As a Death Trope, Spoilers naturally abound. Be cautious.
Times where somebody decides they're More Expendable Than You in Western Animation.
- In the Adventure Time episode "James", Finn, Jake, PB, and the titular James find themselves in a pit filled with radioactive candy zombies, and the only way out is if one of them performs a Heroic Sacrifice and distracts the zombies. Finn volunteers, but PB knocks him unconscious and sends James out instead, later telling Finn she did it because she can just clone another James, but she can't clone another Finn.
- The season four finale of Archer sees Archer, Lana, Cyril and Ray trapped in a room at the bottom of the ocean that's quickly filling with water and only three sets of submarine suits available to swim out and to the surface. The dying station captain they're with tells them that one of them will have to drown and die, hopefully temporarily, while the other three get themselves to safety and try to resuscitate the volunteer. Archer immediately volunteers after Lana reveals that she's pregnant.
- Practically spoofed in Danny Phantom, when somebody has to wear the Exo-suit to defeat the Big Bad, but doing so might drain the wearer to death. Danny plans to knock everyone out to use it for himself, but that proves to be unnecessary as everybody else knocks each other out, each claiming that he'd do it.
- In the Exosquad episode aptly titled "Expendable", the Able Squad outright invokes this on Sean Napier, saying that despite being an elite unit, they are still more expendable than the leader of the entire Terran resistance.
- The 1964 Looney Tunes short "Dumb Patrol"note begins with World War I pilot "Smedley", being selected to fly out the next day and take on Baron Sam Von Schpamm. The next morning, as Smedley is suiting up, Bugs Bunny knocks him out to take his place, claiming Smedley's "got a wife and six piglets at home."
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: In "Princess Twilight Part 2", when the Mane Six and Spike venture into the dangerous Everfree Forest to investigate why it's expanding uncontrollably, they are attacked by a Cragodile. After defeating it, Applejack suggests (and the other ponies agree) that Twilight should go back to Ponyville and let the others continue the mission without her, because she is the only princess left in Equestria at the moment and they can't afford to lose her.
- In an episode of The Real Ghostbusters, Peter, Ray, and Winston use a device to go to the Netherworld to rescue Egon from a demon named Tolay; while searching the demon's dungeon complex, they meet another prisoner, an alchemist named Heironymus who has been there since 1690. Heironymus offers to help them find Egon and escape, but he has a condition - he wants to go with them. This becomes a problem when they manage to bust Egon out because the device they used can only transport four people back to Earth (no more, no less). Unwilling to break their promise, the four heroes start a four-way argument like this (not the best time, as a demonic army is closing in) but Heironymus then says he prefers to stay, saying that from what they've told him about how Earth has changed, he'd be even more out of place there. (They give him a proton pack before leaving to give him a fighting chance.)
- In X-Men: The Animated Series, Wolverine and Cyclops argue over who should sacrifice himself to resurrect Jean after her Heroic Sacrifice. The Phoenix nips the argument in the bud by explaining that the lifeforce needed to save Jean can be taken from multiple donors without anyone immediately dying, though all of their lives would be shortened.
- Used and then discussed in the Young Justice (2010) episode "Failsafe". The Earth is being invaded by aliens, which have already killed off 99% of the Justice League. Our heroes are making an evacuation via teleportation, but can only do so one at a time. A normal human general they've come across insists on going last since the super-powered individuals are more valuable than him, but The Leader Kaldur insists to at least let a wounded private escape first. When the aliens arrive, Kaldur than sacrifices himself so that Superboy could escape. Later, the characters realize that saving the private's life at the expense of their leader's was not a good tactical decision. Fortunately for everyone involved, it turns out to just be a training simulation gone wrong.
