History Main / NegateYourOwnSacrifice

* Played with on ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': [[AxCrazy Azula]] shoots lightning at Katara, so [[SupportingLeader Zuko]], who's been taught to deflect that attack, jumps in front of her. He still gets massively injured since he didn't have time to do it properly (doesn't exactly mix well with a diving save), but he survives.

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E11Utopia "Utopia"]], a rocket launch can't be completed unless someone goes into a deadly-radiation-filled room to flip some switches. They just so happen to have Captain Jack Harkness — a man with ResurrectiveImmortality — along, so he goes in to do it.
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'': In the episode [[Recap/FarscapeS02E17TheUglyTruth "The Ugly Truth"]], Aeryn, Crichton, D'Argo, Zhaan, and Stark are all captured while aliens tried to figure out who attacked one of their ships (they had all been aboard Talyn when he had opened fire, then escaped leaving them to get caught). [[RashomonStyle Everyone tells a different story]], so in the end, the annoyed aliens declare they'll execute ALL of them by DisintegrationChamber. Stark then 'admits' to the crime, whispering to the others that his powers give him a reasonable chance to recover from disintegration; the only reason he hadn't volunteered from the start was that he didn't know what method of execution they'd use. Sure enough, he's disintegrated, the others go free, and some episodes later he reappears, having 'reintegrated' thanks to his powers.

* Happened in ''Series/{{Farscape}}''. Aeryn, Crichton, D'Argo, Zhaan, and Stark are all captured while aliens tried to figure out who attacked one of their ships (they had all been aboard Talyn when he had opened fire, then escaped leaving them to get caught). Everyone tells a different story, so in the end, the annoyed aliens declare they'll execute ALL of them by DisintegrationChamber. Stark then 'admits' to the crime, whispering to the others that his powers give him a reasonable chance to recover from disintegration; the only reason he hadn't volunteered from the start was that he didn't know what method of execution they'd use. Sure enough, he's disintegrated, the others go free, and some episodes later he reappears, having 'reintegrated' thanks to his powers.

** In the final book, [[spoiler:Harry learns that he has to die since he contains a portion of Voldemort's soul. Fortunately, Voldemort's new body was made with Harry's blood, which anchors Harry to the living world]]. The only character who knew this would happen was [[spoiler:Albus Dumbledore, who was already dead and got to explain it to Harry during the brief window of time before Harry returned to life]]. Everyone else expected the situation to be a full-fledged HeroicSacrifice.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', in Enies Lobby, a restrained Robin is about to be shot by Marines, when Franky jumps between them and [[TakingTheBullet takes all the shots]]. Since his body is ImmuneToBullets, he takes no damage whatsoever.

* Subverted by Nathan from ''Series/{{Misfits}}''.
-->'''Nathan:''' (RE: a virtual stranger who's just been killed in front of the group) Better him than me!\\

** However, he does later volunteer himself (very reluctantly) to be temp-killed to save the others, although he doesn't actually have to go through with it.
** Also played straight the very first time he used his power: Nobody knew he would come back from killing himself to take out the Virtue Girl until he woke up in a coffin afterward.
** Inverted and played for laughs in the last episode of Series 2 (the Christmas ep). Despite constantly forgetting that he's immortal when faced with dangerous situations, for once, Nathan realizes that he has nothing to fear from an armed gunman and steps up as a human shield. As he starts taunting the guy, daring him to shoot, the others have to remind him that he had ''just'' given up his powers earlier that day. Oops...

* In ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'', [[spoiler:Anna, dying from frozen heart curse, notices Hans about to kill Elsa, and throws herself between them, abandoning the chance of being saved by Kristoff's TrueLovesKiss. She freezes solid moments later and Hans' sword freezes too and shatters upon striking her. However, Anna's HeroicSacrifice turned out to be the "act of true love" (in this case, sisterly love) that will break the curse, and seconds after she thaws from inside out. Therefore, Anna saved not only her sister, but also herself, and their kingdom, too, as she gave Elsa the clue on how to fully control her ice powers through ThePowerOfLove and reverse her accidental EndlessWinter]].

