Heroic Bystander: Difference between revisions

* In ''[[Sailor Moon (Manga)|Sailor Moon]]'', [[Nerd|Nerdy]] wimpy Umino/Melvin proves himself a hero after he pushes his lifelong crush Naru/Molly out of the way of an enemy attack. Others express surprise that Umino, of all people, had saved a life. Is it any surprise they become a couple later?

* ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (Anime)|Mobile Suit Gundam Wing]]: Endless Waltz'' pulls this in the climax by having a {{spoiler|nameless member of the Mariemaia Army}} shoot {{spoiler|Dekim}} after realizing that {{spoiler|he and his fellow Treize loyalists had been manipulated into fighting a war they wouldn't have supported normally.}}

* Similarly, ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (Anime)|Mobile Suit Gundam SEED]]'''s ending features {{spoiler|Patrick Zala}} ordering his men to cause [[The End of the World Asas We Know It]]. After a moment of stunned silence, a lone mook questions the order, and is immediately shot as a traitor. The wounded mook decides that his boss has gone completely off the deep end, and promptly ''returns fire''.

* Yusuke Urameshi of ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho (Manga)|Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' has his [[Super-Hero Origin]] in a [[First-Episode Resurrection]] after he is killed [[Diving Save|saving]] a little kid from being hit by a car. He is told that he is being given a chance at resurrection because he wasn't supposed to die then: the [[Powers That Be]] never expected a [[Delinquents]] like him to make a [[Heroic Sacrifice]].

* ''[[Gantz (Manga)|Gantz]]'' pretty much begins with a double occurrence of this trope.

* In ''[[Princess Tutu (Anime)|Princess Tutu]]'' there's Autor, an annoying, geeky character who seems to care very little about other people. However, {{spoiler|when an axe-wielding man tries to cut off Fakir's hands to stop him from finishing the story}}, Autor pushes him out of the way and uses nothing more than a book and his bare hands to defeat the man. ...He appears to faint right afterwards, but it still shows that there's more to him than may meet the eye at first.

* Rachel from ''[[Baccano (Light Novel)|Baccano]]!'' spends the majority of the [[Traintop Battle|Flying Pussyfoot]] hijack/massacre saving lives and rescuing hostages entirely unprompted, even though it was her job as an [[Knowledge Broker|information gatherer]] to lay low and stay ''out'' of trouble. She got an injured leg and hand for her effort, but [[Worth It|her conscience is clean.]]

* In the first episode of ''[[Code Geass (Anime)|Code Geass]]'', when a truck crashes, the Britannian civilians merely stand and gawk at the scene, with some casually taking pictures with their cellphones. Lelouch is the only person who bothers actually trying to help.

* Maybe not directly helping anyone, but in ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'', when the police surround the news building with their face-concealing helmets, knowing that Kira needs only a face and maybe a name to kill, one reporter on another channel speaks up. "This is right. This is the way a constitutional nation should behave!" He then [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|proceeds to give out his full name on national television]].

* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima (Manga)|Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' has Johnny the airship pilot, who is apparently the Magic World's equivalent of a cross-country trucker. He's earned his stripes by loaning his airship to the heroes and performing some high-intensity stunt-flying for them during the raid on Old Ostia.

* In the [[Spin-Off]] manga of ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Anime)|Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'', ''[[Puella Magi Oriko Magica (Manga)|Puella Magi Oriko Magica]]'', we have [[Hot Chick Withwith a Sword|Sayaka Miki]] doing this all the way in the hallways.

** [[The Mighty Thor]]'s hammer can supposedly only be lifted by those who possess a hero's nature and a pure heart. So far this effectively means Thor, [[Captain America]], [[Wonder Woman]], [[Superman (Franchise)|Superman]], a couple supporting cast characters from the Thor comic like [[Beta Ray Bill]], and [[The Real Heroes|a random paramedic]] who handed it to Thor after he found it in the aftermath of an [[The Avengers (Comic Book)|Avengers]] fight. By the time Thor realized the significance of this, the guy had wandered off.

** When Aunt May's boyfriend Nathan is attacked by a gang of [[Faceless Goons|thugs]], [[Spider-Man (Franchise)|Spider-Man]] intervenes to stop them. It looks like [[Batman Cold Open|a typical one-sided fight]] until one of the goons puts a knife to Nathan's throat. There's not much Spidey can do until an elderly bystander sneaks up on the goon from behind and stuns him with her [[Cane Fu]], dizzying him and allowing Spider-Man to reel him in with a webline to punch him out.

