Undying Loyalty / Live-Action TV

Undying Loyalty in live-action TV.

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• 24: Chloe O'Brian towards Jack Bauer.
• The Adventures of Slim Goodbody: It actually seems like Stuffin', the henchman of The Gobbler, has this toward The Gobbler: at one point The Gobbler ate so much, he couldn't get up from his chair—-and this happened at the exact moment when his identity and Stuffin's identities were revealed. Instead of leaving his boss to be captured, he slowed himself down by carrying The Gobbler away!
• In The Almighty Johnsons, Stacy is the goddess Fulla, handmaiden to the goddess Frigg. So when she meets Frigg, not only is she the only one who is one hundred percent sure of who she is (everyone else can immediately tell she's a powerful goddess, but everything else is up in the air), she's also perfectly willing to do anything for her despite having known her for less than a day. Example: Stacy hates taking orders, but the episode after Frigg is introduced, she's seen helping her with her hair without a word of complaint. Unfortunately, that's not Frigg. Whoops.
• Ahsoka, Sabine is totally devoted to Ezra and wants him to come home. This is eventually subverted, when it is made clear that her supposed loyalty is only caused by emotional problems, and she is willing to destroy Ezra's sacrifice in order to get him back.
• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Nearly everyone under Phil Coulson's command is willing to follow him to the ends of the Earth—literally, on occasion. Special note goes to Melinda May, the Team Mom to Coulson's Team Dad. When Coulson refuses to join HYDRA, the Clairvoyant doesn't even bother making the same offer to May.
  The Clairvoyant: I know you'd follow him to the grave so...
• The A-Team: So very much. Their loyalty to one another is so strong that in the beginning of Season 5, Hannibal, Face, and B.A. are willing to face the firing squad so Murdock won't have to. Don't worry. They all make it out just fine. And in the second season episode "Curtain Call"', Face makes it quite clear that he is willing to risk capture and being sent to prison in order to get the proper medical supplies to save Murdock's life. And those are just two examples. The whole show is filled with moments like those.
• Babylon 5:
  • Lennier to Delenn, Vir to Londo.
  • Also Ranger Marcus Cole to Delenn, who once fought a Duel to the Death against a rival Warrior who wanted to assassinate her. The fact that she could inspire such loyalty, particularly in a human, convinced her rival that she deserved leadership of the Rangers.
• Bones: Booth shows a lot of this trope. He was willing to do whatever was necessary to protect Brennan, even before they were an Official Couple. The best example is when he pulled a The Patient Has Left the Building to save Brennan from a rogue agent even though he was in a You Can Barely Stand situation. He's also made it clear that you don't mess with 'his people', meaning not only his family and friends, but the lab people as well. On a larger scale, he is shown to be fiercely loyal to the FBI, to the point where the conspiracy of agents that nearly killed him and sent him to prison left him severely shaken and unable to trust anyone that wasn't Brennan for a time. Brennan has also shown strong loyalty to Booth through the series, refusing to work with anyone else, at least without complaining about it a lot. And she pulled out all the stops to rescue him when he was kidnapped and tortured in one episode. Granted, she was working with her dad to an extent, and he's rather fearsome on his own, but she's shown being protective of Booth even without her dad around.
• Breaking Bad:
  • This trope is lampshaded with near Once an Episode regularity regarding Walt and Jesse. It's a rather interesting case, as they're frequently at each other's throats, sometimes just because they're mad at one another, and sometimes much more seriously than that. Mike mentions it more than others as he is fond of Jesse's loyalty but loathes who the loyalty is directed at. Towards the end of the half-fifth season, Jesse breaks it when he finally realizes how far Walt has gone and and he, himself, becomes The Atoner.
  • Jesse's two best friends, Badger and Skinny Pete, display this towards him, particularly during El Camino. When they discover Jesse dishevelled and on the run, they take him into their house without question, and help him escape from the police. Skinny Pete specifically takes the fall for Jesse and gets arrested for harbouring him, even giving Jesse his beanie (which he never took off before this moment) as a sentimental keepsake before parting ways.
  • When Gus completes his plan to wipe out the heads of the Juarez Cartel, he yells out to any cartel soldiers still at the compound that all their bosses are dead, so they have no reason to keep fighting, but are welcome to try if they want to fight for nothing (it's mostly a bluff, since all he has is Jesse and Mike, and Gus is weakened by poison). Most of the soldiers heed him, taking as much money as they can carry and booking it, but one does choose to face Gus regardless, Hector's grandson, Joaquin. This proves to have wide reaching consequences.
  • Hank's partner and best friend in the DEA is Gomez, who sticks by him all the way through the series, through thick and thin. He's fully aware that Hank's actions in the second half of season 5 are bending the law at best, and that assisting in any way pretty much dooms his job, too. While he expresses some misgivings about Hank's plans, he backs his former partner absolutely. Unfortunately, this leads to both Hank and Gomez's deaths by the Neo-Nazis.
