More Hero Than Thou: Difference between revisions

== Film ==

* ''[[Armageddon]]''.

* ''[[The Core]]'' When they realize whoever releases the [[Cool Ship]] ''this time'' will not make it back, they do a little draw-the-shortest-straw contest for the honor ([[Double Standard|Leaving out the girl, by the way]]). However, the creator of the ship had rigged the contest to make sure he got the honor, on the grounds that "Virgil is my creation. If he needs blood, is going to be [[It's Personal|MY blood]]!"

** Wasn't the girl the pilot? Stupid to risk her life.

* In ''[[Spartacus]]'', the titular character's revolt of gladiatorial slaves {{spoiler|is put down. The two primary protagonists are made by the [[Big Bad]] to fight each other, with the ''winner'' to be crucified. The result is a real fight, just as intended.}}

 

 

== Literature ==

* In William King's [[Warhammer 40000]] novel ''[[Space Wolf]]'', Sergeant Hengist sends Ragnar and some other young Marines to [[Bring News Back]] (of Chaos Space Marines) while Hengist and others [[You Shall Not Pass|hold them off]]. Ragnar wants to protest, and Hengist tells him that being a Space Marine is not easy, and sends him off. When one of the other Marines is injured during their escape, Ragnar sends the others on [[No One Gets Left Behind|while he tends the injured]] -- over their objections, succeeding when he threatens them, and they leave only with the comment that next time, it will be their turn to tend the wounded.

* ''Red Seas Under Red Skies'': {{spoiler|Locke and Jean have both been poisoned, and there's only enough antidote for one. Each one wants the other to take the antidote. Jean threatens to physically force Locke to take it, but [[Magnificent Bastard]] Locke reveals that he's already slipped the antidote into Jean's drink.}}

** In ''Rainbow Valley'', Ellen refuses to release her sister Rosemary from [[The Promise]] when she wants to marry. Later, Ellen wants to marry, and she can't even bring herself to ask Rosemary to release her--but she does tell her suitor ''why'' she refused. So the man asks for her. Rosemary agrees at once; the catch is that she ''didn't'' tell ''her'' suitor why she turned him down, and she's sure that he wouldn't want her if she went back to him, and so refuses to even try. So Ellen refuses to marry her suitor, even knowing that they are both going to be miserable. (It's a good thing that Rosemary's suitor's youngest daughter intervenes.)

* Part of the legend of [[Ciaphas Cain]] is that he always seems to get into these situations (as the second volunteer). As far as he's concerned, he's only volunteering to find a way to escape, but...

** A lesser version in ''The Half Blood Prince'', when Dumbledore and Harry are breaking into Voldemort's cave. A hidden door requires a sacrifice of blood, as deduced by Dumbledore; Harry offers to provide it in his place, but Dumbledore insists that Harry's blood is more valuable and takes the initiative to cut his own arm open with a knife (and promptly heal it back up again with magic).

*** Later, when they're leaving, it's Harry's turn to pull this, using the valid argument that he's already bleeding anyway.

* In ''[[The Bartimaeus Trilogy|Ptolemy's Gate]]'', Bartimaeus and Nathaniel lie to Kitty, telling her that they will be able to escape alive when she can't, to persuade her to leave. {{spoiler|Then Nathaniel, at the very end, dismisses Bartimaeus against his will, so he alone has to die.}}

* In book two of ''[[The Hunger Games]]'', {{spoiler|Katniss and Peeta are each determined that the other will be the survivor of the Games. Both of them have arguments in their favor: Katniss realizes that Peeta's public speaking skills will be valuable in the coming revolution, whereas she herself is more useful as a martyr. On the other hand, Peeta tells Katniss that while she could live quite happily without him, he couldn't live without her; although they can't speak of the revolution openly, this seems to imply that he wouldn't bother joining it if she were dead.}}

* In the Chinese tale of the "righteous stepmother of Qin", her son and stepson were found near a murdered body. Both men confessed to the crime in an attempt to shield the other. (When the stepmother recommended the execution of her son, not her stepson, and explained that he was the junior, and she had the duty to look after her stepson, the king pardoned them both for her devotion to duty.)

* In [[Adrian Tchaikovsky]]'s ''[[Shadows of the Apt|Dragonfly Falling]]'', Salma tries to tell Totho he can't sell himself to the Wasp to save him, but Totho informs him that he has already done so, and if Salma doesn't take the escape he did it for, Totho has done it in vain.

