History Main / ICanStillFight

See also {{Determinator}}, PerilousOldFool, MajorInjuryUnderreaction, ObviouslyNotFine, and BelatedInjuryRealization.

** In the episode "Yalu Brick Road", a mishap with the Thanksgiving turkeys leaves everyone in camp laid up with salmonella except for Father Mulcahy (who missed Thanksgiving dinner because he was visiting the orphanage), Margaret, Charles, Hawkeye, and BJ (all of whom were at other units for various errands, and the latter two got lost and don't return until the end of the episode). Despite feeling very sick, Colonel Potter does all he can to help the camp recover.

* ''Fanfic/SpiderNinja'': During the fic's final battle, [[spoiler:Baxter Stockman shoots Mikey in the arm with a modified weapon, leaving him with a second-degree burn. While Mikey is clearly in pain, he picks up his nunchucks and keeps fighting until Stockman's down. He even waits until Raph and Petra (who were tased unconscious) have gotten medical treatment before he lets Donnie take a look at his arm (although it's implied that this was partially due to Mikey's [[AfraidOfDoctors fear of check-ups]]).]]

* ''Fanfic/TheSpectacularSpiderManLostInGotham'': Batman, despite [[NoodleIncident getting his foot busted in a fight with Bane]], insists on accompanying Spider-Man, Orphan, and [[spoiler:Wonder Woman]] on a mission to stop the Penguin. It takes convincing from Alfred and his kids before Batman agrees to sit the mission out. The only reason he relented was because he knows that [[spoiler:Diana]] is fully capable of protecting the teens.
* ''Fanfic/SpiderNinja'': During the fic's final battle, [[spoiler:Baxter Stockman shoots Mikey in the arm with a modified weapon, leaving him with a second-degree burn. While Mikey is clearly in pain, he picks up his nunchucks and keeps fighting until Stockman's down. He even waits until Raph and Petra (who were tased unconscious) have gotten medical treatment before he lets Donnie take a look at his arm (although it's implied that this was partially due to Mikey's [[AfraidOfDoctors fear of doctor's offices]]).]]

* Agent Ben Preston from ''Webcomic/AMiracleOfScience'' gets shot in the shoulder and hospitalized. Both his boss and his doctor insist that he needs rest. Preston then successfully talks his boss into letting him resume the case.

* Dawson in ''Literature/GreekNinja''.

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW'': Issue #24 has Tangle the Lemur, who's trying to buy time for her friends to escape, boasts this as [[ZombieApocalypse the Metal Virus]] spreads around her. [[KilledMidSentence She doesn't get to finish]] before the infection finishes and she becomes another Zombot in the crowd.

* ''Film/The13thWarrior'': "Lo there do I see my father. Lo there do I see my mother and my sisters and my brothers..."

* In ''Film/{{The Alamo|1960}}'', Jim Bowie was no doubt the ''worst'' patient among the fort's defenders. Often yelling loudly at those who tried to get him out of harm's way whenever he became injured.

* ''Webcomic/BatmanWayneFamilyAdventures'': Bruce gets antsy pretty much immediately when put on bed rest to recover from injuries and tries to sneak into the Batcave to do some work as Batman.

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

* The Tharks of Edgar Rice Burroughs' ''Literature/{{Barsoom}}'' setting have literally made this their tribal motto: "Leave to a Thark his head and one arm and he may yet conquer."

* In Creator/DanAbnett's ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' novel ''Honour Guard'', Corbec and other injured Ghosts, order to evacuate, instead desert to join the Ghosts in their honour guard duties.

-->'''Honor''': Your Grace, I have only one question. [[spoiler:Do you wish this man [[Awesome/HonorHarrington crippled, or dead?]]]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS02E22AllHellBreaksLoosePartTwo "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part Two" (S02, Ep22)]], Sam still grimaces and winces when he moves, but insists on pursuing the Yellow-Eyed Demon.

[[folder:Myth And Legend]]
* A commonplace version of the legend of RobinHood is that he sat up in his sickbed to shoot off an arrow and directed Little John to bury him where it hit. Then he died.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold:''

* ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars:'' In the finale, Silverbolt insists he's not hurt after getting caught in an explosion. It takes Blackarachnia telling him to go get repaired (and his head falling off) for him to concede.
* ''WesternAnimation/ExoSquad'' featured a battle between a human and "alien" fleet. The JerkAss captain of the human flagship, with his ship crippled, says, "If she can fly, she can fight!" He then performs a HeroicSacrifice, resulting in AlasPoorScrappy.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': "I can breathe . . . '''I CAN FIGHT!'''"

