives up his grandson's life for the sake of humanity's children. Ianto had at least signed up for the danger. Jack's grandson hadn't.}}
* ''[[
** Next episode, she gets kidnapped by Scarrans with similar designs on wormhole knowledge, forcing Crichton into a deal with
*** Incidentally, Crichton (and some fans) seem to believe that Scorpius wasn't fooled by the comm trick, and [[Magnificent Bastard|engineered the whole thing from beginning to end.]] Certainly he got all the information his big brain needed to puzzle out the truth during that same episode.
* Subverted in an episode of ''[[Buck Rogers in
* ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' is a rare subversion where the heroes are more concerned with their [[Heterosexual Life Partners|Heterosexual Life Partner]] than with any [[Love Interest
* ''[[Pushing Daisies]]:'' Ned keeps Chuck alive fully knowing someone else will die instead.
* In ''[[One Tree Hill]]'' there is such an amazing frequency of Lucas saving Peyton that it is even acknowledged by her saying "You're always saving me" repeatedly.
* John Connor in ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'' finds
* In the first season finale of ''[[Dollhouse]]'' {{spoiler|[[Eleventh
** Also a fundamental part of Paul Ballard's personality; first he saves {{spoiler|Mellie}}, then he gets to work protecting {{spoiler|Echo from ''everything.''}}
* On [[House (TV series)|House]], Foreman secretly switched Hadley from the placebo to the real drug in the drug trial he was working on, something that could end his career if it became known. Hadley was a bit weirded out by this, as they had only been dating for a couple of weeks.
** {{spoiler|When the drug gave Hadley a brain tumor and turned her blind}} he was all set to openly tell his supervisors about it. They got better.
* Bill Adama does this twice in ''[[Battlestar Galactica
* ''[[
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer
* On ''[[The X-Files]]'', this isn't even a thought for Mulder in terms of Scully; he seems to do it on pure instinct. Mulder is so predictable when his partner is taken, that the villains of the story exploit it. In the 1998 movie ''Fight the Future'', one of Syndicate suggests that instead of killing Mulder, they must "Take away what he holds most valuable. That with which he can't live without." with the next scene showing Scully staring off into the horizon. True to form, Mulder doesn't hesitate to save her, even when it includes going to Antartica and breaking into a top-secret space craft.
** It works the other way around, too, in which Scully will risk everything to save Mulder. She doesn't even let being pregnant get in the way of heading her own private investigation into his abduction, which involves driving cross-country and confronting alien replacements. In fact, it is Skinner who tries to convince her that Mulder wouldn't want her to do this if he had known her condition.
* ''[[
* In ''[[Flashpoint (TV series)|Flashpoint]]'' the rules against team members dating are there for this specific reason. During a dangerous situation the team and civilians could be put in danger if one of them breaks protocol to try and save their [[Love Interest]].
** In one episode an undercover cop falls in love with a gangsters girlfriend. He then tips her off about the upcoming city wide bust so she is not arrested. As a result {{spoiler|another cop gets shot, the gangster escapes, the undercover cop's career is ruined and the girl gets killed}}.
* 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 ''[[
== Video Games ==
* ''[[Alpha Protocol]]'' allows you to either plays it straight or subverts it. You even gets tailored answers about it, [[What the Hell, Hero?|calling you out]] or [[Worthy Opponent|congratulating you]] about it.
** One ''particular'' option (Rome) is to either save the day, or save the girl. If you save the day, everyone tells you that you did the right thing, but Mike is still racked with guilt about it. If you save the girl, everyone tells you that you did the ''wrong'' thing, ''including the girl that you saved''. And Mike is racked with guilt about it. And [[The Bad Guy Wins]] either way.
* ''[[Prince of Persia]]'' (2009). Depressingly so, especially since it's subverted after the end of the DLC.
* In ''[[
** Meanwhile, in ''[[
** Earlier in the game, Rinoa finds herself hanging on the edge of a deadly fall in the middle of a large-scale battle and Squall prioritizes saving her over helping to defend Balamb Garden. {{spoiler|He has to be talked into it, but it's the first case of his desires overcoming his previously insurmountable sense of duty.}}
** It's also implied that this is why Seifer is helping the Sorceress Edea, at least at first; he sees himself as the [[Knight Errant|heroic knight]] protecting the princess, and says as much to Squall.
** [[Les Yay]] example: Fang in ''[[
{{quote|
** This is actually a gameplay mechanic in ''[[
* In one of the more poignant scenes in ''[[
* Taken to a literal extreme in the ending of 2008 version of ''[[Prince of Persia]]'', where {{spoiler|the Prince releases the very same god of darkness he just sealed in order to revive his female sidekick Elika -- who was ''the person he was helping to seal that god in the first place''.}}
** Not only that, but the whole reason they were doing anything to begin with is that {{spoiler|he was not the first person to do that}}.
