Always Save the Girl: Difference between revisions

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* Sanji from ''[[One Piece (Manga)|One Piece]]''. Possibly one of his major character flaws, actually.

** 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 ''[[Bleach (Manga)|Bleach]]'', Ichigo goes nuts trying to save Rukia and later Orihime. The former case pits him against thousands of Soul Reapers, several of whom are stronger than he is even at the end of the arc, and the latter forces him to go into he enemy's fortress alone, at great detriment to the upcoming war. Which he's romantically interested in, if at all, is [[Ship to Ship Combat|anybody's guess]].

* In ''[[Bleach (Manga)|Bleach]]'', Ichigo goes nuts trying to save Rukia and later Orihime. The former case pits him against thousands of Soul Reapers, several of whom are stronger than he is even at the end of the arc, and the latter forces him to go into he enemy's fortress alone, at great detriment to the upcoming war. Which he's romantically interested in, if at all, is [[Ship-to-Ship Combat|anybody's guess]].

* 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 (Anime)|Original Series]], this is the motivation of [[Generation Xerox|Gendo]].

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== Films -- Animation ==

* In ''[[The ~~Castleof~~ Cagliostro (Anime)|The Castleof 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.

* In ''[[The Castle of Cagliostro (Anime)|The Castleof 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 (Disney)|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.}}

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** 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 ''[[Spaceballs (Film)|Spaceballs]]'' sacrifices himself and the entire population of his home planet, just so the princess doesn't get her old nose back.

* Parodied in ''[[~~DEBS|~~D.E.B.S.]]'', where the girl doesn't want to be saved as she's in a [[Girls Love]] [[Dating Catwoman|relationship with the villainess]].

* Parodied in ''[[D.E.B.S.]]'', where the girl doesn't want to be saved as she's in a [[Girls Love]] [[Dating Catwoman|relationship with the villainess]].

* [[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 (Film)|James Bond]]''

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** 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 [[Always Chaotic Evil|Red Court]] would only postpone the inevitable and result in the deaths of even more innocents.

** 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.

** 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 [[Anti-Hero]] and [[Our Vampires Are Different|Vampire]] Joe Pitt {{spoiler|[[Body Horror|goes through maiming torture]], [[Desperation Attack|starves himself]] to the [[Eleventh Hour Superpower|point of death]], and starts a war between vampires, other vampires, and eventually [[Broken Masquerade|the human world]], just for a chance to save his girlfriend, who he hasn't seen for a year}}.

* From ''My Dead Body'', fifth book of the ''[[Charlie Huston|Joe Pitt Case Files]]'', Titular [[Anti-Hero]] and [[Our Vampires Are Different|Vampire]] Joe Pitt {{spoiler|[[Body Horror|goes through maiming torture]], [[Desperation Attack|starves himself]] to the [[Eleventh-Hour Superpower|point of death]], and starts a war between vampires, other vampires, and eventually [[Broken Masquerade|the human world]], just for a chance to save his girlfriend, who he hasn't seen for a year}}.

* In the ''[[Harry Potter (Literature)|Harry Potter]]'' series, this trope basically sums up how {{spoiler|Snape responded to Lily being in danger. He was happy being a Death Eater until Voldemort targeted Lily (and her husband and child, but he wasn't concerned about them). In this case, the trope worked for good, motivating Snape's [[Heel Face Turn]] as Voldemort could not have been expected to spare Lily since [[Evil Cannot Comprehend Good]].}}

** 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.}}

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* [[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 ~~Travellers~~ 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.

* 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]]'', 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 (TV)|~~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.

* 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.

** Then you have Rory:

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* 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 Cameron -- his Terminator love-interest -- with her chip missing. Ignoring Judgment Day's impending arrival and his mission to stop it, he leaves his mother, and joins forces with a rogue T-1000 (liquid metal Terminator), jumping to the future in order to rescue her. In jumping after Cameron, John seems to have erased himself from the timeline, veritably sacrificing himself and his position of mankind's savior to save the "woman" he loves.

