"Thanks for saving me, mister! Can I obsess over you now?"
— Strong Sad, Homestar Runner
"Looks like your new shadow parts its hair in the middle."
— Cranky Kong regarding Bluster being Donkey Kong's protector, Donkey Kong Country
"A life for a life. My debt is repaid."
— Shang, Mulan
"You have saved our lives. We are eternally grateful."
"I will spare someone who saved my life sometime in the past. This is only reasonable as it encourages others to do so. However, the offer is good one time only. If they want me to spare them again, they'd better save my life again."
— The Evil Overlord List, Rule 68
Brandy: This isn't that "I saved your life so you become hopelessly, annoyingly devoted to me" plot, is it?
Whiskers: It is. Sorry, we had to do it sooner or later.
Whiskers: It is. Sorry, we had to do it sooner or later.
Well the story is old,
It's a seventies sitcom cliche,
He thinks he's in my debt, but I wish he'd forget,
He'll do anything for me, anything but go away.
It's a seventies sitcom cliche,
He thinks he's in my debt, but I wish he'd forget,
He'll do anything for me, anything but go away.
"On Galador, to owe one's life to another is a sacred responsibility... linking two individuals as surely marriage links lovers!"
- Rom, Rom: Spaceknight, Issue 4.
"Ever since my childhood, I was raised following this creed...
“Engrave gratefulness in the stone, wash away grudge through the water.”
Salamat, kapatid... Thank you, brother..."
Enright: I owed the man something, Vic. Four years ago, in a Detroit bar, he stopped a drunk from putting a knife through me. A few months ago, I meet him on the street. He's broke, needs a job. I figured I owed him that much.
Victor Luchek: A punk like that, you don't give the time of day to, no matter what you owe him.
— The Fugitive, "A Clean and Quiet Town"
Lars: But you've gotta go back.
Steven: But it doesn't feel right to just leave you here!
Lars: You said yourself that everyone on this planet is out to get you! You won't be safe until you're back on Earth!
Steven: But... Lars!
Lars: DON'T ARGUE WITH ME! You're always trying to help me! You brought me back to life! Just... Let me be somebody who deserved it.
Steven: But it doesn't feel right to just leave you here!
Lars: You said yourself that everyone on this planet is out to get you! You won't be safe until you're back on Earth!
Steven: But... Lars!
Lars: DON'T ARGUE WITH ME! You're always trying to help me! You brought me back to life! Just... Let me be somebody who deserved it.
— Steven Universe, "Off Colors"
Mirri: Saved me? Three of those riders had already raped me before you saved me, girl. I saw my God's house burn, there where I had healed men and women beyond counting. In the streets I saw piles of heads ... the head of the baker who makes my bread, the head of a young boy that I had cured of fever just three moons past. So tell me again exactly what it was that you saved?
Dany: Your life!
Mirri: Why don't you take a look at your Khal... Then you will see exactly what life is worth when all the rest has gone.
— Game of Thrones, "Fire and Blood"
Puss: Stop, ogre! I have misjudged you.
Shrek: Join the club; we've got jackets.
Puss: On my honor, I am obliged to accompany you until I have saved your life as you have spared me mine.
Shrek: Join the club; we've got jackets.
Puss: On my honor, I am obliged to accompany you until I have saved your life as you have spared me mine.
— Shrek 2
Young Hercules: Well, if I'm just so hard to be around, why don't you just leave?
Young Iolaus: Because I'm a better person for knowing you. Hey, I used to be a thief. Remember?
Young Iolaus: Because I'm a better person for knowing you. Hey, I used to be a thief. Remember?
— Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, "Medea Culpa"
Arthur Morgan: I'm sorry you got dragged into this...into us...
Sadie Adler: Listen, if you hadn't shown up at my house that night, I'd be dead, and even this bullshit beats dead.
Sadie Adler: Listen, if you hadn't shown up at my house that night, I'd be dead, and even this bullshit beats dead.
Robin Hood: Farewell, friend. God speed you on your way.
Azeem: Our way lies together, with the speed of Allah.
Robin: What?
Azeem: You have saved my life, Christian. Now I will follow you until I have saved yours, that is my vow.
Robin: Thanks, but I go to England. I relieve you of your obligation.
Azeem: Only Allah can do that.
Robin: What if I say no?
Azeem: You have no choice.
Azeem: Our way lies together, with the speed of Allah.
Robin: What?
Azeem: You have saved my life, Christian. Now I will follow you until I have saved yours, that is my vow.
Robin: Thanks, but I go to England. I relieve you of your obligation.
Azeem: Only Allah can do that.
Robin: What if I say no?
Azeem: You have no choice.
Martin Riggs: What did he mean when he said you owed him?
Roger Murtaugh: We served together in '65. Ia Drang Valley. Saved my life. Took a bayonet in the lungs.
Roger Murtaugh: We served together in '65. Ia Drang Valley. Saved my life. Took a bayonet in the lungs.
The Doctor: Dan, you don't have to do this.
Dan Lewis: I know. But you saved the entire universe last week. I think I owe you one.
— Doctor Who, "Eve of the Daleks"
"I can't let Spock die, can I, Bones? And he will if we go to Altair. I owe him my life a dozen times over. Isn't that worth a career? He's my friend."
— Captain Kirk, Star Trek: The Original Series, "Amok Time"
"I hate everything you stand for. Everything you are. But you saved me, and for that I must serve you."
— Esca, The Eagle (2011)
