Literature/Awesome: Difference between revisions

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** Given how awfully the protagonists and their families are treated in ''Blade of Tyshalle'', it's only fair that he gives them all a fair number of Moments of Awesome to make up for it. Just for Hari/Caine: beating the waterfront simulation, saving Kris in the washroom fight, {{spoiler|Caine's whole career, outmaneuvering the attempt to infect Overworld with HRVP (shared with Shanna/Pallas Ril), taking over the Donjon from the gangs despite being a cripple, maneuvering his way into the Pit, overcoming a guard and his handicap to escape from the Pit, taking over the Donjon despite being a cripple again (and from the armed guards this time), beating two gods in a [[Sword Fight]] (again with Shanna/Pallas Ril helping), and blowing up his old boss as payback for betrayal}}. Whew! And that's only the ''main character''.

* In ''Caine Black Knife'', all the flashbacks of Caine's Adventure ''Retreat from the Boedecken'' could count as a Moment of Awesome, but his speech to the Black Knives after killing one of their own is worth mentioning:

{{quote| '''Caine:''' ''"You see that, you fuckers? Did anybody NOT see what just happened here? Does anybody need it EXPLAINED? This is MINE. Go wherever the fuck you want, but you can't come HERE. For you, this place is HELL. You HEAR me? You UNDERSTAND? For you, here is PAIN. Here is DEATH. He died EASY. You will die HARD. You will die SCREAMING. Your bitches will HOWL. Your pups will STARVE. I will FEED YOU YOUR FUTURE."''}}

{{quote|'''Caine:''' ''"You see that, you fuckers? Did anybody NOT see what just happened here? Does anybody need it EXPLAINED? This is MINE. Go wherever the fuck you want, but you can't come HERE. For you, this place is HELL. You HEAR me? You UNDERSTAND? For you, here is PAIN. Here is DEATH. He died EASY. You will die HARD. You will die SCREAMING. Your bitches will HOWL. Your pups will STARVE. I will FEED YOU YOUR FUTURE."''}}

* [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Orbek MOTHERFUCKING Black Knife]]. His most iconic Moment of Awesome would be that moment in the fight for the Donjon:

{{quote| '''Orbek:''' ''[[Say My Name|I AM BLACK KNIFE!]] '''[[Say My Name|ORBEK BLACK KNIFE!]]''' ''}}

{{quote|'''Orbek:''' ''[[Say My Name|I AM BLACK KNIFE!]] '''[[Say My Name|ORBEK BLACK KNIFE!]]''' ''}}

** Aforementioned ass kicking then being followed by a surprising display of tactical ingenuity, resulting in the page quote for [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]].

** The opening to ''Caine Black Knife'', where he makes short work of Kopav Dust Mirror's ambush and delivers the clear message that the Black Knives are back.

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== [[Anathem]] ==

* This troper regrets that he cannot convey the many moments of awesome, crowning and otherwise, in [[Neal Stephenson]]'s ''[[Anathem]]'' without totally destroying the ability to read and enjoy this book through generally being spoilertastic. With that in mind, I will limit myself to one line.

{{quote| "Our opponent is an alien starship packed with atomic bombs. We have a protractor."}}

{{quote|"Our opponent is an alien starship packed with atomic bombs. We have a protractor."}}

** Spoilers, but the crowning wham moment: {{spoiler|"We call it a Faraday Cage."}}

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* A number of moments for Bernard Samson throughout the novels.

** In ''Mexico Set'', he is brought into a tribunal to be accused of being a Russian traitor and involved in two murders (one of which he has already tried to cover up). Thanks to an expert frame-up job by the Russians, all the evidence is stacked against him. Though sheer force of personality, he is able to turn the tribunal round so by the end they are having to sing his praises.

{{quote| "Now you put me here in the hot seat and rig this kangaroo court up to intimidate me. But I've been over there where intimidation is done by experts. So you don't frighten me, Bret. You don't frighten me at all.}}

{{quote|"Now you put me here in the hot seat and rig this kangaroo court up to intimidate me. But I've been over there where intimidation is done by experts. So you don't frighten me, Bret. You don't frighten me at all.}}

** In ''London Match'', he calmly shoots down two Russian [[Mooks]] in a laundrette.....and laughs about it afterwards to his boss.

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* Tasslehoff Burrfoot manages to make {{spoiler|''Chaos'' (the father of all the Gods)}} bleed with an [[Heroic Sacrifice]]. When you consider that Tas is basically the [[Comic Relief]] of the team, and an annoying kleptomaniac who doesn't seem to be able to stay quiet or still and who can drive even elves mad with his innate ability to make up insults, you can't say that he wasn't short of courageous. Bonus points for using his insulting ability to attract {{spoiler|Chaos}}' attention.

