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* In ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'', the titular character places a curse on Aurora that she will pruck her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die on her {{Dangerous Sixteenth Birthday}}. However, over the course of the film, she begins growing found of Aurora and eventually becomes her guardian.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Samurai Jack}}, Ashi was raised as an assassin to kill Jack but later joins him on his quest as his companion.
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For once in a while, a predator may refuse to harm his natural prey or enemy, instead choosing to protect it.
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* Not a case of prey to consume and more enemies to be destroyed, but this was the MO for the first two Godzillas in ''Fanfic/TheBridge'' canon until the third one, the grown up Godzilla Junior. Partially due to being a GentleGiant and being [[RaisedByHumans raised by an adoptive human mother]], he becomes one of humanity's most dedicated protectors against aliens and other kaiju for years.
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* Not a case of prey to consume and more enemies to be destroyed, but this that was the MO for the first two Godzillas in ''Fanfic/TheBridge'' canon until the third one, the grown up Godzilla Junior. Partially due to being a GentleGiant and being [[RaisedByHumans raised by an adoptive human mother]], he becomes one of humanity's most dedicated protectors against aliens and other kaiju for years. By comparison, his predecessors destroyed multiple cities and were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.
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* Not a case of prey to consume and more enemies to be destroyed, but this was the MO for the first two Godzillas in ''Fanfic/TheBridge'' canon until the third one, the grown up Godzilla Junior. Partially due to being a GentleGiant and being [[RaisedByHumans raised by an adoptive human mother]], he becomes one of humanity's most dedicated protectors against aliens and other kaiju for years.
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* Frequently happens in many old chaser cartoons like TomAndJerry and TweetyBird, where they might help a dog that beats ups the cat in return.
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* Frequently happens in many old chaser cartoons like TomAndJerry WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry and TweetyBird, where they might help a dog that beats ups the cat in return.
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* [[http://ireland-calling.com/lifestyle/cats-duckling-children-all-grown-up/ Here's]] a story of a cat who, rather than chow down on some vulnerable newly-hatched ducklings, took them in as her young. The cat had just given birth to kittens and was in maternal mode when she encountered the ducklings, so she considered them her young to protect as well rather than a snack. There was concern about what would happen as that narrow maternal-instinct window receded but a year on they still get along just fine.
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* In ''Film/KongSkullIsland'' Kong is explicitly stated to protect the island's human inhabitants from the other predators, most notably the Skullcrawlers. And unlike prior incarnations there's no mention of offering him the occasional human sacrifice.
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* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Snape, as a Death Eater, found to his horror that his own actions marked the woman he loved (Lily Evans Potter) for death, causing a HeelFaceTurn. His actions were not enough to save her, so despite hating her son, Harry Potter (whose father, James Potter, had made Snape miserable at Hogwarts), Snape acted through the entire series to save Harry from all harm.
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* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Snape, as a Death Eater, found to his horror that his own actions marked the woman he loved (Lily Evans Potter) for death, causing a HeelFaceTurn. His actions were not enough to save her, so despite hating her son, Harry Potter (whose father, James Potter, had made Snape miserable at Hogwarts), Snape acted through the entire series to save Harry from all harm. Note, however, that protecting Harry doesn't preclude Snape from treating him like crap the whole time.
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* As with ''Lion King'', the humans fleeing to safety in ''film/{{Daybreakers}}'' quickly realize when the sympathetic vampire hematologist Edward hides them in his car from some other vampires who are hunting them that it's a good idea to enlist him as an ally. To this end, one of them goes so far as to donate some of her blood in a cup and insist that he drink it to keep his hunger at bay. They also are later shown to be running their human-smuggling (and vampire-cure-seeking) operation under the protection of a vampire Senator who's got a similar deal worked out with them.
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* As with ''Lion King'', the humans fleeing to safety in ''film/{{Daybreakers}}'' ''Film/{{Daybreakers}}'' quickly realize when the sympathetic vampire hematologist Edward hides them in his car from some other vampires who are hunting them that it's a good idea to enlist him as an ally. To this end, one of them goes so far as to donate some of her blood in a cup and insist that he drink it to keep his hunger at bay. They also are later shown to be running their human-smuggling (and vampire-cure-seeking) operation under the protection of a vampire Senator who's got a similar deal worked out with them.
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* As with ''Lion King'', the humans fleeing to safety in ''film/{{Daybreakers}}'' quickly realize when the sympathetic vampire hematologist Edward hides them in his car from some other vampires who are hunting them that it's a good idea to enlist him as an ally. To this end, one of them goes so far as to donate some of her blood in a cup and insist that he drink it to keep his hunger at bay. They also are later shown to be running their human-smuggling (and vampire-cure-seeking) operation under the protection of a vampire Senator who's got a similar deal worked out with them.
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** This also gets inverted somewhat by his TheHunterBecomesTheHunted situation after the war; in gratitude for his saving their lives, the Jews help get him past the Allies who are out rounding up Nazis without his having to answer too many awkward questions. Though the film doesn't go into detail about this, [[RealLife historically]], those Jews helped smuggle him all the way out of Europe to Argentina.
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* Technically, any person who takes care of a pet that belongs to a species consumed by humans (such as a pet rabbit, guinea pig, chicken or duck) counts as this.
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* On ''Series/TrueBlood'', after much of the world's vampire population becomes infected with Hep-V, which causes them to become violent, vampire Jessica Hambly vows to protect the Bellefleur family as her penance for previously killing three of Andy's daughters.
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* On ''Series/TrueBlood'', after much of the world's vampire population becomes infected with Hep-V, which causes them to become violent, vampire Jessica Hambly Hamby vows to protect the Bellefleur family as her penance for previously killing three of Andy's daughters.
