History SadisticChoice / LiveActionTV

* ''Series/{{The 100}}'' forces Clarke to choose between evacuating Tondc before it's hit by a missile (which would reveal she has inside information on Mount Weather's military, putting her spy in their ranks at risk), or fleeing the village with just herself and Lexa, leaving everyone else to die. [[spoiler:She chooses to let them die.]]

** In "Abduction" five high school students abducted by a mysterious alien are told they must vote for one of them to die. If they don't, they'll all die.
* ''Series/PersonOfInterest''.

* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'':
** Elizabeth Weir gets these ''at least'' once a season. [[{{ShipTease}} Usually involving her co-commander and closest friend John Sheppard]]. So far, she's chosen between: Saving the entire expedition or John. Saving a new alliance or John. Saving the Puddle Jumpers or John. Saving a valuable collaborator or...you guessed it...John! Normally, she finds a ThirdOption but even so the poor woman really needs a break.

*** In the episode "The Empath", Kirk was given the choice to choose either Spock or [=McCoy=] to go through torture. His captors informed him that [=McCoy=] would likely die if he went through with it and Spock would likely go insane if he went through with it. And interestingly enough, Kirk probably would have [[TakeAThirdOption chosen himself]] to go through the torture ''again'' if [=McCoy=] hadn't knocked him out first.
*** In ''Immunity Syndrome'' he is faced with this type of choice again when he has to send someone on a suicide mission and both Mc Coy and Spock volunteers. Kirk tries to TakeAThirdOption and go himself, but has to submit to Spock's argument that not only does the crew need the captain aboard in the crisis, but also Kirk does not have the scientific knowhow to be of much use in the said mission. Finally he chooses Spock to go through with it, and it's clear how much it hurts him to make that choice.
*** Kirk actually ''invokes'' this towards the end of "A Taste of Armageddon". Two planets have been "waging war" for centuries [[AMillionIsAStatistic by computers calculating attacks, with the people "targeted" sent to suicide chambers]]. Kirk and Spock destroy the computers on one planet, urging them to either make peace or wage actual war.
*** In "The City On The Edge Of Forever", Kirk learns that he must choose between preserving the future and saving the woman he loves (and for once, there's no way to TakeAThirdOption). It's obvious from the start what choice he has to make, but it doesn't make it any easier for him to let her die.

*** In the episode "Justice", Wesley is due to be executed for a [[AllCrimesAreEqual trivial crime]]. The orbiting "God" wants to hold Picard to his own rule about obeying the Prime Directive, which would apparently forbid rescuing Wesley. Picard chooses to [[spoiler:[[TakeAThirdOption "bend" the rules]] and the entity buys it]].
*** Another early TNG episode, "Skin of Evil," (the one where an evil oil slick kills Tasha Yar) features this. The evil oil slick, Armus, takes control of Data's arm (which is holding a phaser) and tells Dr. Crusher that she gets to choose who gets shot. Dr. Crusher chooses herself, and the entity quickly becomes bored with this game because none of the Enterprise's crew are giving in to the creature's desire to be tormented for its entertainment.
*** "The Measure of a Man" forces Riker into this trope -- either argue against Data's right and personhood to the best of his ability (and therefore take much of the responsibility if Data loses), or see Data summarily judged as the property of Starfleet. Since Riker regards Data as a friend, he is understandably not happy about the choice, but chooses to argue, reasoning that that way Data at least has a chance to win. For what it's worth, when asked, Data finds this choice not only appropriate, but even altruistic.

*** In "Yesterday's Enterprise", Guinian tells Picard that something about their timeline, where the Federation is stuck in a losing war against the Klingons, is wrong and that probably the only way to fix it is to send the ''Enterprise''-C back to their timeline and doom the entire crew to the Romulans attacking a Klingon colony. Picard is uncertain if he wants to do such a thing, but ultimately decides to choose so.
*** In the episode "I, Borg", the Enterprise crew captures a Borg drone. Picard soon learns there is a way to eliminate the Borg by planting a virus in the drone that will spread to the rest of the collective once the drone returns. Thus he is faced with the choice of manipulating a sentient life form in order to commit genocide against an entire race, or passing up the best opportunity to eliminate the most significant existential threat the federation has ever faced. In a later episode, he is chastised for this by Admiral Nechayev, who then gives him a direct order to go ahead with the plan if such an opportunity presents itself again.

