I Just Want to Be Normal: Difference between revisions

{{examples}}

 

* ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]'' Part 4 [[Big Bad]] Kira Yoshikage's main motivation was to live a normal and uneventful life. When you consider what his [[Serial Killer|main hobby is]] it makes his goal kind of contradictory.

** Yoshikage stated that he has an uncontrollable desire to kill. Even if he wanted to stop, he really couldn't.

** And now the ''justified'' version: ''[[Sailor Nothing]]''. Oh, Sailor Nothing.

*** Usagi is pretty justified too, what with the whole "having powers will kill you and your friends" angle. She even cried when she does get her powers back in ''[[Sailor Moon]] R'' because getting them back also means she remembers watching her friends and her lover all die in battle right in front of her.

* Ichigo of ''[[Tokyo Mew Mew]]'' wanted to be normal out of fear that her crush Masaya would reject her if he found out -- [[Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World|fighting aliens is really not a big deal compared to this]].

* ''[[Prétear]]'', on the other hand, is a [[Subverted Trope|strange case]]. By the time Himeno receives the [[Call to Adventure]], she already doesn't consider her life to be "normal", since she is all of a sudden a member of a rich family and feels ridiculously out of place there. Turns out that something even weirder—namely, being a [[Magical Girl]]—actually [[Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World|fits her better]]. To the point when she almost gets a [[Heroic BSOD]] upon being [[Brought Down to Normal]] for one episode.

* A variant of this occurs in ''[[Hayate the Combat Butler]]''. After finding out Hayate wants a normal girl and normal life, Nagi finds Ayumu Nishizawa, essentially the [[The Generic Guy|most normal person in the cast]]. ([[Lemony Narrator|The narrator]] pointed this out.) and follows her all day, learning how to be "normal". In the end, she realizes that normal is "an extremely scaled down version of what I normally do."

* We're still not sure what the hell's going on in ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi]]'', especially in relation to Kyon. He continually mentions how he wishes Haruhi would just settle down and be a normal, well-adjusted schoolgirl (Hell, it's even in his [[Image Song]]), but the fact that he's an [[Unreliable Narrator]] (in regards to his feelings, anyway) and that he was once stuck in a universe where everything ''was'' normal and he ''still'' attempted to revert it to its very Haruhi, abnormal state may prove otherwise...

** Another remarkable fact is that if you look closely, you have to wonder if it's actually {{spoiler|''Haruhi''}} and not {{spoiler|Kyon}} who is really the I Just Want to Be Normal character. {{spoiler|As Koizumi keeps pointing out, Haruhi actually enjoys very much doing all those ordinary activities that she does with the SOS Brigade members. The SOS Brigade actually ''reduces'' Haruhi's interest in the supernatural, and focuses it more on the ordinary, and she's very happy that way.}}

* In ''[[Guyver]]'', Sho doesn't want to have the powers. When he technically has the opportunity to get rid of them (when the {{spoiler|Guyver Remover is found}}), he still keeps them because he needs to protect his friends. The new anime adds a nice twist to this, with Tetsuro picking up the G-Unit first and then passing it to Sho only when it started sprouting tentacles.

* In ''[[Ranma ½]]'', most of the characters just want to be rid of their curses. Granted, most would be pretty damn weird even ''without'' their curses.

** Given his [[Character Development]] in ''Shippuden'', it would appear that his goals have become somewhat more lofty.

* Nagisa spends almost all of the two ''[[Iczer|Iczelion]]'' [[OVA]]s whining and crying about being chosen to bond with the Iczel.

* In ''[[One Piece]]'', at the end of his fight with Zoro, Kaku expressed regret that he never got to lead a normal life, having been raised to be an assassin. In the manga, him and the rest of CP9 take a stab at this with the World Government hot on their tails.

** Earlier there's Captain Kuro, who was genuinely sick of being a pirate and wanted to live a nice, safe civilian life. Unfortunately, he wanted to be normal and ''rich'', and was willing to kill to get that life. He ultimately fails and is forced back to the sea.

