History HeroicSacrifice / LiveACtionTV

** Simon Tam in ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' was a very good one. He does not just die quickly as in most Heroic Sacrifices. He quite literally gives up his entire life, fortune and safety and lives the life of an outlaw just to be able to comfort his little sister in her distress. This is done without having him decay to MarySue-ishness.
*** Actually, from that point on, he seems to have regarded himself as living on sufferance as sort of a one man WeHaveReserves for River.

* ''{{Supernatural}}'': In the second season, John did this for his comatose son, Dean (who was surely about to die, or at least never wake up), causing the fandom to actually like him for once. Dean also did this for Sam, who died (and got better) in the finale, but the fanbase are torn between this being a true HeroicSacrifice or something to do with being DrivenToSuicide. In a subversion, the show treats these as destructive, selfish acts instead of noble sacrifices.

** Similarly, [[spoiler:Jenny]] takes a bullet for the Doctor in "The Doctor's Daughter", causing Ten to flip out to the point where he [[TechnicalPacifist actually threatens the killer with a gun]].

* In the pilot of ''StargateUniverse'' [[spoiler:the senator]] seals a damaged shuttle through which they were losing oxygen, though doing so means being trapped inside and asphyxiating. His daughter got to watch.

** This must be a favorite trope of Jamie Bamber's characters, as his Matt Devlin of LawAndOrderUK was shot protecting his friend Alesha Philips (along with the young witness in their case) from a hail of gunfire.

** This must be a favorite trope of Jamie Bamber's characters, as his Matt Devlin of LawAndOrderUK was shot protecting his friend Alesha Philips (along with the young witness in their case) from a hail of gunfire. Even if he's not dead, he still risked serious injury for their sakes.

*** Actually from that point on he seems to have regarded himself as living on sufferance as sort of a one man WeHaveReserves for River.

** Years later, in the future of the TimeTravel sequence, Londo, under the control of the symbiote, has the heroes at his mercy. In a moment of lucidity, he lets them go, then asks G'Kar -- either his sworn enemy, his best friend, or both -- to kill him so the symbiote won't alert anybody to the escape. This, G'Kar does, in a manner which Londo had foreseen decades earlier in a prophetic dream -- which at the time he took to mean G'Kar would eventually murder him in cold blood. Londo is therefore an example of the HeroicSacrifice, RedemptionEqualsDeath ''and'' the ProphecyTwist.

** He'd also done it at the end of the Shadow War. In order to save his planet, Londo destroys the Shadow presence on Centauri Prime by blowing up their island base (including a number of Centauri who knew ''they'' were being asked to sacrifice themselves). When the Vorlon Planetkiller takes station above the planet, his sidekick Vir points out that there's still one person on planet who's been touched by the Shadows... Londo himself. Londo orders Vir to kill him. [[spoiler: He doesn't, but events conspire to save Centauri Prime anyway... temporarily, at least]]

** To end the [[spoiler: Minbari Civil War]] Delenn manages to trick the leader of the Warrior Cast to join her in a ritual which will decide the [[spoiler: outcome of the war]] by whoever lasts in a wheel of fire the longest. [[spoiler: She's replaced at the very last second by Neroon who pushes her out, announces his conversion to her side, and dies, thus allowing her to reorganize the Grey Council.]]

** During the Battle at Coriana VI, the [[AbusivePrecursors Shadows]] attempt to destroy [[ChosenOne Sheridan]]'s ''White Star'' with two missiles. A Drazi ''Sun Hawk'' and a Minbari ''Sharlin'' interpose themselves between the ''White Star'' and the missiles, not only saving Sheridan but also showing the Shadows and the Vorlons that younger races will no longer take their crap.

* Two different starships Enterprise get this in the ''[[StarTrektheNextGeneration Star Trek the Next Generation]]'' episode "Yesterday's Enterprise." Short version: A Captain Picard from a timeline where the Federation is losing a war against the Klingons pulls a [[YouShallNotPass You Shall Not Pass]] against a squadron of Klingon battlecruisers, sacrificing the ''Enterprise-D'' in order to allow the ''Enterprise-C'' to return to her own time and get destroyed defending a Klingon outpost from a Romulan attack, cementing the Federation's status as a [[FireForgedFriends Fire Forged Friend]] to the Klingon Empire.
* Done rather problematically in a recent episode of ''BattlestarGalactica''; after having her criminally shady past revealed, the pilot Kat voluntarily exposes herself to lethal levels of radiation while guiding a passenger ship through a star cluster. The episode was well-written and actually made sense, as well as providing an unexpected degree of depth to a heretofore slightly two-dimensional character, but... given that Kat had not only served quite adequately as CAG for the last year, but was one of maybe two or three pilots who'd never actually committed mutiny during the run of the series (and that one of the others was a ''Cylon''), would anyone other than [[{{Jerkass}} Starbuck]] actually have cared ''that'' much?

*** She's already taken too much radiation when she decides to fly the last mission. For her it's a choice between staying behind and probably dying anyway, or going out there, ''definitely'' dying but making a difference, atoning not only for her past but for losing the other ship earlier in the episode.

