"For a warrior there is nothing other than thinking of his master. [...] The lower classes will live in tranquillity if certain matters are a bit overlooked or left unheard. This fact should be understood with regard to people's conduct."
— Yamamoto Tsunetomo, The Hagakure
A character is honor-, duty- or love-bound to perform some self-destructive action, but is stopped by someone whom they trust or answer to, who tells them that hurting themselves is wrong.
This situation gets across the selflessness and "goodness" of both characters; one is willing to harm or ruin themselves to prove their integrity, resolve, loyalty or bravery, and the other party proves their benevolence by stopping them from carrying it out.
This trope is Older Than Feudalism to the point that it's mentioned in old writings, such as The Hagakure. While not unique to Japan, this is an extremely common Japanese Media Trope and Stock Aesop; subordinates must act with utter selflessness for their superior, but the superior must also be benevolent enough to know when following the rules too strictly is bad. It's a system that assumes (A) all people are inherently good, and (B) doing good is more important than the outcome. The concept is also the Super-Trope for Moe; in theory, making oneself cute, pleasant and lovable will make it more likely to receive such benevolent treatment.
As one can suspect, this is often a Catch 22, because complete power still lies with the superior; one might ask what happens if the victim wants to chop off their hand and someone doesn't intervene. Well, that's the rub. The usual answer is: "Any good superior would intervene, but if they don't, the victim is still a good person. Sucks about the hand, though."
Also, this doesn't have to be an explicit "master/subordinate" relationship, but any situation where The Fettered surrenders their own fate, such as trying to atone or sinking into deep despair. In most cases, The Power of Family, The Power of Friendship, or The Power of Love, will save them because straight examples involve everyone doing what is noble or "right", and thus this falls heavily on Idealistic side of the Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism. It can be reversed or subverted to the far cynical side either by the victim pretending or "chickening out" on their sacrifice, or by a Hope Spot where the "rescuer" does nothing or even twists the knife.
Sub-Trope of The Penance and Honor Before Reason and may involve an attempted Suicide by Cop. See also Please Kill Me if It Satisfies You, Percussive Prevention and Talking Down the Suicidal. This is a Super-Trope to the Hero's Slave Harem, as it is explicitly the owner's refusal to abuse their slaves which makes them "heroic".
Sometimes overlaps with Can't Kill You, Still Need You or Sparing the Aces, where the character is saved because they're "useful" or skilled, but this is still intended to make one party seem benevolent.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Bleach:
- Rukia Kuchiki resigns herself to death for her "crime" of transforming a human into a Soul Reaper, and actively yells at Ichigo for coming to rescue her. In the end, she manages to survive not just from the valiant efforts of her friends, but also the wise old Commander Yamamoto realizing that, although the law was broken, there are more pressing matters to attend to.
- After all of that, Rukia later submits herself to the Shiba family for killing their former leader, Kaien (who was also Rukia's mentor). After teasing her a bit, they decide they to let her off the hook.
- Mayuri Kurotsuchi and his daughter/clone Nemu have an abusive (and implied incestuous) relationship whereas Nemu is completely subordinate to Mayuri and even suffers his abuse with only apology and regret for disappointing him. Quite a few characters call out Mayuri on being a heartless, evil bastard for his treatment of Nemu—until later on, it's revealed that because Nemu is the first-ever Artificial Human and Mayuri's scientific Magnum Opus, he's willing to abuse and beat her to an agonizing state of near-death, but he is NOT willing to see her die, as it would be a "pain in the ass" for him to try and make another like her, and she's a unique design besides. Nemu sees this as Mayuri's version of "compassion".
- Kill la Kill:
- Ira Gamagori is defeated by the protagonist Ryuko and prepares to commit seppuku. However, his master Satsuki appears and tells him that his sacrifice isn't necessary.
- Later on in the same series, Satsuki asks Ryuko what she can do as an apology for the way she acted earlier, and Ryuko says that she wants to punch Satsuki in the face at full strength (which would kill her). Satsuki agrees, but when Ryuko tries to punch her, Gamagori and the rest of the Elite Four each decide that they will take Ryuko's punches on Satsuki's behalf, and are actually pissed when the punch isn't fatal. After seeing their display of loyalty, Ryuko suddenly decides that she doesn't feel angry anymore.
- One Piece: During the Onigashima War, while Usopp is fighting hordes of mooks to protect Kin'emon and Kiku, Kin'emon begs him to leave and let them die in an honorable way, following the tradition of bushido. Usopp however criticizes this statement, instead believing that it is better to survive at any cost, and keeps on fighting until they all have the chance to run away safely.
- Tweeny Witches: Atelia surrenders her life to the angry mob in her half-human son's place by publicly confessing that she has hidden her past forbidden relationship with Jidan to come to and stay in power. Her family interrupts her Suicide by Cop and, in the finale, the grand master not only spares her and her son but also restores her to power, allowing both of them to help rebuild the Magical Realm.