* Oboro from ''[[Basilisk]]'' would just love to marry her fiancé Gennosuke and live [[Happily Ever After]]. However, they're both the heirs and leaders of warring Ninja clans...

** There's also [[Genki Girl|Genki Boy]] Yashamaru, who views the clan truce as his chance to get married to his beloved fiancée and fellow Iga Ninja [[Friend to All Living Things|Hotarubi]]. They both get {{spoiler|''bloodily'' killed off. [[Tear Jerker|Sniff]].}}

{{quote|'''Kenichi:''' ''Where did I go wrong in life?''}}

* The main character of ''[[Nurarihyon no Mago]]'' starts this way, wanting to just live a normal life as a human despite being the heir to a huge clan of youkai and a quarter-youkai himself. But {{spoiler|it's averted early on in the first real story arc, when he begins to fully understand his youkai nature and learns of the impact his attitude is having on others firsthand. He decides that while he does want to live a peaceful life, protecting the people close to him and leading his clan is far more important.}}

** There's also [[Ojou|Mugi]], who comes from an incredibly wealthy family, but gets much enjoyment from doing ordinary everyday things that most people would take for granted.

* Judai in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'' becomes notably less cheerful when suddenly the only thing stopping all his friends from dying and the world ending is the card game he loved so much. And up until this point he was the only one who really ''did'' seem to treat it as a card game. {{spoiler|Eventually the stress becomes so bad that he surrenders to his super powered evil side and starts taking over the duel monsters world, requiring ''two'' heroic sacrifices to get him back to ''efficiency''. He doesn't start enjoying dueling again until a decent bit into the next season... at which point the next big bad starts trying to implement [[Instrumentality]].}} [[Deconstruction|Sucks, huh?]]

** Sequel series ''[[×××HOLiC]]'' and ''[[Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]]'' go into more detail about why he wanted to divide his power so badly—just by wishing someone ({{spoiler|his girlfriend Yuuko}}) wasn't dying, he turned her into an immortal zombie, eternal unliving as everyone around her ages and dies. He took this even harder than she did, somehow.

* ''[[Inuyasha]]'': Kikyou, one of the most powerful miko who had ever lived, just wanted to be a normal girl and live a normal married life with [[Half-Human Hybrid|Inuyasha]]. She and Inuyasha wanted this so much that Inuyasha also agreed to his give up his [[Youkai]] heritage and become a normal human boy to make that dream come true. Their plan was ruined by another which became the entire reason for the plot of the story.

** This is also the whole motivation of the homunculi in the first anime, especially in the case of Lust.

* Lucia from ''[[Rave Master]]'' comes off as an odd example. As the [[Big Bad]] with no real superpower who opted to take over the main criminal orginization he doesn't seem like the type to express that sort of desire. However {{spoiler|he's the descendent of the sole survivor of [[The End of the World as We Know It]] (who created a 'false' parallel world where humanity didn't die off) and is therefor cursed to suffer every misery the universe can throw at him.}}

* Parodied in ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei]]'' through Nami Hitou, the "ordinary girl" in a class where everyone else has some sort of character trait taken to the extreme.

{{quote|Nami: "Don't call me normal!" (Futsuu tte iu na!)}}

* ''[[Fairy Tail]]'': Fresh from a [[Defeat Means Friendship]], [[Sociopathic Hero|Gajeel]] is smart enough to realize that it'll take a lot of time for most of Fairy Tail to forgive him. In addition to protecting his new friends, Gajeel goes to huge lengths to be accepted. This is usually played for laughs, since Gajeel doesn't have much of an idea as to how that works. For example, he once tied up the guild's singer and hijacked her concert so he could sing a ballad.

* The very wish of Eureka to be a normal human in ''[[Eureka 7]]''. She broke down in tears in episode 45 upon knowing her body is undergoing bizarre changes.

* Yuu from ''[[Holyland]]'' really doesn't want to have to keep fighting just so he can stay out at night, though he doesn't run away from the challenges either.

