History Main / GuardianEntity

-->'''Devil Hulk:'''...I know that I scare you. What I do. What I am...But before any of the others...I was there. Protecting you. I'll always be there to protect you....Because I love you, you stupid kid. Somebody ''had'' to.

-->'''Devil Hulk:''' ....He needed a dad...Or something like a dad. Like a dad that loved him. But he didn't know what love was. Couldn't see love without pain. I can only come out at night. I only come out when I'm needed. When someone hurts him. Then...[[BerserkButton I]] [[ItsPersonal take]] [[RelativeButton it]] [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge personal.]]

--'''Devil Hulk:''' ....He needed a dad...Or something like a dad. Like a dad that loved him. But he didn't know what love was. Couldn't see love without pain. I can only come out at night. I only come out when I'm needed. When someone hurts him. Then...[[BerserkButton I]] [[ItsPersonal take]] [[RelativeButton it]] [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge personal.]]

* ''ComicBook/XMen'': One of the reasons Jean Grey has cheated death so much is because the Dark Phoenix Force seems unwilling to let her die. It shows up almost ''every'' time she's at risk of death to heal and/or transport her out of danger in some way. One of the most hilarious (darkly so) instances was when she told Wolverine to kill her, hoping the Phoenix Force would be weakened trying to heal her. He obliged, stabbing her to death ''six times'' (at least, seeing it was a montage) and when ''that'' wasn't enough, she threw herself into a frozen lake. (Still didn't sway the Phoenix Force from saving her.)

** Harry has his own Fairy Godmother, who, as revealed in ''Changes'', [[spoiler:has been protecting him from ALL dangers targeting him from Nevernever his entire life]] as part of her deal with his late mother.

*** Guardian Angels appear around holy sites and the homes of Knights of the Cross. Though they appear dressed as white-clothed police officers, this is a guise to keep their power in check. However, their hands are tied if the threat is a mortal acting on their own Freewill to attack a place they protect. While they have a duty to defends, these Angels must respect the choices a mortal makes, especially if it is a bad one.
*** The power that lives within the Swords of the Cross is similarly restricted. They won't come out unless it is Right and Proper a time. They won't permit their power to be used in an abusive manner. They will not permit an evil or corrupted entity to touch them unless either the Sword's protections are weakened from a mortal's actions or the entity swears to use the Sword in a Just and Right manner in a purpose befitting the Sword's nature.[[note]]The Sword of Love once permitted a vampire mother to wield it in her quest to save her innocent child, while some years before simply grabbing a different Sword so it didn't fall down a shaft resulted in a numb arm for a month.[[/note]] They will level the playing field against the Fallen and ensure the combat between the Sword's wielder and the Fallen's host is just mortal-on-mortal.
*** Temple dogs, or also called Foo Dogs, are larger versions of the Tibetan Mastiff and are born from a mortal female dog and a divine spirit. They will guard and protect their wards from harm, taking their power based on the strength of the threshold of that home. [[spoiler:Harry Dresden's temple dog named Mouse, after living with Harry, learns to "cheat" and still use his powers even far away from the Harry's home]].

See also and compare TheKidWithTheRemoteControl, where the ward actually controls the entity, which is corporeal and KidWithTheLeash where the entity has [[PsychoSidekick evil/violent]] tendencies kept in line by his ward. May overlap with FightingSpirit in some instances, and may also be a FriendlyGhost. Also related to HypercompetentSidekick, ChessmasterSidekick, {{Mon}}, {{Guardian Angel}}s, and [[FairyGodmother Fairy Godparents]]. ThresholdGuardians may be this if fully aware of their role as "Obstacle to ensure that character is strong enough to face what's after them."

* In ''Manga/HunterXHunter'', the Kakin royal family has a pot infused with the Nen of their ancestors. By donating a drop of blood to it, a member of the royal family with a strong desire to rule will be blessed with a guardian beast born from their Nen.

** Personas in the ''[[Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona Persona]]'' sub-series. Personas are an aspect of their wielder's psyche that take the name and ([[OurMonstersAreWeird heavily stylized]]) appearance of a character from myth or history that he or she can identify with, and can manifest to fight off supernatural threats. Regardless of the game, you must have a Persona to be able to defend yourself from [[DemonicInvaders shadows/demons]].

* The MIND's from ''VideoGame/MindZero'', which function similar to the titular beings of ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona''.

* In the Webcomic/CiemWebcomicSeries, Angie becomes this for her mother Candi - in a dream, at least.

* Seth is this to Peter in ''Webcomic/PeterAndCompany''. He's more of a voice of reason to Peter and occasionally may give him some magical aid.
* Corrick in ''Webcomic/{{Plume}}'' was made to be this [[spoiler:by his brother.]]

%%* The MIND's from ''VideoGame/MindZero''.

** In both ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', [[spoiler: Riku channels his darkness after his defeat at Roxas, which transforms is body into Ansem. This lets Riku use the Guardian, which aids him in incapacitating Roxas]].

* In both ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', [[spoiler: Riku channels his darkness after his defeat at Roxas, which transforms is body into Ansem. This lets Riku use the Guardian, which aids him in incapacitating Roxas]].

* The giant golden warrior from Discworld/MovingPictures is this for Holy Wood (and, by extension, the rest of the Discworld), protecting it from the Dungeon Dimensions.