* Raistlin Majere is walking [[Nightmare Fuel]] combined with awesome, but there's one moment which just underscores the awesome: when he's succeeded in getting to the Abyss. The Dark Queen is berating him, promising him any number of eternal torments for his various slights against her:

{{quote| '''Raistlin:''' "My Queen..."~~ ~~

{{quote|'''Raistlin:''' "My Queen..."

'''Takhisis:''' ''What, not on your knees yet?''~~ ~~

'''Takhisis:''' ''What, not on your knees yet?''

'''Raistlin:''' "My Queen ... [[Calling the Old Man Out|it]] [[Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner|is]] [[Smite Me, O Mighty Smiter!|your]] [[Throwing Down the Gauntlet|move]]." }}

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** And he came up with this whole reasoning on the spot while arguing with his instructor that he actually did spend 2 hours reading the text (He actually programed his desk to show he was reading when he was hacking into secret school files.)

* Suriyawong gets an awesome come-uppance in ''Shadow Puppets'' when he repeats a statement from earlier in the book.

{{quote| '''Achilles''': "What's this supposed to be?"~~ ~~

{{quote|'''Achilles''': "What's this supposed to be?"

'''Suriyawong''': "The loan of a knife."~~ ~~

'''Suriyawong''': "The loan of a knife."

'''Achilles''': "But he has a gun!"~~ ~~

'''Achilles''': "But he has a gun!"

'''Suriyawong''': "I expect you to solve your own problems." }}

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* The narrator, Xeones, [[Calling the Old Man Out|tells freaking Xerxes, considered the god-king of Persia, what a REAL king is.]]

* This whole book is a series of [[Moment of Awesome|Moments of Awesome]] strung together.

{{quote| On that second day, men passed beyond themselves. Feats of heart-stopping valor fell from the sky like rain, and those who performed them could not even recall, nor state with certainty, that the actors had been themselves.}}

{{quote|On that second day, men passed beyond themselves. Feats of heart-stopping valor fell from the sky like rain, and those who performed them could not even recall, nor state with certainty, that the actors had been themselves.}}

* Even someone putting on their helmet is shockingly awesome.

{{quote| Then, with one undramatic motion, his right hand clasped the flare of the cheekpiece and tugged the ghastly mask down; in an instant the humanity of his face vanished, his gentle expressive eyes became unseeable pools of blackness chasmed within the fierce eye sockets of bronze; all compassion fled in an instant from his aspect, replaced with the blank mask of murder.}}

{{quote|Then, with one undramatic motion, his right hand clasped the flare of the cheekpiece and tugged the ghastly mask down; in an instant the humanity of his face vanished, his gentle expressive eyes became unseeable pools of blackness chasmed within the fierce eye sockets of bronze; all compassion fled in an instant from his aspect, replaced with the blank mask of murder.}}

== [[Gone]] series ==

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== [[John Keats]] ==

He died young at the age of 26 and knew he was dying for at least a year. This fragment of poetry was found in the middle of the manuscript of an exceedingly whimsical poem (itself intended to be published under a female pseudonym) and is probably his last crowning etc.

This living hand, now warm and capable

Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold

And in the icy silence of the tomb,

So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights

That thou would wish thine own heart dry of blood

So in my veins red life might stream again,

And thou be conscience calmed — see here it is —

I hold it toward you.

Well, Mr Keats. I would accept the challenge!

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* Thomas More's trial at the end of Robert Bolt's play is the climactic moment of a Moment of Awesome.

** More is on trial for refusing to swear an oath that recognizes King Henry VIII as head of the newly-founded Church of England and denies the authority of the Pope.

{{quote| '''More:''' I will not take the oath. I will not tell you why I will not.~~ ~~

{{quote|'''More:''' I will not take the oath. I will not tell you why I will not.

'''Duke of Norfolk [the prosecutor]:''' Then your reasons must be treasonable!~~ ~~

'''Duke of Norfolk [the prosecutor]:''' Then your reasons must be treasonable!

'''More:''' Not "must be"; may be.~~ ~~

'''More:''' Not "must be"; may be.

'''Norfolk:''' It's a fair assumption!~~ ~~

'''Norfolk:''' It's a fair assumption!

