History Main / PredatorTurnedProtector

* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'': Sulley (a monster whose job is scaring children) chose to be a protector to Boo (a human child). His objective was to protect Boo and return her to her home and family. His reactions upon "seeing" Boo crushed was a ShoutOut to ''Feed the Kitty'' (listed in the "Western Animation" folder below). In the film's climax, Sulley went full PapaWolf to protect Boo. He even said "Nothing else matters."

* In ''WesternAnimation/FeedTheKitty'' (a classic Chuck Jones short), Marc Anthony (a bulldog) seeks to protect Pussyfoot (a ridiculously CuteKitten). When it appears Pussyfoot has been killed, Marc Anthony suffers grievously. In "Feline Frame-Up" and "Cat Feud" (two additional shorts involving these characters), Marc Anthony goes PapaWolf to protect Pussyfoot from another cat, proving that his protection extends only to Pussyfoot. In these cases, tropers may reasonably argue whether Pussyfoot was only a MoralityPet instead.
* The short ''WesternAnimation/AMouseDivided'' has a mix-up with the stork leave a baby mouse at the door of Sylvester and his wife. Sylvester's attempts to eat the mouse behind his wife's back are thwarted when it calls Sylvester "Daddy" (causing him to [[CutenessProximity instantly melt and bond with it]]), but then finds he has to fend off every other cat in the neighborhood when he makes the mistake of taking Junior on a stroll outside.

* ''Webcomic/PixieAndBrutus'': An eagle who carries [[CuteKitten Pixie]] off decides to adopt her. However, she still has to scold one of her eaglets for attempting to peck a bite out of his new "sister."

* Another ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short has a mix-up with the stork leave a baby mouse at the door of Sylvester and his wife. Sylvester's attempts to eat the mouse backfire when it calls Sylvester "Daddy" (causing him to [[CutenessProximity instantly melt and bond with it]]), but then finds he has to fend off every other cat in the neighborhood when he makes the mistake of taking Junior on a stroll outside.

* Another ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short has a mix-up with the stork leave a baby mouse at the door of Sylvester and his wife. Sylvester's attempts to eat the mouse backfire when he calls Sylvester "Daddy" and bonds with him, but then finds he has to fend off every other cat in the neighborhood when he makes the mistake of taking Junior on a stroll outside.

* ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'': The titular character plans on killing princess Aurora on her {{Dangerous Sixteenth Birthday}} as revenge against her father, but by the end of the film, she becomes Aurora's guardian.

* In ''WesternAnimation/FeedTheKitty'' (a classic Chuck Jones short), Marc Anthony (a bulldog) sought to protect Pussyfoot (a kitten). When it appeared Pussyfoot was killed, Marc Anthony suffered grievously. In Feline Frame-Up and Cat Feud (two additional shorts involving these characters), Marc Anthony went PapaWolf to protect Pussyfoot from another cat, proving that his protection extended only to Pussyfoot. In these cases, tropers may reasonably argue whether Pussyfoot was a Morality Pet only instead.

* ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'': Accelerator participates in a project that was intended to involve him killing 20,000 [[HiveMind mind-linked]] clones of Misaka Mikoto; he killed 10,031 before Touma shuts the project down by punching Accelerator in the face a few times. After this, Accelerator is approached by Misaka 20001, Last Order, the administrator of the Misaka Network. She explains that she came to him for help because they determined that Accelerator never wanted to kill them, and always tried give them an opportunity to express fear or hesitation, so that he would have an excuse to stop. Accelerator dismisses this as ridiculous. But he fights hard to save Last Order, suffering severe and permanent brain damage in the process, and spends the rest of the series primarily concerned with Last Order's safety. In fact, he becomes so obsessed with with safety of the remaining clones that one nearly successful assassination attempt did nothing but send a new EvilTwin Misaka clone after him; he finds himself utterly unable to fight back, and when he ''does'' fight back and almost kill her, he nearly goes insane in the process.

