- The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You: Kusuri has invented a drug that enables people to see infrared light, and plans to mail it to a company she wants to work for. She also happens to be the only member of the "family" who knows about this drug. Then Rentarou decides that he needs to rescue Hakari, who's been locked up by her mother, and Kusuri, as well as the other girlfriends, decide to help him. After breaking into the mansion and getting past most of the security system, the group comes across a hallway with a series of infrared beams, and there's no other way to get to Hakari. Kusuri immediately, without hesitation, hands over the drug she created, even though it means that she won't be able to mail it to the company, because Hakari's happiness means more to her than her dream job.
- Angel Beats!: Yuri in the computer room, when she finds out that she can become 'God', denies the power. Made all the more powerful when you remember that her objective all along was to find 'God' to defeat him.
- Being Able to Edit Skills in Another World, I Gained OP Waifus: When Nagi rescues Rita from the Leviathan, Rita has the chance to flee with Nagi and let her subordinates (who have been paralyzed by the Leviathan) be eaten, later honestly claiming that she was powerless to stop the monster. Instead, she refuses to abandon them and bravely fights to save them - not that they appreciate it.
- In Berserk, the entirety of Griffith sacrificing the Band of the Hawk during the Eclipse is framed as this. To the outside world, especially after returning as the Hawk of Light, Griffith is revered as a messiah and savior of mankind, and the last bastion of hope against the dark horrors of the setting's Crapsack World. What nobody else knows is that Griffith was given a choice by the four other God Hand; he will get to have a second chance if he sacrifices everyone he ever led and cared for to become a God Hand, and absolutely nobody will know of what he did except the God Hand themselves. Needless to say, you can probably guess how that turned out. Indeed, nobody would have been able to remember what Griffith did if it wasn't for the Skull Knight's timely intervention; without it, Guts and Casca wouldn't have survived, and Rickert would've never learned the utter atrocities Griffith committed in the Eclipse.
- A Certain Magical Index:
- Touma Kamijou will never walk away from somebody in trouble, even though nobody really knows he exists and his accomplishments will never be acknowledged. When one of his opponents asks him why he fights and saves people, Touma replies that he has never found a single good reason to abandon anyone. This is enough to convince her that he is insane.
- Touma has defeated Fiamma of the Right, a extremely powerful magician that has become an enemy of the entire world, and the two of them are stuck in Fiamma's flying fortress, which is falling towards the ground. Fiamma accepts his loss and prepares himself for his death, but he's surprised when Touma helps him up and starts carrying him to the last escape pod. Fiamma questions his actions and points out out that the pod is only capable of saving one of them, and Touma replies without pause that then Fiamma needs to escape. Fiamma is left dumbfounded when he realizes Touma is completely serious, even when he could return home as the hero who defeated the mastermind that instigated World War III and nobody would criticize him for leaving him behind, instead very likely being praised for finishing him off. This and Touma's actions during their previous fight completely change Fiamma's outlook, motivating him to fight to protect the world he had tried to forcibly purify before and granting him a newfound respect towards Touma's way of saving people he had previously mocked.
- Touma once again follows his personal beliefs by protecting and helping Othinus, who like Fiamma had become a global enemy and had subjected him to millions of worlds designed to torture him, to relinquish her great powers. During this journey he fights some of his allies and friends that are trying to kill her, and all of them are surprised and confused by Touma's actions, since only Touma and Othinus kept their memories of the events that changed them both.
- Very important to Code Geass. Much of the point of Lelouch is showing someone who pretends to be The Hero in the limelight, then revealing his "real self" when isolated from that limelight. The series shows that Lelouch is quite capable of both very good, and very bad things... as well as not being an entirely stable person.
- Used during the collective Mind Rape scene in the Cyborg 009 2001 series.
- The Dangers in My Heart: Kyōtarō Ichikawa is a pessimistic loner with a bad habit of resorting to negative dismissal to cope with his low self-esteem. He's frequently placed into situations where he's no more than a witness who no one even notices, much less expect or prompt into doing anything. He goes for it anyway against his own comfort zone.