'''More:''' [[You Fail Law Forever|The law requires more than an assumption]]; the law requires a fact. }}

** In response to Lord Thomas Cromwell, the judge who has allowed in perjured testimony in his trial for treason against the king, More says ''[[Kirk Summation|What you have hunted me for is not my actions, but the thoughts of my heart. It is a long road you have opened. For first men will disclaim their hearts and presently they will have no hearts. God help the people whose Statesmen walk your road]].''

** Then, this exchange with More's former friend, Richard Rich, who has just perjured himself on the stand:

{{quote| '''More:''' I have one question to ask the witness. [Rich stops] That's a chain of office you are wearing. [Reluctantly Rich faces him] May I see it? [More examines the medallion] The red dragon. [To Cromwell, the judge] What's this?~~ ~~

{{quote|'''More:''' I have one question to ask the witness. [Rich stops] That's a chain of office you are wearing. [Reluctantly Rich faces him] May I see it? [More examines the medallion] The red dragon. [To Cromwell, the judge] What's this?

'''Cromwell:''' [[Becoming the Mask|Sir Richard is appointed Attorney-General for Wales]].

'''More:''' [Looking into Rich's face, with pain and amusement] For Wales? Why, Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world... But for Wales! }}

** There is also an exchange between More and his own son in law, William Roper, paraphrased here:

{{quote| '''Roper''' So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!~~ ~~

{{quote|'''Roper''' So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!

'''More:''' Yes! What would you do? Cut through the law to get after the Devil?~~ ~~

'''More:''' Yes! What would you do? Cut through the law to get after the Devil?

'''Roper''' Yes, I'd cut down every law in England if I could capture him!~~ ~~

'''Roper''' Yes, I'd cut down every law in England if I could capture him!

'''More:''' Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round against you, where would you hide, Roper, with all the laws being cut down? And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand against the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake! }}

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* Several in ''Iron Kissed'':

** Samuel Cornick's warning to the Carrion Crow. Context: Mercy has been poking around in fae business, and she has drawn the wrong sort of attention from their rulers. Samuel, son of the leader of all North American werewolves, declares:

{{quote| "My dad raised Mercy in his pack, and he couldn't love her more if she were his own daughter. For Mercy, he would declare open war on the fae, and damned be the consequences."}}

{{quote|"My dad raised Mercy in his pack, and he couldn't love her more if she were his own daughter. For Mercy, he would declare open war on the fae, and damned be the consequences."}}

** Zee warning off a selkie that wanted to eat Mercy. Zee had spent most of the book in jail, so this was a reminder of exactly how awesome he was.

** Ben, three or four from the bottom of the pack, lecturing his Alpha, Adam, at the end of the book was a truly awesome moment.

{{quote| "Do you love her? ... Then put aside your ''goddamned'' self-loathing and look at her."~~ ~~

{{quote|"Do you love her? ... Then put aside your ''goddamned'' self-loathing and look at her."

"Thank you for sharing your understanding." }}

** At the climax of ''Iron Kissed'', {{spoiler|Mercy beats her rapist's skull in with a crowbar ''while whole-heartedly in love with him'' and while he's magically protected from all enemies. The woman has willpower of diamond.}}

* From Silver Borne: the Faerie Queen puts a mind-control spell on her and casually asks "whom do you serve?" Mercy, who between her natural magic-resistance and the pack bonds is really hard to mind control, responds with "Choose this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Since Christianity is one of the reasons the Fae are no longer particularly powerful in their native Europe, referencing it around them at all as mildly rude. This goes a little beyond that)

* Also from Sliver Borne, Mary-Jo paying Adam back for betraying him by stepping up to fight a larger and stronger male werewolf so that he would be tired when he came to fight Adam. Adam's gets one immediately afterward, upon winning the fight.

{{quote| "That edge you lost fighting Mary-Jo was what gave me the chance to find a move that would hurt you, instead of kill you. You can thank her later for your life."}}

{{quote|"That edge you lost fighting Mary-Jo was what gave me the chance to find a move that would hurt you, instead of kill you. You can thank her later for your life."}}

** Mercy gets one immediately following that, when Henry (who encouraged the challenge to Adam to weaken him) takes a breath to issue his own challenge to the weakened Adam, and Mercy {{spoiler|shoots him in the throat so he can't talk.}} She then follows that up by backing up Adam as a compassionate but tough leader by say {{spoiler|they were lead and not silver bullets, so he'll heal.}}

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** She {{spoiler|saves Mau from the land of the dead}}

** Her medical aid to various prisoners and captives near the end. She is a well-brought-up lady who hates blood, and has incidentally just sawn someone's leg off.

{{quote| "I thought you hated the sight of blood."~~ ~~

{{quote|"I thought you hated the sight of blood."

