History Main / BreakHisHeartToSaveHim

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': In the Season 8 opener, Beckett becomes very secretive towards Castle, and eventually leaves him, not really saying why (it's because she has a super powerful enemy that could kill both of them, and she needs to take them down alone). Naturally, Castle being Castle, this just makes him redouble his efforts to "save his marriage".

* ''Manga/HaouAiren'': Once Kurumi's StockholmSyndrome sets in, Hakuron tries this technique on her a lot because he realizes that his enemies will do horrible things to her if he appears to care for her. He even goes so far as to make her be Fuuron's mistress instead of his own. It doesn't work very well.

* In ''Fanfic/FeverDreams'' Light ''attempts'' to do this with Misa (not because he cares for her, but because Rem is making him protect her) and then Misa says something incriminating and now Light has to [[WeNeedADistraction create a distraction]] for the investigators. HilarityEnsues:

* In TalentlessNana when Rentarou is hunting down Michiru, Nana tries to save her. When Michiru refuses to leave her side and run away Nana harshly yells at her that she was never her friend and only used her. It seems to work at first.

** [[spoiler:[[TheChessmaster Lelouch]] does this a couple of times to [[ActionGirl 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 [[EtTuBrute the rebelling]] [[LeResistance 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 [[FirstKiss 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 [[ThanatosGambit Zero Requiem]], Kallen will not die with him]].

'''Darkwing:''' Well, I refuse to feel guilty. I don't want her out there where Bulba might find her. He nearly killed her once to get to me, and I won't risk that again.

* ''Literature/APrayerForOwenMeany'': Anticipating his death, Owen does this to Hester towards the end of his life. Unfortunately, after his death, Hester's life spirals into wild abandon.

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

* Done by Ella to Charmont in ''Literature/EllaEnchanted'', as she fears that her curse would make her a danger to him. However, when she realizes that her ability to decline his proposal is actually an indication that the curse has been broken, she un-breaks his heart by proposing to him instead.
* This trope shows up a number of times throughout J.R.Ward's ''Literature/BlackDaggerBrotherhood'' series. Example: [[spoiler:Rehvenge revealing his life as a coldblooded drug-dealer/pimp to his LoveInterest Ehlena in order to drive her away so she wouldn't find out he's half ''[[TheSociopath sympath]]'' and, worse still, marked for torture and certain death. Thankfully, she saw through the act eventually and helped to [[EarnYourHappyEnding save him]]]].
** Another example occurs in ''Lover Enshrined'', wherein [[spoiler:Qhuinn]] is basically marked for death after [[spoiler:cutting open his cousin, Lash's, throat]] so [[spoiler:he]] plans to go underground. On the way [[spoiler:he's]] caught by [[spoiler:his best friend Blay, who says he'll never abandon Qhuinn. Qhuinn resorts to outing his buddy and confronting Blay about [[LongingLook watching him]], making it sound as though he's disgusted by his friend]]. [[spoiler:Like Rehv's ploy, this is thankfully seen through and at least partially resolved after awhile, leaving the two on friendly terms again, albeit NothingIsTheSameAnymore thanks to newfound [[UnresolvedSexualTension UST]]]].
* In ''Franchise/{{Mistborn}}'', [[NonActionGuy Elend]] does this with [[ActionGirl Vin]], and then [[spoiler:promptly saves him from an assassination team]].
* ''Literature/SweetValleyHigh'': Steven's girlfriend Tricia begins acting distant towards him. He concludes that she's seeing someone else and confronts her with this. When she doesn't deny it, he dumps her. [[LittleDidIKnow Little did he know]] that she was dying of leukemia and, of course, was pushing him away so as to spare him the pain of watching her suffer.

