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| 8 | {{Heroic Sacrifice}}s in {{Literature}}. |
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| 10 | |
| 11 | * ''Alien'' by Igor' Dravin (''Чужак'', Игорь Дравин): Vlad's unit grabbed the Wolves (5 female Hunters) and his sister Dunya from the altars of a HumanSacrifice ritual disrupting it and killing several Catacomb Lords. Nata, a healer mage, is the only one conscious among the saved and knows that Arna, the Wolves' commander, Dunya and herself can yet be saved if exorcized in time. Seeing a group of religious fanatics intercept Vlad's unit demanding the survivors to be burned at stakes, Nata calmly [[CastFromHitPoints burns her magic gift]] to make sure Vlad's beloved Arna and Dunya survive long enough for Vlad's unit to kill the ambushing troops and reach the city, knowing well that this dooms herself. |
| 12 | * ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': |
| 13 | ** Tobias counts for this one right from the very first book, ''The Invasion''. During the battle under the school, he chooses to attack one of the Hork-Bajir ready to infect Cassie with a Yeerk. This in turn leads to him ultimately being trapped as a red-tailed hawk, permanently. He gets better, though. Sorta. Although the characters begin to wonder if it was intentional. |
| 14 | ** Also in the first book, the real Tom is close to escaping the Yeerk Pool... when he turns back and tries to fight Visser Three's OneWingedAngel form du jour. He fails and gets reinfested shortly afterwards, but he buys the Animorphs enough time to escape. |
| 15 | ** In #18, Tactical officer Hareli-Frodlin-Sirinial self-destructs his ship when it's about to be captured by the Yeerks, due to the captain's betrayal. |
| 16 | ** In #19, Cassie [[HonorBeforeReason permanently morphs a caterpillar to prove a point]] to Aftran, so she'll release her host Karen. She gets better. |
| 17 | ** In ''Megamorphs #3'', Crayak demands that one of the Animorphs must die in exchange for a chance to fix the timeline. Jake is shot during the Crossing of the Delaware, but this means all the other Animorphs are immortal for the rest of the adventure, since [[ExactWords only one of them must die]]. He gets better. |
| 18 | ** At the end, Rachel agrees to go on a suicide mission to [[KillTheHostBody kill Tom]] and destroy the Blade ship from within. Turns into a SenselessSacrifice when it's revealed that Erek drained the Pool ship's weapons, not wanting Jake to use them to kill. As a result, Rachel is unable to render the ship completely inoperable, and it escapes. |
| 19 | * A non-fatal version in ''Annals of Literature/TheBlackCompany'': [[spoiler: The Lady]] chooses to give up her powers and live as a mortal rather than allow an even greater evil than herself to take over the world. |
| 20 | * ''Literature/Area51'': In ''Area 51: The Reply'', a Russian Spetsnaz team make a {{last stand}} against oncoming Chinese troops to let their American counterparts get away. |
| 21 | * In ''{{Literature/Armada}}'', [[spoiler: Xavier Lightman]] does this no less than three times. Other characters such as [[spoiler: Shin, Milo, Chen]] also do it. |
| 22 | * In Creator/MikhailAkhmanov's ''Literature/ArrivalsFromTheDark'', SpaceNavy fighter pilot Lieutenant Commander Pavel Litvin, captured earlier in the novel by the [[HumanAliens Faata]], witnesses the CurbStompBattle that wipes out a huge chunk of Earth's nascent SpaceNavy. After the huge alien starship lands in the Antarctic, a [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Metamorph]] who has been secretly living on Earth for nearly a millennium teleports aboard and provides Litvin with the means to end the threat, while also leaving a largely intact ship for human scientists to study and reverse-engineer. The catch is, Litvin himself would die from the same thing that would kill off the crew. A true SpaceMarine, Litvin agrees without a second thought, activating the GreyGoo device programmed to eat the ship's organic brain (which would shut off ArtificialGravity and ReinforceField). However, the mysterious alien manages to teleport Litvin out safely, something he claims earlier he can't do. |
| 23 | * In ''Literature/BarberBlackSheep'', Evelyn Winslow throws herself in front of a bullet meant for Kittie, her brother's paramour whom she has been nothing but antagonistic towards up to that point. She does survive, though, as the bullet hits her in the arm and she quickly receives medical treatment. |
| 24 | * In ''Literature/TheBartimaeusTrilogy'', [[spoiler: Nathaniel, the main character]], dies in the final pages of the book while defeating an evil spirit. [[spoiler:He dismisses Bartimaeus and sacrifices himself]]. |
| 25 | * ''Literature/TheBeginningAfterTheEnd'': |
| 26 | ** After being separated from his family during a bandit ambush while on the way to Xyrus, Arthur is taken in by the dragon Sylvia who raises him for a few months while he recovers. Eventually, she is discovered and mortally wounded by Cadell, an agent of Agrona who has been sent to hunt her down. Sylvia uses the last of her power to protect Arthur and send him away to safety, though not before giving him her Beast Will and the egg that contains her unborn daughter and Arthur's future bond Sylvie. |
| 27 | ** At the close of the War Arc, Arthur is forced to overexert Sylvia's Beast Will while fighting a losing battle against the Scythes Cadell and Nico on top of the rest of the Alacryan army in order to buy time for the Dicathians to escape. In the process, his body begins tearing itself apart, and Sylvie is forced to sacrifice herself to save him, causing him to end up in the Relictombs. In the aftermath, Arthur realizes that not only has his mana core been damaged beyond recovery, but that Sylvie had given up her own physical form to preserve his own body, making him part Asura in the process. Notably, he also finds out Sylvie is still alive but inert, having been turned back into an egg while she recovers. As it turns out, after Sylvie sacrificed herself [[spoiler:her soul was displaced across time and space, allowing her to bear witness to Arthur's past life as King Grey in its entirety. When her biological father Agrona came to claim Grey's soul for his own use, Sylvie was able to wrest it away before he could bring it to his intended vessel and take it to the Leywin family to be reincarnated as Arthur]]. |
| 28 | ** Arthur's fellow Lance Aya Grephin is forced to make one during a losing battle against the Asura Taci, who had been sent to [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness purge the Dicathian resistance]] at the behest of [[GodIsEvil Kezess]]. She drains her own mana core to create convincing enough illusions to fool him into thinking he killed the remaining Lances. Her gambit succeeds (especially since it helps buy time for Arthur to return from Alacrya and finish him off), but at the cost of her own life, and the remaining Lances while still alive are severely injured. |
| 29 | ** At the end of Volume 10, [[spoiler:Aldir sacrifices himself to allow Arthur to bring back Sylvie. In doing so, he is TakingAThirdOption. On one hand, while he has turned against Kezess and is deeply remorseful for his role in the destruction of Elenoir, he knows that the Dicathians would never accept as an ally after what he did. On the other hand, [[IWillFightNoMoreForever he is tired of fighting]] and in spite of knowing how far his people have gone astray under Kezess's dictatorial rule no longer wishes to shed any more blood, not just after Elenoir but also because he was forced to kill his own disciples when Kezess sent them after him in a bid to discredit him. As such, he decides to go out on his own terms, giving up his own life to bring back another who could bring an end to the DivineConflict while allowing Arthur to claim a great victory in the eyes of both Dicathen and Epheotus due to having seemingly brought one who had greatly wronged both factions to justice. [[TakeUpMySword He even bequeaths Arthur his own sword Silverlight]] as a trophy to show both parties as proof of his demise and in the process gain favor with both. In sacrificing himself, he also takes the [[FantasticNuke World Eater technique]], the very technique he was forced to destroy Elenoir with, with him to the grave and preventing it from ever being used again]]. |
| 30 | * In ''Literature/TheBlackFoxOfBeckham'', Finn's father leads the hunters away from his mate and kits' den, saving them but getting himself killed. When Finn realizes what happened, he [[YouKilledMyFather vows to avenge the death of his father]]. |
| 31 | * In ''Literature/BlackLegion'', [[spoiler:Mekhari]] regains his memories for enough time to stand in the way of [[spoiler:Horus' clone]] and take the blow that would otherwise kill Khayon. |
| 32 | * In the ''Literature/TheBlackMagicianTrilogy'' [[spoiler: Akkarin gives Sonea all his power and refuses to let her heal him]] in order to [[spoiler: prevent the Ichani from destroying the guild.]] |
| 33 | * Juliet Marillier's "Blade of Fortriu" has a magnificent example. [[spoiler:Deord volunteers to be the bait for the hunting group that is after Faolan and Ana. In the end, he dies after killing many soldiers, several hunting hounds, being castrated, hit by twelve arrows, and still lingering there for five or six hours without complaining. The only thing he asked for was for Faolan to sing in his last moments. And he just barely knew the people he saved.]] |
| 34 | * [[spoiler: Mundo Cani]] in ''Literature/TheBookOfTheDunCow'' succeeds in blinding [[BigBad Wyrm]] and trapping the monster underneath the earth, but at the price of his own life, since he is sealed underground forever, too. |
| 35 | * ''The Burning of the Rice Fields'' is a classic traditional Japanese story, where an old rice farmer upon a tall hill suddenly saw something alarming out at sea and ordered his son to help him burn his rice fields. When the villagers nearer to the shore saw the fire, they all ran up the hill to confront him about this senseless act of destruction. At that, the old man pointed out to the sea and there was a giant tsunami coming right at the village. The village is devastated, but the old man sacrificed his crop to lure his neighbors to safety. |
