Heroic Lineage: Difference between revisions

 

In short, a character is a descendant of a famous hero, regardless of if he knows it or not, or how strong the blood is. Compare [[Tell Me About My Father]], where the character loves to think about his dead/absentee parents as heroes, regardless of the truth.

 

* The Joestars, the Zepelli and, to a lesser extent, the Speedwagons of ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]''

* In ''[[Naruto]]'', not only is the titular character descended from the {{spoiler|Yondaime Hokage}} and the Sage of Six Paths, but is the most recent in a line of [[Mentor Archetype|mentor]]-pupil relationships including Kakashi, [[Badass Grandpa|Jiraiya]], and the second through fourth [[Authority Equals Asskicking|Hokage]]. To be more exact, he is pretty closely related to {{spoiler|the original Sage of Six Paths (as a descendant), Fourth Hokage (as a descendant), the whole of Uzumaki clan (whose Bloodline Limit enhances their stamina and lifespan pretty noticeably, as evident with Kushina and also Naruto), and distantly related to First, Second, and Fifth Hokages (Senju and Uzumaki were originally branch families descendent from Sage of Six Paths)}}. So much for being able to achieve things without having a Bloodline Limit.

 

* ''[[Deltora Quest]]'', all kings and queens of Deltora are descendants of King Adin, a blacksmith who united the Seven Tribes to drive back the [[Evil Overlord|Shadow Lord]]'s army. Searching for the King Endon's child was a part of the main quest in the first series. {{spoiler|It's Lief, Dain was actually a [[Shape Shifter|Grade 3 Ol]] [[The Mole|spy]] for the Shadow Lord.}}

* In ''[[Dune]]'', House Atreides claims lineage from King Agamemnon of Argos (or Mycenae, depending on the source), who fought in the Trojan War. This claim originally belongs to the [[Humongous Mecha|Titan]] Agamemnon (not his real name) and taken up by his son Vorian Atreides, whose last name is derived from "Atreidae", the collective name for the descendants of King Atreus, Agamemnon's father.

* In ''[[Warrior Cats]]'', almost all of the point of view characters in the main series are the descendents of the living legend Firestar, the first hero of the series.

 

* ''[[Super Sentai]]'' has used this more than once:

** In ''[[Gosei Sentai Dairanger]]'', Lin (the present-day Hou-Ouranger) is descended from the Dai tribe, and Ryou (the present-day Ryuranger) is {{spoiler|of more direct lineage: He's the son of the original Ryuranger}}.

** The present-day Kakurangers from ''[[Ninja Sentai Kakuranger]]'' are each descended from their respective predecessors, who sealed away the Youkai Army Corps long ago.

** ''[[Samurai Sentai Shinkenger]]'' (and ''[[Power Rangers Samurai]]'') features samurai whose families have fought the monsters for generations; the Red Ranger from the Shiba clan and the others from the clan's retainers. When a friend of the Red Ranger wishes to join them as the [[Sixth Ranger]], much is made of the fact that he is self-taught and has no such lineage.

 

* In ''[[Legend of the Five Rings]]'', famous ancestors can be bought as merits at character creation. Each of them gives some merits (and sometimes drawbacks) depending of what he was famous for.

* This trope is made into an actual game mechanic in the ''[[Star Wars]]'' Saga Edition tabletop game with the Legacy Destiny, where your normal Destiny<ref>Something like Destruction, Creation, Redemption, Prevention, Sacrifice, etc</ref> is replaced with a family line that grants you a special ability (usually, getting a Critical Success more-or-less when you really need one).

 

* In ''[[Assassin's Creed]]'', Desmond Miles is a bartender reliving the genetic memories of his ancestor [[Memetic Badass|Altaïr]]. He later learns to be an Assassin from another of his ancestors, Ezio Auditore.

* The Belmont clan from ''[[Castlevania]]'', always out to hunt the night.

* The first ''[[Dragon Quest I]]'' game had you play as the descendant of the legendary hero Loto. [[Dragon Quest II|The second]] had you play as the descendants of the first game's hero. [[Dragon Quest III|The third]] had you play ''as'' Loto, who was himself the descendant of another hero. Somewhat subverted in [[Dragon Quest V|the fifth]], where the legendary hero is actually a descendant of the main character, who marries a descendant of the last legendary hero.

* In ''[[Fable]]'' it is implied that all heroes are descended from the first Archon.

** Marth from the first game is actually a subversion. While called Anri's decedent, Anri died childless and Marth is actually descended from Anri's brother.

* [[Ico]] is the descendant of Wander, protagonist of ''[[Shadow of the Colossus]]''. Though Wander's fame is debatable, and the one sign of the lineage ({{spoiler|the horns}}) is more of a curse than a blessing for Ico.

* A [[Mysterious Informant]] with this news kicks off the plot of ''[[Last Scenario]]''. {{spoiler|Actually a rare subversion. She was lying}}. This leads to a [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]] {{spoiler|and [[Tear Jerker]] when the supposed ancestor himself is executed, and with his last words acknowledges the heroes as the true "descendants" of his heroic spirit.}}

* The hero you can name yourself in ''[[Lufia and The Fortress of Doom]]'' is the descendant of Maxim, the hero who originally [[Sealed Evil in a Can|sealed]] the four [[Big Bad]]s. This tradition is continued in ''[[Lufia: The Legend Returns|The Legend Returns]]'' with Wain, who is also descended from Maxim.

* ''[[Touhou]]'': Rarely mentioned, but ''all the humans'' of Gensokyo (that didn't stumble from The Outside, anyway) are descendants of brave people who defeated the youkai to settle there.

 

* Luka in ''[[Monster Girl Quest]]'' is the son of Marcellus, a former hero who {{spoiler|defeated the previous Monster Lord Alice XV (albeit she let him win)}}. Both of them are distantly descended from {{spoiler|the legendary Heinrich Hein, who defeated the tyrannical Monster Lord Alice VIII}}.

* Shiki Tohno in ''[[Tsukihime]]'' is a [[Last of His Kind|last descendant]] of {{spoiler|the Nanaya household, a lineage of pure-blooded humans (read: "[[Cosmic Horror|weakest species in the setting]]"), who trained their bodies and honed their skills enough to fight most supernatural threats, be it Demons, vampires, or what have you}}.

 

 

* Lots of families claim this in real life. Some claims are [[Understatement|rather dubious]] but that's part of the fun.

* In parts of the world knowing someone's cousin is the answer to the important questions of, "Who will pay me if you default on a deal" and "Who will beat me up if I pick on you." Having a [[Heroic Lineage]] counts as having a [[Family Honor| credit report]].

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Royalty and Nobility Tropes]]