History Main / BreakHisHeartToSaveHim

But you're not. So, you lie to him. You pretend to be mean, callous, and completely disrespectful of his feelings. You say you never loved him. You do everything you can to make him hate you, because you know that's the only way he'll stay away from you and, in turn, from danger: you have to break his heart to save him.

** Bella also does this to her father to some extent, shouting at him and basically [TheReasonYouSuckSpeech calling him a loser in every way.]] She does it so she can justify her flight from the "evil" vampires and in order to protect him.

* Edward attempts this in ''[[Literature/{{Twilight}} New Moon]]'', because he feels that he's put Bella in too much danger. Bella responds by having a HeroicBSOD ''[[{{Narm}} for four months]]''.

** There was actually an earlier instance of this when Nami had returned to Arlong Park, trying to act coldly to the then forming Straw Hats in order to keep them from Arlong's wraith. It doesn't work of course and in fact, against all odd, they end of beating him and his crew. [[spoiler: And later in the series during Robin's flashback, her mother tries to do this too to spare her from the World Government but she can't deny her daughter pleas to her and breaks down.]]

* Rukia tries to pull this on Ichigo in ''{{Bleach}}'' when her brother comes to collect her for the crime of giving Ichigo her powers and its obvious Ichigo not strong enough to beat him and will mostly be killed if he continues further.

** [[spoiler: Ironically she caught on as she saw the Requiem in action, but by that point there was nothing she could do and reluctantly went on with it.]]

* In a way, in "{{Merlin}}", 2x09. [[spoiler: Freya tries to leave Camelot without telling Merlin so that he won´t leave the good life he has there, and to prevent him from finding out she´s a Bastet.]]

* Edward attempts this in ''[[{{Twilight}} New Moon]]'', because he feels that he's put Bella in too much danger. Bella responds by having a HeroicBSOD ''[[{{Narm}} for four months]]''.

* Gunn does this to Fred in an episode of ''{{Angel}}'' - she immediately realises that something's wrong and figures out a way to help him.

* In ''{{Fans}}'', when the rare disease that she had lived with for much of her life was progressing rapidly, Rikk's wife Ally seduced Meighan and bragged about it to Rikk, hoping that he wouldn't waste any time mourning her. The team was able to find a cure for her, and she and Rikk had a nice long talk afterwards...
** While devastated, Rikk was also GenreSavvy enough to peg exactly what she was up to. Which didn't make things any easier.

The human version of ShooTheDog, quite possibly the most extreme manifestation of IJustWantMyBelovedToBeHappy; this is when a character does ostensibly hurtful things to their beloved because they know it's the only way to protect them from some sort of even greater harm.

* On {{Lost}} Pierre Chang does this to his wife, because pretending to [[FaceHeelTurn turn into a total asshole]] to drive her away from the island is the only way to persuade her to leave in time before everyone's lives become endangered by [[spoiler:The Incident]].

* A non-romantic ([[HoYay unless you prefer it that way]]) version happens in the back story of ''{{Chuck}}''. Bryce Larkin, the title character's best friend during his university days, apparently betrayed Chuck and got him expelled from the university. Only later does he realize that Bryce did it so that he wouldn't get recruited by the CIA (which was looking for exceptionally-talented students in the university) and have his innocence shattered.

* In {{Gargoyles}}, Macbeth does this to Gruoch:

* Ace attempts to do this for Luffy in ''OnePiece'' [[spoiler:as Luffy plunges headfirst into the battle at Marineford and is attacked on all sides by the [[PsychosForHire Shichibukai]] and [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Marine officers]] in an attempt to [[RescueArc rescue Ace from his execution]]. Ace shouts for Luffy to go away, stating that they have their own crews and Luffy is under no obligation to rescue him. He even states that it would be "humiliating" to be saved by a "weakling" like Luffy, all the while silently begging for Luffy not to involve himself in Ace's mistake. [[IdiotHero Luffy]] of course just ignores this and [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming shouts that he's Ace's little brother and promises to save Ace even if it killed him]]. Awww]].

-->''"You're a great actress. Hurt him, Satine. Hurt him to save him."''
-->--'''Harold Zeigler''', ''MoulinRouge''

* Chloe did this to [[GreenArrow Oliver]] on the tenth season of {{Smallville}}.

* In {{Gargoyles}}, MacBeth does this to Gruoch:
-->'''MacBeth:''' Frankly, you're not worth the effort.

* Edward attempts this in [[{{Twilight}} New Moon]], because he feels that he's put Bella into too much danger. Bella responds by having a HeroicBSOD ''for four months''.
* Done by Ella to Charmont in ''EllaEnchanted'' (the book) so that Hattie and Mum Olga won't be able to take advantage of the marriage. Of course, once she breaks the curse she unbreaks his heart by proposing to him instead.

So you've got someone you deeply care about, and who cares just as much about you. However, you know the two of you cannot stay together: being near you, or just the fact that he loves you is putting him at risk. You tried telling him, "ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies", but it didn't work -- he's willing to face the odds.

