History Main / NooneGetsLeftBehind

* ''Fanfic/APrizeForThreeEmpires'': Back when she was a CIA spy, ComicBook/CarolDanvers was captured by enemy agents. Her bosses decided a rescue operation was too risky so they wrote her off. Wolverine and several more partners didn't agree, so they went and got her out.

* ''[[ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel'': During the Marvel Comics run of ''G.I. Joe'' there was a particularly tragic example where Dusty flashes back to meeting a fellow Joe's family and promising to keep an eye on him. He ends up carrying his friend's dead body for miles through a desert because "he promised."

* If you're a hero in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse and you're hurt in battle, don't fret, [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Good Ol' Cap]] will go through Hell or high water to get you home safe.
* During the Marvel Comics run of ''[[ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel G.I. Joe]]'' there was a particularly tragic example where Dusty flashes back to meeting a fellow Joe's family and promising to keep an eye on him. He ends up carrying his friend's dead body for miles through a desert because "he promised."
* In ''ComicBook/GothamCityGarage'', Big Barda was actually instructed by Granny Goodness to abandon her partners. So she refuses to leave [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Silver Banshee]] behind during the chase across the Canyons of Clay because that's what Granny would want her to. She tells [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]] to keep driving and goes back to rescue her.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'':
** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': In the Golden Age ComicBook/SteveTrevor was usually on solo missions or paired up with Diana, but he absolutely refuses to leave anyone behind and on missions to locate captured troops this has gotten him caught and/or injured on multiple occasions.
** ''ComicBook/SensationComicsFeaturingWonderWoman'': The main character of "Rescue Angel" earns the call sign "Wonder Woman" for her refusal to leave any men behind after her convoy gets ambushed and insistence on pulling guys out of the line of fire even after she's hit.
* In ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' comic book ''ComicBook/{{Bloodquest}}'', Leonatos and his men are sent on the titular quest to recover an important relic to the Blood Angels' chapter. While completing their mission is paramount, the group is extremely protective of each other. When a Daemon Prince offers them safe passage through his domain in exchange for their dying companion, they'd rather fight their way out than willingly abandon their brother to darkness. After one of their own members is lost inside a [[DenOfIniquity Slaaneshi city of pleasure]], one of the others has to be convinced to not go back and storm the place in his search. Finally, after the two surviving members succeed in returning the sword as the third one makes a last stand to ensure their escape, they embark on a new quest to rescue their brother.
* ''ComicBook/UltimateGalactusTrilogy'': Yahn Rgg messes with Marh-Vell's armor, and he's incapacitated by pain. Hawkeye insists on leaving him behind, but Reed and Sue help him to his feet, with Sue giving Hawkeye a chewing out for his attitude.
* In ''ComicBook/ContestOfChampionsII'', ComicBook/CarolDanvers (by then under the codename Warbird) invokes this trope as the reason why she saved ComicBook/{{Rogue}} from the Brood Queen, despite having serious past issues with the former. This leads to a handshake between them.

* Subverted in the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' storyline ''ComicBook/TheGreatDarknessSaga''. In the first issue, the Legionnaires have just taken a Servant of Darkness down when a dimensional portal opens up, letting another Servant rush into the place. It looks like he's come to rescue his partner, but he grabs the relic she failed to steal and flies back into the portal, alone. To add insult to injury, their Master [[spoiler:Darkseid]] instantly collapses the space warp despite that his defeated Servant was rushing towards it.

** In ''Fanfic/AbraxasEmptyFullness'', the "eldest" brother [[spoiler:who would one day become Ghidorah's middle head]] refuses to leave his paralyzed youngest brother behind when they're under attack by hostile creatures.

** Villainous defied at the end of the Paramount Liberation War arc, where All For One, controlling Shigaraki, orders all the remaining villains to retreat, despite Spinner's protest that they were leaving behind key members, such as Gigantomachia and Mr. Compress, with All For One replying that [[IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure it's Shigaraki's punishment for his failure]]. [[spoiler:This ends up [[HoistByHisOwnPetard coming back to bite All For One]] in the FinalBattle as being abandoned to rot despite his UndyingLoyalty is [[AbandomentInducedAnimosity enough to break]] Gigantomachia's BlindObedience to All For One and [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal turn him against his master]]]].

** Villainous defied at the end of the Paramount Liberation War arc, where All For One, controlling Shigaraki, orders all the remaining villains to retreat, despite Spinner's protest that they were leaving behind key members, such as Gigantomachia and Mr. Compress, with All For One replying that [[IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure it's Shigaraki's punishment for his failure]]. [[spoiler:This ends up [[HoistByHisOwnPetard coming back to bite All For One]] in the FinalBattle as being abandoned to rot despite his UndyingLoyalty is enough to break Gigantomachia's BlindObedience to All For One and [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal turn him against his master]]]].

** Villainous defied at the end of the Paramount Liberation War arc, where All For One, controlling Shigaraki, orders all the remaining villains to retreat, despite Spinner's protest that they were leaving behind key members, such as Gigantomachia and Mr. Compress, with All For One replying that [[IWillPunishYourFriendsForYourFailure it's Shigaraki's punishment for his failure]]. [[spoiler:This ends up [[HoistByHisOwnPetard coming back to bite All For One]] in the FinalBattle as being abandoned to rot despite his UndyingLoyalty is enough to break Gigantomachia's BlindObedience to All For One and [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal turn him against his master]]]].

** Villainous defied at the end of the Paramount Liberation War arc, where All For One, controlling Shigaraki, orders all the remaining villains to retreat, despite Spinner's protest that they were leaving behind key members, such as Gigantomachia and Mr. Compress, with All For One replying that it's Shigaraki's punishment for his failure. [[spoiler:This ends up [[HoistByHisOwnPetard coming back to bite All For One]] in the FinalBattle as being abandoned to rot despite his UndyingLoyalty is enough to break Gigantomachia's BlindObedience to All For One and [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal turn him against his master]]]].

** Villainous defied at the end of the Paramount Liberation War arc, where All For One, controlling Shigaraki, orders all the remaining villains to retreat, despite Spinner's protest that they were leaving behind key members, such as Gigantomachia and Mr. Compress, with All For One replying that it's Shigaraki's punishment for his failure. [[spoiler:This ends up coming back to bite All For One in the final battle as being abandoned to rot despite his UndyingLoyalty is enough to break Gigantomachia's BlindObedience to All For One and [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal turn him against his master]]]].

* ''Webcomic/StarTrekIDW'': When Ambassador Ferris attempts to quote regulations to Kirk in the "Galileo Seven" adaptation, Kirk responds that he's not leaving without his crew.

* ''StarTrekIDW'': When Ambassador Ferris attempts to quote regulations to Kirk in the "Galileo Seven" adaptation, Kirk responds that he's not leaving without his crew.

* ''ComicBook/UltimateGalactusTrilogy'': Yahn Rgg messed with Marvel's armor, and he was incapacitated by pain. Hawkeye proposed to go on and leave him behind, but Reed and Sue helped him to his feet and helped him to go with them.

* Subverted in ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' storyline ''ComicBook/TheGreatDarknessSaga''. In the first issue, the Legionnaires have just taken a Servant of Darkness down when a dimensional portal opens up, letting another Servant rush into the place. It looks like he's come to rescue his partner, but he grabs the relic she failed to steal and flies back into the portal, alone. To add insult to injury, their Master [[spoiler:Darkseid]] instantly collapses the space warp despite that his defeated Servant was rushing towards it.
* ''ComicBook/{{Magik}}'': Averted. When Illyana and Cat were running, Illyana fell to the ground, incapable of going any further. Cat was willing to leave her behind, alone against a nearby monster... forcing Illyana to stand up and run even more.

** Villainous defied at the end of the Paramount Liberation War arc, where All For One, controlling Shigaraki, orders all the remaining villains to retreat, despite Spinner's protest that they were leaving behind key members, such a Gigantomachia and Mr. Compress, with All For One replying that it's Shigaraki's punishment for his failure. [[spoiler:This ends up coming back to bite All For One in the final battle as being abandoned to rot despite his UndyingLoyalty is enough to break Gigantomachia's BlindObedience to All For One and [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal turn him against his master]]]].

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': [[AdaptationExpansion In an anime-only episode]], Momo Yaoyorozu is trapped by Saiko Intelli, a student from a rival school, who decides to make sure she won't pass the Provisional Hero Exam as revenge for out-gambitting her. She didn't expect that the others would refuse to take the chance to pass themselves in favor of rescuing Momo and ensure they would ''all'' pass the exam.

Two characters are escaping from something. One of them falls down, breaks a leg and says "Leave me, IWillOnlySlowYouDown". The other one says, "[[MoreHeroThanThou I won't leave without you]]!" and takes his wounded friend with him. Possibly even requiring, as soon as they reach some degree of safety, that [[GreaterNeedThanMine the wounded character gets evacuated first]].

* Near the end of the Azure City siege arc in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Haley and Belkar volunteer to run out and retrieve the body of one of their party members, [[spoiler: Roy]]. Oh, and this is when a huge enemy army lies between them and escape.
** Justified in that retrieving [[spoiler: Roy]]'s body makes it significantly easier to resurrect him. Plus Belkar at the time couldn't be more than a set distance away from it.

* ''Anime/MyHeroAcademia'': [[AdaptationExpansion In an anime-only episode]], Momo Yaoyorozu is trapped by Saiko Intelli, a student from a rival school, who decides to make sure she won't pass the Provisional Hero Exam as revenge for out-gambitting her. She didn't expect that the others would refuse to take the chance to pass themselves in favor of rescuing Momo and ensure they would ''all'' pass the exam.

** Later on, in the Empire of Blood arc, the team gets help from an ''Allosaurus'' [[FluffyTamer that Belkar befriended]] and named Bloodfeast the Extreme-inator, which was later [[BalefulPolymorph transformed]] into a lizard. When the team managed to escape, Belkar refused to leave Bloodfeast behind, with Blackwing carrying him after them.

* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'':

In many ways, this is TruthInTelevision, although without the dramatic clichés. Many armed forces units, especially the U.S. Navy [=SEALs=] and U.S. Army Rangers, pride themselves on never abandoning a wounded or dead soldier. Others, like the SAS, make a rule to leave wounded men for {{The Medic}}s.

* In the Battle of Mogadishu (made famous in ''Film/BlackHawkDown''), following this policy resulted in many casualties.

* In the second ''ComicBook/ContestOfChampions'', ComicBook/CarolDanvers (by then under the codename Warbird) invokes this trope as the reason why she saved ComicBook/{{Rogue}} from the Brood Queen, despite having serious past issues with the former. This leads to a handshake between them.

