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

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Dude, Where's My Respect? (view source)

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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 Percent Heroism Rating|should be too grateful]] or [[The Dreaded|too scared]] to turn you down, right? Wrong!
 
"Go clean out my stables."
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Compare [[No Fame No Wealth No Service]], [[Hero With Bad Publicity]]. Contrast [[Famed in Story]], [[Hundred Percent Heroism Rating]], and [[The Player Is the Most Important Resource]].
 
{{examples|Examples}}
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{{quote| '''Mrs. Carver:''' So you saved Hanukkah! It's not even one of the High Holy Days!}}
* In ''[[Groundhog Day (Film)|Groundhog Day]]'', Phil notes that one kid that he has saved multiple times in the [[Groundhog Day Loop]] has never thanked him.
* Reminiscent of one of the [[Real Life]] mentions below, Rachel/Ellis in ''[[Zwartboek|The Black Book]]'' is deemed a traitor and collaborator after [[World War II]] despite being a Jewish member of the [[La Résistance|Dutch Resistance]], mostly because in her work as [[The Mole]], she worked for the Nazis and became chummy with a [[Anti -Villain|sympathetic Nazi officer]].
 
 
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* Very much present in ''[[Black and White]]'', where, despite being a god, you must perform fairly menial tasks like finding someone's sheep or throwing rocks.
* In Blazing Angels 1 and two, over time, your service record indicates hundreds of aircraft destroyed, thousands of vehicles blown up, and dozens of ships sent to Davy Jones Locker, and stopping entire enemy offensives single-handedly, and in the endgame, your final objective, destroying an elite German jet squadron, has them taunting you. You've destroyed a twentieth of the Axis air force, a Panzer army, and a quarter of the Japanese Navy, and they STILL INSULT YOU? Granted, in the sequel, the game makes up the excuse that you are in a top secret elite squadron who has experimental equipment, and you get all of the nation's top awards, but that doesn't cover up the fact that you destroyed enough enemy units to make up the campaign record of an air force.
* In ''[[Grand Theft Auto III (Video Game)|Grand Theft Auto III]]'', by the time you reach the third section of Liberty Island, you've assassinated the heads of [[The Mafia]] and the [[Yakuza]], you've completely obliterated [[The Triads and The Tongs|the Triads]], and you've severely damaged the drug smuggling operation of [[The Cartel|the Colombian drug cartel]]. You've also probably [[One -Man Army|killed hundreds to thousands of people]] and caused millions of dollars' worth of damage to the city. In [[Real Life]], you'd be the most notorious criminal ever to set foot in the <s>city</s> country, but that doesn't seem to hold much sway with the Red Jacks street gang, who want you to join them in drive-bys and street brawls.
** It was so ridiculous that the sequel Vice City almost completely averted it. Only the Haitians are still a problem by the end of the game. Not a huge problem either, a minor annoyance with weak guns at best.
* ''[[Golden Sun (Video Game)|Golden Sun]]: The Lost Age'' has this trope in the beginning. In the Tower of the Sea God next to the first town, a boy is trapped on a high ledge and his friend cannot get him down. Even though you save the kid with the Lash Psynergy, both boys coldly thank you and are more concerned about eating something instead of being grateful you didn't leave the kid to starve to death.
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* ''[[Final Fantasy XI (Video Game)|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 (Video Game)|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 (Video Game)|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.
** 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 Majoras Mask (Video Game)|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.
** ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Video Game)|Skyward Sword]]'' can get pretty bad with this sometimes. Granted, virtually none of Skyloft's denizens know Link is risking life and limb to save the entire world each time he heads off on his Loftwing, but quite possibly the ''only'' people in the entire game that show Link anything approaching proper respect for a good portion of the play time are Fi, who acknowledges you as her master from the get-go, and Zelda's father. Pretty much everyone else gives Link no end of crap; Faron the dragon doesn't care that you killed a scorpion the size of a school bus and crossed swords with a demon lord, she still questions what the goddess was thinking choosing you, while [[The Scrappy|Scrapper]] contrives to be a condescending [[Jerkass]] to you at any available opportunity, even though you're the reason he's operational at all.
* Played a little ''too'' straight in the Wii game ''[[Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles|My Life As a King]]''. Once you've set your minions (ahem, "adventurers") their tasks, the only thing you can do all day is ''run around the city, talking to the citizens'' or building buildings to allow even MORE citizens in. Talking to them allows you to stay up later in the day (extends the game clock), so that your minions can actually complete their tasks. To add insult to injury, once your city gets to a certain point, some of your citizens will begin offering fetch quests. Doing these quests involves issuing a "bequest" - tasking your minions to find something in the town - which ''costs you money''. Only reward is a morale gain - which lets you stay up late at night.
