History Main / GoThroughMe

* Parodied in the Italian comic book ''{{Rat-Man}}'':

* Used repeatedly throughout the ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' series. Wizardmon does this for Gatomon, Hikari does this to help snap Andromon out of his mind control, and Tomoki does this in Frontier.

** Subverted in ''Spider-Man 2'': A crowd on a subway car try to do the same thing to Doc Ock: he grins, says "Very well." and shoves them up against the subway walls.

* Used very darkly in ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}: The AgeOfApocalypse''. During a massive battle, Colossus sees that his little sister is in trouble and rushes to save her, with gusto. Iceman steps up and says something along the lines of "No can do pal, if you want to get out of here you'll have to go through m-"... and the next panel shows Colossus smashing Iceman into a million pieces. (Which is odd, given that Iceman is considerably more powerful than Colossus).

** In fact, melee-only classes are often referred to as "The Meat Shield" in RPGs now as an in-joke. Crosses over with ''HumanShield'' as melee players will sometimes explicitly try to protect weaker party members while weaker party members will often explicitly try to hide behind melee party members. Can be justified if the melee character is tough enough.

* Several characters do this in respect to Frodo in TheLordOfTheRings, especially Samwise Gamgee.

* ''RoboCop3'' has the BigBad trying to shoot Robocop. The female cop, present in the series from the first movie, has the extremely smart idea of putting her soft squishy body in front of Robocop's metallic armor and declaring "You'll have to go through me first". [[spoiler:The BigBad replies "gladly" and promptly kills her with a burst of machinegun fire, followed by firing a grenade in Robocop's torso. Most audiences ''really'' didn't like such a major character dying in such a stupid way]].

** Hawke invokes this towards the Arishok during his attempt to seize Kirkwall, then (possibly) again when he attempts to take [[spoiler: Isabela]] back to Par Vollen as a captive for [[spoiler: stealing the Tome of Koslun]]. This leads to Hawke engaging in a honourable DuelToTheDeath over the fate of the city and (possibly) [[spoiler: Isabela]].

** And don't forget the Return of the King, where the Nazgûl king moves in to finish Théoden and Éowyn steps in.

** And don't forget the Return of the King, where the Nazgul king moves in to finish Theoden and Eowyn steps in.

* ''ReservoirDogs'':

* The ''LordOfTheRings: The Fellowship of the Ring'' did this in the scene on Weathertop, where the Ringwraiths casually fling aside the other hobbits trying to protect Frodo.

* The third ''RoboCop'' movie has the BigBad trying to shoot Robocop. The female cop, present in the series from the first movie, has the extremely smart idea of putting her soft squishy body in front of Robocop's metallic armor and declaring "You'll have to go through me first". [[spoiler:The BigBad replies "gladly" and promptly kills her with a burst of machinegun fire, followed by firing a grenade in Robocop's torso. Most audiences ''really'' didn't like such a major character dying in such a stupid way]].

* ''{{Enchanted}}'' also played this for laughs, when Robert grabbed a sword he had no idea how to use and got between Giselle and a ScaledUp Queen Narissa. Her response? "All right, I'm flexible." Cue JamesBondage.
* ''InBruges'': the hotel owner, a pregnant woman, stands between a hired killer and his target.

* At the finale of ''BehindTheMask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon'', [[spoiler:[[PluckyComicRelief Doug]] attempts to invoke this trope to stop [[AxCrazy Leslie]] from getting to [[FinalGirl Taylor]]. [[ThreatBackfire Unfortunately,]] [[OminousWalk Leslie doesn't even break stride]] [[CurbStompBattle to smash his head against a wall]] [[OneHitKO and knock him out cold.]]]]

* Subverted in ''HarryPotter''. Harry's dad James says that he will hold Voldemort off while his wife takes Harry to safety, only to be killed seconds later by Voldemort. The fact that Voldemort fully intended to kill James anyway somewhat blunted the heroism of James’ sacrifice; James was dead the second Voldemort found him without a wand, he would have died no matter what he did.

* In ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', Jill (the village girl during the Fairy Arc) does this for Guts [[http://view.thespectrum.net/series/berserk-volume-11.html?ch=Volume+15&page=13 when Roshinu attacks him]]. Normally, this would be completely unnecessary ([[OneManArmy this being Guts and all]]), but since Guts is ''poisoned'', and Jill ends up being the ''only'' [[MoralityPet person Roshinu cares about]]... it works.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' has [[BadassNormal Ollanius Pius]], who put himself between Horus and the wounded Emperor. Pius only lasted about half a second before being ''completely atomized'', but that turned out to be just long enough.

* The horror form occurs in {{Wishmaster}}, where a security guard says this to the JackassGenie villain - who turns him into glass and smashes through him to get in.

* Used in ''[[Comicbook/{{Batman}} Batman Returns]]'', with Max Shreck's son Chip stepping in to save him from the Penguin's Red Triangle gang. The gang are not impressed and pull weapons on him, prompting Chip to say "Dad, go! Save yourself!"

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/95461/a-voice-among-the-strangers A Voice Among the Strangers]]'', Rainbow Dash and Ebony both do this when Jessica is almost recaptured by the Flim Flam brothers. It wasn't necessary - the royal guards had already shown up - but it's especially moving since until this point Jessica didn't quite trust Rainbow Dash, who in turn didn't trust Ebony.

* In ''XenaWarriorPrincess'', Joxer valiantly (if hopelessly) stood between [[AxeCrazy Callisto]] and Xena's wounded horse Argus, saying she would have to take him down to hurt Argus again. Fortunately for both Joxer and Argus, Callisto had previously pulled a FreakyFridayFlip on Xena, and Xena's soul was inside Callisto's body. Xena did acknowledge that she was impressed by Joxer's bravery.