| 36 | * Subverted in ''Literature/{{Chalice}}'' by Creator/RobinMcKinley. The FisherKing of the demesne of Willowlands is all set to throw himself on his challenger's sword during their TrialByCombat, in the hopes that his voluntary sacrifice will keep the land from tearing itself apart during the transition to a new (and foreign) Master. However, Mirasol and her ''enormous swarm of bees'' object very strenuously his plan. |
| 37 | * In Creator/LloydAlexander's ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'', the titular cauldron can only be destroyed when someone willing enters the cauldron, fully aware that he will die. [[spoiler:At the end, the JerkAss of the story redeems himself by jumping in.]] |
| 38 | * In ''Literature/CityOfAshes'', Imogen Herondale pulls one to let Jace escape on the ship, knowing that he was Stephen Herondale's son. |
| 39 | * ''Literature/TheColdMoons'': In the chapter simply dubbed "Eldon", the badger cubs are playing on a snowy hill when a boulder dislodges. As the boulder barrels towards Titan, his paternal figure Eldon runs and pushes him out of the way. Eldon gets crushed and dies a few moments later. |
| 40 | * In the ''Literature/DarkReflectionsTrilogy'', the flowing queen must return to her body (leaving her host, Merle) in order to defeat the BigBad. but to do so, the life energy of her host must be exchanged with the life energy of her own body -- and her body has none. Merle is willing to die to save the world/her friends, but the flowing queen speaks through her, telling all Merle's friends and her Love Interest that someone could, in theory, take Merle's place. Merle refuses to let anyone, but [[spoiler:Serefin]] pleads with her. She says no, but the Queen agrees that it would work. [[spoiler:Serafin kisses Merle, taking the Queen's spirit into him, and then makes the transfer.]] |
| 41 | * In Creator/SarahAHoyt's ''Literature/DarkshipThieves'', Kit surrenders to Earth because they have the medical treatment that will save Thena. |
| 42 | * Johnny Smith in ''Literature/TheDeadZone'' in a double subversion. Johnny has seen that if Greg Stillson becomes president, it will lead to a nuclear holocaust. Finding himself facing the classic "Would you kill a young Hitler?" dilemma, [[spoiler: Johnny buys a rifle and prepares to assassinate Stillson, knowing he probably won't survive himself.]] Subverted when [[spoiler: Johnny's first shots miss, and Stillson then grabs a HumanShield who Johnny can't bring himself to shoot through. Johnny is shot by security and dies with Stillson unhurt.]] The double subversion comes when [[spoiler: Stillson's caught on camera, revealing him to be a DirtyCoward who WouldHurtAChild to save himself, ensuring that he'll be unelectable and saving humanity from the apocalypse after all!]] |
| 43 | * [[spoiler: Madame Akkikuyu, the rat fortune-teller]] in Robin Jarvis's ''Literature/DeptfordMice'' trilogy. In volume one, ''The Dark Portal'', she starts off as an unscrupulous trader who descends into fully-fledged villainy under the influence of Jupiter, rat god of the sewers, but demonstrates the possibility for redemption when [[spoiler: she momentarily considers running away with Audrey instead of delivering her to Jupiter's altar]]. In volume two, ''The Crystal Prison'', [[spoiler: she has lost her memory]] and appears to have changed for the better in Fennywolde [[spoiler: but is still unwittingly under the influence of Jupiter]]. She finally earns redemption at the last minute, when [[spoiler: she recognises Jupiter and realises his evil plan, then throws herself into a fire to save Alison Sedge, the mouselet she was supposed to sacrifice, and prevent Jupiter's return to life. She also inadvertently starts a massive fire in Fennywolde and unwittingly completes Jupiter's spell anyway, so her sacrifice is all the more tragic in that she earned personal redemption but failed to hold Jupiter back.]] |
| 44 | * In the second book of Taylor Anderson's ''Literature/{{Destroyermen}}'' series, some of the people they're trying to help attempt to sink USS ''Walker'' with an improvised bomb in a rowboat. CPO Donaghey climbs into the boat and rows it away, ignoring the calls of his shipmates to come back. Instead of a fuse, the saboteurs set the whole boat on fire, so he's ''burning alive as he does this''. |
| 45 | -->All he knew, as the flesh on his face and hands began to sear and his vision became a red, shimmering fog, was that he had to row. Nothing else in the entire world mattered anymore except for getting that crazy, stupid bomb the hell away from his ship.\ |
| 46 | He made it almost forty yards. |
| 47 | ** In a later book, [[spoiler:everyone's favorite "Super-Bosun" Fitzhugh Gray]] pushes his captain out of the way of an incoming rush of Grik. His body is later recovered from under the pile of dead Grik, some of them by his own hand. |
| 48 | * ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': Rincewind, [[DirtyCoward of]] [[HighHopesZeroTalent all people]], [[spoiler: makes one in ''Literature/{{Sourcery}}'']]. |
| 49 | * ''Literature/{{Divergent}}'': At the end of ''Allegiant'', Tris gives her life to stop the "reset" of Chicago by LaserGuidedAmnesia so that Caleb doesn't have to do it. |
| 50 | * In ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'', all the brave who died in war or the good who martyred for God live in the fifth sphere of Heaven, UsefulNotes/{{Mars}}. Instead of worshipping the god of war, these fallen soldiers take joy not in battle or blood, but in the beauty of the Cross, which they sing the praise of while assembling themselves in the shape of that holy weapon upon which God died. |
| 51 | * Lawrence Huff's ''Dome'' novel, about a runaway nuclear reactor. Extreme sportsman and metallurgist Dan Mason dons a protective suit and attempts to plant control rods in the malfunctioning reactor core. Unfortunately the reactor environment is far more hostile than expected and his suit is critically damaged, while the magnetic field set up by eddies in the coolant is causing the suit to electrocute him. Though he is in a haze of agony, he prevents a complete meltdown (which would destroy Louisiana and possibly push the Earth out of orbit) by drawing the control rods from the suit's pouch, shoving his arms directly into the superheated core and planting his legs over the drain holes to disrupt the eddies. He succeeds. His body is never found. |
| 52 | * ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'': Every single Dzur will insist to be the one making any heroic sacrifices required, despite the fact that none have actually become necessary. (No, [[spoiler:Zivra/Zerika jumping off Deathsgate Falls does not count as a heroic sacrifice]].) |
| 53 | * ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'': Sturm Brightblade, a KnightInShiningArmor indeed, even if he wasn't one officially through most of his life, performed one in the second novel, giving the other heroes a chance to activate the LostSuperweapon and giving the Knighthood an example to strive for, pulling them from their slide into corruption. |
| 54 | ** It may be that she was just an old, mad, half-blind and technically evil dragon and only a supporting character anyway -- but without Matafleur's last flight to protect 'her' children from Highlord Verminaard and ''his'' dragon mount, the attempt to free the prisoners at Pax Tharkas would have ended in fire and blood thanks to [[spoiler:Eben's]] treachery and the whole original trilogy might well have ended then and there (which is to say, with the first book). |
| 55 | * ''Dragontales'', a collection of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''-related stories. In "The Wizards Are Dying", a cleric named Diehm goes into the area where the godling lich Xanthak [[SealedEvilInACan had been imprisoned]] in order to lure the lich inside. Once he does so, his friends close the door and seal it again, leaving him trapped inside with an angry, insanely powerful monster. His friends hope he dies quickly. |
| 56 | * ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': |
| 57 | ** ''Literature/SummerKnight'': The changeling Meryl is constantly tempted to give into her ogre side, sacrificing her humanity to gain a lot of power at the price of being subservient to Queen Mab. In the end, she does Choose to accept her fae side when doing so grants her the power to save her friend from a terrible fate. Meryl dies soon after making her choice but she takes down one of the strongest of the enemy's forces in the process. |
| 58 | ** In ''Literature/DeathMasks'', Shiro gives his own life up to replace Harry's in Nicodemus's plan. The suffering he went through before dying (and he was alive at the end, too) was described as being nothing short of profane, and to make things worse, he couldn't die of it until later, either. |
| 59 | ** Lasciel's Shadow ultimately turns to the side of good in the last moments of ''Literature/WhiteNight'', saving Harry's life by taking the psychic backlash of the spell she used to save him at the cost of her life. |
| 60 | ** ''Literature/{{Changes}}'': |
| 61 | *** Martin is a half-vampire. Ages ago he was turned by the Red Court and he never killed a person and drank their blood, keeping him from becoming a full vampire. He sevred for years as a loyal priest and attendant to the Red King and went on a mission to destroy the Fellowship of St. Giles, a refugee community filled with half-vampires like himself and mortals who were fighting the Reds. After infiltrating the Fellowship, he is turned to their views and becomes TheUnfettered in his goal to destroy the Red Court no matter the cost. He helps set up the events of ''Changes'' knowing it will result in his death, but his sacrifice in the right spot will allow for another sacrifce to be made, and that will destroy the Red Court. |