- He frequently helps his crush Anna Yamada with anything she needs without her noticing or expecting her to notice. At one point by cutting his study group's poster during their presentation to divert the class's attention away from Yamada's direction (they're looking for an osprey outside) to keep them from seeing her crying for screwing up her group's first poster (only for her to immediately get over it when she notices the osprey. She's weird like that.)
- When his class misinterprets their last names being put on a cemetery backdrop as an insult to them and mistake Ichikawa for doing it, he takes the blame to protect the real culprit from drama until she arrives and explains herself.
- He sees a playboy-wannabe senpai pressure Yamada into giving him her contact info. Despite telling himself it means nothing, he throws his bike all the way down into a drainage to disperse the situation.
- After finding Yamada crying to herself from a nose injury she suffered and runs out of tissues, he leaves a bunch of his own tissue packs in the library room for her to use and hides behind a bookcase to watch her. (She uses them as napkins for her chips instead, but the gesture clearly cheers her up anyway.)
- In Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, after Zenitsu Agatsuma's proper character introduction in the Drum House arc puts most of his negative traits on the forefront, the arc's closure actually shines some light on the goodness inside Zenitsu as he protects Tanjiro's box without ever being asked to do so, nor Tanjiro seeing it at first, throwing his body as a shield to protect it against Inosuke trying to kill the demon inside, neither knowing at the time that Nezuko is Tanjiro's sister, a unique good-natured demon whom Tanjiro has sworn to protect and cure one day; Zenitsu defends the box with his life out of the simple fact he sees the box as something Tanjiro values more than anything, and Zenitsu can actually sense there's a demon inside all along.
- A variant occurs in Death Note. After discovering the eponymous Death Note, Light goes on a rampart killing spree of criminals over 5 days that surprises a god of death. This is later revealed to be because he expected some divine retribution to come to him and he wanted to do as much "good" as possible. It's only after Ryuk explains to him that there are no immediate consequences to using the Death Note (specifically that the major price is the user cannot go to Heaven or Hell when they die) that he starts his A God Am I attitude... then it all goes downhill from there.
- Dragon Ball: Goku’s goal is to steal a jug of water from the sage training him, Korin. At one point, while Korin is asleep, Goku wakes up early and strongly considers swiping the jug then and there, but opts against it, rationalizing that he’d feel better if he earned it the right way. The fake-sleeping Korin is impressed by his purity, and Goku’s virtuousness is paid off when he successfully grabs the water on his own, gaining a lot of speed and strength in the process.
- Dragon Ball Z: Mr. Satan is initially a Glory Hound and Fake Ultimate Hero, but he certainly has the heart of a hero if nothing else. This is exhibited mid-way through the Buu arc when he's left to his own devices with the titular villain; after promising to the public to kill him and failing via various means, he sees Buu's childlike nature and befriends him instead. The full extent of his moral character is shown at the end, where he tries to fight Kid Buu despite knowing he doesn't stand a chance, and helps contribute to the Spirit Bomb that ultimately finishes him off.Mr. Satan: I've been a shameless fake my whole life. But they believed me. They loved me. So if I turn my back on them now, what will it make me?
- In Dragon Ball Super, when Jaco takes Bulma to see Master Zuno, he sees that Burp Man is the one ahead of him in line. He could arrest the guy then and there, but he posits that it'll lead to Burp Man telling the Galactic Patrol that Jaco used him as The Scapegoat when Jaco himself destroyed a valuable monument. He's about to leave the guy to his devices when Bulma mentions that Beerus threatened to destroy Universe 7, and that they'll all have to hope he was joking. With the universe on the line, despite the fact that he'd be in the clear if he just ignored Burp Man, Jaco decides to risk getting caught, subdues Burp Man when he takes a hostage, and gains Bulma audience with Zuno.
