Chronic Hero Syndrome: Difference between revisions

|'''Dr James Wilson''', ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' on something completely different.}}

 

 

While certainly admirable, this can have some negative side-effects on the hero and those around them. Such heroes tend to [[Samaritan Syndrome|wear themselves out]] in their attempts to help ''everyone'', or to become distraught and [[It's All My Fault|blame themselves]] for the ''one'' time that they're unable to save the day. A particularly bad case of this may develop into a full-blown [[Martyr Without a Cause]]. May also be a thin veil over the [[In Harm's Way]] trope.

* ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'': Harry.

** Lampshaded in the fifth book when Hermione points out that he has a "'saving people' thing" and that he could be walking into a trap. He's furious about that comment, pointing out that they didn't see an issue with that when he saved their lives before. Partially deconstructed when his hurry to save {{spoiler|Sirius}} leads to the death he was trying to prevent.

{{quote|''"Neither of you understands Potter as I do. He does not need finding. Potter will come to me. I know his weakness, you see, his one great flaw. He will hate watching the others struck down around him, knowing that it is for him that it happens. He will want to stop it any cost. He will come."''}}

* ''[[The Dresden Files]]'': Harry Dresden. Dresden has it '''bad'''. And he's [[Genre Savvy]] enough to know and admit it—and then still do it anyway. Just ask him about a [[Damsel in Distress]].

** In ''Grave Peril'', Harry attends a Villain Party and is given a very interesting party favor, a gravestone and perpetually open plot. The inscription on the stone reads [[Lampshade Hanging|"He died doing the right thing."]] {{spoiler|A few minutes later, he is given the choice between walking away and risking his life to save one innocent, which will ''also'' destabilize the vampire/wizard truce. The gravestone wasn't an insult, it was a ''hint''.}}

== Video Games ==

* Some of the more [[Wide Open Sandbox|Open-worldy]] sort of games allow the player to choose for themselves, either helping out every poor bastard who's dropped a ring in a sewer grate, ignoring everyone so you can get on with your business, or killing the asker for daring to ask for your aid. Realistically, this third option tends to cause problems, but if you can kill the people who have a problem with it too, the problem eventually evaporates. Possibly along with every living being.

* Virtually every MMO steers the player's character into having Chronic Hero Syndrome. The character will often be sent out against a great evil... but on the way, they'll have to protect random people from threats, take shifts as a game warden, help gather materials for various building projects, and sometimes even be a relationship counselor, for everybody whose path they happen to cross.

* ''[[Final Fantasy]]''

{{quote|'''Lightning:''' But going out of his way to help someone? That's Snow all over.}}

** Ramza from ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' is a [[Reconstruction]]. He's determined to help the common people, even as said people believe the propaganda that Ramza's a heretic and traitor. By contrast, his friend Delita is an [[Anti-Hero]] / [[Anti-Villain]] who [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|backstabs his way to the top.]] {{spoiler|Delita ends up king, Ramza ends up blown up and his companion gets executed for trying to tell the people Ramza saved the world. But the epilogue indicates that Ramza survived, shows Delita getting a severe [[Was It Really Worth It?]] moment, and the true story gets out four hundred years later.}}

** Open Hand Spirit Monk in ''[[Jade Empire]]'' meddles in people's lives for the better, most of the time. Closed Fist Spirit Monk is much less helpful.

** The Grey Warden in ''[[Dragon Age]]'' can fulfill this trope to such a degree that [[Black Magician Girl|Morrigan]] will complain about it.

* Elysia from ''[[Rumors of War]]'' exhibits symptoms of Chronic Hero Syndrome, going out of her way to help a young woman who's misplaced her lover. Of course, [[Deconstruction|it's shown that]] her [[Refusal of the Call|initial reluctance]] to help out meant she was unable to prevent [[It Got Worse|a chain of events]] that culminated in {{spoiler|the girl's disappearance, the torture of a (presumably) innocent (if somewhat creepy) man, and a violent confrontation with the girl's father}}.

* ''[[Keychain of Creation]]'', an ''[[Exalted]]'' webcomic, features in the character of Misho a person who perfectly embodies the benefits and drawbacks of a high Compassion Virtue. He cannot pass a scene of suffering and not offer to help, and while he's got more than enough power to do the job, it comes at the cost of possibly revealing himself as a Solar, which causes problems for the group thanks to the Wyld Hunt. The [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|other problem]] with it is aptly demonstrated in [http://keychain.patternspider.net/archive/koc0219.html these] [http://keychain.patternspider.net/archive/koc0220.html strips].

* ''[[Freefall]]'': Florence Ambrose has a case of this; it almost got her killed at one point, in a [[Shoot the Shaggy Dog]] incident at that. Of course, her grand objective is to prove that her species is too valuable to be allowed to go extinct, so it's probably a good thing, assuming she survives future heroism and doesn't get on the wrong side of the company that created her. (The company, Ecosystems Unlimited, is a [[Mega Corp]] which would reach positively [[Final Fantasy VII|Shinra]] levels of villainousness if they could only find their rear with both hands, so this may be harder than it looks.)

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130330163408/http://www.oglaf.com/sircoffee/1/ Sir Coffee] from ''[[Oglaf]]'' is a play on this. (WARNING: Sir Coffee's comic is worksafe. [[NSFW|The rest of the comic is not]].)