* In [[Jasper Fforde]]'s ''[[Thursday Next|Lost In A Good Book]]'', Thursday goes to kill herself to appease Aornis. Her father stops her and derails Aornis's plans despite her objections that it will kill him; among other things, he points out he's aged, and he will go without a decline this way.

** In ''Something Rotten'', Spike tries to [[Balancing Death's Books|take Thursday's place]] in {{spoiler|the underworld}}; they argue, and when he can't be moved, Thursday tells the crowd he's {{spoiler|alive}}. Then Cindy shows up and argues Thursday into letting her do it.

* In Mary Jo Putney's ''Thunder and Roses,'' the hero and a miner are escaping a flooding mine. When it seems likely that there will only be time for one of them to be pulled up to safety, the hero orders the miner to go up first - only for the miner to cold-cock him and send him up. The miner survives to explain his reasoning: as a devout Methodist, he was confident that he'd go to heaven, but he wasn't nearly so sure about the hero. According to the author's note, this was based on a true story.

 

 

== Live-Action TV ==

** Several more canon Trek examples, such as "Once More Unto The Breach" and "These Are the Voyages", and ''Nemesis''.

*** Also an unsuccessful attempt in "Obsession".

'''Tom:''' I'm a bridge officer, and I have seniority.<br />

'''B'Elanna:''' Three days! }}

** In another episode Angel and Spike shared one of these when they were told of some cup that a vampire with a soul had to drink in order to save the world, the cup is known as "The Cup of Perpetual Torment". They were arguing over which one of them was the prophesied vampire and, because it's Spike and Angel, ended up having one of the most brutal fights ever seen on the show to drink from it and prove themselves the true champion. Effectively, punching each other while shouting "I'm more of a hero than you!" {{spoiler|Spike}} wins, but the cup {{spoiler|turned out to contain Mountain Dew and be made in China}}.

* In ''[[Lost]]'', Charlie and Desmond couldn't decide who should undertake the thought-to-be-suicidal mission of swimming down to the Looking Glass station and deactivating its jamming device. Charlie resolved the situation by knocking Desmond out with an oar. He then proceeded to {{spoiler|swim down to the station and carry out his [[Heroic Sacrifice]] (albeit not quite in the way he expected).}}

* Surely [[Doctor Who|River Song's]] sacrifice in the Library counts here. She knew the Doctor would have sacrificed himself to save Donna and the others, and cold-cocked him so he couldn't do it.(Just why ''did'' she have those handcuffs, anyway? Business or pleasure?)

* The end of ''[[Phantom Brave]]''. It's not who you'd think either.

* ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]'': the last third of the game has Luke and Asch arguing repeated about who is going to make a [[Heroic Sacrifice]], actually two of them over the course of this part of the game, with each one wanting to make the sacrifice himself. {{spoiler|They both survive the first - neutralizing the miasma - but Asch dies in the second on Eldrant, though depending on how you interpret the ending he might be alive in some capacity after it's all over.}}

* After the final battle of ''[[Dragon Age]]: origins'', it's possible to {{spoiler|stop and argue with Alistair about who gets to [[Heroic Sacrifice|finish off the Archdemon]] (which, accidentally, results a [[Plotline Death]] of whoever does). In the unmodded game, if he's in a Romance with you the argument will always end with him running off to do it without giving you a chance to stop him}}.

* ''[[Breath of Fire II]]'': Nina goes through a personal quest to acquire an artifact that will allow her to become The Great Bird. Unfortunately the process is permanent and she's basically sacrificing her humanity and sentience for the good of the group, and the world. Her sister Mina has other ideas and steals the artifact so SHE can sacrifice herself instead.

* In ''[[Mega Man X]] 5'', in order to stop the [[Colony Drop]], one of the heroes has to maneuver a shuttle into crashing into it. Zero volunteered himself, as he stated that, whether or not he (Zero) survives the crash, the world is still in danger, and X is needed more than he is.

* In the Warner Brothers short ''Dumb Patrol'', World War One pilot "Captain Smedley" (Porky Pig) is chosen to shoot down "Baron Sam von Shamm" (Yosemite Sam). [[Bugs Bunny]] knocks him out.

{{quote| "Ya know, I just had to take his place. He's got a wife and six piglets."}}

** But... can't Wolverine live pretty much forever anyway?

*** [[Fridge Logic|Not anymore.]]