| 62 | *** Susan Rodriguez, ex-girlfriend of the titular hero Harry Dresden who became a half-vampire earlier in the books, bore a child by Harry Dresden. Martin's plan involved leaking that information to a high ranking Red Court noble and daughter of the Red King, who bears a personal grudge against Harry. The plan is to kill the daughter of Harry to invoke a bloodline curse and kill all those who are her elder in the family tree. It will pass from her to older siblings, to her parents, to the siblings of the parents, to the cousins who are older than her. Any and all bearing a blood connection. In the climax, when Martin reveals his treachery, he is holding Susan and guesses rightly she will be so furious she kills him and feeds on his blood, transforming her into a full Red Court vampire. Holding on to the last shreds of her humanity because of her love for her daughter, she allows Harry to sacrifice her on the alter. As she is now one of the youngest Red Court vampires in the world and is a short and direct line of sires to the Red King, the whole court is effectively destroyed. |
| 63 | ** ''Literature/GhostStory'': |
| 64 | *** {{Defied|Trope}} with Molly Carpenter. When fighting the century old warlock and mind-magic master the Corpsetaker, Molly is fighting on the defensive in this battle in the minds. She considers nuking her own mind when it comes close to the end of the fight hoping the result will kill the Corpsetaker. Harry is able to suggest an alternative course which calls for help from an unlikely ally and saves Molly and many others. |
| 65 | *** Harry himself has been a ghost for the entirety of the book, having been shot in the chest by a sniper at the end of ''Changes''. It turns out ''he'' hired the assassin, and then had Molly erase his memory of having done so, in order to keep Queen Mab from getting him as her Winter Knight and twisting his considerable powers as a wizard into a force of evil. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for him, Mab preserved his body and has had it on life support the whole time. ''Fortunately'' for him, [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil because he was pushed to that by a fallen angel, the archangel Uriel is able to tell him]] that she can't change him if he doesn't let her.]] |
| 66 | * Played straight in the ''Literature/EaCycle'' with the HeroicSacrifice of [[spoiler:Alphanderry.]] Subverted in the case of [[spoiler:Bemossad]] whose death turns out to be pointless and counter-effective for the most part and the benefit to the heroes, such as it is, comes in a way he didn't intend. |
| 67 | * In the ''Literature/{{Earthsea}}'' book ''The Farthest Shore'', [[TheArchmage Ged]] uses all his power to close the hole in the world. He doesn't die, but he does permanently lose his magic (he describes it as pouring a cup of water on the ground), so the person he was is essentially dead. |
| 68 | * ''Literature/EgilsSaga'': When Egil is twelve, his father Skallagrim goes berserk at a ball game and seizes Egil with the apparent intent of killing him. Egil's childhood caretaker Thorgerd Brak tries to stop Skallagrim by shouting at him that he is attacking his own son, which causes Skallagrim to let go of Egil and charge at Thorgerd. Thorgerd thus saves Egil's life, but Skallagrim kills her by hitting her with a boulder he hurls after her. |
| 69 | * ''Literature/TheElementalTrilogy: Several in ''The Immortal Heights'': |
| 70 | ** [[spoiler:Haywood]] performs a "last-mage-standing" spell to buy the rest of the group time to escape. |
| 71 | ** [[spoiler: Amara]] takes the form of Iolanthe to trick the Bane into sacrificing her instead. [[spoiler:It doesn't work.]] |
| 72 | * ''Literature/EmpireFromTheAshes'' has many heroic sacrifices, starting with [[CoolStarship Dahak's]] original captain in the prologue. In the second book, [[spoiler:Dahak reveals his ability to defy his core programming (and thus the direct orders of his captain) just so he can pull off a sacrifice himself ([[EmergencyTransformation he gets better]]).]] |
| 73 | * Annie from ''Literature/EyeOfAFly'' pushes a little boy out of the way of a truck, then has a seizure and is hit by a car before she can get to safety. |
| 74 | * ''Literature/{{Fablehaven}}'' has Lena, a naiad turned human, sacrifice herself to stop the shadow plague by destroying the talisman infused with dark energy. |
| 75 | * In the Literature/DaleBrown novel ''Flight of the Old Dog'', [[spoiler: Dave Luger]] leaves the Old Dog to fight off Soviets who are threatening his comrades. |
| 76 | ** ''Fatal Terrain'', [[spoiler: Brad Elliott]] crashes the EB-52 Megafortress with himself on board into a Chinese ICBM site. |
| 77 | ** In ''Battle Born'', [[spoiler: Rinc Seaver]] deliberately "de-stealths" his modified B-1B to draw missiles to it instead of the missile aimed at the enemy HQ. [[spoiler: Subverted because he was going to eject, until the plasma-yield warhead on his missile takes him.]] |
| 78 | * In Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literature/ForerunnerForay'', Turan sacrifices the last of his strength to pull Ziantha out of D'Eyree's mind. When she returns to her own time, she can't find his mind. [[spoiler:Later she learned that his body is still alive but his mind had not returned. With Harath's help, she saves him.]] |
| 79 | * Cole towards the end of ''Literature/{{Forever}}'' injects himself with his personally created serum shifting himself into his wolf form so that he may fight off Shelby giving Sam enough time to escape and lead the pack to safety from the aerial hunt, causing himself to end up getting shot after killing Shelby. He manages to survive though -- just barely. |
| 80 | * ''Literature/ForestKingdom'': In book 1 (''Blue Moon Rising''), [[spoiler: The Champion stands his ground against a horde of demons at the castle gates, buying time for his allies to get inside the Forest Castle, but at the cost of his life]]. |
| 81 | * [[spoiler:Belbo]] in ''Literature/FoucaultsPendulum''. Also RedemptionEqualsDeath. |
| 82 | * In ''Literature/{{Freckles}}'', Freckles saves Angel from a falling tree at the cost of his own injuries. |
| 83 | * Many, many, many in Creator/DanAbnett's ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' novels. |
| 84 | ** At the climax of ''Honour Guard'': Several Ghosts attempt [[spoiler: to get an icon to where it will activate a weapon, knowing that the person doing it will die. Several suffer crippling injuries. Finally, Vamberfield does it as he saw in his vision, after suffering nine wounds as the martyr (whose icon it is) suffered, and dies.]] |
| 85 | ** In ''Traitor General'', shortly after their meeting, Landerson tells Gaunt that [[TheyHaveTheScent the hounds have his scent]] and says he will lead them off; Gaunt dismisses this as a StupidSacrifice and saves him. He offers again, in the Until, to carry the unconscious Feygor because it will not matter if ''he'' falls behind. |
| 86 | ** In ''Only In Death'', when the Blood Pact are climbing a net of ropes, [[spoiler:Gaunt]], also on the net, cuts the ropes so they all plummet. |
| 87 | ** ''Necropolis'' has one that serves as the SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome for a character who's been a pain in the neck for Gaunt and the other heroes, as [[spoiler:Commissar Kowle]], in the face of a Chaos Beast, allows the beast to bite off his own arms... which were holding a belt of grenades, which explode and kill the Chaos Beast, allowing Gaunt to reactivate the Shield. |
| 88 | * ''Literature/GentlemanBastard'': [[spoiler:Ezri Delmastro, Jean Tannen's]] love interest, gets one in ''Red Seas Under Red Skies'' in a naval battle, when TheMole triggers a fire bomb. [[spoiler: Jean]] is about to go and grab it when [[spoiler:Ezri]] [[MoreExpendableThanYou punches him to the deck]], [[MoreHeroThanThou grabs the extremely hot bomb]] [[spoiler:herself]], and throws it onto the opposing vessel before it explodes, burning [[spoiler:herself]] alive in the process. |
| 89 | * ''Literature/TheGirlWhoDrankTheMoon'' features Fyrian's mother and Zosimos, who flew into the volcano five hundred years ago to stop it from erupting. |
| 90 | * In ''Girlfriend in a Coma'' by Creator/DouglasCoupland, [[spoiler:Karen makes a sacrifice of sorts: she goes back into her coma at the end, so that her friends may have a second chance at life and the world will be restored to normal. Although Richard tries to stop her, she makes it clear that she's always known this will have to happen, and there is no way out.]] |
| 91 | * ''Literature/TheGoldenOecumene'': |
| 92 | ** In the backstory, Helion had sacrificed himself in a solar storm, especially to save [[PapaWolf his son]]. During the course of the novel, Phaethon believes that the whole civilization lies in danger, and opens his memories, knowing it will mean exile. |
| 93 | ** In ''The Phoenix Exultant'', Atkins asks whether Phaethon is willing to die to save the Golden Oecumene, Phaethon says it goes without saying, and Atkins says that it's because the two of them are the only ones to say it, nowadays. |
| 94 | ** In ''The Golden Transcedence'', Atkins reveals that the Sophotechs who had died in the solar storm had actually realized they had been affected by a virus and committed suicide rather than spread it. |
| 95 | * Duck in ''Literature/{{Gone}}'' dies in order to defeat the Darkness. [[spoiler:[[SenselessSacrifice Guess who survives anyway.]]]] |
| 96 | ** Later, [[spoiler:Caine gives his body to the disembodied spirit of Little Pete so he can finally kill the Gaiaphage.]] |
| 97 | * Creator/RobertAHeinlein's short story "Literature/TheGreenHillsOfEarth". While "Blind" Rhysling is a passenger on a spaceship, he goes to the power room to visit with the Chief Jetman, an old friend of his. A sudden blast of radiation from the reactor kills his friend and endangers the ship. Instead of fleeing, Rhysling repairs the damaged reactor while taking a lethal dose of radiation, thus saving the ship, the crew and the passengers at the cost of his own life. |
