Fiction Writing Prompts: Self-Sacrifice

An Introduction to Self-Sacrifice: The Ultimate Price

Self-Sacrifice Writing Prompts

A character gives their life for others…

1. A soldier jumps on a grenade to save his squad, but he wakes up in an alternate reality where he must make the same choice again.
2. An astronaut fixes a fatal problem with the spaceship but becomes stranded in space, ensuring her crew’s safe return to Earth.
3. A terminally ill scientist uses the last of his life force to complete an invention that will save the world from an impending catastrophe.
4. In a fantasy realm, a humble blacksmith gives his life to forge the ultimate weapon, which will defeat the dark lord terrorizing the land.
5. A firefighter chooses to stay behind in a burning building to make sure everyone else gets out safely.
6. A time-traveler must sacrifice himself in the past to prevent a disastrous future for humanity.
7. A young woman discovers she can transfer her life force to heal others and chooses to give it all to save a dying child.
8. An undercover cop blows his cover to save hostages, knowing he won’t survive the aftermath.
9. A single mother with terminal illness goes to great lengths to set up her children for life after she’s gone.
10. A teacher in a dystopian society gives his life to teach forbidden knowledge, allowing his students to bring down the oppressive regime.
11. A doctor stays in a disease-infected area to treat patients, even though it guarantees her own demise.
12. A political leader takes the place of a condemned prisoner to challenge and change an unjust system.
13. A submarine captain sinks his own ship to prevent triggering a world war.
14. A shapeshifter takes the form of a king and takes his place during an assassination attempt.
15. A priestess sacrifices herself to close a portal to hell, preventing demons from overrunning the earth.
16. In a post-apocalyptic world, a scientist uses herself as the final test subject for a vaccine against a deadly virus.
17. A musician plays a magical instrument knowing it will consume his life but will also end a terrible drought.
18. A child stands in for another during a deadly game imposed by a cruel monarch, changing the course of history.
19. A computer programmer uploads her consciousness into a rogue AI system to alter its code from the inside, stopping it from destroying humanity.
20. A guardian angel chooses to fall, losing her divinity, to save the soul she is assigned to protect.
21. A young sorcerer expends all his magical energy to mend a breaking dam, saving his village but losing his life.
22. A rogue scientist uses himself as a conduit to drain away a dangerous energy anomaly threatening to destroy the city.
23. A widow puts herself in harm’s way to protect the secret identities of superhero members of her late husband’s team.
24. An old mountain climber uses his final moments to secure a rope and save his inexperienced team from falling.
25. A civil rights activist knowingly walks into a fatal trap to bring attention and change to a cause.
26. A detective ensures a criminal mastermind is captured but dies in the process, leaving behind clues for others to continue her work.
27. A novelist completes a book that exposes a corrupt regime, knowing he will be killed for it but that his work will inspire a revolution.
28. A sibling takes the fall for a crime committed by their brother or sister, ensuring the latter gets a chance at a better life.
29. An athlete uses a forbidden but life-draining technique to win a game that unites warring nations, but dies afterward.
30. A loyal servant sacrifices himself to foil an assassination attempt on the queen, revealing the true traitor in the process.
31. An AI knowingly overloads its circuits to prevent launching nuclear warheads.
32. A sailor steers a sinking ship away from a populated area, going down with it but saving many lives.
33. A deep-sea diver remains in an unstable underwater cave to hold a door open for their teammates to escape.
34. A famous artist uses a forbidden paint that consumes life force to create a painting that inspires peace and ends a war.
35. A pilot crashes a plane into an uninhabited area to save a city from a biochemical attack.
36. A lone warrior challenges an unbeatable foe to buy his people enough time to escape.
37. A teenager uses a magical locket that grants a wish but takes the user’s life, to bring her friend back from the dead.
38. A radio host keeps broadcasting during a zombie apocalypse, guiding survivors to safety until he’s overtaken.
39. A wise elder chooses to stay behind during a village evacuation due to a natural disaster, so others may use the limited space to escape.
40. A chef poisons a tyrannical ruler and eats the same poison to avoid torture and possible betrayal of comrades.
41. A virtual reality developer traps himself inside a deadly game to debug it from the inside, preventing many deaths.
42. A mascot in a failing amusement park uses his last act to create a spectacle that restores the park’s reputation but loses his life in the process.
43. An animal willingly leads a pack of predators away from their young.
44. A journalist exposes a corrupt government and uploads all the evidence online, even though it means she’ll be caught and killed.
45. A teenager with telekinetic abilities stops a speeding train but exhausts herself to death.
46. A king sends his troops to safety, staying behind to defend the castle against invading forces.
47. A stunt double takes an actor’s place in a dangerous scene, which goes horribly wrong.
48. A prisoner takes the execution meant for someone who can lead the rebellion.
49. A bounty hunter delivers criminals to justice but finally turns himself in to allow his family to collect the reward on his head.
