History Main / AndroclesLion

* In the 5e DungeonsAndDragons stream [[WebVideo/TheUnexpectables]], the party encounters a crab holding a knife. While the DM, Monty, was certain that the crab would meet his demise, the party instead befriended him and was able to retrieve the knife for some Northlanders nearby. A few sessions later, the crab returns, named Crabbius the Mighty, and vouches for the party when confronted by a storm giant. Crabbius returns once more in episode 68 (on YouTube) to save the party after they had been tossed in a channel by the hyper-religous United Clergy of Orun.

* Literature/FirebirdLackey: The protagonist Ilya gets help from a horse, nightingale, fox, and the titular Firebird by saving their lives (or tasty apples, in the horse's case).

* In the ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'' DLC ''BioShockInfinite/BurialAtSea'', it is revealed that this is how the bond was formed between [[spoiler: Elizabeth and Songbird; she reattached its breathing hose as a young girl after it crashed into her tower and was damaged.]] Something similar is implied with the first pair-bond of a Big Daddy and Little Sister, when [[spoiler: the Sister heals a Daddy by injecting it with ADAM, but in this case, it's the Sister being the source of the ADAM that creates the biological link between them.]]

* This tends to be a stock element of Fairy Tales in general.
* "Literature/TheDeathOfKoscheiTheDeathless": As travelling to the house of the witch Literature/BabaYaga, Prince Ivan is feeling terribly hungry, but he spares a bird's chicks, does not touch a beehive's honey, and leaves a lioness' cub alone. Later, they help Ivan against Baba Yaga.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuersDownUnder'', Cody saves a [[GiantFlyer giant eagle]] named Marahute from a poacher's trap, and she returns the favor by saving him from plummeting to his doom.

** Played with in Gwendolyn's story. When Velvet is sentenced to die by the Aesir, Gwendolyn [[BigDamnHeroes dives in and creates an opening for Velvet to escape]], which [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished puts Gwendolyn in hot water with her people]] as [[RealityEnsues she committed treason in the process]]. When she learns of Gwendolyn's fate, a worried Velvet seeks her out of concern for her wellbeing. [[labelnote:Keep in mind...]] Velvet is currently at her wits' end trying to prevent the coming apocalypse and chooses to interrupt her mission and take a big detour in the process.[[/labelnote]] This ends up with Velvet running into Odin and [[CallingTheOldManOut confronting him about the way he treats his daughter as a tool he can use and discard at his convenience]], which is how the audience learns that [[spoiler:Gwendolyn is actually not under the customary love spell that a disgraced Valkyrie would be under in order to force her to love her chosen husband, meaning Gwen's love for Oswald is truly her own.]] The trope is played with because of these facts: 1) In the end, Velvet doesn't do anything to repay Gwendolyn, figuring she will be happier and safer with her new life, though she intended to. 2) Gwendolyn didn't help Velvet out of kindness or sympathy for Velvet, but because ''Odin'' would be saddened if Velvet died (Odin is actually Velvet's father, making Velvet and Gwen half-sisters, with Gwen as TheUnfavorite). 3) Therefore, the ''actual'' "lion" in the story is '''''Odin''''', who, [[TheChainsOfCommanding although he couldn't pardon her in the eyes of his people,]] [[spoiler:secretly went easy on Gwendolyn's punishment]] because he was ''painfully'' aware that [[WellDoneSonGuy Gwendolyn]] essentially [[HeroicSacrifice destroyed her own life for his happiness]] despite his [[AbusiveParents frankly terrible parenting.]] The way he [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone gently cradles Gwen's comatose body and grieves as he issues the punishment says it all.]] 4) [[ManipulativeBastard This doesn't stop Odin from factoring Gwendolyn's person, feelings and actions into his future manipulations at all.]] The man ''does'' love his children, but appears pathologically incapable of ''not'' using everything at his disposal for his plans, his children included.

* In the ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'' DLC ''BioShockInfinite/BurialAtSea'', it is revealed that this is how the bond was formed between [[spoiler: Elizabeth and the Songbird; she reattached its breathing hose as a young girl after it crashed into her tower and was damaged.]] Something similar is implied with the first pair-bond of a Big Daddy and Little Sister, when [[spoiler: the Sister heals a Daddy by injecting it with ADAM, but in this case, it's the Sister being the source of the ADAM that creates the biological link between them.]]
* In the first ''VideoGame/ClockTower'', Jennifer can rescue a crow from being imprisoned in the Barrows Mansion. It's the only way to achieve one of the better endings [[spoiler: when Mary tries to kill Jennifer at the top of the clock tower but is assaulted by a group of crows who cause her to fall to her death]]. They can also [[spoiler:attack Bobby (if he's chasing Jennifer) if he's led into the room where the original crow was freed.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'' [[spoiler: Grace repairs some origami birds after Simon stomps on them. In return, they later save her from getting kicked off the train by Simon.]]