| 98 | * Creator/BenCounter's ''Literature/GreyKnights'': Medic Haggard, in a last act of defiance against a powerful daemon possessing his ship sends it hurtling into the presence of the daemon's patron god. What follows is a YouHaveFailedMe of biblical proportions, with Haggard ''laughing'' as the daemon screamed in fear. |
| 99 | * Each [[Literature/TheGuardiansMeljeanBrook Guardian]] is a human who gave up their life to protect someone else from supernatural forces, and received the CallToAdventure at the moment of their death. |
| 100 | * ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'': |
| 101 | ** ''Literature/HaloTheFallOfReach'': The orbital drydock ''Cradle'' moves to absorb the Covenant fire and protect the human ships. Every single human who saw this was stunned by it. Earlier, a wounded Sam stays aboard a Covenant ship to both [[YouShallNotPass buy John and Kelly time to escape]], and to ensure a bomb goes off inside the ship's reactor. |
| 102 | ** ''Literature/HaloTheFlood'': [[spoiler:[=McKay=]]] blows up the ''Truth and Reconciliation'' while still inside it in order to prevent the Flood aboard from potentially escaping. |
| 103 | ** In ''Literature/HaloFirstStrike'', [[spoiler:Haverson and Whitcomb]] use themselves as bait in order to lure a 500-strong Covenant fleet towards a space station that's been set to explode; the two are able to take almost the entire fleet with them to the grave. |
| 104 | ** [[spoiler:Kurt]] also goes out with a literal bang in ''Literature/HaloGhostsOfOnyx'' - badly wounded, he stays behind and delays a Covenant army as the rest of the cast escape through the slipspace portal. He then sets off a dozen nukes, taking the Covenant with him and simultaneously generating both the book's biggest SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome and TearJerker moment. Just before that, he updates his status to MIA, which is standard for all Spartans. |
| 105 | ** ''Literature/HaloTheColeProtocol'': [[spoiler:Juliana, who's already at death's door due to her rampancy,]] stays behind to personally crash the Rubble into a Covenant base in order to cover the Exodus Project's escape. |
| 106 | * [[spoiler:The title character]] in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' ([[BackFromTheDead He Got Better]]). |
| 107 | ** Additionally: [[spoiler: James & Lily Potter, Dumbledore, Snape, Regulus Black, Dobby, and many people at the Battle of Hogwarts]] Not all of them were deaths, though. |
| 108 | * ''Literature/TheHeartsWeSold'': |
| 109 | ** The reason Cal works for the Daemon is because he made a deal to save his grandfather's life. |
| 110 | ** [[spoiler:James literally gives up his heart, which kills him, so Dee can be free from her contract and live a normal life.]] |
| 111 | * In the second novel Creator/DavidWeber's ''Literature/HellsGate'' series, Prince Janaki uses his precognitive abilities to successfully defend a fort from enemy attack -- despite the fact that the strength and clarity of his vision means that he will die during the battle. |
| 112 | ** Also the historical Emperor Halian who died leading his army in defense of one of his ally's cities. |
| 113 | * [[spoiler:Ricard de Laal]] in ''Literature/{{Helm}}'', when he discovers what Siegfried Montrose is doing. |
| 114 | * [[spoiler: Vanyel Ashkevron]] of Mercedes Lackey's ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar''. Facing his greatest fear, one that has been hounding him since childhood, he [[spoiler: calls down a Final Strike killing himself and his enemy]] and saving the kingdom. |
| 115 | * ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' series: |
| 116 | ** Percy is initially thought to have killed himself to take out a ghost army that threatened Hazel and Frank. Then, after defeating Alcyoneus, they go back to the glacier only to find Percy there, totally unperturbed at bringing a glacier down on himself. |
| 117 | ** Previously in [[spoiler:Hazel's]] backstory, she sacrificed her life, alongside [[spoiler:her manipulated mother]], to delay the rise of Alcyoneus and thus Gaea. |
| 118 | ** Played Straight in The Mark of Athena when Percy (he really does tend to do this often) throws himself down to Tartarus to protect Annabeth. And there are only a few thousand supercharged monsters in his path! |
| 119 | ** [[spoiler:Leo]]in The Blood of Olympus dies while [[spoiler:killing Gaea. He comes [[BackFromTheDead back from the dead]] later, though]]. |
| 120 | * Alfred Noyes poem "The Highwayman": Bess is taken prisoner by the British Army troops who want to capture her lover the highwayman. They tie her up and bind a loaded musket to her with the mouth of the barrel against her chest. When the highwayman arrives she pulls the musket's trigger, killing herself and warning the highwayman to flee. |
| 121 | * ''Literature/TheHistoryOfTheGalaxy'': One entire race, as discovered by the archaeologists about a race of {{Precursors}} dubbed Delphons. They were FishPeople who lived 3 million years ago and had even managed to establish outposts [[AncientAstronauts as far as Earth]]. When they detected the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Forerunner swarm]], moving from system to system, guided by starlight, [[PlanetEater consuming all matter]] in their path (except the stars themselves). None of the four races living in that area of space (Delphons, [[HumanAliens Harammins]], [[InsectoidAliens Insects]], and [[StarfishAliens Logrians]]) had developed a portable [[FasterThanLightTravel hyperdrive]], relying instead on a PortalNetwork that required portals to be first towed to the destination at sublight. Unlike the other three races, who chose to run and hide from the swarm, the Delphons decided to stay and fight, using the only way they knew how - StarKilling. The only weapons they had in their arsenal that could harm the animal-like clumps of proto-matter were their own stars. So, they waited for the swarm to approach each star in their system, and then used a device that caused the star to go nova. They kept doing this until the swarm was wiped out, but so were the Delphons, although they did that knowing that they were allowing other life-bearing worlds in the path of the swarm to survive (including our very own planet). |
| 122 | * In ''Literature/HonorHarrington'', Andrew [=LaFollet=], one of Honor's Grayson Armsmen, manages to save Honor's son and mother during a ColonyDrop by ejecting them from an aircar moments before the blast wave reaches the vehicle. He tries to save himself after that, but doesn't make it. Many of Honor's other Armsmen die protecting her, as befits a true Grayson Armsman. One even willingly throws himself into an exposed corridor, using the moment of stunned disbelief (no sane person would expose himself so) to spray the heavily-armed Havenites with a FlechetteStorm before they recover and shred him with the same. All Armsmen are trained to do this for their Steadholders without hesitation, and only the best get the job. |
| 123 | * The ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' novel ''Ship of the Line'' ends with Hornblower taking the ''Sutherland'' into a battle against four French ones, because the rest of his squadron is becalmed and he can't allow the French to break the blockade. He knows it's a doomed battle, but he manages to cripple all but one of the French before he is finally forced to surrender with his ship sinking from under him, half his crew dead (including the PluckyMiddie he'd grown fond of) and his NumberTwo, Bush, losing his foot. |
| 124 | * In ''Literature/TheHost2008'' Melanie attempts suicide in order to prevent the hosts from using her memories. [[spoiler:Wanderer attempts suicide, but the others intervene at the last second.]] |
| 125 | * In ''Literature/TheHourOfTheDragon'', Tiberias dies for leading Valerius astray, because he had nothing to lose. Dying, he taunts Valerius that with all the injuries Valerius had done him, he didn't care about dying. |
| 126 | * ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': |
| 127 | ** Katniss in the first book when she takes Prim's place at the reaping. |
| 128 | ** Peeta does it for Katniss, more than once. |
| 129 | ** In ''Literature/CatchingFire'', first Mags, then the unnamed Morphling addict from District 6 give up their lives to save Peeta, which confuses Katniss greatly. |
| 130 | * In the ''Literature/{{Hurog}}'' duology, the enemies are in castle Hurog. There is no way to defeat them now, except ... making the castle collapse above them. As it is PoweredByAForsakenChild, this can be achieved by killing Oreg, who is magically bound to the castle. [[spoiler: It is he who decides they must do it, as there is more at stake than just the ownership of the castle and surrounding lands.]] |
| 131 | * ''Literature/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream''. Ted kills the other four prisoners so they won't have to suffer anymore, and in return suffers a FateWorseThanDeath for the rest of eternity. |
| 132 | * In the ''Literature/ImperialRadch'' novel ''Ancillary Justice'', Breq jumps down a bridge to save Seivarden, who has fallen down there a moment ago and is clinging to a very fragile piece of glass. Breq is wearing very efficient armour and counts on possibly surviving, but the fall does break every bone in her body. |
| 133 | * At the end of ''Literature/ImpossibleCreatures2023'', Mal carries [[BigBad Sforza]] into the [[WeirdSun Somnulum]] in order to restore the [[BackgroundMagicField Glimourie]], killing both of them in the process. |
| 134 | * From ''Literature/{{It}}'' comes [[spoiler: Reginald "Belch" Huggins]]. Even though he's been a bullying JerkAss for most of the book, [[spoiler: Belch actually redeems himself when he protects Henry from It after the monster kills Victor and goes after Henry. Unfortunately for him, he gets [[CruelAndUnusualDeath half of his face torn off]] for his trouble]]. |
| 135 | * The ''Literature/JacobsLadderTrilogy'' features two notable ones. In the backstory, Hero Ng sacrificed his life to stop a reactor coolant leak caused by the Breaking. In the main story, [[spoiler:Rien sacrifices herself to unite the Angels into a new worldsoul at the climax of ''Dust'']]. |