* ''WebOriginal/HamstersParadise'': The highbrows are a mountain-dwelling subspecies of the sapient wolf-like southhounds that keeping moose-like ungulopes as [[FantasticLivestock livestock]]. It’s stated that their domestication started out like this, the highbrows would hunt and round up the ungulopes as they were the most abundant food in the area, but they would also protect them from other predators in the area, allowing them to be more successful than they otherwise would be. This caused the ungulopes to lose their fear of the highbrows (helped along by them deliberately culling the more skittish and aggressive members) and allowed themselves to be more actively herded by them.

* ''WebOriginal/{{Serina}}'': The Daydreamers are a sapient member of the dolfinch family, a group of fully marine birds, that farms other dolfinches species as livestock. However, one group of Daydreamers would come to believe that feeding on such intelligent and closely related species was immoral and come to view it as their moral duty to defend the smaller dolfinches who can't defend themselves while also switching to an entirely fish-based diet. A species of near-sapient, herbivorous dolfinch known as the luddy porplet would even learn to tell the difference between the Fisher Daydreamers and the other cultures and will stick by them for protection.

* ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'': The titular characters plan on killing princess Aurora on her {{Dangerous Sixteenth Birthday}}, but by the end of the film, she becomes Aurora's guardian.

** Fully Justified in [[Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines the third film]] as the T-850 reveals that he killed John Connor in the year 2032. During that time though, he had been reprogrammed by Kate Brewster (John Connor's wife) to prepare and protect John and Kate from the inevitable Judgement Day.

* ''Manga/APolarBearInLove'': Polar Bear falls in love with Seal and vows to protect him from harm.

* One somewhat common plot in ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'' fanfics is a savage Nick (a red fox) becoming very protective of Judy (a rabbit), for reasons ranging from previous scent markings to HeroicWillpower while his rational mind is not quite gone yet. Typically, this ensues when [[spoiler:the pellet-for-blueberry swap plan]] doesn't work.
* Not in the traditional sense, but in the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12745761/1/Unconquerable-Souls Unconquerable Souls]]" (set in a version of the [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E9TheWish Wishverse]] where Buffy and Angel survived the fight with the Master), Janna Kalderash comes to Sunnydale to ensure that Angelus is being punished, but despite her clan's vow of eternal vengeance, she soon shifts her focus to helping the White Hats ensure that Angel retains his soul to help him, as a 'diagnosis spell' she cast confirms that Angelus is just contained by Angel rather than the demon actually ''suffering'' in his current state.
* A good description of the dynamic in the ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12975833/1/My-Father-s-Sins My Father's Sins]]", when Maisie Lockwood forms a bond with the Indoraptor when she's little because their shared origins cause the Indoraptor to perceive Maisie as 'Sister', with Maisie calling the Indoraptor 'Jack' in turn. At one point the Indoraptor attacks a black ops team that had infiltrated the Lockwood estate to try and steal Lockwood's information about genetic research, but after fighting off the soldiers trying to abduct Maisie it simply falls asleep beside her bed.

* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'': Sulley (a monster whose job is scaring children) chose to be a protector to Boo (a human child). His objective was to protect Boo and return her to her home and family. His reactions upon "seeing" Boo crushed was a ShoutOut to ''Feed the Kitty'' (listed in the "Western Animation" folder below). In the film's climax, Sulley went full PapaWolf to protect Boo. He even said "Nothing else matters."
* ''WesternAnimation/IceAge1'': Diego (a saber-toothed cat) helped Manny (a mammoth) and his 'herd' to return a human child to his father, despite having been ordered to deliver the child to Diego's pride to be eaten. Although Diego had no particular love for the child, he did act as a protector, though more out of loyalty to Manny's 'herd' than anything else.

* ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'': Nigel the pelican is, of course, a fish-eater. However, he has regular conversations with the fish living in an aquarium in a dentist's office and is quite touched by Nemo's story. Upon learning that Marlin is Nemo's father searching for his son, Nigel rescues him and Dory first from the beak of a fellow pelican, then from a flock of seagulls.
-->'''Nigel:''' ''[to Nemo]'' Sorry if I ever took a snap at you. Fish gotta swim; [[PredationIsNatural birds gotta eat]].

* ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'': The titular characters plan on killing princess Aurora on her {{Dangerous Sixteenth Birthday}}, but by the end of the film, she becomes Aurora's guardian.