- In Full Metal Panic!, Student Council President Hayashimizu sends Sousuke and Kaname to investigate a fantasy roleplay kink club to determine whether any students or teachers have been patronizing it. Kaname has Sousuke pose as a customer so she can sneak in and take pictures of the guest register, but then she gets curious about just what sort of secret, shameful fantasy Sousuke might be roleplaying behind closed doors and starts snooping around for the room he rented. Turns out, he secretly wants to stop Just Following Orders and instead Rage Within the Machine.
- In Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Batou corners a serial killer he has been chasing in order to exact revenge on him for slaughtering a village full of innocent people. He has the opportunity to kill him without anybody asking questions (in fact, the CIA agents working with him are banking on this to happen). However, Batou reminds the killer (and himself) that he's a law enforcement officer now, not a soldier, and promptly arrests him.
- In Glass Mask, Ayumi heads to a secluded valley in secret for one last acting exercise before going home, convinced she cannot defeat the protagonist, Maya, for the coveted role of the Crimson Goddess. A passing farmer warns her that the bridge to the valley is rotting out, and shortly afterwards, Ayumi spots Maya coming down the same path. Realizing that she'd get the role if Maya fell, Ayumi pretends not to have seen her... but ultimately runs back to pull her up when she hears Maya scream. This also inspires her to go back and face Maya with her own skills, rather than relying on underhanded means like the other celebrities she'd always despised.
- In the 2015 anime/manga of The Heroic Legend of Arslan:
- When the group was separated and chased by Lusitanians, Gieve spotted Arslan and Elam being attacked. At this point in time, Gieve was Not in This for Your Revolution and could have pretended he didn't see them or even helped the Lusitanians claim the hefty reward on Arslan's head. Instead, he came to their rescue and repeatedly protected them throughout the rest of the journey.
- The manga expands on Bahman's death compared to the anime. Upon seeing a spear aimed for Arslan's back, Bahman briefly pondered that if Arslan was dead, then Pars would be united under Prince Hilmes without the need for a civil war. However, Bahman chooses to get between Arslan and the spear.
- Imaizumin-chi wa Douyara Gal no Tamariba ni Natteru Rashii: ~DEEP~: Yukina tries to maintain an Ice Queen personality and thinks she and Imaizumi are Friends with Benefits, but when alone her face gets hot red thinking about him.
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean: After breaking out of prison, Jolyne goes to visit her ex-boyfriend Romeo (who months prior had framed her for an accident they were both partly responsible for in order not to end up in prison) to ask for money and a ride. Romeo, seemingly repentant, gives her a thousand worth in cash and the keys to his helicopter, but the moment she's out of his sight he immediately calls the police, as Jolyne and Hermes correctly assume he would. What they didn't expect while overhearing his call thanks to Hermes' Stand, however, was that he would actually help them out by intentionally misleading the cops on their whereabouts, telling them he only talked with Jolyne through the phone and that she was headed to Mexico. While pleasantly surprised at his genuine change of heart, though, this didn't stop Jolyne from taking a little revenge on him via Tongue Trauma.
- During the Sick Visit arc of Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Hayasaka leaves Shirogane alone with a feverish Kaguya making it very clear that no one will interrupt them no matter what he does and that Kaguya won't remember any of this tomorrow. He could molest her and get away with it, but of course never really considers it. He could also take advantage of her impaired mental state to 'cheat' in their game of wits by asking her highly personal questions that she would never answer if she was coherent. The only thing he asks is if it's his fault that she's sicknote and touching her lips with one finger even after she drags him into bed herself and falls asleep.
- Kaitou Saint Tail has an unusual take on the trope in that while selflessness is still treated as a good thing, Meimi and Asuka Jr. refusing to tell anyone about what they're doing at all still has its own problems, because it means that the person they're helping won't get to feel that someone is actually looking out for them. The result is that despite the fact their feelings are mutual, they're constantly convinced that the other dislikes or doesn't care about them because they have no idea what the other is doing behind the scenes, and Meimi's use of a secret identity as the vigilante hero Saint Tail ends up getting people to think they were saved by divine intervention rather than by an actual person, resulting in them failing to feel any emotional connection to the help they'd gotten while Meimi goes into an identity crisis because she can't truly credit herself with anything she does.
