Dude, Where's My Respect?: Difference between revisions
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"Don't you know who I am? Where's my respect?" 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
Can lead to a form of [[Beware the Nice Ones]], especially if the tasks are make-work to avoid handing out the [[Standard Hero Reward]]. Particularly nasty ones are [[Impossible Task]].
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* In ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' Ash is still treated as an average trainer by new trainers that he meets despite the numerous accomplishments he has achieved. You would think that a guy who won against 36 Gym Leaders in 5 regions and got up into at least the top 10 in the league challenges that followed, ''beat'' the Orange League champion, has befriended and caught numerous Pokemon over his years of traveling, won numerous conventional battles and even those he lost against ended up respecting his talent, has helped out countless people who were in trouble, and on at least a dozen occasions saved the world from the wrath of legendary Pokemon would get a little recognition now and again. It seems extremely implausible that he hasn't at least gotten a few reporters asking for an interview or entered a town or two that has heard about him.
* Amuro Ray, the original [[Gundam]] pilot and hero of the [[Mobile Suit Gundam|One Year War]], gets this in later series. What's his reward for winning the OYW and taking out lord knows how many enemy pilots (both [[Mooks]] and [[Ace Pilot|Aces]])? [[The Federation]] confines him on Earth (on a nice mansion, but still), watches him all hours of the day, and won't let him go anywhere. Most of this is because he's a [[Psychic Powers|Newtype]] and the Federation leadership doesn't trust them as far as they can throw them...
** 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
* In ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', the eponymous character is treated with much less respect by his class (with the exception of maybe four or five out of thirty-odd students) than the average teacher, let alone one who has reached the position at an age when said students were still in primary school, let alone one who has become one of the most powerful mages alive.
** Asuna is a particularly annoying example, downplaying his accomplishments constantly while giving her classmates credit for lesser achievements. (Even acting at multiple points as if she were a stronger combatant, despite her power coming from him in the first place)
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** ''[[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.
*** Another is that sometimes people (mostly guards) will mention a quest you did or group you joined (e.g.: "I've seen you in the company of the companions"). Initially, they will treat you like a newbie (e.g. "Now I remember - you're that new member of the Companions. So you what - fetch the mead?"). There are additional lines for when you gain more status in each faction, but these do not override the earlier ones - you can and will both be greeted as their leader and as some random new member within the same day, from the same NPC.
* 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
** The people in the fourth game do greatly warm up to you once you do some notable good deeds. It gets downright heartwarming with comments like "I never believed true heroes existed until now."
** The aversion comes in every other sequel, where your character is specifically asked to help out in a foreign land in need, and thus rumors that the hero who saved a city/the world has come to town spread like wildfire, and quite a few characters will talk excitedly about the possibility of meeting this hero.
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* ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'' has players build up their reputation in cities to staggering amounts, and be lauded as a hero... and go to an NPC in said town to discover that they have no damn clue who you are. ould you stir up any trouble... like everyone who didn't do this quest in the first place.
* 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>
** The skepticism directed at Link in some of the games is better understood if it's considered in context of the religious significance surrounding the Hero myth in Hyrule. Initially, people would likely be skeptical to the claim that a Hero was among them, given the reverence devoted to the legacy.
** In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask|Majora's Mask]]'', if you bring the Couple's Mask to the Happy Mask Salesman, he acknowledges that while he didn't see it, you probably did a lot of frustration-inducing stuff to get it, and even says he wishes he was looking for that mask so your efforts would be for a little more than (as far as he knew) nothing.
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* In ''[[Ōkami|Okami]]'' most people only view you as a wolf, a lovely white wolf that brings good luck, but a wolf all the same. Up until halfway through the game you won't get much if any respect for the deeds you've done by most of characters in the game. Although, there still is a rather long side quest where you have to prove to a [[Flat Earth Atheist]] that you're god.
* The main character of ''Rhodan: Myth of the Illochim'' is a 3,000-year-old immortal hero and the head of government for Terra (Earth) and its colonies. He spends the entire first level of the game trying to escape his own home after being confined there by his best friend (his own security minister) for unexplained reasons. At a later point in the game he's arrested on suspicion of murder and thrown straight into a filthy cell, with no opportunity to try and explain what happened - even though he was found unconscious after being attacked at the crime scene.
* ''[[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
** Admittedly if you do enough notable things NPCs will start to sing your praises, and once you've helped somebody their dialogue will generally be friendly to you, but that won't stop everybody else demanding you fetch them [[Twenty Bear Asses]].
** Not as bad in the new Cataclysm zones from the third expansion. Characters will generally recognise you as a great hero and faction leaders frequently show up and make it clear that they know who you are and what you're capable of. They still want you to collect bear asses, but they have more flattering ways of justifying it. The rewritten early quests also tend to try to make you feel less anonymous.