!!Examples:

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
* Invoked and then defied in ''Film/AirForceOne'' - the titular plane is going down too quickly for the rescue mission to save everyone, so the last para-rescue trooper says his orders are to take President Marshall off now. Marshall furiously demands that they try, but is brought up short by Major Caldwell.
-->'''Marshall:''' No! We're all going.\\
'''Rescue Trooper:''' That's impossible, sir! I have to take you!\\
'''Caldwell:''' Mr. President, it's time to get you off this plane! Go, sir, go!
* In ''Film/{{Aliens}}'', after the Colonial Marines learn that some of the ones left behind in the escape are still alive, Vasquez says "Then we go back in there and get them. We don't leave our people behind." They end up not trying to do so after Ripley points out "You can't help them! You can't. Right now they're being cocooned just like the others."
* Averted in the 1982 Australian/Taiwanese movie ''Attack Force Z''. A member of a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII commando force is wounded while landing on a Japanese-occupied island. After exchanging overly casual banter [[OneLastSmoke and a cigarette]] the commander shoots him, so he won't be captured and give away the mission under torture.
* The firefighters in ''Film/{{Backdraft}}'' have this as part of their code of honor. "You go, we go."
* This is basically the plot of ''Film/BlackHawkDown'' (the film's tagline is downright "Leave no man behind"), based on the Battle of Mogadishu. In the analysis in the book, the commanding general's decision to not leave a man (or body) behind is examined, with the idea that the general, not wanting to leave a body for the Somalis to desecrate, ended up giving them an overwhelming opportunity to inflict casualties on the American forces, and also [[spoiler:gave them a prisoner]], resulting in a significantly worse overall outcome than if he had just left the bodies behind.
* Subversion: In ''Film/CanadianBacon'', the [[TheSpartanWay Omega Force]] sent to locate the protagonist is running along the Canadian wilderness when one of them falls down and clutches his foot. Another one approaches, and the guy on the ground says "It's just my toe." [[YouHaveFailedMe Boom]].
* Most of the plot of ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}'', with Rob and companions trying to save Beth as the monster flattens Manhattan. Later lampooned when Hud, probably the least intelligent of a rather dim group, goes back to [[spoiler:retrieve the camera from the helicopter wreckage, only to get bitten in half by the monster]].
* The main character of ''Film/ConAir'' follows this as a former Ranger. He does so as a combination of Franchise/{{Rambo}} and UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}.
* Subverted in ''Film/CourageUnderFire'', where a character is first shown yelling at a trainee never to leave his wounded comrades behind. It later turns out [[spoiler:that he'd done just that to his wounded commanding officer after she'd threatened to court-martial him.]]
* ''Film/TheDogsOfWar''. In the ActionPrologue, the mercenaries are escaping a Central American country on the last plane out. They insist on bringing everyone, even after it's pointed out that one of the mercenaries is dead.
-->'''Official:''' This man's dead! Get him out!\\
''(mercenary removes the pin from a grenade and wraps the dead man's fingers around it.)''\\
'''Mercenary:''' He's live, you pimp!\\
''(fingers loosen slightly on grenade -- official backs off)''\\
'''Mercenary commander:''' Everybody who comes with me, goes home.
* ''Film/TheFinestHours'': Bernie refuses to head pack to port until everyone is off the ''Pendleton''.
* ''Film/TheForgottenBattle'': One of the protagonists, William, is the copilot of a military glider that is brought down behind enemy lines, with the pilot badly wounded. This obliges the surviving troops from the glider to carry him as they attempt to evade enemy forces through difficult marshy terrain. William is especially insistent that the pilot not be left behind, though some of the others are less committed.
* In ''Film/ForrestGump'', Gump earns the Medal of Honor for rescuing his fellow soldiers in Vietnam. At times, Lieutenant Dan wishes that he had lost his life instead of his lower legs. Ironically, the one soldier that Forrest failed to save the life of was the one he originally went back to help. He kept stumbling on other wounded comrades and brought every one of them back because he felt he "couldn't just leave them there, frightened and hurt."
* In ''Film/FullMetalJacket'' the VC sniper uses their knowledge of this to sucker the U.S. troops to try to rescue their wounded comrades.
* ''Film/TheGunsOfNavarone''. Both played straight and {{Subverted}} with Major Franklin: first Captain Mallory refuses to leave him behind, then does leave him behind with the Germans after feeding him false information about the nature of their mission in the hope the Germans will use TruthSerums to get it out of him.
* This is Sam's attitude in ''Film/HighPlainsInvaders''. He is insistent that all of the survivors get of town alive. When Rose suggests that they might be able to crawl out past the Bugs, Sam rejects it because Serena's broken leg means that she cannot crawl.
* Parodied in ''Film/LittleMissSunshine'': Frank says this line after Olive is left at a gas station.
* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
** Only two people involved in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'': Steve has just pulled his childhood friend Bucky out of a Hydra lab, and they're attempting to escape as the building self-destructs. Bucky crosses an impossible-to-jump pit of fire on an improvised bridge that collapses behind him. Steve tells him to get out; Bucky yells back "No, not without you!" Of course, since it's Steve, he makes the jump.
*** Steve's entire rescue mission is this since he goes in despite his CO expressly stating that there would be no way to complete the rescue mission without getting the prisoners and the rescuing soldiers killed. Steve refuses to accept this, goes behind enemy lines ALONE, rallies the prisoners, and comes back with everyone who didn't die during the escape, and their were only a few on-screen casualties. If the lab hadn't exploded and incinerated everything, he probably would've brought the bodies back, too. After that, there was no doubt amid the soldiers that they were truly in the presence of Captain America!
** Steve does this again in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' [[spoiler:when he breaks into The Raft to free his entire team. And he does this without any shield or gear. Super-Soldier indeed!]]
** Film/IronMan strongly believes in this, while even Cap above will lament "we can't save everyone", Tony, on the other hand, will do everything in his power to make sure '''nobody''' is left to die. For example in ''Film/IronMan3'' when Air Force One has it's hull blown open by TheDragon and thirteen people are falling to their deaths, Tony (despite being only able to carry four) makes a ChainOfPeople and uses his thrusters to make sure they all land safely in the water.
*** Also in ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' while most civilians are shepherded off Sokavia, Tony detects a family in one of the buildings and flies in there to save them, even though the building itself is collapsing.
** In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'' Drax even says so himself when Peter is in trouble: '...we're family. we leave no one behind.'[[note]]"except Nebula"[[/note]]
* Happens in ''Film/TheMatrix''. After nearly being caught by Agents, Morpheus attempts both a HeroicSacrifice and YouShallNotPass in order to allow Neo and the others time to escape. Afterwards, the surviving crew members contemplate pulling the connection from Morpheus, which would kill him but also prevent the Agents from learning access codes to Zion, the last human city. Neo invokes this trope and instead [[BigDamnHeroes attempts]] to [[GunShipRescue rescue]] Morpheus.
* Franchise/MonsterVerse:
** ''Film/KongSkullIsland'': {{Subverted}}. This appears to be Lieutenant Colonel Packard's motive for going to rescue a soldier in a crashed helicopter, but it becomes apparent that his main reason is to get hold of the munitions the helicopter was carrying so he can kill Kong, an obsession which puts the lives of all his men in danger.
** ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': In Antarctica, when the Monarch brass's Osprey is knocked into a crevasse and could topple inside at any moment, and with Godzilla and Ghidorah's catastrophic battle raging around them; [[Characters/MonsterVerseMonarch Dr. Graham]] stays behind to free Mark of some debris that's pinning him down whilst the others are already evacuating. She succeeds in saving Mark's life, but [[spoiler:whilst the two of them are separated from the main group, Ghidorah spots them and kills her]].
* Subverted with a VerbalBackspace in ''Film/MuppetsFromSpace''.
-->'''Kermit''': We will never leave one of our own behind!\\
'''Fozzie''': Hey, we left Bunsen and Beaker back at the gas station!\\
'''Kermit''': ''* pause* '' From this point on, we will not leave anyone behind!
* Averted in the ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' movies. Part of the pirates' code is "Whoever falls behind is left behind." Many of the characters, both good and bad, follow this. On one occasion they do subvert it, the crew handwave it by [[RunningGag saying]] they viewed that part of the code as "more guidelines than actual rules".
* Averted in ''Film/ResidentEvil2002''. When Kaplan is trapped by zombies he tells the rest of the party to leave him behind. Alice refuses, but Kaplan insists, and they do so.
* ''Film/TheRock'':
** Averted with dastardly repercussions in the BackStory. [[TheBrigadier General Hummell's]] request to send in troops to extract at least 15 marines on a Black Operation from the combat zone are denied by his superiors, forcing him to leave them to die.
--->'''Marine''': ''They're not coming for us, are they, sir?''
** The last straw is when the government refuses to pay the families of the dead soldiers due to plausible deniability, which drives Hummell to go rogue.
* ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'':
** When Captain Miller and his squad are ordered to venture deep into German-occupied France to recover a lost soldier who may already be dead, he and his squad are naturally not too thrilled about this. The rest of the movie then shows their struggle between deciding whether to find Ryan or just leave him behind.
** The villain version of this trope is used as well. A German sniper purposely shoots and incapacitates an American soldier, hoping that it will draw out other soldiers into the open in an attempt to help the downed man.
* ''Film/{{Serenity}}'':
** {{Discussed}} after Mal first shoves a man off their hovercraft who was trying to hitch a ride to escape a Reaver attack, then {{Mercy Kill}}s him before the Reavers can have their way with him. Zoe gives him a WhatTheHellHero for the former as ''Serenity'' is heading skyward, which Mal rebuffs with, the Mule couldn't fly with the extra weight, none of his crew are expendable, and they plain couldn't afford to dump the cargo either.
--->'''Zoe:''' Sir, I don't disagree on any particular point. It's just ... [[GreatOffscreenWar in the time of war]], we would never have left a man stranded.\\
'''Mal:''' ''(bitterly)'' Maybe that's why we lost.
** {{Parodied}} later.
---> '''Mal:''' Zoe, the ship is yours. If I'm not back in one hour, you take this ship and you come and you rescue me!\\
'''Zoe:''' [[SarcasticDevotee What? And risk my ship?]]\\
'''Mal:''' I mean it! It's cold out there, and I don't wanna get left!
* ''Film/SilentRunning''. After being stranded in a spacecraft past Saturn, a radio message from Earth points out that they can't rescue him that far out, and suggests suicide. The protagonist refuses, not mentioning he killed his crewmates and deliberately stranded himself out there. Later it turns out a rescue mission is launched, but the protagonist kills himself rather than face judgement as a murderer.
* Averted in the opening of ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'' when Bond has to leave a fellow agent to bleed to death, in favour of pursuing the man who shot him and stole a microchip containing the identities of NATO undercover agents. The BigBad turns out to be another SIS agent who was abandoned after he [[RogueAgent went rogue]].
* In ''Film/TheSmurfs'', after [[spoiler:Papa Smurf]] gets captured, the rest of the party goes back to rescue him, against his orders.
* Averted early on in ''Film/{{Stalingrad 1993}}''. During an assault on a factory, one of the [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons Heer]] soldiers breaks down in fear and huddles in a foxhole. Wölk briefly attempts to pull him out, but Corporal Rohleder commands him to grab the man's dog tags and leave him. The straggler is promptly killed by artillery.
* In ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome'', Chekov is critically injured while fleeing in the form of American aircraft carrier personnel and sent to a hospital where, in the hands of 20th-century medicine, he is not expected to survive. With the clock ticking on their ability to rescue the whales they need to save the future, Bones insists on going to save him. Spock immediately agrees. Kirk asks if it's the logical thing to do, and Spock (who had questioned their decision to save ''him'' at the cost of so much) that it's not, but it ''is'' the human thing to do.
* A variation occurs in ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness''. Bones and Carol are on a planet examining [[spoiler: a torpedo]] when something goes wrong and [[spoiler: it closes, trapping Bones' hand inside.]] Since attempting to beam Bones up will result in [[spoiler: the torpedo]] coming too, Bones tells them to just beam Carol out instead. She flat-out refuses, telling them that if she leaves, he'll die. [[spoiler:At the last second she simply [[CuttingTheKnot rips the controls out]], stopping the detonation and saving them both.]]
* ''Film/{{Supervolcano}}'' (2005). The protagonist is trapped in an abandoned Air Force base. The only airman there says they have to walk out, as no-one is coming to save them. The protagonist asks what happened to "Leave no man behind", and is informed that's the Army's slogan.
* Notably averted in ''Film/WhenTrumpetsFade'': the film opens with Private David Manning trying to carry his badly wounded friend Bobby through the woods to safety, but he has to stop to rest. Bobby tells him that he can't even stand to be carried any further, and begs Manning to stay with him so that he doesn't have to [[DyingAlone die alone]]. Not only does Manning refuse to stay, [[ShootTheDog he shoots Bobby]]. In a later scene, now-Sergeant Manning specifically orders one of the soldiers under his command to drop the body of a fallen comrade saying simply "Leave him! He's dead!" The film ends with [[BookEnds Manning himself badly wounded and being carried to safety by Sanderson]] before dying from blood loss, Sanderson still carrying his lifeless body.