| 136 | * In Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs's ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'', Thuvia attempts to let John Carter escape by sliding from his mount, thus lessening the burden. He thinks that she does not know him well enough to think he would accept it -- but it is Cathoris who actually rescues her, and Carter admires his son, even though his self-sacrifice would prevent their escape. |
| 137 | ** Later, when Phaidor, a WomanScorned, goes to stab Dejah Thoris, Thuvia throws herself between them. That girl's got a real death wish going. Fortunately she gets over it. |
| 138 | * [[spoiler: Bes]] in Riordan's other series ''Literature/TheKaneChronicles'' pays [[spoiler: his "ren," or true name, to the moon god Khonsu in a game of ''senet'' in order to buy Sadie and Carter more time in the Duat to revive Ra. Because of this, at the end of the second book he becomes a mindless husk stripped of his memories. His memory is restored in the final book, though.]] |
| 139 | * ''Literature/KnavesOnWaves'' has a valiant attempt by [[spoiler:Trigger]]. Subverted in that [[spoiler:Sheridan refuses to let him go and dives right in after him, cutting him free from the creature's stomach.]] |
| 140 | * ''Literature/{{Kraken}}'' gives several examples. Dane Parnell dies heroically, playing it straight. Billy Harrow has someone teleport him in a way that causes suicide and immediate recreation elsewhere—''a'' Billy lives on, but not the one who has been the protagonist so far. And played most strangely with the Architeuthis that gives its name to the title. Despite being a dead specimen of a giant squid in a museum, it [[RetGone gives up ever having existed]] to foil Vardy's plan. |
| 141 | * ''Literature/LammasNight'': Gray is determined that if it will take a life to save Britain from invasion, it will be ''his'' life. It doesn't quite work out that way, [[spoiler:William gives his life instead]]. |
| 142 | * ''Literature/TheLastDragonChronicles'': [[spoiler: Rosa gives her life to ensure Ix!Zanna returns to normal Zanna. Well, if normal is a word that can be used to describe Zanna...]] Doubles as a TearJerker. |
| 143 | * Creator/PeterSBeagle's ''Literature/TheLastUnicorn'', [[spoiler: Lir]] sacrifices [[spoiler: him]]self to save Almathea/the unicorn from a [[AndIMustScream fate worse than death]]. [[spoiler: This gives her the courage to fight the Red Bull. Then [[BackFromTheDead she heals him.]] ]] |
| 144 | * ''Literature/TheLegendOfDrizzt'': |
| 145 | ** Two characters sacrifice themselves in the ''Literature/LegacyOfTheDrowSeries''. Wulfgar, in the grip of a monster that is threatening his friends, [[TakingYouWithMe causes an avalanche that buries them both]]. Shortly afterwards, Drizzt attempts a heroic sacrifice after concluding that his presence in Mithral Hall is putting those around him in danger from future drow attacks targeting him. He decides to leave and return to Menzoberranzan, allowing the drow to have him in order to spare those dear to him. After he's taken captive, however, Drizzt learns that the drow are intent on attacking Mithral Hall whether he's there or not, and that turning himself in didn't accomplish anything. |
| 146 | ** Drizzt tries one in ''Literature/PathsOfDarkness'' while bleeding out from Le'lorinel's potion. The companions can only save one of the two, so he tells them to save Le'lorinel, whom he recognized as the elven child he rescued on his surface raid in ''Homeland''. Naturally, his friends will hear nothing of it and save him, damning Le'lorinel to bleed out. |
| 147 | * In the ''Literature/LegendsOfDune'' prequel trilogy, Xavier Harkonnen pilots his ship into a star in order to kill Grant Patriarch Iblis Ginjo who knowingly allowed the Tlulaxa to [[PeopleFarms harvest organs]] from living people and who was becoming more and more Stalin-like in his policies. Slightly subverted in that Xavier knew that the moment he found out the truth, his life was forfeit, so he really had nothing to lose. |
| 148 | ** Unfortunately, for his trouble, Xavier was branded a traitor, and the truth never came to light. |
| 149 | ** Also, the reprogrammed mech Chirox is attacked by a former student who joined the cult of machine haters. After reluctantly killing the student, Chirox realizes that his other students will die to protect him from an angry mob and shuts himself down. This is the only case in the novels of a machine sacrificing itself for a human. |
| 150 | ** Quentin Butler helps Vorian Atreides kill the last three [[HumongousMecha Titans]], knowing full well that he will die the instant the last Titan falls. However, by that point, he was no longer human and did not consider his continued existence "living". |
| 151 | * Madison in ''Literature/TheLeonardRegime'' veers her damaged plane into that of an enemy plane, saving everyone below from an air strike. Also played to a lesser but still significant scale when Sam takes a bullet for Nick. |
| 152 | * "Literature/LightVerse": Mrs. Lardner's husband died in the {{Backstory}}, while rescuing a commercial spaceship from a solar flare. |
| 153 | -->''William J. Lardner, died, as we all know, of the effects of radiation from a solar flare, after he had deliberately remained in space so that a passenger vessel might make it safely to Space Station 5.'' |
| 154 | * ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'': |
| 155 | ** At the end of the Chain of Dogs (a massive host of refugees marching across the continent) in ''Literature/DeadhouseGates'', [[spoiler:the remnants of the Seventh Army and the Wickans sacrifice themselves in a LastStand to delay Korbolo Dom's army until the refugees reach Aren]]. |
| 156 | ** In ''Literature/TollTheHounds'' [[spoiler: Anomander Rake sacrifices himself to get Mother Dark to return to her people.]] This is the equivalent of a religious leader sacrificing himself to bring back a god who abandoned people. |
| 157 | ** Also in ''Literature/TollTheHounds'' and related to the above: Spinnock breaks down injured and exhausted when he feels [[spoiler: Rake's death]] after stalling Kallor for a whole night for him. [[spoiler: Averted in that Korlat sweeps in with a healing draught to tide him over until he can recuperate at home.]] |
| 158 | ** K'rul surrendered practically all his power when he cursed the tyrant king Kallor on Jacuruku. Interestingly, he originally planned to just stop Kallor with the help of his brethren, but when it became obvious that Kallor anticipated their arrival and dealt with his entire population the [[TheCaligula Caligula-way]], he cursed him instead, unaware that the death of an entire population could power Kallor's retaliation well enough that he himself would be cursed to fade from public memory. |
| 159 | * ''Literature/MassEffectAnnihilation'': Sort of. [[spoiler:In the end, Captain Qetsi of the ''Keelah Si'yah'' gives her life to spread a retrovirus to the ship's crew... except the virus was her creation, and she goes to her death still thinking that the mass death of humans, turians, asari and salarians the plague was ''meant'' to cause would've been "beautiful".]] |
| 160 | * In ''Literature/TheMazeRunner'' trilogy, at least two characters do this to protect [[spoiler:Thomas]]. |
| 161 | ** ''The Maze Runner'' has [[spoiler:Chuck TakingTheBullet for Thomas from Gally]]. |
| 162 | ** ''The Death Cure'' has [[spoiler:Teresa]] dying while saving [[spoiler:Thomas from falling debris as they try to escape WICKED for the last time]]. |
| 163 | * ''Literature/MichaelVey'': In ''Rise of the Elgen'', Hatch releases a horde of rats to eat the heroes alive. While they manage to climb to water pipes above the swarm, they all know it's just a matter of time before one of them falls off or the rats pile high enough to reach them. [[ShockAndAwe Zeus]] uses his powers to set off the sprinklers, despite his potentially lethal weakness to water. He escapes alive, but only thanks to Jack [[NoOneGetsLeftBehind managing to pull off a last-minute rescue mission]]. |
| 164 | * Eponine in ''Literature/LesMiserables'', kind of. She only gets shot to save him because she wanted to die first, she still wanted him to die though. |
| 165 | * [[spoiler:Kelsier]] near the end of the first ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'' novel and [[spoiler:Elend and Vin]] at the end of the series. Each of these also doubles as a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome. Also, [[spoiler:Lightsong]] in ''Literature/{{Warbreaker}}'' and [[spoiler:Hrathen]] in ''Literature/{{Elantris}}''. Sanderson likes this trope a lot. [[spoiler:Lightsong is particularly impressive because he actually pulls this off ''twice''.]] |
| 166 | * ''Literature/MrStandfast'' has two during the final battle. [[spoiler:Launcelot Wake]] volunteers to carry a vital message over hazardous terrain and is fatally wounded, but gets the message through. [[spoiler:Peter Pienaar]] rams a German plane with his own, killing himself along with the German pilot, to prevent the German returning to base with information that would turn the tide of the battle. |
| 167 | * In the ''Literature/NewSeriesAdventures'' novel ''[[Recap/NewSeriesAdventuresEnginesOfWar Engines of War]]'': |
| 168 | ** Cinder gets shot saving the Doctor from Karlax. |
| 169 | ** The Castellan, who transmits the codes needed to escape Gallifrey to the Doctor, despite knowing he'll probably get executed for this. Karlax suspects he was responsible and tells Rassilon he'll find out who did this. |
| 170 | * At the end of ''Literature/TheNightAngelTrilogy'', [[spoiler: Elene]] consents to [[DemonicPossession become the host of an evil entity which is looking for a body to inhabit]], and then stops said entity from escaping in order for [[spoiler: her lover Kylar]] to destroy both of them. |
