When you talk about Dick and self sacrifice its easy to focus on Bruce, partially because of the famous "I'd die for you" panel and partially bc there are numerous instances where he actually puts those words into practice, but its been shown that he readily throws himself into mortal danger for any of his loved ones, and also strangers, civilians, and villains (on occasion, which emphasize the few times he chooses not to save people, cough cough)
And ofc this isn't unique to Nightwing, self-sacrifice and heroics go hand and hand and everything I'm about to say definitely applies to some of the Bats and other non-meta heroes (Bruce especially)
At some point it loses its impact, ya know? If in the heat of the moment you'll die for anyone what does it mean that you'll die for one specific person as well? You can't give your life to someone more than you give your life for others, self-sacrifice is an action not really an ideology as Dick often treats it.
Taking a bullet for a random civilian is the exact same action as taking a bullet for your partner of 80 20-some years. You can't die for someone twice (except this is comic books and you can but its generally considered a writing faux-pas)
"I'd die for you." "You'd die for anyone." How do you contrast such a strong devotion with an abject disregard for your self preservation?? The love is there, absolutely, but why does the intent matter when the outcome is the same?? What's the fucking difference??? Uhg!
Its so very interesting to me how Dick treats his own life, at a certain point self-sacrifice becomes selfish and concerning, more like suicidality than heroism (as most strongly evidenced by Chemo) and I feel like we should talk about that more