** Counter Guardians are people who made a pact with Alaya, the Spirit of Humanity, to protect the human race from catastrophe. They are ''very'' rare, and across the franchise only four have been confirmed, and three of them were technically an AlternateSelf from either an AlternateUniverse or AlternateFuture: Jeanne d'Arc, Okita Souji, [[spoiler:Kiritsugu Emiya, and Shirou Emiya]]. They are unbound from time and give up their own afterlives to be summoned at all of humanity's worst moments to save the world. The problem is that they are only summoned ''after'' everything has gone to absolute shit, meaning their first task is inevitably to [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge kill absolutely everyone stupid enough to cause so much damage]]. As one Counter Guardian bitterly notes, they aren't really guardians at all; they don't save anyone. They just kill people. Since the majority of the Counter Guardians are selfless (Okita was a noted exception for being a BloodKnight who ''enjoys'' the endless battle), [[BrokenBird this takes a severe psychological toll]]. [[spoiler:Guardian EMIYA eventually found a way to go back in time and kill his past self, in the hopes that the paradox would delete him from existence despite the fact that he is unbound from time]].

** Counter Guardians are people who made a pact with Alaya, the Spirit of Humanity, to protect the human race from catastrophe. They are ''very'' rare, and across the franchise only four have been confirmed, and three of them were technically an AlternateSelf from an AlternativeFuture: Jeanne d'Arc, Okita Souji, [[spoiler:Kiritsugu Emiya, and Shirou Emiya]]. They are unbound from time and give up their own afterlives to be summoned at all of humanity's worst moments to save the world. The problem is that they are only summoned ''after'' everything has gone to absolute shit, meaning their first task is inevitably to [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge kill absolutely everyone stupid enough to cause so much damage]]. As one Counter Guardian bitterly notes, they aren't really guardians at all; they don't save anyone. They just kill people. Since the majority of the Counter Guardians are selfless (Okita Souji was a noted exception for being a BloodKnight who ''enjoys'' the endless battle), [[BrokenBird this takes a severe psychological toll]]. [[spoiler:Guardian EMIYA eventually found a way to go back in time and kill his past self, in the hopes that the paradox would delete him from existence despite the fact that he is unbound from time]].

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'':
** Servants have shades of this, being able to go into a sort of spirit form and watch over their Masters. [[spoiler: Saber and Archer are special cases. Saber is different because she's technically not a Servant, as she was pulled right before she died; Archer is different because he, as a Counter Guardian, is basically this trope for the human race.]]

** Counter Guardians are people who made a pact with Alaya, the Spirit of Humanity, to protect the human race from catastrophe. They are ''very'' rare--only two were confirmed: Jeanne d'Arc and [[spoiler:Shirou Emiya]]. They are unbound from time and give up their own afterlives to be summoned at all of humanity's worst moments to save the world. The problem is that they are only summoned ''after'' everything has gone to absolute shit, meaning their first task is inevitably to [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge kill absolutely everyone stupid enough to cause so much damage]]. As one Counter Guardian bitterly notes, they aren't really guardians at all; they don't save anyone. They just kill people. Since both Counter Guardians are selfless heroes, [[BrokenBird this takes a severe psychological toll]]. [[spoiler:Guardian EMIYA eventually found a way to go back in time and kill his past self, in the hopes that the paradox would delete him from existence despite the fact that he is unbound from time]].

* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 5th edition, Barbarians who follow the Ancestral Guardian path summon spectral warriors whenever they rage. These warriors defend the Barbarian’s allies by harassing the Barbarian’s target in order to DrawAggro, and can reduce damage taken by a single ally once per round. At higher levels they can also retaliate against whoever attacked that ally.

Lin Hu from ''VisualNovel/{{Nekojishi}}'' is a [[MeaningfulName Guardian Tiger]], he protects Liao from other spirits. [[spoiler:He especially becomes like this after fusing with Liao]]

* Servants from ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' have shades of this, being able to go into a sort of spirit form and watch over their Masters. [[spoiler: Saber and Archer are special cases. Saber is different because she's technically not a Servant, as she was pulled right before she died; Archer is different because he, as a Counter Guardian, is basically this trope for the human race.]]

* Gardevoir from the Franchise/{{Pokemon}} series towards its trainer (and possibly friends/relatives of the trainer). It's right there in the dex entry, which states, "Gardevoir will try to protect its trainer with its life.". It's also in the [[MeaningfulName name]]: Gardevoir comes from the French words "garde" (protect) and "devoir" (dutiful or devoted). It's a devoted guardian.

* The fairies in ''Anime/YukiYunaIsAHero'' protect the Heroes from serious harm. As shown in ''Washio Sumi Is A Hero,'' when the fairies aren't around, things tend to get pretty bloody; they were introduced after Gin died in combat in order to prevent such deaths from happening again. [[spoiler:It's later established that the fairies prevent the Heroes from dying entirely, and will even intervene if they attempt suicide.]]

[[quoteright:300:[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/GuardianHeartless_878.jpg]]]]

Lin Hu from ''VisualNovel/Nekojishi'' is a [[MeaningfulName Guardian Tiger]], he protects Liao from other spirits. [[spoiler:He especially becomes like this after fusing with Liao]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

[[quoteright:300:[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/GuardianHeartless_878.jpg]]]]