History Main / AlwaysSaveTheGirl

* ''FarScape'' makes this brutally clear at around the middle of the fourth and final season. Scorpius is on the ship and John is convinced he's only there because he craves the wormhole knowledge in John's head. So far over past seasons, Scorpius threatening John, his family, even the entirety of Earth hasn't made John give in. Meanwhile Aeryn, angry that she has done everything she can think of to tell him that she wants a relationship with him, confronts him on his emotional deadness... and John performs a neat trick that shuts down the comms long enough for him to explain that, yes, he'd let anything else be destroyed, but Aeryn [[spoiler:and her child]]? Not in this universe. But if Scorpius knew that, he'd come after her ''immediately'' and he won't let that happen.

* In ''[[ArmoredCore Armored Core 4]]'', this is Gender-swapped, [[MissionControl Fiona Jarnefeldt]] is hinted at being in love with the PlayerCharacter- but this is made clear if you're doing poorly on a particular mission on Hard Mode-- the enemy has sent forces to destroy the city that you're trying to protect, and you can't use your radioactive [[DeflectorShields Primal Armor]], or you'll risk harming the innocent civilians of the city... if your [[HitPoints AP]] falls below 25%, she'll choose to save you instead, and activate your Primal Armor anyways.

* Threatening InspectorLynley's wife Helen has the effect of making him [[{{Determinator}} try even harder]] to catch you. The surest way to get him to drop whatever he's doing like a hot potato, therefore, is to threaten his partner Barbara Havers. He adores his wife, of course - but Barbara is his NotLoveInterest, and it shows, seeing as how it takes an ''armed assault team'' to stop him from bursting into a hostage situation when she's trapped there. To say that this trope contributed heavily to their UnresolvedSexualTension would be a massive, massive {{understatement}}. However, as time goes on she can usually persuade him to go with LovedINotHonorMore instead.

* Threatening InspectorLynley's wife Helen has the effect of making him [[{{Determinator}} try even harder]] to catch you. The surest way to get him to drop whatever he's doing like a hot potato, therefore, is to threaten his partner Barbara Havers. He adores his wife, of course - but Barbara is his NotLoveInterest, and it shows, seeing as how it takes an ''armed assault team'' to stop him from bursting into a hostage situation when she's trapped there. To say that this trope contributed heavily to their UnresolvedSexualTension would be a massive, massive {{understatement}}.

* Threatening InspectorLynley's wife Helen has the effect of making him [[{{Determinator}} try even harder]] to catch you. The surest way to get him to drop whatever he's doing like a hot potato, therefore, is to threaten his partner Barbara Havers. He adores his wife, of course - but Barbara is his NotLoveInterest, and it shows, seeing as how it takes an ''armed assault team'' to stop him from bursting into a hostage situation when she's trapped there. To say that this contributed heavily to their UnresolvedSexualTension would be a massive, massive {{understatement}}.

* Threatening InspectorLynley's wife Helen has the effect of making him [[{{Determinator}} try even harder]] to catch you. The surest way to get him to drop whatever he's doing like a hot potato, therefore, is to threaten his partner Barbara Havers. He adores his wife, of course - but Barbara is his NotLoveInterest, and it shows, seeing as how it takes an ''armed assault team'' to stop him from bursting into a hostage situation when she's trapped there.

** In one episode an undercover cop falls in love with a gangsters girlfriend. He then tips her off about the upcoming city wide bust so she is not arrested. As a result [[spoiler: another cop gets shot, the gangster escapes, the undercover cop's career is ruined and the girl gets killed]]

* ''GirlGenius'' averts it [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080414 here]]:

* [[spoiler: Akemi Homura]] of PuellaMagiMadokaMagica is revealed to have this mindset. Happily, saving the girl in question also coincides with saving the world [[spoiler: by ensuring she'll never turn into a [[CosmicHorrorStory super-powerful, world-destroying Witch]]]]. [[TearJerker Sadly, however]], [[spoiler: it's not as easy as it sounds, even with [[GroundhogDayLoop multiple attempts]]. She's even had to ''[[ShootTheDog Shoot]]''/''MercyKill'' [[ShootTheDog The Girl]] once.]]

** In a non-hostage example, Ohgi secretly goes AWOL from the Black Knights to see Villetta, who he knows is going to kill him. In contrast, by all rights that it shouldn't, it works out to the point where Villetta is allowed into the Black Knights with him in spite of what she's done.

** However, ''CodeGeass'' is somewhat of a subversion of the trope, since while Lelouch does choose the girl over everything else, in both cases [[spoiler:it backfires, causing him to suffer defeat, and lose the girl anyway.]]
** Don't forget that if he hadn't been worried about getting Kallen out of danger, Lelouch might have been able to avoid getting shot at when [[spoiler:the Black Knights mutinied]].

* ''CodeLyoko'': Jérémie rescues Aelita from drowing. Ulrich is right here, and he's the best of the team in all sports, while Jérémie is a nerd.

* The Greek city state of Thebes [[InvokedTrope invoked]] this trope as official military doctrine everyone in the army was in a relationship with the other members and where supposed to be incredibly protective of their lovers.
* Many parents will go above and beyond to protect their child(ren), regardless of gender. However, many parents are more likely to worry about a daughter than they are a son. Usually, it's the girl's SO who gets the IfYouEverDoAnythingToHurtHer speech.