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[[quoteright:350:[[http://dailym.ai/1nmskwW http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gorillaprotect.jpg]]]]
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* ''{{Animorphs}}'': One story has Tobias struggle with [[ModeLock his dual hawk/human nature]], trying to attack a baby rabbit but crashing into the ground each time. In the end, he kills the mother (from the hawk's viewpoint this is beyond stupid, as she could have produced more food) but watches over the babies. In another, Cassie learns of the location of skunk kits (their mother was hit by a Yeerk weapon) when Tobias says he caught and ate one. He ends up helping to guard them until the mother comes out of the vet clinic.
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* ''{{Animorphs}}'': ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': One story has Tobias struggle with [[ModeLock his dual hawk/human nature]], trying to attack a baby rabbit but crashing into the ground each time. In the end, he kills the mother (from the hawk's viewpoint this is beyond stupid, as she could have produced more food) but watches over the babies. In another, Cassie learns of the location of skunk kits (their mother was hit by a Yeerk weapon) when Tobias says he caught and ate one. He ends up helping to guard them until the mother comes out of the vet clinic.
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* Videogame/{{MetroidFusion}}: The [[spoiler: SA-X]], which had spent the entire game hunting Samus, shows up at the last second to defend her from [[spoiler: a very aggressive Omega Metroid]]
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* Videogame/{{MetroidFusion}}: ''Videogame/MetroidFusion'': The [[spoiler: SA-X]], which had spent the entire game hunting Samus, shows up at the last second to defend her from [[spoiler: a [[spoiler:a very aggressive Omega Metroid]]Metroid]].
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[[folder:Fan Works]]
* One somewhat common plot in ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'' fanfics is a savage Nick (a red fox) becoming very protective of Judy (a rabbit), for reasons ranging from previous scent markings to HeroicWillpower while his rational mind is not quite gone yet. Typically, this ensues when [[spoiler:the pellet-for-blueberry swap plan]] doesn't work.
[[/folder]]
* One somewhat common plot in ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'' fanfics is a savage Nick (a red fox) becoming very protective of Judy (a rabbit), for reasons ranging from previous scent markings to HeroicWillpower while his rational mind is not quite gone yet. Typically, this ensues when [[spoiler:the pellet-for-blueberry swap plan]] doesn't work.
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* In ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'', during Azulon's purging of the dragons, he told his son Iroh to kill the last two. He doesn't really want to do it, so he pretends to have killed them while he actually hid them in the Sun Tribe's territory.
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* In ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'', ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', during Azulon's purging of the dragons, he told his son Iroh to kill the last two. He doesn't really want to do it, so he pretends to have killed them while he actually hid them in the Sun Tribe's territory.
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* The AnimatedAdaptation of ''Film/FreeWilly'' has the titular orca being accompanied by a dolphin and a sea lion.
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* In the ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' DLC ''Dawnguard'', Serana is a FriendlyNeighbourhoodVampire and a Dawnguard-aligned Dragonborn can easily persuade her to side against Clan Volkihar. This is particularly noticeable since at least two members of the Dawnguard want her dead. From the vanilla game, [[spoiler:Paarthurnax]] is a dragon that had a HeelFaceTurn millennia ago and is very protective of the races of Tamriel.
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* In the ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' DLC ''Dawnguard'', Serana is a FriendlyNeighbourhoodVampire and a Dawnguard-aligned Dragonborn can easily persuade her to side against Clan Volkihar. This is particularly noticeable since at least two members of the Dawnguard want her dead. From the vanilla game, [[spoiler:Paarthurnax]] is a dragon that had a HeelFaceTurn millennia ago and is very protective of the races of Tamriel.
Tamriel. It's not acknowledged by those races though as especially the Blades want him dead no matter what since he IS a dragon.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'', Nigel the pelican is, of course, a fish-eater. However, he has regular conversations with the fish living in an aquarium in a dentist's office and is quite touched by Nemo's story. Upon learning that Marlin is Nemo's father searching for his son, Nigel rescues him and Dory first from the beak of a fellow pelican, then from a flock of seagulls.
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[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]
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* [[http://slowrobot.com/i/76208 There was a case in India where two puppies fell into a pit and were protected and cared for by a cobra for two days.]] Whether the third picture also qualifies is more debatable.
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* [[http://slowrobot.com/i/76208 There was a case in India where two puppies fell into a pit and were protected and cared for by a cobra for two days.]] Whether the third picture also qualifies is more debatable.debatable.
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* In ''Film/KingKong'', Ann Darrow is intended to be a HumanSacrifice to the eponymous giant ape. However, he is mesmerized by her beauty and becomes her protector, defending her from the dinosaurs and other monstrous beasts of Skull Island.
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* In ''Film/KingKong'', ''Film/KingKong1933'', Ann Darrow is intended to be a HumanSacrifice to the eponymous giant ape. However, he is mesmerized by her beauty and becomes her protector, defending her from the dinosaurs and other monstrous beasts of Skull Island.
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* Sheepdogs are trained to be this to their herd of sheep.
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* Sheepdogs are trained to be this to their herd of sheep.sheep.
* [[http://slowrobot.com/i/76208 There was a case in India where two puppies fell into a pit and were protected and cared for by a cobra for two days.]] Whether the third picture also qualifies is more debatable.
* [[http://slowrobot.com/i/76208 There was a case in India where two puppies fell into a pit and were protected and cared for by a cobra for two days.]] Whether the third picture also qualifies is more debatable.