* ''Literature/TomSwift'': Prior to the second book of the fifth series, Swift Enterprises executive Yvonne Williams was kidnapped by anti-technology terrorists. One of her guards died after being bitten by a snake, and Yvonne used her cellphone battery to shock him back to life. The next day, that guard let her escape.

* In ''[[http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/117.htm The Death of Koshchei The Deathless]]'', Prince Ivan spares several animals and they help him against Baba Yaga.

* A Pañcatantra story has a traveller come across a well in a jungle, inside which are trapped a tiger, monkey, snake, and man (a goldsmith). He helps out the four of them, who swear to repay the debt someday. Some time later, as he is crossing a mountain, he comes across a tiger which, to his surprise, does not attack him. He recognises the tiger to be the one he helped out of the well, and in return she feeds him and gives him a golden necklace from her den. On the way to the capital city, he is waylaid in a forest by bandits who tie him up, take his valuables, and set up camp there for the night. The monkey, who lives in the forest, comes to know about this and comes to the traveller's rescue. He throws away the bandits' weapons, restores to the traveller his valuables, and frightens the bandits away by summoning his friends, who throw rocks and stones at the bandits. The traveller then makes it to the city where he meets the goldsmith and asks him to appraise the necklace given by the tiger. The goldsmith recognises the necklace as one owned by the missing princess of the kingdom, and upon learning that the tiger was the one who had the necklace, deduces that the tiger must have killed and eaten the princess. [[AllTakeAndNoGive In the only subversion of this trope]], the goldsmith goes to the king with the necklace and falsely accuses the traveller of having killed the princess and stolen her jewellery, and collects the reward for this information. The king has the traveller locked up and scheduled for execution. In his jail cell, he hears a whispering noise and looks up to see the snake he helped out of the well in the jungle. The snake, having heard everything, gives the traveller an herb with instructions on how to use it. The snake then bites the king's mother, who becomes gravely ill and cannot be cured by the kingdom's best physicians. While the king is grieving in his chambers, the snake enters and whispers to the king that he only who was wrongfully imprisoned can cure the king's mother. Intrigued and desperate, the king summons the traveller, who uses the herb to relieve the queen mother's illness and explains his side of the story to the king, who locks up/executes (depending on the version) the goldsmith for his perjury and avarice. The moral of the story is that while this trope is well and good to note in fiction or with animals, [[Main/NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished it is unrealistic to expect fellow humans to repay kindness with kindness]].
* There is a Persian folk tale, famously put to verse by ''Creator/{{Rumi}}'' about a hero who saves a bear from a dragon. The bear starts following the man around and fiercely protecting him. The story takes a dark turn though, as the bear is NotTooBright and the only one who doesn't see it is the hero. His friends warn him that hanging around with a [[BearsAreBadNews gigantic beast without much wit is a bad idea]] and that he would be better off spending time with humans, but he ignores them. Then one day as the man is taking a nap, the bear notices that a fly is annoying his friend and has the brilliant idea to kill it with a boulder. While it's sitting on the dude's face.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* The ''MyLittlePony'' fanfic ''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.

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/22707499/chapters/60245656#workskin Poisoned Blood]]'', the heroes encounter the Hydra and prepare to attack, but Percy, due to his uncanny ability to understand and speak to monsters, recognizes that it doesn't want to fight and convinces Annabeth and Grover to stand down. The Hydra is so grateful that Percy spared it and gave it head and belly rubs that it gives the heroes money from its secret stash, which the strapped for cash heroes really need.

* In ''Film/JurassicWorldFallenKingdom'', Zia, along with Claire and Owen, helps treat the raptor Blue's injuries and gives her a blood transfusion. Later, when Zia and Franklin are about to be attacked by mercenaries, Zia opens Blue's cage. Blue remembers her and nods to her before attacking the mercenaries.

* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'': Referenced in an episode, when JD removes a splinter from the Janitor's toe (though he mixes it up slightly with the story of the mouse and the lion). When JD tries telling it, the Janitor cheerfully cuts him off with "Oh yeah, and then the lion kills and eats him anyway!" Funnily, the Janitor does try to repay JD with unwanted help, causing JD to waste the favor by asking the Janitor to do something trivial. The Janitor notes afterward that JD could have asked to not be hassled for a year.

** Speaking of Samus, [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pikachu]] plays this role with her in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl''. In the story mode ''Subspace Emissary''. After she rescues him from a generator, he accompanies her through the enemy base, helping her get her suit back, and eventually saving her ass when Ridley tries to smear her across the wall.