| 171 | * In ''Literature/NorthToBenjamin'', Benjamin offers himself up as a meal to the wolves on the condition that they let him and Edgar pass and get to Victoria's house. He insists on this deal despite Edgar's protests. [[spoiler:Though, since Edgar showed up at Victoria's house with just the collar, and they find Edgar frozen to death in the woods, that obviously did not happen]]. |
| 172 | * Reilly in "Literature/{{Okuyyuki}}" performs one, taking on a whole tank platoon on his own to save his buddies from a devastating ambush. He is successful at this, but it costs him his own life. |
| 173 | * ''Literature/OldKingdom'': The climax. To bind Orannis, Lirael goes in assuming that she will die, as symbolised by her ringing of the bell Astarael. [[spoiler:Then the Disreputable Dog bites off her hand to save her and sacrifices her own life instead.]] |
| 174 | * ''Literature/OlliesOdyssey'': When the Tunnel of Love starts collapsing, Zozo uses his machine to hold it up while everyone else escapes. In the end, he's BuriedAlive when it all comes down on top of him, [[spoiler:and is reunited with the ballerina he loved upon his death]]. |
| 175 | * ''Literature/AnOutcastInAnotherWorld'': During [[spoiler:the defense of the Village, numerous named characters die protecting civilians or each other]]. Those deaths have repercussions that last for the rest of the story. |
| 176 | * ''Literature/OrphansOfTheSky'': At the climax, [[spoiler:as the main characters are being chased down by Narby's men and trying to make it the Ship's last lifeboat, Joe takes a knife in his eye and dies. His conjoined brother Jim chooses to stay behind, fighting to the death in order to buy time for the rest of the group to flee.]] |
| 177 | * [[spoiler:Willium]] allows [[spoiler:Raze to turn him into a werewolf]] in ''Literature/{{Pactbreaker}}'' in exchange for the MacGuffin he needs to [[spoiler:cure his daughter of her [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampirism]]]]. Made especially tragic, as he was raised to believe that [[spoiler:allowing oneself to become a supernatural creature is a FateWorseThanDeath, and, knowing this, Raze specifically forbids him from killing himself while making their deal]]. |
| 178 | * [[spoiler: Silena Beauregard]] from ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians''. Done as an ElCidPloy to get the Ares campers to fight in the FinalBattle. Also [[spoiler: [[GrandTheftMe Luke Castellan,]] in order to take down Kronos [[TakingYouWithMe from within]].]] |
| 179 | * Throughout the ''Literature/ThePowerOfFive'' series, Richard does this for Matt no less than three times. And despite trapping himself in a collapsing museum with animate dinosaur skeletons so Matt could get out, being taken by "kidnappers" while allowing Matt the time he needed to get safely away, and emptying a gun into a ship's entire load of fireworks so Matt and co could escape without notice, he is still alive. Go figure. |
| 180 | * Several in the ''Literature/PrinceRoger'' series: |
| 181 | ** The sacrifice of Captain Cranitsky and his crew to destroy the second Saint cruiser and allow the Prince and his bodyguard to escape is one of the things that kick-starts Roger's personal growth. |
| 182 | ** Captain Armand Pahner [[spoiler:[[TakingTheBullet takes a bullet for Roger at the end of the third book]]]]. |
| 183 | ** Rastar Komas Ta'Norton, last prince of Therdan, [[spoiler:[[YouShallNotPass holds a vital gate into the Imperial Palace]]]]. |
| 184 | * In the final pages of ''Literature/QueenOfZazzau'', Amina is mortally wounded in battle. Her lover, the WarGod Dafaru, gives up his divinity to spare her life, and they [[RidingIntoTheSunset walk off into the sunset]] as mortals planning to find a new life elsewhere. |
| 185 | * ''Literature/TheRealBoy'': The wizards of Aletheia all turned themselves into trees, sacrificing their lives but not their essences, so that their roots could infuse the soil with magic that could end ThePlague that threatened to end all life on Aletheia. |
| 186 | * A couple in the ''Literature/RedDwarf'' book series: |
| 187 | ** [[spoiler:Rimmer]] of all people gets ''two'' of them at the end of ''Last Human''. The first is rescuing his crewmates [[spoiler:and his son]] from [[spoiler:Lister's other self]], who shoots out [[spoiler:his light bee]]. The second is using [[spoiler:the Oblivion virus]] to destroy The Rage. |
| 188 | ** [[spoiler:Ace]] in ''Backwards'', saving Lister from the Agonoid Pizzak'Rapp by jettisoning them both into space. |
| 189 | * In Book 2 of the ''Literature/{{Rihannsu}}'' series (''The Romulan Way''), Federation Ensign Luks rams his warp courier into a Romulan Warbird to allow the rebel Romulan cruiser ''Bloodwing'' to escape ch'Rihan orbit. In the backstory from the book, a Romulan who was secretly working with the Federation allows himself to be captured and executed; this has the effect of strengthening Terise [=LoBrutto=]/Arrhae t'Llhweiir's cover (a Federation agent pretending to be a Romulan). |
| 190 | * ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'': |
| 191 | ** King Haarahld at the end of ''Off Armageddon Reef'': needing their victory to be as complete as possible, he tried to intercept the last of their enemy fleet only for the enemy flagship's crew to board the King's in a suicide attack. Haarahld ended up fighting alongside an eleven-year-old midshipman, who threw himself between his king and an attacker with an arbalest. Immediately upon realizing what the boy was doing, Haarahld threw him aside and took the arabalest bolt in his leg, ultimately causing him to die of blood loss. This act, combined with his last words and his gallantry at sea, make King Haarahld a hero among his people. |
| 192 | ** The sacrifice of the original Nimue Alban. Nimue ''knowingly'' volunteered for what was a hopeless suicide battle not only to help get the last survivors of humanity to safety, but also to enact ThePlan to ensure its success. |
| 193 | ** In the fifth book, Prince Nahrmahn [[JumpingOnAGrenade throws himself between a bomb and his wife]] to save her life. |
| 194 | * ''Literature/SchooledInMagic'': Emily sacrifices herself to a demon to save Whitehall's students in ''Trial by Fire'', then the Grandmaster sacrifices himself to save Emily. |
| 195 | * ''Literature/ShadesChildren'': Ella, Drum and Shade go on the last mission to stop the Overlords, while knowing it will likely kill them, which it does. |
| 196 | * ''Literature/ShamanOfTheUndead'': In ''The Mirror Demon'', out of all creatures, [[spoiler:Bad Luck]] sacrifices itself to let Ida escape from Temper's world in the climax of the book. [[spoiler:Epilogue reveals he survived, for better or worse.]] |
| 197 | * In the FinalBattle of ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'', [[spoiler:Liam Ironarm for all his shang-dragon-ness realizes that he can't catch eight arrows at once and takes them to save Jonathan's life. Later the Shang Wildcat delivers a letter to Alanna, written by Liam before the last battle, which confirms that his death had been foretold.]] |
| 198 | * In ''Literature/SpaceGlass'', Amy uses a Polodium Missle Launcher to save Bob, knowing it might paralyze and kill her. |
| 199 | * In ''Franchise/StarCraft: Speed of Darkness'', the remaining {{Space Marine}}s willingly activate the psi-emitter to lure the Zerg to their bunker in order to buy precious time for the shuttles sent by the [[LaResistance Sons of Korhal]] to evacuate Mar Sara City (as shown in the game). None of the marines survive. |
| 200 | * In the ''Literature/StarTrekNovelVerse'', Captain Kirk's nephew Peter Kirk manages to "win" the [[UnwinnableTrainingSimulation Kobayashi Maru scenario]] with one of these by challenging the (Romulan) enemy commander to single combat while the Enterprise beams the Maru's crew onboard and flees. The examiner accuses him of cheating, but Spock explains it would have worked, as said challenge, which cannot be refused on pain of death, predates the Vulcan-Romulan schism and thus would work on Vulcans as well, though obviously not on Klingons. |
| 201 | -->'''Peter Kirk''': It's a no-win scenario, Mr. Spock, I'll give you that. But only for me. |
| 202 | * ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': |
| 203 | ** In the novelization of ''Literature/RevengeOfTheSith'', the dragon lizard that Obi-Wan rode on Utapau, named Boga, somehow sensed the clone attack coming and twisted herself in midair to take the brunt of the blasts, saving Obi-Wan's life. |
| 204 | ** In ''Literature/DarkDisciple'', Asajj Ventress began a relationship with Jedi Master Quinlan Vos and joined him in his mission to kill Count Dooku, ultimately sacrificing herself to save Vos by [[TakingTheBullet blocking Dooku's Force Lightning]]. |
| 205 | ** [[spoiler:Jangotat]] of ''The Cestus Deception'', a Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse novel, [[spoiler:is a clone who has just been given the knowledge that his life has meaning - he's an individual person, he can love - he then calls down an orbital strike on his own position to save millions, leaving a final loving message recorded for the woman who taught him he could be more.]] |
| 206 | ** ''Literature/OutboundFlight''. Jedi Knight Lorana Jinzler and Syndic Mitth'ras'safis (older brother of the more famous [[Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy Mitth'raw'nuruodo]]), in order to land the dying vessel in such a way that the last fifty-seven survivors won't be killed, had to spin the entire thing around so the side they are in is crushed into the planetoid. They aren't very happy about this, and each suggests that the other move and save themself, but they both know it will take two to pull it off, and they take it calmly. Unfortunately, the abridged audiobook cuts out this scene, so those who have only listened to it will never know about this. |
| 207 | --->'''Thrass''': "It appears we will both be dying to save your people." |
| 208 | ** ''Literature/BlackFleetCrisis'': Some of the Fallanassi taken captive by the Yevetha used their powers to make illusions so other captives could escape, remaining behind and maintaining them so their guards wouldn't know. Later, most die when the Yevethan ships they remain on are destroyed in battle. |