[[folder:Literature]]
%%* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': Particularly memorably in #41 ''The Familiar''.
* OlderThanFeudalism: A frequent occurrence in ''Literature/TheIliad'': while a fallen warrior's friends try to carry his corpse off the battlefield, his enemies try to take his armor as a trophy. This usually leads to more casualties on both sides and sometimes more fights over more corpses.
* In ''Literature/DragonBones'' [[spoiler: Ward]] is manipulated to leave his group by reminding him that his aunt, who trained him in swordfighting, wouldn't approve of leaving someone behind, while one group member is absent. [[spoiler: It's a trap.]]
* Subverted by [[spoiler: Sheriff Bell]] in ''Literature/NoCountryForOldMen''. After the rest of his squad was hit from a mortar shell annihilating the farmhouse they were monitoring radio signals in, he manages to ready up the squad's 30. cal machine gun to attack Germans advancing in his direction. He shoots at them and pins them down, but all the while, he is said to have heard groans from his squad, indicated at least some were alive. He then chooses to abandon the position and flee after the day goes dark, and remains [[SurvivorsGuilt haunted on how he was the only survivor]], getting a Bronze Star he didn't want to accept (he assumes the brass wanted to scrap something out of how their position was lost.)
* A brutal example of this being used against a character occurs in a story from Creator/GeorgeRRMartin's ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' world. At one point in the bloody history of Westeros, a rebellion was led against the current king by one of his bastard half-brothers. Legend has it that at the decisive battle archer Brynden "Bloodraven" Rivers intentionally critically wounded one of the twin sons of the rebellion's leader with an arrow, knowing that the father would not leave his son's side on the battlefield while he was alive. Rivers then proceeded to kill the father with numerous shots, and the second of the twins as well when he [[TakeUpMySword picked up his father's sword and tried to lead the army]].
* Featured prominently in Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'', and realistically gets a lot of characters killed, as observed - and justified - by the characters. "Men are not potatoes."
** Indeed, one of Rico's instructors at OCS claims that it's "mathematically provable" that they should invade an enemy planet in full force to recover one lost infantryman. According to Heinlein, soldiers cannot fully commit themselves to the service of their society if they don't know that the society is equally committed to them. Said math is not shown, of course, so we have to take his AuthorAvatar's word for it.
* Also in Heinlein's ''Literature/SpaceCadet'', Dodson's training cruise on the ''Aes Triplex'' has the mission of searching for the missing Patrol ship ''Pathfinder'' in the asteroid belt. They find it with all hands dead but the cadets reflect that the Patrol would have brought them back alive if they hadn't been killed by a meteor puncture of the ship. Later, after the cadets and their superior officer are marooned on Venus, Jensen comments that the Patrol will eventually find them but they need to work towards their own rescue since that would be expected of them.
* Subverted in the ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' novel ''Speed of Darkness'', where the main character intentionally shoots a dying (flamethrower-armed) Firebat, forcing the enemy to stay back. Though some of his squadmates give him a hard time for it, the vets acknowledge it as necessary, even effective.
** In fact, the Lieutenant of the main's group points out that their standard ammunition is designed to cripple, not kill, saying that "if you maim an enemy on the field it takes four of his friends to haul him back from the battle and even more of his friends to patch him up and care for him. Kill an enemy and you decrease the force against you by one. Maim an enemy and you decrease the force against you by ten." Pity the [[HiveMind hive-minded]] Zerg never try to recover the wounded.
*** Or that the super-advanced Protoss are hardcore and will fight to the bitter end. (And if they get crippled, they will become Dragoons and Stalkers so that their crippled BODIES can fight to the bitter end.)
* In Creator/DanAbnett's ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' novels, the Ghosts try to keep to this.
** When Domor is wounded and blinded in ''First & Only'', although his wounds will prove fatal without adequate medical attention, Gaunt tells him he's coming if he has to carry him himself.
** In ''Traitor General'', the inability to bring Feygor with them because of his illness strikes all the Ghosts very bitterly.
** In ''His Last Command'', when Maggs is thrown [[CoolGate through a Chaos warp gate]], Mkoll cites this and jumps after him. Although the scene is both [[EvilIsDeathlyCold bitterly cold]] and [[AlienGeometries impossible]], and breaks down Maggs, he gets them both to another gate and out -- alive, although covered with frost.
* In William King's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novel ''Literature/SpaceWolf'', when Ragnar and other Marines were sent to [[BringNewsBack bring news]] of a nest of Chaos Space Marines, one of them is wounded. Ragnar (who had just realized that he does not, and should not, want {{Revenge}} on the wounded man) orders the others on while he tends the wounded. When they are attacked again and he gains more injuries, Ragnar finally carries him to safety.
* In Creator/GrahamMcNeill's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Literature/{{Ultramarines}} novel ''Dead Sky Black Sun'', Uriel is reluctant to leave behind even hopelessly [[ColdBloodedTorture tortured]] victims he could not save; later, Vaanes leaves behind the others of their band in a torture chamber, and Uriel and Pasanius stay to free them. [[spoiler:Later still, the mortally wounded Colonel Leonid has a hard time convincing Uriel to leave him behind, and Uriel finds it DirtyBusiness -- but Leonid succeeds, and through a HeroicSacrifice buys them more time.]]
* The cover of the ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' novel ''Cain's Last Stand'' features Cain heroically helping a wounded cadet through enemy fire. This really happens in the story itself, the only difference being that Cain was using a laspistol instead of a bolter. Cain briefly considered leaving the cadet behind out of pragmatism and self-proclaimed cowardice, but he knew doing so would [[SlaveToPR damn him in the eyes of the other cadets]].
* The villain reaction is used in Robert Asprin's ''[[Literature/MythAdventures M.Y.T.H. Inc. In Action]]''. Guido and Nunzio, two Mob bodyguards, join the Army and are not impressed with the training or equipment. During target practice, Guido puts three crossbow bolts into a dummy's shoulder, and the drill sergeant asks, "If you can shoot that well, why not shoot him in the head?!" Guido, forgetting he's not in the Mob anymore, replies, "ANY idiot can kill somebody, but it takes SKILL to leave 'em in a condition where they can still give information, OR pay protection, OR..." Nunzio tries to avert disaster by explaining that what he MEANT was that wounding an opponent takes three men out of the action since two have to carry the wounded one.
** In an earlier book in the series, Aahz forces his apprentice Skeeve to promise that if Skeeve can rescue the person they're there for, he needs to get out and go, even if Aahz is in trouble. Naturally, this very situation comes up, and Skeeve does try to abide by his promise, but everyone else on the team flatly refuses to budge; Skeeve is not unhappy to be outvoted.
* Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs's ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars''[=/=]Barsoom novels.
** In ''[[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars Chessmen of Mars]]'', Gahan at first hesitates to abandon Ghek, even though he can not escape with them; only Ghek's pointing out that they will kill Tara lets him overcome this (with some help from MenAreTheExpendableGender). Later, Gahan briefly convinces himself that Tara hates him when he is left prisoner without her aid.
--->''but presently both my heart and my judgment told me that Tara of Helium could not have deserted a companion in distress, and though I still am in ignorance of the facts I know that it was beyond your power to aid me.''
** In ''[[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars The Gods of Mars]]'', John Carter is frantic when the MobileMaze cuts him off from Tars Tarkas. A prisoner asks him when he is trying to get back to where the monster is.
--->"Because my friend fights there alone."
** In ''[[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars Thuvia, Maid of Mars]]'', a MasterOfIllusion convinced Carthoris to go on with an illusion of Thuvia, and Thuvia that Carthoris had asked her to stay behind, but Thuvia rejects the charges that he fled without her because:
--->"You lie!" she said quietly, "the Heliumite knows less of disloyalty than he knows of fear, and of fear he is as ignorant as the unhatched young."
* In the ''Literature/{{Brotherband}}'' book ''Slaves of Soccorro'', a mistake during a reconnaissance mission to the slave market results in Ingvar being actually taken as a slave. While Hal allows it for the moment (as his group is outnumbered and unarmed), he makes it clear to the remaining members of the group (especially Lydia, who's furious at this turn of events) that he does ''not'' intend to leave Ingvar imprisoned.
* Subverted in Creator/JohnHemry's ''Literature/TheLostFleet'' where Captain Geary tries to make good on this only to realize that several ships are clearly not going to make the escape from the enemy until another ship (commanded by his grandnephew) performs a HeroicSacrifice.
** However in the rest of the series, they try their damnedest to save any escape pods and liberate any POW camps. [[spoiler: This attitude leads to them saving an Syndic colony that was left to die. This leads to a Syndic CEO have a HeelFaceTurn because her brother was on that colony and she helps the Fleet get home.]]
** In ''Invicible'', Geary orders Tulev to sweep the human wreckage from space -- all the ships' parts, and above all, all the human bodies. Tulev quotes the trope name, though the motive here is to avoid letting the aliens discover anything about them.
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':
** In the ''Literature/XWingSeries'' novel ''Iron Fist'', [[spoiler: Phanan]] is shot down over an Imperial-held planet. Face followed even though he was squadron leader at the time, telling the others to regroup without him. He found [[spoiler: Phanan]] badly wounded and tried to take him to the nearest settlement, but it was pretty obvious that they wouldn't make it. Face was about to call the Imperial forces out looking for them because even though they'd be imprisoned by their enemies this would mean medical treatment, but [[spoiler: Phanan]] talked him out of it before dying. Then Face went back to his starfighter, destroyed his friend's body, and returned to the Wraiths guilt-ridden. Wraiths and Rogues in general try very hard to avoid their teammates DyingAlone.
** {{Exploited}} in ''[[Literature/JediAcademyTrilogy I, Jedi]]''. When the SpacePirates whom Corran Horn has infiltrated unexpectedly run into a New Republic fleet (including his home unit, the elite Rogue Squadron), he orders the other fighters with him to use their ion cannons on enemy fighters so the other side will be slowed down by search-and-rescue, allowing Corran and the others to escape.
* In Creator/AndreNorton and A.C. Crispin's ''Literature/WitchWorld'' novel ''Gryphon's Eyrie'', Joisan stands over her fallen husband to keep him from [[EvilIsDeathlyCold shadow creatures]], but when she, being pregnant, realizes that the creatures are after her baby, she is afraid that it will mean she must leave him.
* In Creator/AndreNorton's ScienceFiction novels, this trope is occasionally invoked as an ironclad rule of space travel: No One Gets Left Behind on a strange planet, no matter if he's your worst enemy.
** In ''Literature/AndroidAtArms'', this leads to the protagonist and some of his companions searching for an untrustworthy fellow traveller until they find his body.
** In ''Literature/DreadCompanion'', Bartare wants the other three to go. Kilda talks with her but thinks even as she does so that she can't leave Bartare behind.
* Creator/JRRTolkien's ''Literature/{{Unfinished Tales|of Numenor and Middleearth}}'' includes the story of how Théoden's son had died, just before Gandalf and company's meeting with Théoden in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. After he fell fighting orcs, his men fought to keep his body from them; having fought them off, they discovered he was still alive, but he lived only long enough to tell them to bury him there.
** At the Battle of Dale (which took place around the same time of the Battle of Minas Tirith), King Dáin II Ironfoot dies defending the body of King Brand of Dale outside the gates of the Lonely Mountain, after the people of Dale have fled there.
* In Nick Kyme's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} novel ''[[Literature/{{Salamanders}} Salamander]]'', after Tsu'gan's {{Pride}} ensured his captain's death, Tsu'gan refuses to let anyone near his body
-->''maintaining a cordon of protection that no one could breach and live.''
** After the fight, a comrade reassures him that his battle-brother will live -- having assumed he was protecting the still living Dak'ir.
* Subverted in one of Creator/MackReynolds' ''United Planets'' [[InSpace spy stories]]. Section G's top operative, Ronny Bronston, takes a new agent on a training mission to an enemy planet. Ronny [[IWillOnlySlowYouDown is wounded and tells the newbie to kill him so the enemy won't capture him]]. The rookie instead helps Ronny to their escape vehicle. The subversion comes because Ronny wasn't ''that'' badly wounded; it was an impromptu SecretTest, and by not being ruthless enough to kill his comrade, the new guy ''failed'' and gets washed out of field agent training. Ronny's boss points out that the rookie was trying to save Ronny's life. Ronny replies flatly that saving his life wasn't the mission.
* In C.S. Goto's ''Literature/DawnOfWar'' trilogy, having discovered reason to believe [[spoiler:Rhamah]] was still alive, the Blood Ravens engage in a deeply risky maneuver in warp, as the only way to retrieve him.
* Subverted in ''Literature/BravoTwoZero'', which is Andy [=McNab's=] re-telling of the famed S.A.S. mission. The troop of eight men were given strict orders to leave any man who was seriously wounded as it would hinder the mission or their escape if they were compromised. This is actually standard procedure for many British spec-ops. However, [=McNab=] goes out of his way to show the soldiers' reluctance to do just that, and just how much they couldn't bear to leave a mate behind. There were several points in which the opportunity arose that they ''had'' to leave a bloke behind, but they couldn't bring themselves to do it, and [=McNab=] himself says he often wonders about what would have happened if they left the man behind, but whatever the case "you make a decision and get on with it, whatever it is".
* Subverted in the Creator/DaleBrown novel ''Warrior Class'', where Patrick [=McLanahan=] decides to go against orders to rescue two of his downed crewmen, and while he succeeds, gets into serious trouble with the high command for it. However, it's less because they don't care about the crew and more because Patrick nearly started an intercontinental war that could easily have gone nuclear to save them. It's not the first or the last time he does this, either.
* Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's novel ''Literature/DiplomaticImmunity''. Admiral Vorpatril has this attitude, which was one of the factors leading to the escalation of the diplomatic incident that Miles has to sort out. Vorpatril had been left behind himself, by Miles' father, when Vorpatril was a junior officer during the failed Escobar invasion. Miles realizes that the quaddies have a different perspective on the incident.
--> "So," said Miles gently, "after we shot up the police station and set the habitat on fire, what did we do for an encore?"
* Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Literature/MovingPictures'' has the two dogs, Laddie and Gaspode, set fire to the Odium to destroy the film-creature. When Gaspode's leg goes, Laddie picks him up and carries him, despite Gaspode's [[MoreHeroThanThou protestions]] that there's no time, and he's just going to get them ''both'' killed.
** Mustrum Ridcully, Archchancellor of [[WizardingSchool Unseen University]] lives by this tropes. Ridcully refuses to leave a fellow wizard in danger, even if they're a zombie (''Literature/ReaperMan''), almost totally incompetent at wizardry (''Literature/InterestingTimes''), or an ape (''Literature/TheLastContinent'').
* Subverted in ''Literature/{{Night}}''. During the march from Birkenau to Auschwitz, anyone who moves too slowly is shot. Rabbi Eliahou can no longer manage to run, and loses his son in the crowd, but is determined to find him. Eliezer declines to tell him that said son abandoned him after seeing him limping, and prays to God for the spiritual strength never to abandon his own father. [[spoiler:He doesn't get it, and is ultimately too cowardly to help his dying father.]]
