Dude, Where's My Respect?: Difference between revisions

{{quote|'''Volus:''' Shepherd! Shepherd! A moment of your time!<br />

'''Shepard:''' Can it wait? I'm trying to ensure the survival of '''every sentient being.'''<br />

'''Volus:''' I heard about that. And I think it's really cool. Anyway. I was thinking you could go and get me some artifacts.|''[[Penny Arcade (Webcomic)|Penny Arcade]]''}}

So, you're a hero who's a fair way through your quest. You've slain [[Kill It with Fire|fire]]-[[Breath Weapon|breathing]] [[Our Dragons Are Different|dragons]], or assassinated [[The Mafia|mob bosses]], or torn apart an army base filled with hostile aliens. [[One-Man Army|You've cut a swath through the land]], [[Sociopathic Hero|slaughtering anything or anyone]] who gets in your way and [[We Do the Impossible|spit in the face of impossible odds]]. You're well on your way to finishing the job, when you need a favor. Anybody who knows who you are [[Hundred-Percent100% Heroism Rating|should be too grateful]] or [[The Dreaded|too scared]] to turn you down, right? Wrong!

"Don't you know who I am? '''Dude, Where's myMy respectRespect?'''" Of course, you've [[But Thou Must!|got no choice]] but to debase yourself and comply with this humiliating request, even though you've probably gone [[From Nobody to Nightmare]] and by rights [[Combat Pragmatist|you should just]] [[Kick the Son of a Bitch|kill them]] and take what you need. Is a little empathy [[Did You Think I Can't Feel?|so hard to muster?]]

An [[Ideal Hero]] (or [[Superman|blue boyscout]]) will fetch cats from trees all day long, but then again they're probably either a [[Slave to PR]] or just plain have nothing better to do between beating the tar out of villains. Expect villains, rivals, and some civilians to act like [[Ungrateful Bastard|Ungrateful Bastards]]s in part because of this. The [[Glory Seeker]] ''hates'' this.

Compare [[No Fame, No Wealth, No Service]], and [[Hero with Bad Publicity]]. Contrast [[Famed in Story]], [[Hundred-Percent100% Heroism Rating]], and [[The Player Is the Most Important Resource]].

** The first victim is [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Li Xingke]], who has been in the service of the Empress for years. Then comes Schneizel to propose the marriage with his brother. Li even points out what a horrible mistake it is to let ''the guy that conquered half a continent'' run around in ''a country they're currently in at least diplomatic tensions'', and knowing Britannia's expansive ideology... (not to mention letting some Knights of Rounds accompany him, too). Well, moving on, Li is sent in their strongest armor after {{spoiler|Zero kidnaps the Empress}}. After a battle in which he risks his life, what do the Eunuchs do? They forget all his contributions and still want him executed! No wonder he ends up {{spoiler|siding with Zero to defend the Empress from them}}, and from here, they get their just desserts. Ultimately, it is revealed that the eunuchs WANTED the marriage to go through so they would gain Britannian royalty, and that they were [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|willing to kill off and replace the empress, who they saw as nothing more than a figurehead]]. When Zero [[Engineered Public Confession|publicly reveals the plan to the masses]], well, let's just say they don't take it too well, and now it's the eunuchs who are being left to dry by Schneizel, who sees [[Zero-Percent0% Approval Rating|that they no longer represent the nation without the support of their public]].

** It still happens in the novelization of ''[[Chars Counterattack]]'', where the Federation denies Amuro's request to bring the [[Zeta Gundam]] out of storage because they don't trust such a powerful weapon in a Newtype's hands. Bear in mind, now he's not only an active Federation soldier, but the second-in-command of the special ops force that stands the best chance of defeating Char, who wants to [[Colony Drop]] the planet into a new ice age--andage—and they still treat him like he's going to kill them all and violate their corpses.

** The Straw Hat Pirates in ''[[One Piece]]'' fall to this quite a bit. Of course, it's granted since they ARE pirates, and most of the time the people don't even know it was them in the first place, and if they do it's usually because of their wanted posters.