50. A psychic sees a vision of a disaster and dies while diverting people away from the event.
51. A nun hides children during a war, sacrificing herself to protect their hiding place.
52. A photographer captures a historical moment that leads to societal change but gets killed in the process.
53. A translator continues to translate peace talks despite fatal injury, dying just after a treaty is signed.
54. A hacker disables a network of killer drones by uploading a virus, knowing that tracing it will lead to his immediate termination.
55. An inventor uses himself as a battery to power a city’s shield, protecting it from bombardment.
56. A ghost uses its last bit of energy to save a family from a collapsing house.
57. A knight allows himself to be captured to give his comrades the time they need to complete their mission.
58. A lone wolf leads a hunting party away from its pack.
59. A mute person communicates a terror plot through art, knowing they will not survive the revelation.
60. A nurse administers a life-saving vaccine, knowing there isn’t enough for her as well.
61. A film director creates a controversial documentary that leads to legal changes but gets him blacklisted and eventually killed.
62. A driver steers a malfunctioning car away from a crowd, dying in the subsequent crash.
63. A twin undergoes a fatal medical experiment, so the other twin can receive the cure for a genetic disease.
64. A librarian hides and preserves forbidden books until she’s caught and executed, but her students continue her work.
65. A poet speaks a verse that ends a war but loses his life for breaking a sacred law.
66. A spiritual leader embraces martyrdom to inspire a non-violent movement.
67. An environmentalist sabotages a device that’s harming the earth, losing her life but awakening global awareness.
68. A con artist scams a corrupt billionaire out of money and distributes it to the poor, knowing he will be killed for it.
69. A drone pilot disobeys orders to bomb a civilian area, knowing he will face a court-martial and likely execution.
70. An ancient tree sacrifices its life force to give the forest one more century of vitality.
71. A historian deciphers an ancient prophecy and acts upon it, preventing a calamity but dying as a result.
72. A superhero sacrifices his powers and his life to nullify a cosmic threat.
73. An accountant uncovers a financial scheme that would ruin thousands of lives, and exposes it even though he knows he’ll be killed by those involved.
74. A lighthouse keeper keeps the lights on during a deadly storm, guiding ships away from rocks but succumbing to the storm himself.
75. A hacker exposes human trafficking networks, knowing they will retaliate.
76. A stage actor performs a banned play in an authoritarian regime, leading to his execution but sparking a cultural revolution.
77. A lone scientist stays at a reactor to prevent a meltdown, ensuring the safety of a nearby city.
78. A pilot remains in a crashing plane to steer it away from a populated area, saving hundreds of lives.
79. A mechanic fixes a train’s brakes but is unable to get off the train before it crashes.
80. A young prince leads a rebellion against an evil step-parent, knowing he won’t survive but enabling his siblings to reclaim the throne.
81. A psychologist uses hypnosis to remove a terrorist’s will to harm but is caught and killed in the act.
82. An explorer finds the Fountain of Youth but chooses to destroy it to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.
83. A gladiator wins enough matches to earn freedom but chooses to fight one more fatal match to free his enslaved family.
84. A botanist discovers a plant that cures cancer but dies while protecting it from corporations that would exploit it.
85. A coder creates a program that makes all future elections completely transparent and unriggable, but is killed by those who want to maintain the status quo.
86. A journalist live-streams an oppressive regime’s crimes against humanity, knowing she will not survive the day.
87. A miner stays behind to manually ventilate a shaft, allowing his team to escape after an accident.
88. An archaeologist discovers a relic that can end the world, and destroys it even though it costs him his life.
89. A folklore hero chooses to become a legend by battling a mythical beast to save his village, knowing he will not survive.
90. A fashion designer creates a line of clothing that revolutionizes social norms but is killed by conservative extremists.
91. A dancer performs a forbidden dance that is a call for revolution, even though it will result in her execution.
92. A cartographer maps out a dangerous terrain, dying in the process but enabling future explorers to navigate safely.
93. A comedian uses satire to expose a dictator’s flaws, knowing that he will be killed for his jokes.
94. A train conductor speeds up a train to prevent a collision, but isn’t able to escape himself.
95. A painter uses his last masterpiece to encode a message that will bring down a criminal syndicate.
96. A veterinary surgeon uses an experimental treatment to cure a pandemic in animals, knowing it will kill him.
97. A philosopher introduces a new way of thinking that will elevate society but is killed by those threatened by change.
98. An illusionist uses his final act to expose a deadly plot against thousands, disappearing for good.
99. A marine biologist manually deactivates a deep-sea drilling operation that would have caused an ecological disaster, at the cost of her own life.
100. A hero with the power to absorb others’ pain takes on the suffering of an entire army to end a war, even though it will overwhelm and kill him.