** In ''The Message'', the fourth book in the series, the kids help a humpback whale that is being attacked by sharks. The whale guides them to their objective, and at the end of the book, the entire herd shows up and drives off Visser Three (who was attacking the kids in the form of an alien sea-monster).
** This trope is recycled in the thirty-ninth book, ''The Hidden'', which is perhaps not-so-coincidentally another Cassie book.

* ''{{Film/Maleficent}}'' receives the services and [[UndyingLoyalty undying loyalty]] of the raven, Diaval, after she saves him from a farmers net.

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[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheRescuersDownUnder https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rescuersdownunder_cody_helping_maranute.png]]]]

* ''Anime/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.

* ''Anime/KoihimeMusou'' subverts this as a RunningGag, with Chouhi keeps bumping into wild animals she took care of, supposedly - only to discover too late that they aren't.

* In an early issue of the ''[[Anime/TenchiMuyo No Need For Tenchi]]'' manga, Sasami finds and tends to a wounded wolf that had escaped from a truck, whom she affectionately calls "Doggy". It protects her from a group of wild wolves and, many years IRL-time later, returns to help tend to a group of abandoned raccoon cubs in her school.

* Inverted in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders''. [[spoiler: Iggy, a Boston Terrier, saves a human boy's life from the guard falcon who'd killed and eaten his two dogs. Later, after defeating the falcon, Iggy nearly drowns from exhaustion and blood loss as a result of the fight, only to be saved by the same boy he'd protected earlier.]]
* ''LightNovel/TheTestamentOfSisterNewDevil'': At one point, Zest feeds and pets a stray baby unicorn. Later, when Zest gets knocked out and about to be trampled, the unicorn goes to her and licks her face to wake her up, allowing her to roll out of the way.

* In the miniseries ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}: Monster Society of Evil'' (written by the author of ''Bone,'' above) [[KidHero Billy]] always shoos away the cockroaches that infest his abandoned building but is never seen killing them. When all the insects of the city come under the control of [[PsychicPowers Mister Mind]], this turns out to be very helpful.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuersDownUnder'', Cody saves a [[GiantFlyer giant eagle]] named Marahute from a poacher's trap, and she returns the favor by saving him from plummeting to his doom.
* In ''Animation/TheFrogPrincess'', each one of the animals that was spared or helped by Ivan ends up helping him in his quest and fight against Koschei.

* In the Korean film ''Film/ThePirates'', the characters all hunt a large whale that has swallowed a very important royal seal. The pirate captain, however, hesitates to kill it, and when she is defeated by her rival and tossed overboard, a flashback reveals that when she was a young fish-diving girl and the whale was a calf, she rescued it from a net. The whale recognizes her by the sound of the small bell she still wears on her wrist and carries her to safety.
* A wrongfully imprisoned Gustave in ''Film/TheGrandBudapestHotel'' gives a fellow prisoner some of his porridge in the mess hall. That prisoner later kills his cellmate, who was about to rat out Gustave and Zero as they attempted to escape.
* Darkly subverted in ''Film/{{Bright}}''; [[spoiler:the tagger Jakoby let go turns out to be the son of orc gangster Dorghu, and when his father orders him to kill Jakoby and Ward, he refuses... so Dorghu [[UngratefulBastard just sends the kid away and shoots Jakoby himself]].]]
* At the beginning of ''Film/RolliAmazingTales'', this is invoked, and later ultimately double subverted. Rölli finds a large old tree and wants to make firewood out of it, but the tree starts talking and pleads for him to spare it, promising to help Rölli out if it can. Near the ending, while Rölli is trying to evade the Trashers, he hides behind the tree and asks for its help. The tree does nothing and Rölli is captured by the Trashers, but the tree pities him. The tree finally repays its debt right in the ending by [[spoiler:letting itself fall all over the [[BigBad High Priest]] before the villain can kill Rölli and the Forest Fairy]].

* The storybook, The Selfish Crocodile has the crocodile in pain midway in the story. A mouse removes the tooth out of the crocodile's mouth. In return, the crocodile loses his selfishness. He even rewards the mouse with a nut for getting rid of the bad tooth.

* Kit removes a bit of wreckage from around the axle of a sentient Lotus in the ''Literature/YoungWizards'' novel ''So You Want to Be a Wizard'', and the Lotus ends up becoming a friend and helper to them. [[spoiler:It pulls a SenselessSacrifice against the [[BigBad Lone Power]], trying to buy them some time to run. It later shows up in Timeheart.]]

* Basically applies in reverse in ''Literature/FireBringer''; [[spoiler:after the deer protagonist Rannoch spends some time as a human's 'pet' before he is released, years later the human 'fawn' who helped him kills the villainous deer Sgorr, but spares Rannoch after recognising him]].