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'': After narrowly surviving being poisoned by Copperhead, Batman refuses to stay in bed despite Superman and Martian Manhunter telling him otherwise. He goes off to investigate the Injustice Gang solo, only to get knocked out and captured by the Joker. This actually works out for him, as he's able to turn the villains against each other from inside.

* Subverted in a ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' episode. After Robin has his arm broken, back at the Tower, the Titans are prepared to force him to relax instead of going after the criminal, knowing full well his obsessive personality. So Robin...just goes and watches TV. Huh.

* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':
** In ''Literature/{{Shatterpoint}}'', Depa Billaba [[FaceHeelTurn (suffering from a combination of mental and Force breakdown)]] invokes this trope verbatim: "I can fight. I can ''always'' fight." She eventually goes on to defeat Mace Windu in single combat.
** Another story has the ARC Trooper Alpha, pretty much [[TheAce the badass among badasses of the clone troopers]], get crippled from the waist down when General Grievous impales his spine on a pair of lightsabers. When Obi-Wan Kenobi calls for medics, Alpha instead insists that he just give him a blaster. After all, his arms and eyes are still fully functional, so he can still shoot.
** In the beginning of ''Literature/TheTruceAtBakura'' (taking place immediately after ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''), Luke Skywalker is still suffering from the [[ShockAndAwe barrage of Force lightning]] he got from Darth Sidious which ''calcified his skeleton''. In spite of this he goes on a mission to rescue Wedge, and while he's recovering from the operation simply hearing a trooper hurrying down the hall is enough to activate his ChronicHeroSyndrome and make him [[JumpedAtTheCall commandeer a floating chair to find out what's going on]] in spite of ''everyone'' telling him to go back to bed. Ironically, when he finally calms down and agrees to stay put [[SpiritAdvisor Obi-Wan shows up]] and [[RegularCaller tells him he has to go]].

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels, Sam Vimes the workaholic Watch Commander does this all the time. The people who know him mostly give up after a token protest and wait in patience until he falls over.
** In ''Literature/CarpeJugulum'', Granny has been drained by vampires, nearly frozen to death, and is clearly exhausted and weak, but still intends to march off and face the monsters. Pastor Oats protests the people of Lancre allowing her to do this, but they have a different perspective; why should they care [[TheDreaded what happens to monsters]]?
* Merric insists on joining Kel's other friends in the fourth ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'' even though he's still weak from bloodloss. So [[CombatMedic Neal]] and the others come up with a solution, to Kel's displeasure.

* Starting in about the third book and continuing from there, [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]] tends to be beat to hell and back before the final showdown, and heads into battle when in any other circumstances he'd be in too much pain to go on.

* In Lee Lightner's Literature/SpaceWolf novel ''Sons of Fenris'', when Jeremiah [[BottledHeroicResolve revives]] his fellow Dark Angels, he asks Nathaniel how his wounds are; Nathaniel answers, "I can fight."
** Another novel, ''Legion of the Damned'', has [[NewMeat Scout Omar]] mauled by a cultist mob, [[UnfriendlyFire stabbed through the chest]], then [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe he gets his legs eaten by a daemon]]. He demands to rejoin his battle brothers on the front lines three days later (he ends up spotting for a sniper, then later picking up the rifle himself).
* This is the climax to ''Literature/{{Ivanhoe}}''. Nobody will fight for Rebecca [[spoiler: except for Brian [=DuBois=]-Guilbert; the Templars, knowing that, have tapped to be their champion against her]], but Ivanhoe, still suffering from the side wound that has kept him unconscious for most of the book, shows up to defend her, still barely able to keep on his horse. In the book, [[spoiler: he wins by virtue of [=DuBois=] Guilbert's guilty conscience-induced heart attack]], while the movies play it much more straight.
* Éowyn tries to pull this in Creator/JRRTolkien's ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. They drag in Faramir to stop her; he points out that the army has gone too far and she can't catch up, and if the battle does come to them, she would be better able to fight if she rested now.
* In the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series, when Harry had been arguing with an annoying Quidditch teammate (Cormac [=McLaggen=]) during a match, who was trying to show another player how to do their job during a match. When Harry tells Cormac to get back to his own position, Cormac accidentally knocks Harry unconscious and, for the umpteenth time, he finds himself in a hospital bed, remarking furiously to Madame Pomfrey,
--->"I don't want to stay here overnight. I want to find [=McLaggen=] and kill him."\\
"I'm afraid that would come under the heading of 'overexertion'."