** Nearly every line the Prince says in the [[
* A moment in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 4'' which garnered a lot of fan hatred towards Otacon was when Snake has just forced his way past the {{spoiler|microwaves}} and is not only half-dead but ''[[Say My Name|screaming Otacon's name]]'', and Otacon doesn't react. The second {{spoiler|Naomi}} shows up in the video, Otacon [[Strangled
** It has been speculated that the writers did this in order to [[Ship Sinking|sink the Snake/Otacon ship]]. Still doesn't make it right.
* The end of the 2006 ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' has {{spoiler|Elise debating whether to destroy the time-destroying evil sun god if it means she'll never meet Sonic, who thankfully assures her that the world's more important}}.
** Yeah [[Reset Button|thank God]] [[Canon
** Interestingly,
{{quote|
* In ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'', Sora
** This persists in ''Chain of Memories'', where Sora tells Namine to shatter his heart and memories if it will mean saving her from harm at the hands of Marluxia, and that he'll still protect her even without his memories. Marluxia is amused at the naivete of this strategy, saying that Sora will be ''comatose'' if he loses his memories and unable to do anything. Of course, then something happens that challenges this claim, so it's unknown exactly ''what'' would have happened had Sora followed through with his initial plan.
* ''[[
** Not only that, {{spoiler|there's literally [[Failure Is the Only Option|NO WAY to save her]] -- you go to save her, she's a decoy and the real Trish is among the doctors. You save the doctors, she's the real Trish.}}
* Partially subverted in ''[[The Dig]]''. When {{spoiler|Maggie Robbins dies}} towards the end of the game, Boston Low can {{spoiler|resurrect her using the crystals}} against good sense, and breaking your promise to her. If you choose to do this, she will {{spoiler|commit suicide, die again and hate your guts forever}}. At the end of the game, the {{spoiler|Cocytans will resurrect her and Brink}}, and her attitude towards you will depend on your choice.
* Deconstructed in ''[[Mass Effect]]''. After making the [[Sadistic Choice]] on Virmire, if the person you saved was your [[Love Interest]], they will [[What the Hell, Hero?|call you out on this]], blaming their relationship with you for the other's death. This becomes a [[Funny Aneurysm Moment]] with {{spoiler|Ashley}}, as one of her letters to her sister explicitly warns her not to get into that situation.
** And if you start a new game in ''[[Mass Effect]] 2'' without [[Old Save Bonus|importing a save]], the default is always the crewmember of the opposite sex being saved.
** And Paragon!Shepard is a lot nicer about it than most examples of this trope, possibly giving Ashley a bit of a speech on how {{spoiler|she shouldn't blame herself for Kaidan's death, but should blame Saren instead for forcing you to choose}}.
* In ''[[Yo-Jin-Bo]]'', the guys often mention how they are [[More Expendable Than You]] and are willing to sacrifice as many of their own lives as are necessary to save yours. Sayori, of course, is less than pleased with this.
* In ''[[Armored Core
* In ''[[
* ''[[Lost Magic]]'' for the DS has one of the most obnoxious examples of this. {{spoiler|The [[Big Bad]] asks the character to hand over the [[MacGuffin
* ''[[The Force Unleashed]]'': Starkiller disobeys a direct order from his master, Darth Vader, and rescues Juno Eclipse from The Empirical.
{{quote|
'''Starkiller:''' I don't care about any of that. I'm leaving [[The Empire]] behind. }}
** In ''The Force Unleashed II'', Starkiller is called out several times by [[The Obi
* ''[[Dragon Age]]'' has a heartbreaking example, though it can be avoided by multiple ways, like [[Taking a Third Option|accepting the deal]] that Morrigan offers near the end of the game. Still, if {{spoiler|a female Warden romanced Alistair, he chooses to deliver the final blow to the Archdemon, killing himself in the process because he won't let the woman he loves die. [[Tear Jerker|And no, he can't be persuated out of his decision.]]}}
** The sequel lets your ''[[Player Character]]'' do this, if you romance {{spoiler|Anders. You can let him live after he blows up the Chantry...despite all the fallout that comes with the decision, such as Sebastian swearing vengeance.}}
* It's very easy to see this in ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[.hack|.hack//GU]]'' has this as a central theme in the story. [[Anti
* In [[Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors]], {{spoiler|the ''entire plot'' is centered around Junpei saving Akane from dying as a child, to the point where ''she'' set it up that way. Though to be fair, if Junpei succeeds in this, it leads to the ending where every single person who possibly can be saved is saved.}}
* At the [[Road Cone]] in ''[[
* 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 ===▼
* ''[[Fate/stay
▲== Visual Novels ==
▲* ''[[Fate Stay Night (Visual Novel)|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}}.
{{quote|
** Of course, then there is the Fate route, where Shirou saves nearly everyone. {{spoiler|[[Tear Jerker|Except]] [[Bittersweet Ending|Saber]]. The one person who, to Shirou means, and I quote: [[Anguished Declaration of Love|"more than anything else! There's not one thing that can replace you. I... I like you the most out of everything]]."}} [[Bittersweet Ending]] [[Tear Jerker|doesn't cover HALF of it.]]
