Variations of the Heroic Sacrifice. Frequently a Dying Moment of Awesome.
Characters sacrificing themselves to save others:
- Heroic Sacrifice is the super-trope of everything below, of course.
- Cold Equation
- Cut the Safety Rope
- Go Through Me
- Heroic Suicide
- I Will Only Slow You Down: Person insists they be left behind on the grounds that being rescued would only hinder the others.
- Inspirational Martyr
- Jumping on a Grenade
- Killer Finale: Since the main character is getting killed off, a Heroic Sacrifice might occur.
- Kill Us Both
- Pre-Sacrifice Final Goodbye
- Reset-Button Suicide Mission
- Sacrificial Revival Spell
- Self-Destructive Charge (This can sometimes be played as an Heroic Sacrifice.)
- Self-Sacrifice Scheme
- Silent Scapegoat
- Someone Has to Die
- Suicide Mission
- Take Me Instead
- Taking the Bullet
- Tragic Robot: An emotional plot involving a robot, typically with a robot who sacrifices themselves for the heroes
- Tuck and Cover
- You Shall Not Pass!
Ways to fail at a heroic sacrifice:
- Negate Your Own Sacrifice: The character sacrifices themselves because they know they can't really be killed.
- Senseless Sacrifice: The heroic sacrifice doesn't accomplish anything.
- Stupid Sacrifice: A character sacrifices themselves when they had no reason to.
- Survival Through Self-Sacrifice: A character's willingness to sacrifice themselves earns their survival.
See also:
- Convenient Terminal Illness (Making a Heroic Sacrifice because you were dying anyway)
- Going Down with the Ship (A Heroic Sacrifice for the sake of honor, rather than saving lives, usually.)
- Hesitant Sacrifice (Commonly found attached to the examples above, in particular "Someone Has to Die".)
- Last Stand (You aren't saving anyone else immediately close to you, but you're going to stay alive as long as you can to make your enemy pay.)
- Not Afraid to Die (Can be the aversion to Hesitant Sacrifice, or it can be partnered with it.)
- Obi-Wan Moment (Going through with a Heroic Sacrifice as calmly as still water.)
- Sealed Evil in a Duel (A Heroic Sacrifice, where the hero doesn't technically die.)
- Taking You with Me (You're dead meat anyway, but dammit you're going to save the world. Or doom it, if you're the villain.)