* In ''KingdomHearts'', when the Ansom-possessed Rikku is about to kill Kairi, Sora blocks Rikku's dark keyblade with his own, shouting, "There's no way you're taking Kairi's heart!" Cue [[ThatOneBoss one of the toughest battles in the game thus far]].

* In ''XenaWarriorPrincess', Joxer valiantly (if hopelessly) stood between [[AxeCrazy Callisto]] and Xena's wounded horse Argus, saying she would have to take him down to hurt Argus again. Fortunately for both Joxer and Argus, Callisto had previously pulled a FreakyFridayFlip on Xena, and Xena's soul was inside Callisto's body. Xena did acknowledge that she was impressed by Joxer's bravery.

* In ''KingdomHearts'', when the Ansom-possessed Rikku is about to kill Kairi, Sora blocks Rikku's dark keyblade with his own, shouting, "There's no way you're taking Kairi's heart!" Cue [[ThatOneBoss one of the toughest battles in the game thus far]].

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'', [[spoiler:Lenne]] puts herself between Vegnagun ([[spoiler:being used by Shuyin]]) and ''the world''. We never find out if it would have convinced him to stop, given that [[spoiler:the two are both gunned down seconds later.]]

* In ''Manga/SoulEater'', Soul would normally be very capable of taking the attack without damage (or not as much damage) but since he was [[spoiler: slightly harmed by Chrona and Ragnorak, Maka refuses to [[EquippableAlly block with him in his weapon form]] causing him to switch to his human form and end up with [[ScarsAreForever his torso cloven open]] to block the next attack]].
** It was more than 'slightly'. Maka couldn't stand up to the physical force of Crona's attacks and was forced back against the door to try and escape "those doors, they open inwards". Soul was bleeding whilst having absolutely no effect on Ragnarok. Under the pressure and fear of the situation Maka had every reason to believe Soul would be ''very'' badly hurt if she used him to block Crona's last attack. In contrast, when Stein turns up all Ragnarok does to Spirit is to create [[SwordSparks sparks]].

InspectorJavert catches up. The MechaMooks drop in. The BigBad incapacitates the hero, and starts to move in for the kill...

...only for [[InnocentBystander another]], [[OvershadowedByAwesome weaker]] character (let's call her Alice) to throw herself between the villain and his prey, yelling, "If you want him, you'll have to go through me!"

Alice may expect the attacker to stop, she may be braced to fight, or she may be sacrificing her own life. Perhaps she is hoping her magnificent [[ThePowerOfFriendship display of Friendship]] or [[ThePowerOfLove Love]] will faze the aggressor into reconsidering. She may be armed with [[StaringDownCthulhu nothing but her own defiance]], protecting the other with sheer force of will. Or she may just be stalling, hoping to buy enough time for TheCavalry to arrive.

Seeing Alice come between him and his prey usually makes the attacker stop and consider his next course of action. If he doesn't really ''care'' what happens to Alice, he will [[ForTheEvulz happily]] "go through" her to get to the hero. But in other cases Alice is important to him and he will stay his hand, if only to find out why he's been betrayed (this makes the MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter a common participant in this trope).

Occasionally, a whole [[HeroSecretService group of characters]] will jump between the target and the attacker, and the attacker will either back off, intimidated by these numbers or, (if he's a VillainWithGoodPublicity, having underestimated the hero's popularity versus his own) simply make an incredibly impressive FoeTossingCharge.

Unfortunately, what works for the hero can work for the villain too, and if the BigBad has a {{Brainwashed}} victim or FaceHeelTurn-er around that the hero is unwilling to "go through," they can put TheMessiah in a very tight spot. Don't try this on an AntiHero, though -- you can't be sure they won't ShootTheDog. In fact, don't try this on ''any'' [[TheGunslinger hero with a gun]], because they'll always find a way to [[ImprobableAimingSkills slip a bullet past the victim's head and into yours]].

A particularly powerful or numerous enemy in this situation usually leads to a YouShallNotPass situation. If the defender is so powerful there's a good possibility they'll go through the person being challenged, it's IAmYourOpponent.

* The climax of ''TokyoMewMew a la mode''. Would have been a very emotional moment if their protectee weren't a CreatorsPet.
* Inverted in ''Manga/RurouniKenshin''. Kenshin has Shishio down and Yumi throws herself between them to protect Shishio. [[spoiler: Shishio then quite literally goes through Yumi with his katana to get Kenshin. And Yumi ''knew'' he'd do that. He still held her in his arms as she died, before retaking the fight.]]

* In ''Anime/CowboyBebop'', Lin jumps between Vicious and Spike, preventing Spike from taking his shot. This exchange ends not well for, well, really anyone.

* ''DominicDeegan'': Suyan is expected to kill Kiya for her thoughtcrime, and his friend Eltu is there to insure that Suyan goes through with it. Suyan instead pulls a combination of this trope and a heroic HannibalLecture, convincing Eltu to let them both leave, and report back to the Chief that they both were killed.
* A textbook example of the IntangibleMan problem occurs in [[http://ah.indolents.com/comic/125 this]] ''WebComic/AntiHeroes'' strip.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic [[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/95461/a-voice-among-the-strangers A Voice Among the Strangers]], Rainbow Dash and Ebony both do this when Jessica is almost recaptured by the Flim Flam brothers. It wasn't necessary - the royal guards had already shown up - but it's especially moving since until this point Jessica didn't quite trust Rainbow Dash, who in turn didn't trust Ebony.