* Literature/HonorHarrington at the end of ''Flag In Exile''. Honor has: been called a whore for most of the book, [[spoiler:blamed herself for an industrial accident which killed a group of schoolchildren, learned that the "accident" was sabotage, had her armoured shuttle shot down so thoroughly it blew up, and saved from a point-blank assassination when ''Grayson's spiritual leader'' [[HeroicSacrifice threw himself in front of her]], and generally [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.]] She finally gets to the Council Chamber, battered, bruised, limping and exhausted, presents her evidence, and names the man who's been orchestrating all of this... who promptly claims a traditional form of justice and demands to face the Protector's Champion in trial by sword combat. And guess who that is? The Protector, seeing that she's in no shape to fight, begins to back off from his proclamation (which will undermine his authority for all time), but she cuts him off:]]
--> '''Honor''': Your Grace, I have only one question. [[spoiler:Do you wish this man [[Awesome/HonorHarrington crippled, or dead?]]]]
** After [[spoiler:disemboweling and decapitating her opponent on the floor of the Council Chamber]], she then goes on to design a strategy to allow the Grayson navy to fight [[spoiler:and win a space battle in which they were outnumbered about three to one without getting any sleep for the day or so after the swordfight (as that would hurt morale)]]. After coming up with the battle plan, she very sensibly delegates the actual execution to her flag captain; ''he'' hadn't been blown up recently, had had a good night's sleep, and was generally in better condition to judge the best time to start each stage of the plan.
** Practically anytime one of the competent admirals, captains, or XOs is injured, they are going back to their bridge as soon as they regain consciousness regardless of what the doctor thinks unless they are physically unable to move themselves there or there's someone above them to order them back to bed.
* In the Literature/{{Everworld}} book ''Enter the Enchanted'', Galahad managed to get out of his tent and stand to provide moral support, after he was wounded in a way that would have fatal in his time, but he managed to pull through after stitches and a blood transfusion. [[spoiler:Then, in the process of blocking an attack, his stitches burst and he bled to death anyway.]]
* In ''Literature/TheVicomteDeBragelonne'' by Creator/AlexandreDumas, Raoul, the son of Athos, combines this with DeathSeeker at the Battle of Gigelli. Despite being wounded, Raoul continues trying to fight, helping to encourage and rally the faltering French assault. The French win, but Raoul dies.
* In ''Literature/RachelGriffin'', Rachel takes quite a beating during the final battle but refuses to follow advice or orders to stay in the infirmary, since she can still help save others.
* Simona Ahrnstedt gives us a moment of this in her debut novel ''Literature/{{Overenskommelser}}''. When female protagonist Beatrice falls off a horse and gets injured, she still wants to get up, despite being adviced not to do so by Seth, her love interest.
* ''[[Literature/TheUnderlandChronicles Gregor and the Code of Claw]]'' has everyone doing this.
* In ''Redemption Ark'', a ''Literature/RevelationSpaceSeries'' novel, Ilia Volyova demands control of a militarized freighter and a portion of the [[DoomsdayDevice Hell-Class weapons]] to hold off [[spoiler: the Inhibitors, after she receives a terminal dose of radiation during the battle between the the ''Nostalgia For Infinity'' and ''Zodiacal Light'' [[MileLongShip lighthuggers]]]].
* Between the ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' novels ''The Commodore'' and ''Lord Hornblower,'' Hornblower spends a year on medical leave for the case of typhus that nearly killed him during Napoleon's attempt to invade Russia. When he's put in charge of a squadron again, Bush (who as his longtime NumberTwo knows that Hornblower routinely pushes himself to the limits of endurance ''anyway'') suggests that he ought to take it easy because, again, a year's medical leave from an almost fatal case of typhus. Hornblower gets quite angry at him for hinting that he might be less than fit for duty. Then he feels ashamed of himself for snapping at an old friend who's just worried about his health and apologizes... though he still doesn't take it easy.
* The Tharks of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Literature/{{Barsoom}} setting have literally made this their tribal motto: "Leave to a Thark his head and one arm and he may yet conquer."