* In ''Film/KingKong1933'', Ann Darrow is intended to be a HumanSacrifice to the eponymous giant ape. However, he is mesmerized by her beauty and becomes her protector, defending her from the dinosaurs and other monstrous beasts of Skull Island.
* In ''Film/KongSkullIsland'' Kong is explicitly stated to protect the island's human inhabitants from the other predators, most notably the Skullcrawlers. And unlike prior incarnations, there's no mention of offering him the occasional human sacrifice.
* In ''Film/{{Snowpiercer}}'' [[spoiler:Curtis Everett plays this role for Basile, whose mother he killed so that [[EatsBabies he could eat him]] because of the [[NoPartyLikeADonnerParty dearth of food during the first month]].]]
* While hunting the ''Indominus rex'' in ''Film/JurassicWorld'', Hoskins forces Owen to use his pack of raised raptors (Blue, Charlie, Echo, and Delta) [[GodzillaThreshold to track down the rampaging dinosaur alongside a team of [=InGen=] special ops]]. After finding it, the ''Indominus rex'' manages to persuade the raptors to turn on their human handlers ([[spoiler:due to said ''Indominus rex'' being part-raptor]]), and all hell breaks loose. However, [[spoiler:after Hoskins is killed by Delta]], the raptors come to their senses [[BigDamnHeroes and turn on the Indominus]] in order to protect ParentalSubstitute Owen from it.
* The short film ''Film/TheGoldenFish'' has a cat enter an apartment, where it sees a goldfish flopping about on a counter after it leaped out of its bowl. The cat picks the fish up and puts it back in the goldfish bowl. What makes this amazing is that it was done with real animals; a real cat and a real goldfish.
* ''Film/SawII'': Though Amanda was sent into the Nerve Gas House as a set of eyes and ears for Jigsaw, she develops a sense of responsibility for Daniel, him being just a teenager and really only being in the house because of his father's actions. She speaks openly with him and the two of them cling to each other as they run from Xavier. She's genuinely heartbroken when she thinks Daniel succumbed to the poison and died, and clings to him when he's crying after he kills Xavier.

* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': One story has Tobias struggle with [[ModeLock his dual hawk/human nature]], trying to attack a baby rabbit but crashing into the ground each time. In the end, he kills the mother (from the hawk's viewpoint this is beyond stupid, as she could have produced more food) but watches over the babies. In another, Cassie learns of the location of skunk kits (their mother was hit by a Yeerk weapon) when Tobias says he caught and ate one. He ends up helping to guard them until the mother comes out of the vet clinic.
* In ''Literature/ArciaChronicles'', Roman summons a lynx from the woods and binds its being to Prince Stefan, turning it into his supernatural protector. [[spoiler:When Stefan is killed, the lynx transfers its loyalty to Gerika, his beloved.]]
* In ''Literature/MrsFrisbyAndTheRatsOfNimh'', Mrs. Frisby the mouse saves her family using advice received from the Great Owl, whose usual diet includes mice. He's later revealed to be an ally of the rats, which he'd also normally be expected to eat.
* Alluded to in ''Literature/ChildrenOfTheNight''. One of the psivamps has been fighting his need to feed, and the others realize once he heads back to their base that he's given in. He tells them a folk tale about a lion cub adopted by a herd of sheep, who grew up thinking he was a sheep until the day a pack of wolves attacked the flock. The others figure he's gone over to their side, he doesn't bother telling them that the story ends with the lion killing all the wolves. (He'd chowed down on a couple rapists so he could act as TheMole.)
* In ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'', Jerin's grandfather Alannon was kidnapped by enemy spies. This ensured his survival when the castle he had lived in was conquered. Since the enemy spies wanted [[ExoticExtendedMarriage a husband]], they never turned him in to their superiors, but married him and did everything in their power to make him happy.
* Subverted in the ''Literature/{{Hurog}}'' series, Jakoven reminisces about how he comforted a boy who had been raped and whose parents had been killed by Jakoven's own armies. However, [[spoiler: when this happens, it is pretty clear that he sexually abused the boy, and has been keeping the (now adult) man as his sex slave ever since.]]
* In ''Creator/TerryPratchett'''s ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}'' the Tooth Fairy protects children by making sure that bad wizards can't get their teeth, which would give them the power to control the children through magic. However, originally [[spoiler:the Tooth Fairy was *The* Boogeyman, who came to care about the children he frightened]].