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* ''Film/JurassicWorld'': While hunting the ''Indominus rex'', Hoskins forces Owen to use his pack of raised raptors (Blue, Charlie, Echo, and Delta) [[GodzillaThreshold to track down the rampaging dinosaur alongside a team of special ops]]. After finding it however, the ''Indominus rex'' manages to persuade the raptors to turn on their human handlers ([[spoiler:due to said ''Indominus rex'' being part-raptor]],) and all hell breaks loose. However, [[spoiler:after Hoskins is killed by Delta]], the raptors come to their senses [[BigDamnHeroes and turn on the Indominus]] in order to protect ParentalSubstitute Owen from it.
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* ''Film/JurassicWorld'': While hunting the ''Indominus rex'', rex'' in ''Film/JurassicWorld'', Hoskins forces Owen to use his pack of raised raptors (Blue, Charlie, Echo, and Delta) [[GodzillaThreshold to track down the rampaging dinosaur alongside a team of [=InGen=] special ops]]. After finding it however, it, the ''Indominus rex'' manages to persuade the raptors to turn on their human handlers ([[spoiler:due to said ''Indominus rex'' being part-raptor]],) part-raptor]]), and all hell breaks loose. However, [[spoiler:after Hoskins is killed by Delta]], the raptors come to their senses [[BigDamnHeroes and turn on the Indominus]] in order to protect ParentalSubstitute Owen from it.
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* ''Film/JurassicWorld'': While hunting the Indominus Rex, Owen is forced by Hoskins to use his pack of raised Raptors, (Blue, Charlie, Echo, and Delta,) [[GodzillaThreshold in assisting everyone in hunting down the Dinosaur with them]]. After finding it however, the Indominus Rex manages to persuade the Raptors into turning on their Human owners ([[spoiler:due to said Indominus Rex being part-Raptor too]],) and all Hell breaks loose. However [[spoiler:after Hoskins is killed by Blue]], the Raptors come back to their senses [[BigDamnHeroes and they turn on the Indominus]] in order to protect Owen, Claire, Gray, and Zack from it.
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* ''Film/JurassicWorld'': While hunting the Indominus Rex, Owen is forced by ''Indominus rex'', Hoskins forces Owen to use his pack of raised Raptors, raptors (Blue, Charlie, Echo, and Delta,) Delta) [[GodzillaThreshold in assisting everyone in hunting to track down the Dinosaur with them]]. rampaging dinosaur alongside a team of special ops]]. After finding it however, the Indominus Rex ''Indominus rex'' manages to persuade the Raptors into turning raptors to turn on their Human owners human handlers ([[spoiler:due to said Indominus Rex ''Indominus rex'' being part-Raptor too]],) part-raptor]],) and all Hell hell breaks loose. However However, [[spoiler:after Hoskins is killed by Blue]], Delta]], the Raptors raptors come back to their senses [[BigDamnHeroes and they turn on the Indominus]] in order to protect Owen, Claire, Gray, and Zack ParentalSubstitute Owen from it.
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* ''{{Naruto}}'': the Nine Tailed Fox is originally a gigantic beast that is hostile to human society, but after he's sealed in Naruto's body, he's forced to protect Naruto from within and give him support in dire needs, because if Naruto dies, so will him.
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* ''{{Naruto}}'': the Nine Tailed Fox is originally a gigantic beast that is hostile to human society, but after he's sealed in Naruto's body, he's forced to protect Naruto from within and give him support in dire needs, because if Naruto dies, dies so will him.he.
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* On ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' {{Series/Angel}} is a vampire who is out to save humans from vampires and other nasties.
** In later series, Spike develops a crush on Buffy, who is the natural predator of his species. As a result, he stops rooting for her death and starts protecting her, oftentimes against her will. He also starts acting as something of an older brother to Buffy's sister, to the point where Buffy drops her off at Spike's when she needs a babysitter - because the evil monster that lives on human blood will protect her.
* In the eighth series Series/DoctorWho episode 'Into the Dalek', the eponymous Dalek decides to protect the other sentient species in the universe and destroying its Dalek brethren after seeing true beauty. [[spoiler: However, its just a temporary glitch that the doctor manages to fix, resulting in the death of most of the people on the ship.]]
** In later series, Spike develops a crush on Buffy, who is the natural predator of his species. As a result, he stops rooting for her death and starts protecting her, oftentimes against her will. He also starts acting as something of an older brother to Buffy's sister, to the point where Buffy drops her off at Spike's when she needs a babysitter - because the evil monster that lives on human blood will protect her.
* In the eighth series Series/DoctorWho episode 'Into the Dalek', the eponymous Dalek decides to protect the other sentient species in the universe and destroying its Dalek brethren after seeing true beauty. [[spoiler: However, its just a temporary glitch that the doctor manages to fix, resulting in the death of most of the people on the ship.]]
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* On ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' {{Series/Angel}} ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' and ''Series/{{Angel}}'', Angel is a vampire who is out to save humans from vampires and other nasties.
** In laterseries, seasons of ''Buffy'', Spike develops a crush on Buffy, who is the natural predator of his species. As a result, he stops rooting for her death and starts protecting her, oftentimes against her will. He also starts acting as something of an older brother to Buffy's sister, to the point where Buffy drops her off at Spike's when she needs a babysitter - because the evil monster that lives on human blood will protect her.
* In theeighth series Series/DoctorWho Series 8 ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode 'Into "Into the Dalek', Dalek", the eponymous Dalek (nicknamed "Rusty") decides to protect the other sentient species in the universe and destroying its Dalek brethren after seeing true beauty. [[spoiler: However, its It's just a temporary glitch that the doctor Doctor manages to fix, resulting in the death of most of the people on the ship.]]
** In later
* In the
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* In the ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' DLC ''Dawnguard'', Serana is a FriendlyNeighbourhoodVampire and a Dawnguard-aligned Dragonborn can easily persuade her to side against Clan Volkihar. This is particularly noticeable since at least two members of the Dawnguard want her dead. From the vanilla game, [[spoiler:Paarthurnax]] is a dragon that had a HeelFaceTurn millennia ago and is very protective of the races of Tamriel.