* Happens a ''lot'' in ''Franchise/StarTrek''.
** In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E10JourneyToBabel Journey to Babel]]", Kirk pretends to be recovered from a stab wound and returns to the bridge so that Spock will step down and provide a needed blood transfusion for his father Sarek. He intends to return to Sick Bay as soon as this is accomplished, but the enemy attacks at just the wrong time.
** In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E12TheDeadlyYears The Deadly Years]]", while suffering from a disease that causes accelerated aging, Captain Kirk wants to go to the bridge and take command to fight the Romulans even though he's in no condition to do so (worse, his mental deterioration has made him [[IgnorantOfTheirOwnIgnorance unaware of how unfit he really is]]).
** In the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS05E15ByInfernosLight By Inferno's Light]]", while imprisoned by the Dominion, Worf is made to fight against increasingly experienced Jem'Hadar soldiers. He [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy continues to fight]] despite his constantly worsening injuries, even past the point where [[HonorBeforeReason he clearly has no chance of winning]]. His determination does, however, [[WorthyOpponent earn him the respect of his final opponent]], [[spoiler:who refuses to kill him. It gets him executed]].
** Janeway in ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' does this several times, as does Tuvok (he continues performing his duties after being blinded by a Krenim torpedo in "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS4E8YearOfHell Year of Hell]]").
* ''Series/{{Lost}}'', "There's No Place Like Home, Part 1": Jack rushes off after the mercenaries' helicopter hours after an appendectomy.
* Tony on ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' returns to work shortly after having the pneumonic plague, looking peaky and pale. He still manages to outrun an exploding car, albeit not as quickly as he might have if healthy. Of course, all is forgotten during the next episode (the third season premiere) even though the timeline has only advanced a few hours.
** Actually, the timeline advances 1-2 days from the car bombing until the finale proper. And another 1-2 days (at least) from Kate's Death to Ziva's introduction. And it is implied that he had been on sick leave for a period of time before all this started. Still fits the trope though.

* ''Franchise/PowerRangers,'' every time anyone has ''ever'' gotten hurt, it seems.

* Reid's drug problem in Season Two of ''Series/CriminalMinds'' is the result of a lot of factors coming together, but this trope is definitely one of them. Being kidnapped and tortured left him traumatized and in no shape to spend all day looking at photos of bloody crime scenes. However, by the very next episode, he's back at work doing exactly that, and overreacting to the point of paranoia at any tiny suggestion on his coworker's parts that he might not be ready to do so yet. Instead of taking the time to cope with his issues in a healthy way, he starts using Dilaudid, which, if it doesn't make his trauma go away, at least lets him forget about it long enough to kind-of-sort-of do his job.

* Booth on ''Series/{{Bones}}'' in the episode "Two Bodies in the Lab". He got blown up by a bomb, was barely able to stay on his feet, and still signed himself out of the hospital to go with Hodgins, then insisted on going in to save Brennan.

-->'''Dean:''' Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop, Sam, stop! Damn it. You almost died in there. I mean, what would I 've — can't you just take care of yourself for a little bit, huh? Just for a little bit?
-->'''Sam:''' I'm sorry. No.
* In the series finale of ''Series/{{Angel}}'', Gunn is wounded really badly and losing blood fast, but he still insists he can continue to fight in the incoming (and seemingly endless) battle.

-->'''Viper''': Alright then. ''[Starts to leave]''\\

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven 2'', a large number of Raimon soccer club members gets hurt, sent to hospital, and is never used again during the main game. [[spoiler: Someoka]] is injured during one point, and the first thing Coach Hitomiko does is sacking him off the team.

* In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'', if Leon is killed by an attack that makes him lie face-down on the ground, he'll try to push himself back up before collapsing.
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'' has the dying mechanic. If you're hit by an overwhelmingly powerful attack or run out of health, the character starts limping slowly and clutching his chest while his vision blurs. If help gets to you in time or if you manage to tap the button fast enough, you'll recover with a sliver of health.
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6'' also has this same mechanic, but you're reduced to slowly crawling on your back until you recover. At least you can still shoot while you're dying this time.

--> '''Ramsus:''' [[HypocriticalHumor Don't do anything rash, Miang! I still have one arm left!]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Hakuouki}}'', "I can still fight!" is practically Okita Souji's SurvivalMantra after his [[IncurableCoughOfDeath tuberculosis]] starts to get the better of him. In all routes but Okita's own, Hijikata refuses to hear of it and flatly forbids Okita from going anywhere near action; in [[TheAnimeOfTheGame the anime adaptation]], however, Okita manages to pull a LastStand, burning himself out in combat.
** Hijikata himself proves to be an even worse case: after taking severe injuries during the battle at Utsunomiya Castle, he's all set to drag himself out to the front lines in Aizu, and it's only via a very pointed and physical smackdown from Saito that he's convinced to stay behind and recuperate properly.

