Talk:Heroic Sacrifice/Real Life

"Zhenya Tabakov, a 7-year-old boy, who died while protecting his 12-year-old sister from a rapist."

Having done research I found that ZT stabbed the robber in the back once, probably not expecting the criminal to get back at him the same way eight times in a row. From what I can tell there's no indication that ZT was intentionally getting himself in a situation he knew would 100% no doubt kill him - he probably thought the robber would have died or at least been knocked out with one stab.

This might would be an example if ZT realised he was going to be stabbed back and accepted it knowing his sister would be okay.

There's also the fact that this is an example of Attempted Rape (although it isn't listed or potholed as one). Are Real Life examples of rape tropes still forbidden if they're on RL section for non-rape tropes without links?

If you can link to a reputable news article of the event in the question, it should count and be appropriate, especially if the death of the hero in question was not a senseless sacrifice. Besides, the trope is about the heroic sacrifice, not the rape, so just address the heroic sacrifice if it fit the definition.

The only news source I can find for this (other than the blog of someone who probably just read it, which is linked to in the example) is an RT article. While I don't believe this particular story was fabricated, RT doesn't seem to have the shiniest reputation from what I can tell - even before this incident on Nov 25 '08 it was being accused of propaganda.

"RT"? Rooster Teeth? Rotten Tomatoes? Somebody else?

Russia Today is their full name but they usually just go by RT. Maybe I should have said RT News or something.

Edit: oh and ZT is Zhenya Tabakov in case you were wondering.

Thanks. We can put together a disambiguation page if it becomes an issue.

I can't access RT's website due to where I live, so I got my information on this incident from the Real Life Heroes Wiki and two other websites which say the same thing.

All sources say ZT was trying to stop the criminal, who was armed with a knife, with a knife of his own. He succeeded and his sister escaped (so it wasn't a Senseless Sacrifice) - but the robber getting back up and stabbing him back probably caught him off guard (ZT might have thought one stab would kill the intruder).

It was a bold risk, but it doesn't sound like an intentional sacrifice of his life to me - ZT didn't have to die while stopping the criminal and it doesn't seem he thought he would die doing this (he was pretty much ambushing the robber) until it was too late to run away. Risking your life to save someone (when there's a chance you won't die in doing so) isn't the same as knowingly giving it up to save someone. I don't think this technically counts as a Heroic Sacrifice for that reason. Correct me if I'm wrong though - tropes are flexible.

(I know I'm repeating myself a lot. I'm not exactly a wordsmith.)