* Jean Valjean in ''Literature/LesMiserables'' saves Fauchelevant from dying after he gets trapped under his horse cart and arranges a job for him as a gardener in a Parisian convent. Later, when Valjean is on the run from Inspector Javert, Fauchelevant conceals him and adopted daughter Cosette in the convent.
* ''Literature/TheReluctantKing'': Early in ''The Goblin Tower'', Jorian set Zor, an ape-man, free from his long captivity in the laboratory of an evil wizard. Later in the same book, he's rescued from ape-men who planned to sacrifice him as their leader is Zor, who recognizes Jorian. He repays him by letting Jorian go, along with Karadur. In fact, setting Zor free was wholly accidental, but Jorian is very glad for the good luck nonetheless of course.

* In the ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'' DLC ''BioShockInfinite/BurialAtSea'', it is revealed that this is how the bond was formed between [[spoiler: Elizabeth and the Songbird; she reattached its breathing hose as a young girl after it crashed into her tower and was damaged.]] Something similar is implied with the first pair-bond of a Big Daddy and Little Sister, when [[spoiler: the Sister heals a Daddy by injecting it with ADAM, but in this case, it's the Sister being the source of the ADAM that creates the biological link between them.]]

* In ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'', the player can choose to help out a hungry giant spider by feeding it some bugs. When the player is given ownership of Crossroads Keep later in the chapter, it will take up residence in the castle's basement and knit some spider-silk clothing in gratitude.

* In ''VideoGame/UntilDawn'', If Mike gives a bone to the wolf in the sanitarium, during his return visit it'll help guide him through and warn him when [[spoiler: the Wendigo's are attacking.]]

* ''VideoGame/PinkPantherHokusPokusPink'': After Pink helps a shark in Indonesia get his tail and finns back, the Shark repays the favor by giving Pink rides to 2 nearby islands.
* In the ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterWorld''[=/=]''VideoGame/TheWitcher3'' crossover event, Geralt comes across roots that have trapped and killed several Pukei-Pukei. If he finds and rescues the one that's still alive, it will later jump in during the final battle with the Leshen and help him.

* In the world of ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'', this is actually a law, where if an herbivore helps a predator, that predator owes a downplayed LifeDebt and cannot harm the herbivore that helped him or her.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'', Hordak found baby Adora in a field after Light Hope teleported her to Etheria. In a rare act of compassion, he took her back to the Horde with him. [[spoiler:In the climax of "Heart, Part 2", she exorcises Horde Prime's spirit from his body, saving him.]]
-->'''Hordak:''' I remember you.

* ''Manga/NatsumesBookOfFriends'': An extremely powerful Youkai jumps to Natsume's defence against an evil Ayakashi, because Natsume helped him earlier in the episode. This is a pretty big reward considering all Natsume did was [[spoiler: cover up a puddle in the road so that his servants could pass ? despite the fact they could just as easily have ''walked around it''...]]

* In the miniseries ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}: Monster Society of Evil'' (written by the author of ''Bone,'' above) [[KidHero Billy]] always shoos away the cockroaches that infest his abandoned building, but is never seen killing them. When all the insects of the city come under the control of [[PsychicPowers Mister Mind]], this turns out to be very helpful.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' comic, WesternAnimation/BugsBunny, in ancient Rome, is about to be thrown into the coliseum. He sees the lion he will have to fight has thorns from his other opponent, an enormous Venus Flytrap, stuck in his paw. Bugs pulls the thorns free and explains how this trope works to the reader. When the battle starts, however, the lion refuses to back down. ("Sorry, I'm a professional", he explains.) Fortunately the monster plant is grateful for having the lion's paw removed from his thorns, and comes to Bugs' rescue.
* Played darkly in the "Valley Forge, Valley Forge" arc of ''Comicbook/ThePunisherMAX''. A group of soldiers have been tasked by to bring down Frank Castle, knowing [[WouldNotShootAGoodGuy he won't use deadly force against them]], by a cabal of corrupt U.S. generals. In the end it turns out that [[spoiler: the Colonel tasked with leading the soldiers was once a soldier in Vietnam who had been rescued by Frank's Marine Recon squad]]. When the generals come around to view their "''prize''", they find [[spoiler: an untied Frank with a fully loaded 1911. You can guess what happens next.]] Mildly subverted in that [[spoiler:the Colonel covered up the corrupt generals' crimes in the process]][[note]]he outright declares that he won't have the armed forces' reputation sullied publicly, and explicitly refuses to use the evidence to publicly expose them[[/note]], and that [[spoiler:Frank Castle wanted them dead more than he wanted their crimes exposed.]]