* Ethan of ''{{Webcomic/Shortpacked}}'' parodies the Megatron example under "Films - Animated" when he wakes up in the hospital with a burst appendix, and realizes he's going to miss [=BotCon=], crawling to the door and yelling "I still function!"

* Subverted in a ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' episode. After Robin has his arm broken, back at the Tower, the Titans are prepared to force him to relax instead of going after the criminal, knowing full well his obsessive personality. So Robin...just goes and watches TV. Huh.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold:''
** After getting a bad case of bilge (read: fast-replicating nanovirus) from Chemo, Batman is told to stay put while the Atom and AQUAMAN solve the problem. While leaving Batman on his own. Naturally, he doesn't stay put, which actually makes the situation ''worse'' for the two heroes.
** In another episode, he again refuses to stay in bed after being hospitalised. Even after the Justice League reminds him that Gotham still has his protégés, he insists that ''Batman'' is a symbol of hope Gotham needs.
* ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars:'' In the finale, Silverbolt insists he's not hurt after getting caught in an explosion. It takes Blackarachnia telling him to go get repaired (and his head falling off) for him to concede.

* Negi Springfield of ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' seems to fit this trope pretty well, much to the pain of his friends and family. Sure, he's only ten years old but that doesn't mean few injuries will stop him. Impale him on a stone spear? He'll just use it to bash you in the head with. Cut off his right arm? In his own words "I still have my left!". And you manage to leave a massive hole in his gut, doing so much damage to the rest of the body that it [[TearsOfBlood causes blood to pour from his eye sockets]] and [[BloodFromTheMouth causes him to vomit a pint or two of blood]]? Eh, you're still not gonna win.
* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory'', Lt Burning uses his cane to shatter the cast on his leg so he can be a [[BigDamnHeroes Big Damn Hero]] and save the Gundam in battle.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' does this a lot. Rock Lee, too, from the same show.
** Naruto is justified in doing it most of the time though, considering he heals from injuries far faster than anyone else, and the doctors are holding him back just to be safe, which is usually just an excuse to have him be PutOnABus for a few episodes.
** Used twice by Hinata in the Three-Tails filler arc. The first time, she gets injured fighting Nurari, and after she tells Kakashi she can still move, Kakashi says the mission is still in effect. Two episodes later, after surviving being crystallized by [[FillerVillain Guren]], Sakura suggests that she shouldn't force herself just yet, and has her stay behind until she recovers.
** Special credit has to go to Onoki, who gets hit by [[spoiler:a fucking ''meteor'']] and still insists on fighting. Bonus points for Onoki already being an old man with a bad back ''before'' the injury.
* Ryu in the original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''.
* Likewise Lockon Stratos in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' refuses treatment which will take three weeks instead going out to fight despite being blind in his right eye, [[spoiler:it gets him killed]].
* Scar from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' absolutely ''refuses'' to stay in the refugee camp for Ishvalans, despite the fact that he might not even be able to walk properly at any one point he's there. In his defense, he's also trying to protect them from being punished for harboring him.
** Also, Edward Elric insists on automail surgery so that he can join the state military only ''days'' after losing two of his limbs. It takes a year for him to actually recover and join though (regular automail surgery and therapy would require three years).
** There's also Izumi, who is [[NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow missing nearly half her internal organs]] and frequently coughs up blood due to that fact, and continues to fight despite it. A couple of characters, including [[WrenchWench Winry Rockbell]] have commented on this, Winry in particular stressing the need for her to go to a hospital that could take better care of her. Of course, a hospital can't do much for the fact ''that she's downright '''missing''' several of her organs.''
** Then there's Lan Fan, who, despite not having a left arm anymore and severely weakened, still wants to go back and [[BodyguardCrush "protect the young lord."]] Doctor Knox manages to talk her out of it, though.
** Said word by word by Captain Buccaneer even after he got one of his arms scrapped the hell out of him.
** Oliver Armstrong is pissed when Greed makes her stay behind because of her broken arm.
** Last, but definitely not least... [[spoiler:Colonel Roy Mustang keeps on fighting even when he is ''blind.'']]
* Faust VIII from ''Manga/ShamanKing'' regularly does excruciatingly painful things to himself that no sane doctor would do. Then again, LoveMakesYouCrazy... It might also be justified in that he's implied to be a morphine addict. From Website/TheOtherWiki: "When Yoh broke his leg during their fight. Faust tore the broken bone right out of his leg and had Eliza bring him another similar in size, reasoning that replacing the broken bone was faster than letting it heal."
** When he and the other candidates are [[ItMakesSenseInContext dropped from a great height]], it is assumed they will use their powers to land safely. Faust? He does nothing. He reasons the morphine he is constantly hopped up on will leave him conscious after landing, and then he can use Eliza (who is a trained nurse) as his hands to stitch himself together afterwards. Basically, Faust VIII treats his ''own body'' as WeHaveReserves.

* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'':
** Nanoha and Vita's injuries at the end of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'' were revealed in [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary materials]] to both be serious enough that the doctors told them to take things easy from now on and that they'll need to go through some rehabilitation, especially Nanoha, whose overuse of [[DeadlyUpgrade Blaster System]] had taken enough of a toll on her that her [[PowerLevel Magic Levels]] had gone down by 10%. Naturally, the both of them were the first ones to return to service on the aftermath of the incident, filling their schedules with many strenuous tasks like nothing happened.
** Also before the final battle of the third season, Zafira and Vice. Especially Zafira, who fights despite being covered in bandages, [[spoiler:managing to capture Otto]] with Shamal, finally turning the tide of the battle against the Numbers.
** And before either of these, in the second episode of ''[[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs A's]]'', Raising Heart, badly damaged, assures Nanoha it can be fired. "It's alright."
--->'''Raising Heart:''' I can be shot.
** ''Manga/MagicalRecordLyricalNanohaForce'' has [[PureMagicBeing Signum]] getting slashed multiple times and getting stabbed through the spine by an AntiMagic weapon. After surviving that, she takes a few months of rest to recover then goes back to service as soon as she can despite the complaints of Agito.
---> "My bones and guts are still inside me. I can't stay put any longer in this situation."
* Although a football game isn't as life-or-death as some of the other examples, Hiruma in ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}'' returns to the game (over Mamori's objections) after Gaoh breaks his throwing arm. He makes his re-entrance more dramatic by using ketchup to make his face look like a bloody mess.
** The title character also chooses to stay in the game after hitting 40 yards in 4.2 seconds in the Bando match, not wanting to miss out on their victory (or failure, as it had been last time after hitting 4.2.).
* During the Team Masho fight during the Dark Tournament arc of ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', Team Urameshi only has three usable fighters: Kurama, Yusuke, and a brutally-injured Kuwabara. (One of the corrupt rules board members has tricked their other two fighters into being unavailable.) The first two are taken out (Kurama with grievous injuries and Yusuke by a rules loophole). Masho has one fighter left... so Kuwabara forces himself into the ring to avoid the team being disqualified, even though he can't use his spirit energy due to his injuries. He wins thanks to some [[ThePowerOfLove timely encouragement from his love interest]].
* ''Manga/OnePiece'' has had this tons of times with just about every seriously-taken character. Zoro is famous for this, though more or less because of OnlyAFleshWound as Zoro has been sliced and diced and is able to fight later. In one instance, Zoro had been severely cut down the chest and had very little medical help. Despite this, he was able to fight an octopus-man using six swords.
** Brook, having already been heavily injured from his fight with Ryuuma, is sent away due to his injuries, and is absent from much of the early battle with Oz. He returns with salt to help the Straw Hats, claiming to have recovered by drinking milk. However, as he doubles over in pain, it's clear that he hasn't fully healed yet.
** Wiper continues to fight in the Survival Game despite severe injuries, and manages to somehow survive using the extremely powerful Reject Dial three times in one day.
** Luffy is defined by this trope. He [[spoiler:beats Crocodile after dying twice, beats the embodiment of lightning with, literally, a ton of gold fused to his hand, and he climbs up a thousand feet of mountain carrying one person on his back and one person in his ''teeth'' after fighting bear sized rabbits.]] Talk about never surrender.
* ''Manga/SnowWhiteWithTheRedHair'': Hisame insists on tracking down the attackers who wounded himself and one of his men though he does relent and allow for a field dressing. He later joins those defending the garrison when it is breached by multiple attackers despite being ordered to limit himself to giving orders due to his injury, though he does wait until a good portion of the knights are down to enter the fight openly and he was furious at being given the order in the first place.
* In episode 49 of the first season of ''Anime/BakutenShootBeyblade'' Ray is directly attacked by Bryan's bit-beast Falborg's wind attacks. After winning the second match and tying the score, Ray blacks out. His teammates worry about him and try to talk him out of going back out there for the third match, but Ray doesn't listen. Ray is almost killed during the third match, but his bit-beast Driger saves him and Ray manages to win the battle.

