History Main / ActOfTrueLove

* ''Fanfic/BlackbirdArrow'': After learning the truth about Laurel's disappearance, namely that she was traded to the League of Assassins for her sister Sara's freedom, Oliver risks his life to rescue her from the League of Assassins, including willingly entering a DuelToTheDeath with the vastly more trained and skilled Ra's al Ghul. [[spoiler:This nearly kills him, but seeing a struggling Laurel trying to interfere with the duel to help him and knowing she will die with him if he doesn't win [[ThePowerOfLove gives Oliver]] the HeroicSecondWind he needs to kill Ra's and ensure Laurel's freedom]].

* ''Series/GoodOmens2019'': Crowley is [[OurDemonsAreDifferent a demon]], and so for him entering a holy place like church can be lethal ([[HolyGround consecrated ground]] burns his feet, [[HolyWater holy water]] can easily destroy his very essence). And yet, he does it, in order to save [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Aziraphale]] and his books.

* ''Series/GoodOmens2019'': Crowley is a demon, and so for him entering a holy place like church can be lethal (consecrated ground burns his feet, holy water can easily destroy his very essence). And yet, he does it, in order to save Aziraphale and his books.
** He has got a pattern of rescuing his angel and putting himself in danger in the process, and Crowley clearly does it for love, [[spoiler:romantic love as it was finally confirmed at the end of season 2]].

* ''Series/GoodOmens2019'': Crowley is a demon, and so for him entering a holy place like church can be lethal (consecrated ground burns his feet, holy water can easily destroy his very essence). And yet, he does it, in order to save [[spoiler:Aziraphale and his books]].
** He has got a pattern of rescuing [[spoiler:his angel]] and putting himself in danger in the process, and Crowley clearly does it for love, [[spoiler:romantic love as it was finally confirmed at the end of season 2]].

* ''Series/GoodOmens2019'': Crowley is a demon, and so for him entering a holy place like church can be lethal (consecrated ground burns his feet, holy water can easily destroy his very essence). And yet, he does it, in order to save [[spoiler:Aziraphale and his books]]. He has got a pattern of rescuing [[spoiler:his angel]] and putting himself in danger in the process, and Crowley clearly does it for love, [[spoiler:romantic love as it was finally confirmed at the end of season 2]].

* In the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer[=/=]ComicBook/PowerGirl'' crossover ''FanFic/OriginStory'', Alexandra Harris kills three government agents because they nearly killed her lover/partner Louise. She kills a fourth person, this one a high-ranking government official because the not only does Alex find out that the attack was on orders from the official, but that he ordered a fourth government agent to attack as well. Having to do so gives her nightmares and drives her into depression, but she thinks the cost is worth it as long as Louise is safe.

* The plot of ''VideoGame/HeroZeroDawn'' kicked off when the [[FriendToAllLivingThings terraforming AI Gaia]] destroyed herself to prevent the rogue AI Hades from destroying the biosphere.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': During the Battle for the Dawn, [[LadyAndKnight Jorah puts himself between Daenerys]] and endless hoards of ravaging [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Ice Zombies]], enduring dozens of mortal wounds to protect her, and not succumbing to his injuries until he's certain that she's safe -- after which he collapses and [[DiedInYourArmsTonight dies in her arms]].

* In ''Fanfic/AForceOfFour'', Superman's ghost talks to ComicBook/PowerGirl during an uphill battle to encourage her and [[PartingWordsRegret assuage her pain and feelings of guilt]] by telling her that he loves her and Lois.

* ''Fanfic/TheDreamMustGoOn'': Bing Bong's sacrifice is brought up repeatedly in this fanfiction, and explicitly mentioned in the fifth chapter by the Emotions to Dottie, which needed Sadness and Joy to comfort the mind worker.

* ''Manga/SailorMoon'':
** In the first anime, Mamoru [[spoiler:as Tuxedo Mask protects Usagi as Sailor Moon from Zoisite’s attack that was meant for her, and ends up severely wounded after already being injured from a previous battle. Sailor Moon rushes to his side and cries out a tear that forms the Legendary Silver Crystal.]]

* In Creator/HansChristianAndersen's story "The Snow Queen", a girl named Gerda sets off after her friend Kai after he is corrupted by an evil mirror and taken by the mysterious Snow Queen. She winds up traveling a good bit of the world and getting into a lot of trouble, but she eventually rescues him.

* A paternal example in ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4''; [[spoiler: When Atreus falls ill, Kratos is told that the only cure lies in Helheim, where all magic in the Norse realms is useless. And yes, this is '''that''' Kratos, the man who destroyed Greece in his rampage of revenge against the gods, and is now trying to bury that shameful past forever. Yet knowing that his Blades of Chaos are the only things that can possibly help now, he returns home and retrieves them, once again wielding the weapons that made him such a monster in the first place. All for the sake of his son.]]

