I'm Not a Hero, I'm X: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|'''Batman:''' You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. I can do those things because I'm not a hero, like Dent. I killed those people. That's what I can be.
'''Lt. Gordon:''' No, you can't! You're not!
'''Batman:''' I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be.
|''[[The Dark Knight Saga|The Dark Knight]]''}}
Often preceded by "You're a hero!" [[The Hero]] will respond: "I'm not a hero. I'm _____!"
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* [[The Hero]] is [[Rule of Cool|awesome]]. May deliver the line as "I'm no hero. I'm ____man!", "I'm not a hero; [[No Except Yes|I'm a superhero!]]" or "I'm not a hero. I'm [[Just Doing My Job]]." If delivering the line to a villain and trying to be exceptionally [[Badass]], [[The Hero]] may say: "I'm not a hero. [[I'm Your Worst Nightmare]]" or something along those lines.
* [[The Hero]] is [[Humble Hero|humble]]. Occasionally accompanied by [[Think Nothing of It]].
* [[Heroic Self
* [[The Hero]] attempts to [[Refusal of the Call|refuse]] or [[Ignorant of the Call|ignore the call]], but [[You Can't Fight Fate|will eventually accept it.]]
* [[The Hero]] exhibits false humility. Can lead to [[
* [[The Hero]] [[Tomato in
* [[The Hero]] (or [[Anti
* [[The Hero]] may [[Exactly What It Says
A subtrope of [[I Am the Trope]]. Compare [[I'm a Doctor, Not
{{examples|Examples:}}▼
== Advertising ==
* This trope is [[Parodied Trope|parodied]] for [[Rule of Funny|hilarious effect]] in a recently released Cox commercial that provides the page quote above.
== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[
* In the Fishman Island arc of ''[[One Piece]]'', none other than {{spoiler|Luffy himself has one. Specifically, Jinbei asks him to be the "hero" of Fishman Island, to which Luffy informs him that he's a pirate, not a hero, and has no desire to be one. Luffy then gives an analogy about how a hero would share his meat with everyone, while a pirate would simply feast on it. He ends up agreeing to help anyway when Jinbei promises to give him some meat.}}
* Jack from ''[[Pandora Hearts]]'' is very insistent that he's not a hero. It only ends up making him appear humble and sweet, not to mention more [[Estrogen Brigade Bait|tragic and cute.]]
** {{spoiler|[[The Reveal|Then it]] [[Wham! Episode|turns out]] [[Ax Crazy|he wasn't]] [[Big Bad|lying...]]}}
== Comic Books ==
* An infamous [[Out
{{quote|
'''Killer Moth:''' You're heroes, you ''don't'' act that way.
'''Ray Palmer:''' (points to [[Affirmative Action Legacy|another Atom]]) ''He's'' a hero. I'm Ray Palmer. Welcome to ''[[Cold
* [[Warren Ellis]]' ''[[No Hero]]'', [[Exactly What It Says
== Fan Works ==
* Kairi Niko in the ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' Fanfic ''Destiny's Pawn'' adamantly insists that she's "just a translator." Even after the Jedi all but shove a lightsaber into her hand, she's done some heroics looking for the Star Maps, and assembled the [[Ragtag Band of Misfits]], she still considers herself Bastila's aide. Queue ''massive'' [[Heroic BSOD]] when the truth comes out...
* Played straight in the ''[[
{{quote|
'''Chaos''': ''"I'm a Virus, Daemon. I'm not a good boy."'' }}
* Also played in ''[[
* In ''[[Drunkard's Walk|Drunkard's Walk II]]'', main character Doug Sangnoir finds several opportunities to say, "I'm not a superhero, I'm a soldier."
== Film ==
* In ''[[The Lion, the Witch
{{quote|
'''Susan:''' We're from Finchley! }}
* In the film, ''[[Twilight (
{{quote|
'''Bella:''' You're not. }}
* In ''[[The Dark Knight Saga|The Dark Knight]]'', Batman delivers the page quote to reveal his [[Zero
* Something similar is done in
* A variation of this occurs in in ''[[Spy Kids]] 3D''. After exiting the video game, Arnold's, Rez's, Francis's, and Juni's respective secret, non-virtual identities. Various types of this trope occur in the conversation that ensues:
{{quote|
'''Francis:''' Well, in the real world [[Book Dumb|I'm not that smart.]]
'''Arnold:''' I'm not strong.
'''Rez:''' I'm not cool.
'''Juni:''' Reality Check!
'''Arnold:''' So, who are ''you'' out here in the real world?
'''Francesca:''' ''(to Juni)'' Special ageent, we need you.
'''Rez:''' Whoa!
'''Juni:''' I'm Juni Cortez.
** The above declaration by Juni is also a reference to his facade as [[The Hero|"The]] [[The Messiah|Guy,"]] which was revealed shortly before the group's exit from the game.
* Near the end of ''[[Pulp Fiction]]'', when Pumpkin and Honey Bunny are robbing the coffee shop, and the manager attempts to cooperate:
{{quote|
'''Honey Bunny:''' Don't take any chances. Execute him!
'''Manager:''' Please don't!
** Naturally, his character according to the credits was "coffee shop."
** Of course, the robbers' definition of "hero" is "anyone stupid enough to make trouble for us." Criminals are funny like that.