"That's why I try to stop it." }}

** The flashback to the [[Wounded Gazelle Gambit]] she played on her sadistic cousin.

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* In ''Zoe's Tale'', Zoe vs. the Roanoke "werewolves" and Zoe in the scene with the Consu and the Obin.

* Maggie's death in ''Old Man's War'', when she's been sucked out into space during a botched planetary landing operation. She's only got ten minutes of oxygen, she's falling from orbit, and she knows nobody can rescue her in time. So she spends her last minutes alive trying to ''shoot down an attacking enemy starship with her grenade launcher'', actually inflicting some minor damage, and then makes one last tranmission to her friends before burning up on re-entry:

{{quote| Then Maggie turned, faced the planet that would kill her, and like the good professor of Eastern religions that she used to be, she composed ''jisei'', the death poem, in the haiku form.~~ ~~

{{quote|Then Maggie turned, faced the planet that would kill her, and like the good professor of Eastern religions that she used to be, she composed ''jisei'', the death poem, in the haiku form.

''Do not mourn me, friends''~~ ~~

''Do not mourn me, friends''

''I fall as a shooting star''~~ ~~

''I fall as a shooting star''

''Into the next life.'' }}

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* In ''The King of Attolia'', the title king {{spoiler|Eugenides}} is considered by most of his people to be an idiot, a usurper and a barbarian. His attendants live to play pranks on him, egged on by Sejanus, a favored younger son of the most powerful baron. Then their helpless, inept monarch proceeds to {{spoiler|reveal that he knows who exactly is responsible for each of the pranks pulled on him, drive Sejanus to confess to regicide ''in front of the attendants'' who have just been placed in a very compromising position by ''him'', and exile Sejanus' older brother, thereby bringing an end to the house of the most powerful baron in Attolia}}. Then, a few minutes later, he and his queen have a discussion that reveals that {{spoiler|he promised to destroy the baron in six months and did it in 98 days}}.

** Later, this same king takes on member after member of the king's own guard and defeats ''every single one of them'', culminating in an [[Ironic Echo]] -

{{quote| {{spoiler|Eugenides}}: You forgot it's a wooden sword.}}

{{quote|{{spoiler|Eugenides}}: You forgot it's a wooden sword.}}

** Let's face it, ''everything'' the king does is awesome, from the way he serves wine--juggling a cup one-handed while he puts the other cup down--to the way he demonstrates his faith-- {{spoiler|getting drunk while jumping from crenelation to crenelation on the outer wall of the palace}}--to the way he convinces the Queen--and everyone else in the palace--that he {{spoiler|is not seriously injured by ''constantly whining that he is going to die''}}. They should just get it over with and rename him His Royal Awesomness.

* And Eugenides' moments in the earlier books. Kidnapping {{spoiler|Sounis' advisor}} out of his own palace {{spoiler|''when Eugenides had only one hand''}} has to count, as does the sequence where he kidnaps {{spoiler|Attolia, of all people, and then successfully persuades her to marry him}}. And from the first book, the revelation that [[spoiler: he's been an [[Unreliable Narrator]] the whole time and he's hid not only the fact that he's a [[Rebellious Princess|Rebellious Prince]] but that {{spoiler|he's had the [[MacGuffin]] for the last third of the book and has pulled the wool over the eyes of every last member of the cast, including the [[Manipulative Bastard]]}}.

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** Titus's own moment occurs at the very end, when he {{spoiler|feeds his nemesis Tamora her own sons baked into a pie.}}

** Aaron, who is an out-and-out incarnation of [[Chaotic Evil]] and [[Evil Feels Good]], gets two: {{spoiler|when he tricks Titus into cutting off his own hand to save his son's lives, and then delivering the hand back with the sons' heads, and when he makes his final soliloquy before his execution, insisting that he is not sorry for any of the horrors he has orchestrated, but wishes he could have cause ''more'' pointless anguish, and "If ever one good deed I did, I do repent it from my very soul."}}

{{quote| CHIRON: Thou hast undone our mother.~~ ~~

{{quote|CHIRON: Thou hast undone our mother.

AARON: Villain, I have ''done'' thy mother. }}

* Emilia from ''Othello'' telling her husband to stick it - even when she knows he's quite willing to kill her if she won't shut up - is pretty damn awesome. "Perchance, Iago, I shall ne'er go home."