* In Creator/RobertEHoward's Literature/ConanTheBarbarian story "Literature/TheDevilInIron", Octavia starts to explain not leaving Conan as this, and then switches to she had nowhere to go.
* In Creator/JasperFforde's ''[[Literature/ThursdayNext The Eyre Affair]]'', Thursday went back to get the wounded against orders. If the press hadn't gotten wind of it, she would have been court-martialed.
* The ''Literature/LeftBehind'' book series averts this trope with the Rapture of faithful Christians at the beginning of the series. However, those who are left behind to face the Tribulation and become Christians do get supernatural help from God. Also, by the end of the seven-year Tribulation period, the raptured Christians come back with Jesus Christ in time for the CurbStompBattle of Him versus Nicolae Carpathia and the Global Community army.
* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire''. Harry brings Cedric's body back to his father after he's killed by Wormtail.
** Earlier in the book, he also retrieves not just Ron, but the abandoned Gabrielle from the bottom of the lake (although, it turns out she wasn't in any real danger- didn't really think that one through).
* In the Loic Henry's MilitaryScienceFiction book ''Loar'', this his how [[CityOfSpies planet Bihan]] keeps or buys the loyalty of its spies: If one spy's cover is blown, they'll order as many spies as necessary to blow their own cover and escape with the first spy (they'll still have a few dozen spies left in the place afterwards anyway).
* ''Literature/DeathToTheFrench'': Subverted leading to Dodd's separation from his unit and subsequent adventures that result from him trying to rejoin them.
%% * In ''Literature/TheDeathCure'', this is why [[spoiler:Thomas]] doesn't want to [[spoiler:kill Newt after he gets the Flare]].
* In ''Literature/{{Noob}}'', Athéon has to make a point of enforcing this, being the leader of a RagtagBunchOfMisfits guild in a {{MMORPG}} in which ContinuingIsPainful. Otherwise, two of his guildmates would be all too happy to continue while leaving the other behind.
* The Finnish soldiers' attitude in ''Literature/TheWinterWar'' by Antti Tuuri. For example, a horse gets lifted up from a hole in river ice, under artillery and machine gun fire, to make sure a wounded soldier gets into treatment in time. Also extends to the fallen ones.
* This is a strict rule for the titular HeroesRUs organization in ''Literature/TheMouseWatch''. {{Lampshaded}} when rookie Bernie Skampersky volunteers to be left behind because IWillOnlySlowYouDown, but one of her teammates sets her straight.
-->'''Alph:''' We never, ever leave an agent behind, Skampersky. Don't you forget it.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Subverted in ''Series/TheAdventuresOfLanoAndWoodley''. Col and Frank are fleeing their psychotic ex-boss who is trying to kill them. Frank trips and this exchange ensues:
-->'''Frank:''' I've sprained my ankle! You'll have to go on without me!\\
'''Col:''' OK! ''(makes to leave)''\\
'''Frank:''' No, hang on! That's not how it goes! You're supposed to say "No, I cannot possibly, for you are my friend."\\
'''Col:''' OK, let's try again.\\
'''Frank:''' You'll have to go on without me!\\
'''Col:''' No, I cannot possibly, for you are my friend.\\
'''Frank:''' I insist!\\
'''Col:''' Alrighty.
* Used in the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "[[Recap/AngelS05E17Underneath Underneath]]" to highlight the increasing moral ambiguity of the heroes. Team Angel go to rescue an opponent who might have useful information from a prison dimension, but the spell requires that ''someone'' has to stay in his place. Gunn volunteers and the others don't object much, because Gunn was indirectly responsible for the death of a much-loved team member, Fred Burkle. On their return to our dimension...
-->'''Lorne:''' Where's Gunn?\\
'''Angel:''' He, uh...he stayed behind.\\
'''Lorne:''' Stayed behind? But you never leave a...(Angel and Spike won't look him in the eyes) Or...I guess we do. [[WhatTheHellHero That's what we do now.]]
* ''Series/BandOfBrothers'': played straight on numerous occasions, especially with the character of Wild Bill Guarnere, who will go to any lengths to drag a wounded comrade off the battlefield.
** Although the characters are occasionally forced to leave their friends to die on the enemy line, with episode 6 being a particularly egregious example.
* ''Series/{{Community}}'':
** Pierce is initially left to drown in the dry parking lot during a sailing class, but when he reappears they decide to sail their ship into the imaginary storm to save him.
** Troy and Abed abandon Britta to "die in lava" so she won't slow them down trying to escape from Professor Hickey (and because she keeps pointing out that the giant Floor is Lava game is a distraction from Abed's fear over Troy leaving). He's displeased enough at their behavior that he spares and recruits Britta instead.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E1TheDominators "The Dominators"]]: Jamie opts for this when Cully says IWillOnlySlowYouDown to Jamie after the Quark shots him.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E6TheAgeOfSteel "The Age of Steel"]]: Mickey insists on rescuing Rose, the Doctor, and alt!Pete despite the risk to himself and Jake.
--->'''Mickey:''' I'm not leaving them behind! There's ''no way'' I'm leaving them behind!
** The Doctor says this to Amy in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E4TheTimeOfAngels "The Time of Angels"]]. Admittedly, he knows that [[spoiler:there's not ''really'' anything slowing her down]], but he's prepared to risk his life trying to convince ''her'' of that.
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' initially averts this trope with everyone just looking out for themselves. As time goes on, however, the crew bonds and, by the end of the series, everyone has risked their lives to save someone else numerous times. Discussed during a rescue mission to recover [[spoiler: a pregnant Aeryn]].
-->'''Sikozu''': If the freighter escapes then we abandon all hope.\\
'''John''': We abandon all hope of leading long and prosperous lives and we follow the freighter. (about Sikozu) She's still learning.
* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' had at least two episodes explicitly dealing with this:
** "War Stories" (where Zoe and the crew rescue Wash and Mal from Niska) and "The Message" (where Mal and Zoe are shown in flashbacks saving Tracey's life).
** In "Safe", Simon asks Mal why he went back for him and River:
--->'''Mal''': [[TrueCompanions You're on my crew.]]\\
'''Simon''': Yeah, but you don't even like me. Why'd you come back?\\
'''Mal''': You're '''on my crew'''. Why are we still talking about this?
* ''Series/{{Life on Mars|2006}}'': Gene goes back for Sam after he is knocked down by the man they are chasing torturing him in the future. No, really.
* In season 3 of ''Series/{{Lost}}'', Kate insists on going back to the Barracks for Jack after escaping the Others with his help. Her efforts seemingly destroy Jack's opportunity to leave the island.
** Then in season 5, Robert says this to Jin when going into the smoke monster's lair after Montand. This does not turn out well, either.
* In an episode of ''Series/{{Mash}}'', the idea of following this trope, at least in regards to dead soldiers, is portrayed as bloody-minded stubbornness that increases overall casualties under the Incompetent General of the Week. This is more because he was losing dozens of men for each recovered body and regarded his losses as "insignificant". When it comes to the normal wounded, it's understood that they come first -- in one episode the 4077 has to bug out and head south in the face of incoming Chinese forces, but Hawkeye, Margaret, and Radar stay behind because they have a patient that can't be moved and they refuse to leave him behind.
* In ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'', at first it seems that it will be this, but Morgana must leave Gwen in order to get away and call for help. In the same episode, Lancelot is held prisoner along with Gwen and he tells her to leave him and escape, but none are able to escape.
* ''Series/MissionImpossible'': While the standing policy of the IMF is "Should you or any member of your I.M. Force get caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions", the way it worked out in practice was "Should you or any member of your I.M. Force get caught, the rest of the team will move Heaven and Earth to get you back before the Secretary finds out about it."
* Adam Savage has joked about ''Series/MythBusters'' having a "No Crash Test Dummy Left Behind" code at least twice. Of course, since the original Buster was theoretically a loaner...
* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1963'' episode "The Invisible Enemy". After Major Merritt is trapped on a rock in the middle of the Martian sand sea, Captain Buckley refuses to leave him behind even though doing so could result in his own death. Buckley eventually figures out a way to save Merritt.
* Parodied in the ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' episode "The Puerto Rican Day", where a parade is obstructing the traffic, and Elaine tries to go through underneath a viewing stand, leading a group of people. An elderly priest can't keep up:
-->'''Elaine:''' Come on, father, you can make it.\\
'''Priest:''' No, I can't. I've got a bad hip. Go on without me.\\
'''Elaine:''' No! I won't!\\
'''Priest:''' Leave me! You must.\\
'''Elaine:''' All right. Take it easy.\\
''(catches up with the others)''\\
'''Elaine:''' All right, we can move faster without Father O'Gimpy.\\
'''Priest:''' I heard that!
* ''Series/SpaceAboveAndBeyond'': {{Inverted}} (albeit under protest from [[AFatherToHisMen Commodore Ross]]) in "Sugar Dirt". A landing to capture a strategic airstrip goes south because the Chigs suckered the UN high command, but the Navy realizes that in order to pull this off the Chigs withdrew forces from an even ''more'' strategic target, which is now open to attack. But there isn't time to retrieve the troops already on the ground so the ships are forced to abandon 25,000 troops, including our protagonists in the 58th, for two months until they've captured the new target and can return to retrieve them... by which point the 58th have nearly starved to death and only 2,000 survivors remain.
-->'''Ross:''' As a commander, I feel no obligation to explain my actions. But as a ''man'', I have never been more ashamed of myself, or [[SoProudOfYou more proud of you]].
* This is practically the motto of the SGC personnel from ''Series/StargateSG1'', where Jack O'Neill always insists that "we never leave our people behind".
** In the first season episode "The Torment of Tantalus", Daniel Jackson wants to attempt to rescue a man who went through the Stargate in 1945 and was lost when the Stargate shut down. He comes up with multiple reasons for why such a dangerous mission should be attempted, but General Hammond shuts him down very quickly, pointing out that the man was put in danger by the US Air Force, and he should be rescued as a matter of honor (which was Jackson's original argument, he just over-prepared).
** Most notable was the 2-parter episode "Heroes" which featured a {{Deconstruction}} of this trope when they show the cost of the rescue attempt of a single {{Redshirt}}: numerous wounded, a small fortune in monetary expenses and most severely [[spoiler:Dr. Fraiser is KilledOffForReal. She does get a good sendoff though, with a DeadGuyJunior (well, dead girl junior) and the second episode ending with a eulogy listing the names of people she's saved during the series]].
** The above quote is from the episode "[[ThoseTwoGuys The Other Guys]]" where two scientists witness SG-1 getting captured. With this motto in heart, they attempt a more or less successful rescue [[spoiler:Only to be told by O'Neil that the capture was part of a BatmanGambit, so SG-1 could meet up with TheMole in the enemy's ranks.]]
** Averted in the finale of season one, when [[spoiler: Daniel was left behind on Apophis' soon-to-be-destroyed ship.]] The implication, however, was that [[spoiler: he]] wasn't going to survive anyway (being severely injured), and the other characters probably wouldn't, either, if they didn't avert this trope. The irony was that [[spoiler: if Daniel ''hadn't'' been left behind, he probably ''would'' have died anyway: he used the sarcophagus and the Gate to heal himself and get home (respectively). It's implied that they wouldn't have been able to save him on Earth.]]
** Becomes an important point in "Cor-ai" when Teal'c is put on trial for killing a crippled old man while he was in the service of Apophis. Daniel finds out that the villagers escape through hidden tunnels when the Goa'uld come, but they won't leave anyone behind. Part of the way they exonerate Teal'c is by showing that he did what he did to save the multitude of the villagers so they could escape without being slowed down.
** Some of the villains start to get wise about this. One minor villain on Earth chews out his men for being stupid enough to capture Daniel Jackson since he knows that by doing so they've just mobilized the entire SGC against themselves when they really should have been trying to stay as unnoticed as possible.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'':
** The episode "The Galileo Seven". During an attack by aliens, Spock is pinned by a boulder. He orders the other Enterprise crewmen to go back to the shuttlecraft and lift off. They refuse and manage to free him, getting everyone to the shuttle safely. While the delay means they have to use the shuttlecraft's boosters to escape, apparently dooming it to be destroyed in re-entry, Spock is the one who comes up with the lifesaving bright idea that enables them to be rescued.
** In "All Our Yesterdays", [=McCoy=] tells Spock to [[IWillOnlySlowYouDown go on without him]] when his and legs get frostbitten. Spock insists, [[Heartwarming/StarTrek "We go together or not at all."]]
* In their first few appearances on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', the Borg would collect pieces of their fallen comrades who had been killed, like picking up a black box, and allow the rest of the body to self-destruct. They also attempt to retrieve any RogueDrone who escapes the Collective, but as they are a HiveMind this is akin to someone saving a severed limb so it can be surgically reattached.
* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''
** In "Dark Frontier", before launching a high-risk mission to rescue Seven of Nine from the Borg, Captain Janeway cites three rules about being a Starfleet captain to [[TokenMiniMoe Naomi Wildman]]. "Keep your shirt tucked in, go down with the ship, and never abandon a member of your crew."
** In "The Haunting of Deck 12", Neelix says this to Tuvok.
--->'''[[TheSpock Tuvok]]''': I am injured. Logic dictates that you take the mask and proceed to engineering.\\
'''[[TheHeart Neelix]]''': I don't care what logic dictates! This isn't the ''Salvoxia''. We're not drawing lots.\\
'''Tuvok''': I am giving you an order.\\
'''Neelix''': And I'm disobeying it! You're coming with me if I have to drag you by your pointy little ears!
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
** Subverted in "[[Recap/SupernaturalS11E17RedMeat Red Meat]]". Dean is totally willing to risk the entire group being captured or killed rather than leave his wounded brother behind. However, after Corbin kills Sam behind Dean's back, Corbin convinces Dean that saving the "innocent" survivors is what Sam would have wanted.
** {{Subverted}} in "[[Recap/SupernaturalS13E08TheScorpionAndTheFrog The Scorpion and the Frog]]". Facing Shrike, who has a weapon, Smash kicks him and runs for her life, leaving Dean to face him alone.
* Often averted on ''Series/TopGear''; the show's "code" states if the car of one presenter breaks down, the other two travel on without him. If it is played straight, it's usually because the situation is serious enough that they need to stick together, most frequently during the overseas specials.
** In practice this is usually played straight with Jeremy and the "code" usually isn't brought up when Jeremy's car needs a serious problem repairs, probably because he tends to be much less capable of doing it. Ironically, he is usually the one to invoke the code (causing the trope to be averted) when anyone else's car is broken down.
* ''Series/TheUnit'' has a variation where [[spoiler:the sniper kills a Unit operator and then ties a wire to the operator's hand to simulate movement, thus making the survivor and rescuers think that he's alive; it's only when the rescuers take out the sniper that they find that all the tension and emphasis on rescuing the "wounded" operator were for nothing]].