** Mary Jane Watson, [[Spider-Man (Franchise)|Spider-Man]]'s former wife, invoked this trope on ''multiple'' occasions:

*** When Mary Jane was kidnapped by a [[Stalker Withwith a Crush]] named Jonathan Caesar, Spider-Man tried to rescue her. Caesar responded by sending a pair of mercenaries named [[Those Two Guys|Styx and Stone]] after our hero, who nearly killed him until Mary Jane escaped from Caesar and his goons on her own and used the gun she stole to scare away the mercenaries.

*** When a [[Spider Island (Comic Book)|mutating powers virus]] grants normal people the same powers and abilities as Spider-Man, Mary Jane watches the spider-powered citizens having the time of their lives from the sidelines. When the virus mutates those infected into giant spiders, Mary Jane finally becomes infected with powers and comes to the aid of defenseless citizens. She later joins in the final battle with the villain responsible for the madness, saving Spider-Man and motivating him to use his head and then defending him once he formulates a plan to save everybody.

** [[Daredevil]] fought [[Playing Withwith Fire|Pyro]] and [[Fat Bastard|the Blob]] to keep them from abducting a young mutant girl and forcing her to register with the U.S. government. After taking out Pyro, Daredevil attacked the Blob but was quickly knocked down. The Blob was about to stomp Daredevil when the girl he was trying to protect used her telekinetic powers to pull him out of the way. Daredevil then got the girl to use her powers to pull a large bell down from a nearby church, knocking the Blob out after Daredevil blinded him and then lured him under the steeple.

* Aunt May in ''[[Spider-Man (Filmfilm)|Spider-Man]] 2'' showed her mettle when Dr. Octopus tried to make her a [[Distressed Damsel]]. Though he did take her hostage, she saved [[Spider-Man (Franchise)|Spider-Man]] by hitting Otto with her umbrella before he could impale Spidey in a sneak attack.

*** Though by that point, they've already [[Spider-Man (Franchise)/Heartwarming|rescued the unconscious Spider-Man from falling to his death]] and [[Tear Jerker|given him back his mask, promising to keep his identity secret.]] And in any case, [[Spider-Man (Franchise)/Awesome|it's the thought that counts]].

** Although he seems to have just as much fun being rescued from such situations (see the Daredevil movie), as well as being turned away from the wedding in ''[[Fantastic Four (Filmfilm)|Fantastic Four]] 2''.

** And getting mistaken for Hugh Hefner in ''[[Iron Man (Filmfilm)|Iron Man]]''.

* In the ''[[Die Hard (Film)|Die Hard]]'' movies, McClane ''has'' been a police officer, but he's never sent into the situations he gets into. He's just in the wrong place at the wrong time... again. By ''Live Free or Die Hard,'' he's well aware of his lousy luck.

** Although he's not a bystander in ''Die Hard 3'' - he's a target. It's [[Samuel L. Jackson]]'s Zeus who's the [[Heroic Bystander]].

* This is the entire premise of [[Dustin Hoffman]]'s ''[[Accidental Hero (Filmfilm)|Hero]]''.

* In [[Tim Burton]]'s ''[[Batman (Filmfilm)|Batman]]'', when the Joker gases the crowd at his parade, the only one who tries to help is Alexander Knox, an annoying reporter who'd spent most of the film as [[Plucky Comic Relief]]. He doesn't get very far because Vicki Vale accidentally runs him over a few minutes later, but it's the thought that counts.

* ''[[Superman II (Film)|Superman II]]''. During Superman's fight with the three Kryptonian supervillains, they smash him with a bus. The citizens of Metropolis join together and charge the villains, only to be blown away by the bad guys' super breath. However, their intervention gives Superman enough time to pull himself together and come up with a cunning plan to lure the villains away from the city.

* ''[[The Dark Knight Saga (Film)|The Dark Knight Saga]]'': The Joker arranges for two ships full of refugees (one with regular citizens and the other the contents of the local prison) to be wired with explosives, then informs the refugees that they have the detonators for the other ship and if one ship blows up before midnight, he won't blow up the other one. The Joker was out to prove that [[Humans Are Bastards|People Ain't No Damn Good]], {{spoiler|but one man on each ship decides to ''not'' blow up the other one, even if it meant their own deaths. Special awesome points to the convict who tossed it while the other side was dithering}}.