* Toyed with in ''The Truth-teller's Tale''. In order to save Roelyn, both the twins say things they know will stay her father's hand, but break their friend's heart. Eleda, who cannot lie, says Roelyn will marry, not the man she loves, but the Prince. Adele, the secret keeper, reveals that she saw the love interest secretly wed the previous day. It works, and Roelyn's father frees his daughter...[[spoiler: Only to reveal that Roelyn was the one wed to the love interest, and that the love interest was keeping his identity as prince a secret]]
* In ''Literature/DanceOfDeath'', D'Agosta, under [[Literature/AgentPendergast Pendergast]]'s advice, ends his blossoming relationship with Laura Hayward when he begins investigating Pendergast's brother Diogenes, in order to protect her from becoming a potential target. The kicker to that? [[spoiler:As it turns out, she personally isn't in any danger, as Diogenes is framing his brother for murder and is tricking her into arresting him, meaning he needs her alive]].
* A young adult series called ''Haunting With Louisa'' featured a modern girl named Dee who moves into an old inn with her after her mother died and discovered the inn was haunted by the ghost of a girl named Louisa who had died in the 1880s. Dee soon considers Louisa her best friend and does all she can to help her reunite with the spirits of her family. Louisa also thinks of Dee as a friend, but is worried that it isn't healthy for Dee to spend all her time hanging out with a dead girl. Eventually, Louisa tells Dee that as a ghost, she wants to enjoy her special powers rather than be friends with a [[{{Muggle}} worthless mortal]] and disappears, hoping that this will force Dee to make some mortal friends and move on with her life. [[spoiler:The plan seriously backfires when Dee decides that Louisa's disappearance means something horrible has happened to her, and Dee nearly gets herself killed trying to find her]].
%% * [[spoiler:Lena]] tries to do this for [[spoiler:Ethan]] in ''[[Literature/TheCasterChronicles Beautiful Darkness]]''.
* In the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' Apsalar tries this to keep Cutter from following her further down the road of becoming a murderer for hire and possibly getting himself killed in the process. So she just up and leaves, prompting him to go on a journey seeking for her that proves to be much more dangerous.
* Alix does this twice in the first two books of the Samuel Carver series, first in ''Literature/TheAccidentMan'' and then in ''Literature/TheSurvivor''. She genuinely loves Carver, but keeps winding up in situations where she needs to pretend otherwise to save his life, and she's too good of an actress.
* In Robert Jordan's ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' series, the protagonist Rand al'Thor tries to pull a platonic version of this with his friends Mat, Perrin, and Loial, to get them to leave so they will be safe should the Red Ajah or the Dark One come hunting him (or he just plain goes crazy from channeling the tainted male half of the One Power). It doesn't work (and in fact his ex-girlfiend Egwene [[WhatTheHellHero completely calls him on it]]), but the end result is Mat resenting him and wanting nothing to do with him for at least half the series, a bad development when Rand really ends up needing him later.
* ''Literature/TheRiddleMasterTrilogy'': [[spoiler:Deth to Morgon, multiple times. Unusually for this trope, it's actually relatively effective.]]
* In the ''Literature/ChanceAndChoicesAdventures'' series, Noah Swift Hawk tries this on Ann Williams, after they get in trouble with [[HangingJudge Judge Daniel Hall]] of Little Rock for having a MalignedMixedMarriage. Not wanting Ann to be punished, he claims he never loved her and "just wanted to have his way with a white woman" and even keeps up the ruse in private for fear of anyone listening in secretly. He keeps it up for the entire month of hard labor they're sentenced to. Ann refuses to acknowledge it, though, as she knows the truth.
* ''Literature/TheseBrokenStars'': When Tarver approaches Lilac in front of her GirlPosse, she puts him down in the most humiliating fashion possible. She does this so that her bodyguards and Anna don't report on him to her father, which would result in him having an [[ShameIfSomethingHappened unfortunate accident]].

-->An ounce of peace is all I want for you, will you never call again?
-->''[...]''
-->So I'll drive so fucking far away that I never cross your mind.
-->And do whatever it takes in your heart to leave me behind.
-->Hate me today. Hate me tomorrow.
-->Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you.

* "The Hardest Thing" is a 98 Degrees song about a guy who has to break up with a girl because he's already made a commitment to another girl.

* In the second ''VisualNovel/FragmentsNote'', Kyoichi tries to call out Yukitsuki for snooping into his life after she asks about his diagnosis after a hospital visit, since he doesn't want to hurt her by telling her about his terminal illness. Yukitsuki is so shocked by his shouting that she doesn't notice that it's not sincere, despite the fact that she's [[HyperAwareness usually able to perceive peoples' emotions really fast]]. Afterwards, Kyoichi ends up seriously regretting it.
* In ''VisualNovel/IkemenSengoku'', this happens on several routes. Regardless of the situation or character, it never works for very long.
** Yukimura's route: Yukimura breaks up with the main character after learning that [[DatingCatwoman they're working for opposing sides]] because he doesn't want her to get caught up in a war by getting involved with him. His Dramatic route also has the main character trying to enact this trope on him after [[spoiler:she learns that he will die protecting her if she continues to stay in the past and decides she needs to return to her time to avoid this fate]].
** Ieyasu's route: His Dramatic route has him try to make the main character hate him enough to return to her time because [[spoiler:they're being besieged by their enemies and can't hold out much longer, and he fears that she'll die if she doesn't escape to her time]].
** Shingen's route: Shingen sends away the main character despite having fallen in love with her because [[spoiler:he's SecretlyDying of an illness and thinks she deserves a better life partner than a man who doesn't have long to live]].

* In ''VisualNovel/MysticMessenger,'' Seven does his absolute damnedest in his route to be cold and vicious towards you in order to make you stop loving him and leave, fearing that his job as a secret agent/hacker would only put you in danger, or he'd have to disappear one day and leave you abandoned. If you play your cards right, you can manage to convince him that he deserves to be loved, and that you'll stick with him through anything.

* ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' has a non-romantic version in the bonus case. The defendant Lana purposefully acts like an aloof big sister to keep her sister from investigating the case [[spoiler:because Lana at the time thinks Ema is herself responsible for certain events of the case and she doesn't want her sister to find out]].
* In ''VisualNovel/PiofioreFatedMemories -Episodio 1926-'', [[spoiler:Henri Lambert]] believes, with good reason, that people are getting killed because of his past associations and that the safest thing for the heroine is for her to leave him. Specifically, [[spoiler: Henri, despite realizing by the end of the first game that he romantically loves the heroine, pretends to only have familial feelings. After coming in contact with the main villain of the route, Henri realizes people close to him will be in danger. To keep the heroine safe, Henri makes a deal with his former enemy, the Falzones, to take the heroine under their custody in exchange for his life. He does ask them to give him time to find the kill the villain, which the mafia agree to. Because he plans to be killed by the Falzones after the incident is over, Henri repeatedly deflects the heroine's advances.]] However, he's unable to completely keep his feelings in check, and their romance continues to progress. As expected, their romance is [[EverybodyKnewAlready obvious to everyone else]]. They have a beautiful ending in the true route.