[[folder:Music]]
* Accurately summed up in the Music/JimmyDean song "P.T.-109":
-->[=McMahon=] the Irishman was burned so badly, he couldn't swim\\
"Leave me here. Go on," he said, "'Cause if you don't we'll all be dead"\\
The PT skipper couldn't leave him, a man alone to die at sea,\\
And with a strap between his teeth, he towed the Irishman through the sea.
* Averted in "Sonic Attack" by Music/{{Hawkwind}}:
--> Remember: In the case of sonic attack survival means "Every man for himself". Statistically more people survive if they think only of themselves. Do not attempt to rescue friends, relatives, loved ones. You have only a few seconds to escape. Use those seconds sensibly or you will inevitably die.

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Thoroughly justified in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' by the escalating costs of the various resurrection spells. DeathIsCheap in D&D, but it's significantly cheaper if you have the body of the character you want to bring back.
* Thoroughly averted, and possibly subverted, in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. The Tau and Eldar are about the only ones who ever try, and the Eldar consider recovering the waystones of the dead good enough consolation for being unable to save the bodies of the living (the fact that Eldar wear them to prevent their souls [[FateWorseThanDeath from being devoured]] by [[CosmicHorror evil Chaos God of lust]] may also have something to it).
** This comes up in ''VideoGame/DawnOfWarIII'', when Autarch Kyre leaves the waystones of his subordinates behind because he's too eager to get the Spear of Khaine. This is your clue that he is a BadBoss.
** Similarly, although the Marines consider it the highest honour to die in battle, they'll fight hard to recover the two progenoid glands from the still-cooling bodies of their battle brothers, as they are necessary to convert new Space Marines. (The way the Chaos forces can use them lends a certain amount of urgency to this.)
*** The Grey Knights, however, will fight as hard as possible to recover their comrades' bodies, not just the glands, so they can lay them to rest on Titan.
** Also, given the CargoCult[=/=]AncestralWeapon nature of technology in the Imperium, the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Space Marines will often insist, and go to sometimes-absurd lengths to ensure that No Tech Gets Left Behind.
*** On the Land Raider page in the codex, it is mentioned that an entire chapter once started a giant war to recover one weapon blown off one of their tanks.
** There is a scenario in the Black Templars section of the GW website dealing with the recovery of the remains of their Emperor's Champion.
** Certain Imperial Guard regiments will also make it a point to try and recover their wounded, though they usually don't take unnecessary steps to rescue them if it will cost too many lives. Being the RedshirtArmy, the Guardsmen are generally both aware of this fact and expect it.
*** In the 5th Edition Imperial Guard Codex, one of the special characters, Sergeant Lukas Bastonne of the Cadian Shock Troops, earned the highest award a soldier in the Imperium can earn in their lifetime by refusing to leave one of his soldiers behind on a zombie-riddled planet. Of course he had to execute the man because he showed symptoms of the same plague that caused the zombies in the first place, so whether this is a backhanded subversion or not is debatable.
** The Tyranids do this too, in a sense. When they gather up the biological material from a planet they've conquered, they make sure to get '''all''' of it, which includes every single 'Nid that got killed in the attack.
*** Actually they also collect the biomass from most of the survivors too. The greater part of their assault troops are creatures that have no digestive system: they are MEANT to die, should they survive the invasion, and they'll be reprocessed into biomass for later use.
** The crowning example has to be the Raven Guard, though. They will work for, literally, decades to insure every civilian they can possibly save ''is'' saved. Possibly a result of their tearjerker past.
* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}} Time Travel'': In the "Eternity's Rangers" campaign setting, the titular organization ''will'' bring back their dead members for burial. Occasionally subverted, though; an informal punishment for a Ranger who screws up too often is to be abandoned in the past.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VisualNovel/ZeroEscape'':
** Given how the [[DeadlyGame Nonary Game]] is played out, it's only natural for it to occur in ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'':
*** [[spoiler: Ace defies this trope, offering to stay behind to let the group continue. When the group refuses, he injects himself with anesthetic to force everyone to leave him behind. Down the road, it turns out he had less than altruistic reasons for doing so, as staying behind kept the group from going through the number 3 door without leaving more people behind, as Ace had shoved Snake (or at least someone he ''thought'' was Snake, through the door when no one else was looking in order to kill him.]]
*** [[spoiler: Lotus offers to stay behind in the incinerator. They refuse, [[AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther specifically Seven.]]]]
*** [[spoiler: Seven and Snake both do this (with the same reactions as the above) in the Chapel. Snake is forced to stay behind, but has a trump card anyway.]]
** Subverted in ''VisualNovel/VirtuesLastReward''. In this variant of the Nonary Game, it's established that anyone who accumulates nine points is free to leave and the group unanimously agrees that even if they get nine points they'll stick around to help the others do so as well. However, every single route where someone gets the nine points ahead of the others ends in them [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere ditching]] and a [[NonStandardGameOver bad end]].
** This is viciously [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]] in the second sequel, ''VisualNovel/ZeroTimeDilemma'': [[spoiler:Diana's refusal to kill a radical-6 infected Phi (despite Phi's own insistence on her doing so) causes a pandemic that kills 75% of the human population, setting the events of [[VisualNovel/VirtuesLastReward the second game]] into motion]].
* ''VideoGame/BetrayalAtKrondor'''s narrative-like style of storytelling lends itself well to this trope. All party members are important to the plot; if one suffers a NonLethalKO in battle, the game will not allow you to flee and leave them to the bad guys.
* Double H's motto in ''VideoGame/BeyondGoodAndEvil:'' "D.B.U.T.T.: Don't Break Up The Team!" and "W.W.T.A.O.: We Work Together As One!" On the surface, it doesn't seem to mean much, [[spoiler: but he shouts it while [[TakeMyHand dramatically saving Jade from plummeting to her doom,]] showing his dedication to her.]]
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty 4''
** Lt. Vasquez's squad (to which the player character Sgt. Jackson belongs) takes a detour to save a grounded Super Cobra pilot from a hostile city for this reason. [[spoiler:They do not make it out of the city in time before a [[UsefulNotes/FromRussiaWithNukes Russian warhead]] goes off, killing them (almost) instantly. The pilot can be found dead outside the helicopter wreck after the detonation, which just rubbed salt in the wound with the futility of it all. In fairness, considering the blast radius as shown in both the immediate detonation and the subsequent loading screen, it's questionable whether any of the Marines ever had a chance even had they not taken the detour.]]
** Later, in the mission "One Shot, One Kill," [[spoiler:then-Lieutenant Price has to carry Captain [=MacMillian=] out of Pripyat, Ukraine after a helicopter falls on him. Fortunately, Lt. Price can put Capt. [=MacMillian=] down whenever he needs to fight, and while [=MacMillian=] cannot move independently, he's no slouch as a stationary shooter. Once he's put behind the Ferris wheel and assuming that both survive the resultant shootout (in effect "hold the line" until a helicopter arrives), he only has to be picked up again for the final dash to the evacuation helicopter by which time the danger should be passed]].
** The next mission 'Heat', Gaz will yell that you're going to be left behind if you TakeYourTime to reach the farm. [[GameplayAndStorySegregation He's just trying to motivate you, however.]] It's played straight for Mac, however, who is shot and dies off-screen two minutes into the mission (though there were some DummiedOut dialogue files suggesting the player would have had the option of rescuing him).
** Another mission has the SAS rescue mission a captured informant. Fortunately, [[spoiler:when the group is forced to continue on foot]], the informant has the same GameplayAllyImmortality as the other important [=NPCs=] and is both armed and competent, making him not a liability but a one-time asset (pun intended).
* ''Videogame/DeepRockGalactic:'' "Leave No Dwarf Behind" is something of an unofficial motto of the titular company's miners. And while they understand if the Drop Pod ends up leaving without them, they ''will'' pull out at every stop to make sure everyone comes home -- and the game enforces this at all turns.
* ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare2''
** Guess who shows up to repay the favor and save the SAS from militia [[spoiler: when your team is stranded in Brazil?]] This shows that it is a good idea to take care of your friends.
** Subverted in the mission entitled "Of Their Own Accord". Radio chatter repeatedly makes it clear that there are ''not'' enough transports to evacuate everyone, and that people ''are'' being left behind. At one point - right after the player boards the evac chopper - a fellow soldier will shoot down an attacking enemy helicopter and saves the player's life. But the evac chopper immediately departs afterward, leaving the lone soldier behind to face the onrushing Russian troops. [[VideoGameCaringPotential You can, however, use the minigun you take control of to waste the first wave of Russian troops that make it onto the roof before you leave, though.]]
* Subverted on Virmire in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1''. [[spoiler:Kaidan and Ashley are stranded at opposite ends of a research facility where a nuke is about to go off. At first, it looks like the question is whom to evacuate ''first''... but then geth attack ''en masse'', and you realize with a sinking feeling that [[SadisticChoice you can only save ONE of them]] now because the precious time you had for saving the other will now be wasted on fighting the enemy.]]
* Wholly embraced in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2.''
** In the intro, [[HeroicSacrifice Shepard saves Joker at the expense of his/her own life when everyone else is either already dead or evacuated]].
** It's entirely possible ([[GuideDangIt but by no means guaranteed]]) to ensure that [[EverybodyLives your entire party survives]] the SuicideMission in the end. The achievement you get for this accomplishment is practically the trope name: [[GoldenEnding No One Left Behind]].
** If Shepard [[spoiler:goes after his/her crew immediately after they're abducted, when you rescue them]], if you choose the neutral dialogue option ("I'd never abandon my crew"), Shepard quotes the trope word-for-word.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda:''
** In the mission to a kett facility, Ryder can either destroy the facility, killing all the innocents held there, or leave it standing, allowing at least some of them to get out before the kett re-take it. Teammate Jaal argues in favour of the latter.
** Later in the game there's an aversion, on the asari Ark. A datapad can be found telling evacuees ''not'' to wait for friends and family. If Jaal's in the party, he's horrified at the notion that anyone would suggest such a thing.
* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', Meryl [[{{foreshadowing}} foreshadows]] what will happen when she blithely comment that Snake can simply shoot her if she became TheMillstone, with Snake sharply telling her he 'doesn't waste ammo'. [[spoiler: Meryl gets shot by Sniper Wolf, she begged for Snake to ditch her, but he flat out refuses to and ends up eventually getting captured for his troubles, uncertain if she was still alive at this point]].
* The same happens in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' with EVA: [[spoiler: she gets skewered on a tree branch after a motorcycle crash and begs Snake to go on and [[LeaveBehindAPistol give her a gun]], but Snake ignores all of this, because "[he] can't fly the [=WiG=] by [himself]."]]
* A declaration of Aric Jorgan in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' after he and the Republic Trooper figure out that SIS agent Zane got Jorgans old squad involved in a dangerous mission to supposedly figure out where the Sith Empire ships their POW's, while it is really a bid to locate the Imperial legendary Prison Dusk 9, which is only rumored to exist, but left them to their own devices in Imperial labor camps when the end result was not what he wanted and the Republic Trooper announces that if Zane had held up his end of the deal, things wouldn't have come this far.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'': upon [[StormingTheCastle entering the Tower of Salvation]], Lloyd swears that no-one will be left behind, however, due to the rule of MoreExpendableThanYou, ''every single member of the group'' ends up performing a HeroicSacrifice to let him go on. [[spoiler: [[BigDamnHeroes They all get better.]]]]
-->'''Lloyd:''' You don't want to sacrifice anyone, huh? What do you call this?! Dammit! Guys...I'm sorry...
* Played straight with ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny'', in a pretty memorable scene. After fighting Mary's brainwashed ex-husband, mooks can be heard getting closer; Stahn and co. have to run away, but Mary wants to stay with her semi-dead man. Rutee then tells Mary that that's out of the question, because no one gets left behind... including her husband. Rutee then piggybacks him.
* Subverted in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAkaneia Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon]]''. During the last part of the prologue, Marth is told by his advisor that he has to sacrifice one of his soldiers as a decoy to allow him to escape. Marth insists that everyone sticks together, but if you decide not to send a unit to the southern fort, you'll soon be overrun by an army of Knights who are capable of killing any and all of your party members with one hit (two or three, in [[CrutchCharacter Jagen's]] case). Leaving a unit behind is the only way you can proceed to the end of the chapter, as the second gate won't open unless you do. The exception is if you kill Gordin instead of talking to him - the commander of the enemy forces laughs at how he's tricked Marth into murdering a civilian (Gordin was BoundAndGagged and dressed in an enemy uniform) before ordering his men to open the second gate so he can kill Marth personally.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI''
*** With the FloatingContinent crumbling away from beneath their feet, and Shadow holding Kefka back with the Three Statues, the party must make it to the airship and [[TimedMission escape before it's too late]]. Typically, [[GuideDangit one would jump onto the airship at the first opportunity]], but by waiting until the last possible second, Shadow will catch up and join the party. The game helpfully gives a countdown so the rest of the party knows when "the last possible second" is, but only if you actively choose to wait around the first time since the options then are "Jump!" and "Wait!". The second time, the options are "Jump to the airship!" and "Gotta wait for Shadow...".
*** Strago also tries to get Relm to go on without him during the final escape from Kefka's Tower, but she will have none of it. Good thing too, because, later on, she wouldn't have reached the airship without his help.
** Played straight in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'': while fleeing from Bevelle, the party is beset by Seymour. Kimahri urges them to run on ahead while he holds Seymour back, and they do --right up to the moment when they decide it's not right, and run right back to help him.
* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead''
** You could do this at the end of a campaign if one of your teammates gets critically injured, [[VideogameCrueltyPotential but then you might miss your ride.]]
** If a survivor is incapacitated outside the safe room at the end of a level, the other survivors will usually say that they can't leave anyone behind. Though on occasion Francis will say he's fine with leaving a teammate behind if everyone else is. Similarly, if Louis is down outside the safe room, Bill may joke "How well do you know Louis?" and then admitting he was just joking. There's an achievement that you can earn if you leave the safe room to rescue a downed survivor outside and the two of you make it back.
* This is Brenner's motto in ''[[VideoGame/NintendoWars Advance Wars: Days of Ruin]]''. It's even the in-game justification for how his CO Power heals his units:
-->'''Brenner:''' Initiate search-and-rescue operations! ''No one gets left behind!''
* Played straight in ''VideoGame/StarWarsRepublicCommando'' in the Prosecutor mission, and then [[spoiler:viciously averted with Sev at the end of the game. The gunship arrives, and you aren't going back.]]
* Played with in the initial quest in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', where Aveline's husband Ser Wesley is injured and begins to succumb to the darkspawn taint. Aveline promises that she will get her husband out any way possible, but in the end [[spoiler:either she or Hawke [[MercyKill is forced to kill him.]]]]
* ''VideoGame/Uncharted2AmongThieves'' has a particularly cool example: escaping an ancient temple into a rainy evening only to find out that Elena's cameraman Jeff has been shot and that they're surrounded, Nathan Drake grabs him and carries him through the streets, covered by Elena and Chloe. [[spoiler:Then you get to a building, where you take a moment to sit Jeff down, only for Lazarevich to come in and perform his ultimate KickTheDog moment - executing Jeff on the spot.]]
* In the final playable sequence of ''VideoGame/{{Bastion}}'', the Kid can either [[spoiler:abandon the wounded Zulf and continue fighting the Ura, or drop his weapons and carry Zulf to safety.]] If you choose the latter, the Ura will persist in attacking you... [[spoiler:but the Kid keeps going, and they respect his determination so much that an Ura soldier who takes another potshot at the Kid ends up skewered by his own commander.]]
* A slogan of ''[[VideoGame/{{Battlefield}} Battlefield: Bad Company series]]''. And in the multiplayer, [[MagicalDefibrillator "Medic Train"]] hard enough and it really is possible to keep an entire team alive.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield 4}}'', this is Staff Sergeant Kimble Graves'/Irish's mindset throughout the game; [[spoiler: He strongly protests Dunn's order that they leave him behind and swim to safety, he disobeys orders from his squad's CIA liaison to abandon drowning sailors, and disregards an oncoming tidal wave to free Recker who has been pinned behind a sliding car.]]
-->'''Irish''': We are ''not'' leaving you behind! ''No one'' gets left behind!
* In ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'', getting your explorers stuck in space or on other planets is a fact of life. But using the same skills that probably stranded them in the first place, you can create and launch rescue missions. Just remember to leave [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxgc-nt2410 extra seats]].
* ''VideoGame/JoeDeversLoneWolf'': One can bring this up when refusing to go in the elevator without Leandra.
* In ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDeadSeasonOne'', this is Lee's reason for keeping Ben, if you choose to save him rather than letting him fall down the Crawford bell tower in Episode 4.
* ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder'' had a BittersweetEnding as [[spoiler: B.J. lay crippled after Deathshead [[TakingYouWithMe tried to kill them both with a grenade]]]], giving the order to fire a nuclear missile on his own position. The sound of a helicopter during the end credits teased that they came back for him before it happened, with [[VideoGame/WolfensteinIITheNewColossus the sequel]] outright confirming it.
* Possible to pull off in ''VideoGame/XCOM2'' where you can order your troops to carry knocked out (or dead) soldiers; but with the downside of slowing you down and making that carrying soldier unable to fire. From a game-player point of view, it's encouraged because experienced troops are precious commodities and fallen troopers left behind will take all their special gear with them, but successfully evacing a near-dead soldier while being under heavy fire can sure make the player feel heroic. Troopers who ''are'' left behind (but not killed, only knocked unconscious) are listed as "Captured" though. There is a chance that they can be rescued in a future mission with their skills and equipment all intact, but that is a chance, not a guarantee.

