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On other occasions, the villain will continue pursuing their overall evil goal, but will now refuse to harm the hero out of [[Worthy Opponent|grudging recognition of their debt]]. They may even [[I Was Just Passing Through|return the life-saving favor]] at a later point, although this may wipe the slate clean in their eyes and make it okay for them to resume their attempts on the hero's life.
 
In between, the hero may say [[Think Nothing of It]] in the knowledge that the villain will indeed think nothing of it. On the villain part, a more upright antagonist (usually an [[Anti -Villain]]) may leave the hero be for the moment but warn him explicitly that "it doesn't change anything!"
 
In more serious situations, the hero may be unable to save the villain's life but will still not let them suffer [[Dying Alone]].
 
Usually a moment of [[Genre Savvy]] (with just a touch of [[Lampshade Hanging]]); the heroes are fully aware that this is the ugliest part of their job. An [[Anti -Hero]] may specifically not do this, just to emphasize their difference from a "true" hero. On the other hand, if a character whose position was formally on the villain/AntiHero fence does this, it can [[Pet the Dog|establish them as less of a villain]].
 
See also [[Sword Over Head]], where the hero saves the villain by ''not'' doing anything.
{{examples|Examples:}}
 
== Anime and Manga ==
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* In the ''[[Sailor Moon (Anime)|Sailor Moon]]'' anime, the titular heroine saves several enemies, including the greatest foe she ever fought, Galaxia. In the manga, not so much (though she does still save Galaxia, even though Galaxia dies anyway shortly afterward).
* [[Playing With a Trope|Played with]] in an early episode of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh (Anime)|Yu-Gi-Oh]]'': Kaiba and Yami Yugi are dueling on a castle turret, when Kaiba [[Determinator|threatens to jump if he doesn't win]]. Yami, a [[Knight Templar]], has no intention of losing and is perfectly willing to let him jump, and Yugi has to fight for control to stop him. That makes Yugi go into quite the [[Heroic BSOD]], as he had never realized Yami would go THAT far to win.
** Hilariously [[Playing With a Trope|played with]] in the [[Yu-Gi-Oh!: theThe Abridged Series (Web Video)|abridged version]], where the only thing stopping them is Tea's revelation that Kaiba might survive.
** In the manga, Yami saves Mokuba Kaiba from a [[Fate Worse Than Death|torturous fate]] via his older brother after Mokuba had nearly succeeded in murdering him and Jounouchi a few chapters earlier.
* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' does a traditional villain saving with Fate Testarossa, helping her fly out of a [[Load -Bearing Boss|collapsing lair.]] To be fair, Fate was more [[The Dragon]] than the [[Big Bad]]. Other seasons are mostly saving via [[Defeat Means Friendship]].
** Earlier on, Nanoha intervenes to help Fate while she is performing a highly dangerous attempt to seal the Jewel Seeds that fell into the ocean, splitting the seeds with her and telling her that she wants to be friends with her.
** In A's, Fate intervenes during a fight to save Signum from a desert monster, causing Amy to tell her that her job is to capture her. Signum [[Complaining|notes that she won't thank Fate]] because she destroyed the monster and prevented her from getting its Linker Core, but Fate takes it in stride, noting that she has to interfere with the "bad guys".
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** Subverted chapter 95 of the manga. {{spoiler|When Mustang is about to finally kill Envy, Hawkeye, Ed, and Scar intervene before he can land the final blow. However, this was not because they wanted to save Envy, but because they didn't want Roy to give in to his rage. They had every intention of taking out Envy themselves.}}
* In ''[[Prétear (Manga)|Prétear]]'', {{spoiler|insterad of killing Takako/Fenrir, Himeno tries to redeem and save her in the [[Grand Finale]]. She succeeds.}}
* Kenzo Tenma of ''[[Monster (Anime)|Monster]]'', given that he's perhaps the best example of [[Dudley Do -Right Stops to Help]], does this a ''lot''. There is more than one scene where he takes an antagonist to the hospital at gunpoint. This turns out better for him than it does for most of the people on this page, too. With one [[Shrug of God|probable]] exception.
* In ''[[Karakuridouji Ultimo (Manga)|Karakuridouji Ultimo]]'', a corrupt politician named Iruma is killed by his own douji, [[Seven Deadly Sins|Jealous the Envious]], while the heroic Yamato can do nothing but watch in shock. Later in the series, Yamato hits the [[Reset Button]], sending everything back to the first chapter. The second time around, Yamato knows Jealous's attack is coming and prevents Iruma's death.