 

== Literature ==

* In the short story ''[[Flowers for Algernon]]'', the low-IQ protagonist Charlie Gordon undergoes an operation to boost his intelligence, because he wants to be normal (i.e. as smart as those around him). Although the operation is a success, he sadly finds out being a genius isolates him even more from people he thought were his friends.

** The end of the third book explores this more, probably somewhat due to Tolkien's own war experiences. The Hobbits return to the Shire, but in the end, Frodo cannot stay due to his lingering injury and his exposure to the One Ring. Samwise lives an unusually long and successful life as husband, father and Mayor, until eventually, when he is aged and widowed, also following Frodo and Goes West with the Elves. Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took, on the other hand, never having been Ringbearers, live out their days in the Shire.

*** Actually, both leave the Shire in old age and end their days in Gondor. Merry is called to Rohan by the dying Eomer and goes to see him. After Eomer's death, he and Pippin go to Gondor, where they both die a few years later and are buried in Rath Dinen, where the Kings of Gondor buried.

* Sefalet is a freak of nature, even to Pentexore in ''[[A Dirge for Prester John]]''. She has no face, her eyes and mouths (yes, mouths) are in her hands, and one of her mouths is apparently possessed. She'd settle for just having control over her left-hand mouth again.

 

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' often had bouts of wanting to be normal.

{{quote|'''Buffy''': I just want to be alone and quiet in a room with a chair and a fireplace and a tea cozy. I don't even know what a tea cozy is, but I want one.}}

* The ''Radiohead'' song "Creep" is about a secret admirer/stalker of a girl, who longs to be "special" like her.

* The narrator of the song ''A Tongue That Cannot Lie'' by Karine Polwart. Specifically: "Afflicted, addicted / I pray for a potion / to take all these visions away"

 

== Video Games ==

* In ''[[MDK]]'', janitor Kurt Hectic reluctantly dons the Coil Suit to save the day against alien invaders. In ''[[MDK2]]'', the aliens manage to capture him and take the suit. Kurt tells Dr. Hawkins this, relieved that he doesn't have to fight anymore now that it's hopeless and he can go back to being a regular janitor again. Hawkins then reveals that he has a bunch of backup Coil Suits ready for Kurt to wear. Kurt once again resigns himself to being the savior of humanity.

 

* In ''[[Fate/stay night]]'' this was {{spoiler|[[King Arthur|Saber]]}}'s entire motivation to win the Holy Grail, though with the intent of remaining normal so {{spoiler|the country she led would have a better ruler}}.

** Additionally, Shirou, for a good bit of the initial stages of the war, wanted to—and tried to—withdraw from the war. Didn't get far on that one. (You get the option in the game, but if you do quit, [[Bad End|Ilya and Berserker eat you]].)

* Shiki from ''[[Tsukihime]]'' had a similar problem. To be fair, his power was [[Blessed with Suck|truly lethal, even to himself and people around him]].

 

* Nicely subverted in [http://www.kiwisbybeat.com/minus13.html this] strip from the webcomic ''[[Minus]]''.

* ''[[Nowhere University]]'': Edward has a brief spell of this after discovering [[Psychic Powers]], but [http://nowhereu.comicgenesis.com/d/20080603.html quickly thinks better].

* In ''[[Strays]]'', when Meela objects that [[King Incognito|Holland should have told her he's a prince]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20110830130551/http://www.straysonline.com/comic/173.htm he asks whether she would have treated him differently, and when she agrees, says that's why].

* The print-only bonus issue of ''[[Spinnerette]]'' reveals that Heather's roommate, Sahira, is a [[Differently-Powered Individual]] {{spoiler|who can [[Mega Manning|copy the powers of anyone she touches]]}}. Heather, being an [[Ascended Fangirl]] herself, doesn't help by being over-enthusiastic about Sahira being her sidekick. A talk with the more experienced heroes ends with them both coming to the conclusion {{spoiler|that just because Sahira has a superpower, it doesn't mean she can't live a normal life as a civilian.}}

 

== Web Original ==