* In the first episode of ''Franchise/CodeGeass'', C.C. [[TakingTheBullet takes a bullet]] for Lelouch. Since she has CompleteImmortality, all it does is put her out of commission for a while.
* [[spoiler:Kaname Madoka]] half-pulls this in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''. [[spoiler:Madoka has taken the Grief, the raw despair, of every magical girl who has ever existed and who ever ''will'' exist. Naturally, even her titanic Soul Gem cannot handle that much despair at once, and cracks and shatters as she turns into the most powerful Witch that ever could exist -- but Madoka wished to destroy ''every Witch before they were born, past or future'', and that includes her own. So Madoka appears from beyond time, to destroy her own Witch and negating that sacrifice.]]
** Of course, [[spoiler: the act of doing so is a time paradox that essentially [[RetGone retcons herself out of existence]]]], so in that sense, her sacrifice is not completely negated.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Crucible}}'', the heroes must destroy the BigBad's facility before his clone army is grown, but there is a self-destruction failsafe which will blow the whole place up if someone damages the cloning tanks. ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and ComicBook/{{Superboy}} declare they will stay and destroy the vats since their super-toughness gives them one chance to survive the explosion.

* An example where the character in question doesn't know that she will not die from her actions, though the audience does: Prima in ''Fanfic/DearDiary'' tries to pull a YouShallNotPass on a massive swarm of Pokémon, only to find that since they are all ghost types using ghost attacks and she is a normal type, she is [[NoSell immune to them.]] (The properties of ghost types are not that well known to the characters in question).

* In ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'', [[spoiler: Anna, dying from frozen heart curse, notices Hans about to kill Elsa, and throws herself between them, abandoning the chance of being saved by Kristoff's TrueLovesKiss. She freezes solid moments later and Hans' sword freezes too and shatters upon striking her. However, Anna's HeroicSacrifice turned out to be the "act of true love" (in this case, sisterly love) that will break the curse, and seconds after she thaws from inside out. Therefore, Anna saved not only her sister, but also herself, and their kingdom, too, as she gave Elsa the clue on how to fully control her ice powers through ThePowerOfLove and reverse her accidental EndlessWinter]].

* The Cheshire Cat takes a beheading for the Mad Hatter in ''Film/AliceInWonderland2010''. This trope applies because the Cheshire cat can detach his head from his body at any time.

* An unintentional one (or two) in ''Film/Constantine2005'': when the titular hero is unable to stop the villain from starting the apocalypse, he slits his wrists, knowing that Satan will come personally to collect his soul. On Satan's arrival, time stops, letting John tell him what's going on. Satan barges in, curb-stomps the villain for usurping his job and offers John a favor, and the latter asks him to release one innocent soul from Hell. However, those two sacrifices redeem Constantine from his previous sins and he starts to ascend to Heaven. [[RedemptionEarnsLife Enraged, Satan resurrects him and rips his lung cancer away, so he may have more time to sin again]].

* In ''Film/BlackPanther2018'', T'Challa throws himself on a grenade to protect a room full of people. Not only does this not harm him, it charges up his energy-absorbing suit.
* In ''Film/Red2010'', Joe volunteers to act as a distraction to let the others get away (by dressing as Frank and getting shot in his place) because, as was revealed earlier in the film, he has terminal liver cancer.
* In ''Film/GranTorino'', Walter provokes the gang members who [[spoiler: gang-raped Sue]] into gunning him down while the whole neighborhood looked on to insure that they'd be arrested for his murder. However, he'd been shown to be having [[BloodFromTheMouth coughing fits that ended with him spitting up blood]] throughout the film, which was strongly implied to be due to lung cancer.

* There's a children's story about seven brothers who all look identical, but each has a different magical immunity (one is immune to fire, one cannot drown, one can't be cut, and so on). One of the brothers is unjustly sentenced to death, but when the method of execution is announced, the brother who is immune to that death secretly takes his place, and after a week of trying different methods of execution and getting nowhere the authorities give up and let him go.\\
\\
A variation of this is found in the book ''The Five Chinese Brothers'', where one of the brothers did cause the death, but only because he couldn't hold the sea in his mouth any longer (and tried to signal the boy that drowned). For the record, their powers are Swallowing the Sea, very strong neck, very light, can stretch his legs, and can hold his breath for days.