Comic Books
- In the prequel comic for Mortal Kombat X, we're treated to the aftermath of Scorpion's humanization: turns out that the killings he did for Quan Chi took a heavy toll on him, and was about to commit seppuku after being turned back into Hanzo, thinking he didn't deserve to live. Then Kenshi snaps him out of the action, and Hanzo dedicated the rest of his life to rebuild the Shirai Ryu.
- The Punisher: When Frank believes he's killed a little girl during a raid on a criminal warehouse, he's about to shoot himself ("I must be punished") when he thinks he sees the girl's ghost show him the bullets that killed her, which aren't the ones he used. He gets the body autopsied to be sure and then goes after the killers, completely out of his funk.
- Usagi Yojimbo: In "The Way of the Samurai", Usagi befriends the elderly General Oyaneko who has been Reassigned to Antarctica after his lord's brash son succeeds him, and is slowly dying of old age. When Usagi leaves the village, he is surprised to see Oyaneko waiting for him, demanding a duel to the death because he wants to die as a samurai, and because he feels that he failed his daimyo by failing to wisely counsel his son. Usagi tells him that if he cannot serve his lord, he can still serve his people. After a tense pause, Oyaneko lowers his sword and tells Usagi that he's wise beyond his years. He dies a few months later, after overseeing the successful completion of an important canal project near his village.
Films — Live-Action
- In 47 Ronin, the titular ronin are going to commit seppuku because they have pulled a coup on Lord Kira. The shogun, however, decides to spare at least the ronin leader's son so that he could tell the story of the brave, heroic ronin to other people.
- Ben-Hur (1959): After Quintus Arrius is knocked overboard and dragged to a makeshift raft by Judah, his first act on regaining consciousness is to try to kill himself, believing he'd lost the battle and the Roman fleet. Judah wrestles him into submission and knocks him out, and when they're rescued by a Roman ship, the consul learns that the Romans won. His gratitude is such that he not only keeps Judah close to him as his charioteer, but eventually adopts him as his son.
- In Forrest Gump, every ancestor of Lieutnant Dan Taylor died on a battlefield, and Dan himself intended to keep up this tradition in Vietnam. He was initially distraught Forrest saved him.
- Defied with Li Chin-Ming in The Kid with the Golden Arm; Despite Hai Tao's best efforts, Li goes out of his way to fight Golden arm to maintain his reputation as a hero, only to get effortlessly killed afterwards.
Literature
- The Tamuli: The Atan Proud Warrior Race sold themselves into nominal "enslavement" (citizenship, effectively) by the Tamul Emperor when their code of honour became too extreme for their society to function. Mirtai once explains that if she were free, she would be obligated to kill anyone who touched her with their shadow.
- Temeraire: The Anti-Villain Lord Kaneko is stuck in a Morton's Fork where he's bound by honour to grant Sacred Hospitality to Laurence but required by law to give him up for interrogation and execution. While he's stalling for time, Laurence escapes.
Live-Action TV
- Star Trek:
- Star Trek: The Original Series: In "A Taste of Armageddon", the Enterprise encounters a planet that has been waging war with a neighboring planet for 500 years. To prevent damage to infrastructure, they've been "attacking" and calculating "casualties" via computer. Everyone on the planet has a fanatical devotion to the plan, to the point that "casualties" willingly commit suicide to uphold it. When the landing party takes one such lady captive while escaping, Spock instructs an ensign to keep her from killing herself.
- In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Ethics", Worf suffers a debilitating spinal injury and asks Riker to ritually kill him so he can die with honor. Riker points out to Worf that by Klingon tradition, the ritual in question must be performed by a family member, meaning Worf's two-year-old son Alexander would have to do it. This convinces Worf to try an experimental medical procedure instead.
Mythology & Religion
- "The Binding of Isaac" in the Book of Genesis is a story in which Abraham is tasked by God to prove his loyalty by sacrificing his son. Abraham is about to fully go through with it, but is stopped by God at the last moment. Thus, God is benevolent for sparing His loyal servant's son, and Abraham is faithful for being committed to going through with it. (The details of the story vary with telling or belief. The Bible states that the one sacrificed is Isaac, while in The Qur'an, it's Ishmael).
Video Games
- Dragon Age: Inquisition:
- Blackwall, as part of his personal questline, eventually reveals he isn't a true Grey Warden and is actually a former mercenary named Thomas Rainier, and is a wanted man in Orlais for leading a mercenary company responsible for killing the family of an Orlesian general. The real Blackwall was a Grey Warden who crossed paths with him, and saw the potential Thomas had for good, but was killed by Darkspawn before Thomas could become a true Grey Warden. Thomas took Blackwell's name and decided he would try to aspire to be the man Blackwall believed he could be. After joining the Inquistor's party, he leaves for Orlais to take responsibility for his past. The Inquisitor can later intervene and order Orlais to release Blackwall into their custody to be judge. If the Inquisitor pardons him or releases him to the Grey Wardens, he redoubles his decision to help and, in turn, inspire others.
