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This is a common {{Stock Phrase|s}} utilized in a work of the action genre, mostly used by someone who up to this point in the plot has been ineffectual compared to his or her highly trained or super-powered friends.

They may even have been TheLoad to their companions -- such is their supposed uselessness in combat -- but should they be the last man standing when all their warrior companions have fallen to the invincible might of the BigBad, busy giving their obligatory [[BreakThemByTalking lecture]] and gloating at their impending doom, ThePowerOfLove or [[ThePowerOfFriendship Friendship]] will kick in and kick in hard.

Staggering from his or her own grievous physical (and often emotional) wounds, the good-hearted [[TheEveryman Everyman]] takes a deep breath and shouts on the top of his or her breath "You leave him/her/them alone!" and gains the HeroicResolve to righteously kick the ass of evil that dared to lay its hands on their [[{{Protectorate}} beloved friends]].

This is the turning point of a character who will earn the respect of the other characters. They may end up as the ChekhovsGunman or at least be using a ChekhovsSkill. Tragically, this burst of heroic resolve will often not be able to compensate for their lack of practical combat experience and/or lack of power, so this trope will also often overlap with HeroicSacrifice.

See also PapaWolf, MamaBear, BewareTheNiceOnes and SuddenPrincipledStand.
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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Saten Ruiko in ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'' as she smashes the [[PowerNullifier Capacity Down]] device paralyzing her friends, just in time to stop Therestina from killing them.
* Invoked by the first time by four-year-old Son Gohan of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' as he demolishes his uncle Raditz, stopping him from beating his father Son Goku to death.
* Mamori does this in defense of Sena all the time in ''Manga/Eyeshield21'' up until Sena reveals himself to be the running back of the Devil Bats.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/BaltoIIWolfQuest'', Balto snarls at Niju "Leave her be!" when the latter tries attacking his daughter Aleu for defending [[CoolOldGuy Nava]]. This helps a lot since his (literal) PapaWolf mode activates right away.[[note]]Crossing into FridgeHorror territory, [[DirtyOldMan Niju's position when trying to keep Aleu pinned down sort of looks like he's about to do something unspeakable to her]].[[/note]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfTheGuardiansTheOwlsOfGahoole'', Soren tells [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Nyra]] "You leave her be!" when the evil owl taunts Gylfie.
* The title character of ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'' shouts this at [[DisposableFiance Kocoum]] as she tries to stop him from fighting John Smith. It doesn't work; Kocoum simply pushes her away.
* Russell in ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'' as he gains the HeroicResolve to save Carl from evil biplane flying dogs.
* When ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' sees the other Sugar Rush racers bullying Vanellope, despite not liking her before, he yells "HEY! LEAVE HER ALONE!" and runs down the hill, yelling and roaring until they flee.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Ripley's ultimate MamaBear moment in ''Film/{{Aliens}}'': "Get away from her, you bitch!"
* "Her" instead of "him" is used by George [=McFly=] in ''Film/BackToTheFuture1'', standing up to the school bully Biff Tannen for the first time to keep him from raping Lorraine. While possessing the resolve, he seems to lack the confidence and the physical prowess, at least for a few minutes... until Biff solves the problem by shoving Lorraine (who herself says the phrase when she tries to get Biff to let go of George’s arm before he breaks it) to the ground and laughing about it. Cue UnstoppableRage and a very solid left hook.
* ''Film/TheBradyBunchMovie'' features the original Peter Brady, Christopher Knight, in a scene as a coach who stops two boys from thoroughly bullying the ''movie'' Peter:
-->'''Coach:''' Hey. Do it, and die.
* The execution scene in ''Film/DeadManWalking'' is juxtaposed with flashbacks of the inmate and his friend's murder of a teenage couple. As the two take turns raping the girl, her boyfriend can be heard screaming "Leave her alone!", even as he himself is being beaten to death.
* In ''Film/GalaxyQuest'', Jason Nesmith says this to BigBad Sarris when the latter is torturing the leader of the Thermians.