* In ''Golden Antelope'' a boy helps all kinds of animals, getting transportation, guidance, protection and even fundraising in return.

* In ''[[http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/392.htm The Golden Mermaid]]'', the prince actively offers his horse to the starving wolf, and gets its aid.

* In ''Magick Ring'' the main hero literally gives a shirt off his back to buy a dog, a cat and a snake from a cruel owner. The snake turns out to be a princess (not a cursed human, just a snake princess) and rewards him with a wish-granting ring. The cat and the dog are also smart and rescue him when the ring is stolen and he's thrown into prison.

* A traditional tale of the Kamba people from Kenya tells the story of a man who cultivated a field. The crops attracted gazelles so he set traps to defend his crops. One day he saw a lion had fallen in one of the traps. He freed the lion after making him promise that he would not hurt him. Once free, however, [[TheFarmerAndTheViper the lion]] [[ILied attacked him]]. Then the man convinced the lion to let him go after promising that he would give him the heart of every animal that fell in his traps from then on. One day his wife accidentally fell on one of the traps, and just as the man ran to free her the lion appeared and demanded the wife's heart as part of their agreement. The man refused saying that this wasn't part of the deal, so the lion killed the wife and badly injured the man. Moral of the story: [[SubvertedTrope Don't trust lions]]. [[DeconstructorFleet They fucking eat people]].
* A Pañcatantra story has a traveller come across a well in a jungle, inside which are trapped a tiger, monkey, snake and man (a goldsmith). He helps out the four of them, who swear to repay the debt someday. Some time later, as he is crossing a mountain, he comes across a tiger which, to his surprise, does not attack him. He recognises the tiger to be the one he helped out of the well, and in return she feeds him and gives him a golden necklace from her den. On the way to the capital city, he is waylaid in a forest by bandits who tie him up, take his valuables and set up camp there for the night. The monkey, who lives in the forest, comes to know about this, and comes to the traveller's rescue. He throws away the bandits' weapons, restores to the traveller his valuables and frightens the bandits away by summoning his friends, who throw rocks and stones at the bandits. The traveller then makes it to the city where he meets the goldsmith, and asks him to appraise the necklace given by the tiger. The goldsmith recognises the necklace as one owned by the missing princess of the kingdom, and upon learning that the tiger was the one who had the necklace, deduces that the tiger must have killed and eaten the princess. [[AllTakeAndNoGive In the only subversion of this trope]], the goldsmith goes to the king with the necklace and falsely accuses the traveller of having killed the princess and stolen her jewellery, and collects the reward for this information. The king has the traveller locked up and scheduled for execution. In his jail cell, he hears a whispering noise and looks up to see the snake he helped out of the well in the jungle. The snake, having heard everything, gives the traveller an herb with instructions on how to use it. The snake then bites the king's mother, who becomes gravely ill and cannot be cured by the kingdom's best physicians. While the king is grieving in his chambers, the snake enters and whispers to the king that he only who was wrongfully imprisoned can cure the king's mother. Intrigued and desperate, the king summons the traveller, who uses the herb to relieve the queen mother's illness and explains his side of the story to the king, who locks up/executes (depending on the version) the goldsmith for his perjury and avarice. The moral of the story is that while this trope is well and good to note in fiction or with animals, [[Main/NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished it is unrealistic to expect fellow humans to repay kindness with kindness]].

* In ''Fanfic/SonOfTheWesternSea'' the Firebird outright states that she would repay Percy's kindness after he releases her from his ropes and tells her she could take as many of his apples as she wanted, granting Percy one of her feathers and the ability to [[CallOnMe call on her by waving a feather if she is nearby]]. The only reason Percy had trapped her in the first place was because he was waiting on an important call and she [[MagicMusic kept trying to put him to sleep with her song]]. She also agrees to assist him hunting down Baba Yaga.

* ''WesternAnimation/AstroKid'': While exploring the alien planet he crash landed on, Willy sees how a large, buglike creature breaks the horn on it's head, he rushes in and helps the creature restore the broken horn by fastening it with a vine. The creature later returns the favor by helping Willy out of a pit he fell into and can't climb out of on his own.
* Hiccup and Toothless in ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon''. Hiccup downs Toothless with a catapult, and initially wants to kill him, but realizes the creature is just as scared as he is. They befriend each other and Hiccup invents a rudder-like device to function as a tail for Toothless, since his is partially damaged/deformed.

