History SacrificialLion / Film

* In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', [[spoiler: Darwin]] is the first team member to die.

%%* Mani in ''BrotherhoodOfTheWolf''.

* ''Film/TwentyEightWeeksLater'' has at least three. Firstly, it looks like RobertCarlyle's character, Don, is going to be the main protagonist, since, at the time of release, he was the biggest name in the film, and most of the promotional material focused on him. However, he's actually the first person infected by the zombie virus. Then Scarlet, a scientist looking for a cure, and Doyle, a soldier who helps them, are the new protagonists. Doyle performs a HeroicSacrifice pretty soon, and Scarlet is killed by, ironically enough, Don, the film's first SacrificialLion.

** [[TheObiWan Obi-Wan Kenobi]] plays this role in ''Film/ANewHope'', which is mirrored by Qui-Gon Jinn in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace''. Comparing with Luke's uncle and aunt illustrates the contrast between the SacrificialLion and the SacrificialLamb.

* [[TheObiWan Morgan Freeman's character]] in ''The Sum Of All Fears'' is one of these.

* ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' has [[PhilCoulson Agent Coulson]] being impaled by [[BigBad Loki]] while trying to keep him away from the console that would drop the caged Thor. He does get his DyingMomentOfAwesome when he fires off his {{BFG}} that he didn't even know what it would do.
** The subtext of the subsequent discussion of and allusions to his death also hints that he's the thing that "the Avengers" (until this moment only a government codename) are going to be, well, ''avenging'' from now on.

* ''Film/TheAvengers'' has [[PhilCoulson Agent Coulson]] being impaled by [[BigBad Loki]] while trying to keep him away from the console that would drop the caged Thor. He does get his DyingMomentOfAwesome when he fires off his {{BFG}} that he didn't even know what it would do.

** [[TheObiWan Obi-Wan Kenobi]] plays this role in ''Episode IV'', which is mirrored by Qui-Gon Jinn in ''Episode I''. Comparing with Luke's uncle and aunt illustrates the contrast between the SacrificialLion and the SacrificialLamb.
** Mace Windu in ''Episode III.''
** [[spoiler: Han Solo]] In The Force Awakens.

* In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', Darwin is the first member to die

* In ''Film/{{Chappie}}'' America lasts through most of the film only to be killed by Vincent in the second last fight.

* ''Ironhide'' is killed by the treacherous Sentinel Prime in ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'' (immediately following an awesome MexicanStandoff scene with the 'Cons) by being shot in the back. He has enough time to ask "Why" before Sentinel sadistically "releases" the soldier from duty. It comes as especially shocking as up until then Sentinel was portrayed as an almost grandfatherly figure and mentor to Optimus.

* In ''FilmJurassicWorld'', Simon Masrani, Jurassic World's owner, [[spoiler: dies trying to put down the monster he was partially responsible for creating.]] On the dino side, there's [[spoiler: Delta and Echo,]] who die protecting Owen from the ''I. rex'' in the finale. [[spoiler: Charlie's]] hesitation to attack Owen also gets her killed by [=InGen=] mercs.

* ''Film/TwentyEightWeeksLater'' has at least three. Firstly, it looks like RobertCarlyle's character, Don, is going to be the main protagonist, since, at the time of release, he was the biggest name in the film, and most of the promotional material focused on him. However, he's actually the first person infected by the zombie virus. Then Scarlet, a scientist looking for a cure, and Doyle, a soldier who helps them, are the new protagonists. Doyle performs a HeroicSacrifice pretty soon, and Scarlet is killed by, ironically enough, Don, the film's first SacrificialLion.
** And the first film has Frank, infected halfway through.

** ''Film/AlienResurrection'': Don't get too attached to MichaelWincott's {{badass}} ship captain -- far from being the grizzlier, outlaw counterpart to the second movie's Corporal Hicks as he first appears, he's the first of the smugglers to get chomped when the aliens escape their holding cells.