* In ''VisualNovel/{{Sunrider}}'', [[NumberTwo Ava Crescentia]] and [[TheCaptain Kayto Shields]] used to have a relationship back in high school, [[InappropriatelyCloseComrades which they cannot resume due to being officers aboard a military starship]]. As such, when the latest attack by the PACT dreadnought Legion leaves the Sunrider badly damaged, several of the crew dead, and Kayto both maudlin and desperate for what they once had, Ava is forced to do this—telling him that she doesn’t remember the promise they made to be together—in order to get Kayto’s head back in the game. Depending on the player’s subsequent choices, this may or may not work.

* In ''VisualNovel/War13thDay'', Ambrosia does a variation of this. Night blackmails her into giving herself to him everyday in exchange for keeping Arsenik out of jail. While Ambrosia doesn't have to split up with Arsenik, she feels like it's a form of cheating and tells him that they shouldn't see each other anymore.

* In ''Webcomic/CollegeRoomiesFromHell'', Margaret spent several years pulling this maneuver on Dave. [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies It's not him, it's her enemy]]...who happens to be [[{{Satan}} THE Enemy]]. But unlike Ally in ''Fans!'', she did it ''perfectly'', convincing not just Dave but most of the readership that she didn't love him--to the point that when Roger figured out her real motives and told Dave, the forum was less inclined to believe him than to be mad at him for getting Dave's hopes up again. Unfortunately, Margaret's efforts to spare Dave included pushing him into Blue's arms...so when the truth came out, it was too late.
* In ''Webcomic/{{MYth}}: A Promise'', [[spoiler:Hades willingly made Zeus hate him forever and destroyed the bond he had with his precious little brother to make him stronger and avoid that Zeus offered him the crown everybody knew it belonged to Zeus]].

* ''Webcomic/EverBlue'': Seta, when told in no uncertain terms that if he won't kill Luna, somebody else will, obediently gets his sword and enters Luna's house in the dead of night. [[spoiler: Then he proceeds to chase her out of town, so she'd be safe.]]
* ''Webcomic/MomImSorry'': After Henry gives up his lifespan for his mother, he runs into Sarah, his girlfriend from before he went off to military service. Knowing he is going to die soon, he acts like a jerk and tries to dump her so she won't be heartbroken. It doesn't work, so Henry tells Sarah the truth and gets her involved with his bucket list.

'''Angela''': [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike Well, I kept ordering iced tea]]. I'd still be there if one of my kidneys hadn't shut down. And after my surgery, I vowed never to need you or anyone else ever again! I have everything I need to get by, and it's better this way, Duckman! [[YouKeepTellingYourselfThat Can't you see I'm much better off on my own? I'm happier like this, a lot happier than I ever would've been with you]]! [''[[MadeMyselfSad she starts crying]]'']

* This was common in Silver Age Franchise/{{Superman}} and Franchise/{{Batman}} comics, usually to explain plot twists that would [[SuperDickery otherwise make the characters out to be total jerks.]]
** In "The Batman Plays a Lone Hand", Bruce tells Dick that he's becoming too much of a bother and he cannot remain ComicBook/{{Robin}} any longer. At the story's conclusion, he confesses that it was all a trick to protect him. A gangster named The Thumb warned Bats to keep his nose out of his business or his gang would shoot Robin on sight. To keep his [[KidSidekick young sidekick]] safe and catch the crooks, he momentarily tried to put him out of action.
* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mall_Rats_(Gold_Digger) Mall Rats]] in the ''ComicBook/GoldDigger'' miniseries ''Throne of Shadows''. Lydia [=McKracken=] sends away her friends Moisha Rich and Romeo Ellis by insulting them. She knows that as Gothwrain's heir she's the target of every criminal overlord on the planet, and that her friends are as doomed as she is if they stay with her.
* When ComicBook/{{Raven}} of ''[[ComicBook/TeenTitans The New Teen Titans]]'' turned down ComicBook/BeastBoy, 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 ''ComicBook/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.

* In the ''ComicBook/NinjaHighSchool: Shidoshi'' series, Tetsuo goes against his grandfather in hopes of becoming the clan leader and getting out of an arranged marriage so he can marry his true sweetheart, Nanashi. However his grandfather is too strong and, realizing that he'll kill Nanashi if he continues to defy him, Tetsuo puts on a jerkass performance in order to drive Nanashi away and keep her safe.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', Chase tells Gertrude that sometimes it's necessary to lie to someone a person loves, in order to protect them. She keeps this in mind later, when Chase is in danger of being sacrificed by [[spoiler:the past self of Geoffrey Wilder]]. She pretends to hate Chase for [[spoiler:kissing Nico]], and tells [[spoiler:Wilder]] exactly how much of a scumbag she thinks Chase is. [[spoiler:When she's dying from a knife wound, she is able to tell Chase that she still loved him and lied about him being a bad person]].