• Burn Notice: Michael, Sam and Fiona (and later Jesse) go to rather extreme lengths to look out for each other. Sam and Fiona start off pretty rocky, and Jesse's loyalty wavers when he finds out the truth of who burned him, but ultimately, they're all willing to risk their lives to help each other.
• Chuck: Loyalty is a common theme, but perhaps most notable in Morgan. He repeatedly risks life and limb for the gang without a moment's hesitation. He's so loyal and daring that even Casey is impressed.
• Control Z: Natalia's sister, María, always stays by her side, even when the former treats her very poorly and after her theft is revealed to the school by the hacker, at least until Natalia reaches her breaking point after Rosita forces everyone to ignore her during Raúl's party, as anyone seen speaking to her would be banned from attending the NONA. Later on, this trope is revived in the second season when María teams up with Natalia to help her pay off the drug dealers who threaten to kill her.
• CSI: Grissom to Sara, even before their Relationship Upgrade. He butted heads with Ecklie because Ecklie considered her a 'loose cannon with a gun', but Grissom refused to fire her. He's also done the same for Warrick on a few occasions. Basically, he's that way with all of his people and they do not like the few times he's gotten in trouble and they've had to work with someone else. They all look out for each other.
• CSI NY: Mac definitely puts a high priority on loyalty, both to his country, the lab, and his people. He's defended Danny several times against superiors who felt Danny wasn't psychologically suited for the job, and he's defended Stella a few times as well. He's made it clear that an Attack on One Is an Attack on All, and all of his people tend to look out for each other. Mac also remains loyal to his past as a Marine, and doesn't take kindly to the guy who killed a Marine in one episode.
• Daredevil (2015): James Wesley to Wilson Fisk. His loyalty extends beyond even the business aspect of it all. He attempts to help his boss woo the woman that he's infatuated with and seems only to want to make sure that he's as happy as possible. At one point, he even breaks Fisk's explicit orders that he be left alone during an internal crisis, in order to bring Vanessa in so that she can help him through it.
• The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance:
  • Gurjin to Rian. He has been best friends with Rian for ages and has always been by his side, as Gurjin trusts him till the end and refuses to let anyone talk bad about him or sell him out.
  • Skekvar the General to Skekso the Emperor. Skekvar is the most loyal of Skekso's supporters and is the only Skeksis who approves of his leadership and always stays on his good side no matter what. As Skekso treats him with the most respect out of all the Skeksis and is the only one he trusts the most as he also shares his secrets in return. Skekvar even disproves of anyone who questions Skekso and his rule over Thra.
• Day Break (2006): Detective Andrea Battle, Hopper's partner, will always believe his innocence, even when all the evidence points to Hopper being Garza's killer, and performs a Heroic Sacrifice in episode 2 to ensure Hopper's escape.
• Doctor Who:
  • "New Earth": Lady Cassandra's Sycophantic Servant Chip is so loyal to her that he willingly volunteers for Grand Theft Me when she's in need of a body, despite knowing it means his death.
  • Martha Jones, a loyal friend if there ever was one, endures months of mistreatment and racist harassment, and later, a full year of walking a dystopian wasteland all by herself, for the sake of the Doctor's safety.
  • Rory Williams. Rather than jumping forward in time with the Doctor, quick and easy, he chooses to stay behind and guard the Pandorica for 2,000 years (knowing that he will be conscious the whole time) to ensure that Amy is safely locked inside of it despite the Doctor assuring him that Amy will be fine and warning him that the wait will drive him insane. Not even a little inconvenience like being erased from history is going to keep him away from Amy.
    Rory: Will she be safer if I stay? Look me in the eye, and tell me she won't be safer. Answer me!
    [Beat]
    The Doctor: [resignedly] ...yes. Obviously.
    Rory: Then how could I leave her?
  • If anything is remotely possible within the laws of physics, the Doctor is probably willing to do anything in his power to achieve it if Clara Oswald asked it of him. An interesting example is that this is in large parts born out of gratitude for multiple significant incidents where she went to great lengths to support him, and that you wouldn't guess it at all by the way they usually argue, boss each other around, and address each other with very little courtesy. It is only after a major personal tragedy drives her to a crass breach of trust that the full extent of his devotion becomes clear:
    "Do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?"
    • Cranked up to eleven in Series 9 when not only does Clara exhibit dangerously undying loyalty towards the Doctor (to the point of starting to believe him invincible and, by extension, herself), but when she is Killed Off for Real, the Doctor spends billions of years on a self-torturing Batman Gambit to get her back.
• Dracula (2013):
  • Renfield is utterly loyal to Dracula, as he saved his life and also hired him when no one else would in the US due to racism, which he doesn't share.
  • Likewise with Dracula's vampiric minions, though that seems more compulsive than voluntary.