* Ted Striker does this in ''[[Airplane! (Film)|Airplane!]]'', and [[Lampshade Hanging|again in the sequel]].

* The old German gentleman in ''[[The Avengers (Filmfilm)|The Avengers]]''. He's just a face in the crowd... but he stands up to a homicidal god, because the alternative is to live in a world where everybody knelt.

'''Old Man:''' "[[A Nazi Byby Any Other Name|There are always men like you.]]" }}

* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s ''[[Brothers of the Snake (Literature)|Brothers of the Snake]]'', Antoni is an ordinary human, living on a fairly primitive world, who leads a Space Marine to where the Dark Eldar have landed. When one attacks her, she manages to kill it. (The rest appear, and the Space Marine arrives to deal with them.)

* In ''[[King Lear (Theatre)|King Lear]]'', one of Cornwall's servants sees him blinding Gloucester and tries to intercede. Regan kills him, but not before he fatally stabs Cornwall.

* Frodo Baggins in ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Literature)|The Lord of the Rings]]'', who's just a guest at his uncle's birthday party. He just so happens to be given the One [[Artifact of Doom]]. It takes the first 2 out of 3 volumes of the original edition to turn him from [[Innocent Bystander]] to a heroic one.

* Subverted to hell and back in the finale of ''[[Seinfeld (TV)|Seinfeld]]''.

* Niki from ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', who aids the rest of the superpowered main characters in New York during the first season finale largely out of choice, and not because of any knowledge of who the villain, Sylar, is. She beats Sylar with a traffic meter, even though she had never met any of the heroes (except Nathan and Parkman) prior to the final fight. Or Sylar, for that matter. She meets bystander criteria by being little more than just a single mom, albeit with super strength.

* A whole city of heroic bystanders appeared in the finale to ''[[Power Rangers in Space]]''. The Big Bad has invaded the city, and threatens to destroy it if the Power Rangers don't show themselves. [[Those Two Guys|Bulk and Skull]], two comic relief characters that had varying roles throughout the series, step forward and [[I Am Spartacus|identify themselves as Rangers, and the rest of the civilians follow their lead]]. This naturally pisses the villain off, but before she can order the city destroyed, the real Rangers announce their presence and morph, and begin to fight her horde of minions. Angel Grove's populace, ''[[Power Rangers (Franchise)/Awesome|led by Bulk and Skull]]'', join the fray and help the Rangers successfully fight them off.

* One of the unique "hooks" in the very premise of the 60s spy series ''[[The Man Fromfrom UNCLEU.N.C.L.E.]]'' was that in just about every episode the U.N.C.L.E. agents would be involved with an "innocent civilian" who would become a prime actor in the episode's plot. While sometimes these innocents would be persons persuaded by U.N.C.L.E. to assist them in their operations, in many episodes the innocent was just someone who happened to be around while Solo (usually) or Kuryakin was implementing the plot of the week, and thus got involved in U.N.C.L.E.'s operations as a [[Heroic Bystander]].

* John's girlfriend, Sarah, fulfills this role in the second episode of ''[[Sherlock (TV)|Sherlock]]''. She is on a date with John at the circus when Sherlock gets attacked by one of the company while poking about backstage in search of clues. When the fight escalates and bursts out onstage, Sarah grabs a random stick of some sort and beats the crap of out Sherlock's assailant, effectively taking the guy out of the fight and really helping Sherlock out, since he'd gotten knocked over and was lying on the floor at the time.

* In the ''[[Lost (TV)|Lost]]'' episode "Greatest Hits," Charlie is recalling the best moments of his life as he sets out on a suicide mission. #2 is saving a woman from an attacker, and her subsequently declaring him a hero, because three other people had passed by without intervening, and especially because Charlie was terrified and not used to fighting.

* Near the end of the ''[[Criminal Minds (TV)|Criminal Minds]]'' episode "Derailed" the unstable villain is incapacitated mid-[[Freak-Out]] by one of his hostages, who had a concealed gun the entire time. Could be seen as a subversion, considering the guy was apparently on his way to kill his ex-wife when the train was hijacked.