* ''Fanfic/OneAndOnlySon'' has a variant where Villetta is breaking both her and Graham's hearts by ending their relationship; however, she's hopeful that they could start over if she survives the coming war.
* In ''FanFic/{{Cinderjuice}}'', BJ tries this in order to get Lydia to go back home because [[spoiler:she has what the villains are after, and [[BroughtDownToNormal he can't protect her]].]]
* Notably averted in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4811432/1/Worth-of-a-Soul Worth of a Soul]]'' when [[Main/PrinceCharming Prince Vince]] tells [[Main/JerkWithaHeartofGold Beetlejuice]] that he should break up with Lydia since he's always getting her into trouble, not to mention almost getting her killed as an indirect consequence of his actions during a recent altercation. To put it simply, she's just too good for him, and if he really loves her he should let her go and allow her to move on to [[Main/AscendtoaHigherPlaneofExistence bigger]] and [[Main/HappilyEverAfter better]] things. Beetlejuice responds that he ''knows'' she's too good for him, and that's why he'll never stop pursuing her.
-->"Look, I don't know the way you read it in those sappy romance books, kid... But someone's too good for you, and loves your ass anyway? You ''don't'' fucking let them go."
* ''Fanfic/{{Dominoes}}'': Hakuba and Ran both use this to justify their treatment of Shinichi, believing that it's better to keep him LockedOutOfTheLoop and out of harm's way. Shinichi turns this tendency against them and [[spoiler:breaks up with Ran]].
* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/15322299 One Bad Day After]]'': After the events of ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke'', Barbara breaks off her friendship with Supergirl because she believes it's the only way to ensure that she won't be used to hurt her. She breaks not only Kara's heart but her own.

* A flashback in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11523693/1/Another-Fate Another Fate]]'' has Sakura do this to her [[GenderFlip brother Rin]], saying that she is now a Matou and no longer sees him as family. She does this so that Zouken would not make an example of him or force him through the horrific training Sakura had went through.

* ''Fanfic/AChanceForANewDawn'': After Bernadetta is [[PeggySue subjected to]] MentalTimeTravel, she transfers over to the Golden Deer and claims that she never cared about the rest of her former classmates in the Black Eagles. She does this primarily because she witnessed all of their deaths in the original timeline, and is hoping to prevent them from getting as involved this time around.
* ''Fanfic/PrayForUsIcarus'': After Aziraphale's relationships with Crowley's human reincarnations [[StarCrossedLovers keep ending in tragedy]] no matter what he tries to do, he begins avoiding Crowley's future reincarnations as much as he can to prevent further heartbreak for the two of them even when it visibly bewilders and saddens Crowley who can [[WistfulAmnesia still sense]] that Aziraphale is someone precious to him. However, Aziraphale misses Crowley so desperately that he ultimately can't stick to his resolution to leave him alone.
* Causes several of the disasters in ''But You Alone'', a Hermione/Snape story, in which Severus repeatedly (and at one point, violently) tries to convince Hermione that he doesn't care about her, in order to protect her relationship with Harry (and her life). [[spoiler:They eventually reconcile, only to die together. The entire situation really was doomed from the start.]]

* In Volume IV of ''Fanfic/ThePrivateDiaryOfElizabethQuatermain'', Elizabeth is blackmailed into marrying the villain, [[VillainWithGoodPublicity Ben Everett]]. If she didn't go through with it and put on the happy bride act, he would have her surrogate brother Tom killed and have [[spoiler:Skinner, who loves her but CannotSpitItOut,]] framed for it. Unfortunately for the villain, the rest of Elizabeth's TrueCompanions figure out what's up.
* In ''[[Fanfic/WeightlessMassEffect Weightless]]'', Shepard decided to push Garrus away because she thought if she let him love her, she would lose him to death. Her fear of ruining his life, combining with Nihlus and Kaidan's death beforehand also cemented this decision of hers.

* In ''Fanfic/TheEngagement'', the stress of fighting against the extreme elements of her clan makes Hinata attempt to [[spoiler:cancel her engagement]] in order to protect Naruto.
* ''Fanfic/InDreamsYouFollowButIDreamInTheDark'': In order to infiltrate the Akatsuki, Kiba [[AssholeVictim kills Danzo]] and becomes a missing-nin. All of his former friends, family and allies are LockedOutOfTheLoop, and in order to maintain his cover, Kiba has to pretend he's ''happy'' to be fighting them, spitting out insults and hitting them where it hurts the most.
* ''[[Fanfic/NewGamePlusOnePiece New Game Plus]]'': After getting his grandfather to train him under the pretense of preparing for a career in the Marines, Luffy ships out to become a pirate. When Garp comes after him, Luffy delivers a BreakingSpeech about how he could never become a Marine due to the corruption and extremism of the Marines' highest ranks. No matter what he did, they would always see him as nothing more than the son of the World's Most Wanted Man. Realizing that his efforts to save Luffy were AllForNothing completely ''shatters'' Garp.