• Firefly:
  • Dr. Simon Tam is devoted to being The Caretaker and, when required, the Papa Wolf to his disturbed little sister River. Naturally, she responds in the Big Damn Movie. In his case, he usually leads, because he is, of course, the big brother. He is, like Sam Gamgee, very much a Determinator.
  • Effectively he takes on the traditional jobs of Brother, Father, Mother, Doctor, Therapist, and Bodyguard all at once, probably for the rest of his life, all the while fleeing from the law. All for Mei-Mei.
    "Mei-Mei, all I have is right here."
    • And he gives up a guaranteed life of safety, prestige, power, luxury, and riches to do it.
  • River herself does this, as well.
    "No. You take care of me, Simon. You've always taken care of me. My turn."
  • And Mal. Because if you turn on any of his crew, you turn on him.
  • Zoe's characterization is primarily based on her loyalty to Mal. The main source of tension in her marriage is that she seems more devoted to Mal than to her husband. Zoe, on the other hand, is just as loyal to Mal, but still showed zero hesitation in rescuing Wash over Mal when they were captured and tortured. Her first loyalty is definitely to her husband, even if Wash is slow to realize it.
• The Flash (2014):
  • Cisco and Caitlin remained loyal to Dr. Wells even after the particle accelerator explosion. This all changed when they discover he was in fact Eobard Thawne, the Reverse-Flash.
  • Grodd remains loyal to his "father" Eobard Thawne and goes ballistic when he finds someone impersonating him.
  • King Shark is perhaps the only meta of Earth-2 whose loyalty to Zoom is genuine. Even after spending weeks in prison, all he talks about is how Zoom wants the Flash dead.
• The whole Friends gang. They'll defend and support each other against anything and anyone, and several times drop outsiders for the sake of the gang. Joey is probably the most stand-out example.
• Fringe:
  • Most of the team (actually, both teams) towards each other, but especially the core family of Peter, Walter, and Olivia.
  • In later seasons, Lincoln Lee in both universes comes to be one of the most loyal characters in the show.
  • Also, heartbreakingly, Nina towards the end of Season 5.
• Game of Thrones:
  • While House Tyrell joined the Lannisters out of a desire to gain more political power, Ser Loras Tyrell himself only wanted to avenge Lord Renly Baratheon's murder. Commanding a cavalry charge while wearing his deceased lover's armour is quite a Grand Romantic Gesture, as it was Loras's way of honouring the vow he had made to Renly in Season 1.
  • Davos Seaworth towards Stannis Baratheon, so very much. He doesn't hold any grudge towards Stannis for cutting off the top halves of his fingers on one hand (considering it a just punishment), and serves him as a highly competent adviser who makes up for Stannis's lack of social skills. Despite his misgivings about waging war against enemies that outnumber them, he remains loyal to Stannis and will follow wherever he leads. Stannis, for his part, is well aware of this, and rewards Davos by appointing him as his Hand of the King. The two are also basically Heterosexual Life-Partners. His loyalty is frequently displayed in-universe.
    • His loyalty despite Stannis cutting off his fingers is lampshaded in-universe by Salladhor. Davos explains it's because Stannis raised him up to nobility, which ensured Matthos a future Davos could never have dreamed of providing for.
      Salladhor Saan: You Westerosi are funny people. Man cuts off your fingers, you fall in love with him!
    • A more subtle instance of this happens when Davos is stranded on an islet in Blackwater Bay after the destruction of Stannis's fleet. When a ship sees him and sends out a boat to investigate, they ask him which king he serves. Davos knows fully well that they might well be serving Joffrey, and he doesn't even know if Stannis is alive. He still answers "Stannis Baratheon".
    • When he's thrown in a dungeon under charges of treason, Davos remains loyal to Stannis and when Shireen asks him if he really is a traitor, he accepts that he is. Furthermore emphasised in "Mhysa", when Stannis prepares to sentence him to death for letting Gendry escape, Davos informs him that he'll fully accept that if it's his will, but since he's not removed him as Hand of the King yet, then as Hand, he'd advise Stannis that it would be a mistake.
  • Following Stannis's death, Davos has now shifted it to Jon Snow as he is one of the many among the crowd to proclaim him King in the North.
  • After Jon Snow learns Samwell Tarly's rough backstory, he takes Sam under his protection and sticks up for him against Ser Alliser and some other bullies in the Night's Watch. In return, Sam develops this for Jon and is able to overcome his cowardly nature several times for Jon's sake. A great example is when, in Season 5, he nominates Jon to run against Ser Alliser as Lord Commander of the Night's Watch — despite knowing that Alliser will make Sam's life hell for doing this if Alliser wins anyway — because Sam knows that Alliser will make Jon's life hell otherwise and that Jon deserves it more but is too honorable to nominate himself.