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For once in a while, a predator may refuse to harm his natural prey or enemy, instead choosing to protect it.
The reasons may vary widely: the two develops kinship to each other, the "prey" is an orphan/has ParentalAbandonment, [[AndroclesLion the predator being helpless and the prey comes to help him]], etc. The protection may extend to only one individual, to a small group (such as a family), or to the entire species or group. Said protection likely will include protection against the predator's own kind (related to HunterOfHisOwnKind).
This trope is different than MoralityPet in that the decision to become a protector is irrevocable and is likely to invoke a HeelFaceTurn on the part of the predator. Said protection may be permanent or temporary depending on whether the predator's intent is to return the Prey back to his family, group, or natural environment. (The intent is always what's best for the prey, yet another difference between this trope and MoralityPet.) Failure to protect the prey will cause anguish to the predator, especially if he has to watch. The younger/more helpless the prey, the more extreme, the more violent the predator will be in protecting him, up to full on PapaWolf or MamaBear.
A predator is almost by definition badass, but a predator lacking fear and not even caring if he lives or dies is both unpredictable and scary. This trope seldom or never involves a sexual attraction/ relationship between the two, and the predator may not even like the prey. Predators tend to be solitary hunters, but a Predator turned protector will both accept and solicit assistance in protecting the prey. The conclusive proof that that the trope applies is change: the predator is unable to return to his former ways at the end.
More cynically, any [[TheEmpire Empire]] will do this for its new subjects when it is well established simply because they are now taxpayers instead of prey. In another case, a predator may simply try to protect their prey from other predators so that he can have the prey all by himself.
Supertrope to AndroclesLion, sister trope to FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire. Expect HitmanWithAHeart to do this a lot. When applied to hostage situations, this becomes LimaSyndrome. Animal examples will frequently overlap with CarnivoreConfusion. Compare BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork where the bad guys saved the good guys from having to ShootTheDog, often without meaning to help in the first place. Compare also InLoveWithTheMark when the would-be killer falls in love with the target.
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!!Examples:
[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]
* ''{{Naruto}}'': the Nine Tailed Fox is originally a gigantic beast that is hostile to human society, but after he's sealed in Naruto's body, he's forced to protect Naruto from within and give him support in dire needs, because if Naruto dies, so will him.
* Gabu from ''Film/ArashiNoYoruNi'' is a wolf and his best friend, Mei, is a goat. They form an OddFriendship and end up running off together to avoid their families, and societies, disdain. For much of the series they're being tracked by Gabu's pack [[spoiler:and Gabu does protect Mei from them in his BigDamnHeroes moment]]
* In ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', Alucard, a vampire, is forced to save humanity from evil Nazi vampires.
[[AC:[[AnimatedFilm Film - Animated]]]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'', Sulley (a monster whose job is scaring children) chose to be a protector to Boo (a human child). His objective was to protect Boo and return her to her home and family. His reactions upon "seeing" Boo crushed was a Shout Out to Feed the Kitty (below). In the film's climax, Sulley went full PapaWolf to protect Boo. He even said "Nothing else matters."
* ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'': Diego (a saber-toothed cat) helped Manny (a mammoth) and his 'herd' to return a human child to his father, despite having been ordered to deliver the child to Diego's pride to be eaten. Although Diego had no particular love for the child, he did act as a protector, though more out of loyalty to Manny's 'herd' than anything else.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'', Tiger (a cat) and Fievel Mousekewitz (a mouse) had become friends. In the sequel, ''An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'', Tiger chose the role of a Protector, directly opposing other cats (all more badass than Tiger) to save Fievel, his family, and the other mice in town. To do so, Tiger took a level by learning how to be a dog. In the film's climax, Tiger tried to stop the killing of all the town's mice, and what started out as a last stand turned into a curb-stomp battle as first the training kicked in, then Tiger entered unstoppable rage and became a one-cat army. This is a milder form of the trope since Tiger never sought to harm Fievel (or apparently any other mouse), but cats are predators of mice, and Tiger opposed other cats to protect mice, so the trope definitely applies.
* The protagonist of Dreamworks' ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' constructs a weighted-net launcher that successfully knocks a dreaded Night Fury dragon out of the sky during a dragon raid. Hiccup ventures into the hills to find the fallen dragon and slay it. Upon finding his objective, however, Hiccup takes mercy on the creature, and actually works to hide it from his fellow Vikings.
* When young Hogarth encounters Creator/BradBird's ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'', he finds the robot to be docile and childlike; this is suggested to be the result of a dent in its head upon landing on Earth. However, once the robot goes into PapaWolf mode, it deploys enough advanced weaponry to eradicate a battalion with frightening ease. The director's commentary mentions that the robot was meant to be a military strike probe, designed to eradicate or decimate resistance as a precursor to an AlienInvasion. Fortunately for everyone, ThePowerOfFriendship restores the robot to its GentleGiant mode, whereupon it makes a HeroicSacrifice to save the townsfolk.
* In ''Disney/TheLionKing'', Simba the lion fiercely protects his surrogate parents, Pumbaa the warthog and Timon the meerkat, from the hungry lioness Nala. In fact Timon, initially reluctant to adopt the orphaned Simba due to him being a predator, changes his mind after he realizes he can [[ExploitedTrope exploit]] this trope.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'', Alex the lion's friendship with Marty the zebra is threatened when Alex's HorrorHunger kicks in after they arrive into the wild. However, when Marty is attacked by a pack of fossa (Madagascar's native predators), Alex comes to his rescue in a BigDamnHeroes moment.