* In an episode of ''[[CSI (TV)|CSI]]'', a Character of the Day sacrificed himself to stop a bomb from blowing up a building, grabbing it and running as far as he could before it exploded.

* Marcy stopped a bank robbery on ''[[Married... Withwith Children (TV)|Married With Children]]''.

* In a heroic combination of this, the [[Upgrade Artifact]] and taking a level in [[Badass]], Vent/Aile in ''[[Mega Man ZX (Video Game)|Mega Man ZX]]'' start out exactly like this. Vent later comments that had he not saved Prairie in such a manner, he'd somehow regret it (despite the fact she's Giro's commander...)

* If Cole chooses the heroic path in ''[[In FamousInfamous (Videovideo game Gameseries)|In Famous]]'', the bystanders will gradually cheer him on until they start taking an active role in your defense of Empire City, hurling rocks at random mooks trying to take him down and providing a useful distraction. This is especially useful on the Dustmen who carry insulated riot shields, forcing them to turn sideways to block the pelting and offering you a critical opening to quickly take them down.

* This is what T. Campbell meant to portray in the actions of Rikk in the first storyline of ''[[Fans (Webcomic)|Fans]]''

* ''[[Girl Genius (Webcomic)|Girl Genius]]'' has Airman Higgs.

* In the introductory story "Ayla and the Late Trevor James Goodkind" in the [[Whateley Universe (Literature)|Whateley Universe]], we see Ayla go from being the victim of circumstances to the [[Heroic Bystander]] when she and her sister run into Sparkler, a psycho superpowered fireball (literally). She saves her sister's life and does the [[Heroic Sacrifice]], only she doesn't die. She doesn't know how to use her powers effectively yet, but still manages to win, and to save a couple cars full of police. This proves to be a major turning point in her life.

* In ''[[The Spectacular Spider -Man (Animation)|The Spectacular Spider Man]],'' Eddie Brock jumps forward to defend his friends and superiors when they're [[Hostage Situation|held hostage]] by the [[Super Villain]] Electro. His intervention allows young interns ([[Secret Identity Change Trick|including Peter Parker]]) to escape. He later helps by tailing the Lizard, saving Spider-Man from drowning, and baiting the Lizard into a trap set by Spider-Man. John Jameson runs into a room with a timebomb to inform Spidey of its location. Flash Thompson is a [[Subverted Trope|subversion]], only putting himself in further peril when he tries to help Spidey fight Doctor Octopus, although he later helps Spider-Man by distracting Venom.

* One episode of ''[[The Powerpuff Girls (Animation)|The Powerpuff Girls]]'' had the title characters kidnapped by an obsessive [[Fan Boy]] who added them to [[The Collector|his collection]] of Powerpuff Girl merchandise. The girls are powerless to stop him, and eventually the citizens of Townsville pay the Girls back for continually saving them by going to the fanboy's house, destroying his merchandise, and rescuing the girls before the police arrest him. The end of the episode even credits the "people of Townsville" for saving the day, rather than the Girls themselves.

* Common in the [[DCAU]], especially ''[[Justice League (Animationanimation)|Justice League]]''. Every time an incident is affecting large groups of people, the episode will always show at least one nameless bystander being heroic, often inspiring the superheroes to remember what they're fighting for.

* Even [[Batman: The Animated Series (Animation)|Batman the Animated Series]] could benefit from this trope. While fighting to rescue a girl that the Mad Hatter had kidnapped, Batman manages to remove the mind control device on one of the Hatter's [[People Puppets]]. The man Batman saves is the girl's fiance, and he returns the favor by disabling the rest of the Hatter's pawns. They're programmed to only attack Batman, so they ignore him as he removes their own mind control devices.

* Hideaki Akaiwa, resident of the port city of Ishinomaki, hit by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. When his city suddendly turned into a lake, his wife was missing. So he got a SCUBA suit and dove into the water to search for her. [[Up to Eleven|In the currents. By night. Among debris and submerged power lines]]. He found her trapped in their home, water to her neck, and rescued her ''in extremis''. [[Oh, No, Not Again|The next day, he noticed his aging mother was still missing]]. So he searched again the waters for her, too. [[Serial Escalation|He also found and rescued her in her home with water to the neck]]. While most people would call it a day, [[Japanese Honorifics|Akaiwa-sama]] spent the next several days wading through the mud, searching for more survivors.