** Enough respect to make him an honorary member of [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|the Richards family]] and put him on two teams of [[The Avengers (Comic Book)|The Avengers]]!

* In ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20171112142905/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/jacobs/english/fishring.html The Fish and the Ring]'', ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20130326131857/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/russian/russianwondertales/vasiliiunlucky.html Vasilii the Unlucky]'', [[The Brothers Grimm (creator)|Grimms']] ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20131217180139/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/29devilgoldhairs.html The Devil With the Three Golden Hairs]'', ''[http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/260.htm The King Who Would Be Stronger Than Fate]'', and many other fairy tales, a man who discovers finds his child [[Self Fulfilling Prophecies|doomed]] to marry a poor child tries to kill them with many tasks, before and after the wedding; in the end, he fails.

* In ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20130527143315/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/asbjornsenmoe/dapplegrim.html Dapplegrim]'', the king orders the hero to perform many tasks because his fellow servants [[Malicious Slander|falsely claimed he said he could do them]], and then in an attempt to keep him from marrying the princess; in the end, he gives in.

* In [[The Brothers Grimm (creator)|Grimms']] ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20140504020136/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/126ferdinandfaithful.html Ferdinand the Faithful]'', after being slandered, Ferdinand must get a bride for the king and then all the things she demands before she will marry him. However, in the end, the bride tricks the king into letting her kill him, and then marries Ferdinand.

* In [httphttps://wwwweb.archive.org/web/20140401220126/http://surlalunefairytales.com/jackbeanstalk/stories/esbenwitch.html Esben and the Witch], whenever Esben succeeds in a task, his enemy at court incites the king to give him another, and the king is only too willing to listen.

{{quote| '''Mrs. Carver:''' So you saved Hanukkah! It's not even one of the High Holy Days!}}

* ''[[The Great Gatsby]]''. In a subversion, the narrator eventually realizes that for all his faults, Gatsby is still better than the [[UpperclassUpper Class Twit|Upperclass Twits]] who dismiss him as nouveau-riche.

{{quote| '''Merlin:''' I just want Arthur to trust me. And to see me for who I really am.<br />

'''Gaius:''' One day, he will.<br />

* No matter how many times [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Buffy]] saved Sunnydale High from not just vampires, but bug people, evil robots, invisible people, fish monsters, nightmares come alive, ghosts, reanimated corpses, werewolves, and ancient evil abominations, most of the school populace treated her as a [[Cool Loser]] at best. However, this was subverted toward the end of the third season at the prom, where the entire graduating class gave their thanks to Buffy for saving them multiples times, granting her (through write-in ballots) the award of Class Protector, with a fancy parasol for a trophy. And this was right after saving them from some hellhounds, too.

* In ''[[The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion]]'', you can be the freakin' Archmage and everyone in town will still treat you like J. Random Peasant. And even if you helped the emperor's heir save the world or something, you still have to start as an Apprentice in the Mage's Guild or an Amateur in the Fighter's Guild with others treating you like crap. Later averted, though; when you complete the main story, people will shower you with praise when they see you. And if you are the Arch-Mage, the mages at the Arcane U show proper respect.

** ''[[The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind|Morrowind]]'' was worse than this, as you could be head of the Imperial legion and soldiers would still treat you like dirt. Same goes for being head of a great house, which fails to gather respect from fellow house members. Although in the case of the Telvanni, its in character.

** ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim|Skyrim]]'' definitely has some of this going, mostly in the same form as ''Oblivion'', but also has some noticeable aversions. In particular, killing a dragon will get any NPC witnesses to stand and gawp at you, muttering about how you must be [[The Chosen One]] until you ride off into the sunset.

* Mostly averted in ''[[Quest for Glory]]'' but played straight in the fourth game. In it, the character is magically teleported halfway across the planet to a small, isolated village that's highly distrustful of strangers and has no way of knowing all the amazing stuff you've done (like, oh, saving the entire world from total destruction twice over). Only three characters in the entire game respect your abilities, two of whom are returning [[Big Bad|Big Bads]]s ({{spoiler|Baba Yaga and Ad Avis}}) and the other being this game's [[Big Bad]], who is the master of the latter.