[[AC:[[{{Film}} Film - Live-Action]]]]
* ''Film/SchindlersList'': An extreme example heavily based on real events during WWII. Oskar Schindler started as a businessman and Nazi Party member in Nazi Germany, manufacturing war material. When he discovered that his Jewish employees were slated for death, he did everything in his power to save as many as he could. At the end of the movie, what should have been his moment of triumph for saving more than 1000 Jews instead saw him breaking down in sorrow and shame that he didn't save more, that he still had anything (money or possessions) to his name (by which he could have saved more).
* Demonstrated while being subverted in the first 3 ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' films.
** In [[Film/TheTerminator the first film]], the T-800 (the titular Terminator) was a cold, emotionless, killing machine whose sole existence was to kill Sarah Connor and thus prevent John Connor from being born and creating the resistance in the future.
** In [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay the second film]] however, the T-800, while still emotionless, was now a protector of the now-born John Connor and his sole purpose was to protect him from the more dangerous T-1000.
** Fully Justified in [[Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines the third film]] as the T-850 reveals that he killed John Connor in the year 2032. During that time though, he had been reprogrammed by Kate Brewster (John Connor's wife) to prepare and protect John and Kate from the inevitable Judgement Day.
* In ''Film/KingKong'', Ann Darrow is intended to be a HumanSacrifice to the eponymous giant ape. However, he is mesmerized by her beauty and becomes her protector, defending her from the dinosaurs and other monstrous beasts of Skull Island.
* In ''Film/{{Snowpiercer}}'' [[spoiler:Curtis Everett plays this role for Basile, whom mother he killed so that [[EatsBabies he could eat him]] because of the [[NoPartyLikeADonnerParty dearth of food during the first month]]]].
* ''Film/JurassicWorld'': While hunting the Indominus Rex, Owen is forced by Hoskins to use his pack of raised Raptors, (Blue, Charlie, Echo, and Delta,) [[GodzillaThreshold in assisting everyone in hunting down the Dinosaur with them]]. After finding it however, the Indominus Rex manages to persuade the Raptors into turning on their Human owners ([[spoiler:due to said Indominus Rex being part-Raptor too]],) and all Hell breaks loose. However [[spoiler:after Hoskins is killed by Blue]], the Raptors come back to their senses [[BigDamnHeroes and they turn on the Indominus]] in order to protect Owen, Claire, Gray, and Zack from it.
[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Snape, as a Death Eater, found to his horror that his own actions marked the woman he loved (Lily Evans Potter) for death, causing a HeelFaceTurn. His actions were not enough to save her, so despite hating her son, Harry Potter (whose father, James Potter, had made Snape miserable at Hogwarts), Snape acted through the entire series to save Harry from all harm.
* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'': The Cullens, a coven of vampires, are 'vegetarians' (do not drink human blood) due to choice and a treaty with the local werewolves and even act to protect a human (Bella), thus fitting (if loosely) under this trope.
* ''{{Animorphs}}'': One story has Tobias struggle with [[ModeLock his dual hawk/human nature]], trying to attack a baby rabbit but crashing into the ground each time. In the end, he kills the mother (from the hawk's viewpoint this is beyond stupid, as she could have produced more food) but watches over the babies. In another, Cassie learns of the location of skunk kits (their mother was hit by a Yeerk weapon) when Tobias says he caught and ate one. He ends up helping to guard them until the mother comes out of the vet clinic.
* In ''Literature/ArciaChronicles'', Roman summons a lynx from the woods and binds its being to Prince Stefan, turning it into his supernatural protector. [[spoiler:When Stefan is killed, the lynx transfers its loyalty to Gerika, his beloved.]]
* In ''Literature/MrsFrisbyAndTheRatsOfNimh'', Mrs. Frisby the mouse saves her family using advice received from the Great Owl, whose usual diet includes mice. He's later revealed to be an ally of the rats, which he'd also normally be expected to eat.
* Alluded to in ''[[Literature/DianaTregarde Children of the Night]]''. One of the psivamps has been fighting his need to feed, and the others realize once he heads back to their base that he's given in. He tells them a folk tale about a lion cub adopted by a herd of sheep, who grew up thinking he was a sheep until the day a pack of wolves attacked the flock. The others figure he's gone over to their side, he doesn't bother telling them that the story ends with the lion killing all the wolves. (He'd chowed down on a couple rapists so he could act as TheMole.)
* In ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'', Jerin's grandfather Alannon was kidnapped by enemy spies. This ensured his survival when the castle he had lived in was conquered. Since the enemy spies wanted [[ExoticExtendedMarriage a husband]], they never turned him in to their superiors, but married him and did everything in their power to make him happy.
* Subverted in the ''Literature/{{Hurog}}'' series, Jakoven reminisces about how he comforted a boy who had been raped and whose parents had been killed by Jakoven's own armies. However, [[spoiler: when this happens, it is pretty clear that he sexually abused the boy, and has been keeping the (now adult) man as his sex slave ever since.]]
[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* On ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' {{Series/Angel}} is a vampire who is out to save humans from vampires and other nasties.
** In later series, Spike develops a crush on Buffy, who is the natural predator of his species. As a result, he stops rooting for her death and starts protecting her, oftentimes against her will. He also starts acting as something of an older brother to Buffy's sister, to the point where Buffy drops her off at Spike's when she needs a babysitter - because the evil monster that lives on human blood will protect her.
* In the eighth series Series/DoctorWho episode 'Into the Dalek', the eponymous Dalek decides to protect the other sentient species in the universe and destroying its Dalek brethren after seeing true beauty. [[spoiler: However, its just a temporary glitch that the doctor manages to fix, resulting in the death of most of the people on the ship.]]