[[folder:Webcomics]]
%%* In ''Webcomic/GalacticMaximum'', [[http://maximumcomic.com/?strip_id=2 taking a wounded man away with you.]]
* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': [[SuperSoldier Jagerkin]] do NOT leave their own, or those they consider as good as, behind.
* {{Lampshaded}} in [[http://goblins.keenspot.com/d/20090817.html this]] ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'' strip where [[spoiler: Ears thinks Names is asking him to leave him behind and refuses when Names is only looking for a way for Ears to carry him]].
* In ''Webcomic/NoRestForTheWicked'', [[http://www.forthewicked.net/archive/04-33.html Red realized that something had gotten to her grandmother, but could not leave and abandon her grandmother.]]
* Near the end of the Azure City siege arc in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Haley and Belkar volunteer to run out and retrieve the body of one of their party members, [[spoiler: Roy]]. Oh, and this is when a huge enemy army lies between them and escape.
** Justified in that retrieving [[spoiler: Roy]]'s body makes it significantly easier to resurrect him. Plus Belkar at the time couldn't be more than a set distance away from it.
** Later on, in the Empire of Blood arc, the team gets help from an ''Allosaurus'' [[FluffyTamer that Belkar befriended]] and named Bloodfeast the Extreme-inator, which was later [[BalefulPolymorph transformed]] into a lizard. When the team managed to escape, Belkar refused to leave Bloodfeast behind, with Blackwing carrying him after them.
* ''Webcomic/{{Spacetrawler}}'': Captain Nogg has no qualms about abandoning a crew member if that's what it takes to get the rest of his ship away safely. On the other hand, his crew has no qualms about ignoring Nogg when he tells them to abandon their mates.[[note]]They ''did'' abandon Dustin, but only because Dustin was a jerk who got captured because of his own stupidity.[[/note]]
%%* ''Webcomic/TwentyFirstCenturyFox'', subverted in the Hurricane Liska story, but played straight in the John Walker Bambi arc.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'',
** [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff100/fv00090.htm it's a point of honor; you never leave money behind.]]
** [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff400/fv00327.htm When he actually has to rescue someone, it shakes him badly.]]
* Subverted in ''Webcomic/TheFreeWillies'' after [[https://thefreewillies.tumblr.com/post/139968520711/update-5-start-reading whoever vandalized the school is given a week to turn themselves in]].
* In ''Webcomic/TheRedStar'', [[http://www.beyondrealitymedia.com/the-red-star/issue-3/page-12/ Alexandra knocks Maya out with a punch, to prevent her searching for her husband on the battlefield, and has two soldiers carry her off -- thus both playing it straight and averting it.]]
* ''Webcomic/ManlyGuysDoingManlyThings:'' This trope is the main reason Commander Badass never became Captain Badass. That he tended not to bother with getting authorisation for rescue missions and return with his body and cybernetics shot to so much scrap and sausage meat made him very popular with his subordinates, but decidedly less so with his superiors.
* ''{{Webcomic/Sarilho}}'': Averted. Soldiers get left behind because the means to retrieve them just aren't available [[spoiler: Made worse if you think they're likely get turned into zombies afterwards]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Played with in ''Roleplay/OpenBlue'''s BackStory, where [[FourStarBadass Executor Altara]] refuses her Empress' offer to allow her and the rest of the PraetorianGuard to retreat while the latter and the regular army [[YouShallNotPass held off]] TheHorde that was [[OneSidedBattle slowly defeating their troops]]. The Empress gets killed, and they end up defeated and having to retreat anyway.
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Ren and Nora both refuse to leave behind their teammates despite their heavy injuries during the Battle of Beacon.
* ''VideoGame/{{ARMA}}'' videos from the group Creator/ShackTactical often feature decisions about whether to play this straight or to make the decision that one of their squadmates is too injured or the situation too desperate for the other players to be able to save them. (This comes up fairly often in part because the group [[NintendoHard intentionally design and play scenarios where the odds are overwhelmingly against them succeeding]].) Perhaps the greatest example comes from the end of the video [[https://youtu.be/G8xJuJ-B8I4?t=16m Shooting Gallery]], where [[ThatOnePlayer Dslyecxi]] and Shacktac's other {{Ace Pilot}}s are frantically trying to evacuate the last survivors of a platoon that has suffered very heavy casualties. As Dslyecxi lands his helicopter, Kustom, one of the survivors, passes out from his injuries. TheMedic tries to drag Kustom to the helicopter, but with dozens of bullets being fired at them every second, and the helicopter now loaded with half a dozen people, (who could be killed at any moment) Dslyecxi orders the medic to leave Kustom and jump into the helicopter to make their escape. Shortly afterward Kustom comes to, and despite enemy fire still being extremely heavy, Beagle (a different pilot) makes a frantic attempt to save Kustom, despite Dslyecxi warning him that they're almost certain to be killed. [[spoiler:Beagle's attempt works and he manages to save Kustom.]] [[https://www.polygon.com/2014/10/8/6881629/inside-shack-tactical-shacktac-military-simulation-arma Check out the article Polygon wrote on Shack Tac in general and this mission in particular]].
-->'''Dslyecxi:''' [After collecting the other survivors and leaving Kustom] All right, Beagle, go ahead and break off.\\
'''Beagle:''' Roger. Is anyone left down there?\\
'''Dslyecxi:''' [somberly] No one we can help.\\
'''Beagle:''' Oh my God Dslyecxi, they're still shooting, there's someone prone down there on the beach!\\
'''Dslyecxi:''' I'm sorry Beagle, we couldn't do anything about it... he couldn't make it onto the helo. ... I'll tell you back at base, you gotta fly back to base with me, okay?\\
'''Beagle:''' Fuck no I'm not!\\
'''Dslyecxi:''' Beagle, you cannot do that. [[SuicideMission You cannot survive that!]]\\
'''Beagle:''' Doesn't matter!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* The Thunder Lizards of ''WesternAnimation/EekTheCat'' grudgingly remembered this rule when an obnoxious parody of Creator/MrT got dragged away by a carnivorous plant. Then one said, "But we don't have to hurry," and they smiled and moseyed.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/FantasticFourWorldsGreatestHeroes'' episode "[[Recap/FantasticFourWorldsGreatestHeroesTheCure The Cure]]", this is discussed by the Thing.
-->[[BroughtDownToNormal I may not have powers]], [[Heartwarming/FantasticFourWorldsGreatestHeroes but Ben Grimm never leaves his team behind.]]
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'':
-->'''Zoidberg''': Go on without me!\\
'''Leela''': I'm trying!\\
''[Pan down to show Zoidberg is holding on tight to Leela's legs.]''\\
'''Zoidberg''': Go on without me faster!
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' episode "Long Way Till Morning", in which RetiredBadass Hudson refuses to leave behind a wounded Goliath even though Demona is after them both and Goliath tells him multiple times to do so.
* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' episode "[[Recap/KimPossibleS2E22Blush Blush]]" when Ron refuses to leave the wrecked Wade-bot until the real Wade calls and tells him he's fine.
%%* Parodied in British comedy show ''WesternAnimation/MonkeyDust'' in "They All Come Home", a parody of ''Film/BlackHawkDown''.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "The Mean 6" when Pinkie sees Fluttershy crying and Mean Twilight is impatient, Pinkie angrily shouts at her (thinking she's the real Twilight) that she must make sure Fluttershy is okay.
* ''WesternAnimation/OzzyAndDrix'' has this:
-->'''Ozzy''': Go on without me!\\
'''Drix''': You mean that?\\
'''Ozzy''': NO! SAVE ME! SAVE ME RIGHT NOW!
* In the children's cartoon ''WesternAnimation/RescueHeroes'', Billy Blazes, the chief of his rescue team often states that nobody gets left behind in spite of what disaster they may face. This is attributed to when he was a kid when a fire broke out and he was the only one left in the building, one of the firemen saved him and told him how no one would be left behind no matter how dangerous the situation is save them.
* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower'': Right after General Sunder defects to the Great Rebellion, he falls and breaks his leg. He tells the heroes to leave without him, but She-Ra says, "That's not the way we rebels do things."
* Also parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''
-->'''Milhouse''': I can't keep up, you guys go on ahead...and carry me with you!
** Also, Homer quotes this trope when he saves a toy soldier using a toy helicopter from Marge's hair.
* Notably in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'', Lazy and a bunch of other Smurfs get trapped in a volcano and work to rebuild a windmill into a helicopter so they could escape. Lazy feels entirely at fault for letting the Smurfs down and trapping them in the volcano, but Smurfette refuses to let him stay behind to perish.
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', "Cartman's Silly Hate Crime 2000". Cartman and his cellmate have escaped from prison. As they flee the guards, the cellmate is injured and says to go on without him. Cartman says "okay" and begins to go. The cellmate indignantly points out that Cartman was supposed to say that he couldn't leave his friend behind.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "The Jihad". While escaping a lava flow Spock is thrown from the vehicle and Captain Kirk goes back to save him. Spock tells him to go and [[HeterosexualLifePartners Kirk]] says "Not without you."
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'':
** In [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E1CloneCadets "Clone Cadets"]], this is one of the reasons Domino Squad fails their graduation exam. When Commander Colt scolds them about their mistakes, leaving behind a wounded Droidbait seems to be the worst of them.
** [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS4E8TheGeneral Later on]] there is another painful aversion of the trope during the battle of Umbara in Season 4 when Rex and the rest of the 501[-[[superscript:st]]-] are stuck with GeneralRipper Pong Krell, who sacrifices them as cannon fodder. During the battle, the situation eventually becomes so bad that Rex orders field medic Kix to leave many of his wounded brothers for dead instead of risking his life to retrieve them. While Rex only does this to make sure their medic stays alive to prevent even more deaths later, Kix is hit hard after hearing the Captain give such an order.
--->'''Kix:''' You sound like General Krell…
** [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS7E2ADistantEcho "A Distant Echo"]]: As Rex explains to Anakin, he's lost so many brothers in the war that he's learned to let go of them. Learning that his old friend Echo is likely still alive, however, changes things, which is why he's so determined to rescue him.
--->'''Echo:''' Rex... you... you came back for me.\\
'''Rex:''' Yes. Yes, I did.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'':
** In the [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsSparkOfRebellion first episode]], Zeb averts this trope by letting Ezra get caught by the Empire while he and the ''Ghost'' crew are escaping from an Imperial ship. Later, the crew holds a vote over whether or not they should go back for him, to which Zeb and Sabine vote against due to how dangerous it may be, and Hera, Chopper, and Kanan vote for.
** In the last few episodes of Season 1, Kanan is captured by the Empire. Hera is urged by [[BigGood Fulcrum]] to leave him behind because it would be too difficult to break him out and they have to focus on their next mission. The others refuse to give up and secretly attempt to defy her orders. When Hera finds out, Ezra manages to persuade her to defy Fulcrum. This turns out to be the best choice, as it leads to Fulcrum budging and leading a BigDamnHeroes rescue at the end of the Season 1 finale to help them escape from the Empire since it demonstrates to the galaxy that the Empire can be defeated.
** In GrandFinale [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS4E13FamilyReunionAndFarewell "Family Reunion]] [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS4E14FamilyReunionAndFarewellPartII — and Farewell"]], [[spoiler:Ezra disappears to who knows where along with Thrawn and his fleet]] while saving Lothal. Years later, after [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi the end of the war]], Sabine and [[spoiler:Ahsoka]] [[IWillFindYou set off to look for him and bring him home]]. It's a [[CharacterDevelopment huge contrast from how she was at the beginning of the series]], as described above, especially considering that there's almost nothing that can clue them to [[spoiler:Ezra]]'s whereabouts, and as far as anyone knows, [[spoiler:Ezra]] could be dead.
* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'':