* In ''[[One Piece (Manga)|One Piece]]'', Luffy carries Robin out of the collapsing tomb, despite her being resigned to death after her last lead on the Rio Poneglyph turned out to be useless. She reasons that as he forced her to live when she wanted to die, and she has no place to go or return, he should let her in his crew, and he does.
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*** That's the cynical interpretation of it. The entire point of the story was to show Batman's dedication to justice. In all likelihood, the Caped Crusader was aware of the cynical implications as well, ''but did it anyway.''
** In ''Batman: Cacophany'', the [[Serial Killer]] Onomatopoeia (who targets superheroes, though he doesn't mind killing other people for fun either) stabbed [[The Joker]] in the heart after their villain team-up failed and prepared to flee -- but waited a few seconds because he wanted to see whether Batman would save the Joker or let him die to pursue Onomatopoeia. Batman chooses the first option despite strong protests from Jim Gordon whose wife and daughter were murdered and crippled by [[The Joker]] respectively. When [[The Joker]] asks him why he did it, Batman explains that due to One Bad Day he can't bear to see ''anyone'' die in front of him if he has the power to stop it.
** Played with multiple times in [[Batman the Animated Series|the Batman the Animated Series tie-in comics]]. In "With a Price on His Head," a grieving father puts a fifty-million-dollar bounty on [[The Joker|the Joker's head]]. Suddenly, [[Up to Eleven|EVERYONE]] in Gotham wants to kill Joker. Batman ends up taking him to the Batcave for protection... and [[Hilarity Ensues|horrific hilarity ensues]]. Similarly, the "No Asylum" storyline deals with [[Well -Intentioned Extremist|Ra's al Ghul's]] attempts to [[Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?|murder his entire Rogues Gallery]] {{spoiler|as a gesture of good-will towards Batman, his daughter's 'beloved'}} and Batman's attempts to literally save the villains.
** In a ''Detective'' issue called "The Executioner Wore Stiletto Heels," Batman risked his life to save an escaped prisoner who was condemned to death. He almost died in the process, but the criminal saved him.
* [[Captain America]] to Baron Zemo, Lord knows how many times: "[[Take My Hand|Your HAND, man! Give me your hand!]]" Astonishingly, this {{spoiler|eventually pays off, when Zemo surprisingly returns the favor at the cost of his face becoming scarred in a battle with Moonstone.}}
** {{spoiler|He's still a villain though.}}
** {{spoiler|More like [[Anti -Villain]].}}
* Played straight in ''[[Daredevil]]'' when Daredevil dragged the sociopathic Bullseye out of the path of a subway train, and then subverted in a later story when (under severe provocation) he let go of Bullseye's hand when he was dangling over a long drop. [[Joker Immunity]] preserved Bullseye's life, but he wound up in a hospital bed, completely paralyzed. (...for a while.)
** Daredevil also desperately tried to save maniacal [[Super Soldier]] Nuke after he realized that he wasn't even aware of his surroundings and needed all the help he could get.
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* In ''[[Star Trek III the Search For Spock]]'', Kirk attempts to save the Klingon commander, Kruge from falling into a crevasse {{spoiler|after the same officer ordered the death of Kirk's son David}}. Kruge tries to drag Kirk down with him.
{{quote| '''Kirk:''' [[Punctuated for Emphasis|I...have had...enough of...you!]]}}
* Offered to Nero in the 2009 ''[[Star Trek (Film)|Star Trek]]''. His response is pure [[Card -Carrying Villain]].
** This is possibly the only example that doubles as a [[What the Hell, Hero?]] moment, given Nero's [[Complete Monster|status.]]
{{quote| '''Spock:''' Captain, what are you doing? <br />
'''Kirk:''' Showing them compassion. It may be the only way to earn peace with Romulus. It's logic, Spock, I thought you'd like that.<br />
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* Memorably averted in ''[[Darkman]]'', where the final [[Climbing Climax]] ends with Westlake catching the villain (by his ankle, for a change) just before the latter can fall to his death from a half-built skyscraper. Hanging helplessly, the [[Big Bad]] [[Idiot Ball|confidently]] points out that Westlake can't possibly drop him, because then he wouldn't be able to live with himself. But unfortunately for him, ''this'' hero's [[What You Are in The Dark|been learning to live with even worse things]], all through the film...
* Butch does this for Marsellus Wallace, the man who wants him dead for not throwing a major fight, from ''[[Pulp Fiction]]''. Pulp Fiction [[Black and Grey Morality|being what it is]], though the two of them do have their respective fight, the saving in question is from even ''worse'' guys.