** ''Series/DoctorWho'' has developed a very specific sub-trope of its own in which a (often unwilling) agent of the Daleks betrays them and tells them off, only to get exterminated, of course.

** There's also Harriet Jones, [[RunningGag Former Prime Minister]], (WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE !) whose personal timeline and career are destroyed by the Doctor and [[spoiler:still sacrifices herself to allow the Companions the time to summon the Doctor]]

*** It has been debated whether Time Lord sacrifices count, since they can regenerate up to 12 times); at any rate, several of the Doctor's incarnations regarded it as death.

** Then subverted. D.L. takes a bullet from Linderman to save Niki. Enter season two, he is dead, and we are lead to assume that is how he died. But then a flashback to four months ago has him make a full recovery from the hospital, and is indeed well enough to go fight fires and stuff...only to [[DroppedABridgeOnHim get shot by some random crackhead with the hots for Niki]].

*** The indisputably biggest HeroicSacrifice in the series is [[spoiler: Jack's. The Man in Black had Desmond remove a stone from the heart of the island so as to destroy the place. Jack, after being ''stabbed'' by MiB, still manages to get down there and reactivate the heart, thus saving the island. He then manages to get back to the same bamboo grove where he woke up in the first episode in time to die there with Vincent at his side.]]

** Sam''antha'' Carter in the alternate universe in ''There But for the Grace of God'' has a particularly awesome sacrifice, which allowed Daniel to get to the gate and back into the normal universe, and stop the Goa'uld there.

** Beyond those two big ones, Sam and Dean offer themselves up as HeroicSacrifices on multiple other occasions. One example is Dean with the djinn in season 2. He sacrificed the ability to stay in his "dream world" - one where he doesn't have to "be a hero" and can have a normal life, including having his mother alive and his kid brother happy and not demon tainted - after realizing that in that world, all the people who the Winchesters have saved over the years are instead dead. The means for "returning" to the real world? He had to die. (Which could very easily tie this one back into DrivenToSuicide, but this is * Dean* we're talking about; the two aren't exactly often far from each other when it comes to his motivations!)

** Sam in Swan Song: [[spoiler: Throwing yourself into hell with the Devil in a body with the certain knowledge that he's going to spend eternity torturing you in order to prevent the planet from being raised is a pretty heroic thing to do.]]

* In ''FlashForward,'' FBI agent Al Gough learns from his flash forward that his actions at some point result in [[spoiler:the accidental death of Celia, a woman he has never even met.]] He also knows that fellow agent Demetri Noh had no flash forward and has been told he will be murdered. He chooses to sacrifice himself by [[spoiler:jumping from the roof of the L.A. FBI building to prevent Celia's death and to show Demetri and others that the flash forwards can be changed]]
** [[spoiler: sadly this proves to be pointless, she ends up dying anyway]]

* HoratioHornblower: in the episode "Retribution," Archie Kennedy takes sole blame for a mutiny, in order to save Horatio from being hanged. Interesting in that it wasn't his life he was sacrificing -- he had been wounded in a battle shortly before and was dying anyway -- but his reputation and his good name, which would have meant a great deal at the time. Also, in the first episode, "The Duel," Midshipman Clayton takes Horatio's place in a duel and as one episode guide described it, "becomes the first in a long line of people to cheerfully die for Horatio."

** Simon Tam in ''Firefly'' was a very good one. He does not just die quickly as in most Heroic Sacrifices. He quite literally gives up his entire life, fortune and safety and lives the life of an outlaw just to be able to comfort his little sister in her distress. This is done without having him decay to MarySue-ishness.

* ''{{Farscape}}'' -- two words: [[spoiler: "Talyn, Starburst!"]]

* In the ''{{Sliders}}'' episode "The Exodus", Professor Arturo steps in front of Quinn Mallory and takes a bullet meant for him. Of course, at this point Arturo is already severely brain-damaged thanks to Colonel Rickman, but he still sacrifices himself so that Quinn can live to get the others home.

* In ''[[DoctorWhoS12E5RevengeOfTheCybermen Revenge Of The Cybermen]]'', one of the men carrying a boobie-trapped bomb deliberately sets it off as a weapon against the Cybermen.

* ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' has a rather heart-wrenching subversion. Captain Decker and his crew are facing an unbeatable foe, so he beams his crew down to a nearby planet and intends to go down with the ship. Except it doesn't play out like that. The enemy in question is a PlanetKiller, and his ship isn't what it's after.

* The Fifth Doctor at the end of "The Caves of Androzani", which is seen as one of the best ''DoctorWho'' stories. Both he and Peri (a DamselScrappy if there ever was one) were suffering from fatal poisoning, and the Doctor gives the antidote to her. He then collapsed, and willed on by his past companions, regenerated into a new body in the best such sequence in the series.

** [[spoiler:Adric's]] death in the ''DoctorWho'' episode "Earthshock". [[spoiler:Ultimately, he failed in his goal (and achieving it would have been impossible without a major paradox being created), but he was ''trying'' to be heroic.]]

** ''DoctorWho'' has developed a very specific sub-trope of its own in which a (often unwilling) agent of the Daleks betrays them and tells them off, only to get exterminated, of course.