* On ''Series/TrueBlood'', after much of the world's vampire population becomes infected with Hep-V, which causes them to become violent, vampire Jessica Hambly vows to protect the Bellefleur family as her penance for previously killing three of Andy's daughters.
* ''Series/ForeverKnight''. An 800 year old vampire named Nick Knight is a police detective protecting the citizens of Toronto. He seeks redemption for all of the human beings he's killed over the years.
[[AC:VideoGames]]
* Videogame/{{MetroidFusion}}: The [[spoiler: SA-X]], which had spent the entire game hunting Samus, shows up at the last second to defend her from [[spoiler: a very aggressive Omega Metroid]]
[[AC:WebComics]]
* Rudy Dewclaw from Creator/BillHolbrook's ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'' is a young wolf, who'd usually prey upon herbivores. However, when Lindesfarne, a hedgehog adopted by his stepfather, is menaced by a trio of felines, Rudy leaps to her defense. It's a case of pack loyalty overriding the food chain.
[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/FeedTheKitty'' (a classic Chuck Jones short), Marc Anthony (a bulldog) sought to protect Pussyfoot (a kitten). When it appeared Pussyfoot was killed, Marc Anthony suffered grievously. In Feline Frame-Up and Cat Feud (two additional shorts involving these characters), Marc Anthony went Papa Wolf to protect Pussyfoot from another cat, proving that his protection extended only to Pussyfoot. In these cases, tropers may reasonably argue whether Pussyfoot was a Morality Pet only instead.
* Frequently happens in many old chaser cartoons like TomAndJerry and TweetyBird, where they might help a dog that beats ups the cat in return.
** There are also plenty of episodes where Tom and Jerry, and sometimes even Tom, Jerry and Spike decide a mutual truce, that usually won't last til the end of the episode.
* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', in that the predator ''was'' a protector at first: Santa's Little Helper (the Simpson family dog) runs away from home and gets picked up by Mr. Burns & trained to be one of his new attack hounds. Later, Bart is on Burns' property looking for his missing dog and Burns releases the hounds, now led by SLH. SLH leaps at Bart, but as he's leaping in SloMo he remembers all the good things Bart did for him in the past. SLH drops, then turns to his fellow hounds and growls, protecting Bart from them.
* In ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'', during Azulon's purging of the dragons, he told his son Iroh to kill the last two. He doesn't really want to do it, so he pretends to have killed them while he actually hid them in the Sun Tribe's territory.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{TazMania}}'': A variation occurs between Taz and Wendell T. Wolf. After Taz eats and then spits out Wendell, Wendell decides that Taz should become his protector, only for Taz to want nothing to do with Wendell.
* In the Disney short ''Disney/LambertTheSheepishLion'', Lambert the lion cub is raised by a ewe. At the end of the short, when the ewe is attacked by a wolf, Lambert [[LetsGetDangerous gets dangerous]] and rescues his surrogate mother from the predator.
[[AC:RealLife]]
* [[http://creation.com/echoes-of-eden A lioness adopted not one but two oryx calves]].
* Sheepdogs are trained to be this to their herd of sheep.
The reasons may vary widely: the two develops kinship to each other, the "prey" is an orphan/has ParentalAbandonment, [[AndroclesLion the predator being helpless and the prey comes to help him]], etc. The protection may extend to only one individual, to a small group (such as a family), or to the entire species or group. Said protection likely will include protection against the predator's own kind (related to HunterOfHisOwnKind).
This trope is different than MoralityPet in that the decision to become a protector is irrevocable and is likely to invoke a HeelFaceTurn on the part of the predator. Said protection may be permanent or temporary depending on whether the predator's intent is to return the Prey back to his family, group, or natural environment. (The intent is always what's best for the prey, yet another difference between this trope and MoralityPet.) Failure to protect the prey will cause anguish to the predator, especially if he has to watch. The younger/more helpless the prey, the more extreme, the more violent the predator will be in protecting him, up to full on PapaWolf or MamaBear.
A predator is almost by definition badass, but a predator lacking fear and not even caring if he lives or dies is both unpredictable and scary. This trope seldom or never involves a sexual attraction/ relationship between the two, and the predator may not even like the prey. Predators tend to be solitary hunters, but a Predator turned protector will both accept and solicit assistance in protecting the prey. The conclusive proof that that the trope applies is change: the predator is unable to return to his former ways at the end.
More cynically, any [[TheEmpire Empire]] will do this for its new subjects when it is well established simply because they are now taxpayers instead of prey. In another case, a predator may simply try to protect their prey from other predators so that he can have the prey all by himself.
Supertrope to AndroclesLion, sister trope to FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire. Expect HitmanWithAHeart to do this a lot. When applied to hostage situations, this becomes LimaSyndrome. Animal examples will frequently overlap with CarnivoreConfusion. Compare BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork where the bad guys saved the good guys from having to ShootTheDog, often without meaning to help in the first place. Compare also InLoveWithTheMark when the would-be killer falls in love with the target.
----
!!Examples:
[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]
* ''{{Naruto}}'': the Nine Tailed Fox is originally a gigantic beast that is hostile to human society, but after he's sealed in Naruto's body, he's forced to protect Naruto from within and give him support in dire needs, because if Naruto dies, so will him.
* Gabu from ''Film/ArashiNoYoruNi'' is a wolf and his best friend, Mei, is a goat. They form an OddFriendship and end up running off together to avoid their families, and societies, disdain. For much of the series they're being tracked by Gabu's pack [[spoiler:and Gabu does protect Mei from them in his BigDamnHeroes moment]]
* In ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', Alucard, a vampire, is forced to save humanity from evil Nazi vampires.
