A short-circuit protection and localization circuit for power devices includes a first subcircuit for detecting dv/dt of a power device at turn on, a second subcircuit for short-circuit fault localization and soft turn-off of the power device, the second subcircuit including a totem-pole driver having an upper switch and a lower switch, and a third subcircuit for detecting short-circuit faults based on the output (Vdip) of the first subcircuit and the output of an upper switch (Vp) of the second subcircuit. The first subcircuit outputs a voltage (Vdip) having a magnitude that is proportional to dv/dt of the power device. The third subcircuit outputs a signal (Vsto) to the second subcircuit that causes the second subcircuit to softly turn-off the power device. The second subcircuit outputs a voltage of the upper switch (Vp) and a fault-latching signal for short-circuit localization.