No One Gets Left Behind: Difference between revisions

{{quote|There are three things to remember about being a starship [[The Captain|captain]]: keep your shirt tucked in, [[Going Down With the Ship|go down with the ship]], and never abandon [[The Men First|a member of your crew]].|'''Captain Janeway''', ''[[Star Trek Voyager]]''}}

 

 

In more hard-pressed situations, the character must stand over the fallen friend and fight off enemies, all the way up to the grim [[Last Stand]]. In case of close comrades, such as [[Blood Brothers]], or [[A Father to His Men|beloved commanders]], this may be done [[Due to The Dead|even if the fallen friend is dead]] and not just wounded, and the heat of battle may make it impossible to tell whether the fallen character had just been wounded or had died. And if the dead character has [[Royal Blood]] or [[Blue Blood]], this may have a grim necessity: they need to be able to prove that the character ''died'' to ensure that the succession goes smoothly in time of crisis.

This trope is often used to generate drama in a situation that calls for a [[Heroic Sacrifice]]. See [[Shoot the Dog]].

 

 

[[Genre Savvy]] villains will exploit this rule to great effect by wounding their enemies, thereby pinning or slowing down their comrades.

 

 

On the other hand, if the wounded soldier can prevent the enemies from chasing his comrades, [[You Shall Not Pass]] may justify leaving him. The soldier will probably [[More Hero Than Thou|insist on volunteering despite his comrades' protests]].

 

Has nothing to do with [[George W Bush|No Child Left Behind.]]

 

== Anime and Manga ==

*** That's it? That's all you say about Mkoll's [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|insane]] dive into a pocket warp dimension, full of thousand of gigantic, man-tank stalkers and multiple ARMIES of cultists and armor support, armed only with a plasma pistol and a knife? Hell, Mkoll even admits later that he lost count of how many he killed!

* In William King's ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' novel ''[[Space Wolf]]'', when Ragnar and other Marines were sent to [[Bring News Back|bring news]] of a nest of Chaos Space Marines, one of them is wounded. Ragnar (who had just realized that he does not, and should not, want [[Revenge]] on the wounded man) orders the others on while he tends the wounded. When they are attacked again and he gains more injuries, Ragnar finally carries him to safety.

* The villain reaction is used in Robert Asprin's ''[[Myth Adventures|M.Y.T.H. Inc. In Action]]''. Guido and Nunzio, two Mob bodyguards, join the Army and are not impressed with the training or equipment. During target practice, Guido puts three crossbow bolts into a dummy's shoulder, and the drill sergeant asks, "If you can shoot that well, why not shoot him in the head?!" Guido, forgetting he's not in the Mob anymore, replies, "ANY idiot can kill somebody, but it takes SKILL to leave 'em in a condition where they can still give information, OR pay protection, OR..." Nunzio tries to avert disaster by explaining that what he MEANT was that wounding an opponent takes three men out of the action, since two have to carry the wounded one.

* [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]]'s [[John Carter of Mars]]/Barsoom novels.

* ''[[Life On Mars]]''. Gene goes back for Sam after he is knocked down by the man they are chasing torturing him in the future. No, really.

* ''[[Firefly]]'' had at least two episodes explicitly dealing with this: "War Stories" (where Zoe and the crew rescue Wash and Mal from Niska) and "The Message" (where Mal and Zoe are shown in flashbacks saving Tracey's life).

*** Parodied later on:

{{quote| '''Mal''': Zoe, the ship is yours. If I'm not back in one hour, you take this ship and you come and you rescue me!}}

'''Frank:''' I insist!<br />

'''Col:''' Alrighty. }}

** Then in season 5, Robert says this to Jin when going into the smoke monster's lair after Montand. This does not turn out well, either.

* In an episode of the ''[[MASH|M* A* S* H]]'' series, following this trope, at least in regards to dead soldiers, is portrayed as bloody-minded stubbornness that increases overall causalities under the Incompetent General of the Week.

* In their first few appearances on ''[[Star Trek the Next Generation]]'', the Borg would collect pieces of their fallen comrades who had been killed, like picking up a black box, and allow the rest of the body to self-destruct.

* [[Doctor Who (TV)|The Doctor]] to Amy in "[[Doctor Who (TV)/Recap/S31 E04 The Time of Angels|The Time of Angels]]". Admittedly, he knows that {{spoiler|there's not ''really'' anything slowing her down}}, but he's prepared to risk his life trying to convince ''her'' of that.

 

 

* Given how the '''Nonary Game''' is played out, It's only natural for it to occur in ''[[Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors]]'':

** {{spoiler|Ace offers to stay behind to let the group continue. The group flat-out refused, but to secure him to stay behind, he took a relaxent to ensure he was unable to continue.}}

** {{spoiler|Seven and Snake both do this (with the same reactions as the above) in the Chapel. Seven is forced to stay behind, but has a trump card anyway.}}

* Double H's motto in ''[[Beyond Good and Evil (Video Game)|Beyond Good and Evil]]:'' "D.B.U.T.T.: Don't Break Up The Team!" and "W.W.T.A.O.: We Work Together As One!" On the surface, it doesn't seem to mean much, {{spoiler|but it leads to a [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]], as he shouts it while [[Take My Hand|dramatically saving Jade from plummeting to her doom,]] showing his dedication to her.}}

* In ''[[Call of Duty]] 4'', Lt. Vasquez's squad (to which the player character Sgt. Jackson belongs) takes a detour to save a grounded Super Cobra pilot from a hostile city for this reason. [[It Got Worse]], since {{spoiler|they do not make it out of the city in time before a [[Mnogo Nukes|Russian warhead]] goes off, killing them (almost) instantly. The pilot can be found dead outside the helicopter wreck ''after'' the detonation, which just rubbed salt in the wound with the futility of it all. In fairness, considering the blast radius as shown in both the immediate detonation and the subsequent loading screen, it's questionable whether any of the Marines ever had a chance even had they not taken the detour.}}