[[AC:[[AnimatedFilm Film - Animated]]]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'', Sulley (a monster whose job is scaring children) chose to be a protector to Boo (a human child). His objective was to protect Boo and return her to her home and family. His reactions upon "seeing" Boo crushed was a Shout Out to Feed the Kitty (below). In the film's climax, Sulley went full PapaWolf to protect Boo. He even said "Nothing else matters."
* ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'': Diego (a saber-toothed cat) helped Manny (a mammoth) and his 'herd' to return a human child to his father, despite having been ordered to deliver the child to Diego's pride to be eaten. Although Diego had no particular love for the child, he did act as a protector, though more out of loyalty to Manny's 'herd' than anything else.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'', Tiger (a cat) and Fievel Mousekewitz (a mouse) had become friends. In the sequel, ''An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'', Tiger chose the role of a Protector, directly opposing other cats (all more badass than Tiger) to save Fievel, his family, and the other mice in town. To do so, Tiger took a level by learning how to be a dog. In the film's climax, Tiger tried to stop the killing of all the town's mice, and what started out as a last stand turned into a curb-stomp battle as first the training kicked in, then Tiger entered unstoppable rage and became a one-cat army. This is a milder form of the trope since Tiger never sought to harm Fievel (or apparently any other mouse), but cats are predators of mice, and Tiger opposed other cats to protect mice, so the trope definitely applies.
* The protagonist of Dreamworks' ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' constructs a weighted-net launcher that successfully knocks a dreaded Night Fury dragon out of the sky during a dragon raid. Hiccup ventures into the hills to find the fallen dragon and slay it. Upon finding his objective, however, Hiccup takes mercy on the creature, and actually works to hide it from his fellow Vikings.
* When young Hogarth encounters Creator/BradBird's ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'', he finds the robot to be docile and childlike; this is suggested to be the result of a dent in its head upon landing on Earth. However, once the robot goes into PapaWolf mode, it deploys enough advanced weaponry to eradicate a battalion with frightening ease. The director's commentary mentions that the robot was meant to be a military strike probe, designed to eradicate or decimate resistance as a precursor to an AlienInvasion. Fortunately for everyone, ThePowerOfFriendship restores the robot to its GentleGiant mode, whereupon it makes a HeroicSacrifice to save the townsfolk.
* In ''Disney/TheLionKing'', Simba the lion fiercely protects his surrogate parents, Pumbaa the warthog and Timon the meerkat, from the hungry lioness Nala. In fact Timon, initially reluctant to adopt the orphaned Simba due to him being a predator, changes his mind after he realizes he can [[ExploitedTrope exploit]] this trope.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'', Alex the lion's friendship with Marty the zebra is threatened when Alex's HorrorHunger kicks in after they arrive into the wild. However, when Marty is attacked by a pack of fossa (Madagascar's native predators), Alex comes to his rescue in a BigDamnHeroes moment.
[[AC:[[{{Film}} Film - Live-Action]]]]
* ''Film/SchindlersList'': An extreme example heavily based on real events during WWII. Oskar Schindler started as a businessman and Nazi Party member in Nazi Germany, manufacturing war material. When he discovered that his Jewish employees were slated for death, he did everything in his power to save as many as he could. At the end of the movie, what should have been his moment of triumph for saving more than 1000 Jews instead saw him breaking down in sorrow and shame that he didn't save more, that he still had anything (money or possessions) to his name (by which he could have saved more).
* Demonstrated while being subverted in the first 3 ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' films.
** In [[Film/TheTerminator the first film]], the T-800 (the titular Terminator) was a cold, emotionless, killing machine whose sole existence was to kill Sarah Connor and thus prevent John Connor from being born and creating the resistance in the future.
** In [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay the second film]] however, the T-800, while still emotionless, was now a protector of the now-born John Connor and his sole purpose was to protect him from the more dangerous T-1000.
** Fully Justified in [[Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines the third film]] as the T-850 reveals that he killed John Connor in the year 2032. During that time though, he had been reprogrammed by Kate Brewster (John Connor's wife) to prepare and protect John and Kate from the inevitable Judgement Day.
* In ''Film/KingKong'', Ann Darrow is intended to be a HumanSacrifice to the eponymous giant ape. However, he is mesmerized by her beauty and becomes her protector, defending her from the dinosaurs and other monstrous beasts of Skull Island.
* In ''Film/{{Snowpiercer}}'' [[spoiler:Curtis Everett plays this role for Basile, whom mother he killed so that [[EatsBabies he could eat him]] because of the [[NoPartyLikeADonnerParty dearth of food during the first month]]]].
* ''Film/JurassicWorld'': While hunting the Indominus Rex, Owen is forced by Hoskins to use his pack of raised Raptors, (Blue, Charlie, Echo, and Delta,) [[GodzillaThreshold in assisting everyone in hunting down the Dinosaur with them]]. After finding it however, the Indominus Rex manages to persuade the Raptors into turning on their Human owners ([[spoiler:due to said Indominus Rex being part-Raptor too]],) and all Hell breaks loose. However [[spoiler:after Hoskins is killed by Blue]], the Raptors come back to their senses [[BigDamnHeroes and they turn on the Indominus]] in order to protect Owen, Claire, Gray, and Zack from it.
[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Snape, as a Death Eater, found to his horror that his own actions marked the woman he loved (Lily Evans Potter) for death, causing a HeelFaceTurn. His actions were not enough to save her, so despite hating her son, Harry Potter (whose father, James Potter, had made Snape miserable at Hogwarts), Snape acted through the entire series to save Harry from all harm.
* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'': The Cullens, a coven of vampires, are 'vegetarians' (do not drink human blood) due to choice and a treaty with the local werewolves and even act to protect a human (Bella), thus fitting (if loosely) under this trope.