* Subverted in AdamHall's SpyFiction ''The Sinkiang Executive''. British spy Quiller murders an opposition agent that has him under routine surveillance, breaking the unwritten rule of the intelligence services and jeopardising the secrecy of the [[GovernmentAgencyOfFiction Bureau]]. Apparently the agent had a peripheral involvement in the death of a local girl who helped Quiller on a previous mission; she was captured and an exchange offered -- Quiller for the girl. Quiller agreed, the girl was released but Quiller didn't keep his side of the bargain, jumping on a plane to Austria instead. The girl was then tracked down and killed by the opposition in an act of revenge.

* ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', just like everything else, takes this trope and cranks it past absurdity all the way into heartbreaking. While there is the excuse of having to fight off the evil swarm, the last few episodes boil down to Simon's perfect willingness to march into Hell to come for Nia. Even when it costs [[spoiler: him enough energy to create detrius galaxies and fill the cockpit with blood, the lives of the Gurren Brigade, and comes close to destroying the universe.]] That's some goddamned love.

* In ''IRobot'', Detective Del Spooner's (WillSmith) hatred of robots stems from a traffic accident where his car and the car of a little girl and her father was thrown into a river. A passing robot leapt into the river to help. The girl's father was killed on impact and both cars were rapidly filling with water. The robot choose to save Spooner as he had a higher chance of survival (34% to 11%) than the girl had. Saving Spooner was the "logical" choice, something that Spooner, to put it mildly, didn't agree with. In a FlashBack, Spooner can be seen begging the robot to save the girl instead of him.

** Likewise, medical professionals are generally expected to step aside and let a colleague treat their own loved ones, as this trope can easily compromise their clinical judgement.

* In the ''HarryPotter'' series, this trope basically sums up how [[spoiler:Snape responded to Lily being in danger. He was happy being a Death Eater until Voldemort targeted Lily (and her husband and child, but he wasn't concerned about them). In this case, the trope worked for good, motivating Snape's HeelFaceTurn as Voldemort could not have been expected to spare Lily since EvilCannotComprehendGood.]]

** Then again, Takumi was already ''Akira's'' Most Important Person.

* In ''{{Bleach}}'', Ichigo goes nuts trying to save Rukia and later Orihime. Which he's romantically interested in, if at all, is [[ShipToShipCombat anybody's guess]].

** Deconstructed in ''[[StarWars Revenge of the Sith]]''. Anakin Skywalker turns to the Dark Side, kills off all the Jedi, and turns a Republic into an Empire to save the life of his wife Padme Amidala. She dies anyways, and he likely caused her death through a self-fulfilling prophecy.

** In the [[NeonGenesisEvangelion OriginalSeries]], this is the motivation of [[GenerationXerox Gendo]].

** In the OriginalSeries, this is the motivation of [[GenerationXerox Gendo]].

* Deconstructed in the [[RescueArc Conviction Arc]] of ''{{Berserk}}''. Guts saves Casca from being [[BurnTheWitch burned at the stake as a witch]] by [[LightIsNotGood Bishop Mozgus]] [[TortureTechnician and his henchmen]], who are being backed by all of the citizens [[GullibleLemmings who blindly follow whatever he says just to save themselves from damnation]]. They want to burn her because they think she is responsible for the influx of monsters and evil spirits around St. Albion and, well, technically they're correct, since the Brand of the Sacrifice on Casca's breast attracts evil spirits that are nearby. But Guts, being her LoveInterest and thus [[IWillProtectHer vowing to protect her]], doesn't give two shits about what will happen so long he and Casca survive at the end of it all.

* In ''DoctorWho'', the Doctor, particularly Ten, puts his companions (who are usually, if not always, young and female) before anyone else. Also the new Doctor Who series suggests that his companions represent his humanity in a universe full of mass death; as seen in "The Fires of Pompeii" when Donna convinces him to go back for one family among all those destroyed in Pompeii. It's mentioned some times that he feels responsible for them because it's his fault that they are in danger, since he brought them to wherever it is they are.

* Deconstructed in the [[RescueArc Conviction Arc]] of ''{{Berserk}}''. Guts saves Casca from being [[BurnTheWitch burned at the stake as a witch]] by [[LightIsNotGood Bishop Mozgus]] [[TortureTechnician and his henchmen]], who are being back by all of the citizens [[GullibleLemmings who blindly follow whatever he says just to save themselves from damnation]]. They want to burn her because they think she is responsible for the influx of monsters and evil spirits around St. Albion and, well, technically they're correct, since the Brand of the Sacrifice on Casca's breast attracts evil spirits that are nearby. But Guts, being her LoveInterest and thus [[IWillProtectHer vowing to protect her]], doesn't give two shits about what will happen so long he and Casca survive at the end of it all.

* Deconstructed in the [[RescueArc Conviction Arc]] of ''{{Berserk}}''. Guts saves Casca from being [[BurnTheWitch burned at the stake as a witch]] by [[ReligionIsEvil Bishop Mozgus]] [[TortureTechnician and his henchmen]], who are being back by all of the citizens [[GullibleLemmings who blindly follow whatever he says just to save themselves from damnation]]. They want to burn her because they think she is responsible for the influx of monsters and evil spirits around St. Albion and, well, technically they're correct, since the Brand of the Sacrifice on Casca's breast attracts evil spirits that are nearby. But Guts, being her LoveInterest and thus [[IWillProtectHer vowing to protect her]], doesn't give two shits about what will happen so long he and Casca survive at the end of it all.