Fearless Fool: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* [[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann|KAMINA.]] {{spoiler|Ultimately subverted - Kamina was always just as frightened as anyone else when thrust into dangerous situations. But he knew that everyone else was relying on him to be the front of courage and recklessness, especially Simon, and so he played the part faithfully to the very end.}}

 

== Fairy Tales ==

** Similarly in ''[http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/350.htm The Boy Who Found Fear At Last]''

*** Made into an episode of ''[[Faerie Tale Theatre]]'' that culminated with the kid almost being brutally murdered by evil undead sorcerer [[Christopher Lee]]. [[Nightmare Fuel|That ought to clear things up for him]].

* In [[Ben Counter]]'s ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' [[Horus Heresy]] novel ''Galaxy In Flames'', Tarvitz explicitly thinks that while it is said that Space Marines know no fear, the truth is that they are trained to master it, not to not feel it.

* ''[[Fearless (novel)|Fearless]]'' by Francine Pascal is about a teenage girl unable to comprehend fear.

** Other characters are shown to be almost fearless as well, Cohen and his 'horde' namely, but also Ridcully, Vetinari, and a few others.

* In Patrick Rothfuss's ''[[The Name of the Wind]]'', Chronicler tells Kvothe that they say he's fearless. Kvothe disclaims: only priests and fools are fearless, and he's not been on good terms with God.

* The ogres of ''[[Xanth]]'' are famous for being too stupid to fear anything. But this is played with—it combines with their great strength to ensure that every living creature smarter than them (and that's everyone, including a number of plants) fears ''them''. Even dragons know they can't match the sheer power-to-weight ratio of an ogre and that an ogre wouldn't be afraid of coming after them, and avoid picking fights.

* In [[Michael Flynn]]'s ''[[Spiral Arm|Up Jim River]]'', the Brute is the only one not afraid, he's too stupid.

 

* An early episode of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' explicitly references the trope, even though it doesn't show an example of the character in that episode. [[Creator's Pet|Wesley]] is worrying about the final test for his Starfleet Academy entrance exam: a psychological test designed specifically to stoke their fears and test how they face them. Worf helps him, much to Wesley's surprise—he saw Worf as the bravest man on ''Enterprise'', and thought that meant he had no fear. Worf's response seems to echo the trope name quote: "Only fools have no fear." He then explains that even Klingons, known as a "fearless" warrior race, know fear, but only those who overcome it ever go on to greatness.

* In ''[[Red Dwarf]]'', Lister has his fear removed by the polymorph beast that feeds on emotions. He wants to charge in recklessly at the beast and volunteers to be the bait, so the others can kill it "while it's eating me to death".

* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' serial "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S10/E04 Planet of the Daleks|Planet of the Daleks]]", the Doctor explains to a Thal, a fellow captive, that his heroic action of leading off the enemy was heroic despite his fear, and that everyone else who does heroic things is the same.

 

 

== Professional Wrestling ==

* It is quite common that a good guy, or "babyface" is said to have "more guts than brains" (as [[Jim Ross]] would say), because they continue to fight back despite being beaten down time and again, refuse to submit to submission moves, have no problems with accepting a 3-on-1 challenge, etc.

* The "Rate Tank" Kellie Skater (weighing in at ''[[Large Ham|68 kilograms of pure adamantium]]'') of [[SHIMMER]] is a heel version - she blithely walks up to every [[Badass]] woman on the roster, registering no fear whatsoever as she disrespects them and challenges them to matches. Every single time, she gets obliterated - but at no point does Kellie ever catch on that she's being destroyed. She keeps on taunting her opponent and bringing the fight even if she's getting smashed against the barricades, tied into a pretzel, or back-fisted in the face.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* One demonic, gluttonous race called the Gordians (imagine a cross between an ogre and a dwarf that has been fed on a steady diet of lard) in [[Rifts|Palladium]]'s Land of the Damned One: Chaos Lands are described as having eggshell thin egos and going to insane lengths to prove themselves worthy ("You call Throka coward? Watch, Throka kill Dragon!").

 

 

== Video Games ==

* ''[[Touhou|Touhou Project]]'' has these in spades. Partially justified with the Spellcard rules making official fights nonlethal, but you would think that, given that fighting is still ''painful'', to the point where even true immortals just give up rather than keep getting hurt, some fairies would learn not to die in relentless [[Redshirt Army]] wave attacks at heroines who are functionally impossible for a [[Mooks|basic nameless fairy]] to kill, [[Conservation of Ninjutsu|no matter the odds]], especially since some don't even have offensive powers, and essentially can only harm a heroine by simply standing there as the heroine blindly collides with her. As a justification for the fearlessness, (if not the aggression in the first place,) fairies have lives tied to nature, and as long as nature exists, they will regenerate [[From a Single Cell]].

** Cirno deserves special mention. In spite of being a fairly weak character (normally), she proudly boasts about how she's "The Strongest" (of the fairies, which isn't saying much, as most fairies are weaker than unpowered ordinary humans), and trying to prove it by repeatedly challenging beings far more powerful than herself, even though those characters have already easily curb-stomped her in the past. Apparently, [[The Fog of Ages]] is on extra strength for Cirno, and she can't remember the numerous humiliating defeats she seems to suffer on a regular basis.

 

== Web Comics ==

* ''[[Dork Tower]]'' [http://www.dorktower.com/2006/06/12/comics-archive-794/ With motivational poster!]

* In ''[[American Barbarian]]'', [http://www.ambarb.com/?p=342 Rick assures someone that yes, it's all right to be a little afraid when facing something completely unknown.]

 

== Web Original ==

* Rob from the web fiction serial ''[[Dimension Heroes]]'' seems to go out of his way to pick fights with Creturians who invade his city.

 

== Western Animation ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Fear Tropes]]

[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]

[[Category:Stupidity Tropes]]

[[Category:Alliterative Trope Titles]]