- In The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (2005), when Agahnim is about to kill a poisoned and delirious Link in the desert, Ghanti throws a sword at him to send him away to give herself a chance to do the job herself. Despite having a good chance to finish off Link, she is unable to go through with it.
- Monster Rancher: After Hare humiliates Tiger of the Wind in their tourney match, then tricks the Searchers and runs off with their prize money as well, Tiger catches up with the Con Artist well ahead of everyone else and breaks the bridge he's crossing over. He then points out that he can just let Hare drop to his death; the others would be none the wiser. But when the rope Hare's holding onto breaks, Tiger runs down the canyon wall in order to catch up and save him.
- Invoked in My Bride is a Mermaid: Akeno is tasked with giving Sun a special mermaid serum that would force her to convey her true feelings about Nagasumi since it is believed that she only chose to marry him to avoid the death penalty.note Even while under the effects of the serum, protecting Nagasumi stays firm as her greatest desire, implying that she does have genuine feelings for him.
- My Hero Academia: The UA Practical Exam is designed with this in mind. The applicants are told to eliminate robots worth a variety of points; there is also a 0-point robot that is only an obstacle. What they are not told is that saving someone is worth "rescue points." Midoriya passes because he broke both legs and an arm destroying the 0-point robot to save a classmate. Iida notes that he himself failed that part, since he abandoned a classmate who was seemingly helpless. He says he would have done better in a real emergency, but he's clearly just trying to convince himself. During the very real fight with Stain, he ignores a fallen victim to fight Stain for vengeance, something Stain takes note of.
- On that same note, Uraraka, without saying anything to him, tries to give Midoriya her points since despite saving her life he had failed to earn any points. Incidentally, she earned a few rescue points herself after she saved Midoriya from leaving a stain on the street.
- My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!: While Catarina's primary motivation is to avoid her doom flags, her relationships with most of her friends prove that this is not the only reason she has won over so many people with her kindness. Keith and Maria are the only ones whom she specifically befriended to avert her doom flags, and even then, she's gone out of her way to care for them beyond that.
- The defining moment of Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion: Shinji Ikari has the choice of returning to life (and allowing others to do the same) or dooming humanity to an eternity as a single non-sentient organism. Nobody would ever know if he chose to die. Nobody would judge him for it. The decision was his and his alone. He proved, for possibly the only time in the series, that he truly was the hero by deciding to return to life, even though it would be painful and lonely.
- One Piece:
- Everyone knows that Zoro is one of the main good guys and despite him not showing it as often, he does look after the crew. The end of Thriller Bark shows exactly what kind of lengths he would go for them, as he fully intends to sacrifice himself as part of the deal to Kuma to spare the others. After this happens, Sanji catches Zoro standing still some time later, surrounded by a pool of his own blood. When Sanji asks what happened in a panic, all Zoro has to say is "nothing happened".
- Usopp:
- During Usopp's introductory arc, he was willing to take on the entirety of Captain Kuro's men without his village even being aware of the danger. This nobility gained him the respect and aid of Luffy and the others.
- Usopp's fights also tend to be examples of this. Especially his first real battle of the series. His opponent Choo is his physical superior in every conceivable way, and Usopp survives his first encounter by playing dead. As he starts covering himself in dirt to make his excuse for letting Choo leave more believable, he realizes he doesn't want to be a coward and a liar, stands up to Choo while scared to death, and actually comes out on top and wins. To Usopp's credit, he was certainly FASTER than Choo.