*** "The Collaborator" is one episode with ''three'' examples of this trope in a single plot. It's two days before Kai [[MessianicArchetype Opaka's]] replacement (the spiritual leader of Bajor) is to be chosen and the front-runners are Vedek [[MessianicArchetype Bareil]] and Vedek [[AmbitionIsEvil Winn]]. Then a collaborator (a Bajoran that helped the Cardassians with the occupation of Bajor) accuses Vedek Bareil of having collaborated with the Cardassians in a massacre that killed 43 [[LaResistance terrorists]] (including Opaka's son). The episode's plot is spent following [[HotBlooded Kira]] who has to gather evidence that will prove Bareil's innocence or guilt. The three examples of the trope are:
*** The obvious example: Bareil is Kira's lover and Winn forces her to take command of the investigation. The more evidence she gathers, the more it looks like Bareil is guilty. Eventually, she's forced to choose between protecting her lover and revealing the findings of her investigation to the Vedek Assembly which will destroy Bareil if revealed. She chooses to inform the assembly of her findings. However, when she contacts the assembly to present her findings, she learns Bareil's already spoken to the council so she doesn't need to go through with it. She made the choice, however.
*** The less obvious example: Bareil is the favourite for becoming Kai and was also Kai Opaka's first choice for the position. He is faced with the option of confessing to the collaboration which will destroy him, ensure he never becomes Kai and give the position of Kai to a ruthless, power-hungry woman, or he can exonerate himself and take the position of Kai, but this would probably expose the true identity of the collaborator: Kai Opaka. In the end, he chooses to take the blame for the massacre, both out of respect for Opaka and also to protect the sanctity of the position of Kai, knowing it would be damaged if the truth was ever made public. He withdraws from the running for Kai, leaving Winn to take the position.
*** The third example predates the episode, but is still relevant as it's the reason Opaka did what she did in the first place. The Cardassians threatened that if the 43 resistance fighters weren't handed over to Cardassian authorities, they would indiscriminately kill all 1200 Bajorans in the area in order to wipe out the resistance cell. Opaka was forced to choose between the lives of 43 people (including her own son) or 1200 people. She chose to [[TheNeedsOfTheMany sacrifice 43 lives to save 1200]].
*** In the ''[=DS9=]'' episode "The Assignment", Chief O'Brien's wife Keiko was possessed by a Pah Wraith, a malevolent version of the alien Prophets. In a twisted IHaveYourWife version of this trope, the alien, speaking through Keiko, gave O'Brien the choice of building a weapon and firing it at the Bajoran Wormhole, thus killing the Prophets, or watching his wife die. He was able to find a [[TakeTheThirdOption Third Option]] at the last minute: [[spoiler:He built the weapon, but fired it at Keiko, thus killing the Pah Wraith.]]
*** In the episode "Body Parts", Quark is diagnosed with a fatal illness, so he auctions off his soon-to-be remains, only to learn that the diagnosis was wrong and he was going to live. Unfortunately, the person who bought his no-longer-going-to-be remains was his nemesis, Brunt of the [[IntimidatingRevenueService FCA]], who leaves Quark with a choice. Option A is to fulfill the contract between them and find someway to die so Brunt can have the remains he bought and paid for. Option B is to break the contract, one of the gravest sins a Ferengi can commit, have all of his belongings liquidated, and have his commerce license revoked, rendering himself PersonaNonGrata. Quark ultimately decides to break the contract, but his bar is saved from closure thanks to generous donations from the station's crew.
*** In the episode "For the Uniform", Sisko faces off with Michael Eddington, a former Starfleet officer under Sisko's command who betrayed him for the Maquis. To keep Sisko off his tail, Eddington fired on a ship carrying innocent Cardassian refugees and gives Sisko a choice: save the Cardassians and let Eddington escape, or continue his pursuit and let the Cardassians crash on a nearby planet and die. Sisko chooses the former option, then later turns the tables on Eddington by giving him a sadistic choice of his own: surrender himself into Starfleet custody; or watch as Sisko bombards Maquis colony worlds with trilithium resin, rendering them uninhabitable.
*** In the episode "Children of Time", the Defiant crew discovers a planet inhabited by their descendants as a result of the Defiant being thrown back in time 200 years by a temporal event and crash landing there, an event which also led to Kira's death. Now that they know what causes the event, they have the opportunity to avoid it and prevent themselves from being marooned on an unoccupied planet 200 years in the past. However, avoiding the accident would cause the current inhabitants of the planet to be erased from existence, since they only exist as a result of the crash. Thus they have to choose between sparing themselves that fate and saving the 8,000 people who would be lost if the accident is avoided. [[spoiler:Ultimately, they decide to let the accident happen and [[TheNeedsOfTheMany save the 8,000]], but the future version of Odo, devastated by Kira's death in his timeline, arranges for the accident to be avoided anyway.]]