  • Despite Tyrion's fall from power, his squire Podrick Payne still remains loyal to him, even more so than Bronn, as he's not even paid by Tyrion. He even returns back to Tyrion the fee the latter paid Pod's whores despite Tyrion not expecting it back. In Season 4, Tyrion is accused of Joffrey's death, but Pod refuses to betray or abandon him even after Tyrion himself warns him that remaining loyal to him will likely lead to torture and/or death. Tyrion has no choice but to order Podrick to leave his service and King's Landing since he does not want Podrick to die for him. Tyrion's parting words to him: "There has never lived a more loyal squire."
  • Brienne is a double example and this almost leads to disaster. She remains dedicated to King Renly, even after his death, swearing to avenge him and becoming furious and forceful when Jaime insults his homosexuality one time too many, forcefully grabbing his head and looking like she wants to kill him. Her vow to bring the prisoner to King's Landing alive is the only thing that prevented her from carrying out her wish. She still refers to Renly as her king in "Two Swords." At the same time, Brienne swore loyalty to Catelyn Stark directly after Renly's death and vowed to retrieve her daughters and protect them. She points out to Jaime: "I don't serve House Stark, I serve Lady Catelyn". Later, she still insists on bringing Sansa and Arya to safety after Catelyn's death.
  • Even though Daenerys has already purchased the unquestioning obedience of the Unsullied, when she frees them, she earns the vast majority's loyalty even beyond their Unsullied conditioning.
  • This is the job description of a Dothraki bloodrider. If their khal dies, they are to avenge his death, escort his khaleesi to Vaes Dothrak, and then join their khal in death.
  • The people of the North, both the high lords and the smallfolk, have this for their Stark overlords, so much that they will refuse to follow anyone else even on pain of death. This is a bit of deconstruction, as no one in the North will ally themselves with one of the few people who can and is willing to help them because he is both of the south and not a Stark, even if it's in their best interest. This dates back to even Robert's Rebellion as Stannis Baratheon notes that even with the much loved Ned Stark, the future and charismatic king Robert had trouble controlling them. Tragically, Season 6 reveals Robb's actions in the War of the Five Kings have broken this, with many in the North blaming him and his house for all they've lost, especially at the Red Wedding. Not only have the Karstarks and Boltons betrayed them, but the Umbers use Jon's actions as Lord Commander (letting the Wildlings through the Wall) to side with the Boltons, the Glovers refuse to aid Sansa and Jon in taking back Winterfell, and the Mormonts refuse to give their help until heavily persuaded. However, by the end of Season 6, the bonds of loyalty are seemingly restored as the Starks claim victory over the Boltons and many Northern Houses are ashamed of not standing by them when Jon and Sansa first called for aid, which leads them to not only re-declare for House Stark but to also crown Jon Snow the new King in the North. Specific examples of Northerners with Undying Loyalty to the Starks include:
    • Even though maesters are supposed to serve the realm and no particular family, it's clear Luwin is more loyal to the Starks. Even when advising Theon, he's attempting to protect Bran and Rickon.
    • Osha to the Stark boys in particular, but she reveals in "The Rains of Castermere" that she has this loyalty to the entire house due to their taking her in despite having no reason to do so.
    • Rodrik Cassel. This results in his death and he seems to literally fall under this trope since he tells Bran that he'll be seeing Ned soon, implying that he intends to serve Lord Stark even in the afterlife.
    • Septa Mordane to the Starks and Sansa, hence her Heroic Sacrifice.
    • Nymeria to Arya. She's forced to leave her but is never too far.
    • House Reed to House Stark, more so than even other Northern Houses. Even with the Starks defeated and Winterfell burned, the Reed children continue to follow and protect Bran Stark as his brother Robb's heir (and to guide him to his magical destiny beyond the Wall).
    • Howland Reed to Eddard Stark. He was one of Eddard's personal companions during Robert's Rebellion.
    • House Mormont. Lyanna Mormont lets Stannis know in no uncertain terms that House Mormont will only follow House Stark telling him "We know no king but the King in the North, whose name is Stark". When Jon and Sansa call upon her to aid them against the Boltons, Lyanna eventually decides to uphold their millennia-old alliance and fight with them once again. Once the Stark alliance reclaims Winterfell, her scathing words shame all the other northern lords, many of which did not answer the Starks' call, and then she becomes Jon's kingmaker. Despite being unable to devote not even a hundred troops to the Battle of the Bastards, she turned out to be by far the most valuable ally that Jon and Sansa recruited.
      Lyanna: House Mormont has kept faith with House Stark for a thousand years. We will not break faith today.
    • House Glover, until Lord Robett's reign, as Robett refuses to be dragged into a war he doesn't believe can be won. Following the restoration of House Stark after the Second Battle of Winterfell, Lord Robett reaffirms their loyalty.
    • House Cerwyn stood behind the Starks when the Boltons took the North. Unfortunately, this caused the death of the entire House except for one heir, Cley Cerwyn, who only kneeled to the Boltons under direct threat. When that passes, he's a proud bannerman to House Stark again.