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== [[The Scarlet Letter]] ==

* Just after Roger Chillingworth's [[Ignored Epiphany]], Hester says, "Be it sin or no, I hate the man!" After a moment of trying to convince herself otherwise, either [[Stepford Smiler|repressing]] or [[Ignored Epiphany|ignoring]] the sentiment, she says, more strongly,

{{quote| ''Yes, I hate him! He betrayed me! He has done me worse wrong than I did him!''}}

{{quote|''Yes, I hate him! He betrayed me! He has done me worse wrong than I did him!''}}

== [[Snow Crash]] ==

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* Besides Sigmar himself, Volkmar the Grim is probably the most [[Badass]] motherfucker to ever grace the Empire. After being slain in battle, Volkmar was resurrected by a daemon and chained to his battle standard in order to demoralize the enemy. However, Volkmar, unhappy with this turn of events, ''breaks free of his chains and uses them to kill his daemonic captors''. After being rescued, Volkmar confronts a Vampire Count and his undead horde. All he does is stare in the Count's eyes, which unnerves the vampire enough to ''turn his army around and head home without a fight''.

* When Detlef Sierck is facing down Constant Drachenfels at the climax of ''The Vampire Genevieve'':

{{quote| "Back," he said, summoning all his acting skills to put the heroic ring into his voice. "In the name of Sigmar, back!"~~ ~~

{{quote|"Back," he said, summoning all his acting skills to put the heroic ring into his voice. "In the name of Sigmar, back!"

''"Sigmar!"'' Spittle flew from the mouthslit of the mask. "He's dead and gone, little man. But I'm here!"~~ ~~

''"Sigmar!"'' Spittle flew from the mouthslit of the mask. "He's dead and gone, little man. But I'm here!"

"Then in ''my'' name, back!"~~ ~~

"Then in ''my'' name, back!"

"Your name? Who are you to defy Constant Drachenfels, the Great Enchanter, the Eternal Champion of Evil, the Darkness Who Would Not Be Defied?"~~ ~~

"Your name? Who are you to defy Constant Drachenfels, the Great Enchanter, the Eternal Champion of Evil, the Darkness Who Would Not Be Defied?"

"Detlef Sierck," he snapped. "Genius!" }}

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* One Moment of Awesome from the first half of the book: Just before the onset of The Great Panic, zombies crash through the windows of a suburban home and attack the family inside. [[Mama Bear|The mother]], upon seeing one of the zombies go after her daughter, grabs it and ''rips its head off with her bare hands''.

* A literal crowning ''moment'' of anti-zombie awesome was captured by filmmaker Roy Elliot in his propaganda film ''Fire of the Gods'', which featured a searchlight-sized deuterium fluoride laser:

{{quote| The poster campaign showed a close-up of a zombie being atomized. The image was lifted right from a frame in the movie, the one classic shot when the morning fog actually allowed you to see the beam. The caption underneath read simply "Next."}}

{{quote|The poster campaign showed a close-up of a zombie being atomized. The image was lifted right from a frame in the movie, the one classic shot when the morning fog actually allowed you to see the beam. The caption underneath read simply "Next."}}

* In the second half again. The Battle of Hope. Iron Maiden music that was cranked to eleven fades out. "Ready! Aim! Fire!" Eighteen or so hours later, zombie casualties: helluva lot. Human casualties: zero.

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** The entire last half of the third book; Colin discovering [[The Power of Rock]]; Victor's true form revealed; {{spoiler|Echidna's}} [[Mama Bear]] rampage, in which she takes on ...

* From ''[[War of the Dreaming|Last Guardian Of Everness]]'' we have this quote:

{{quote| Pendrake: "Maybe these supernatural beings are pretty tough. Let's see how the magic of modern science stands up to them. I have the Presidential emergency launch device in my car and can code in new targets. The bad guys foolishly disabled their own ability to override the launch signal. I can hit any spot on the planet. Let's nuke Acheron.}}

{{quote|Pendrake: "Maybe these supernatural beings are pretty tough. Let's see how the magic of modern science stands up to them. I have the Presidential emergency launch device in my car and can code in new targets. The bad guys foolishly disabled their own ability to override the launch signal. I can hit any spot on the planet. Let's nuke Acheron.}}

** {{spoiler|Merlin}} revoking the powers of a [[Physical God]] insisting that, contrary to all evidence, [[Humans Are Bastards]]--and telling him to sit down and shut up until they're ready to deal with him.

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* In [[Lord of Light]], the duel between Yama and Rild is an exemplar of badassery.

** Yama versus an attempted [[Shapeshifter Guilt Trip]]:

{{quote| '''Yama''': "Do you not know ''each man kills the thing he loves?''"}}

{{quote|'''Yama''': "Do you not know ''each man kills the thing he loves?''"}}

* ''A Night in the Lonesome October'', Jack rescuing Snuff from a vivisectionists' lab.