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** His sister, Whisper, is literally the worst case of this in the game. Okay, sure, when you first arrive at the Hero's Guild, a bit of arrogance on her part is understandable (though ironically, that's when she's at her nicest). But she will then spend the rest of the game essentially mocking you and telling you just how much better than you she is, regardless of how many times you beat her in a fight, completely outmatch her in a quest where you directly compete against her, or otherwise demonstrate that she is literally nowhere near in your league.
** Given that it's always other heroes who disrespect you, it's likely due to them being in a [[Only in It For the Money|similar line of work]]. Unless you've gone far out of your way, when you first meet Briar Rose she actually is a better and more famous hero than you, Whisper is constantly bitter about you being a better hero and Thunder hates you because Whisper does.
* 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
** [[Lampshaded]] (sort of): At one point the player has the option to tell some uncooperative [[NPC
* In ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'', most of what you do goes unnoticed because... well, you did it centuries ago. That's the drawback of [[Time Travel]]. Thing is, in the individual time periods where you did the incredible thing (particularly 65 Million BC and 600 AD), certain townspeople ''do'' recognize you and praise your accomplishments.
** It's not much, but after saving the world in 600 A.D., if you go back to 1000 A.D. and order some food in the Castle you can order a 'Crono Special,' which was "named after a famous hero of the past." And, to be fair, [[Food Porn|it looks delicious]].
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** This is actually averted, most of the time. As you help people, they acknowledge that you and your friends have helped them in the past, such as a king who you drag out of his depression of losing his wife. Also, {{spoiler|Prince Charmles' behavior bites him in the ass after banning you from the ending, as no matter which ending you get, Medea runs off and marries the main character. It's worse in the ending for completing the New Game + dungeon, where not only does he lose his bride, but also the throne to the person who he just banned from his wedding.}} I guess the lesson is, 'treat people with respect when they help you'.
* ''[[Pokémon]]'' is generally guilty of this trope. Somehow, the fact that the player eventually becomes the League Champion, [[Ideal Hero|the hero]] who liberated the region from a criminal syndicate and saved the world, and the Trainer of multiple [[Eldritch Abomination]] [[Olympus Mons]] does not impress many of the game's NPCs, who treat you pretty much the same as any other ten-year-old Trainer. It's particularly insulting in ''Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald'', where many of the members of a Pokémon Trainer fan club compare you unfavorably to Gym Leaders/Elite Four members you canonically thrashed possibly hours of gameplay time before ever finding the club building.
** In the [[Video Game Remake
** None of these justify the fact that ''your own mother'' has absolutely nothing to say, ever, about the fact that you've beaten the best Trainers in the entire region.
** None of the in-game trainers even bat an eye when you send out Pokémon thought to be long extinct or urban legend, legendary Pokémon that are the only one of their kind in existence, or even Pokémon that are ''believed to be God''. They have no qualms about attacking these wonders either.
* In the Gamecube ''[[Custom Robo]]'' title, after {{spoiler|defeating an [[Eldritch Abomination]] intent on destroying the remainder of life on the planet}} everyone treats you the same because {{spoiler|the government covers your involvement up. Allegedly to allow you to live peacefully.}}
* ''[[Mega Man Battle Network]]'': Each game ends with Lan saving the world from criminal organizations that have made everyone paranoid and scared and as such is heralded as a hero... until the next game, when everyone seems to have forgotten everything and suddenly he's just another kid.
* 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
* It's [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in ''[[Ys]] Seven'', when a man asks you to go find some earrings for him after the village elder already told him (and everyone else in the village) about you and how important you are: "Strange men with weapons are the best at finding lost earrings, right?"
* The Exile in ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (video game)|Knights of the Old Republic]] II''. Despite being a Jedi and a war veteran, a surprisingly large amount of people you encounter think you're puny and incompetent next to them, such as when you spar with the handmaidens or the Mandalorians. Admittedly, you do get to gradually build up their respect with your accomplishments, but there are still a few who look down their noses at you.
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* ''[[Tales of the Questor]]'': [http://www.rhjunior.com/totq/ WHAT'VE I GOTTA TO DO TO GET SOME RESPECT AROUND HERE!]
* ''[[Impure Blood]]'': [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
{{quote|'''Administrator:''' Your friend with an arrest record, no job, and a history of breaking down in front of students.
'''Szark:''' That happened '''once'''. }}
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* Nikola Tesla. Mostly due to actions of Edison he had his reputation ruined, and never got the Nobel he deserved even though his research was the basis of much of 20th century electricity driven technology. Until a popularity surge many decades after his death, he was barely mentioned in history books.
* Benedict Arnold was one of the best US generals but was constantly passed over for promotion and generally treated like shit by his superiors, so him becoming a turncloak is quite understandable.
** 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
{{reflist}}
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