* Janet Leigh's character in ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' is a classic example of this, [[DecoyProtagonist set up to be the main character]], only to be killed horribly early on.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** [[TheObiWan Obi-Wan Kenobi]] plays this role in ''Episode IV'', which is mirrored by Qui-Gon Jinn in ''Episode I''. Comparing with Luke's uncle and aunt illustrates the contrast between the SacrificialLion and the SacrificialLamb.
** Mace Windu in ''Episode III.''

* Every ''Franchise/{{Scream}}'' movie has at least one of these, a lot of the time to set up the final act.
** ''Film/{{Scream|1996}}'': [[spoiler:Tatum.]]
** ''Film/{{Scream 2}}'': [[spoiler:Randy and Hallie.]]
** ''Film/{{Scream 3}}'': [[spoiler:Averted with Dewey and Gale, who survive, but are nearly killed when Ghostface threatens to murder them unless Sidney shows up.]]
** ''Film/{{Scream 4}}'': [[spoiler:Kirby.]]
* From ''Film/{{Serenity}}'':
** Hoban Washburn, pilot extraordinaire, is a perfect example given that the creator of the film admitted he killed the man off just to make the Reavers look even more dangerous and to break the [[PlotArmor PC Shield]].
** Which makes Shepherd Book's death an example as well, killed to make ''The Operative'' look even more dangerous.

* Benicio del Toro admitted in the DVD commentary that this was his character's purposes in ''Film/TheUsualSuspects''. He also said he added the accent and the behavior, because if he had to die, he at least wanted to be memorable.
* In ''Film/TheBlob1988'' we follow the character of Paul throughout the first half of the movie and we slowly get to know him, but then he's the second person to be consumed by the blob.

** [[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet2010 The remake]] follows a smilar path.

* ''Film/TheDarkKnightSaga'' has multiple examples:
** ''Film/BatmanBegins'' has the NiceGuy District Attorney Carl Finch who seems like he will be important in bringing [[TheDon Carmine Falcone]] to justice and has dated Rachel Dawes in the past. He gets unceremoniously shot down by League of Shadows members disguised as cops.
** ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' has Rachel Dawes and Commissioner Loeb. Also a case of SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome.
** Foley from the Dark Knight Rises, who has to be inspired by (Robin) John Blake to put back on his uniform and help defend the city of Gotham against the League of Shadows.
* Parody movie ''Film/AmazonWomenOnTheMoon'' has an interesting take on this. An astronaut's character development is alluded to, and is killed about halfway through the movie, but none of this is actually shown due to the film reel being faulty.
* Lt. Hawk in ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'', while not getting an extreme amount of screen time he was presented as basically Worf's replacement onboard the Enterprise-E while Worf was stationed at [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]].
* [[TheObiWan Morgan Freeman's character]] in ''The Sum Of All Fears'' is one of these.
* Laurie Strode finally meets her death at the hands of Michael at the beginning of ''Film/HalloweenResurrection''.
* Liam Neeson's Godfrey in ''Film/KingdomOfHeaven''. Godfrey is wounded about 15 minutes into the film and dies before the 30 minute mark, thus catalyzing his son Balian's new life in the Holy Lands and the main plot of the film. What made Godfrey's death so unexpected was that Liam Neeson was promoted as one of the biggest and most important names in the film (though considering he's a ChronicallyKilledActor some people may have seen it coming).
* The titular lion in ''Film/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe''. He seems to like being this character. [[MessianicArchetype He recovers]] this time though.
* The movie version of ''Film/LAConfidential'' alternates its focus between the three cops Ed Exley, Bud White, and Jack Vincennes, establishing the characters' different approaches to their duties and their overall personality. Then Jack Vincennes is shot to death in the middle of the third act, letting us know this is a film where AnyoneCanDie.
* ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' has two: [[DefrostingIceQueen Dr. Grace Augustine]] and [[VasquezAlwaysDies Trudy Chacon]].
* ''Film/TwentyEightWeeksLater'' has at least three. Firstly, it looks like RobertCarlyle's character, Don, is going to be the main protagonist, since, at the time of release, he was the biggest name in the film, and most of the promotional material focused on him. However, he's actually the first person infected by the zombie virus. Then Scarlet, a scientist looking for a cure, and Doyle, a soldier who helps them, are the new protagonists. Doyle performs a HeroicSacrifice pretty soon, and Scarlet is killed by, ironically enough, Don, the film's first SacrificialLion.
** And the first film has Frank, infected halfway through.
* Franka Potente's character in ''Film/TheBourneSupremacy'' is [[SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome killed off almost immediately]] even though she got second billing. Doubly surprising as in the Ludlum novels Literature/TheBourneSeries is (loosely) based on, nothing happens to her character.
* In the 2009 ''Film/StarTrek'' film it establishes early on that the second-in-command is George Kirk, Jim Kirk's father. The ([[OneSceneWonder memorable]]) Captain promotes Kirk to captain, implying that he knows full well he won't make it back alive from the meeting with the Romulans in the super-powerful ship. Once the ship resumes attacking George Kirk orders an evacuation and stays behind to fight off the Romulans, eventually making [[RammingAlwaysWorks suicide run]]. Spock's mother, too, is killed when Vulcan is destroyed, both of which reinforce that anything can happen in this timeline.