{{quote| The old cat was right. There was blood that day. Seas and messes of it.}}

{{quote|The old cat was right. There was blood that day. Seas and messes of it.}}

** Sherlock Holmes rescuing the [[Virgin Sacrifice]]; and, more impressively, figuring out just what the hell was going on in the first place.

* ''Creatures of Light and Darkness'': Typhon's defeat of The Thing That Cries In The Night.

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* [[Elizabeth Moon]]'s [[The Deed of Paksenarrion|Paksenarrion]], during the third book ''Oath Of Gold''.

** This troper would like to specifically nominate two of Paksenarrion's scenes in that novel. The first comes after she's spent five days at the mercy of the priests of the god of torture and torment {{spoiler|in exchange for their releasing the true heir to the throne of a nearby country along with his squires}}. She's had pretty much everything done to her that it's possible to do to someone at a medieval tech level, in front of a crowd of hundreds of worshippers of said god. At the very end of it the priests haul her up and force her onto her (broken, burnt, bound) knees in front of the crowd, the following exchange takes place:

{{quote| '''Priest of Liart''': And now, paladin? Where is your lord's protection now?''~~ ~~

{{quote|'''Priest of Liart''': And now, paladin? Where is your lord's protection now?''

'''Paks''': The High Lord has dominion. Gird has upheld me here; I have not failed. * passes out from the pain* }}

** The second occurs a chapter or two later in a town that the followers of Liart have been terrorizing:

{{quote| '''Village elder''': Paladin, are you? You come here and tell us to fight, and then you'll go away, and it will start again. What do you know about that, eh? Fancy armor, fancy horse, fancy sword. You never lay bound on Liart's altar! It's easy for you!~~ ~~

{{quote|'''Village elder''': Paladin, are you? You come here and tell us to fight, and then you'll go away, and it will start again. What do you know about that, eh? Fancy armor, fancy horse, fancy sword. You never lay bound on Liart's altar! It's easy for you!

'''Paks''': * takes off helmet, revealing her shaved, scarred, generally horribly maltreated head* You're wrong. And this is the proof of it.~~ ~~

'''Paks''': * takes off helmet, revealing her shaved, scarred, generally horribly maltreated head* You're wrong. And this is the proof of it.

'''Village elder''': * opens mouth, shuts mouth, says nothing* }}

* Loathe as this troper is to praise anything in John Norman's "Gor" series, there is a moment in the sixth book, ''Raiders of Gor''. Most of the book is set in the city of Port Kar, wretched hive of scum and villainy by the sea. In the swords-and-no-sorcery world of Gor, each city has a Home Stone, a small rock which is to the city what a flag is to a nation on Earth, multiplied by a thousand. Except Port Kar, which has never had one. Late in the book, word arrives that an enemy city has sent a massive invasion fleet, which will arrive in a few days. Reaction in Port Kar is virtually unanimous: everybody decides to run away. Then amidst all of the chaos one of the strongmen in the city tells a slave-boy to bring him a rock. He takes out his knife and crudely carves "PK" on it and then holds it up and declares it to be the Home Stone of the city. And people stop. And the word spreads. And people on their way out of the city stop, and start to come back. And in about one hour, the situation has changed from panicked every-man-for-himself flight to "Hey you, invaders -- bring your sorry asses over here so we can kick them all over the place." And they do. Awesome.

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* Also in Stephen King's work, Andy Dufresne in ''Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption'' IS a Crowning Moment Of Awesome all by himself. This troper [[Fetish Fuel|kinda got some feelings she's sure the author didn't mean the readers to have]] from the scene where Andy's just been gang-raped, has a razor at his throat, and ''is still calm enough to threaten his attackers and mean it.'' "Anything you stick in my mouth, you're going to lose it." Then there's the entirety of his escape plan, and in the movie the scene where he's just got out and undergoes [[Redemption in the Rain]] ...