* It is somewhat jarring when it is used in ''[[Daredevil (Film)|Daredevil]]''. [[What Measure Is a Mook?|After he kills nearly every enemy he goes up against (including petty thugs), he decides to let the Kingpin live.]] It was probably done to show that he had learned that he can stop bad guys without killing them, but it feels like the director wanted to keep the Kingpin alive in case a sequel was made.
** Also, if he learnt that, he'd learnt it ''very quickly'' and without much explanation, in the brief time since hurling Bullseye through a high [[Soft Glass|window]].
* Double subverted...kind of, in a Russian movie ''Lions' Share''. The hero kicks the villain of a roof and, while the villain is falling, ''[[Improbable Aiming Skills|shoots him straight in the forehead]]''. Cue an awesome one-liner: "So that it doesn't hurt when you land."
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== Literature ==
 
* ''[[Harry Potter (Franchise)/Harry Potter and Thethe Deathly Hallows|Harry Potter]]'': {{spoiler|Harry does this twice for Draco Malfoy. Malfoy's mother proceeds to return the favor to Harry.}}
** Lampshaded by Ron's utter disgust at the fact that they saved ''Malfoy''. After the second save, Ron punches out Malfoy just to try to feel better about saving him.
** Also, Harry's saving of Peter Petigrew, back in ''Prisoner of Azkaban'' comes back, when Peter hesitates when he's attacking Harry.
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* The ending of ''[[Final Fantasy IX (Video Game)|Final Fantasy IX]]''...except, not so much "save," as {{spoiler|"don't let him [[Dying Alone|die alone]]."}}
** There's a similar situation in ''Advent Children''.
* A variation occurs in SUDA 51's ''[[No More Heroes]]''. {{spoiler|In this case, our [[Anti -Hero]], up-and-coming assassin Travis Touchdown, has ''already'' dealt a fatal wound to his opponent Destroyman by impaling him through the chest with his beam katana. Nevertheless, Destroyman begs Travis to help him. Travis, who has already fallen for Destroyman's tricks a couple of times before, rips the weapon violently out of his chest. As his final vindictive act, Destroyman whips around and opens fire on Travis with his nipple-mounted machine guns (yes, really); he suffers his [[Karmic Death]] immediately thereafter, however, as Travis simply cleaves Destroyman from crotch to skull while bullets whiz past on either side of him.}}
* ''[[Another Code]]'' for the DS did this.
* And ''[[Time Hollow]]'' too.
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* In ''[[Bio Shock]] 2'', if Delta continually demonstrates mercy to others, {{spoiler|when Sofia Lamb is drowning in the end, Eleanor states that while her mother believes that people are beyond redemption, Eleanor has decided from the player's actions that ''anyone'' can be redeemed if given a chance, and saves Sofia's life.}}
* ''[[Batman Arkham City]]'' ends with [[The Joker]] invoking this trope and demanding {{spoiler|[[Batman]] give him the cure needed to save him from TITAN poisoning.}} This is after {{spoiler|he's poisoned 2000 people and killed Talia Al-Ghul}}, ''on top'' of his comic-book [[Complete Monster|track-record]], and yet he points out Batman'll follow the trope and [[Joker Immunity|save him anyway.]] {{spoiler|Batman hesitates, so Joker stabs him in the arm, [[Pyrrhic Villainy|causing him to drop and smash the cure.]]}} Turns out {{spoiler|Batman ''[[The Fettered|would]]'' [[The Fettered|have saved]] [[Thou Shalt Not Kill|him anyway.]]}}
* Justified in ''[[Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep]]'': {{spoiler|Aqua saves the life of Master Xehanort. The thing is, Xehanort was [[Grand Theft Me|possessing]] the body of her friend Terra, and letting Xehanort die would kill Terra as well. Aqua was out to save Terra from the beginning, so this (combined with the fact that Terra is [[Fighting From the Inside]]) was the logical choice. Unfortunately, this turns into a [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]], as Terra can't break free, Xehanort's backup plan is in effect, and Aqua can't do anything to stop it.}}
** In ''coded'', {{spoiler|Data-Riku}} saves {{spoiler|Maleficent and Pete.}}
* In one of ''[[Heavy Rain]]'''s possible finales, Jayden gets the opportunity to do this for {{spoiler|Shelby}}, right down to the villain hanging off the edge of a tall building by his fingertips and {{spoiler|continuing to attack the hero if he decides to save him.}}
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** Ivan is far from being a villain. The mission is called "Ivan The Not So Terrible" for a reason.
* At the conclusion of ''[[Devil May Cry]]'' 3, Dante attempts the [[Take My Hand]] version of this. A quick sword slash to the palm tells him what his would-be-rescuee thinks of the idea.