*** In "Phage", a pair of aliens steal Neelix's lungs for their own use, and because he's the only member of his species on the ship, there's no compatible donor for a transplant. After capturing the aliens, Janeway has to decide between letting them keep the lungs, which would effectively be a death sentence for Neelix, or killing one of them to return Neelix's lungs to him. Thankfully, the aliens themselves offer her [[TakeAThirdOption an alternative]]; they have technology that allows them to perform a cross-species transplant, allowing Neelix to receive a lung transplant from Kes.
*** In "Tuvix", Nelix and Tuvok are combined into a single being. Janeway has to decide to destroy the being to save them, or let it live, which would effectively kill them.
*** "Latent Image": This trope turned LogicBomb when The Doctor [[spoiler:is forced to choose between saving Kim's life or Jetal's life after an accident. They have the same chance of survival, but he doesn't have time to treat them both. He instinctively picks the one he knows best, something not covered by his programming, and suffers a nervous collapse.]]
*** A somewhat undermined one happens in the pilot episode "Caretaker". Janeway is seemingly given the choice: use the Caretaker Array to go home, or destroy it and save the Ocampa (ignoring the use of a time bomb in that choice). Thing is, Tuvok had earlier stated that without the Caretaker, it would take several hours to activate, and with Kazon reinforcements on the way, keeping it for several hours given the state of their ship was looking less an option (and that's not counting the fact that the Array might have had other parts damaged, not just the self-destruct when the Kazon ship crashed into it). A better SadisticChoice would have been Janeway agonizing over negotiating the Array as a bargaining chip to the Kazon, vs just blowing it up.

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Loves hitting Sam and Dean (''especially'' [[BreakTheCutie Dean]]) with this, particularly during Season 5. Either say yes to being meat suits for asshole archangels and condemn billions of people to death, or we'll torture you and your brother with either a) stage 4 stomach cancer, b) broken legs, c) missing lungs, d) watching your loved ones die/suffer/do the torturing, e) a good old-fashioned, super strength beatdown, etc. Whatever suits the mood, really.

* In the ''Series/{{Titans 2018}}'' episode "Hank and Dove", Red Hood puts Dove in one of these as she must choose between using the gun she grabbed to kill him or let Hank Hall/Hawk die of a bomb attached to his chest. Nightwing is begging Dove to wait, to let Superboy build a way to disarm the bomb and save Hank. [[spoiler:However, this is a BatmanGambit that Red Hood planned and Nightwing realized early on -- Dove would stress out and finally pull the trigger. However, it turns out the gun was actually the ''detonator'' and Hank is blown up.]]
* ''Series/{{Torchwood}}: Children of Earth'': [[spoiler:The alien 456 demands 10% of the earth's children or they'll kill everyone. Captain Jack Harkness does eventually figure out how to stop them, but has only moments to choose between sacrificing his own grandson (whilst his daughter, the child's mother, watches) or letting the 456 take 10% of Earth's children]].