** In the final book, [[spoiler: Harry learns that he has to die since he contains a portion of Voldemort's soul. Fortunately, Voldemort's new body was made with Harry's blood, which anchors Harry to the living world.]] The only character who knew this would happen was [[spoiler:Albus Dumbledore, who was already dead and got to explain it to Harry during the brief window of time before Harry returned to life]]. Everyone else expected the situation to be a full-fledged HeroicSacrifice.
* Played with in ''Literature/CharmedLife''. Cat (who has nine lives) is going to be killed so that his evil sister can stay in her new alternate reality. He's pretty okay with it since it will mean that he won't have to deal with her anymore and since he has lives to spare, unlike any other potential sacrifice. Of course, his sister shows up to tell the people about to kill him that they'll need to kill him a few times since he has several lives left. At this point, Cat realizes just how evil his sister is.
* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' book "Literature/DeathMasks", when Harry is captured by fallen angels, Shiro, the oldest Knight of the Cross, takes his place [[spoiler:to be tortured and later killed.]] At the end of the book, it is revealed [[spoiler:Shiro was suffering from terminal cancer, and as such was doomed to die anyway.]]

* The above C.S. Lewis example is, of course, inspired by Literature/TheBible, wherein UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} dies as part of ThePlan by {{God}} to save the universe from the power of sin. Since Jesus is a manifestation of God, he comes BackFromTheDead a few days later.

* The original ending of ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' has either the Lone Wanderer or Sarah Lyons [[spoiler:receiving fatal radiation poisoning while activating the water purifier before it explodes]]. However, installing ''Broken Steel'' [[RevisedEnding lets you instead]] send [[spoiler:any of your three radiation-immune teammates (a Super Mutant, a ghoul, and a robot)]] to do the task unharmed, which [[PlotHole they refuse to do in the base game for no reason at all]]. Although, even if you ''do'' still do it yourself, ''Broken Steel'' [[PlotArmor has you recover inexplicably (even though Lyons won't)]].
* At the end of the ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' DLC ''Lonesome Road'', you are faced with a SadisticChoice between firing a barrage of nukes into the Mojave that will seriously cripple the factions vying for power there, or asking your robot buddy to stop the launch at the cost of destroying itself. The TearJerker aspect of the second choice is played up for all it's worth... except for the fact that the robot is basically a copy of another robot buddy, the original model remains completely intact, and the destroyed copy manages to broadcast its memories and upload them into the original before it is destroyed.

* At the end of ''VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVSTheSoullessArmy'' [[spoiler:Gouto-Douji (Who is cursed with WhoWantsToLiveForever)]] takes a ride on a missile to make sure it hits its intended target. He even notes his actions won't really kill him (hence why he is back in the sequel).

* Clever ''VideoGame/TownOfSalem'' players can set this up. The Bodyguard protects one person each night, and if that person is attacked, the Bodyguard dies in their place and kills their attacker. The Doctor can heal one person a night, and if that person is attacked, the Doctor will prevent them from dying. If they know each other, they can just heal and protect each other. If the Bodyguard is attacked, the Doctor saves them; if the Doctor is attacked, the Bodyguard will kill their attacker and then be saved by the Doctor. This makes a nigh-invincible duo, and if the evils don't have a way to counter it, this can win Town the game.
* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', the Demon Hunter opening campaign sets up a situation where a portal needs to be opened, but a soul must be sacrificed to do so. You can choose either to have the person performing the ritual sacrifice himself, or have him sacrifice your character instead. If you choose to let yourself be sacrificed, you die and can run back to your corpse (just like any player character in-game). As a HandWave, Illidan communicates with you, letting you know that your character has an immortal demon soul (like Illidan himself, but implied to be rare among other demon hunters), and can't truly be killed outside the Twisting Nether. Your survival amazes the one who performed the ritual.

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Elliot, [[SuperGenderBender in his superheroine form]] [[DivingSave dives in front of a dragon's fire blast]] that was otherwise [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1232 aimed at a busy street.]] While the ensuing blast and fall from the sky would be enough to kill any normal person several times over, Elliot is durable enough in that form that it merely takes him out of commission [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1254 for a few minutes.]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Jix}}'' the droid Dynonus [[https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Jix/5161741/ volunteers]] to stay behind on an enemy ship and hold down the self-destruct button, and then mentions he has a spare body back home.