* In the first season finale of ''[[Dollhouse]]'' {{spoiler|[[Eleventh Hour Superpower|Omega!Echo]] allows [[Big Bad|Alpha]] to escape in order to retrieve Caroline's [[Brain Uploading|original wedge]]}}.

* In the first season finale of ''[[Dollhouse]]'' {{spoiler|[[Eleventh-Hour Superpower|Omega!Echo]] allows [[Big Bad|Alpha]] to escape in order to retrieve Caroline's [[Brain Uploading|original wedge]]}}.

** 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)|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 Reimagined ~~(TV)~~|Battlestar Galactica]]'', first to save his surrogate daughter Kara Thrace in "You Can't Go Home Again", then to save the woman he loves, President Laura Roslin, in "Sine Qua Non". Both times he's called on it by his colleagues and (eventually) realises they're right; fortunately fate rewards Adama's determination and returns both women to him.

* Bill Adama does this twice in ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined|Battlestar Galactica]]'', first to save his surrogate daughter Kara Thrace in "You Can't Go Home Again", then to save the woman he loves, President Laura Roslin, in "Sine Qua Non". Both times he's called on it by his colleagues and (eventually) realises they're right; fortunately fate rewards Adama's determination and returns both women to him.

* ''[[Angel (TV)|Angel]]'' nearly makes this choice when he learns that the only way to save Fred is to let hundreds of thousands of people die in her place. He initially spits out an angry "to hell with the world" and storms off to perform the ritual as the scene cuts away. When it returns, though, he's still standing at the threshold, unable to actually go through with it, and he finally, sadly turns away.

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|Buffy]]'', meanwhile, is willing to let the entire world die in torment to save Dawn. It doesn't fit on the surface, but [[Word of God]] says that Dawn was intended to fill the dramatic role of [[Love Interest]] from Season 5 on out.

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** 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)|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 (TV)|~~Babylon 5]]'': {{spoiler|The Vorlons send the Inquisitor to see if Delenn has the right stuff to be one of the [[Chosen One|Chosen Ones]] 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|Chosen Ones]]? 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."}}

* 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|Chosen Ones]] 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|Chosen Ones]]? 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."}}

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* ''[[Prince of Persia]]'' (2009). Depressingly so, especially since it's subverted after the end of the DLC.

* In ''[[Final Fantasy IV (Video Game)|Final Fantasy IV]]'', Cecil decides to hand over the ''last remaining'' crystal that Golbez needs for world domination in order to save Rosa's life. Turns out there are four more crystals after that, but he didn't know that at the time. And he didn't even [[You Said You Would Let Them Go|do the exchange right]].

** Meanwhile, in ''[[Final Fantasy VIII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VIII]],'' Squall clarifies his priorities after being confronted with the possibility that, as a sorceress, Rinoa could end up going insane or being possessed by the [[Big Bad]]: "Rinoa... Even if you end up as the world's enemy, I'll... I'll be your knight." Unlike the FFIV example, in FFVIII the issue is mostly hypothetical (aside from certain [[Epileptic Trees]]), but Squall does choose to free Rinoa after she [[Self Restraint|voluntarily surrenders herself to be imprisoned]] in order to keep the [[Big Bad]] from using her to attack others.

** Meanwhile, in ''[[Final Fantasy VIII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VIII]],'' Squall clarifies his priorities after being confronted with the possibility that, as a sorceress, Rinoa could end up going insane or being possessed by the [[Big Bad]]: "Rinoa... Even if you end up as the world's enemy, I'll... I'll be your knight." Unlike the FFIV example, in FFVIII the issue is mostly hypothetical (aside from certain [[Epileptic Trees]]), but Squall does choose to free Rinoa after she [[Self-Restraint|voluntarily surrenders herself to be imprisoned]] in order to keep the [[Big Bad]] from using her to attack others.

** 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.

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[[Category:Always Save The Girl]]

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