** Geoff injures his leg during a challenge on Boney Island in "[[Recap/TotalDramaUpTheCreek Up the Creek]]". He tells the Killer Bass to go on without him and without another word, Courtney takes him up on it. However, DJ stops her and resolutely tells her that he won't allow anyone to be left behind. Harold and DJ join forces in carrying Geoff the rest of the trek.
** Owen gets taken prisoner when the teams infiltrate Area 52 in "[[Recap/TotalDramaTheExFiles The Ex-Files]]". Alejandro and Duncan couldn't care less, but Tyler ditches the challenge to save Owen. He locates Owen's cell and tries to bash through the door with his bare hands to the rhythm of "[[PunctuatedForEmphasis Never! Leave! A Man! Behind!]]" By coincidence, trying to save Owen gets Team CIRRRRH ahead in the challenge and Owen is freed through other means.
** In "[[Recap/TotalDramaPlanesTrainsAndHotAirMobiles Planes, Trains, and Hot Air Mobiles]]", Cody plans to leave Drumheller with a cobbled-together hot air balloon. The last part for him to scavenge is something to sit in, so Sierra insists he takes her wheelchair. She bids him farewell, but Cody refuses to leave her behind. Sierra counters that she'll just slow him down, which Cody counters by pointing out he only got this far because of her. Touched, Sierra happily accepts the ride.
** Throughout the nocturnal challenge in "[[Recap/TotalDramaFindersCreepers Finders Creepers]]", Brick tries to live up to the moral code of never leaving a soldier behind. He is one of the few that escape the giant spider hunting the campers and at first he refuses to continue the challenge without first saving his team. Team captain Jo, however, orders him to move on. This costs the Mutant Maggots the challenge, because one requirement nobody paid attention to was that it didn't matter who solved the treasure hunt first, but which team had the most campers left upon solving it. By coincidence, rather than be voluntarily eliminated, Brick is moved to the Toxic Rats. Grateful for the second chance, he vows never to leave anyone behind again, which fails to impress Chris and comes back to bite him [[Recap/TotalDramaAMineIsATerribleThingToWaste three episodes later]].
** The Toxic Rats can make a clean escape with the statue they had to retrieve in "[[Recap/TotalDramaAMineIsATerribleThingToWaste A Mine Is a Terrible Thing to Waste]]" when Brick notices that the Mutant Maggots, his former team, are under attack by a mutant gopher and unlikely to escape the mine timely. Having vowed never to leave anyone behind again [[Recap/TotalDramaFindersCreepers three episodes earlier]], Brick goes back to rescue them and sacrifices his team's statue in the process. While he saves the Maggots, it costs the Rats their victory and he gets voted off. It takes a bit for Brick to accept that doing the right thing doesn't automatically lead to a fitting outcome, but he takes solace when the Maggots come to see him off.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaPresentsTheRidonculousRace'' [=MacArthur=] firmly follows this rule and will even carry Sanders if she gets worn out. This is touched on in "Bahamarama", where [[spoiler: she rescues [[BigBad Josee]] from an underwater cavern because of a combination of this and TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheZhuZhus'' parodied in "Chunklette's Web" when Nums falls in popcorn, Chunk chase stray kernel shouting "Leave no snack behind!"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Famous and macabre example: when the Chinese army attacked UN forces in Korea in the brutal winter of 1950, they surrounded the elite and famous US 1st Marine Division. Faced with utter annihilation, the division's officers rallied their men by vowing to get everyone out, including the wounded and the dead. Their convoys coming down out of the mountains, depicted in newsreel footage and several movies, reveal how brutal the fighting was and how determined they were to achieve that symbolic goal: their trucks and jeeps are festooned with frozen corpses wrapped in blankets and body bags.
** This ended up actually having a very fortunate outcome in terms of the war in general. At least two, probably three, Chinese Army Groups were tied up with the Marine Division and were unable to link up in time with their counterparts who were blazing through the U.S. and Korean armies (at least in comparison to the snail crawl that went on with the 1st).
* World War 2 example: 442nd Infantry Regiment of the United States Army famously rescued the "Lost Battalion" at Biffontaine in southern France. Over a five-day period, from October 26 to October 30, 1944, the 442nd suffered the loss of nearly half of its roster. Over 800 casualties, including 121 dead. While rescuing 211 members of the 36th Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry, which had been surrounded by German forces in the Vosges mountains since October 24. Making it even more striking, the 442nd volunteered for the assignment -- and this was a battalion of Japanese-American soldiers, many of whom had been treated horribly by the military and the US government in general.
** The 442nd were renowned for a truly absurd amount of bravery. They finished the war with more decorations per capita than any unit in American history. Among the awards was an astounding 21 Medals of Honor, one awarded posthumously in 1946 and 20 awarded over 50 years later in 2000.
*** They were also one of the rare regiments that went well over 100% casualty (more soldiers killed and injured than were on the original roster) over the course of the war.
* The Israeli military takes this to an extreme by trading important prisoners for its soldiers be they dead or alive. For example, captured soldier Gilad Shalit was eventually returned to Israel in exchange for over ''a thousand'' prisoners, almost three hundred of whom had been serving life sentences for terrorism offences.
* After the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing, the rescue workers in the area of the building housing the US Marine Corps Recruiting Office happened to be either active duty or Reserve Marines. The bodies of Captain Randolph Guzman and Sergeant Benjamin Davis were recovered by them, and as they removed the bodies from the scene, everyone fell silent, because (in the words of one witness) "The Marines were bringing out their own." And every year, one Marine officer and one Marine NCO in dress blues leave a wreath at the site.
* The Spartans' last stand at Thermopylae concluded its last few moments with a handful of soldiers clustered round the body of their dead king, Leonidas, before an arrow storm finally finished them off.
* In the Battle of Mogadishu (made famous in ''Film/BlackHawkDown''), following this policy resulted in many casualties.
** Many terrorist organizations are aware of this trope about the U.S and that is of the reasons why the U.S. are normally wary in sending ground troops into a foreign land unless there's no other choice.
* The 1953 American attempt to summit K2, the second-highest mountain and arguably the most difficult in the world, was frustrated by weather and mountain sickness. The eight-man team attempted to carry one of their number off the mountain, a nearly impossible feat at that altitude. Then a near-disastrous accident left everybody shaken and/or injured. The team decided to camp to recover and consider their options leaving their injured companion, Art Gilkey, secured in his litter to the mountain face but when they came to fetch him he had been swept away, litter and all, by an avalanche he might well have deliberately called down upon himself in a HeroicSacrifice to save his comrades.
* Hideaki Akaiwa was at work on March 11th, 2011 when the 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami hit his city of Ishinomaki, Japan. His wife of twenty years was trapped in their home under the waves, and rescue workers could not get to her. Rather than just give in to fate, Hideaki somehow managed to get a SCUBA kit and dove into the raging waters of the tsunami to rescue her. Navigating through the waters and dodging numerous obstacles including cars, downed power lines, and ''houses'' getting swept away in the current, he managed to find his home and his wife. She was alive, and thanks to Hideaki was rescued. This alone is impressive, but when his mother was declared missing, he did it ''again'' and saved her. And for the duration of the disaster, he went out on his bicycle alone with a folding knife, a few bottles of water, his SCUBA gear, and gave help wherever he could. He was named Website/BadassOfTheWeek for that.
* Medal of Honor recipient Roy P. Benavidez rescued thirteen men from a ''battalion'' of North Vietnamese soldiers, including running over to a downed Huey helicopter and physically carrying the crew to another helicopter, and directing airstrikes while his eyes were ''blinded with the blood pouring into them.'' Did I mention he was only carrying a knife? He received thirty-seven wounds from bullets, bayonets and grenade blasts in the process, his guts were hanging out, and was placed in a body bag after the battle, and had the strength to spit in the doctor's face when declared a goner. '''He lived.''' Here is a condensed summary of the story: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lHkrqlT62o video]], and here is the Medal of Honor [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Benavidez#Medal_of_Honor_citation citation]].
* During the Second World War, the Finnish army made a point of this. Turns out it worked really well to scare your opponents. The Finns usually collected their dead during the night. Thus when morning came and the Russians surveyed the battlefield all they found were their own dead soldiers. Not knowing whether you actually killed any of your enemies (or the cold brought them back to life as Knife-wielding sniper-zombies) plays merry hell on their morale.
* Similar to the above, NVA and VC troops during UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar did their best to recover their dead, for pragmatic reasons; it spooked their opponents, and frustrated US Generals who were fixated on "body counts".
* Dov Lopatyn the leader of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lachwa_Ghetto The Lachwa Ghetto ]] was informed by the Germans that the ghetto was to be liquidated and that the inhabitants would be [[DeadlyEuphemism "deported"]]. They tried to get his cooperation by promising that the members of Judenrat, the ghetto doctor and 30 labourers (whom Lopatyn could choose personally) would be spared. His reply was "Either we all live, or we all die".
* The US military spends considerable time and effort locating their missing war dead; including those going back to UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.
* When US Airways Flight 1549 went down in the Hudson River on January 10, 2009, Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger made sure all passengers and crew got into life rafts and walked the plane twice on his own (as it was rapidly filling with water, by the way) to ensure everyone was out before leaving himself. He did not leave the Port Authority facilities until all passengers and crew were accounted for.
* During the 1453 Siege of Constantinople, Venetian surgeon Niccolò Barbaro described an attack by the Janissaries where they suffered heavy losses, but would not leave their dead behind.
-->They found the Turks coming right up under the walls and seeking battle, particularly the Janissaries ... and when one or two of them were killed, at once more Turks came and took away the dead ones ... without caring how near they came to the city walls. Our men shot at them with guns and crossbows, aiming at the Turk who was carrying away his dead countryman, and both of them would fall to the ground dead, and then there came other Turks and took them away, none fearing death, but being willing to let ten of themselves be killed rather than suffer the shame of leaving a single Turkish corpse by the walls.
[[/folder]]