- Ser Ruth, another Grey Warden, turns herself in to the Inquisition after the Inquisitor stops the Wardens from making the disastrous decision of raising a demon army to fight Darkspawn. She begs the Inquisitor to execute her or render some other form of harsh punishment to make an example to send the message that even Grey Wardens are not above judgment. The Inquisitor can instead choose from an extensive list of relatively light sentences (such as releasing her back into custody of her fellow Wardens or even completely absolving her). If her punishment is too normal or unremarkable for a Warden (such has sentencing her to fight in the Deep Roads), she will be upset because no one will learn from it. If the player absolves her completely, she dedicates her life to spreading word of The Maker and telling others of the Inquisitor's kindness. She sends the Inquisition a letter requesting aid in spreading her message in hostile areas, which many of your advisors believe is just another roundabout attempt at self-sacrifice. The player can, again, deny her outright or misdirect her to a different route (both of which lead to her survival) or send her equipment and let her do as she wants (in which case, she is never heard from again).
- Final Fantasy XIV: Fittingly, this is a prevalent trope in the "Samurai" job questline. The Warrior of Light's samurai master, Musosai, demonstrates this trope at one point when a repentant traitor surrenders himself to his judgment, expecting to be beheaded for the offense. Instead, Musosai uses his sword to symbolically "cut" the evil out of the person, allowing them to go on with their life. Later, Musosai reveals himself as a wanted fugitive from Kugane. Dying from an unspecified illness, Musosai trained the player for the explicit purpose of defeating and killing him in a Duel to the Death to enact penance for his crimes. Though the WOL does defeat him, and Musosai lay dying of his illness, the player instead repeats the same action of "cutting the evil" from Musosai so that he can die in peace. Musosai dies happily, stating that he has never been more proud.
- At the end of the Lesuss arc in Mass Effect 3, Samara attempts to shoot herself so she doesn't have to honor-kill her last surviving daughter Falere, as the Justicar Code demands of her. A Paragon interrupt lets Shepard stop her, giving Falere enough time to propose a compromise that both satisfies the Code and lets everyone live on.
- At the end of Utawarerumono's first arc, Noble Top Enforcer Benawi intends to follow his Lord Inkalla (whom he himself killed) to the grave, as is expected of a mononofu. The protagonist manages to convince him that it's better to help rebuild the nation into something better than to waste his life here, even if it means living in dishonor.
- Xenoblade Chronicles X:
- At one point, the Wrothian (the game's Japanese Fantasy Counterpart Culture) Anti-Villain Ga Buidhe decides to disobey her master Ga Jiarg and kill the protagonists, intending to protect him and her people against them despite his willingness to negotiate. When she fails, she tells the protagonists that she's willing to pay with her life, until Ga Jiarg arrives and says that, despite her disobedience, her death isn't necessary.
- During Celica's Affinity Mission, we learn that her friend Rock is in danger of being kicked out of New LA because the city can't afford "idle citizens", and despite having Super-Strength, Rock doesn't want to fight. Being told that Rock will be forced out unless some sort of compensation is made, Celica asks how she can join BLADE (a paramilitary operation) and is jokingly told by the Commander that she could do a mission by herself. Celica does so without question and almost dies before Rock and the protagonists show up to save her. Later, Chief Executive Chausson still says that this isn't enough and Rock sadly announces that he's willing to fight if it means he and Celica can stay. However, Chausson says that isn't necessary because Rock can instead use his strength for heavy industry. Everyone then applauds Chausson for his generosity, and later Rock says he's hoping to one day pay Chausson back for the favor.
- One side mission has another Wrothian who wants to go on a Suicide Mission to fight against Ganglion forces. The only way to talk her down from this is to remind her that dying isn't what her friend would want.
Western Animation
- In the Beast Wars episode "Code of Hero", Dinobot is seen ready to commit Seppuku, fresh from the events of "Maximal No More" and his rejection from the rest of the Maximals. He ends up stopping from his own volition, trying to pursue a redemption path that leads to the events of the rest of the episode.
- Ferdinand: When Valiente gets sent to a slaughterhouse after losing one of his horns, Ferdinand and the other bulls go there to break him out. Valiente initially refuses the chance to escape because he, who lives for the fight, takes his handicap as a sign of weakness and resigns himself to his fate, but Ferdinand convinces him that there's more to life than fighting and manages to save him from death.
- In mid-season 5 of Samurai Jack, Jack attempts to commit Seppuku after believing that he killed a horde of mind-controlled alien children. Ashi races to find him in time to stop him, in the process meeting several people Jack helped in previous seasons and giving her the information to pull him out of his Despair Event Horizon.