    • Small though they are, Houses Mazin and Hornwood still join the remnants of House Stark.
  • Ramsey insists that his dogs are loyal to him, but this is proven untrue when they proceed to feast on him in "Battle of the Bastards" after being starved for a week by him.
  • One of Meera's dominant traits. She protects her brother and Bran with her life, the latter even in the face of certain, grisly death at the hands of an army of wights, and never so much as considers wavering in it.
  • Kevan Lannister follows the King's commands, no matter what they are.
  • Varys. At least that's how he puts it, describing what appears to be an extreme Chronic Backstabbing Disorder as being constantly loyal to the regular people who will suffer because of the high-ranking person he's just turned against.
  • Selyse is loyal to Stannis even when he admits his adultery. She also fondly remembers his efforts to keep her alive during the siege of Storm's End.
  • The Baratheon General stays at Stannis's side despite facing massive desertions and impossible odds.
• Bunny, from Game Shakers stated on multiple occasions that he feels this towards Double G on many instances and would do anything Dub asks of him.
• General and I: Dong Zhuo is loyal to He Xia no matter what. Even after an argument with He Xia, Dong Zhuo gets ready to go with him on a dangerous mission without even being asked.
• Gossip Girl: Dorota is always loyal to Blair, no matter what happens. Chuck Bass is also incredibly loyal to those he cares about.
• Gotham:
  • By the end of the first season, Jim Gordon has earned this from Harvey Bullock, a knight whose armor is so sour he needs a couple of drinks in the morning just to sober up. Heartwarmingly summarized with this line: "He might get me killed, yeah. But until that day, I will never give up on him."
  • Alfred Pennyworth has this for Bruce Wayne, naturally. Mercurial street thief Selina Kyle also ends up extremely loyal to Bruce, even telling him (twice) that she'll be there for him whenever he needs her.
  • In a rare instance of humanizing tenderness for the otherwise fairly sociopathic villain, the Riddler is surprisingly loyal to the Penguin, who is his Only Friend. They have their fallouts, some fairly severe, but by the end of the series Word of God is that Nygma stays to fight for Gotham just because Cobblepot is there, and in the finale he even blindly follows the plan laid out for him because he thought Penguin was behind it. At one point Nygma even sincerely tells Cobblepot that he'd do anything for him.
• Inspector Lynley: DI Thomas Lynley and his partner DS Barbara Havers, to each other. Any attempt to turn them against each other will fail.
• Kamen Rider Build:
  • Sento's coworkers Eita Kawai and Shingo Kuwata have fanatical loyalty to Takumi Katsuragi, defending his research when questioned about its ethics and they are even willing to attack Touto Institute of Advanced Matter Physics then commit suicide under the belief that they are under Katsuragi's orders (they're not).
  • Hokuto Three Crows are so loyal to Kazumi Sawatari AKA Kamen Rider Grease that they follow him into a war despite his constant attempts to drive them away for their safety, because he was their Benevolent Boss during their farming days and he refused to abandon them when their business went broke.
  • Juzaburo Namba is revealed to have been raising Namba Children, orphans whom he turned into his skilled Tyke Bomb minions, and earning their loyalty in process. The Washio brothers remain loyal to him until their deaths, Utsumi seemingly gives up his loyalty after Evolto kills Namba, but he actually is bidding his time to avenge Namba, Sawa has one until she Becomes the Mask when pretending to befriend the nascita crew since she realize that Namba doesn't really care about her.
• Kingdom Adventure: Numerous characters in this Religious Edutainment series have this toward the Prince and the Emperor, and the more loyalty they have, the better they are, according to the in-universe morality. For that matter, the royal family is also true to the land of Lumia, though it's sometimes hard for the citizens to see it.
• Law & Order: The partnered detectives on these shows frequently exhibit this toward each other, although Goren and Eames on Criminal Intent are perhaps the franchise's Trope Codifier. Eames even went so far as to resign from the force after Goren was fired in the Season 9 opener.
• Lexx: Kai is a dead assassin who has been reanimated. He has no emotions and no motives, but for some reason, he always sets out to save Stan and Xev.
• Logan's Run: Rem: In the first episode of the TV series, Logan and Jessica meet Rem, an android. He helps them escape from other androids, then is completely loyal to them for the rest of the series, although he has no reason to do so, even putting himself at risk of being destroyed several times to save them, sometimes harming other humans in the process. He's not programmed to do this. He just does it.
• The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: The Orcs led by Adar are shown to be very loyal to him and treat him with reverence. Adar also cares to a great deal about them, and is a father figure to the Orcs. This is in deep contrast with their previous leaders, Morgoth and Sauron, whom the Orcs served out of fear.