** An illustration of Andy being awesome. After Andy utters his threat, the chief rapist tells him, "You do anything like that, and I'll put all eight inches of this steel in your ear. Got it?" This is Andy's response--''and he's smiling when he says this'':

{{quote| "I understood what you said. I don't think you understood ''me''. I'm going to bite whatever you stick into my mouth. You can put that razor into my brain, I guess, but you should know that a sudden serious brain injury causes the victim to simultaneously urinate, defecate...and bite down." *pause* "In fact, I understand that the bite reflex is sometimes so strong that the victim's jaws have to be pried open with a crowbar or a jackhandle."}}

{{quote|"I understood what you said. I don't think you understood ''me''. I'm going to bite whatever you stick into my mouth. You can put that razor into my brain, I guess, but you should know that a sudden serious brain injury causes the victim to simultaneously urinate, defecate...and bite down." *pause* "In fact, I understand that the bite reflex is sometimes so strong that the victim's jaws have to be pried open with a crowbar or a jackhandle."}}

* ''[[Gravity's Rainbow]]'' has:

** Two men fighting off an enemy biplane by throwing custard pies at it, and ''winning''.

*** A scene where a film director is freed from a German prison by having his friends crash an ''ocean liner'' into it.

* ''[[Shannara]]'', at the climax of book three, ''Wishsong'':

{{quote| '''Brin''', ''to the Ildatch {{spoiler|after she's destroyed it}}'': "Here is your dark child."}}

{{quote|'''Brin''', ''to the Ildatch {{spoiler|after she's destroyed it}}'': "Here is your dark child."}}

** In ''[[The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara]]'', Ahren Elessedil spends the entire trilogy being slowly transformed into [[The Woobie]]. Most of this comes at the hands of [[The Dragon]], [[Lizard Folk|Cree Bega]], a thoroughly repulsive [[Smug Snake]] and [[Complete Monster]]. Then, at the climax of book three, Ahren finds himself trapped on a ship, alone, with Bega. And what does he do? He kills the SOB in an epic [[Knife Fight]] that probably ranks among the best in the series. Cree Bega himself gets a Crowning Moment of Evil a few seconds later: as he dies, he gives Ahren a glare so hostile that it nearly gives the kid a heart attack.

** In ''[[The Elfstones of Shannara]]'' Elven Hunter Crispin gets a [[Dying Moment of Awesome]] that counts here as well. After seeing his entire team butchered by [[The Juggernaut|The Reaper]], he steps out onto a bridge to confront it, knowing full well that he will die in the process. He succeeds in his mission though: the kids he was trying to protect destroy the bridge, saving themselves from The Reaper. Wil subsequently finding the power to confront The Reaper is also pretty epic, as is [[Badass Grandpa]] Eventine cutting down The Changeling, an extremely dangerous Demon, while injured and alone.

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*** To be more specific, Sir Bevier offered the captain of the guard several opportunities to let the Knights of the Church pass, noting that the captain was ignoring church law by refusing to allow them to pass. Once Sir Bevier had established that he was on firm theological footing, he then lopped the captain's head off with his axe. He then knelt before the nave of the church to pray for God to forgive the captain's soul before leading the rest of the Knights into the Basilica.

* Everything that [[The Culture|Culture]] Rapid Offensive Unit ''Killing Time'' does in Iain M. Banks' novel ''Excession'', starting at the confrontation at Pittance and carrying all the way through the rest of the book.

{{quote| '''''Killing Time''''': Missed, you fuckers!~~ ~~

{{quote|'''''Killing Time''''': Missed, you fuckers!

*

*

'''''Shoot Them Later''''': Dear me, you don't believe in making things easy for people, do you?~~ ~~

'''''Shoot Them Later''''': Dear me, you don't believe in making things easy for people, do you?

'''''Killing Time''''': I am a warship. That is not my function. }}

** During a fight ''Killing Time'' destroys two other starships and thinks afterwards "Entire engagement duration; eleven microseconds".

** From the same book, The General Systems Vehicle ''Sleeper Service'' turns out to be much less crazy than everyone thought:

{{quote| I have been rather more constructively employed over the last few decades then might have been imagined.}}

{{quote|I have been rather more constructively employed over the last few decades then might have been imagined.}}

** From the same book, a tiny drone escaping from a hijacked ship and then taking on another race's warship alone (after being damaged from the aformentioned escape) {{spoiler|"He dies but the aliens don't realize he burned a warning into their hull"}}

* In the final book of the ''[[The Saga of Seven Suns]]'' a species that lives in stars, called the Faeros, blow up THE MOON. Heck, practically everyone gets a Moment of Awesome.

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* Lukyanenko's ''[[Night Watch]]'' Series has numerous ones. My personal favourite is in ''[[Twilight Watch]]'' When Anton is facing down this Beyond Categorization Witch and has to expend all his power just to survive, with no hope for actually fighting back or rescuing his kidnapped daughter... And his thoughts are that he just has to hold her until his wife gets there. She does. She kicks ass.