* ''Series/TheWalkingDead'':
** Negan orders Rick to cut [[spoiler:Carl's]] arm off, or he'll have every member of the group murdered. [[spoiler:Though he eventually decides to go through with it, Rick is stopped before he can actually perform the act.]]

*** In ''Immunity Syndrome'' he is faced with this type of choice again when he has to send someone on a suicide mission and both Mc Coy and Spock volunteers. Kirk tries to TakeAThirdOption and go himself, but has to submit to Spock's argument that not only does the crew need the captain aboard in the crisis, but also Kirk does not have the scientific knowhow to be of much use in the said mission.Finally he chooses Spock to go through with it, and it's clear how much it hurts him to make that choice.

** Sheridan and Delenn (and, by extension, all the lesser species) are compelled to chose between following one of the two uber-races: the (near-)fascist Vorlons and chaotic murderous Shadows, each of which chooses would eventually result in an endless war. [[spoiler:They choose not to choose at all.]]

* ''Series/BloodTies'': In the series finale, a demon makes Vicki choose between the life of one of her friends, or the power to save the world, which includes reversal of her near-blindness. [[spoiler:She chooses her friend.]]

* In the last episode of ''Series/WandaVision'', during her fight with [[BigBad Agatha Harkness]] Wanda has a HeelRelization about how she had been torturing the citizens of Westview by [[AndIMustScream imprisoning them inside The Hex.]] However, [[spoiler: she also knows that her sons and Vision are linked to The Hex because she created them by magic and thus would die if The Hex is removed, giving Wanda the choice to either sacrifice her family and save the town or continue the delusion of her "married" life by enslaving the town. Ultimately, she chooses the first option and goes into a SelfImposedExile trying to [[MamaBear bring her sons back to life.]]]]

* In the last episode of ''Series/WandaVision'', during her fight with [[BigBad Agatha Harkness]] Wanda has a HeelRelization about how she had been torturing the citizens of Westview by [[AndNowIMustScream imprisoning them inside The Hex.]] However, [[spoiler: she also knows that her sons and Vision are linked to The Hex because she created them by magic and thus would die if The Hex is removed, giving Wanda the choice to either sacrifice her family and save the town or continue the delusion of her "married" life by enslaving the town. Ultimately, she chooses the first option and goes into a SelfImposedExile trying to [[MamaBear bring her sons back to life.]]]]

** Niska captures [[TheCaptain Mal]] and [[AcePilot Wash]], and has Zoe choose between them. It's subverted when she chooses her husband Wash without stopping to think, ''before he even finishes asking her to choose''. Niska is so irritated at being interrupted in mid-taunt that he decides to be ''extra'' generous and throw in Mal's ''ear''. The director's commentary points out that while sadistic, it's not much of a choice: Not only is choosing Wash the emotional choice, but the pragmatic one as well (since Mal has a greater chance of making his own escape, is more capable of resisting torture, and if the crew is unable to rescue the remainder, Wash's piloting skills in the getaway would be invaluable.)

* ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'': Councillor Druggett gives Brittas one of these in 'The Chop': Either he accepts responsibilitity for the the irregularity in the petty cash and resign from his job, or his wife (who actually took it to buy a dog) accepts responsibility and goes to jail. [[spoiler: He takes the blame and resigns. Luckily for Brittas, he doesn't lose it for long]].

* ''Series/AFrenchVillage'': Daniel has to decide which of two people will be shot after he's negotiated a reduction of the hostages with Kollwitz.

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order.

** In season 3, Stephen Saunders tells the president he's ready to carry out a terrorist attack, but will call it off if he has [[spoiler:Ryan Chappelle]] killed. The president reluctantly instructs Jack to do the job.

** In the Season 2 finale [[spoiler:Clarke has to choose between letting her people be killed for their bone marrow, or flooding Mount Weather with radiation, killing everyone inside, including her own allies and innocent children. She chooses to irradiate the Mountain and save her people.]]