* D'leh in ''Film/TenThousandBC'' had second thoughts before his concern over an about-to-drown Sabretooth Tiger led him to release it from where it was pinned under some trees, since falling rain would quickly drown it. For the record, it saves his and his father figure's asses later and marks him as TheChosenOne to bring down TheEmpire.
* The Bandersnatch in Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/AliceInWonderland2010'' helps Alice after she gives it back its disembodied eye, [[spoiler: by licking the scratch wounds it inflicted on Alice's arm earlier and healing it, lest it (quoeth Cheshire Cat) "festers and putrefies". It later serves as her mount in the FinalBattle against the Jabberwock.]]

* In ''Film/{{Cinderella 2015}}'', Ella is kind to the animals on the farm, and, particularly to the mice: she not only feeds them but also protects them from the cat. In return, not only do the animals serve as the attendants, driver, and horses for her pumpkin carriage, but at the end, [[spoiler:two little blue birds tip off the mice about the glass slipper search party coming so that the mice can unclasp the window to let out Ella's voice, thus revealing her presence and defeating the plan of Lady Tremaine and the Grand Duke to hide Ella from the Prince by keeping Ella locked up]].

* Natty in ''Film/TheJourneyOfNattyGann'' befriends a wolf by opening a door for it to escape a dogfight and later giving it some of her food. The wolf subsequently returns the favor by bringing her a freshly-killed rabbit when she's lost and hungry in the woods, and accompanies her for most of the rest of her travels.

* ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}''. Sarah rescues Ludo from some Goblins. Later on he saves her from attack in the Goblin City by "calling the rocks" and sending the Goblins flying like tenpins.

* In ''Film/SecondhandLions'', the two uncles purchase an old circus lioness to have dangerous prey to hunt. However, they find the lion too old and decrepit, and take pity on her, so they release her into their cornfield instead. Throughout the movie, Walter leaves food for the lion, caring for her from a distance. The lion repays the favor in the end when Walter is being attacked, by attacking his assailant. While she successfully protects him, the lion is so old that in the sudden excitement, she suffers a heart attack and dies.

** In ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'', Rey and her group are briefly attacked by a beast known as a Vexis snake in the underground tunnels of planet Pasaana. When Rey sees the creature is injured however, she uses [[spoiler: her [[HealingHands Force-healing abilities]] on the snake's wounds. When the snake sees it's no longer wounded]], it calmly slithers away but not before opening an exit for our heroes with its tail.

* In the Korean film ''Film/ThePirates'', the characters all hunt a large whale that has swallowed a very important royal seal. The pirate captain, however, hesitates to kill it, and when she is defeated by her rival and tossed overboard, a flashback reveals that when she was a young fish-diving girl and the whale was a calf, she rescued it from a net. The whale recognizes her by the sound of the small bell she still wears on her wrist, and carries her to safety.

* In the beginning of ''Film/RolliAmazingTales'', this is invoked, and later ultimately double subverted. Rölli finds a large old tree and wants to make firewood out of it, but the tree starts talking and pleads for him to spare it, promising to help Rölli out if it can. Near the ending, while Rölli is trying to evade the Trashers, he hides behind the tree and asks for its help. The tree does nothing, and Rölli is captured by the Trashers, but the tree pities him. The tree finally repays its debt right in the ending by [[spoiler:letting itself fall all over the [[BigBad High Priest]] before the villain can kill Rölli and the Forest Fairy]].

* Literature/FirebirdLackey: The protagonist Ilya gets help from a horse, nightingale, fox and the titular Firebird by saving their lives (or tasty apples, in the horse's case).

* ''Series/BernardsWatch'': the eponymous Bernard used his time stopping watch to remove a tack from an old man's foot. When he is later sent to the new Headmaster, a Mr Lion, who turns out to be the old Man, and instead helps Bernard escape punishment.
* Doubling as a BrickJoke, an episode of ''Series/CornerGas'' has Oscar buying mousetraps to kill a mouse that had been seen at the gas station. Davis is against this, admitting to being somewhat of an animal lover and fondly recalling a time that he took care of an injured owl until it was healthy enough to fly again. At the end of the episode, Davis has finally wore Oscar down and convinced him to capture the mouse alive and release it into the wild. They let it go in a field... [[SubvertedTrope and what is implied to be the same owl immediately swoops down to snatch it up for food]].

* In the old tale "The Golden-Headed Fish," an Egyptian prince is sent on a mission to capture the title animal, which is the only thing which can save his father from a deadly illness. He succeeds, but can't bring himself to kill the beautiful creature and sets it free. His father (who recovers anyway) banishes him from the realm. Out in the world, he encounters a strange man who wishes to work as his servant, and accompanies him on a number of adventures, saving his life frequently. After the prince's father dies, his mother summons him back to take his rightful place as king, at which time the servant requests permission to leave.