* Most exorcists in ''Manga/DGrayMan'' are like this, but Allen Walker really takes the cake. There was that one time he was pulling off a rescue mission with one arm falling apart and his other hand broken in half while being continuously electrocuted. Allen asked the man he was rescuing to bite down on his broken hand so he could lift him because it couldn't function well enough to lift him on its own. The best example is probably when he gets thrown into a wall so hard it leaves a large crater and his resulting injuries are so severe he can't move anymore. He lets his sentient Innocence weapon take control of his body so he can still fight. Allen Walker. Is. Fantastic.

* Done nicely in ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'' in the Benizakura storyline. Otae is in charge of keeping the heavily injured Gintoki from returning to the fight against Benizakura. She breaks his sword and threatens even more bodily harm to him until he finally agrees to stay put. [[spoiler: As soon as her back is turned, he's off, but Otae knew that was coming too. Not only does she have all his clothes laid out for him to leave, she's left her umbrella for him to borrow as he heads out in the rain, with a note requesting its safe return.]]
* In ''VisualNovel/{{Hakuouki}}'' it almost becomes Okita's catchphrase, after he [[spoiler: comes down with tuberculosis.]]

* Cruely subverted AND played straight in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' in the battle with Asuka and the Mass Production Evas. While the Mass Production Evas get their limbs ripped off, get ripped in half, have spikes launched through their skulls, and have their brains bashed out, they still come back to life every single time. On the other hand, [[spoiler: Asuka gets impaled through the skull, then pinned to the ground, and then suffers as the MP Evas all feast upon her Eva's organs, while she suffers the same injuries as Unit-02. And yet, after being skewered, she still struggles to fight. Her dying words are literally "I'll kill you."]].

* Joe Asakura, in the last episodes of the first ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'' series: he suffers headaches, numbness in one hand, and is rattled by blinding flashes of light. He refuses to tell anyone what is happening to him, and then goes off to find Galactor headquarters. Once there, he gets bent, folded, spindled, and shot up -- even while killing goons. [[spoiler: He finally dies from his injuries -- but not before saying goodbye to his comrades.]]

* Happens with growing frequency in ''Manga/YuGiOh'''s last arc, Millennium World, when stakes are upped to include more frequent injury (through the characters' life energy running out when their monster familiars are destroyed). The Pharaoh has his ka Slifer nearly destroyed in battle but refuses to give in, eventually using it as a decoy. He also is knocked off a cliff by Bakura, and returns wounded but insisting that they chase Bakura before the city is targeted again. In both cases, the priest [[DoggedNiceGuy Shada]] tries to reason with him, to limited success.
* Crow Hogan takes on this trope in the World Racing Grand Prix Arc of ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds''. After his replacement team member Akiza also gets attacked, Crow decides to duel against the nasty Team Catastrophe that injured them both. [[spoiler: [[TheDeterminator With a half-broken arm, he manages to beat an enemy duelist all while figuring out then dodging their insanely cheap trick that makes motorcycles crash.]]]]
* ''Anime/TransformersVictory'': As part of their overall strategy to loot Earth of its energy supplies, the Decepticons successfully ambushed and wounded in succession the Autobot second-in-command and Brainmaster trio team leader Blacker, and then Autobot commander Star Saber (with the added bonus of mortally wounding Autobot Godmaster God Ginrai). The Decepticons then took advantage of the huge decrease in Autobot fighting power by launching numerous raids simultaneously, since the remaining Autobots were either comparatively inexperienced or just lacked the overall strength and power to match the Decepticons. Despite their grievous wounds, both Star Saber and Blacker joined in the fighting against advice from the chief doctor. In both cases it was a disaster since Blacker was so badly hurt he couldn't even transform while the towering Star Saber in his weakened state just made him a bigger target and forced his fellow Autobots to focus their attention on protecting him. The reconstruction of the dying God Ginrai into Victory Leo gave the Autobots just enough fighting power to give Star Saber and Blacker the time they needed to properly recuperate.

[[folder:ComicBooks]]

* Franchise/{{Batman}} is notorious for [[http://renaroo.tumblr.com/post/136332997871 refusing to stay in bed]] no matter what shape he's in. To an extent, this has rubbed off on the people he's trained - when ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} wants to head into battle with an injured leg, Alfred has to threaten to ''break the other leg'' for him to stay down.

