History Main / AndroclesLion

* Wojtek, the solider bear. During WorldWarII, some Polish soldiers bought a (abandoned) bear cub during their stay in Iran from a local boy. After raising him and taking him with them on their deployment to Italy, Wojtek helped the soldiers carry artillery ammo.

* The giant spider Kestral in ''NeverwinterNights2''. And all you had to do was feed it some bugs.

* ''WorldOfWarcraft'' features a variant of this, where some one is kidnapping Wyvern babies. They follow you around for a little while after you save them, then seem to leave. After you fight a miniboss, the person who captured them, [[BrickJoke the wyverns then reappear, attack the boss, carry him off a cliff, then drop him.]]

* ''FutariWaPrettyCure'', episode 6, a bear cub rescued by Nagisa stands between the girls and its demon-possessed mother long enough for them to figure out a plan.

* In ''AllStarSuperman'', Superman keeps a baby [[PlanetEater sun-eater]] as a pet. After he releases it, it comes back to save him when he is battling [[GeniusLoci Solaris,]] [[PlotTailoredToTheParty The Tyrant Sun]].

* ''StargateAtlantis'': The story is referenced by the main characters. Sheppard and Teyla get kidnapped by a wild-looking man who has a Wraith tracker implanted in his back. Sheppard gets the expedition doctor to remove it and in exchange, the wild-looking man, Ronon, attempts to capture a member of the team who had gone AWOL. He fails, but eventually joins the expedition.
** Also in 'StargateAtlantis'', Sheppard is kidnapped by Genii and imprisoned along with a Wraith. They form a truce with each other long enough for the pair to escape, and later the Wraith, "Todd", becomes a valuable ally in the fight against all the Wraith hives, and a (relatively) moderating influence within his own.
* ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'': Daniel Jackson makes reference to this story during an episode when he is the captive of an injured Unas and helps its recover from its wounds. Along with other interactions, this develops into a sort-of respect, and the Unas saves his life.

* [[Franchise/MassEffect Commander Shepard]] has the option of letting the [[spoiler: last [[BugWar Rachni queen]] go free.[[spoiler: She's captured ''[[DamselInDistress again]]'' in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', this time by the Reapers. Shepard can once again set her free, leading the Queen to send Rachni workers to aid in the construction of the Crucible project.]]

* Early in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'', Leon Kennedy encounters a wolf (though Leon calls it a "dog") caught in a trap. If the player has him free the wolf, it returns later to help Leon fight his battle against the first "El Gigante" boss by distracting the monster.
** Actually, it's [[VideoGame/HauntingGround Hewie]], so it really ''is'' a dog.

* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': AvertedTrope. The bounty hunter Charlie persuades Miles to spare later on hands them over to the militia. Later, Danny manages to save Tom Neville from certain death and still ends up being rearrested.

* Fanfic/TheCadanceverse has the main characters run into a kraken as they journey through the Everfree. Most of the group wants to fight or run, but Lyra realizes that the kraken is trapped and in pain, and convinces the group to help out. When they remove the stakes fixing the kraken to the lakebed, the kraken is so grateful that it gives them a ride across the lake.

If you have time, please take time to put examples in alphabetical order. This page Administrivia/HowToAlphabetizeThings should help you with that.

See also: InterspeciesFriendship, IOweYouMyLife, DisproportionateReward, CharacterWitness, RampageFromANail, and ComeBackMyPet. Contrast with LaserGuidedKarma and TheFarmerAndTheViper. Don't forget BecauseYouWereNiceToMe.

* In the ''{{Mahabharata}}'', Yuddhisthra makes it up the mountain to {{Heaven}} (and is indeed the only one of the Pandavas to do so), because he refused to leave behind a dog that followed him. [[spoiler: It turns out the dog is a reincarnation of his father, Dharma.]]

** The mother dragon comes back in a later episode, helping He-Man again, when a crisis happens that requires him to tranverse Eternia faster than Battle Cat can handle. Fortunately, she can fly ''much'' faster than any landbound mount can.

* In the "Commander McBragg" segment of ''WesternAnimation/TennesseeTuxedoAndHisTales'', McBragg has a story like this, and it's one of the few times he has actual evidence to prove it. According to him, he is captured by "stange men" after his plane crashes in a remote valley, and left as a HumanSacrifice to appease a giant who is angry. McBragg quickly discovers that a thorn is lodged in the giant's foot, and that he's not angry, but in pain; so he dislodges the thorn, gaining the giant's friendship. (The proof? A large, metal ring that the giant gave him from his little finger, which McBragg now uses as a hula-hoop.)

* [[MassEffect Commander Shepard]] has the option of [[spoiler: letting the last [[BugWar Rachni queen]] go free, and it has been implied that the rachni will help Shepard in response in ''Mass Effect 3'']]. Fairy-tale tropes? In ''my'' grizzly [[ASpaceMarineIsYou Space Marine]]-based SpaceOpera? It's more likely than you'd think!
** [[spoiler: She's captured ''[[DamselInDistress again]]'' in ''MassEffect3'', this time by the Reapers. Shepard can once again set her free, leading the Queen to send Rachni workers to aid in the construction of the Crucible project.]]

* In ''FanFic/TheJadedEyesSeries'' [[Franchise/HarryPotterHarry]]/Tristan befriends [[Manga/{{Hellsing}} Alucard]] after giving him a bite to drink and freeing him from the alchemical leash put on him by the Hellsing family.