* Baragon in ''Film/GodzillaMothraKingGhidorahGiantMonstersAllOutAttack'' is the first monster to be summoned to stop Godzilla, and is the first monster to die after being utterly [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomped by Godzilla]].

* ''Film/{{Alien 3}}'': When Ripley first crash lands on the prison planet, she is treated by Creator/CharlesDance's kindly doctor/former inmate Clemens. As the film progresses, the two form an increasingly close bond and eventually sleep together, implying that Clemens will be a major character and, at the very least, be given a HeroicSacrifice towards the end - then the alien appears, and Clemens is one of the first to die.
** ''Film/AlienResurrection'': Don't get too attached to MichaelWincott's {{badass}} ship captain - far from being the grizzlier, outlaw counterpart to the second movie's Corporal Hicks as he first appears, he's the first of the smugglers to get chomped when the aliens escape their holding cells.
* ''Ironhide'' is killed by the treacherous Sentinel Prime in ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'' (immediately following an awesome MexicanStandoff scene with the 'Cons) by being shot in the back. He has enough time to ask "Why" before Sentinel sadistically "releases" the soldier from duty. It comes as especially shocking as up until then Sentinel was portrayed as an almost grandfatherly figure and mentor to Optimus.
** In ''Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction'', it's ''Ratchet's'' turn to be killed, just to show how bad the humans' purging of the Autobots has become.
* Many of the allies and love interests of Film/JamesBond throughout the series: Quarrel in ''Film/DrNo'', Karim Bey in ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove'', Paula in ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'', Aki in ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'', Ferrarra in ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'', Veejay in ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'', Sir Godfrey Tibbett in ''Film/AViewToAKill'', etc.
** Tracy from ''Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService'' is arguably the best known of the lot, though her death doesn't truly have an effect on Bond until ''Film/LicenceToKill'', where another wedding ends in tragedy and leaves another lion, Felix Lieter, mauled.
* ''Film/TheAvengers'' has [[PhilCoulson Agent Coulson]] being impaled by [[BigBad Loki]] while trying to keep him away from the console that would drop the caged Thor. He does get his DyingMomentOfAwesome when he fires off his {{BFG}} that he didn't even know what it would do.
** The subtext of the subsequent discussion of and allusions to his death also hints that he's the thing that "the Avengers" (until this moment only a government codename) are going to be, well, ''avenging'' from now on.
%%* Llewelyn Moss in ''NoCountryForOldMen''.
%%* Mani in ''BrotherhoodOfTheWolf''.
* Tatsuo in ''Kamikaze Taxi''

* [[spoiler:Duke]] in ''Film/GIJoeRetaliation''.
* In ''Film/AirForceOne'', Major Caldwell gets a lot of screen time and a lot of character development. And then, just as the movie ends, he's killed defending the president from the traitorous Agent Gibbs.
* Robert Muldoon in ''Film/JurassicPark'' is the first major character we are introduced to and is given more screentime and like ability factor than most of the Red Shirt type characters that are usually eaten by the creatures in these kinds of films. He is also portrayed as "knowing more about Raptors than anyone" and being a Badass who will likely have an ultimate showdown with the Raptors. However, in the end he is ambushed and killed by [[MemeticMutation the clever girls]].

