Follow TV Tropes

Following

You Leave Him Alone!

Go To

This is a common Stock Phrase 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 The Load 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 Big Bad, busy giving their obligatory lecture and gloating at their impending doom, The Power of Love or Friendship will kick in and kick in hard.

Staggering from his or her own grievous physical (and often emotional) wounds, the good-hearted Everyman takes a deep breath and shouts on the top of his or her breath "You leave him/her/them alone!" and gains the Heroic Resolve to righteously kick the ass of evil that dared to lay its hands on their 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 Chekhov's Gunman or at least be using a Chekhov's Skill. 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 Heroic Sacrifice.

See also Papa Wolf, Mama Bear, Beware the Nice Ones and Sudden Principled Stand.


Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Anime & Manga 
  • Saten Ruiko in A Certain Scientific Railgun as she smashes the 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 Dragon Ball Z 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 Eyeshield 21 up until Sena reveals himself to be the running back of the Devil Bats.

    Films — Animation 

    Films — Live-Action 
  • Ripley's ultimate Mama Bear moment in Aliens: "Get away from her, you bitch!"
  • "Her" instead of "him" is used by George McFly in Back to the Future, 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 Unstoppable Rage and a very solid left hook.
  • The Brady Bunch Movie 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 Dead Man Walking 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 Galaxy Quest, Jason Nesmith says this to Big Bad Sarris when the latter is torturing the leader of the Thermians.
  • The moment Indy switches from being a money-first mercenary to a proper Papa Wolf in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom comes when he sees the cultists whipping Short Round:
    Indy: Leave him alone, you bastards!
  • Kick-Ass: What 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 The Last Airbender: 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.
  • Samwise Gamgee to Shelob in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. As Shelob is webbing up the unconscious Frodo, preparing to eat him alive, Sam arrives in full Roaring Rampage of Rescue 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 Shaun of the Dead, as his Too Dumb to Live friend is doomed by the bites of a swarm of zombies.

    Literature 
  • A Certain Magical Index:
    • Epically invoked by 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.

    Live-Action TV 
  • Angel: Fred does this in "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.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
  • In Designated Survivor, 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 Doctor Who episode "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.
  • Extraordinary Attorney Woo: 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 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 Marcella, the titular main character finds the Serial Killer, Jane Colletti, she is been hunting for the Story Arc, 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 Star Trek: Voyager episode "Cold Fire", when a Sufficiently Advanced Alien 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 Kes to get dangerous.
  • Succession: Kendall is terrified of his father most of the time, and for damn good reason. He spends most of Season Two as an Empty Shell, forced to carry out his father's bidding, and accepting all the 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 "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 a clear indication that he loves his siblings despite their dysfunctional relationship.
  • Played for laughs in the Two and a Half Men 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.

    Video Games 

    Visual Novels 
  • Anyone playing the BBL route in Hatoful Boyfriend who's seen Yuuya's route knows that he's a Teen Superspy, but otherwise he comes off as a Chivalrous Pervert 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."

    Webcomics 

    Web Videos 
  • In the Season 2 finale of the Dream SMP, 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.

    Western Animation 
  • Captain Planet and the Planeteers: In "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.
  • The Superhero Squad Show: 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 Teen Titans (2003), 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 Pick on Someone Your Own Size?", and they use their innate powers to kick ass.


 
Feedback

Video Example(s):

Top

Isabella vs Giant Buford

When Isabella faces down Giant Buford, Phineas worries for her safety.

How well does it match the trope?

4 (12 votes)

Example of:

Main / BigNo

Media sources:

Report