Hero of Another Story: Difference between revisions

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A good way to combat this is to use a recurring character instead of making up a new one whenever the plot demands it. The writers give the impression that this character is having just as many adventures as the hero, only offscreen. In other words, they're the [[Title Drop|Hero of Another Story]].

Such a character will come in handy to establish that the folks back at base are actually doing something when our heroes get captured. Though they will rarely actually succeed in rescuing the captured heroes, they may end up leading [[The Cavalry]] to sweep up after the [[Blast Out]]. In general, the [[Hero of Another Story]] will be a competent professional, but will lack whatever special gift or drive makes our hero so special; or else act as a [[Supporting Leader]] and occupy the enemy while the main characters go after the [[Golden Snitch]].

Such a character will come in handy to establish that the folks back at base are actually doing something when our heroes get captured. Though they will rarely actually succeed in rescuing the captured heroes, they may end up leading [[The Cavalry]] to sweep up after the [[Blast Out]]. In general, the '''Hero of Another Story''' will be a competent professional, but will lack whatever special gift or drive makes our hero so special; or else act as a [[Supporting Leader]] and occupy the enemy while the main characters go after the [[Golden Snitch]].

Unfortunately, such characters have a bad habit of being [[Killed Off for Real]], as they [[Mauve Shirt|can carry some of the emotional impact of a regular character while avoiding the inconvenience of changing the cast]]. Of course, viewers may feel cheated if promised that [[Tonight Someone Dies]].

The [[Hero of Another Story]] is usually someone our heroes respect and trust, and while they may enjoy some friendly competition, he is rarely a serious rival.

The '''Hero of Another Story''' is usually someone our heroes respect and trust, and while they may enjoy some friendly competition, he is rarely a serious rival.

On occasion, we'll see one of these characters get a [[Day in The Limelight]] episode and they'll become [[The Hero]] for the episode. This often makes the ''real'' cast the [[Hero of Another Story]] for the episode, as they'll be off doing their own heroics in the meantime.

On occasion, we'll see one of these characters get a [[Day in The Limelight]] episode and they'll become [[The Hero]] for the episode. This often makes the ''real'' cast the '''Hero of Another Story''' for the episode, as they'll be off doing their own heroics in the meantime.

In some cases, certain series episodes may introduce a guest character where it is intentionally done as a [[Backdoor Pilot]] for a spinoff of his own series of adventures. Unfortunately, the majority of these are unsuccessful and thus he remains the [[Hero of Another Story]].

In some cases, certain series episodes may introduce a guest character where it is intentionally done as a [[Backdoor Pilot]] for a spinoff of his own series of adventures. Unfortunately, the majority of these are unsuccessful and thus he remains the '''Hero of Another Story'''.

Compare [[Supporting Leader]]. Naturally, this will result when someone encounters the main character(s) of another series via [[Crossover]] or a [[Poorly-Disguised Pilot]]. See also [[Little Hero, Big War]], for settings that often have a bunch of heroes of other stories. Depending on how well written the character is they could become a [[Ensemble Darkhorse]].

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** In the novel ''Devil May Care'' Bond is told that a new 004 has been appointed. Turns out {{spoiler|she's the Bond Girl}}.

* Jessica Stevenson's team in ''[[Shaun of the Dead]]'' appear to take part in a much more interesting adventure, ultimately joining up with the army and leading [[The Cavalry]] to defeat the zombies. However, we only see a brief glimpse of them as the plot follows Shaun's trip to the pub.

* ''[[An Officer and a Gentleman]]'' is the story of Zack Mayo (Richard Gere). Casey Seeger, the only female officer candidate, appears in a few ~~scenes--just~~ enough to declare her intention to be the Navy's first female fighter pilot, show her struggles on the obstacle course, reveal it's really an ''internal'' struggle with feeling like "a second class citizen," let Foley hold her up to the main character as an example of "''heart!'' and ''character!''" and overall give the impression that, if the camera started following ''her'' around, there'd be a damn good movie in there.

* ''[[An Officer and a Gentleman]]'' is the story of Zack Mayo (Richard Gere). Casey Seeger, the only female officer candidate, appears in a few scenes—just enough to declare her intention to be the Navy's first female fighter pilot, show her struggles on the obstacle course, reveal it's really an ''internal'' struggle with feeling like "a second class citizen," let Foley hold her up to the main character as an example of "''heart!'' and ''character!''" and overall give the impression that, if the camera started following ''her'' around, there'd be a damn good movie in there.

* Not so much in the comics, but in the ''[[Scott Pilgrim]]'' movie, Stephen Stills appears to be starring in his own movie, where Scott is just some weird guy who flakes out on the band and messes up their shows. Director Edgar Wright has stated that he instructed Stills' actor to pretend that the movie he's in is called ''Stephen Stills Is Almost Famous''.