• Married... with Children: Al Bundy has this toward his wife Peggy, even if he hates the marriage with a passion and wish for it to be undone; any time another woman offer herself to him, he'll (grudgingly) reject the offer in respect to his wife. Sure, he'll cry afterward but you've got to give him credit for the loyalty he shows to something he always says he hates with every fiber in his body.
• The Mentalist: Lisbon towards her entire team — but especially towards Jane. For him she's blackmailed one of her closest friends, blackmailed her boss's boss, punched a robber in order to get his case thrown out of court, gotten locked in a box, and repeatedly gotten suspended from the job that is basically her whole life. Not to mention six months of anger management classes.
• Merlin (2008):
  • Merlin to his loved ones, particularly Arthur, Guinevere, Morgana (before her Face–Heel Turn), and Gaius.
  • No matter what happens, he always stands by Arthur, and by extension albeit very reluctantly, Uther.
  • Lancelot to Gwen and the Knights to Arthur. Arthur would be completely stupid not to include him in the Knights of the Round Table.
  • Against all legendary expectations, Guinevere to Arthur. Morgana had to resort to enchantments to force her into cheating on him with Lancelot. Even after Arthur banishes her from Camelot after believing her unfaithful, she continues to wear her engagement ring around her neck, and comes to his aid in his hour of need.
• Million Yen Women: Shin's publicist Seiji stands by him despite his lack of success as an author, and blames said lack of success on a failure to do his own job properly.
• NCIS:
  • Gibbs in has this toward his team. Abby undoubtedly does too, as she is just that kind of person, but has fewer chances to show it spectacularly.
  • When Ziva is accused of a non-sanctioned assassination of a defected Syrian official in Witness Protection the whole team forms an extra-legal "conspiracy" to rescue her.
  • McGee risks his career in another episode to save his sister.
    McGee's Sister: But he loves NCIS...
    Gibbs: Evidently he loves you more.
  • Tony to Gibbs. He refused the chance to a promotion in a location of a lifetime on the knowledge that another promotion wasn't going to come up again anytime soon.
• Nikita:
  • The Guardians, along with Roan, are completely loyal to Percy, and remain so even after Oversight locks him up at the beginning of Season 2, eventually helping him escape.
  • Michael, when he was The Dragon, also qualified, remaining loyal to Percy despite his misgivings about the latter's methods. That is, until he discovered that Percy was behind the murder of his family, which is what prompted his Heel–Face Turn.
• Odd Squad:
  • While most agents have loyalty towards their precincts' bosses by default, Otis takes his loyalty to Oprah a step further. His relationship with her goes beyond boss-to-employee and heads straight into friendship, as shown in the Season 2 finale, where it's revealed that she took him under her wing when his duck family was taken away by Odd Squad and trained him to become an agent while also keeping his Dark and Troubled Past a secret from everyone.
  • As shown in "The Weight of the World Depends on Orla", Orla's loyalty to Osmond and helping him up when he (supposedly) becomes injured was the final nail in the coffin that led Ancient Ms. O to declare her the protector of the 44-Leaf Clover instead of Osmond. In the present day, she's quite loyal towards the other members of the Odd Squad Mobile Unit.
  Ancient Ms. O: Orla showed the true qualities of a guardian, by looking out for more than just herself? [Osmond looks at her with intrigue] A skill she will need as the protector.
• Orphan Black: Foster siblings Sarah Manning and Felix Dawkins are very loyal to one another, mostly to Felix's detriment.
• Person of Interest: Reese towards Finch.
  Reese: Keep yourself alive, Harold. I'll be coming for you.
• Prison Break: Linc and Michael.
• Revolution: A number of Monroe militia soldiers display this toward Sebastian Monroe. However, it seems to be mostly due to fear rather than an actual loyalty, considering how foolish and deranged Monroe is. Still, Jeremy Baker, one of his oldest friends stuck with him in "The Longest Day". When Monroe is about to have Baker executed out of paranoia, Baker gives him a speech about how Miles Matheson and Tom Neville betrayed Monroe because Monroe made them do so, Baker stuck with him through it all because he thought they were making a better world, Monroe will be all alone when he conquers the continent, and that Baker wouldn't wish that on his worst enemy, let alone his friend.
• Rome: Vorenus. Once he swears fidelity to a cause or a person, he will remain loyal to the end. Or as Octavian puts it, "The man turns loyalty into a vice."
• Scrubs: JD towards Dr. Cox, one of the most prominent hallmarks of their relationship, especially whenever Cox is pitted against an outsider (or Kelso).
• Sherlock: John Watson. He refused to believe that his best friend was a fraud, even when Sherlock himself^note under duress from Moriarty, who'd threatened to kill John and everyone else Sherlock cared about was telling him so before jumping off a rooftop to his "death".
  • Sherlock himself should count for something, which proves it works both ways. He jumped to keep the select few he cared about safe, saved John's life by physically getting into and pulling him out of a fire, stopped himself from being clinically dead since he thought John was in danger, and even killed Magnussen (thus ending his career as a detective and possibly his life with the mission he was assigned) so John could be happy with Mary.