* There is a story that says that when [[Literature/TheBible when King David was on the run from King Saul]], he went to hide in a cave, where he saw a spider he was going to kill, before the spider could stop him, saying he'd help him somehow. King David laughed, but spared it anyway. The spider formed a web around the cave's opening, so when King Saul came by the cave, he said there is probably no-one in there, as they'd have to tear through the cobweb to get in. He left, and King David blessed the spider.

* A similar story tells of how King Solomon was stung by a bee once and wanted to kill it, but it asked him to spare her so she'd help him some day. King Solomon reacted the same as David. Later, when the Queen of Sheba came over to test King Solomon's famous wisdom, she asked him to pick the real flower out of three―the other two were impeccably fabricated. The King was stumped, when the bee came over and sat on the real flower. [[note]]One may think "[[FridgeLogic So apparently the bee gave her life for the hell of it, and made a heroic sacrifice to make amends.]] [[MST3KMantra Ah well.]]" That is, until they remember that [[FridgeBrilliance it could have been a queen bee or a bumblebee, either which can actually sting multiple times without dying.]][[/note]]

* Melampus from Myth/ClassicalMythology was a soothsayer and healer who gained fame and fortune simply by being kind to animals. In one version of the myth he saved a pair of orphan baby snakes. In gratitude they licked his ears, giving him the power to understand animals.

* Deadpan comic Jackie Vernon had a bit about this. A man is in the African jungle when he hears moaning and finds an elephant with a thorn in its foot. Very carefully he approaches and removes the thorn. The elephant tests its foot and goes away. ''Ten years later'' the man is in Madison Square Garden in NYC at the Ringling Brothers/Barnum and Bailey Circus. During the entrance march of the elephants one of the elephants stops in its tracks, looks across the arena at the man and then breaks away and runs up to him, scattering everyone in its path. It stops in front of the man, reaches down with its trunk, raises him out of his seat, throws him on the ground and steps on him, crushing him to death! (Loooooooong pause) [[spoiler: "It was a different elephant."]]

* In the first ''VideoGame/ClockTower'', Jennifer can rescue a crow from being imprisoned in the Barrows Mansion. It's the only way to achieve one of the better endings [[spoiler: when Mary tries to kill Jennifer at the top of the clock tower, but is assaulted by a group of crows who cause her to fall to her death]]. They can also [[spoiler:attack Bobby (if he's chasing Jennifer) if he's led into the room where the original crow was freed.]]
* In the ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'' DLC ''BioShockInfinite/BurialAtSea'', it is revealed that this is how the bond was formed between [[spoiler: Elizabeth and the Songbird; she reattached its breathing hose as a young girl after it crashed into her tower and was damaged.]] Something similar is implied with the first pair-bond of a Big Daddy and Little Sister, when [[spoiler: the Sister heals a Daddy by injecting it with ADAM, but in this case it's the Sister being the source of the ADAM that creates the biological link between them.]]

** In ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'', the Etecoons and Dachoras were friendly creatures who helped Samus by teaching her techniques like the Wall Jump and the Shinespark. At the end of the game when Samus is trying to escape the [[EarthShatteringKaboom Zebes-Shatttering Kaboom]], taking a slight detour shows them trapped in a room. If they're saved, a tiny dot will be seen escaping the explosion in the ending sequence. By ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'', the same Etecoons and Dachoras are seen in a containment hold in the BSL labs partway through the game, and Samus sets them loose. At the end of the game, they return her both favors by piloting her ship into the docking bay (with the help of her computerised CO, Adam), allowing her to escape the station just before crash landing.

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' features a variant of this, where some one is kidnapping Wyvern babies. They follow the player around for a little while after they're saved, then seem to leave. After fighting the person who captured them as a miniboss, the wyverns then reappear, attack the boss, carry him off a cliff, then drop him.

* In the ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterWorld''[=/=]''VideoGame/TheWitcher3'' crossover event, Geralt come across roots that have trapped and killed several Pukei-Pukei. If he finds and rescues the one that's still alive, it will later jump in during the final battle with the Leshen and help him.

* Belkar in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' released an allosaurus that was being held in a cage in the Empire of Blood's arena. Even though it was sedated and returned to the cage, it seems to remember Belkar's deed; in a later scene when one of the Empire's soldiers uses it as a steed during an attack on the Order, it obeys Belkar's command not to eat Roy, and helps drive away the other soldiers. {{Justified}}, as Belkar is a ranger with the Wild Empathy ability, making it easier for him to tame and command wild animals.

* In ''Literature/GravenHunterFiles'' book ''Death by Demon'' young Sye encounters a baby demon and raises her, giving her the name Cat and teaching her not to eat people. Adult Sye later encounters Cat, who is eager to reconnect with Sye despite Sye's reluctance. By the next book ''Treacherous Grounds'' Cat has became a regular companion of Sye's.