* ''Franchise/LiloAndStitch'': The line that was previously quoted on the top of the page was the Pelekai ''ʻohana''[='=]s motto, "''ʻOhana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind -- or forgotten." (''Not'' "no '''one''' gets left behind" like [[BeamMeUpScotty many people tend to misquote it as]], so it narrowly misses out on Trope Namer status.) In the [[WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch original film]], the titular alien learns the lesson and goes to rather dramatic extremes to make sure that Gantu does not leave Earth with Lilo.

* ''Franchise/LiloAndStitch'': The line that was previously quoted on the top of the page was the Pelekai ''ʻohana''[='=]s matoo, "''ʻOhana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind -- or forgotten." (''Not'' "no '''one''' gets left behind" like [[BeamMeUpScotty many people tend to misquote it as]], so it narrowly misses out on Trope Namer status.) In the [[WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch original film]], the titular alien learns the lesson and goes to rather dramatic extremes to make sure that Gantu does not leave Earth with Lilo.

* The line as quoted on the top of the page goes "nobody gets left behind or forgotten" in ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'' (''not'' "no '''one''' gets left behind or forgotten" like [[BeamMeUpScotty many people tend to misquote it as]], so it narrowly misses out on Trope Namer status), but the titular alien learns the lesson and goes to rather dramatic extremes to make sure that Gantu does not leave Earth with Lilo.