* ''Series/ForeverKnight''. An 800-year-old vampire named Nick Knight is a police detective protecting the citizens of Toronto. He seeks redemption for all of the human beings he's killed over the years.

* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' DLC ''Dawnguard'', Serana is a FriendlyNeighbourhoodVampire and a Dawnguard-aligned Dragonborn can easily persuade her to side against Clan Volkihar. This is particularly noticeable since at least two members of the Dawnguard want her dead. From the vanilla game, [[spoiler:Paarthurnax]] is a dragon that had a HeelFaceTurn millennia ago and is very protective of the races of Tamriel. It's not acknowledged by those races though as especially the Blades want him dead no matter what since he IS a dragon.

* ''Webcomic/ForestHill'': Benni starts as TheBully and a potential rapist who attacks Tanya and severely injures Kaleb. When it is discovered that he is being abused by his father, Kaleb's mother takes him as a foster son and he becomes an [[BigBrotherInstinct extremely protective brother]] to Kaleb and friend of Tanya.

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', in that the predator ''was'' a protector at first: Santa's Little Helper (the Simpson family dog) runs away from home and gets picked up by Mr. Burns & trained to be one of his new attack hounds. Later, Bart is on Burns' property looking for his missing dog and Burns releases the hounds, now led by SLH. SLH leaps at Bart, but as he's leaping in SloMo he remembers all the good things Bart did for him in the past. SLH drops, then turns to his fellow hounds and growls, protecting Bart from them.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', during Azulon's purging of the dragons, he told his son Iroh to kill the last two. He doesn't really want to do it, so he pretends to have killed them while he actually hid them in the Sun Tribe's territory.
* ''WesternAnimation/TazMania'': A variation occurs between Taz and Wendell T. Wolf. After Taz eats and then spits out Wendell, Wendell decides that Taz should become his protector, only for Taz to want nothing to do with Wendell.
* In the Disney short ''WesternAnimation/LambertTheSheepishLion'', Lambert the lion cub is raised by a ewe. At the end of the short, when the ewe is attacked by a wolf, Lambert [[LetsGetDangerous gets dangerous]] and rescues his surrogate mother from the predator.
* The AnimatedAdaptation of ''Film/FreeWilly'' has the titular orca being accompanied by a dolphin and a sea lion.
* Season 5 of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'': Ashi was raised as a cold-blooded assassin to kill Jack, but instead ends up protecting him and keeping him alive throughout the season to the point [[HesBack where it even brings him back to his original confident self from the earlier seasons]].
* In ''Primal'', we see several tyrannosaurs that are perfectly happy to chow down on humans or even young of their own species. One of the protagonists is a female ''Tyrannosaurus'' named Fang who bonds with the caveman Spear to the point where she will fight tooth and nail to protect him. she also forms a friendship with the Cro magnon Mira. She is however perfectly willing to slaughter scores of humans if they threaten her or her friends.

* ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'': Diego (a saber-toothed cat) helped Manny (a mammoth) and his 'herd' to return a human child to his father, despite having been ordered to deliver the child to Diego's pride to be eaten. Although Diego had no particular love for the child, he did act as a protector, though more out of loyalty to Manny's 'herd' than anything else.

* ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'': Hiccup constructs a weighted-net launcher that successfully knocks a dreaded Night Fury dragon out of the sky during a dragon raid, and ventures into the hills to find the fallen dragon and slay it. Upon finding his objective, however, Hiccup takes mercy on the creature and actually works to hide it from his fellow Vikings.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'': Alex the lion's friendship with Marty the zebra is threatened when Alex's HorrorHunger kicks in after they arrive in the wild. However, when Marty is attacked by a group of fossa (Madagascar's native predators), Alex comes to his rescue in a BigDamnHeroes moment.