* Professor Layton attempts this in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5499153/1/Beautiful-Nightmare Beautiful Nightmare]]'', claiming to have never wanted to be Luke's mentor in hopes that Anton (here actually a vampire) will leave the boy alone if he thought Layton had no attachment to Luke but Anton quickly averts it by casually saying that this just means the Professor shouldn't care if he kills Luke and prepares to start feeding on Luke, which naturally prompts PapaWolf Layton to beg him to stop.
* ''FanFic/RWBYReckoning'' has a unique variant: [[BoisterousBruiser Yang]] is blackmailed into doing this to [[AuthorAvatar Darrel]] by [[TheBully Cardin]], otherwise, he goes after Ruby and Darrel. It's clear she doesn't want to do it, but she doesn't want Ruby and Darrel hurt either. Thankfully, Cardin gets his just desserts.
* ''Fanfic/RWBYScars'': In the past, Qrow attempted this with Summer. The two [[spoiler:were HighSchoolSweethearts raising a baby]], but Qrow feared his [[BornUnlucky semblance]] and [[spoiler:affiliation with Salem]] would harm Summer [[spoiler:and Ruby]]. He lied to Summer and told her that he [[spoiler:never loved her]], which led to Summer moving out [[spoiler:and ending up with Taiyang]]. This tactic didn't work in the long run as [[spoiler:Summer still got involved with Salem and was killed [[KillTheOnesYouLove by Qrow]].]]
* A variant in ''Fanfic/CatRa'', where Catra does this to Glimmer in front of their captors. Since the latter was mainly caught to act as bait for the former, Catra tries to convince Shadow Weaver to let Glimmer go, and insults and dismisses Glimmer as being a nuisance so she wouldn't argue or attempt rescuing her in turn. While it does work on Glimmer, Shadow Weaver notices that Catra seems to be hiding feelings of guilt when Glimmer starts crying and calls her bluff.

* In the ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' fic ''Fanfic/EnTempusVeritas'', Lana marries Lex with the goal of protecting Clark from Lionel, but this theme is downplayed on Clark's side as he actually made the decision to commit to his new relationship with Lois on the day of the wedding, with the result that Lana's actions are less emotionally painful than they might have been.
* In the doujin ''[[http://danbooru.donmai.us/pool/show/405 Alice and Yuuka at Marisa's grave]]'' it's implied that the reason why Yuuka tells Alice that [[spoiler:she [[MurderTheHypotenuse killed Marisa out of jealousy]], and subsequently [[NearRapeExperience almost rapes her]]]] was that she wanted to [[spoiler:snap Alice out of her depression]], even at the cost of being hated and remembered as a monster by Alice for the rest of her life. Whether this is true or not (or even if she [[spoiler:actually killed Marisa out of jealousy and not by accident]]) is left ambiguous.
* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/32283637#bookmark-form spiraling]]'', Cyrus Drake explains to Ryan that he tried to drive them off on their first day because [[TimeTravel he met Ryan's future self in the past]] and knew they would experience many horrors.
-->''"At first, I wanted to warn you off.” Drake’s face is somber. “The flow of time cannot be undone so easily, but I had to give it a chance. I saw you on that day. The changes, the scars…and before my desk when you came to Ravenwood, a child. I had a glimpse of what you would become. To let a child endure whatever made you into the wizard I saw? It would be unconscionable."''

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Wolfwalkers}}'', a more platonic example occurs. Robyn is told by [[spoiler:Mebh's mother Moll]] that Mebh and the other wolves must leave her behind and leave the forest before it's destroyed. When Mebh goes into town to find Robyn herself, Robyn confronts Mebh telling her she must leave with the wolves, discouraging Mebh from searching for her mother and leaving her feeling betrayed. Later, when the townsfolk gather to watch [[spoiler:Moll]] being humiliated, Mebh tries to stop them and Robyn, who was told by [[spoiler:Moll]] to keep her daughter safe, tells the wolf-hating kids Mebh is a wolf and has them trap her in a cage so she doesn't get on stage. Robyn explains to Mebh that [[spoiler:her mother]] told her to keep Mebh safe, which understandably further upsets Mebh as her new best friend was lying to her the whole time.

* In ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'', King Candy convinces Ralph that Vanellope was never intended to be an actual ''Sugar Rush'' character, and that allowing her to participate in the races will put the game out of commission which, in turn, will kill her permanently as she is not able to leave it. Ralph proceeds to [[spoiler:destroy Vanellope's kart to prevent her from ever racing again, despite it being her dream for her entire existence. Upon seeing Vanellope's picture on the side of the ''Sugar Rush'' cabinet, however, Ralph realizes that breaking her heart was a big mistake and, via interrogation, discovers that King Candy was lying.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'', Elsa keeps as much physical and emotional distance from her little sister Anna as possible. She does this to avoid harming Anna with her ice powers, like she did accidentally when they were little. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, Anna doesn't know this because her memories had to be altered to survive the initial curse. When Elsa runs away, Anna goes after her anyway, believing that Elsa won't hurt her. Three guesses as to what happens when Anna finally catches up to her]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'', it's bad enough for [[FantasyForbiddingFather King Triton]] to discover his daughter Ariel has a secret grotto chock full of artifacts and trinkets belonging to humans, whom Triton perceives as [[FantasticRacism barbaric, soulless fish eaters]] (And given [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIIArielsBeginning the prequel]] reveals Triton's loving wife Athena lost her life being crushed by a pirate ship, it's not hard to see why the guy thinks HumansAreTheRealMonsters). But when his daughter reveals she's fallen in love with a human, Triton flies into a rage and uses his trident to violently destroy Ariel's collection, [[KnightTemplarParent believing it is the only way to keep her safe from humans]]. The crushed look on his face after he finishes the deed shows he [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone isn't too happy with what he's done]], but nonetheless believes it is [[WellIntentionedExtremist for the best]], until Ariel swims away from home, much to Triton's utter despair.
* In ''WesternAnimation/HappyFeet'', Gloria follows Mumble after his exile so that she can confess her love for him, and Mumble, not wanting to put her in danger, tells her that she would probably be better off with a penguin who can sing. She's aware of what he's doing, just disgusted by it.

