History Main / PredatorTurnedProtector

* ''Literature/ChrysalisRinoZ'': The Lirian refugees who take a chance on the Colony are nearly eaten for their trouble, multiple times, but Anthony manages to divert the workers away from them, and eventually forges a firm alliance after [[spoiler:the ants gain sapience]]. The humans soon find that with the ants aggressively putting down all the threats in the area, they're actually about as safe as they could hope to be anywhere.

* In ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', Alucard, a vampire, is forced to save humanity from evil Nazi vampires. It helps that he [[BloodKnight enjoys the work]] and has developed a deep respect for the human spirit -- dating back to [[Literature/{{Dracula}} when he, the greatest vampire to ever live, was defeated by a team of ordinary people]].

* In ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', Alucard, a vampire, is forced to save humanity from evil Nazi vampires. It helps that he [[BloodKnight enjoys the work]] and has developed a deep respect for the human spirit -- dating back to [[Literature/Dracula when he, the greatest vampire to ever live, was defeated by a team of ordinary people]].

* In ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', Alucard, a vampire, is forced to save humanity from evil Nazi vampires.

* WebOriginal/AlienAbductionRoleplay: Acktreal Domma clearly wants to eat the human test subjects under her care, but then develops an emotional attachment to both (especially the unnamed POV protagonist), and promises to protect both, even if they fail to get "full rights" according to the laws governing her society.

* In a roundabout way, apex predators can play an important role in controlling and managing invasive species which otherwise could wreck havoc on an ecosystem. While the predator isn't consciously protecting its prey species, the do benefit from their presence in the ecosystem by controlling or fending off invasive intruders that could spread diseases to or directly prey on the prey species. An example would be in Southern Florida, American Alligators are one of the few predators capable of hunting and killing invasive Burmese Pythons that regularly prey on small mammals and birds ignorant of how to defend themselves. Areas with a high alligator population, and thus a very small python population, actually have far higher bird and mammal populations.

* As with ''The Lion King'' example in the folder above, 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.

* 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. It's not acknowledged by those races though as especially the Blades want him dead no matter what since he IS a dragon.

* As with the ''The Lion King'' example in the folder above, 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.

** While Venom's characterization largely depends on who the host is, for much of its history the symbiote was characterized as a ravenous predator that couldn't care less about guilt or innocence and seeks to corrupt its host. However, in Brian Michael Bendis' ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' it's cleansed of its bloodlust and becomes fully heroic; and in ''ComicBook/VenomSpaceKnight'', ''ComicBook/MikeCostasVenom'', and ''ComicBook/DonnyCatesVenom'' it struggles to suppress its recurring dark urges in order to protect the innocent.

* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': Attempted in the original Innistrad block: at the request of a village plagued by lycanthropy, the archangel Avacyn turned the werewolfes into the still wolf-like wolfyr, who now protect humanity and the forests. Unfortunately, subsequent returns to the plane have Avacyn turn cuckoo and then die, effectively destroying this spell and making werewolves rampaging beasts again. Only a few wolfyr barely cling to life.

* 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."

* ''Film/SawII'': Though Amanda was sent into the Nerve Gas House as a set of eyes and ears for Jigsaw and was in on the plan the whole time, she develops a sense of responsibility for Daniel, him being just a teenager and really only being in the house because of his father's actions. She speaks openly with him and the two of them cling to each other as they run from Xavier. She's genuinely heartbroken when she thinks Daniel succumbed to the poison and died, and clings to him when he's crying after he kills Xavier.

A 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, DefendsAgainstTheirOwnKind where a member of group X protects a member of group Y from other members of group X, and AdoptTheFood where they had planned on eating them first.

* Short film ''Film/TheGoldenFish'' has a cat enter an apartment, where it sees a goldfish flopping about on a counter after it leaped out of its bowl. The cat picks the fish up and puts it back in the goldfish bowl. (What makes this amazing is that it was done with real animals, a real cat and a real goldfish.)

* As with the ''The Lion King'' in the folder above, 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.

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, DefendsAgainstTheirOwnKind where a member of group X protects a member of group Y from other members of group X, and AdoptTheFood where they had planned on eating them first.

* 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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* Soviet animated short [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSKLZhwWC4Q "Wolf and calf"]]. A wolf steals a baby calf but finds him too scrawny to eat and decides to first fatten him up. This soon evolves into becoming an adopted father for the calf, up to protecting him from his carnivorous neighbours eager to "share" the calf.
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[[folder: Western Animation]]

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* ''[[Literature/ChrysalisRinoZ Chrysalis]]'': The Lirian refugees who take a chance on the Colony are nearly eaten for their trouble, multiple times, but Anthony manages to divert the workers away from them, and eventually forges a firm alliance after [[spoiler:the ants gain sapience]]. The humans soon find that with the ants aggressively putting down all the threats in the area, they're actually about as safe as they could hope to be anywhere.

* ''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]] (although it's more likely it merely saw the [[spoiler:Metroid, its natural predator]] as a bigger threat than Samus).

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 them]], 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 HunterOfTheirOwnKind).

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 their 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 they have to watch. The younger/more helpless the prey, the more extreme, the more violent the predator will be in protecting them, up to full on PapaWolf or MamaBear.

* Gabu from ''Anime/OneStormyNight'' 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/SeraphOfTheEnd'', Mikaela is constantly visibly fighting the urge to drink human blood (while all other vampires couldn't care less). Despite this instinct, he still avoids killing humans as much as possible, and protects his (human) childhood friend [[HeterosexualLifePartner Yuuichirou]] with his life. He's also seen aiding other humans at times, especially children.

* Heart the ''[[KingOfTheDinosaurs Tyrannosaurus rex]]'', the protagonist of ''Anime/YouAreUmasou'', is saddled with this role after the titular baby ''Ankylosaurus'' imprints on him. He still considers eating Umasou even after this point, but chooses to regard him as family rather than food in the end.

* Not a case of prey to consume and more enemies to be destroyed, but 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.

* 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.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', 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.

* ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'': The titular characters plan on killing the princess Aurora on her {{Dangerous Sixteenth Birthday}}, but by the end of the film she becomes Aurora's guardian.

* 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.

* Short film ''Film/TheGoldenFish'' has a cat enter an apartment, where it sees a goldfish flopping about on a counter after it leaped out of its bowl. The cat picks the fish up, and puts it back in the goldfish bowl. (What makes this amazing is that it was done with real animals, a real cat and a real goldfish.)

* ''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.

* 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.

** 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.

* 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.