** In one episode, the gaang befriends a WellIntentionedExtremist bandit named Jet, who at one point tries to rob an innocent old man but is prevented from doing so by Sokka. Later in the episode, Jet tries to destroy a village by breaking open a dam and flooding it; Sokka goes to the village and tries to warn them to evacuate, but no-one believes him, until the old man from earlier speaks up on Sokka's behalf.

* There was an old ''WesternAnimation/ConanTheAdventurer'' series that played this up. In one episode, Conan encounters a dragon that acts much like a genie (Conan found a MacGuffin, and the Dragon had to swear loyalty and grant wishes to whoever held it). When the Dragon calls Conan "Master", Conan declares that he is master of no man... or beast, and tells the Dragon he is free. Fast forward to the end of the season and the giant climatic battle, the Dragon appears out of nowhere to aid Conan and his allies.
* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in the ''WesternAnimation/TheDayMyButtWentPsycho episode'' "Legend of the [[{{Bigfoot}} Butt-Squatch]]" when Zack removes a giant splinter from the titular Butt-Squatch's back - only for the [[NiceJobBreakingItHero beast to unfurl it's previously-stuck wings and eat Zack]] as well as Deuce and Elanor, who tagged along to find the creature.

** ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' has an episode where Huey comes across a Bigfoot with a thorn in his foot. After removing it, the Bigfoot befriends him and Huey decides to take him back to [=McDuck=] Manor. [[spoiler:However, it's subverted as it turns out the Bigfoot is actually a fully sentient creature capable of speaking English. He staged to entire thing so he could live in the mansion and mooch of the triplets instead living in the woods.]]

** Spike the Bulldog was usually the "lion", who would protect Jerry from Tom after Jerry got him out of trouble. Zigzagged in the "Fit to be Tied" short, a deliberate call-out to the old Aesop fable, when Jerry pulls a tack out of Spike's paw. At first, Spike helps Jerry when he rings a bell, until Tom shows him a newspaper article where dogs have to be chained on leashes, and Tom makes Jerry his servant. Later on, the next day's newspaper reads that the leash law is repealed, and Spike starts pummeling Tom again.
** In "The Bodyguard", Jerry pulls the wooden peg from the latch on the dog catcher's truck, releasing Spike who tells Jerry to whistle for help. After Tom tries make Jerry into a sandwich, Spike crunches Tom into an accordion shape, Tom knocks a chip off Jerry's shoulder and Spike punches Tom. After Tom walks away from Spike, he catches Jerry in the alley, and gives a wolf whistle when he sees a female cat, with Spike hitting Tom again. Tom resorts to shaking two gumballs out of a machine, dipping one in glue, giving the coated one to Jerry, which stops him from whistling. Stuck in a fence hole, Jerry tries hard to blow a bubble, and after much effort, he finally blows a piercing whistle; {{subverted}} when Spike has been caught by the dog catcher, and Tom chases after Jerry.

** 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. (Unfortunately, she can't swim, the one thing that still made He-Man's job hard.)

* Deliberately referenced in the opening two-parter of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', with Fluttershy and a (very lion-like) Manticore, resulting form Fluttershy's special connection with animals.

* ''WesternAnimation/RoadRovers'', "Where Rovers Dare". While the Rovers are busy stopping a weapons dealer from starting a WarForFunAndProfit, Colleen takes in, and fixes up, an [[FurryConfusion injured wolf]]. While the bad guys have cornered her and her all-male teammates, the wolf howls and next thing you know tons of wolves have shown up, allowing the UN to easily capture the baddies.
* Fractured Fairy Tales on the ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'' show had an episode titled Androcles and the Lion. Unfortunately, by the time Androcles met the lion in the arena it'd been starved by the Romans, and the score was soon Lion:1, Androcles: 0.

* 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.)

* Subverted (and double subverted) in a classic joke. A man saves an elephant with a thorn in its foot. The elephant takes a long look at the man and the hurries off. Some years later, the man sees the elephant in a local circus. Since elephants never forget, the man decides to enter into the elephant's enclosure to comfort his old friend the elephant. He is promptly crushed to death (or, in some versions, simply thrown out of the enclosure), at which point the narrator usually points out that [[ShaggyDogStory it was probably not the same elephant]].

* A real life Literature/JulieOfTheWolves went away from a wolf pack for a bit, then found the wolf pack which [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb11TtPwBxo still remembered her]].

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* In ''Film/{{Riddick}}'', Riddick is attacked by a dog-like beast on the planet on which he is marooned. He takes his belt buckle and tosses it, and the animal [[AllAnimalsAreDogs goes to fetch it]] and eventually becomes something of a pet to him.