* The TropeNamer is ''Film/MoulinRouge'', when Zidler tells Satine she has to drive Christian away so that the Duke won't kill him out of jealousy.
* In ''Film/TheAdjustmentBureau'' David Norris does this to Elise. [[spoiler: After hearing from Thompson that if he stays with her, she won't become a world famous dancer, he leaves her without explanation in the hospital]].

* Will Ferrell's character does this to his love interest in ''Film/LandOfTheLost''.

* Hartigan does this indirectly to Nancy at the end of ''[[ComicBook/SinCity That Yellow Bastard]]''--he doesn't break her heart upfront, but lies to her and kills himself afterward. If he had stayed with her, Senator Roark would have most likely attacked Nancy to get revenge on him.
* Peter ultimately rejects Mary Jane's AnguishedDeclarationOfLove in the end of ''Film/SpiderMan1'' after realizing his future enemies might target them again. In ''Film/SpiderMan3'', Harry Osborn forces Mary Jane to break up with Peter to save him.
* In ''Film/TheAdventuresOfPinocchio'' Pinocchio causes a mess at a bakery and Geppetto is risking to go to prison if he doesn't pay the fee. [[EvilPuppeteer Lorenzini]] steps in and offers to pay Geppetto's debt if he can receive Pinocchio in exchange, and he also argues that Geppetto's poverty won't offer Pinocchio a good upbringing, thus living with him at his prestigious puppet theater is a better prospect. Reluctantly, Geppetto tells Pinocchio to go with Lorenzini. Pinocchio refuses, wanting to stay with his "papa", and thus Geppetto is forced to snap at him saying that he cannot be his son as he's not even a real boy.
* In ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'', [[spoiler:Gwen Stacy's father makes Peter promise to break it off with Gwen as his LastRequest. Peter does so, but Gwen quickly figures out that her father put him up to this. Peter later hints that he might not be able to keep the promise]].
* There was an interesting variation in ''Film/EverAfter''. Danielle attempts to explain her true identity to Henry, but he doesn't really give her the chance. Later, his mother explains that "Nicole" is engaged to a Belgian, which is what Danielle's stepmother has told her, and he thinks that what she was really trying to tell him was goodbye.
* In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' Alfred reveals Rachel's true choice in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' [[spoiler:before her death]] in an effort to force Bruce to move on with his life without Batman. Alfred acknowledges this will likely earn him Bruce's hatred but that doesn't matter to him as there's a chance it could save his life.
* In the theatrical cut of ''Film/TheButterflyEffect,'' [[spoiler:Evan finally decides that the best course of action is to go back to where he and Kayleigh first meet and be mean to her, so she never befriends him, moves away with her mother and avoids the sexual abuse by her father which ultimately leads to her suicide]].
* At the end of ''Film/{{Candy|2011}}'', Dan gives up on Candy because he knows that if they stay together, he's going to drag her back into addiction.
* A downplayed example occurs at the end of ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing'', Frodo tries to set off on his own, knowing his quest to Mordor will probably kill him and hoping the others will find a safer way to help save the world. Even when [[UndyingLoyalty Sam]] catches up to him, Frodo first refuses to look at him and then explicitly commands him to return to shore. Sam ignores him, and Frodo ends up having to save him from drowning. Afterwards, he gratefully accepts that there's no way he's getting rid of him.
* ''Film/{{Stella Dallas|1937}}'': Stella decided that Laurel should live with Stephen and Helen, because they are fancy society folks--and because, for some reason, Stella is unable to do basic things like stop dressing like a hooker. But she knows that Laurel will never leave her mother. So she pretends that she doesn't care about Laurel and tells Laurel that she's tired of being a mother and is going to marry Ed and have good times. Stella breaks down crying after a distraught Laurel leaves for good.

-->'''Ellen Murphy:''' ''[sees Robocop without his helmet]'' Alex, is it really you?\\
'''[=RoboCop:=]''' ''[gets up and walks to her, [[SeparatedByTheWall mesh metal fence separating them]]]''\\
'''Ellen Murphy:''' ''[crying]'' Don't you remember me? Whatever they've done to you... whatever has happened, we can work it out... start again...\\
'''[=RoboCop:=]''' ''[leans forward]'' Touch me.\\
'''Ellen Murphy:''' ''[she touches his lip, downhearted]'' It's cold.\\

'''Ellen Murphy:''' ''[crying]'' No...\\
'''[=RoboCop:=]''' Your husband is dead. ''[walking away]'' I don't know you.