** The new series of ''DoctorWho'' has used this trope to the point where there seems to be more episodes with it than without. [[spoiler:Davros]] actually calls the Doctor out on it in the NS 4 finale.

*** ''DoctorWho'': [[spoiler:Adric]], as mentioned above, and [[spoiler:Luke Rattigan]] in "The Poison Sky".

** Simon Tam in ''Firefly'' was a very good one. He does not just die quickly as in most Heroic Sacrifices. He quite literally gives up his entire life, gives up fame, fortune and safety and lives the life of an outlaw just to be able to comfort his little sister in her distress. This is done without having him decay to MarySue-ishness.

* The writers may get rid of TheScrappy in this way, in an attempt to change him from annoying pest to [[AlasPoorScrappy fondly remembered hero]]. Irritating one-shot characters may also receive this treatment.
** ''DoctorWho'': [[spoiler:Adric]], as mentioned above, and [[spoiler:Luke Rattigan]] in "The Poison Sky".

*** Subverted. [[spoiler: "Get out of the way" means "''My'' prey. Scram.". In the context of him being too pissed off to care about anything other than making the Time Lords pay dearly for what they did to him, in the sense of TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou. This is BigDamnVillains. This is the Master. And they NeverFoundTheBody...]]
**** Question: does it actually count if the Doctor sacrifices himself, what with the whole regeneration thing? Granted, his current self "dies", but even so...
**** It does, if his last line is taken into account
----> '''Doctor:''' I don't want to go... (''regeneration'')
**** Plus Time Lords can only regenerate up to twelve times (with the exception of the use of certain Time Lord life-increasing artifacts, which have likely all been destroyed). After the Doctor's thirteenth death, he's gone for good...
** [[spoiler:Rory]], who [[TakingTheBullet takes a shot]] meant for the Doctor in "Cold Blood". [[ItGotWorse It Gets Worse]] though, because [[spoiler:his body is very near one of the Cracks in time, and it starts to erase him from existence]].
*** Worse yet, [[spoiler:Amy]] forgets all about him.
** Similarly, Jenny takes a bullet for the Doctor in "The Doctor's Daughter", causing Ten to flip out to the point where he [[TechnicalPacifist actually threatens the killer with a gun]].
* The writers may get rid of TheScrappy in this way, in an attempt to change him from annoying pest to [[AlasPoorScrappy fondly remembered hero]]:
** In ''DoctorWho'' [[spoiler:Adric, as mentioned above]].
*** Also, [[spoiler:Luke Rattigan in The Sontaran Strategem/The Poison Sky, to an extent]].
*** can we just say a lot of one shot character's do this and leave it at that?

* HoratioHornblower: in the episode "Retribution," Archie Kennedy takes sole blame for a mutiny, in order to save Horatio from being hanged. Interesting in that it wasn't his life he was sacrificing -- he had been wounded in a battle shortly before and was dying anyway -- but his reputation and his good name, which would have meant a great deal at the time. Also, in the first episode, "The Duel," Midshipman Clayton takes Horatio's place in a duel and as one episode guide described it, "becomes the first in a long line of people to cheerfully die for Horatio."

* HoratioHornblower: in the episode "Retribution," Archie Kennedy takes sole blame for a mutiny, in order to save Horatio from being hanged. Interesting in that it wasn't his life he was sacrificing -- he had been wounded in a battle shortly before and was dying anyway -- but his reputation and his good name, which would have meant a great deal at the time. Also, in the first episode, "The Duel," Midshipman Clayton takes Horatio's place in a duel and as one episode guide described it, "became the first in a long line of people to cheerfully die for Horatio."

* {{Deconstructed}} in the ''{{Smallville}}'' episode "Lazarus". Clark Kent finds himself in the afterlife after dying in the previous episode to stop Zod. Jor-El calls him an idiot for not realizing that even though he did save the day, he's now left Earth vulnerable to future threats. Fortunately, Lois manages to revive him.

*** Subverted. [[spoiler: "Get out of the way" means "''My'' prey. Scram.". In the context of him being too pissed off to care about anything other than making the Time Lords pay dearly for what they did to him, in the sense of OnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou. This is BigDamnVillains. This is the Master. And they NeverFoundTheBody...]]

** Simon Tam in ''Firefly'' was a very good one. He does not just die quickly as in most Heroic Sacrifices. He quite literally gives up his entire life, gives up fame, fortune and safety and lives the life of an outlaw just to be able to comfort his little sister in her distress. This is done without having him decay to Mary Sueishness.

* In ''TheOuterLimits'' episode "A Feasibility Study", aliens abduct a whole neighborhood of people. The people are informed that if they can survive the harsh environment of the alien's home world, then the rest of the human race will be abducted and turned into slaves. The humans decide to commit mass suicide. The aliens then assume all humans would do this and cancel their plans for mass abduction.
* {{Deconstructed}} in the {{Smallville}} episode ''Lazarus''. Clark Kent finds himself in the afterlife after dying in the previous episode to stop Zod. Jor-El calls him an idiot for not realizing that even though he did save the day, he's now left Earth vulnerable to future threats. Fortunately, Lois manages to revive him.