* If you play through ''[[Ar Tonelico]]'' properly, you'll find out that {{spoiler|[[Big Bad]] Mir is trying to destroy the world because [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds|she is abused by humans too much as a Reyvateil,]]}} so the party change their objective from killing the [[Big Bad]] into saving her instead. You still have to destroy her killer barrier, though.
* In the final stage of ''[[Bastion]]'', {{spoiler|The Kid comes across Zulf being nearly beaten to death by his fellow Ura. He then has the option of giving up his [[Infinity Plus One+1 Sword]] for Zulf's body, who he'll be forced to lug back while the Ura continually attack him. Eventually however, they'll be so impressed by your [[Determinator|courage and tenacity]] that they'll all stop, with the one who decides to attack you getting killed by his comrades.}}
* ''Disgaea4'' plays with this trope. {{spoiler|After [[Big Bad|Nemo]] realizes that Artina was alive as an angel, he realizes the error of his ways and plans to disappear along with fear the great. Valvatorez goes off to stop that, but he argues that he's not saving Nemo, he says that just disappearing is too good for him and that he can only repent for his sins if he stays alive.}}
 
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== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Batman: theThe Animated Series (Animation)|Batman the Animated Series]]'': Batman's second encounter with a villainous ninja, Kyodai Ken, ends with the ninja stranded on a rock in the middle of a lava flow. Despite all that has passed between them, Batman throws a line and offers to try and pull him to safety. The rescue is refused, and the ninja [[Never Found the Body|presumably dies]] seconds later.
** In an earlier episode, Batman saves a villain called the Sewer King from being hit by a subway train. When the astonished villain asks why, Batman responds that he leaves judgment and execution to the courts. Batman is still sorely tempted to make an exception here, what with the nature of the otherwise silly-looking villain's crimes.
*** Which was that he used [[Mook|children]] for his crimes, and abused them if they didn't do it perfectly.
** Another episode has Batman saving an unconscious Joker from an exploding building - probably unnecessary, given Joker's [[No One Could Survive That|history with big explosions]].
*** Actually, given his history with big explosions, that's a ''very'' good reason to save him. Somebody really ought to install a homing beacon on him...
** In another episode, when other villain Killer Croc drops Baby Doll ([[Anti -Villain/Western Animation|already a sympathetic character, anyway, though still insane]]) over a [[No OSHA Compliance|poorly designed]] ledge in the nuclear power plant, Batman catches her. She then knocks out Croc with a chemical, saving Batman in return.
** Lampshaded in an early episode, where [[The Joker]] is hanging over a pit of molten metal.
{{quote| '''Joker''': Batman! You wouldn't let me fry, would you?<br />
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'''Joker''': BATMAN! (Batman pulls him up) }}
*** Batman's expression during the moment is priceless.
** An interesting subversion happens during the three-part "World's Finest" episodes in ''[[Superman: theThe Animated Series (Animation)|Superman the Animated Series]]''. The Joker has just accidentally set the huge flying wing he, Harley Quinn, Batman, and [[Lex Luthor]] are all on board to exploding; Superman turns up, Batman tells Superman to get Luthor, he's got Quinn... ''exeunt omnes'' through Superman's entrance hole... ''without making even the slightest effort to save [[The Joker]]'', who's on the far side of what's functionally a minefield. Granted, it did give us the immortal lines after the plane had gone up in a fireball the size of a small city:
{{quote| '''Harley Quinn''': '''PUDDIN'!'''<br />
'''Batman''': At this point, he probably ''is''. }}
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* In the ''[[Justice League (Animation)|Justice League]]'' episode "Twilight", this is ''averted'' by ''[[Superman (Comic Book)|Superman]]'' of all people. When [[Darkseid]] tells the League that Brainiac is trying to assimilate Apokolips, Superman refuses to help and the rest of the League has to convince him otherwise. After Darkseid's inevitable betrayal, Superman actually hunts him down to personally kill him. And he ''succeeds'' -- Darkseid remains dead all the way to the finale of ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' four seasons later.
** Also subverted in the earlier episode "The Enemy Below." Orm ends up dangling off a ledge over a high drop, screaming for help, after trying to kill both his brother Aquaman and his infant son as well as untold numbers of people by melting the polar ice caps. Aquaman reaches down... and grabs his nearby trident instead, while Orm falls to his apparent death.
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'': Prince Zuko, an [[Anti -Villain]], is fighting Admiral Zhao, a full-fledged villain, when the latter is suddenly seized by the Ocean Spirit. Even though Zuko hates Zhao's guts, he yells, "[[Take My Hand]]," because he's just honorable like that. Zhao refuses Zuko's help and suffers [[Karmic Death]].