*** {{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 ==
* In ''[[
** To be fair to Fiona, look at her life in {{spoiler|the real world: no friends, poor relationship with her family, ostracized at school. Oh, and ''her mother had tried to kill her''. Even before the dream with Lia in it, she'd only been happy when she was dreaming.}} Yes, she's giving up her {{spoiler|real life}}, but I'd call this more of a [[Screw Destiny]].
* ''[[
{{quote|
** Oh, and plays it straight [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20091111 here] (same girl).
** Straight again, [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090717 different girl].
Line 236 ⟶ 227:
** In the first case, the choice is not between Agatha and Europa, but between kidnapping Agatha so that Baron Wulfenbach can ensure that she isn't {{spoiler|the Other}}, probably killing any chance of a relationship, and taking the chance that she is (in which case both Europa and relationship are doomed) in order to preserve the chance to have a relationship with her if she isn't. Of course, he ends up [[Taking a Third Option]].
* In the beginning of ''[[The Dreamer]]'', Alan infiltrates Gen. Howe's ship and rescues Beatrice.
* ''[[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 ==
* The first volume of ''[[John Dies
* Averted in Yudkowsky's [http://yudkowsky.net/other/fiction/the-sword-of-good The Sword of Good], when Selena is testing Hirou's resolve.
{{quote|
[...]
'''Selena''': What if the Lord of Dark had me prisoner, and threatened to kill me unless you -
'''Hirou''': Good. }}
== Western Animation ==
* In one ''[[Family Guy]]'' episode, Peter's reckless time-traveling lands him in an alternate reality in which he never married Lois. [[Strawman Political|Gore is president; Bush the younger, Cheney, Osama bin Laden and Karl Rove are dead; people are healthier and living longer, the environment and economy are both in great shape, and America's generally a much happier place to be]], all because Peter didn't marry Lois. And of course, Peter doesn't give two craps about the state of the world (''I don't know who any of those people are''); all he cares about is that he gets Lois in the end. (This is not even taking into account that Lois and Peter both married well in this alternate universe.)
* In one arc of the '90s ''[[X-Men (
* In the animated movie ''[[
* In the recently released ''[[Wonder Woman]]'' DVD, {{spoiler|Steve Trevor saves Diana (a.k.a. Wonder Woman!) from certain death at the hands of Ares, the God of War. She then slaps him, tells him she would rather have died and he saved the world, and sulks}}.
* ''[[Batman:
** A villainous example in "Deep Freeze"; Mr. Freeze encounters a crazed mogul, Grant Walker, who wants to use his technology to freeze the entire planet, killing everyone except those on his island. In exchange for his cooperation, Walker offers to revive Freeze's wife. Freeze is willing to go along with the plan until Batman points out that Nora would be waking up to a cold, dead world, whereupon Freeze releases Batman and Robin and helps them defeat Walker.
** Another episode has Harley Quinn try to invoke this as a [[Sadistic Choice]], telling Batman he can either catch her, or save Catwoman from a [[Conveyor Belt O' Doom]]. Batman [[Take a Third Option|pulls the factory's power switch]].
{{quote|
* In "[[Justice League]]," Morgaine le Fey attempts to manipulate the Martian Manhunter into betraying his new world and his allies for the promise of restoring his dead world - and with it, his wife and children. Subverted in that only when his psychic assault on Etregan causes him to see how Jason Blood had fallen for a similar offer, and been betrayed, did he realize that the offer was false and foil Morgaine's plan.
* ''[[
* While obviously not a [[Love Interest]], the ''[[Legion of Super
== Real Life ==
Line 269 ⟶ 257:
* The Greek city state of Thebes [[Invoked Trope|invoked]] this trope as official military doctrine everyone in the army was in a relationship with the other members and were supposed to be incredibly protective of their lovers.
** More specificly, that was the Sacred Band of Thebes. They were 300 strong, pairs of homosexual lovers selected out of the army. They (with light cavalry support) defeated 1500 Spartans at Leucratea. Their final battle was epic. When the theban army faced a much bigger force, the thebans ran for it, except the Sacred Band. They made their last stand on a small hill, surrounded at attacked from all sides. The unit was never remade.
* Many parents will go above and beyond to protect their child(ren), regardless of gender - see [[Papa Wolf]] and [[Mama Bear]] for details. However, many parents are more likely to worry about a daughter than they are a son, as seen when a girl's significant other gets the [[If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...]] speech.
* Spoofed in a comedy routine (cannot remember the comedian's name). He said his girlfriend asked if he would fight to protect her. His answer was "No. I wouldn't even fight to protect myself. But we can hold hands while we run away if you think that will be romantic."
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Love Tropes]]
[[Category:Drama Tropes]]
[[Category:Action Adventure Tropes]]
[[Category:Index to The Rescue]]
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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