* In ''Film/{{Keith}}'', [[spoiler:Keith does this after Natalie learns that he's dying, knowing that she's fallen hard for him. He dishes out his most scathing insults, claiming that he planned everything that happened between them as a final act of spite. The trope is subverted, however, as Natalie sees right through his ploy, refuses to let him have the last word, and insists on making him admit what he really feels. He finally confesses that he's fallen for her too, and that he couldn't admit it because he had already resigned himself to his imminent death]].
* Baloo from ''Film/TheJungleBook2016'' is convinced by Bagheera to persuade Mowgli to go back to the man-village or else Shere Khan will kill him. So he walks up to Mowgli and tells him to take a hike, saying that he only used him to get honey and he doesn't need him anymore. When Mowgli leaves in a rage, Baloo looks very guilty about what he had to do.
-->'''Baloo:''' Well, I did it. And that's about the hardest thing I ever did.\\
'''Bagheera:''' ''[solemnly]'' I know.
* In the [[UsefulNotes/ThePreCodeEra pre-code]] film, ''Film/MidnightMary'', Mary wants to save Tom from being implicated with her crimes, so she lies to him, saying that she was taking him for a ride and how he's a sucker for falling for her line.
* Joe does this to Betty in ''Film/SunsetBoulevard''. Though they've fallen in love, Joe realizes that he can't provide Betty with the kind of life she deserves. There's also the fact that Joe's in a complicated relationship with the mentally unstable Norma Desmond, who's obsessed with him and [[{{Yandere}} could potentially]] [[GreenEyedMonster become violent]] [[spoiler:(and she later does, killing him)]]. Joe acts like a {{Jerkass}} to Betty so she'll leave him and follow through with her original plan to marry her fiancé Artie.
* ''Film/TheLover''. The Chinaman tries to do this to ''himself'', making the Girl say that she was only ever sleeping with him for money, from the [[LoveAtFirstSight moment they first met]]. Given that The Girl doesn't want to [[ItDoesntMeanAnything admit any romantic attraction]] herself, she plays along willingly.
* In the silent film ''Film/ThePlasticAge'', Hugh's academic and athletic performances decline due to his relationship with the wild party girl Cynthia, played by Creator/ClaraBow. Eventually, she dumps him so that he will focus on school again, telling him upfront that this is her motive.
* ''Film/BonnieAndBonnie'': Kiki, after being injured and afraid she'll slow down Yara from escaping, tells her to go while claiming she doesn't really love her. Yara refuses to believe it however, staying with her.
* ''Film/TheSlipperAndTheRose'': When Lord Chamberlain convinces Cinderella to leave Prince Edward for the good of the country (so he can make a political marriage), she asks him to make Edward believe she was being cruel to him, to make him glad she left him. [[spoiler:It doesn't work; he sees through it immediately.]]
--> '''Cinderella''': Tell him that it wasn't love; say I tried, say I lied. Make him hate my memory, make him glad he's free.
* ''Film/LiberalArts'': [[spoiler:Realizing that Zibby still has her life ahead of her to be in an AgeGapRomance with a man pushing middle age like him, Jesse backs out on making their RelationshipUpgrade {{official|Couple}}. She didn't take it well at first but they eventually get {{better|AsFriends}}.]]
* ''Film/{{Logan}}'': When Laura is reunited with the other X-23 kids, Logan intends to leave her with them and head out on his own again. The two get into a fight and Logan tells her that he is not what she thinks he is, making snide remarks about having done what he agreed before pointedly telling her [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies the people he cares about tend to die]]. Hurt by this rejection, Laura snipes back that it means she has nothing to worry about, and leaves.
* ''Film/DefinitelyMaybe'': [[spoiler:Emily thinks Will would be better off not tying himself down at a young age, and refuses his marriage proposal. When he insists, she informs him that she cheated on him, and it's suggested she did so to make breaking up with him easier.]]
* ''Film/{{Bleach}}'': [[spoiler:In the finale, Rukia calls Ichigo a lowly human and saying that she's sick of living with him in order to try and save him from Byakuya. Her being on the brink of tears undermines her credibility.]]

** A straighter example in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury'': [[spoiler:After Miorine confronts Prospera over manipulating Suletta, Prospera agrees to leave Suletta out of her plans… if Suletta loses her next duel, and Aerial along with it. So Miorine ropes Guel (who's also developed feelings for Suletta) into challenging Suletta to a duel, with Aerial as the prize. After Miorine sabotages the duel by shutting Aerial down remotely, she coldly ends their engagement as Suletta loses her status as the Holder]].

* A straighter example in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury'': [[spoiler:After Miorine confronts Prospera over manipulating Suletta, Prospera agrees to leave Suletta out of her plans… if Suletta loses her next duel, and Aerial along with it. So Miorine ropes Guel (who's also developed feelings for Suletta) into challenging Suletta to a duel, with Aerial as the prize. After Miorine sabotages the duel by shutting Aerial down remotely, she coldly ends their engagement as Suletta loses her status as the Holder]].