* In ''[[Okami (Video Game)|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.
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** In the [[Updated Rerelease]] for [[Nintendo DS]], you do get some statues built in your honor. Too bad the village that does this is in [[Another Dimension]]...
* ''[[Terranigma]]'' has got to be one of the most extreme examples of this trope. Thanks for reviving the world, defeating all the villains and monsters who were threatening it, and sealing away the very spirit of darkness, Ark! Now go ahead and die, we're done with you.
* ''[[My World My Way]]'' features the [[EverythingsEverything'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!"
** [[Lampshaded]] particularly well in Oasis Town, where the heroine directly asks what quest this town is going to give her, and the response is to 1. Collect 5 cough grass to make cold medicine, 2. gather 5 mountain grapes in a forest you have to plant, 3. kill 10 venombugs eating the mayor's garden, 4. Go pick 10 birthday flowers, 5. Light bonfires to attract firepigs, which are a nuisance, so kill 10 of them after you bring them here, and 6. collect 10 Magic Fellworts. This is just the stuff the mayor spat out at you before the princess interrupted him screaming that she's not his maid.
* [[Gaia Online|zOMG!]] actually averts this. Once your level reaches a certain point, the NPCs who give you the repeatable quests say "I should stop wasting your time here, you probably have better things to do. I'll handle the rest myself." Of course, then you can [[Willfully Weak|suppress your level]] and they'll get right back to bossing you around.
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** Hilariously lampshaded in the original Baldur's Gate: At one point, you will get the option to say this:
{{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 ''[[Diablo]] II: Lord Of Destruction'', the expansion pack for ''[[Diablo]] II'', this is how you are treated by the Barbarians (and especially by {{spoiler|[[Face Heel Turn|the corrupt]] [[Well -Intentioned Extremist|Elder Nihlithak]]}}) in the fifth and final Act of the game. You have just defeated {{spoiler|the Lord of Terror himself, Diablo}}, not to mention previously defeating {{spoiler|his brother Mephisto}}, and what do you get? Qual-Kehk says, "You have the look of a warrior. An extra soldier would be useful, ''but don't expect anyone to mourn if you get yourself killed''." Nihlithak is a lot nastier. "After so many have died, who are you to think you can accomplish what our warriors could not?" And, "Ending the siege [will] not earn immediate respect, outsider. Respect only comes with sacrifice -- something I'm sure you know nothing of." The worst from Nihlithak? "What are you still doing here? I thought you were going off to die. Go...Be quick about it."
* In ''[[Runescape]]'', 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.
** Averted as much as it is played straight.
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== Webcomics ==
* The page quote from ''[[Eight 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 [http://www.cheercomic.com/?date=2009-02-06 in] ''[http://www.cheercomic.com/?date=2009-01-30 Cheer]'', when a military enthusiast finds herself in her RPG-obsessed friend's dream.
* ''[[Tales of the Questor]]'': [http://www.rhjunior.com/totq/ WHAT'VE I GOTTA TO DO TO GET SOME RESPECT AROUND HERE!]
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{{quote| '''Administrator:''' Your friend with an arrest record, no job, and a history of breaking down in front of students.<br />
'''Szark:''' That happened '''once'''. }}
** Somewhat justified in that not much of what he's done that was awesome was in the public eye. A lot of it, even those immediately involved didn't know the extent of his contribution. And the war in Hell, the only effect we ''know'' he had was saving the lives of his loved ones and [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|helping Karnak keep going long enough]] to blow Hell up (because if Karnak died, so did Szark). Although maybe Karnak blowing up Hell was good {{spoiler|apart from ''killing Siegfried''.}}
* Gil from ''[[Girl Genius]]'' has just destroyed a whole army just by himself! Will you stop treating him as a kid?!
 