* The moment Indy switches from being a money-first mercenary to a proper PapaWolf in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'' comes when he sees the cultists whipping Short Round:
-->'''Indy:''' ''Leave him alone, you bastards!''
* ''Film/KickAss'': What [[NiceGuy Dave]], a dorky teenager with ''no'' fighting skills '''whatsoever''' shouts to give himself the courage to defend a mugging-victim from being murdered by three thugs.
* Not so impressive example from ''Film/TheLastAirbender'': Katara says this line when she runs over and shoves a Fire Nation guard who had been mocking Aang. The not so impressive part comes from the fact that after she shoves him, no one does anything for about a minute, and ultimately Aang has to use his Airbending to throw the guard away when he attacks Katara.
* [[UndyingLoyalty Samwise Gamgee]] to [[GiantSpider Shelob]] in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing''. As Shelob is webbing up the unconscious Frodo, preparing to eat him alive, Sam arrives in full RoaringRampageOfRescue mode, wielding a sword and Galadriel's phial, and ferociously demands she release his friend.
-->'''Sam:'''' Let him go, you ''filth''. Let him go! You will not touch him again!
* Shaun in ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'', as his TooDumbToLive friend is doomed by the bites of a swarm of zombies.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'':
** Epically invoked by [[TheHero Kamijou Touma]] as he challenges the seemingly invincible Accelerator in order to rescue Misaka Imouto.
** Just when you thought Kamijou Touma couldn't one-up that, he does in ''New Testament'' Volume 9 when he essentially does this to the entire world after he decides to save Othinus.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': Fred does this in "[[Recap/AngelS04E03TheHouseAlwaysWins The House Always Wins]]" when the guards at the casino beat on Gunn, though she gets a gun pointed at her just after. It's Angel who saves the day.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E3SchoolHard School Hard]]", Joyce hits Spike on the head with a fire axe, exclaiming "[[MamaBear You get the hell away from my daughter!]]"
** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E14Innocence Innocence]]", Angel and Buffy are both badass, but they're facing the Judge, who is {{Nigh Invulnerab|ility}}le.
--->'''Angel:''' Leave her [Buffy] alone!\\
'''Spike:''' [[SarcasmMode Yeah, that'll work.]] Now say pretty please.
** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E6BandCandy Band Candy]]", Giles, while high on magical candy, does this when one of the mooks at the candy factory goes after Joyce.
* In ''Series/DesignatedSurvivor'', despite having his own doubts about Kirkman, Seth shuts down a mouthy White House staffer who bitches about how it could never be foreseen that a "glorified real estate agent" would become President.
-->'''Seth:''' Why the hell do you think there's a designated survivor, Nicky? Because this was foreseen. Now shut up and let me work.
* Subverted for laughs in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E7AmysChoice Amy's Choice]]" when the Dream Lord threatens Amy:
-->'''Doctor:''' Leave her alone!\\
'''Dream Lord:''' Do that again. I love it when he does that. Tall, dark, hero... "Leave her alone!"\\
'''Rory:''' Just leave her.\\
'''Dream Lord:''' Yes... You're not quite so impressive.
* ''Series/ExtraordinaryAttorneyWoo'': In high school, Geu-ra-mi was a hotheaded delinquent, but she couldn't stand idly by and watch while Young-woo was being horrifically bullied, especially since the teacher was no help whatsoever. After witnessing a particularly cruel prank, she first smacked the girl who was tormenting Young-woo, and then grabbed a chair and threatened to toss it at anyone who wanted to give [[BoyfriendBluff her "girlfriend"]] any more trouble. Neither Young-woo or Geu-ra-mi were ever popular in school, but the other students were scared enough of Geu-ra-mi that their subsequent friendship gave Young-woo some much-needed protection.
* In Series 2 of ''Series/{{Marcella}}'', the titular main character finds the SerialKiller, [[spoiler:Jane Colletti]], she is been hunting for the StoryArc, [[spoiler:after she has kidnapped her son Edward, just as she is about to lobotomise him. Marcella responds by taking Colletti's own daughter hostage at knife-point and demanding with white-hot fury she gets away from her son]].
* In the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS2E10ColdFire Cold Fire]]", when a SufficientlyAdvancedAlien keeps pushing Kes to join them and not worry about the death of the ''Voyager'' crew, Neelix yells, "Leave her alone!" and runs at him. It doesn't take, but seeing him thrown backwards by her harasser causes [[ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend Kes]] to get dangerous.