| 209 | ** ''Literature/NewJediOrder'': |
| 210 | *** In ''Vector Prime'', Chewbacca sacrifices himself while saving Han Solo's son. A gravitational weapon has pulled a backwater planet's moon out of orbit, and it's slowly falling towards the planet. Han, Chewie and Anakin Solo are busy loading the ''Falcon'' with refugees. But as Anakin is heading back to the Falcon, a chunk of debris cracks the back of his head and he goes down. Chewbacca notices and runs back to rescue Anakin. With the ''Falcon'' as packed as it is and the wind getting more turbulent, Chewie chooses to throw Anakin up to the people crowded on the landing ramp. The ''Falcon'' takes off because there's no more room for Chewie, and he dies roaring in defiance at the moon. |
| 211 | *** Later on in the same series of books, [[TooCoolToLive Anakin Solo]] is heading a mission with Jedi infiltrators to kill the source of a weapon that's slaughtering the Jedi. Partway through, he sustains a [[GameBreakingInjury nasty injury to his side]], which [[WoundThatWillNotHeal only gets worse]] because they're never able to stop, make camp and let him heal. As his condition becomes critical and the team is trapped in a small building, Anakin [[ICanStillFight takes a high powered blaster and his lightsaber]], tells the others he's going to give them an opening to escape, and charges out to face a group of warriors that rival Darth Maul in viciousness. The fight scene that follows is one of the most badass in all Star Wars. Also a TearJerker moment when he promises his girlfriend that he'll come back to see her, and it's clearly obvious (at least to the readers, if not the characters) that he won't. |
| 212 | *** Ganner Rhysode agrees to defend a gateway to the World Brain in order to give Jacen Solo time to put his plan into motion. Over a thousand warriors, each capable of killing a Jedi in a fair fight, versus one mediocre Jedi. The resulting carnage was so incredible, Ganner was made an impassable GOD in the Yuuzhan Vong pantheon after building a literal rampart of dead enemies before succumbing to a DeathOfAThousandCuts. His last act before death is to use the Force to ''collapse the building they're in'', killing all the remaining Vong in the process. |
| 213 | ** When a bounty is placed on all Jedi by Yuuzhan-Vong warmaster Tsavong Lah, Dorsk 82 is trapped on Ando by a mob of scared Aqualish. Most of the galaxy is afraid that if they don't immediately turn in or kill all Jedi, the Yuuzhan Vong will target their world next. Escape is highly unlikely, and if he did manage to he would have to kill many Aqualish. He decides that his life is not more valuable than all of theirs, and is gunned down while taking no defensive action. |
| 214 | * In ''Literature/SuperPowereds'', when a group of Super supremacists attacks Lander in book 3, some of the students elect to go topside in order to save the regular humans. [[spoiler: Alex and Sasha happen upon a [[SuperSpeed speedster]], whose power has been temporarily boosted up to eleven by the supremacist leader, so even Sasha, a speedster herself, can't keep up with him, and Alex's MindOverMatter isn't strong enough to contain him. The evil speedster decides to kill Alex and rushes him. At the last moment, Sasha interposes herself to save her boyfriend. When Vince finds them, he sees Alex cradling Sasha's dead body with a fist-sized hole in her chest. This not only sends Vince over the edge (Sasha was his friend and ex-girlfriend) and nearly has him kill the other speedster in TranquilFury (after all, what can a speedster do against someone who can absorb any type of energy, including kinetic?), but also gives Alex the determination to succeed no matter what in order to honor Sasha's sacrifice, which allows him to be among those graduating at the end of year 4.]] |
| 215 | * ''Literature/SweepTheStoryOfAGirlAndHerMonster'': After Nan and Wilkie Crudd both suffer a 200-foot drop from the top of the Matchstick, Wilkie Crudd is dead upon hitting the ground. Nan's impact is softened by a banner, but she still suffers fatal injuries when she hits the ground. [[{{Golem}} Charlie]] carries Nan's wounded body to the Sweep's grave and tells her the story of how [[spoiler:the Sweep was going to throw himself off a bridge, but decided not to when he found Nan abandoned on the street]]. He then [[spoiler:uses his healing powers to save Nan's life, healing all her injuries. However, doing so causes Charlie to give up his own life in the process]]. |
| 216 | * Sydney Carton from Creator/CharlesDickens's ''Literature/ATaleOfTwoCities'' is an enduring, classic and saddening version; he looks [[IdenticalStranger exactly like the man whom the woman he loves loves]], so [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy Sydney saves the other man from execution]] by replacing him during a visit to his cell. The last words of the book illustrate his possible LastWords, [[BeamMeUpScotty though more of an expression of his last thoughts]] than anything said out loud. |
| 217 | -->''It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is to a far, far better rest that I go, than I have ever known.'' |
| 218 | * In ''Literature/TheTestamentOfJessieLamb'', the sixteen year old protagonist decides to sacrifice herself by giving birth to a child, in a world where a disease kills every pregnant woman, but certain drugs can keep the body alive until the end of pregnancy. As a vaccine has been found with which frozen fetuses can be vaccinated, her child, if a girl, might be able to give birth without dying from it, but it is far from certain. [[MessianicArchetype Jessie's name is most likely no coincidence.]] |
| 219 | * ''Literature/TheseBrokenStars'': [[spoiler:After untold years of captivity and experimentation, the whispers only want to die. In the form of Tarver's dead brother, they tell him they'd happily die to save the resurrected Lilac. This gives him the idea to jump into the dimensional rift with Lilac, allowing them to use their own energy to save her at the cost of their lives.]] |
| 220 | * In ''Literature/ThoseThatWake'', [[spoiler:Mike does one to save Tommy and Annie]]. |
| 221 | ** The sequel has [[spoiler:Remak sacrificing himself to save Mal]], and [[spoiler:Mal sacrificing himself to save Laura]]. |
| 222 | * ''Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium'': |
| 223 | ** ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': Gandalf [[spoiler: [[YouShallNotPass delays the Balrog]], gets pulled into a nearly bottomless pit by its fiery whip, and then proceeds to fight it all the way up the Endless Stair, dying of his wounds and exhaustion after finally succeeding at the top of Celebdil. He is then [[BackFromTheDead brought back to life]] and becomes Gandalf the White.]] |
| 224 | ** ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'': Aredhel dies saving her son from a spear thrown by her husband Eöl. |
| 225 | ** ''Literature/TheChildrenOfHurin'': Huor, his brother Húrin and the whole Men tribe of Hador sacrifice themselves to let the army of Gondolin escape from Morgoth. |
| 226 | ** ''Literature/BerenAndLuthien'': |
| 227 | *** King Finrod Felagund follows Beren on his suicidal quest for a Silmaril knowing it will kill him, and dies saving him from a werewolf. |
| 228 | *** When Curufin fires an arrow at Luthien, Beren jumps in the way and gets hit instead. |
| 229 | ** ''Literature/TheFallOfGondolin'': When a Balrog intercepts a group of refugees of Gondolin fleeing from Morgoth's army, Glorfindel engages the demon and kills him by throwing him and himself off a cliff. |
| 230 | * [[spoiler: Robyn]] does this at the climax of the third book of Literature/TheTomorrowSeries, ''A Killing Frost.'' |
| 231 | * In ''Literature/TheTraitorSonCycle'', Prudentia sacrifices herself to provide the Red Knight with enough power (drawn from her soul) to let him fight [[TheDragon Thorn]] on even terms. |
| 232 | * ''Literature/TrappedOnDraconica''. After transforming into Mordak, [[spoiler: Kalak]] kills himself to prevent himself from killing Daniar. |
| 233 | * ''Literature/TheTravelersGate'': |
| 234 | ** [[spoiler:Kai allows himself to Incarnate when fighting the current [[PhysicalGod Valinhall Incarnation]]. Since there can't be two Incarnations at a time, this kills him slowly and painfully, but the strange effects this cause on the current Incarnation distract him long enough for Simon to defeat him]]. |
| 235 | ** In the backstory, Queen Cynara the First of Damasca plants the first Hanging Tree by sacrificing her life to it. [[spoiler:When the Founder of Ragnarus resurrects her and turns her into the Ragnarus Incarnation in an attempt to create an immortal ruler, she immediately lets the Tree trap her before she can lose her sanity]]. |
| 236 | * In Creator/RuthFrancesLong's ''Literature/TheTreacheryOfBeautifulThings'', Jack is warned that he will not return the same if he faces the nix. He goes anyway. |
| 237 | * Will’s cousin Henry in ''Literature/TheTripods'' trilogy by John Christopher dies when he gets out of his balloon and holds down the bomb that destroys the third city. The other two cities were taken out by a sneak attack involving alcohol in the water, but this one failed. The resistance uses balloons to drop bombs due to the home built airplanes they had getting killed by an electromagnetic pulse. Most bombs just bounce off the dome, prompting Henry to get out and hold his bomb down til it goes off. |
| 238 | * The ''Literature/{{Underdogs}}'' novel ''Tooth and Nail'' contains two examples. |
| 239 | ** Raj Singh is trapped behind an AME, a force field that causes anything made of metal to explode. He can't go through safely because of an operation on his spine when he was twelve. His capture by Grant's forces is imminent. He knows the location of the Underdogs' base, which he knows will be tortured out of him if he's caught, so he commits suicide by running through the field, causing an explosion that rips his body into several pieces. |