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'': This seems to have been Heero's intention when Relena approached him with an invite for her birthday party, and he replied by shredding it in half, and then [[IllKillYou threatening to kill her]]. However, he never follows through with that threat, and several times goes out of his way to protect her despite how that poses a danger for his mission, which leads credence he only acted that way so she'd stay away and not get hurt because of him.

** [[spoiler: Just to hammer the point, Eren spends his final moments lampshading the meme to Arminm, asking him to keep the masquerade forever painting Eren as the villain and Mikasa as the heroine of humanity and adding that he deeply regrets not having been able to love Mikasa as she deserved, but [[YouCantFightFate he was left no choice]]]]

* ''Manga/ChainsawMan'': In Part 2, [[spoiler:Asa tries to push Denji away by saying that she hates him and asked him out only because she was bored. It doesn't work for long before Yoru takes control of her body and escalates the seduction with a kiss]].

* In ''VideoGame/EldenRing'', Melina, the player's closest ally, sacrifices herself by burning near the end of the game ''unless'' an extremely convoluted series of steps have been taken to obtain the [[MarkOfTheBeast Frenzied Flame]], initiating the process to bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, in which case she disowns and abandons the player instead. Proceeding from here will normally lead to a BadEnding, '''unless''' ''another'' ridiculously complex method is used to destroy the Frenzied Flame ''after'' using it to avert Melina's sacrifice, allowing a regular/good ending to be achieved. However, the game never acknowledges this in regards to Melina, who is not seen reacting to the player's unexpected redemption even though she ''is'' seen reacting to the apocalypse in the bad ending.

[[index]]
* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim/AnimeAndManga
* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim/FanWorks
* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim/VideoGames
* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim/VisualNovels
* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim/WesternAnimation
[[/index]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* In ''Webcomic/{{MYth}}: A Promise'' we discover that [[spoiler:Hades willingly made Zeus hate him forever and destroyed the bond he had with his precious little brother to make him stronger and avoid that Zeus offered him the crown everybody knew it belonged to Zeus]].

* ''Series/ChinesePaladin'': Ling'er, motivated by a mix of TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask and LeavingYouToFindMyself, does this to [[DoggedNiceGuy Xiaoyao]]. He eventually gets the point and agrees to let her go.

* ''Literature/SweetValleyHigh'': Steven's girlfriend Tricia begins acting distant towards him. He concludes that she's seeing someone else and confronts her with this. When she doesn't deny it, he dumps her. Little did he know that she was dying of leukemia and, of course, was pushing him away so as to spare him the pain of watching her suffer.

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'':
** 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 ''for four months''.

* Johnny does this in ''WesternAnimation/HotelTransylvania'' to Mavis, at the behest of [[OverProtectiveDad her father]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'', it's bad enough for [[OverprotectiveDad King Triton]] to discover his daughter Ariel has a secret grotto chock full of artifacts and trinkets belonging to humans, whom Triton perceives as [[FantasticRacism barbaric, soulless fish eaters]] (And given [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIIArielsBeginning the prequel]] reveals Triton's loving wife Athena lost her life being crushed by a pirate ship, it's not hard to see why the guy thinks HumansAreTheRealMonsters). But when his daughter reveals she's fallen in love with a human, Triton flies into a rage and uses his trident to violently destroy Ariel's collection, [[KnightTemplarParent believing it is the only way to keep her safe from humans]]. The crushed look on his face after he finishes the deed shows he [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone isn't too happy with what he's done]], but nonetheless believes it is [[WellIntentionedExtremist for the best]], until Ariel swims away from home, much to Triton's utter despair.

* Deconstructed and eventually averted in ''Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger''. After [[spoiler:[[ForeseeingMyDeath having a premonition of his upcoming death]]]], Hikaru attempts to abruptly cut the Ozu family off, hoping to not leave behind any memories or attachments. It's immediately obvious to both the audience and everyone in-universe that there's no way in hell they could just forget him after all he'd done for them, and on top of that, [[spoiler:Urara has even fallen in love with him]], but he continues to convince himself that this is for the best despite being guilt-ridden and miserable. Eventually, after a pep talk, he realizes that doing this will only inflict more emotional pain than the alternative, so he goes ahead and [[spoiler:[[LastWishMarriage proposes to Urara]]]], acknowledging that pushing her away was no better than following assumptions in his head and belittling her by assuming she wouldn't be strong enough to handle it.

* Deconstructed and eventually averted. After [[spoiler:[[ForeseeingMyDeath having a premonition of his upcoming death]]]], Hikaru attempts to abruptly cut the Ozu family off, hoping to not leave behind any memories or attachments. It's immediately obvious to both the audience and everyone in-universe that there's no way in hell they could just forget him after all he'd done for them, and on top of that, [[spoiler:Urara has even fallen in love with him]], but he continues to convince himself that this is for the best despite being guilt-ridden and miserable. Eventually, after a pep talk, he realizes that doing this will only inflict more emotional pain than the alternative, so he goes ahead and [[spoiler:[[LastWishMarriage proposes to Urara]]]], acknowledging that pushing her away was no better than following assumptions in his head and belittling her by assuming she wouldn't be strong enough to handle it.