*** In fact, variations on this specific Sadistic Choice ([[spoiler:slavery to A.L.I.E. or the death or someone you love]]) are repeated several times throughout the latter half of season three. [[spoiler:It seems to be implied that physically *forcing* someone to ingest the chip doesn't work, so the recruiting method of choice for A.L.I.E. is to have an already controlled person threaten to harm themselves unless someone who cares about them takes the chip. Thus Abby takes the chip to save Raven, Kane takes the chip to save Abby, and so on. She tries this on Clarke too, by having Abby almost hang herself, but Clarke takes a third option.]]
* In the ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' episode [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS2E5AHenInTheWolfHouse "A Hen in the Wolf House"]], Raina offers one to Coulson - give up Skye to her (she hopes doing will have him protect her from Whitehall), or Raina will expose to Comicbook/{{HYDRA}} that Simmons is TheMole for Comicbook/{{SHIELD}}, complete with a timer counting down before Simmons is exposed. She's [[DidntSeeThatComing completely taken aback]] when he refuses to play ball and coldly lets the timer run out [[spoiler:because his ''other'' [[TheMole mole]] Bobbie Morse is ready [[TakeAThirdOption to get Simmons out]]]].

** This sets up the entire conflict between [[ComicBook/GreenArrow Oliver Queen]] and [[ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}} Slade Wilson]] in Season 2. [[MadScientist Dr. Ivo]] tells Oliver to choose between Shado (his current love interest) and Sara (his former love interest) or he'll kill them both. Oliver doesn't actually make the choice, but when Ivo points the gun at Sara he instinctively throws himself in front of her--Ivo takes this as an answer and shoots Shado. Slade Wilson--who was secretly in love with Shado, and insane with [[SuperSerum Mirakuru]]--can't understand why the man he loved as a brother would 'choose' Shado over some girl Slade barely knows. Later Slade deliberately sets up the same SadisticChoice by forcing Oliver to choose between his mother Moira and his sister Thea. Moira takes the choice into her own hands by choosing to die to save her children.

** The Army of Light has to choose which planet to try and protect from the Vorlon fleets - Centauri Prime with 3 bln people, or Corianna with 6 bln - for they barely have enough forces for one battle. They choose the latter.

** In the Eighth Season finale "The Secret In the Siege" [[spoiler:after Booth accepted Brennan's marriage proposal, Pelant contacted Booth by cell phone, announcing that he would kill five innocent people if Booth didn't break the engagement. At the end of the Season 9 premiere, Brennan assured Booth that she has absolute faith in him (a major step for her given her mistrust of the concept of faith over the years) and will stand by him no matter what, saying only that the next time it will be Booth's turn to propose to her. Which he did at the end of "The Sense in The Sacrifice", after he finally killed Pelant.]]

** And in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E22TheGift The Gift]]", Buffy has to chose between [[spoiler:her sister, or the whole of reality. She takes the third option - HeroicSacrifice.]]

** Piper is forced to face another one of these in season five. Phoebe is kidnapped by a demon to use her body as a host for his lover's soul. Cole arranges for Paige to be taken as a host instead, which results in Phoebe being turned into a mummy and Paige being possessed. Cole then goes to Piper and tells her that she gets to choose which sister she gets back: if she chooses Paige, then Phoebe's body will be used as a host, and if she chooses Phoebe, the demon inside of Paige will set her free but keep Paige's body. Piper stresses over this seemingly impossible choice until she fakes choosing Phoebe, TakesAThirdOption by removing the demon's spirit instead of Paige's from Paige's body, and relies on the spell knowledge Paige picks up from sharing the body in order to free Phoebe.

** Notably, Reid is forced into this twice in ''Revelations''. In one instance, he is shown four computer screens of complete strangers and is told to pick one to live and one to die (logically, he's picking one to live and three to die - Reid brings this up almost immediately, though not in so many words). If he doesn't choose, they all die. Reid eventually gives in and arbitrarily picks a victim to live and is [[ForcedToWatch left to watch]] the others be murdered. Later, [[SplitPersonality Rafael]] tells Reid to choose one of his colleagues to die. If he doesn't choose, Rafael will shoot Reid. He uses this to his advantage in one of the cleverest maneuvers Reid has ever made, [[TVGenius which is saying something]].

