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Hero Ball: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}{{page should be category}}
{{quote|"Now you see that Evil will always triumph, because [[Good Is Dumb]]."|'''Dark Helmet''', ''Spaceballs''}}
It's the third act, and Brent [[The Hero|McHeroman]] has [[Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate|Doctor]] [[The Von Trope Family|Klaus Von]] [[Kick the Dog|Puppykicker]] disarmed and backed into the corner. And Brent is... giving Klaus a stern warning. Didn't Klaus [[Stuffed Into the Fridge|kill Brent's girlfriend]] and [[Doomed Hometown|carpet-bomb his hometown]]? Wasn't he threatening to nuke the [[Throwaway Country]] thirty seconds ago? Why won't Brent just [[Kill Him Already]]?
Oh, that's right, he's holding the [[Hero Ball]].
This is the hero-specific form of the [[Idiot Ball]], which causes its holder to make downright moronic decisions solely because the plot demands it. Unlike the [[Villain Ball]], the [[Hero Ball]] almost never leads to its holder's permanent defeat; it merely delays the hero's inevitable victory, ratcheting up the dramatic tension in the meantime (at least, until the [[Fridge Logic]] kicks in). Of course, once victory is assured, the Hero Ball will prevent its holder from killing or permanently incapacitating the
If he carries the [[Hero Ball]] long enough, one almost gets the impression that the hero is more interested in padding the plot than in actually defeating the [[Big Bad]]. This can be particularly frustrating when we've been shown [[Informed Ability|(or at least told)]] that the hero [[Ping-Pong Naivete|should be smarter than this]].
Heroes who are likely to carry the Hero Ball:
* [[The Cape (trope)]]
* [[Designated Hero]]
* [[Ideal Hero]]
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* [[Lawful Stupid]]
* [[The Messiah]]
* [[Technical Pacifist]]
* [[Stupid Good]]
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* [[Save the Villain]]
* [[Sealed Evil in a Can]]
** [[Sealed Inside a Person
* [[Slave to PR]]
* [[Stupidity Is the Only Option]]
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* [[What Measure Is a Mook?]]
* [[Villains Blend in Better]]
* [[Villain Exit Stage Left]]
Note that some of these tropes are mutually contradictory; for example, a [[Lawful Stupid]] character carries the Hero Ball all the time, but would sooner die than [[Save the Villain]]. Apparently, there's only so many ways to be smart, but idiocy is Legion.
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[[Category:Contrived Stupidity Tropes]]
[[Category:Stupidity Tropes]]
[[Category:
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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