* In the backstory of the Ascended brothers Nasus and Renekton from ''Franchise/LeagueOfLegends,'' Nasus was dying from a wasting illness and the only way to save his life was for him to undergo the Ritual of Ascension. Unfortunately by the time the ritual could be performed, Nasus was too sick even to walk into the beam that would empower him with new life, so his warrior brother Renekton picked him up, despite his protests, and carried him into the beam, knowing that the power which was intended for his brother alone would annihilate him. However, possibly because of the nobility of his sacrifice, instead of destroying him the ritual instead caused ''both'' brothers to Ascend into mighty guardians of Shurima, [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Nasus as a jackal and Renekton as a crocodile]].

* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'': In "[[Recap/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteersS2E17And18SummitToSaveEarth Summit To Save Earth, Part 1]]", [[TeamMom Gaia]] takes her focus off Zarm to save [[LikeASonToMe the Planeteers]] from a toxic tornado he conjured. Given that she and Zarm roughly equal in power, this is a very risky choice which unfortunately leads to her defeat.
-->'''Zarm''': Who will you save, Gaia? Yourself? Or the Planeteers? [[SadisticChoice Choose!]]
-->'''Gaia''': [[BigNo No!]] Leave them alone!

* ''LightNovel/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs'': In return for helping save Leon from prison, Marie demands that Angie and Livia [[KneelBeforeZod bow to her in public]]. She doesn't expect Angie, at least, to do it due to being too prideful. Both of them do it anyway, even though this means being the targets of mockery (from other students, not from Marie, who actually freaks out when they do it). It's especially notable for Angie since not only is she disgracing her household by bowing in public, she's also bowing to the woman who stole her fiancé from her.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. Spike ''thinks'' he's doing this when he offers to slay Drusilla, the vampire who sired him, to prove to Buffy he loves her. Buffy is not impressed. Several episodes later, Spike is willing to be tortured to death to protect Buffy's little sister. It's this act that finally gets her attention.

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''. Dean and Sam Winchester are willing to sacrifice themselves to save or protect the other. They are willing to go to the extremes to protect each other, even if that means that [[YouAreWorthHell they go to Hell]], sell their soul, [[DrivenToSuicide commit suicide to bring one back from the dead]] or risk [[SymbioticPossession letting one be possessed by a supernatural being so that they can stay alive.]] It's pretty much a RunningGag of the entire series.

* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'': In "[[Recap/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteersS2E17And18SummitToSaveEarth Summit To Save Earth, Part 1]]", Gaia saves [[LikeASonToMe the Planeteers]] from Zarm's toxic tornado at the expense of her own safety, which unfortunately leads to her defeat.

* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'': In "[[Recap/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteersS2E17And18SummitToSaveEarth Summit To Save Earth, Part 1]]", Gaia saves the Planeteers from Zarm's toxic tornado at the expense of her own safety, which unfortunately leads to her defeat.

* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'': [[spoiler:In the final episode, Ashi uses her new powers to help Jack go back in time to destroy Aku in the past he came from. However, since Aku is her father, his death thousands of years before her birth meant she can't exist. Before fading from existence, it seems she knew full well this would happen but did it anyway. All for Jack, the man she loves]].
* PlayedForLaughs in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Stoked}}''. After Lo forces Reef into starting a vegetarian diet with her, he tries to stick with it for a while, but ends up giving in to temptation and even secretly enters himself in a sausage-eating contest. (He really, ''really'' loves meat.) By the end of the episode, both of them are there. She had just managed to find out the truth, and Reef is about to win the entire thing. However, when he looks at Lo's unhappy face, Reef decides to forfeit the match (and lose the lifetime supply of meat he would have gotten) for her sake. The audience members watching them "aww" in reaction and Lo immediately forgives him.
--> '''Reef:''' Sorry I lied to you, babe.\\
'''Lo:''' But [you] chose me in the end, which is so romantic.

* In ''Prelude To A Kiss'', Rita, a beautiful young bride, is body swapped with an old man. Her husband, Peter, realizes "she" is not his wife on the inside, even when her parents don't suspect a thing. Peter then kisses Rita in her old man body, proving he truly loves her for who she is, and not her exterior, reversing the body swap.

** Pretty much the synopsis of the game can be considered this as well, as the quest is to scatter the ashes of Kratos' second wife from the tallest mountain in the Nine Realms. Even when this turns out to be a much harder quest than first thought, on account for the need to travel to other realms to proceed, Kratos does it anyway out of love and respect for her.

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has the canonical act of true love in terms of Lily Potter's sacrifice - which has additional significance, as she [[spoiler: bargained with the Phoenix to protect him, in exchange for becoming the Phoenix's primary aspect.]]
** In the sequel, ''Ghosts of the Past'', Harry gives enough of his blood to save Carol (with whom he has a CourtlyLove dynamic), who's dying of blood loss, nearly dying in the process.