* In ''[[Team America: World Police]]'', Gary decides "I'm not a hero! I'm a dick!" after a mission results in the deaths of innocent bystanders. A drunk he meets at a bar gives him a pep talk about dicks, pussies and assholes that makes him feel a little better.
* [[Monty
* Variation in ''[[The King's Speech]]'': [[Tear Jerker|"I'm not a king! I'm a naval officer."]]
* In the film adaptation of ''[[Jumper (
{{quote|
== Literature ==
* In ''[[Gone (novel)]]'', this attitude plays a huge role in the character of Sam, the [[Designated Hero]] of the FAYZ. Phrases reminiscent of the trope are consistently repeated throughout the books.
* In ''[[Twilight (
{{quote|
* In the ''[[Harry Potter (
{{quote|
'''Harry:''' You've sort of made up for it tonight. Getting the sword. Finishing off the [[Soul Jar|Horcrux.]] Saving my life.
'''Ron:''' [[Heroic Self
'''Harry:''' Stuff like that always sounds cooler than it really was. I've been trying to tell you that for years. }}
* Mat "I'm no bloody hero!" Cauthon from
▲== Live Action TV ==
{{quote|
▲* In ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' episode "The Gift":
▲{{quote| '''Giles:''' ...[Buffy] couldn't take a human life. She's a hero, you see. She's not like us.<br />
▲'''Ben:''' ...us?<br />
*Giles smothers Ben to prevent Glory from ever returning* }}
* In ''[[
** Done again in ''"The God Complex"''. In order to save Amy Pond, The Doctor must {{spoiler|break her faith in the idea of him as a hero.}}
{{quote|
* In the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|DS9]]'' episode "Empok Nor", Garak (under the influence of drugs) has been twisting the knife about Miles O'Brien's participation in an incident which occurred while he was serving under [[Star Trek:
{{quote|
'''O'Brien:''' You're right. I'm an engineer. }}
** This doubles as a {{spoiler|[[Crowning Moment of Awesome]], when O'Brien then saves himself by activating the improvised bomb that his soldier instincts had called for and his engineering skill had built.}}
* ''[[
{{quote|
** This gets amped up to eleven in the series 2 finale.
* As [[Who Wants to Live Forever?|Richard Alpert]] attempts to convince her to join "[[Spy From Weights and Measures|Mittelos Bioscience]]", [[Lost|Juliet Burke]], who is going through something of an emotional breakdown, tells him: "Whatever you think I am, I'm not. I'm not a leader, Mr. Alpert. I'm a mess."
== Music ==
* ''[[The Dark Knight Saga|The Dark Knight]]'' soundtrack has a piece titled "I'm Not A Hero" and correlates with the scene in which the page quote is delivered.
* "I'm not a hero! I'm not a savior! Forget what you know/I'm just a man whose circumstances went beyond his control." Styx's "Mr. Roboto" definitely fits. "The modern man/Who hides behind a mask" indicates this is probably the [[Tomato in
* [[Josh Groban]] 's "In Her Eyes:" ''I am not an hero/I am not an angel/I am just a man...''
* [[My Chemical Romance]]'s ''Welcome to [[
{{quote|
''Just a boy who wants to sing his song''
''Just a man, I'm not a hero''
''And I don't care'' }}
* Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road": "Well I'm no hero, it's understood/All the redemption I can offer, girl, is beneath this dirty hood/With a chance to make it good somehow..."
* [[Nickelback|Nickelback's]] song Hero: ''"They say that a hero could save us; I'm not gonna stand here and wait... And now that the world isn't ending, it's love that I'm sending to you. [[Heroic Self
* Kiss' "Just A Boy" from ''Music From "The Elder"'': "But I'm no hero, though I wish I could be..."
== Religion and Mythology ==
* [[
{{quote|
== [[Video Games]] ==
* This is practically [[Metal Gear|Solid Snake's]] motto.
{{quote|
* Hercules exhibits the "loss of confidence" variant by the book in Kingdom Hearts II.
* [[Brutal Legend|Eddie Riggs]] is just a roadie.
* In ''[[
{{quote|
'''Auron:''' No. I'm no hero. I'm just an…
'''Sora:''' Huh? }}
** After which he then gives his name.
== [[Web Original]] ==
* In the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'', Battlecat gave this speech to his [[Arch Enemy]], Baron Samedi, right before he dropped Baron Samedi from the roof of the Superdome.
{{quote|
'''Battlecat:''' "Not tonight. I'm not a hero tonight. I'm a husband. I'm a father. That's what I am tonight."
'''Baron Samedi:''' "No... wait!" (followed by a long drop and a sudden stop) }}
== Western Animation ==
* In the ''[[Justice League]]'' Cadmus arc, [[The Question]] tries to assassinate Lex Luthor in order to avert a [[The End of the World
* Graveheart, the Designated Protagonist of ''[[Shadow Raiders]]'', says this a lot.
{{quote|
'''Jade:''' Aren't you?
'''Graveheart:''' C'mon, Jade, look at me! I'm just a miner.
''(lengthy [[Fully
'''Jade:''' You have no idea how ''tired'' I am of hearing you say that. }}
* ''[[Teen Titans (
* ''[[Megas XLR]]'': Look, Red, I'm no hero. I'm just a guy from Jersey.
* Elisa in ''[[
* In ''[[
{{reflist}}
[[Category:I Am an Index]]
[[Category:Superhero Tropes]]
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[[Category:Call to Adventure]]
[[Category:Hero Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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