* In ''[[Final Fantasy X -2]]'', your exploits in the previous game are well-known throughout the entire world, and you even get a cool title to go with it. But that doesn't mean you can expect any actual respect for bringing about a global renaissance. In one particularly egregious case, you can get run out of your own birthplace for being on friendly terms with a rival faction.

* After a dozen ''Zelda'' games, you would think that people in Hyrule would have the common sense to understand that this guy with a green hood and the Master Sword represents [[One-Man Army|99.9% of their country's military might]], and is the only thing to have saved them from slavery to [[Big Bad|Ganon]]; but no they keep treating him like dirt. Some of the games can justify this with explanations that the Master Sword is usually hidden away somewhere to protect it so most don't even recognize it or believe it's the real deal, as well as other reasons,<ref>In [[Ocarina of Time]] the outfit is only worn by a hidden group of Forest Spirits and he's just a kid for most of it, in [[Wind Waker]] the outfit is only worn by people on one island and the Master Sword isn't fully restored until late in the game, in [[Skyward Sword]] (aside from being the earliest chronologically) all the knights get a one color tunic and it's vaguely suggested that the other knights are often the [[Hero of Another Story]], so Link's nothing special to those that don't know the full story</ref>, but the worst offender is ''[[Zelda II: The Adventure of Link|Zelda II the Adventure of Link]]'', when the protagonist is the SAME Link from the first game. You can understand that people might ask him to save a kidnapped child or help the citizenry; after all, that's what he is supposed to do. But to refuse to let him cross a bridge, or to ask him to fetch some '''water'''? Not only did this guy save the country from the local [[Evil Overlord]], but he is the envoy of the ''ruler'' of said country.

* ''[[World of Warcraft]]''. This is especially prevalent in the second expansion of the game, where by level 80 your character has probably slain multiple dragons, [[Eldritch Abomination|Eldritch Abominations]]s, demon lords, and more monsters than [[Respawning Enemies|should logically exist]], but will still be treated like dirt by NPCs, rarely acknowledging your exploits, and if they do, its just to say "I don't care about them, go kill some animals and bring me their meat. I'm hungry".

* Justified and then averted in ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines|Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines]]''. At the start of the game, you play a fledgling vampire who's just been introduced to undead society and is sitting firmly on the bottom rung. A fair number of your quests involve trying to curry favor with various political leaders and sects, and some of the older vampires actually [[Mind Control|have freaky powers]] that force you to obey them. The aversion comes later in the game--asgame—as you get stronger, carving through hoards of enemy vampires and even vampire hunters, the elders of the city start treating you as someone they ''want'' on their side, or else as someone they want to dust before you become a threat.

** [[Lampshaded]] (sort of): At one point the player has the option to tell some uncooperative [[NPC|NPCs]]s, "I've got to get a publicist. You two obviously aren't aware of my reputation."

* ''[[My World, My Way]]'' features the [[Everything's Better with Princesses|princess of the land]] moonlighting as a hero. She averts this because everyone immediately recognizes her as a hero (because the king's agent is paying them to, against her knowledge), but they still play it straight and give her meaningless [[Fetch Quest]] and [[With a Herring]] jobs, because "That's what heroes do!"

* ''[[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]]'' twists this around in a plot heavy way. You can increase your respect (which, in game play terms amounts to how many fellow gang members you can take to assist you in a mission) by working out, dressing nice, doing missions and driving out the gangs from the city. However, {{spoiler|after a -[[Wham! Episode|certain]]- mission, you are suddenly dumped without warning into the countryside and the gangs retake the entire damn city, including your home street}}.