* Played with on ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': [[AxCrazy Azula]] shoots lightning at Katara, so [[SupportingLeader Zuko]], who's been taught to deflect that attack, jumps in front of her. He still gets massively injured since he didn't have time to do it properly (doesn't exactly mix well with a diving save), but he survives.
* In both the [[Series/CaptainScarletAndTheMysterons original]] Captain Scarlet series and the [[WesternAnimation/GerryAndersonsNewCaptainScarlet remake]], indestructibility is Captain Scarlet's main/only superpower. As such, he tends to pull this off at least once per episode.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': In the episode "Let's Play Final Days", Kaeloo, Stumpy, and Mr. Cat are faced with [[ItMakesSenseInContext several objects that are about to kill them]], only for [[NighInvulnerable Quack Quack]] to jump in front of them and save them. Quack Quack is completely indestructible.
* Played with on ''WesternAnimation/CraigOfTheCreek'', in the episode "You're It". When faced with being [[ItMakesSenseInContext exiled from the creek due to a game of tag]], Craig gets out of it by tagging his older brother, who doesn't care about being unable to go to the creek since he hates the place.
* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': In [[Recap/MiraculousLadybugS01E19Reflekta Reflekta]], the titular akuma victim is transforming everyone into duplicates of herself. When she transforms Chat Noir, he loses his miraculous and therefore his powers, so doing the same to Ladybug would be game over. When he sees a blast coming for Ladybug, Chat jumps in front of it. As he points out, he's already been transformed, so nothing can happen to him.

** Of course, [[spoiler: the act of doing so is a time paradox that essentially [[RetGone retcons herself out of existence]]]], so in that sense her sacrifice is not completely negated.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Crucible}}'', the heroes must destroy the BigBad's facility before his clone army is grown, but there is a self-destruction failsafe which will blow the whole place up if someone damages the cloning tanks. ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and ComicBook/{{Superboy}} declare they will stay and destroy the vats, since their super-toughness gives them one chance to survive the explosion.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'', [[spoiler: Anna, dying from frozen heart curse, notices Hans about to kill Elsa, and throws herself between them, abandoning the chance of being saved by Kristoff's TrueLovesKiss. She freezes solid moments later and Hans' sword freezes too and shatters upon striking her. However, Anna's HeroicSacrifice turned to be the "act of true love" (in this case, sisterly love) that will break the curse, and seconds after she thaws from inside out. Therefore, Anna saved not only her sister, but also herself, and their kingdom, too, as she gave Elsa the clue how to fully control her ice powers through ThePowerOfLove and reverse her accidental EndlessWinter]].

A variation of this is found in the book ''The Five Chinese Brothers'', where one of the brothers did cause the death, but only because he couldn't hold the sea in his mouth any longer (and tried to signal the boy that drowned). For the record their powers are Swallowing the Sea, very strong neck, very light, can stretch his legs, and can hold his breath for days.

** In the final book, [[spoiler: Harry learns that he has to die, since he contains a portion of Voldemort's soul. Fortunately, Voldemort's new body was made with Harry's blood, which anchors Harry to the living world.]] The only character who knew this would happen was [[spoiler:Albus Dumbledore, who was already dead and got to explain it to Harry during the brief window of time before Harry returned to life]]. Everyone else expected the situation to be a full-fledged HeroicSacrifice.
* Played with in ''Literature/CharmedLife''. Cat (who has nine lives) is going to be killed so that his evil sister can stay in her new alternate reality. He's pretty okay with it since it will mean that he won't have to deal with her any more and since he has lives to spare, unlike any other potential sacrifice. Of course, his sister shows up to tell the people about to kill him that they'll need to kill him a few times since he has several lives left. At this point, Cat realizes just how evil his sister is.

* In ''Literature/TheVampireChronicles'', Memnoch [[{{Satan}} the Devil]] describes the Crucifixion as this. Against his urging, Jesus died knowing that he was {{God}} incarnate, rather than suspending his omniscience and experiencing the pain and fear of death as a human would. Memnoch argues that that negates the purpose, since God knows he's not actually losing anything.