* ''Series/{{Succession}}'': Kendall is terrified of his father most of the time, and for [[AbusiveParents damn good reason]]. He spends most of Season Two as an EmptyShell, forced to [[DaddysLittleVillain carry out his father's bidding]], and accepting all the [[TraumaCongaLine emotional abuse]] because he feels like he deserves it. However, when Daddy Dearest actually strikes Kendall's younger brother Roman so hard that he knocks out a tooth, Kendall ''immediately'' gets in his father's face and screams "[[BigBrotherInstinct Don't you fucking touch him]]!" before going to attend to his brother alongside their sister. Even though he reverts to being a puppet on a string soon after, it's a very big show of bravery from Kendall, and [[AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther a clear indication that he loves his siblings]] despite their dysfunctional relationship.
* Played for laughs in the ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'' episode "Good Morning, Mrs. Butterworth" when Alan points out to Charlie that he needs him to keep Chelsea occupied. Charlie admits that he's right, but realizes that his dummy is expendable and threatens to do away with him unless he stops "text-blocking" him.
-->'''Alan:''' Just let him go, Charlie. This is between you and me.\\
'''Charlie:''' ''[holding the dummy by its head]'' Not anymore.\\
'''Alan:''' Don't you dare hurt him!\\
'''Charlie:''' Well now, that's entirely up to you. His tiny wooden head is in your hands.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'': Kairi shouts this when she sees Sora getting attacked by Heartless and proceeds to jump down from a balcony to protect him. With no weapon of her own, she's initially overwhelmed, until [[spoiler:Riku]] shows up and gives her [[spoiler:a Keyblade]].
* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'': [[GenkiGirl Mission Vao]] recalls calling this out to some thugs [[BullyingADragon who were harassing Zaalbar]] and charging them. Being about twelve at that point, she got pummeled pretty badly. Of course, [[BewareTheNiceOnes this ticked off Zaalbar and he wiped the floor with every last one of them]]. The two have been [[FireForgedFriends best of friends ever since]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* Anyone playing the BBL route in ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend'' who's seen Yuuya's route knows that he's a [[spoiler:TeenSuperspy]], but otherwise he comes off as a ChivalrousPervert at best. And then there's BBL. Less of a physical turning point, but it and what it leads to causes a radical shift in how he's seen as a ''character''.
-->''"Stop that, Isa! I told you not to touch my brother."''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' Galatea goes berserk on Riboflavin, screaming [[https://bobadventures.thecomicseries.com/comics/502 "Stop hurting my uncle, you wretch!"]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* In the Season 2 finale of the ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'', Punz and about fourteen others show up in Dream's vault to save Tommy and Tubbo. As they run over to the group, Dream makes one last grab for them, but is blocked by Sapnap and Puffy.
-->'''Sapnap:''' Step away from them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'': In "[[Recap/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteersS2E1MindPollution Mind Pollution]]", Verminous Skumm becomes a drug dealer and manipulates Linka's cousin into drugging her food, getting her hooked. When Linka downs a pill, Skumm puts his hand on her shoulder while encouraging her to feed her addiction. Wheeler yells at him to take his paws off her and nearly charges him. Luckily, Kwame grabs his shoulder and reminds him that he can't get through Skumm's mob.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperheroSquadShow'': In "Planet Hulk", the Hulk -- after being exiled to another planet by the Dark Surfer -- sees a group of Brood delivering a Rodney King-type beating to one of their kind; roaring "You leave little bug alone!" the Hulk delivers a ''serious'' ass-kicking.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'', Raven is given the job of bringing three young potential superheroes to a safety place and tries to keep them away from the danger chasing them. During the episode's climax, Mallah gets the upper hand on Raven, prompting the kids to yell, "Hey, you big ape! Why don't you PickOnSomeoneYourOwnSize?", and they use their innate powers to kick ass.
[[/folder]]

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