| 240 | ** Joseph [=McCormick=] has Lorraine sew explosives into his stomach so he can commit a suicide bombing in order to destroy the AME computer, which, if activated, could make New London invincible and ruin the Underdogs' chances of winning the war. |
| 241 | * Used in almost every book of ''Literature/TheUnderlandChronicles'' -- and not just from [[IdiotHero Gregor.]] Everyone wants to die for their loved ones. Sometimes this [[SenselessSacrifice doesn't help all that much.]] |
| 242 | * Near the end of ''[[Literature/RachelGriffin The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin]]'', Rachel realizes the villains are targeting a specific teacher; when she gets there, she finds the teacher down, horribly injured, and [[RedShirt one of the students]] lying across the body, as if he had tried to shield him. |
| 243 | * In ''[[Literature/VorkosiganSaga The Warrior's Apprentice]]'', the author had originally intended Konstantine Bothari to die protecting Miles from some bad guys or other. [[spoiler: Instead, his death is CartesianKarma, as he is shot by someone whom the villain of a previous book had manipulated him into raping, which makes it much more complicated for Miles to know how to respond, as he doesn't have an obvious 'bad guy' to be angry with.]] |
| 244 | * In the ''[[Franchise/WarcraftExpandedUniverse Warcraft]]: Literature/TheWarOfTheAncients'' trilogy by Creator/RichardAKnaak, [[spoiler:[[OurOrcsAreDifferent orc]] Broxigar]] makes a LastStand against the hordes of the [[spoiler:[[OurDemonsAreDifferent Burning Legion]]]] in order to give [[NatureHero Malfurion]] time to [[spoiler:close the portal. He]] even manages to wound [[spoiler:[[TheDevil Sargeras]]]] himself before dying. |
| 245 | ** [[http://www.wowpedia.org/Broxigar_Saurfang#cite_note-1 Just read his wiki page. The amount of awesome cannot be described with mere words.]] |
| 246 | ** [[spoiler:Malorn the White Stag]] is killed by [[TheDragon Archimonde]] with a NeckSnap, trying to save his son [[PhysicalGod Cenarius]] from the same fate. |
| 247 | * In Creator/DanAbnett's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novel ''Literature/{{Titanicus}}'', Varco, [[YouAreInCommandNow in command of a handful of soldiers because he had given orders when they were in disarray]], finds a tower [[spoiler: hiding the engines about to attack the planet. He brings it down at the cost of every life in the company. This not only alerts people to their existence, it stems off [[DividedWeFall internal disputes]] as their engines go to fight them off]]. |
| 248 | * In Aaron Dembski-Bowden's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novel ''Void Stalker'' Mercutian, badly wounded fighting the Phoenix Lord Jain Zar, stays behind to buy his fellow Night Lords time to escape. Jain Zar demolishes him but leaves him to bleed out, which turns out to be a huge mistake giving Mercutian the opening to shiv her in the thigh. He is promptly executed, but his last act gave the other Night Lords a chance at victory. |
| 249 | * In Creator/GrahamMcNeill's ''Warhammer 40000 Literature/{{Ultramarines}}'' short story "Chains Of Command", Captain Idaeus sacrifices his life to bring down a bridge the enemy is using (After [[TakeUpMySword passing on his sword to a subordinate]]). |
| 250 | ** In ''Nightbringer'', Virgil Ortega and his fellow Arbites seize the armory and rig it to explode, to keep it from the hands of the rebels, without regard for the danger. [[spoiler:Even when it becomes clear that it will cost all of them their lives.]] |
| 251 | ** In ''Dead Sky Black Sun'', [[spoiler:Leonid]], having persuaded Uriel to leave him behind because he is dying, explodes a grenade, taking out monsters that could have chased the escaping Marines. |
| 252 | * In Creator/JamesSwallow's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Literature/HorusHeresy'' novel ''The Flight of the Eisenstein'', the [[OldRetainer housecarl]] Kaleb thinks his master Garro is [[TheChosenOne chosen by the God-Emperor]] and so faced with a viral weapon, he saves his master for the Emperor's work. The Apothecary with Garro explicitly says that he gave up his life to save them. |
| 253 | * In Creator/JamesSwallow's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novel ''Faith & Fire'', Iona takes up the mask of Repentia, because honorable death is her only good fate, and it spares the rest of her squad. |
| 254 | * In Gav Thorpe's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} novel ''Angels of Darkness'', the Dark Angels are in a fortress where a virus is free. Boreas convinces them that their duty is to remain there and die, because their suits cannot preserve their lives longer than the virus can last, rather than unleash it on the world. Fearing what they might do when desperate, [[DrivenToSuicide they commit suicide together]]. |
| 255 | * The sacrifice of the HMS ''Thunderchild'' in HG Wells' ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds''. In a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome the torpedo ram destroys two Martian vessels at the cost of itself and her crew, allowing a fleet of refugee vessels to escape. Although London has fallen to the Martians, this victory and the ambush and destruction of a Martian tripod by a hidden artillery battery at Shepparton show that they're not invincible. |
| 256 | * In ''Literature/WarriorCats'', when badgers attack Thunderclan's camp, Cinderpelt, a Medicine Cat with a crippled leg, fights a badger one on one to protect the newborn kittens and their equally defenseless birthing mother in the nursery. While the badger ends up killing her, she delays it long enough for 2 Warriors to arrive and drive it away. |
| 257 | ** Feathertail protects the Tribe of Rushing Water, as well as her friends and her love interest Crowpaw, by impaling the mountain lion Sharptooh with a stalactite, impaling herself in the process. |
| 258 | ** When Fireheart and the other [=ThunderClan=] Warriors were risking their lives to chase Tigerstar's dog pack out of Snakerocks, Bluestar (who'd been sent to hide out at Sunningrocks with the rest of the Clan) rescued Fireheart from being killed by the dogs by attacking the leader of the pack at the last minute, sending both her and the dog into the gorge, where she drowned and lost her last life. This was despite distrusting every member of her Clan for the past book due to her SanitySlippage caused by Tigerstar's betrayal. |
| 259 | * ''Literature/WarsOfTheRealm'': [[spoiler:Ral, Jayt, and Persimus]] all sacrifice themselves to save Drew's and/or Validus' life. |
| 260 | * In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', [[spoiler:Ingtar]] and [[spoiler:Verin]]. Both fall into the [[RedemptionEqualsDeath redeem category]]. |
| 261 | ** The Dragon Reborn is fated to spill his blood in the final battle in order to save the world. [[spoiler: Though his blood is spilled, he procures a backup body and is ultimately saved.]] The mental preparation for this HeroicSacrifice contribute in large part to his descent into insanity over the course of the series. |
| 262 | ** In the finale, [[spoiler:Egwene]] figures out how to counter the damage of Balefire, but dies in the process of weaving that spell. She later berates the Dragon Reborn in his battle with the Dark One for assuming that only he was allowed to sacrifice himself. He'd been carrying the weight of that assumption throughout the entire series, that not only was he the leader but that he was the sacrificial lamb, and that any other deaths were a failing on his part. |
| 263 | ** [[spoiler:Lan]] nearly pulls this off taking down one of the Forsaken, but he's saved at the last minute. |
| 264 | ** Mat [[spoiler: gives one eye]] to save [[spoiler:Moiraine]]. The effects of that decision almost certainly saved the entire world in the beginning of the last book. |
| 265 | * ''Literature/WhenYouReachMe'': Marcus chases after Sal to try to apologize. The Laughing Man [[spoiler:Future!Marcus]] sacrifices himself to push Sal out of the way of a moving vehicle, saving his life. |
| 266 | * ''Literature/WordsOfRadiance'' (second book of ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive''): Kaladin attempts one [[spoiler:to prevent Elkohar from dying at Moash's hands. This ends up being just what Kaladin needs to redeem himself and regain his powers, so he survives]]. |
| 267 | * Cazaril in the ''Literature/WorldOfTheFiveGods'' book ''The Curse of Chalion'' -- three times. He still ends up alive. |
| 268 | * This happens twice in the ''Literature/XandriCorelel'' novel ''Tone of Voice''. |
| 269 | ** A Voice named [[NameThatUnfoldsLikeLotusBlossom Sings In The Depths Of Darkness]], aka Darksong, swims toward a bomb dropped by the [[AbsoluteXenophobe Last Hope for Humanity]], getting herself blown up so the other Voices can learn how close they can get to the bombs without setting them off and safely disable the others. |
| 270 | ** The anthropologist Hans Klee disables the ContainmentField that will eventually kill all the Hands and Voices inside it, but is currently protecting him from a [[SeaMonster disharmony]]. He is killed as soon as the field goes down. |
| 271 | * Diane Duane's ''Literature/YoungWizards'' series takes it as a given that defeating the Lone Power will require someone making a HeroicSacrifice. In particular, ''Deep Wizardry'' concerns one of the protagonists unintentionally signing away her life in payment for a previous act. Played even straighter when [[spoiler: Ed, the Eldest Shark, willingly substitutes himself.]] |
| 272 | ** Also in ''Literature/YoungWizards'', the avatar of a Power is taunted with the fact that to fully manifest, his passenger would have to kill the host and "he would never do that". The avatar promptly [[spoiler:responds with "But I would", and throws a spear ''intended'' to be deflected so that it veers back around and hits him in the chest. He doesn't die, but the intention of a heroic sacrifice was there, and he comes close enough that the Power is released]]. |
| 273 |
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