** [[Creator/WentworthMiller Leonard Snart]] (AKA Captain Cold) figures out "the Streak"'s (Barry's nickname before "the Flash" catches on) weakness - he cares what happens to innocent people. So he chooses to escape by train. Barry catches up to him only discover that Snart has planned for this. Snart uses the [[FreezeRay cold gun]] to derail the train and jumps out, forcing Barry to choose whether to save the passengers or chase the bad guy. Naturally, he chooses to save the innocents, and manages to do it as the train cars are tumbling. As it turns out, Snart does not escape and nearly kills Barry afterwards. In a later episode, [[Series/{{Arrow}} Oliver]] berates Barry for rushing into the situation without exploring alternative options.

* In ''Series/{{Fringe}}'', Walter--who has become increasing less able to focus on the GreaterGood if it means directly causing harm or suffering--is the one to realize that the only way to save two worlds is to shoot someone in the head. [[spoiler:Made considerably worse by that 'someone' being the love of his son's life. Somewhat subverted in that he thinks she'll live thanks to all the drugs in her system.]]

* ''Series/HawaiiFive0'': In the season 2 finale of the remake, Frank Delano tells Chin Ho that he has targeted Kono and Chin Ho's wife Malia for death, and that he might have time to save one of them if he acts immediately. [[spoiler:He goes after Malia and gets Adam Noshimuri to find Kono. Adam saves Kono from drowning, but Chin Ho is too late to save Malia from being fatally shot.]]
* ''Series/HeroesReborn'': In the series finale Erica holds Tommy's mother and girlfriend hostage in the future and then gives him a choice - let the solar flares destroy his sister and all life on Earth in 2015, or go back in time and help her save the world and let the current future and everyone in it - including his loved ones - be erased from existence. [[spoiler:Tommy decides to do both and splits himself in two, one Tommy going back to 2015 to help Malina while the other stays to send everyone but Erica back before that part of the timeline is erased]].
* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'': Joy and Fabian are given a choice at the end of season 3 - the mask or their trapped friends. They chose their friends.

* ''Series/LawAndOrder'': A young girl is kidnapped, and while the kidnapper is soon arrested, he refuses to reveal the girl's location unless he's allowed to walk free. The DA office is forced to choose between taking the deal and allowing a dangerous criminal to escape justice, or refusing and convicting him at the cost of a girl's life - [=McCoy=] wants to do the former, and Branch the latter. [[spoiler:[=McCoy=] goes behind Branch's back and takes the deal, but Branch finds out and [[TakeAThirdOption twists it into a third option]] by persuading the judge not to honor it. The girl is safely rescued, and the irate kidnapper is left facing a trial he knows he can't win.]]

* ''Series/PrisonBreak'': In season four, Michael is offered the choice of keeping Scylla out of the General's hands or rescuing [[spoiler:Sara]]. The choice gets worse when [[spoiler:Christina Rose]] then calls and offers Michael the choice of keeping Scylla out of her hands or rescuing Linc. The Sadistic Choice has a three way.

** In the much darker Season 8, [[TheChessmaster Lex]], who wants to pay back Clark and Lana for his [[EvilCripple condition]] reveals that the suit Lana stole in an earlier episode (which was meant to heal Lex) absorbs Kryptonite radiation. He then offers the sadistic choice- let Lana absorb the fuel in a kryptonite bomb on the top of the ''Daily Planet'' building and never be able to come near Clark again, or walk away and let the bomb go off, taking half of Metropolis with it.

** Elizabeth Weir gets these ''at least'' once a season. [[{{ShipTease}} Usually involving her co-commader and closest friend John Sheppard]]. So far, she's chosen between: Saving the entire expedition or John. Saving a new alliance or John. Saving the Puddle Jumpers or John. Saving a valuable collaborator or...you guessed it...John! Normally, she finds a ThirdOption but even so the poor woman really needs a break.