* ''Film/PacificRim'': Appears to be the case with [[spoiler:both Cherno Alpha and Crimson Typhoon]] who are destroyed during the battle of Hong Kong.
* ''Film/{{Gravity}}'' does away with [[spoiler: George Clooney]] little more than half an hour into the film. It is from the same director who made ''Film/ChildrenOfMen'', after all.
* Luca Brasi is introduced in ''TheGodfather'', both the film and the novel, as this terrifying killer and enforcer for the Corleones, more force of nature than man. He is killed by Virgil Sollozzo and Bruno Tattaglia without very much difficulty as the opening gambit of their war with the Corleones. When the Corleones receive a fish wrapped in Brasi's bulletproof vest, they know they are in trouble.
* Joe Brody gets the most development early on in ''Film/{{Godzilla 2014}}'', [[spoiler:but is killed when the first Muto awakens]].
* In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', Darwin is the first member to die.
* In ''Film/DieHard'', Harry Ellis and Joe Takagi are killed by Hans to demonstrate that he isn't playing around.
* ''Film/BlownAway'': [[spoiler:Max.]] For bonus points, [[spoiler:he's played by Jeff Bridges' real life father, Lloyd.]]
* In ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'', Amelia is the only candidate killed during the Kingsman training. [[spoiler:Averted, her death was faked to emphasize how serious the others should take this course and revealed to be still working for the organisation in a Berlin branch]].
* In ''Film/{{Chappie}}'' America lasts through most of the film only to be killed by Vincent in the second last fight.
* {{Subverted}} in ''Film/BackToTheFuture''. Doc Brown's death appears to be a Sacrificial Lion (or maybe a SacrificialLamb). But the Libyans play no further role except to drive Marty into TheFifties. Then Doc Brown's death turns out to be a delayed DisneyDeath.

* Gabriel, the son of Creator/MelGibson's protagonist character Benjamin Martin in ''ThePatriot'', gets a good amount of screen time and character development establishing him as a secondary protagonist. Then Gabriel's love interest and her family are burned to death when the film's BigBad Tavington [[MoralEventHorizon locks them in a church and sets it on fire]]. Gabriel attempts to get vengeance on Tavington, but is instead stabbed to death by Tavington in the fight. Of course, Tavington ''already'' crossed the MoralEventHorizon with the church-burning incident, so Gabriel's death basically serves to remind us that it's Mel Gibson's character who's the protagonist, and only ''he'' is allowed to finally kill Tavington at the end. Gabriel's death just gives Benjamin Martin added motivation.

** [[TheObiWan Obi-Wan Kenobi]] plays this role in ''Episode IV'', which is mirrored by Qui-Gon Jinn in ''Episode I''.

* Franka Potente's character in ''[[Film/TheBourneSeries The Bourne Supremacy]]'' is [[SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome killed off almost immediately]] even though she got second billing. Doubly surprising as in the Ludlum novels Literature/TheBourneSeries is (loosely) based on, nothing happens to her character.

** ''Scream'': [[spoiler:Tatum.]]
** ''Scream 2'': [[spoiler:Randy and Hallie.]]
** ''Scream 3'': [[spoiler:Averted with Dewey and Gale, who survive, but are nearly killed when Ghostface threatens to murder them unless Sidney shows up.]]
** ''Scream 4'': [[spoiler:Kirby.]]

* In the 1988 remake of ''Film/TheBlob'' we follow the character of Paul throughout the first half of the movie and we slowly get to know him, but then he's the second person to be consumed by the blob.

* Robert Muldoon in ''Film/JurassicPark'' is the first major character we are introduced to and is given more screentime and like ability factor than most of the Red Shirt type characters that are usually eaten by the creatures in these kinds of films. He is also portrayed as "knowing more about Raptors than anyone" and being a Badass who will likely have an ultimate showdown with the Raptors. However, near the end of the film he is ambushed and killed by [[MemeticMutation the clever girls]].