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== Western Animation ==
* Comes up in ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' quite often. Despite all 6 of the mane cast ([[My Friends and Zoidberg|and]] [[The One Guy|Spike]]) being essentially living superweapons, and having fought against [[Mad God|Nightmare Moon]] and [[God of Evil|Discord]] (the latter time being very publically knighted by [[God -Emperor|Celestia]]), upperclass ponies seem to be exceptionally snobby around them, dismissing all six because of where they live. Even the residents of Ponyville fall into this, as while they hold the mane six in very high esteem it's "only" for their far more mundane day jobs and not, you know, saving the town from a rampaging Ursa Minor or being choked by dragon smoke.
* The sequel to ''[[The Secret of NIMH]]'' completely ignores everything that Mrs. Brisby did in the first movie (ie the one that people actually like) in favor of giving a massive amount of praise to Mr. Brisby. Sure, Mrs. Brisby is arguably too modest to bring this up herself and would probably decline a statue built in her honor but the fact that nobody else in the sequel even so much as points out that Mrs. Brisby saved everyone and is AT LEAST as deserving of praise as Mr. Brisby makes the movie seem far more sexist than it should have. Oh, and the opening of the movie only refers to her as a widow.
* Optimus Prime in his incarnation on ''[[Transformers Animated (Animation)|Transformers Animated]]'', despite managing to survive several encounters with Megatron and the Decepticons and preventing them from getting their hands on the [[McGuffin|All Spark]] with his [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]], rarely has his great deeds acknowledged by his superiors on Cybertron due to his position as an Elite Guard washout and being [[Reassigned to Antarctica|assigned to the unglamorous position of the leader of a Space Bridge repair crew]]. It is only at final episode that he and his crew get the kind of respect they deserved.
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* The title character of ''[[Dexters Laboratory (Animation)|Dexters Laboratory]]'' is neglected, shunned and rejected by everybody around him, including his family. He also mistakenly gets into trouble that are beyond his contol or he didn't do in the first place.
* Tony Toponi complains briefly at the end of ''[[An American Tail]]'' for not being thanked for his efforts to reunite Fievel with his family, but he recieves a kiss from Bridget and all is well again.
* In the animated version of ''[[The Legend of Zelda (Animated)|The Legend of Zelda]]'', Link suffers from this in a different way than described in the video game section. In the cartoon, it's ''[[Well, Excuse Me, Princess!|Zelda herself]]'' who refuses to accord Link any respect. She's often [[Tsundere|nasty to him]]; she [[The Unfavorite|compares him unfavorably]] to another wandering hero; she almost [[Ungrateful Bastard|never thanks him for his protection]]; and when things are quiet in the kingdom, she forces him to earn his keep by [[Battle Butler|doing chores and maintenance around the castle]]. To add insult to injury, her father the King genuinely likes Link, but [[Absent -Minded Professor|can't seem to remember his name]].
* Played absolutley straight in an episode of ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]''. The girls had a full week of baddie stompin', city savin', and other matters that involved super heroines. However, the citizens get more and more demanding, each task more menial than the next, until the girls took no more and went on strike. Said tasks included carrying groceries, opening jars of pickles, and ''cleaning cat litter.'' Ironically, a monster attacked at that moment of the strike. The girls had to coach the town in defending themselves...and was responsible for pre-party cleanup afterwards.
* This and [[Ungrateful Bastard]] comes up frequently in [[Scooby Doo Mystery Inc]].
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[[Category:Fairy Tale Tropes]]
[[Category:Dude Wheres My Respect]]
[[Category:Trope]][[Category:Pages with comment tags]]
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