** Also one has to wonder what the Vegan Police might be doing.

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** Saphira gives a blessing of sorts to an infant girl, later informing Eragon that the girl won't have an ordinary life after receiving it, and that what he just witnessed was the beginning of a whole new legend.

** And then it turns out that they screwed up and cursed her to suffer other people's problems. After they find out, they try to remove the curse, but only partially remove it, resulting in someone who is aware of other people's problems, but is not inclined to help. [[Start of Darkness|It's implied that she is now on a path to become a villain]].

* [[Discussed Trope|Discussed]] and [[~~Lampshade|lampshaded~~]] in one of the [[Master and Commander|Aubrey-Maturin]] books by [[The Philosopher|Stephen Maturin]] and [[Boisterous Bruiser|Jagiello]], right after Jagiello loses his grip on a ship's mast, narrowly avoids the deck, plunges into the sea, and is pulled out roaring with laughter: in a bit of metafictional humor, Jagiello jokingly says that the hero of the story never dies in such a unspectacular fashion, and that he considers himself to be the hero of his own story.

* [[Discussed Trope|Discussed]] and [[lampshade]]d in one of the [[Master and Commander|Aubrey-Maturin]] books by [[The Philosopher|Stephen Maturin]] and [[Boisterous Bruiser|Jagiello]], right after Jagiello loses his grip on a ship's mast, narrowly avoids the deck, plunges into the sea, and is pulled out roaring with laughter: in a bit of metafictional humor, Jagiello jokingly says that the hero of the story never dies in such a unspectacular fashion, and that he considers himself to be the hero of his own story.

* This is discussed in [[Fifth Business]]. Dunstan Ramsay isn't even the hero of his ''own'' story; instead, he (according to Liesl) is destined to be the vital supporting character to everyone else. Strictly speaking, the hero of the story is the successful, handsome Boy Staunton, but the narration only checks in on him now and again.

* In Laura Anne Gilman's ''Retriever'' series there's the Private Unaffiliated Paranormal Investigators (PUPI or "puppies") who she eventually decided to give their own series in which the characters from the ''Retriver'' series play this role.

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== Live Action TV ==

* This trope used to be named after Colonel Makepeace, the leader of SG-3, from ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''. Makepeace was even briefly put in charge of SG-1 after O'Neill's [[Ten-Minute Retirement]] as the highest-ranking officer in SG ~~teams -- right~~ before he was exposed as [[The Mole]]. The new leader of SG-3, Colonel Reynolds, picked up the trope after that, and held it longer than Makepeace ever did.

* This trope used to be named after Colonel Makepeace, the leader of SG-3, from ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''. Makepeace was even briefly put in charge of SG-1 after O'Neill's [[Ten-Minute Retirement]] as the highest-ranking officer in SG teams—right before he was exposed as [[The Mole]]. The new leader of SG-3, Colonel Reynolds, picked up the trope after that, and held it longer than Makepeace ever did.

** Colonel Makepeace gets his [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] when he leads an assault team composed of half a dozen SG teams to rescue SG-1 from Hathor. Of course he fails, the rescuers being rescued in turn by Bra'tac, Teal'c, and General Hammond (in one of his rare off-world trips).

*** Speaking of [[Cool Old Guy|Bra'tac]], as a leader in the Jaffa Rebellion, he could also could as this, as could other rebel leaders such as [[Hot Amazon|Ishtar]].

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*** The ''Enterprise'' that became a [[Generation Ships|generation ship]] had plenty of adventures after the crew went back in time. No wonder the Xindi accused the main timeline's ''Enterprise'' of having sister ships (before any were completed).

*** There's also Daniels, who fights in the Temporal Cold War to protect the Federation.

** [[Star Trek: The Original Series|TOS]] tended to suggest that the other ''Constitution''-class starships generally did have their own 'only ship in the sector' and 'stumbled upon a dangerous mystery while exploring' incidents off-screen whenever other ''Constitition''-class starships showed up. No specific individual served the [[Hero of Another Story]] role well, though.

** [[Star Trek: The Original Series|TOS]] tended to suggest that the other ''Constitution''-class starships generally did have their own 'only ship in the sector' and 'stumbled upon a dangerous mystery while exploring' incidents off-screen whenever other ''Constitition''-class starships showed up. No specific individual served the Hero of Another Story role well, though.

* The day shifts on ''[[Homicide: Life On the Street]]'' and ''[[CSI]]''.

* Detective Profaci on ''[[Law & Order|Law and Order]]'', who was eventually a casualty in a [[Tonight Someone Dies]] episode (not killed, but arrested for corruption, and exited stage left just the same).