  • Mary too. She said that, even though she was an assassin, she didn't want her relationship with John to be ruined, and wanted to prevent that from happening. You know, there's probably a reason why she should trust Sherlock. John trusts his friend to look out for Mary, so.....yeah. Wouldn't it make sense for her to trust Sherlock as well? Most likely.
  • Molly too. She helped Sherlock fake his death for John, Mrs. Hudson and Lestrade, but John especially, since she knows how important John is to Sherlock. Oh, and like Lestrade and John, didn't believe Sherlock was a fraud.
  • Also, Sherlock and John did bust each other out of kooky situations.
  • And, even though it was a risky case, John was willing to betray the British government for Mary.
  • And Lestrade refused to believe Sherlock was a fraud as well.
  • Mycroft, too, apparently, to Sherlock. He wanted to see if John was loyal to Sherlock, and not a spy for Moran, or Moriarty. He did interrogate John, and capture him, which leads to John leaving Mycroft for Sherlock's sake.
  • Since John is a doctor, he's most likely this for the human race.
• Smallville:
  • He only appeared in six episodes, but Regan Matthews was characterized by his complete and undying loyalty to Lex Luthor.
  • Chloe Sullivan may be Platonic Life-Partners with Clark Kent, but she demonstrated this more than once.
    Chloe: I'd never tell anyone [about his secret]. I'd die before I'd ever betray you.
• Stargate:
  • Stargate SG-1:
    • Samantha Carter would walk through fire for Jack O'Neill. Jack O'Neill "would rather die than lose Carter". And of course, SG-1 "is a team. No one else can begin to understand what that really means".
    • An interesting villainous version to show a touch of redeeming qualities is shown with Yu's First Prime Oshu. Despite knowing his master is not actually a god and is going senile, he refuses to betray him as Oshu has been in service to Yu for his entire life.
  • Stargate Atlantis: Like the example above, Atlantis' command team will risk anything and everything for each other and the city. Particularly John Sheppard and Elizabeth Weir, who make it clear they won't lead the city with anyone else but each other: John will risk his neck defying his military commanders to support her and she'll call on every resource she has to protect him from their superiors.
• Star Trek:
  • Star Trek: The Original Series: The crew of the Enterprise. This has three major variations: Kirk and Spock's loyalty to each other, Kirk, Spock and McCoy's loyalty to each other, and the whole crew's loyalty to each other. It only gets more blatant the more films you watch.
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation: Fast forward a century from Kirk and Spock, and you have Picard and his crew. Any of them would lay down their life without hesitation for each other.
  • Hell, the other spinoffs also feature crews who'd do anything for each other.
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine features a dark variation in the form of the Vorta and the Jem'Hadar, who are genetically programmed to be unquestioningly loyal to the Founders. It's to the point that if the Jem'Hadar are ordered to commit mass suicide or allow themselves to be killed, they will do so, simply because it's "the order of things."
  • Star Trek: Picard:
    • Hugh is so grateful to Picard for the latter's part in freeing him from the Collective and helping him regain his individuality that he's willing to assist in any way he can when Picard requests his help, even if that means incurring the wrath of Hugh's Romulan employers and putting his own life in danger.
    • In "The Impossible Box", Elnor is an atypical example because he displays his devotion to Picard by disobeying the latter's orders to stay on La Sirena, but he beams aboard the Artifact in the nick of time to keep Picard safe from Romulan guards. Picard insists that Elnor escape with him and Soji, but the young man refuses because he wants to ensure that the Romulans won't be able to trace where Picard and Soji have gone. Not wanting to leave his surrogate son behind again, Picard then releases Elnor from his qalankhkai pledge, but Elnor declines to be released; clearly, his father figure's life is more important to him than his own.
    • Elnor and Hugh have just met, yet the former is committed to protecting the latter, and Elnor puts his life on the line to do so. Even though he isn't Hugh's qalankhkai, he nevertheless becomes Hugh's ally, and together, they intend to overthrow the Romulans on the Artifact, who have begun exterminating the xBs. After Hugh is murdered, Elnor's loyalty to him remains undiminished, and he's determined to continue their original mission.
• Supernatural:
  • The Winchester boys take the "undying" part literally.
  • This is Meg's defining character trait and possibly the only reason she's been able to slide so far into heroic sociopath territory, despite committing numerous atrocities completely un-apologetically and being Lucifer's staunchest supporter. At one point, she gives Dean a speech about why she didn't sell them out, ending with the line: "I'm talking cause, douchebag, as in reason to get up in the morning".
  • Since the show is basically about family relationships, this trait is fairly common. Other characters who exhibit strong tendencies towards loyalty include John, Bobby, Cas (before and after the civil war lead to the complete breakdown of his moral code), Balthazar (towards Cas), Gabriel (towards Lucifer and Michel), Rufus (towards his dead wife and Bobby), Ellen, and Jo. The Monster of the Week episodes frequently feature humans and monsters who readily sacrifice their lives or hang around after death in order to protect their loved ones.