{{quote| '''Torn''': Because '''[[ThisPunctuated! IsFor! SpartaEmphasis!|I. Don't. Like. You!]]'''}}

{{quote| {{spoiler|Saemon Havarian:}} We could argue about who's done what to whom all day. Or maybe less, as I imagine my being chopped to bits might make your argument a little more effective than mine.}}

{{quote| '''Main Character:''' OK, I've just about had my fill of riddle asking, quest assigning, insult throwing, pun hurling, hostage taking, iron mongering, smart arsed fools, freaks, and felons that continually test my will, mettle, strength, intelligence, and most of all, patience! If you've got a straight answer anywhere in that bent little head of yours, I want to hear it pretty damn quick or I'm going to take a large blunt object roughly the size of Elminster and his hat, and stuff it lengthwise into a crevice of your being so seldom seen that even the denizens of the Nine Hells themselves wouldn't touch it with a twenty-foot rusty halberd! Have I made myself perfectly clear?!}}

* In ''[[RunescapeRuneScape]]'', your character is verbally trodden upon regularly by computer characters. Many of the quests involve menial tasks with lots of time-consuming running around, to the point that the game develepors (Jagex) treat it as an in-joke. In some of the quests, your character will actually say things along the lines of "Let me guess, you want me to run around all over Runescape to get some easily-obtainable item?" And some of the computer characters inspire true hatred with their constant refusal to recognise your contributions/good work/single-handed saving of everyone.

** In the [[Video Game Remake|Video Game Remakes]]s of Gold and Silver, there '''are''' some people who recognize you. Usually just important characters you saved personally, but the Trainers in Clair's Gym are impressed that you've fought alongside Lance (though not beaten him yet), and Irwin occasionally calls you on the phone to tell you that you're awesome after you save the Radio Tower from Team Rocket. Come to think of it, the criminal grunts do tend to recognise you, too. That's not ''admiration'', but it sure does count.

* In ''[[Little Big Adventure]] II'', you have a museum dedicated to you and your heroic deeds from the original game... which you are forced to ''pay for entering'', because the ticket vendor is an idiot who doesn't recognize you (he ''does'' note that you "look like the guy in the picture" ''after'' you don the Ancestral Tunic -- andTunic—and that's it). If you talk to the museum owner, Twinsen will [[Lampshade Hanging|complain]] about that. Subverted with the School of Magic: they know that you have saved the world, but it just doesn't give you the right not to pass the exams.

* The page quote from ''[[8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|Eight Bit Theater]]'' is basically what every video game hero ever ''should'' be saying. It loses its effect however considering that the person Thief is talking to ''didn't even want his help in the first place'' (Thief, in a moment of misplaced [[Genre Savvy]] simply walked up to a random NPC ''assuming'' he had some inane sidequest for him). Not to mention the protagonists of ''8-Bit Theater'' are [[Comedic Sociopath|anything]] [[Villain Protagonist|but]] [[Ax Crazy|heroes]].

* Used for humor [https://web.archive.org/web/20150501082248/http://www.cheercomic.com/?date=2009-02-06 in] ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20150501091617/http://www.cheercomic.com/?date=2009-01-30 Cheer]'', when a military enthusiast finds herself in her RPG-obsessed friend's dream.

* ''[[Impure Blood]]'': [https://web.archive.org/web/20130609034017/http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Issue4PAGES/ib080.html It's their duty to arrest him for his blood after he fought their battle for them.]

* [[Dominic Deegan]] has done a number of quite impressive things including--mostincluding—most notably--savingnotably—saving the universe as the Champion of Balance. He is a ''really good'' seer. But he still gets [https://web.archive.org/web/20110818151734/http://www.dominic-deegan.com/view.php?date=2011-06-03 this] when he tries to give warnings.

{{quote| '''Administrator:''' Your friend with an arrest record, no job, and a history of breaking down in front of students.<br />

** Ironically, after his defection Arnold was rewarded by the British with a commission of brigadier general, a reduction from his Continental Army position of major general. He was treated with contempt by his superior, Sir Henry Clinton, and mistrusted by his subordinates because they considered him a traitor--bothtraitor—both to Great Britain ''and'' to the colonists.

[[Category:Dude,CRPG Where's My Respect?Tropes]]

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