* ''{{Animorphs}}'': One story has Tobias struggle with [[ModeLock his dual hawk/human nature]], trying to attack a baby rabbit but crashing into the ground each time. In the end, he kills the mother (from the hawk's viewpoint this is beyond stupid, as she could have produced more food) but watches over the babies. In another, Cassie learns of the location of skunk kits (their mother was hit by a Yeerk weapon) when Tobias says he caught and ate one. He ends up helping to guard them until the mother comes out of the vet clinic.
* In ''Literature/ArciaChronicles'', Roman summons a lynx from the woods and binds its being to Prince Stefan, turning it into his supernatural protector. [[spoiler:When Stefan is killed, the lynx transfers its loyalty to Gerika, his beloved.]]
* In ''Literature/MrsFrisbyAndTheRatsOfNimh'', Mrs. Frisby the mouse saves her family using advice received from the Great Owl, whose usual diet includes mice. He's later revealed to be an ally of the rats, which he'd also normally be expected to eat.
* Alluded to in ''[[Literature/DianaTregarde Children of the Night]]''. One of the psivamps has been fighting his need to feed, and the others realize once he heads back to their base that he's given in. He tells them a folk tale about a lion cub adopted by a herd of sheep, who grew up thinking he was a sheep until the day a pack of wolves attacked the flock. The others figure he's gone over to their side, he doesn't bother telling them that the story ends with the lion killing all the wolves. (He'd chowed down on a couple rapists so he could act as TheMole.)
* In ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'', Jerin's grandfather Alannon was kidnapped by enemy spies. This ensured his survival when the castle he had lived in was conquered. Since the enemy spies wanted [[ExoticExtendedMarriage a husband]], they never turned him in to their superiors, but married him and did everything in their power to make him happy.
* Subverted in the ''Literature/{{Hurog}}'' series, Jakoven reminisces about how he comforted a boy who had been raped and whose parents had been killed by Jakoven's own armies. However, [[spoiler: when this happens, it is pretty clear that he sexually abused the boy, and has been keeping the (now adult) man as his sex slave ever since.]]
[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* On ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' {{Series/Angel}} is a vampire who is out to save humans from vampires and other nasties.
** In later series, Spike develops a crush on Buffy, who is the natural predator of his species. As a result, he stops rooting for her death and starts protecting her, oftentimes against her will. He also starts acting as something of an older brother to Buffy's sister, to the point where Buffy drops her off at Spike's when she needs a babysitter - because the evil monster that lives on human blood will protect her.
* In the eighth series Series/DoctorWho episode 'Into the Dalek', the eponymous Dalek decides to protect the other sentient species in the universe and destroying its Dalek brethren after seeing true beauty. [[spoiler: However, its just a temporary glitch that the doctor manages to fix, resulting in the death of most of the people on the ship.]]
* On ''Series/TrueBlood'', after much of the world's vampire population becomes infected with Hep-V, which causes them to become violent, vampire Jessica Hambly vows to protect the Bellefleur family as her penance for previously killing three of Andy's daughters.
* ''Series/ForeverKnight''. An 800 year old vampire named Nick Knight is a police detective protecting the citizens of Toronto. He seeks redemption for all of the human beings he's killed over the years.
[[AC:VideoGames]]
* Videogame/{{MetroidFusion}}: The [[spoiler: SA-X]], which had spent the entire game hunting Samus, shows up at the last second to defend her from [[spoiler: a very aggressive Omega Metroid]]
[[AC:WebComics]]
* Rudy Dewclaw from Creator/BillHolbrook's ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'' is a young wolf, who'd usually prey upon herbivores. However, when Lindesfarne, a hedgehog adopted by his stepfather, is menaced by a trio of felines, Rudy leaps to her defense. It's a case of pack loyalty overriding the food chain.
[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/FeedTheKitty'' (a classic Chuck Jones short), Marc Anthony (a bulldog) sought to protect Pussyfoot (a kitten). When it appeared Pussyfoot was killed, Marc Anthony suffered grievously. In Feline Frame-Up and Cat Feud (two additional shorts involving these characters), Marc Anthony went Papa Wolf to protect Pussyfoot from another cat, proving that his protection extended only to Pussyfoot. In these cases, tropers may reasonably argue whether Pussyfoot was a Morality Pet only instead.
* Frequently happens in many old chaser cartoons like TomAndJerry and TweetyBird, where they might help a dog that beats ups the cat in return.
** There are also plenty of episodes where Tom and Jerry, and sometimes even Tom, Jerry and Spike decide a mutual truce, that usually won't last til the end of the episode.
* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', in that the predator ''was'' a protector at first: Santa's Little Helper (the Simpson family dog) runs away from home and gets picked up by Mr. Burns & trained to be one of his new attack hounds. Later, Bart is on Burns' property looking for his missing dog and Burns releases the hounds, now led by SLH. SLH leaps at Bart, but as he's leaping in SloMo he remembers all the good things Bart did for him in the past. SLH drops, then turns to his fellow hounds and growls, protecting Bart from them.
* In ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'', during Azulon's purging of the dragons, he told his son Iroh to kill the last two. He doesn't really want to do it, so he pretends to have killed them while he actually hid them in the Sun Tribe's territory.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{TazMania}}'': A variation occurs between Taz and Wendell T. Wolf. After Taz eats and then spits out Wendell, Wendell decides that Taz should become his protector, only for Taz to want nothing to do with Wendell.
* In the Disney short ''Disney/LambertTheSheepishLion'', Lambert the lion cub is raised by a ewe. At the end of the short, when the ewe is attacked by a wolf, Lambert [[LetsGetDangerous gets dangerous]] and rescues his surrogate mother from the predator.
[[AC:RealLife]]
* [[http://creation.com/echoes-of-eden A lioness adopted not one but two oryx calves]].
* Sheepdogs are trained to be this to their herd of sheep.