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'': The Cullens, a coven of vampires, are 'vegetarians' (do not drink human blood) due to choice and a treaty with the local werewolves and even act to protect a human (Bella), thus fitting (if loosely) under this trope.

A predator is almost by definition badass, but a predator lacking fear and not even caring if they live or die is both unpredictable and scary. This trope seldom or never involves a sexual attraction/relationship between the two, and the predator may not even like the prey. Predators tend to be solitary hunters, but a Predator turned protector will both accept and solicit assistance in protecting the prey. The conclusive proof that that the trope applies is change: the predator is unable to return to their former ways at the end.

** Destroyah, when she originally encountered [[CheerfulChild the Cutie Mark Crusaders]], intended to kill them, only to instead kill the timberwolves they were hunting. This results in the fillies loving her. Eventually, she develops genuine fondness for them and becomes their guardian.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'': Alex the lion's friendship with Marty the zebra is threatened when Alex's HorrorHunger kicks in after they arrive into the wild. However, when Marty is attacked by a group of fossa (Madagascar's native predators), Alex comes to his rescue in a BigDamnHeroes moment.

* ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'': The titular characters plan on killing the princess Aurora on her {{Dangerous Sixteenth Birthday}}, but by the end of the film, she becomes Aurora's guardian.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Snape, as a Death Eater, found to his horror that his own actions marked the woman he loved (Lily Evans Potter) for death, causing a HeelFaceTurn. His actions were not enough to save her, so despite hating her son, Harry Potter (whose father, James Potter, had made Snape miserable at Hogwarts), Snape acted through the entire series to save Harry from all harm. Note, however, that protecting Harry doesn't preclude Snape from treating him like crap the whole time.

* In a roundabout way, apex predators can play an important role in controlling and managing invasive species which otherwise could wreck havoc on an ecosystem. While the predator isn't consciously protecting its prey species, they do benefit from their presence in the ecosystem by controlling or fending off invasive intruders that could spread diseases to or directly prey on the prey species. An example would be in Southern Florida, American Alligators are one of the few predators capable of hunting and killing invasive Burmese Pythons that regularly prey on small mammals and birds ignorant of how to defend themselves. Areas with a high alligator population, and thus a very small python population, actually have far higher bird and mammal populations.

[[quoteright:350:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5EYhPx12iQ https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_6_17.jpg]]]]

* In ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', Alucard, a vampire, is forced to save humanity from evil Nazi vampires. It helps that he [[BloodKnight enjoys the work]] and has developed a deep respect for the human spirit -- dating back to [[Literature/{{Dracula}} when he, the greatest vampire to ever live, was defeated by a team of ordinary people]]. Also, he thinks the Nazi vampires are a bunch of posers.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': the Nine Tailed Fox is originally a gigantic beast that is hostile to human society, but after he's sealed in Naruto's body, he's forced to protect Naruto from within and give him support in dire needs, because if Naruto dies so will he. [[spoiler: Eventually Naruto's kindness towards the other tailed beasts, and a mutual hatred of Madara, earns the fox's friendship. He tells Naruto his real name, Kurama, and fights alongside him.]]
* Gabu from ''Anime/OneStormyNight'' is a wolf and his best friend, Mei, is a goat. They form an OddFriendship and end up running off together to avoid their families, and societies, disdain. For much of the series, they're being tracked by Gabu's pack [[spoiler:and Gabu does protect Mei from them in his BigDamnHeroes moment]]
* In ''Manga/SeraphOfTheEnd'', Mikaela is constantly visibly fighting the urge to drink human blood (while all other vampires couldn't care less). Despite this instinct, he still avoids killing humans as much as possible and protects his (human) childhood friend [[HeterosexualLifePartner Yuuichirou]] with his life. He's also seen aiding other humans at times, especially children.
* In ''Manga/APolarBearInLove'', Polar Bear falls in love with Seal and vows to protect him from harm.