* In the ''Series/{{Andromeda}}'' episode "All Too Human" Tyr allows himself to die due to lack of oxygen when the ''Eureka Maru'' is purposely flooded in order to save the ship. There's only one EVA suit available which he lets Rev Bem put on an unconscious Harper, who definitely ''won't'' survive otherwise. Rev Bem can survive the flooding due to his Magog physiology, and Tyr can hold his breath underwater for 12 minutes after which he will die due to lack of oxygen. However the cold water will cause Tyr to develop hypothermia which (hopefully) preserve his brain functions in death and Rev Bem will revive him after Rev steers the ship into a safer area and the water is drained. Note that to Nietzscheans like Tyr, self-preservation is ''paramount'' and even this temporary near-death is difficult to accept.

* Happened in ''Series/{{Farscape}}''. Aeryn, Crichton, D'Argo, Zhaan, and Stark are all captured while aliens tried to figure out who attacked one of their ships (they had all been aboard Talyn when he had opened fire, then escaped leaving them to get caught). Everyone tells a different story, so in the end the annoyed aliens declare they'll execute ALL of them by DisintegrationChamber. Stark then 'admits' to the crime, whispering to the others that his powers gives him a reasonable chance to recover from disintegration; the only reason he hadn't volunteered from the start was that he didn't know what method of execution they'd use. Sure enough, he's disintegrated, the others go free, and some episodes later he reappears, having 'reintegrated' thanks to his powers.

** At the end of the ''Mask of Light'' arc, Takutanuva sacrifices his life force to revive Jaller. As Takutanuva is a [[FusionDance fusion of the hero Takanuva and evil Makuta]], he still retains enough life to live, but not enough strength to keep holding the gate leading to Metru Nui open. Once the others have safely passed the gate, Takutanuva is crushed. This time, instead of being killed, he merely splits back into Takanuva and Makuta. In the film version Takanuva seemingly dies but is revived via a ritual, while in the book version he comes out unharmed. Makuta also survives but his body is damaged to the point that his weakened soul is forced to abandon it.
** Zigzaged at the end of the 2006 arc. One of the Toa Inika has to volunteer for a sacrifice so they can claim the Mask of Life. Matoro volunteers. So he dies. Immediately after this, he is revived, because the mask was testing his ''willingness'' to sacrifice himself. However, actually ''using'' the mask kills you, and in the 2007 story Matoro volunteers once again.
** Similarly, [[MacGuffinTurnedHuman when the sentient Mask of Life decides to create a body for itself and become the Toa Ignika]], it wishes to lead a heroic life inspired by Matoro. It is reluctantly coerced into sacrificing itself to jumpstart the [[PhysicalGod Great Spirit's]] heart, mirroring Matoro's ultimate sacrifice. In Ignika's case this only means turning back into its mask form and losing its body, as the mind within the mask would remain alive.

** Naturally, ''Webcomic/FinalFantasyVIITheSevening'' parodies this by having Cait Sith die ''[[RunningGag constantly]]''. As of the Wutai arc they're on Cait Sith #9.

* Thane Krios from ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' has this as his reasoning to go on the SuicideMission. He is an assassin suffering from a ConvenientTerminalIllness, so he doesn't expects to live long. It can be a SubvertedTrope too: If you know what you're doing during the SuicideMission, it's possible to pull off the EverybodyLives GoldenEnding. However, in this case the trope is stil played straight in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', as he'll come back to sacrifice himself in order to prevent Kai Leng from assassinating the Council.

* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', the Demon Hunter opening campaign sets up a situation where a portal needs to be opened, but a soul must be sacrificed to do so. You can choose either to have the person performing the ritual sacrifice himself, or have him sacrifice your character instead. If you choose to let yourself be sacrificed, you die and can run back to your corpse (just like any player-character in-game). As a HandWave, Illidan communicates with you, letting you know that your character has an immortal demon soul (like Illidan himself, but implied to be rare among other demon hunters), and can't truly be killed outside the Twisting Nether. Your survival amazes the one who performed the ritual.