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' ExpandedUniverse of Creator/AAPessimal, pugnacious Assassin Johanna Smith-Rhodes is a repeated annoyance to Matron Igorina, repeatedly going against Igor advice that, for instance, a broken arm or very advanced pregnancy means she should retire honourably from combat. Igorina is less than enchanted in fiction '''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11536013/1/Hyperemesis-gravidarum Hyperemesis Gravidarum]]''' to realise Johanna's younger sister (a student Assassin) shares this family trait.
* Another 'refusal to break' one is Han Solo in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' fic "[[https://m.fanfiction.net/s/2696712/1/Important-Information Important Information]]". He endures beating, burning, whipping, rape, bugs called blood parasites burrowing into his flesh, and a force mind probe. He admits to Leia later that he came close to breaking, but managed not to reveal anything more than the person who told him the stuff (during the probe). And on top of that,driven by adrenaline and Luke lending him strength through the force, he stands up while the RoaringRampageOfRescue is going on, not caring that both his arms and a number of other bones are broken, and manages to take out two Stormtroopers and the guy who originally set the whole thing up. He takes out one trooper, then confronts the mastermind. The guy starts choking him while he's dealing with a trooper that Luke warns him is sneaking up behind him, but after blasting the trooper, Han manages to turn his blaster backward,shove it into the guy's chest, and pull the trigger before collapsing from his injuries.

* ''Fanfic/{{Opalescent}}'': During the pienado massacre, Opal gets hit with a contaminated pie, and then tons more, before collapsing and losing consciousness. She comes back to consciousness several hours later and begins treating other contaminated agents despite the contamination still flowing through her.
* In the ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' fanfic ''Fanfic/AStudyInSituations'', Holmes becomes ill thanks to having to go out into the rain to find Watson and neglecting to care for himself afterwards. Once the sickness has passed the crisis point, Holmes wants to get out of bed and get on with the case, despite being too weak to contradict Watson's argument that one more day of convalescence is not going to ruin anything.

* Said almost verbatim in ''WesternAnimation/Cars1'', only replace "fight" with "race". One car gets totalled so badly... well, [[http://www.pixar-planet.fr/psd/capture_perso/cars/armstrong2.jpg see for yourself.]]

* ''Film/BestOfTheBest''. Eric Roberts gets his shoulder severely injured, and should on all normal accounts be taken out of the karate tournament, but persuades the coach to finish his match for the good of the team.
* Literal scene in ''Film/BlackHawkDown'', but it takes some conditioning from officer in charge to have severely wounded soldier eek out "I'm still in the fight". [[IronicEcho Repeated]] in the aftermath scenes with the same soldier telling the same officer "Don't go back out there without me. I can still do my job". In the epitaph, we'll learn said soldier actually died from his wounds.
** When the Rangers are about to depart their base with reinforcements for the battle a soldier originally left out for a sports injury demands to join them. His platoon sergeant remarks "not with that you're not" (arm cast). The soldier then wips out a knife threatening to just saw off the cast right in front of him. He gets approval to go.
* Humorously by the Black Knight in ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail.'' Even with all his limbs get hacked off he insists he can still fight.
* ''Film/The13thWarrior'': "Lo there do I see my father. Lo there do I see my mother and my sisters and my brothers..."
* In ''Film/ThreeHundred'', this seems to be more or less expected of the spartans.
-->'''Leonidas:''' I trust [[EyeScream that scratch]] hasn't made you useless.
-->'''Dilios:''' Hardly my lord. It's [[EyepatchOfPower just an eye]]. The gods saw fit to grace me [[OnlyAFleshWound with a spare]].
* Zig-zagged in ''Film/{{Tombstone}}''; Doc Holiday is clearly in the terminal phases of his tuberculosis but this doesn't stop him from facing down film arch-villain and deadshot Johnny Ringo, so as to prevent his friend Wyatt Earp from facing a duel he can't win. However, first the good doctor has to feign being already on his death bed in order to get ahead of Wyatt. Of course, being the gunslinger badass that he is, terminally frail or not, Doc easy dispatches Ringo in their (highly foreshadowed) showdown.

--> '''Quixote''': Not well? What is sickness to the body of a knight-errant? What matter wounds? For each time he falls, he will rise again, and woe to the wicked! Sancho!
--> '''Sancho''': Here, Your Grace!
--> '''Quixote''': My armor! My sword!
* In the final scene of ''Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac'': an injured Cyrano refuses palliative care and insists on dying with his sword in hand, fighting his demons.
* The Theatre/MrsHawking play series: Despite her injury in the first scene of ''[[http://www.mrshawking.com/?page_id=1913 Base Instruments]]'' and Mary and Nathaniel's concern, Mrs. Hawking insists on going about her usual business as a society avenger.