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Loves hitting Sam and Dean (''especially'' [[BreakTheCutie Dean]]) with this, particularly during season 5. Either say yes to being meat suits for asshole archangels and condemn billions of people to death, or we'll torture you and your brother with either a) stage 4 stomach cancer, b) broken legs, c) missing lungs, d) watching your loved ones die/suffer/do the torturing, e) a good old-fashioned, super strength beatdown, etc. Whatever suits the mood, really.
* ''Series/ThreeKingdoms'': Zhou Yu, trying to conquer Jingzhou, presents Liu Bei with one of these during the Sun-Liu marriage arc. If Liu Bei accepted the proposal and went to Wu to be married to Sun Quan's sister, he'd become Zhou Yu's hostage to be ransomed for Jingzhou - or killed. If he refused the marriage proposal, he'd insult all of Wu and give Zhou Yu a legitimate reason to declare war on Jingzhou anyway. [[spoiler:Although when Liu Bei elects to go, deciding [[WhatIsOneMansLifeInComparison his own life isn't as important]] as keeping what he and his generals had fought for, Zhuge Liang comes through with three schemes to help him survive and escape anyway, thereby taking a third option.]]

* ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'': Humorously subverted in "Wizards vs. Vampires: Tasty Bites". Jerry and Theresa consider the possibility that they might only be able to save either Alex or Harper from Juliet's vampire parents. By the time of the confrontation, however, they've already decided to save Harper - reasoning that she's the one who will take care of them in their old age.

* ''Series/House Of Anubis'': Joy and Fabian are given a choice at the end of season 3 - the mask or their trapped friends. They chose their friends.

*** The third example predates the episode, but is still relevant as it's the reason Opaka did what she did in the first place. The Cardassians threatened that if the 43 resistance fighters weren't handed over to Cardassian authorities, they would destroy every village in the area, killing approximately 1200 Bajorans, to make sure they got them. Opaka was forced to choose between the lives of 43 people (including her own son) or 1200 people. She chose to [[TheNeedsOfTheMany sacrifice 43 lives to save 1200]].

*** The third example predates the episode, but is still relevant as it's the reason Opaka did what she did in the first place. The Cardassians threatened the lives of 1200 innocent Bajorans if the 43 resistance fighters weren't handed over to Cardassian authorities. Opaka was forced to choose between the lives of 43 people (including her own son) or 1200 people. She chose to [[TheNeedsOfTheMany sacrifice 43 lives to save 1200]].

*** The third example predates the episode, but is still relevant as it's the reason Opaka did what she did in the first place. The Cardassians threatened the lives of 1200 innocent Bajorans if the 43 resistance fighters weren't handed over to Cardassian authorities. Opaka was forced to choose between the lives of 43 people (including her own son) or 1200 people. She chose to sacrifice 43 lives to save 1200.

*** The obvious example: Bareil is Kira's lover and Winn forces her to take command of the investigation. The more evidence she gathers, the more it looks like Bareil is guilty. Eventually, she's forced to choose between protecting her lover and revealing the findings of her investigation to the Vedek Assembly which will destroy Bareil if revealed. She chooses to inform the assembly of her findings. However, when she contacts the assembly to present her findings, she learns Bareil's already spoken to the council so she doesn't need to go through with it. She made the choice, however.
*** The less obvious example: Bareil is the favourite for becoming Kai and was also Kai Opaka's first choice for the position. He is faced with the option of confessing to the collaboration which will destroy him, ensure he never becomes Kai and give the position of Kai to a ruthless, power-hungry woman, or he can exonerate himself and take the position of Kai, but this would probably expose the true identity of the collaborator: Kai Opaka. In the end, he chooses to take the blame for the massacre, both out of respect for Opaka and also to protect the sanctity of the position of Kai, knowing it would be damaged if the truth was ever made public. He withdraws from the running for Kai, leaving Winn to take the position.
*** The third example predates the episode, but is still relevant as it's the reason Opaka did what she did in the first place. The Cardassians threatened the lives of 1200 innocent Bajorans if the 43 resistance fighters weren't handed over to Cardassian authorities. Opaka was forced to choose between the lives of 43 people (including her own son) or 1200 people. She chose to sacrifice 43 lives to save 1200.