    • Castiel's loyalty to Dean is so strong that when Naomi attempted to brainwash him into killing Dean, she had to force him to kill hundreds of realistic facsimiles in order for the brainwashing to take — and it still didn't hold!
• Super Sentai
  • Choujuu Sentai Liveman:
    • Doctor Kemp is unflinchingly loyal to Great Professor Bias, which is at least partly due to Bias being that good of a Manipulative Bastard and playing on Kemp's ego. Kemp's loyalty is to the point where even when he learns Bias is using him as an Unwitting Pawn to complete his Giga Brain Wave, he deludes himself into going along with it anyway. It takes becoming a Brain in a Jar and hearing some choice words from Megumi to snap him out of it.
    • Also of note is Guardnoid Gash, a robot enforcer Bias built to be totally loyal to him. So strong is Gash's loyalty that he stays with the senile Bias in the Brain Base as it's exploding, and even feeds his master's delusions by convincing him he won right before he dies.
  • Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger:
    • The crew are amazingly loyal to Captain Marvelous, but especially the first mate, Joe Gibken/Gokai Blue.
    • Later in the series this is proven to be a trait of Gai Yuuki, who keeps his former teammates from getting involved in further fighting, despite not even being alive.
• Ted Lasso: Coach Beard for Ted, right from the very start of the series where he uproots his entire life and moves halfway around the world just to help his friend. It's eventually revealed that Beard is an ex-con and that when he got out of prison, Ted was the only person willing to give him a chance, even after he stole Ted's car.
• Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Cameron is completely loyal to John Connor, and perfectly willing to be destroyed to protect him, to the point that she implants a bomb in her head and gives the detonator to John in case she "goes bad." This is juxtaposed with a termination protocol that Skynet hardwired into her to kill John Connor specifically, which activates when she takes severe damage at the start of the series' second season. She is eventually able to override this protocol, but her fears that the damage she took will make her hostile again form a major part of her internal conflict over the series.
• In The Thick of It, a series where every other professional alliance and relationship is completely destroyed at least once, Sam stays on as Malcolm's PA for the entirety of the show's eight-year run.
• The West Wing:
  • The White House senior staff are strongly characterized by their devout, unshakable loyalty to President Bartlet (who is similarly loyal to them, freely risking political capital rather than throw members of his staff under the bus), occasionally to the point of My Master, Right or Wrong. However, they are also similarly protective of each other, putting their loyalty to their fellow staffers before morality or reason, comparing their relationships to family ties.
  • Special note must be taken of Charlie Young and his utter devotion to the President. How strong is this man's loyalty to his boss? The Secret Service cannot keep him away from President Bartlet during a White House lockdown. And in the episode "Two Cathedrals", Charlie forgoes wearing a raincoat out into a hurricane's bow, just because the president chooses not to wear one.
• The White Queen: Lord Warwick describes Richard of Gloucester as being "heart and soul" for King Edward IV (Richard himself will later use the same term in a Voiceover Letter to his wife Anne Neville), and Margaret Beaufort even derides this quality after he declines her marriage proposal: "[Richard]'s as loyal as a hog, as loyal as a dog."
• The Witcher (2019): Queen Calanthe went through a Heroic BSoD after her only daughter, Princess Pavetta, died. She eventually pulled herself out of her grief to raise her orphaned granddaughter. Her husband, King Eist, tells Geralt that watching her go through this is why he will always be loyal to her.
• As in the book, Thomas Cromwell in Wolf Hall is Cardinal Wolsey's man. They gain a quick affinity when Cromwell confesses his origins as the son of a Putney smith, and Wolsey the butcher's son is delighted to find another clever lowborn man in his world of Upper Class Twits. After Wolsey's death in disgrace and the celebratory masque thrown by those who brought him down, Cromwell tells his friend George Cavendish not to pray God for vengeance; he'll take it in hand. The show makes his hatred for Wolsey's enemies much more explicit; Cromwell hardly looks at them without flashing back to watching them laugh backstage.
• The X-Files: It doesn't seem to matter what you throw at them, nothing so far discovered can break Mulder and Scully apart for more than a few hours — and even then, they just rebound with a tighter bond than before.
• Yellowstone: "Branded men" are supposed to have undying loyalty to the Dutton ranch, having been picked up from ignominy when no one else would have them and given a home and occupation. Rip and Lloyd exemplify this position. When Walker gets branded, however, he doesn't show the same willingness to sublimate his own needs and morality for the Duttons, causing strife within the ranks.
• Spoofed in The Office (US) where Dwight Schrute thinks of himself as very loyal to his employer yet considers leaving if his loyalty is valued more highly someplace else. Watch the scene here.

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