** While Venom's characterization largely depends on who the host is, for much of its history the symbiote was characterized as a ravenous predator that couldn't care less about guilt or innocence and seeks to corrupt its host. However, in Brian Michael Bendis' ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' it's cleansed of its bloodlust and becomes fully heroic; and in ''ComicBook/VenomSpaceKnight'', ''ComicBook/VenomMikeCosta'', and ''ComicBook/VenomDonnyCates'' it struggles to suppress its recurring dark urges in order to protect the innocent.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'', Sulley (a monster whose job is scaring children) chose to be a protector to Boo (a human child). His objective was to protect Boo and return her to her home and family. His reactions upon "seeing" Boo crushed was a ShoutOut to ''Feed the Kitty'' (listed in the "Western Animation" folder below). In the film's climax, Sulley went full PapaWolf to protect Boo. He even said "Nothing else matters."

* In ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'', Tiger (a cat) and Fievel Mousekewitz (a mouse) had become friends. In the sequel, ''An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'', Tiger chose the role of a Protector, directly opposing other cats (all more badass than Tiger) to save Fievel, his family, and the other mice in town. To do so, Tiger took a level by learning how to be a dog. In the film's climax, Tiger tried to stop the killing of all the town's mice, and what started out as a last stand turned into a curb-stomp battle as first the training kicked in, then Tiger entered unstoppable rage and became a one-cat army. This is a milder form of the trope since Tiger never sought to harm Fievel (or apparently any other mouse), but cats are predators of mice, and Tiger opposed other cats to protect mice, so the trope definitely applies.
* The protagonist of Dreamworks' ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' constructs a weighted-net launcher that successfully knocks a dreaded Night Fury dragon out of the sky during a dragon raid. Hiccup ventures into the hills to find the fallen dragon and slay it. Upon finding his objective, however, Hiccup takes mercy on the creature and actually works to hide it from his fellow Vikings.
* In Creator/BradBird's ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'', when Hogarth encounters the titular robot, he finds out that it's docile and childlike; this is suggested to be the result of a dent in its head upon landing on Earth. However, once the robot goes into PapaWolf mode, it deploys enough advanced weaponry to eradicate a battalion with frightening ease. The director's commentary mentions that the robot was meant to be a military strike probe, designed to eradicate or decimate resistance as a precursor to an AlienInvasion. Fortunately for everyone, ThePowerOfFriendship restores the robot to its GentleGiant mode, whereupon it makes a HeroicSacrifice to save the townsfolk.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', Simba the lion fiercely protects his surrogate parents, Pumbaa the warthog and Timon the meerkat, from the hungry lioness Nala. In fact, Timon, initially reluctant to adopt the orphaned Simba due to him being a predator, changes his mind after he realizes he can [[ExploitedTrope exploit]] this trope.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'', Alex the lion's friendship with Marty the zebra is threatened when Alex's HorrorHunger kicks in after they arrive into the wild. However, when Marty is attacked by a group of fossa (Madagascar's native predators), Alex comes to his rescue in a BigDamnHeroes moment.
* In ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'', Nigel the pelican is, of course, a fish-eater. However, he has regular conversations with the fish living in an aquarium in a dentist's office and is quite touched by Nemo's story. Upon learning that Marlin is Nemo's father searching for his son, Nigel rescues him and Dory first from the beak of a fellow pelican, then from a flock of seagulls.

This trope is different than MoralityPet in that the decision to become a protector is irrevocable and is likely to invoke a HeelFaceTurn on the part of the predator. Said protection may be permanent or temporary depending on whether the predator's intent is to return the Prey back to their family, group, or natural environment. (The intent is always what's best for the prey, yet another difference between this trope and MoralityPet.) Failure to protect the prey will cause anguish to the predator, especially if they have to watch. The younger/more helpless the prey, the more extreme, the more violent the predator will be in protecting them, up to full-on PapaWolf or MamaBear.

* Heart the ''[[KingOfTheDinosaurs Tyrannosaurus rex]]'', the protagonist of ''Anime/YouAreUmasou'', is saddled with this role after the titular baby ''Ankylosaurus'' imprints on him. He still considers eating Umasou even after this point but chooses to regard him as family rather than food in the end.

* A Japanese zoo once fed a live hamster to one of their snakes before closing. In the morning, they find that the snake had ''befriended'' his dinner.