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* In ''[[Silent Hill: Downpour]]'', the Full Circle ending implies that {{spoiler|[[Magical Negro|Howard Blackwood]], [[Blood on These Hands|JP Sater]], and [[Jive Turkey|DJ Bobby Ricks]]}} were all Heroes of their own stories, but failed and [[Groundhog Day Loop|became stuck in Silent Hill limbo]] as a result.

* In ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]: Storm of Zehir'', the [[Player Character|player characters]] are this in relation to the Knight-Captain, the [[Player Character|PC]] from the first two campaigns. (''SoZ'' takes place during or after ''Mask of the Betrayer'', on the opposite side of the continent.)

* A lot of the [[NPC~~|NPCs~~]] from ''[[Dark Souls]]'' are these. You'll often find them in extremely dangerous areas like Anor Londo and Lost Izalith, meaning they must be pretty [[Badass]] to fight their way there.

* A lot of the [[NPC]]s from ''[[Dark Souls]]'' are these. You'll often find them in extremely dangerous areas like Anor Londo and Lost Izalith, meaning they must be pretty [[Badass]] to fight their way there.

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** Not to mention fedorafreak, who only ever appears on a [[Twitter]] [[Expy]] for three frames, and provides regular updates about, respectively, his choice of hats, his house burning down, [[The End of the World as We Know It]], and finally, his own journey through another session of Sburb and, finally, his death, possibly on a Quest Bed (which would allow his [[Came Back Strong|ascension to God Tier]]). The forums make him a [[Memetic Badass]].

** {{spoiler|The trolls' ancestors played an unsuccessful session that resulting in the Scratch, resetting their universe so our trolls could have another chance}}.

* On the cast page of the webcomic ''[[Precocious (Webcomic)|Precocious]]'', Kaitlyn is described as "the central character in another strip". She literally became the [[Hero of Another Story]] later, with the introduction of the Precocious spinoff strip, [http://www.precociouscomic.com/archive/copperroad/index.html Copper Road].

* On the cast page of the webcomic ''[[Precocious (Webcomic)|Precocious]]'', Kaitlyn is described as "the central character in another strip". She literally became the Hero of Another Story later, with the introduction of the Precocious spinoff strip, [http://www.precociouscomic.com/archive/copperroad/index.html Copper Road].

* [[Girl Genius|Othar Trygvassen]] ([[Gentleman Adventurer]]!) is this for much of the comic (as chronicled on his Twitter feed) until his story crosses with the main plot. And in his mind, he's still [[The Hero]] even when it does.

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== Real Life ==

* Strictly speaking, anybody you run into is likely the [[Hero of Another Story]]. Assuming that they (or you) aren't in fact the ''[[Villain Protagonist|villain]]'', or even worse, a [[Red Shirt]]. Then again, it's very possible that many folks you run into will just be the [[Butt Monkey]].

* Strictly speaking, anybody you run into is likely the Hero of Another Story. Assuming that they (or you) aren't in fact the ''[[Villain Protagonist|villain]]'', or even worse, a [[Red Shirt]]. Then again, it's very possible that many folks you run into will just be the [[Butt Monkey]].

** Well, most people you meet are a [[Hero of Another Story]]: their own. They'd have to have pretty low opinions of themselves to be the the villains or red shirts of their own stories, and we all are probably the butt monkeys at some point or another.

** Well, most people you meet are a Hero of Another Story: their own. They'd have to have pretty low opinions of themselves to be the the villains or red shirts of their own stories, and we all are probably the butt monkeys at some point or another.

** It can be quite disconcerting to look around yourself in a public place and think how everyone else is also seeing themselves as "the person looking around themselves at a bunch of strangers"

*** Which is perfectly demonstrated by [http://xkcd.com/610/ this xkcd comic].

**** And [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2254#comic this SMBC one].

**** This really depends on your point of view. Someone who may be the [[Hero of Another Story]] to one person may be the villain in yours or their own. Likewise, you may consider yourself the villain, and thus the [[Hero of Another Story]] the only hero there is, and only the one story - theirs.

**** This really depends on your point of view. Someone who may be the Hero of Another Story to one person may be the villain in yours or their own. Likewise, you may consider yourself the villain, and thus the Hero of Another Story the only hero there is, and only the one story - theirs.

* The scientists working on Ultra (the Enigma code breakers during [[World War II]]) were this for a long time to the scientists working on the Manhattan project (development of the atomic bomb). While the latter were widely recognized for their work, Ultra was kept officially secret until 1974.

* This trope was invoked by practically everyone, on all sides of the fight during [[World War Two]] (and any other war if you think about it). [[From a Certain Point of View|In their own version of this trope]], both sides (Axis/Allies) were doing what they felt was right, while twisting the other side's words/actions against them as much as possible to justify their actions.