- During the Alabasta arc, despite taking a massive amount of punishment from Miss Merry Christmas and Mr. 4, Usopp keeps standing right back up. Initially, he had planned on running after one too many failed gambits, but when Miss Merry Christmas claimed that Crocodile had killed Luffy, all thoughts of retreat fled from Usopp's mind. For all his cowardice, he has absolute faith that his captain will become the King of the Pirates, and if anyone suggests that Luffy could die before that happens? Usopp may be the weakest of the Straw Hats, but he's still a Straw Hat.
- Nami has a moment of this during the Skypiea arc, as well. Despite the fact that up until this point in the story, greed has been one of her defining traits, when she's alone and stranded with Eneru on his arc and he offers her basically anything if she comes with him, she basically tells him that she doesn't want anything he could offer her if she doesn't have her friends. This to an insane man of godlike power who can kill her in one hit.
- In Planetes, Tanabe is on the moon with no air left in her suit, and an unconscious terrorist with a full tank of oxygen at her feet. She is tempted to let the terrorist die and steal the air for herself. But in the end she realizes she can't, and lets herself begin to choke to death.
- In Roll Over and Die, Milkit is loyal to Flum and cares for her 'Master', but she proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt at the end of Volume 3/Episode 4. When Flum is captured by Satils, it would be understandable that Milkit would want to take shelter when she was advised to. However, she refuses to, and she insists on doing anything she can to save Flum.
- In Shakugan no Shana, Shana once considered killing her romantic rival Kazumi Yoshida while time was frozen, but stopped.
- Sword Art Online: A major theme of Kirito's character throughout the Fairy Dance arc, as Kirito believes that if you indulge your baser instincts while anonymous online, you end up becoming a worse person as a result; by contrast, Sugou Nobuyuki, the Arc Villain, is a Card-Carrying Villain who revels in being able to do all the horrible things online that would see him ostracized in the real world, and uses ALO as his own personal outlet for indulging in his sick fantasies. At the end of the arc, Sugou, after being maimed and permanently injured by Kirito during their battle in ALO, attacks Kirito in real life outside the hospital Asuna is in with a knife. Kirito manages to overpower him and seems fully prepared to slit Sugou's throat with his own knife, particularly after all of the atrocities Sugou committed throughout the arc, not the least of which was sexually assaulting Asuna while making Kirito watch. Ultimately, however, Kirito settles for just leaving an utterly broken Sugou, reduced to Inelegant Blubbering and knowing his plans are in ruin, unconscious in the parking lot for the police.
- Time Stop Hero: Kuzuno Sekai can stop time. He often uses this to indulge in hedonistic desires like stripping women naked. However, he also uses this power to protect and save lives. Fury, one of the only people who knows what he can do, says he is admirable because he could easily use this power to run away from the various threats and no one could ever catch him, but he instead does his best to make sure everyone is safe. He also does his best to pay back people he stole money from while time was frozen.
- In Time Stranger Kyoko, the eponymous heroine talks with Sakataki about her adopted nature and is scared that she might be a demon-kirit. She admits that she almost turned off her twin sister's life-support machine when she was younger, but stopped herself upon realizing what she was about to do.
- In UQ Holder!, Touta comes across Yukihime while time is frozen. Her shirt is open, exposing her breasts. While Touta is highly tempted to do something perverted to her, he resists temptation and instead covers her with his jacket.
- In Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid, Mamori can transform into a sword for Mirei to wield. She is completely unconscious until she turns back. Mirei knows this, yet she kept her promises to Mamori while wielding her even though Mamori would never know.
- Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs:
- Chisaki has a prophetic dream where she's Kogarashi's girlfriend, then learns that the only way to secure this future is to let Kogarashi lose his spiritual powers to an attack by Shakuhito, since that would leave her as his only viable option. Not wanting a happy future that comes at the cost of Kogarashi losing his ability to see Yuuna, Chisaki warns Yuuna about Shakuhito's attack so Kogarashi doesn't lose his powers.
- Hyodo gets his hands on a camera that shows people in the pictures naked and uses it on Chisaki, Sagiri and Urara. He immediately feels guilty and deletes the photo without taking a look at it.
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