* Played with on ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': {{A|xCrazy}}zula shoots lightning at Katara, so [[SupportingLeader Zuko]], who's been taught to deflect that attack, jumps in front of her. He still gets massively injured since he didn't have time to do it properly (doesn't exactly mix well with a diving save), but he survives.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': In the episode "Let's Play Final Days", Kaeloo, Stumpy and Mr. Cat are faced with [[ItMakesSenseInContext several objects that are about to kill them]], only for [[NighInvulnerable Quack Quack]] to jump in front of them and save them. Quack Quack is completely indestructible.
* Played with on ''WesternAnimation/CraigOfTheCreek'', in the episode "You're It". When faced with being [[ItMakesSenseInContext exiled from the creek due to a game of tag]], Craig gets out it by tagging his older brother, who doesn't care about being unable to go to the creek, since he hates the place.

For example, Franchise/{{Superman}} "sacrificing" himself by [[JumpingOnAGrenade throwing himself over a grenade]]. Superman is, well, Superman. He is not [[NighInvulnerability affected by a mere grenade]], it would need to be made of [[KryptoniteFactor Kryptonite or magic]] to hurt him. Whether Superman [[EasyAmnesia knows it won't hurt him at the time]] is irrelevant to the trope, it only matters that it didn't affect him.

[[folder:Film — Animated]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'', [[spoiler: Anna, dying from frozen heart curse, notices Hans about to kill Elsa, and throws herself between them, abandoning the chance of being saved by Kristoff's TrueLovesKiss. She freezes solid moments later and Hans' sword freezes too and shatters upon striking her. However, Anna's HeroicSacrifice turned to be the "act of true love" (in this case, sisterly love) that will break the curse, and seconds after she thaws from inside out. Therefore, Anna saved not only her sister, but also herself, and their kingdom, too, as she gave Elsa the clue how to fully control her ice powers through ThePowerOfLove and reverse her accidental EndlessWinter]].

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
* The Cheshire Cat takes a beheading for the Mad Hatter in Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/AliceInWonderland2010''. This trope applies because the Cheshire cat can detach his head from his body at any time.

* An unintentional one (or two) in ''Film/{{Constantine}}'': when the titular hero is unable to stop the villain from starting the apocalypse, he slits his wrists, knowing that Satan will come personally to collect his soul. On Satan's arrival, time stops, letting John tell him what's going on. Satan barges in, curb-stomps the villain for usurping his job and offers John a favor, and the latter asks him to release one innocent soul from Hell. However, those two sacrifices redeem Constantine from his previous sins and he starts to ascend to Heaven. [[RedemptionEarnsLife Enraged, Satan resurrects him and rips his lung cancer away, so he may have more time to sin again]].

* In ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'', T'Challa throws himself on a grenade to protect a room full of people. Not only does this not harm him, it charges up his energy-absorbing suit.

* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': In [[Recap/MiraculousLadybugS01E19Reflekta Reflekta]] the titular akuma victim is transforming everyone into duplicates of herself. When she transforms Chat Noir, he loses his miraculous and therefore his powers, so doing the same to Ladybug would be game over. When he sees a blast coming for Ladybug, Chat jumps in front of it. As he points out, he's already been transformed, so nothing can happen to him.

* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': In "Reflecta," the titular akuma victim is transforming everyone into duplicates of herself. When she transforms Chat Noir, he loses his miraculous and therefore his powers, so doing the same to Ladybug would be game over. When he sees a blast coming for Ladybug, Chat jumps in front of it. As he points out, he's already been transformed, so nothing can happen to him.

* Played with on ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': {{A|xCrazy}}zula shoots lightning at [[TheChick Katara]], so [[SupportingLeader Zuko]], who's been taught to deflect that attack, jumps in front of her. He still gets massively injured since he didn't have time to do it properly (doesn't exactly mix well with a diving save), but he survives.

* In ''Film/{{Red}}'', Joe volunteers to act as a distraction to let the others get away (by dressing as Frank and getting shot in his place) because, as was revealed earlier in the film, he has terminal liver cancer.

* Zigzaged in ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}''. One of the Toa Inika has to volunteer for a sacrifice so they can claim the Mask of Life. Matoro volunteers. So he dies. Immediately after this, he is revived, because the mask was testing his ''willingness'' to sacrifice himself. However, actually ''using'' the mask kills you, and once again Matoro volunteers.