** Naturally, Aang, the hero, has saved Prince Zuko on a number of occasions, including in the unaired pilot. However, despite the page quote, Zuko never actually tried to kill them and actually [[I Want Them Alive|thought he had to catch Aang alive]].
** Even MOMO saves enemies which wanted to eat him five minutes earlier.
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* Happens in the episode "Black Sand" from the ''[[Aladdin (Disney)|Aladdin]]'' TV series when Aladdin tries to save Mozenrath [[Take My Hand|from falling off the palace]] into his black sand trap. Obviously, Mozenrath attempts to pull Aladdin down with him, but ends up falling into his own black sand. Aladdin seems to try to save Sa'luk from falling off a cliff in the sequel "Aladdin and the King of Thieves", but fails.
** In the episode "The Hunted," Genie has to save Mukhtar, a Genie Hunter, from a man-eating Venus flytrap in Mozenrath's citadel. He then says "Saving people we might not like. [[Chronic Hero Syndrome|It's a good guy thing!]]" Afterwards, {{spoiler|Mukhtar seems to be an [[Ungrateful Bastard]] and betray Genie to Mozenrath, but after reflecting on what Genie did for him for a while, comes back and helps save Genie and defeat Mozenrath.}}
* In ''[[Beauty and The Beast (Disney)|Beauty and The Beast]]'', Beast basically saves Gaston...from Beast. He's holding Gaston over a ledge of the castle, but instead of dropping him, he puts him back on solid ground and says a firm [[Get Out!]]. Gaston doesn't listen and tries to kill Beast again, at which point he slips and gets his [[Disney Villain Death]]. Still, Beast got to show how much of a good guy he had become.
* At the climax of ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'', where Frollo {{spoiler|knocks Quasimodo over the edge of the cathedral but is pulled along with him. Despite having just found out that Frollo killed his mother, Quasi doesn't let go of the cloak by which Frollo hangs. As Esmeralda desperately tries to pull Quasimodo back up, Frollo (who refuses to drop his sword, even to save himself), manages to swing himself to a handhold before attempting to finish them both off, at which point [[Karmic Death|karma kicks in]]}}.
** Very pointedly averted, however, in [[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Literature)|the novel.]] {{spoiler|Not only does Quasimodo deliberately push Frollo off of the cathedral (and not even in self defense): when Frollo manages to cling to the building briefly and attempts to pull himself back up, the narration points out that Quasimodo could easily have reached out and helped him. Instead he just stands there and watches him fall.}}
* On ''[[Phineas and Ferb (Animation)|Phineas and Ferb]]'', Perry the Platypus occasionally does this Dr. Doofensmirtz, even though the doctor routinely manages to [[No One Could Survive That|survive]] [[Non -Fatal Explosions|huge explosions]] and [[Snap Back|worse]]. In the episode "The Magnificent Few", Perry saves Dr. Doofenshmirtz from his [[Collapsing Lair|exploding evil lair.]]
** Amusingly, Perry is also prone to rescuing Doofensmirtz from much less serious situations, such as in "Brain Drain", where Perry saved Doofensmirtz from embarrassing himself in front of [[Mad ScientistsScientist's Beautiful Daughter|his daughter]] and her friends, and "Run Candace, Run", where he convinces Doofensmirtz to ask his ex-wife for money so he doesn't lose his building.
** Doofensmirtz is also one of the few villains that has no problem with thanking the hero.
* In an episode of ''[[Fantastic Four Worlds Greatest Heroes (Animation)|Fantastic Four Worlds Greatest Heroes]]'', Mr Fantastic briefly considers leaving Mole Man to be eaten by the monsters he was trying to control, before concluding "I think they'd take away our superhero licenses".
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* In ''[[Kong the Animated Series (Animation)|Kong the Animated Series]]'', Jason and the others save De La Porta a few times, and at one point he [[Villainous Rescue|returns the favor]], if only to make them even.
* Subverted in ''[[Transformers Prime (Animation)|Transformers Prime]]''. When both Bots and Cons get caught in a cave in, the Autobots consider rescuing them. They choose not to, reasoning that not killing them in cold blood is good enough.
* Played in ''[[Hurricanes (Animation)|Hurricanes]]''. Toro faced his [[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?|fear of snakes]] to save Melinda Garkos.
* In ''[[Young Justice]]'', Superman tries to save Kroleteans about to be destroyed by a bomb hidden in their volcano base. {{spoiler|They don't believe him and keep attacking, so he fails}}.
 
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