* ''CodeGeass'': [[spoiler:Lelouch does this a couple of times to Kallen in R2. In the first instance, he pretends that he was merely using Kallen as a pawn to drive her away, when in reality he was trying to save her from being killed by the rebelling Black Knights. He betrays his intentions with a soft, barely audible, "Live on, Kallen." In the second instance, when Kallen confronts the newly-crowned Emperor Lelouch about his parting sentence and kisses him, he feigns a lack of emotion to again drive her away and make sure that when he dies as part of his planned Zero Requiem, Kallen will not die with him.]]

* In the shoujo manga ''The One'', the male lead [[spoiler:seems to attempt rape on the female lead, who's explicitly told him that she has a crush on him, in order to protect her from being followed and perhaps harmed, either physically or in terms of her career as a model being ruined, by the minions of a very powerful person who is out to get his brother and him, by misleading the stalkers into thinking that he has no feelings at all for the female lead. Yes, it's convoluted.]]
* Ace attempts to do this for Luffy in ''OnePiece'' [[spoiler: as Luffy plunges headfirst into the battle at Marineford and is attacked on all sides by the [[PsychosForHire Shichibukai]] and [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Marine officers]] in an attempt to [[RescueArc rescue Ace from his execution]]. Ace shouts for Luffy to go away, stating that they have their own crews and Luffy is under no obligation to rescue him. He even states that it would be "humiliating" to be saved by a "weakling" like Luffy, all the while silently begging for Luffy not to involve himself in Ace's mistake. [[IdiotHero Luffy]] of course just ignores this and [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming shouts that he's Ace's little brother and promises to save Ace even if it killed him]]. Awww!]]

* When [[TheNewTeenTitans Raven]] turned down Beast Boy, he asked if she was doing this. She denied it. He...[[SarcasmMode took it well]].
* An odd variation from John Byrne's run on the ''FantasticFour''; when [[BarrierWarrior Sue Richards]] was being mind-controlled by Psycho-Man into becoming the murderous Malice, Reed was able to free her from Psycho-Man's control by berating her(and even slapping her across the face) in order to make her hate him, however briefly.

* Harry Osborne forces Mary Jane to break up with Peter to save him in ''{{Spiderman}} 3''.

*Vanyel does it to Stefan in the ''Last Herald Mage'' series by Mercedes Lackey, believing (rightfully) that Stefan will be targeted by Vanyel's powerful Mage enemies. It doesn't work.

*Edward attempts this in New Moon, because he feels that he's put Bella into too much danger. Bella responds by having a total BSOD for four months. Jesus...
*Done by Ella to Charmont in ''EllaEnchanted'' (the book) so that Hattie and Mum Olga won't be able to take advantage of the marriage. Of course, once she breaks the curse she unbreaks his heart by proposing to him instead.

* In the original ''TwilightZone'' episode "The Trouble With Templeton", the title character's obsession with his dead wife propels him back to a speakeasy in the 1920's when they were first in love. However, her shrewish, callous treatment of him there forces him to flee back to his present time. [[spoiler: After he's gone back, his wife drops the act and breaks down in tears; it was all to make him let go of his obsession with her memory and continue to live his life. He figures it out, too, when he finds her acting script in his hand, back in the present day.]]
* On {{Lost}} Pierre Chang does this to his wife, because pretending to [[FaceHeelTurn turn into a total asshole]] to drive her away from the island is the only way to persuade her to leave in time before everyone's lives become endangered by [[spoiler: The Incident]].

* Viconia tries this in ''Baldurs Gate II''. (several times, at least once citing her enemies as an excuse, the other times it seems to just be her {{Tsundere}} tendencies)
* A meek variation can happen in ''NeverwinterNights2: Mask of the Betrayer''. [[spoiler: If you romanced Gann, were unable to completely get rid of the curse and chose to remain in the City of Justice for all eternity as a vessel for the Spirit Eater, Gann chooses to stay with you. You can try to convince him not to by lying that you don't want him there, but when he realizes you're trying to deceive him for his own good he only becomes even more determined to stay with you. ]]
* Done rather well in the end of ''MetalGearSolid 4''. [[spoiler: Rose told Raiden that their child had died before birth and pretended to have married Roy Campbell, so the Patriots could not use her and the child as leverage against him. Being somewhat unstable before, he didn't take it well at all, but he's very quick to forgive her when she explains her motives and he meets his son for the first time.]]

[[AC:WebComics]]

* In ''[[IncredibleHulk The Animated Hulk]]'', Bruce was dying from poison and his only chance to survive was to become angry enough to hulk out. Because fighting with Doctor Samson and Ghost Rider wasn't enough, Rick and Betty, the two closest people in Hulk's life, were forced to yell at him that they hate him, he destroyed their lives and he should have never been born. It worked. And hurt Hulk, [[TearJerker hard]]. Ghost Rider even invokes the trope by name.
--> '''Ghost Rider:''' Break his heart in order to save him. I don't know if I would be able to do such a thing.