10 Greatest Ever Noble Sacrifices In Film

It’s testament to the talent of the team behind Guardians of the Galaxy that a character who for the most part speaks only three words can generate such a strong emotional reaction. Groot’s sacrifice during Guardians of the Galaxy’s big final set piece proved nevertheless to be a surprisingly poignant moment.

As Roman’s ship plunges to earth, Groot spreads his branches and forms a protective shield around his friends. Rocket realises what he is doing and pleads with him to reconsider. Groot’s simply replies to his tearful buddy with three even more powerful words, “WE…are Groot”. *Sniff*. With that, the ship plunges to earth and thanks to Groot’s protection, the rest of the guardians survive.

Groot may by his very nature be able to regenerate in a manner of speaking, but let’s not nitpick, in this moment he is willingly giving up his current form in order to ensure his comrades live to fight another day. It’s precisely because the character’s dialogue and emotional range is so relatively limited throughout the rest of the film that this heartfelt gesture hits home so much.

We now clearly realise he’s not the emotionless grunt we may have mistaken him for. It may only be a very slight variation on his standard vernacular, but with those three final words, he perfectly sums up the spirit of friendship and togetherness which the film is built on.