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Character Witness: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|'''Sokka''': At first they didn't believe me. The Fire Nation soldiers assumed I was a spy. But one man vouched for me: [[Chekhov's Gunman|the old man you attacked]]. He urged them to trust me, and we got everyone out in time.|''[[
Like [[Androcles' Lion]], but with people. The hero goes out of their way to help an "inconsequential" [[Innocent Bystander]], often at personal risk either to himself or reputation. Later on, if he's [[Clear My Name|set up by the villain]] and it looks ''just'' like the [[Untrusting Community]] of [[Crazy Survivalist|Crazy Survivalists]] is really going to kill him... out pops <s> [[Androcles' Lion]]</s> the [[Character Witness]] ready to [[Laser-Guided Karma|repay their kindness]] with [[Fighting for Survival|life saving timing]]. Usually, they're a [[Wasteland Elder]] or a [[Reasonable Authority Figure]] whose voice has weight, or just [[Disaster Scavengers|a child he befriends]] who is adept at [[Shaming the Mob]].
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== [[Anime]] ==
* The little fox kid in ''[[
* In the first episode of ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'', we see an arrogant noble standing in the middle of a crowded road, harassing and threatening a commoner who had bumped into him, until [[The Stoic|Jin]] [[Master Swordsman|effortlessly cuts through his bodyguards]] [[I Was Just Passing Through|for standing in his way]]. By the end of the episode, he has been captured and is about to be executed for the offense. [[Plucky Girl|Fuu]] has some fireworks [[We Need a Distraction|she plans to use to free him]], but she doesn't have anything with which to light them. No points for guessing who reaches up from the crowd with a match.
* Early in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'', Allelujah disobeys orders and rescues people at a space station, and during this time aids the governmental forces which are his group's enemies, impressing the antagonist, Sergei Smirnoff. This comes to Allejuah's aid later in the show, as Smirnoff lets an injured Allejuah go {{spoiler|and take Marie/Soma Peres, Sergei's adopted daughter/Allejuah's love interest with him}}, since he recognizes Allejuah's voice and knows he's a nice guy.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* [[Spider-Man]] is always boggled when he runs into someone who he helped once, because J. Jonah Jameson is always working to make him a pariah in New York. But in a city of millions, all the people the wallcrawler has helped are ready to stand up for him if the situation calls for it.
* It hasn't happened in recent memory, but the mutants of [[X-Men]] fare have had people give them cross country rides, duck them away from mutant hating authorities, etc, all because one X-Man helped someone else at some point, so anybody legitimately wearing the (X) is considered a good guy worth assisting.
* [[Superman]]'s main defense against [[Lex Luthor]]? It's not his powers, it's the city of Metropolis, which completely loses its collective shit whenever people attack their mascot, and will permanently destroy Luthor's [[Villain
== [[Film]] ==
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* In the Adam Sandler film ''[[Billy Madison]]'', Billy calls one of his old classmates to apologize for bullying him when they were in school. The classmate reacts calmly, but after he's hung up the phone, he crosses Billy's name off of his "People to Kill" list. At the end of the movie, {{spoiler|he shows up when Eric, the villain of the movie, is trying to kill Billy and shoots Eric (not fatally)}}.
{{quote| "Boy, I'm glad I called ''that'' guy."}}
* In the infamous ''[[Steel (
* Edward The Black Prince, in ''[[A Knight's Tale]]'', declares William a knight due Edward seeing the kind of spirit in him. He also mentions that the fact his apparent servants love him would have been enough on its own.
* Crops up memorably in ''[[Scent of a Woman]]''. Charlie Simms has been dragged around New York City by the retired, blind, and terminally irritable [[Colonel Badass|Colonel Slade]] who he is supposed to be babysitting. His fortitude pays off, however, when Slade unexpectedly [[Shaming the Mob|intercedes]] before the school's disciplinary committee which has been convened to force Charlie Simms to testify against his classmates or be expelled. The colonel's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH4p9BQ3V9o speech] is the paradigmatic movie speech, beginning a bit [[Unaccustomed
== Folklore ==
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== [[Literature]] ==
* Interestingly, a [[Show Within a Show|novel within a novel]] in ''[[Slaughterhouse-Five]]'' said the story of Jesus delivered the [[Family-Unfriendly Aesop|wrong aesop]], in that it showed that the Romans made the mistake of picking on the wrong man, one who was the son of God, so the message came across as, "Make sure that whoever you pick on [[Innocent Bystander|isn't important]]". Instead, it says that Jesus should have been a nobody, a bum, and when the Romans crucified him, God should have appeared and decided to adopt this worthless bum as his son.
* ''[[Discworld
* Prior Philip in ''[[The Pillars of the Earth]]'' is betrayed by a monk named Remigius, the former deputy prior, as part of a plot by the prior's enemies. Later on, he forgives Remigius and allows him to return to the monastery rather than live in poverty (Remigius' allies having since discarded him). And a good thing, too, as Remigius is the only person in the world with the information that can save Philip from a witch hunt at the climax.
* ''[[The Hollows]]'': Rachel Morgan, shunned, gets assistance in the unlikely person of a TSA operative since Rachel helped out his grandmother once.
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** A similar example happened in the earlier episode "The Cadillac": Jerry's dad Morty is being accused of embezzling funds from the office of condo president with Morty's new Cadillac being cited as proof (the Cadillac was given to Morty by Jerry as a gift, but the guy accusing Morty doesn't believe Jerry is talented enough to make that much money). Morty's sole favorable testimony is from an old woman who, unbeknown to Morty, Jerry had stolen a marble rye bread from in an earlier episode. Once she remembers that incident, she withdraws her support and Morty is impeached from condo president. That lady would once again show up in the aforementioned finale.
* In several episodes of ''[[The Pretender]]'', starting with the pilot, Jarod takes time out from his mission to help somebody in trouble, and they repay him at the end of the episode by helping him evade the Centre operatives hunting him.
* Turns up, oddly enough, in ''[[The Mighty Boosh]]'', albeit in a uniquely absurd fashion. While looking for Howard, who left his job to become a binman, Vince gives £58.30 (via credit card) as well as his beautiful cape to a hobo [[Running Gag|who thinks Vince is a lady]]. Later on, when Vince and Howard are fighting a magic-fueled, crack-addicted fox in the sewers, the hobo shows up out of nowhere, attacking the Crack Fox long enough to allow Vince and Howard to run away. [[What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made
== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[
* In ''Conquests of the Longbow,'' whether or not Robin Hood ends up with Maid Marian, ends up alone, or gets hanged in the ending depends partly on how many Character Witnesses he manages to impress.
* An indirect example occurs in ''[[City of Heroes]]'' when a member of a villain group gives you the information you're seeking because you once saved his cousin, though he doesn't tell you who that person was.
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== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[
** In the episode "Jet", Sokka helps an old Fire Nation man, who later helps him convince his village to evacuate before it is flooded.
** Subverted with Haru in the episode "Imprisoned". He saves an old man {{spoiler|with his illegal earthbending. Old man turns him in..}}.
* When army officers are about to arrest Rogue and Kitty on ''[[X-Men: Evolution]]'', the major tells his troops to stand down as Rogue had saved him from being hit by a car.
* There's a Jamaican cab driver who goes by "Mouse" on ''[[Spider
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