* ''In Flanders Fields'' is a poem so moving, so [[Tear Jerker|tear jerking]] that it deserves to be printed in full:

{{quote| ''In Flanders fields the poppies blow~~ ~~

{{quote|''In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,~~ ~~

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky~~ ~~

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly~~ ~~

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.~~ ~~

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago~~ ~~

We are the dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,~~ ~~

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie~~ ~~

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.~~ ~~

In Flanders fields.

⚫

Take up our quarrel with the foe:~~ ~~

⚫

To you from failing hands we throw~~ ~~

⚫

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

⚫

The torch; be yours to hold it high.~~ ~~

⚫

To you from failing hands we throw

⚫

If ye break faith with us who die~~ ~~

⚫

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

⚫

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow~~ ~~

⚫

If ye break faith with us who die

⚫

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.'' }}

** [[Your Mileage May Vary]] in that there's very little awesome about the implications of the third stanza - the sooner that [[Nightmare Fuel|horrific war]] ended, the better for all concerned. However, the rest is just beautiful.

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** "You know, if you think about it, humans aren't really built for speed. But dogs ''are''." I love you, TenSoon.

* Sanderson's first book, Elantris, had a crowning moment that actually caused this troper to ''cheer''. In the book's finale, {{spoiler|Dilaf begins the massacre of Arelon and Teod, and is about to slit Sarene's throat. At this point, Hrathen finally figures out that, hey, maybe the Dakhor are the ''bad guys'' here, and punches Dilaf. Hrathen, at this point, is unarmed, possessing only the ceremonial armor of his station, which is traditionally paper-thin. Dilaf is a psychotic monk whose bone structure makes him nigh-invulnerable. Dilaf stabs Hrathen, only to get an [[Oh Crap]] moment when the dagger slides off of Hrathen's supposedley fragile armor.}}

{{quote| {{spoiler|Dilaf}}: "But... that armor is just for show..."~~ ~~

{{quote|{{spoiler|Dilaf}}: "But... that armor is just for show..."

Hrathen: "You should know by now, {{spoiler|Dilaf}}." * Smashes {{spoiler|Dilaf}}'s face in* "''Nothing'' I do is just for show." }}

** Having read the book, this troper can confirm that Hrathen is indeed a walking imbodiement of awesome in the shell of a man. Points go to the others protags too, when they bring the magic back and tell off the king, respectively.

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** And of course, in ''City of Glass'', Alec gets his Moment of Awesome when, after [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|hiding it for almost three books]], he finally {{spoiler|outs himself by kissing Magnus. In front of a huge crowd of Downworlders and Shadowhunters, including his parents. Doubles as a [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]].}} [[And the Fandom Rejoiced]].

* Part of Cinda Williams Chima's Heir trilogy, ''The Warrior Heir'' has an absolutely stunning conclusion anyway...to-the-death duel, close calls, dramatic thunder-and-lightning atmosphere, even a [[Heel Face Turn]]. But what puts the icing on the cake is Ellen Stephenson's Moment of Awesome, arguably her best one in the entire trilogy. Makes this troper air punch every time.

{{quote| '''Wylie''': Kill him now! This is what you've training your whole life for, Ellen! You're a killer! You were raised to destroy!~~ ~~

{{quote|'''Wylie''': Kill him now! This is what you've training your whole life for, Ellen! You're a killer! You were raised to destroy!

(Ellen draws her sword and places its point at his throat).~~ ~~

(Ellen draws her sword and places its point at his throat).

'''Ellen''': Be careful what you wish for. }}

* In ''Sunwing'', Shade the bat gets not one, but ''two'' Moments of Awesome:

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*** and then {{spoiler|Mirrorsun gets a Crowning Moment of its own when it repairs itself over the next few weeks, plays around with lenses, and then melts, pulverises or blows up each and every one of those battlestations. Which allows the librarians to reinvent radio, call it up and politely ask it to please stop freezing the planet. And send some toys from its lunar nanofactories.}}

* Dan Simmons' ''Ilium'': Hector and Achilles decide that they've had enough of being playthings of the gods and team up. In one of the last scenes, the armies of gods and humans are lined up against each other, ready for battle, and Achilles walks forth to meet Zeus...

{{quote| '''Zeus''': '''DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY BEFORE YOU AND YOUR SPECIES DIE?'''~~ ~~

{{quote|'''Zeus''': '''DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY BEFORE YOU AND YOUR SPECIES DIE?'''

'''Achilles''': Surrender now, and we'll spare your goddesses's lives so that they can be our slaves and courtesans. }}

* In ''[[Wicked (novel)|Wicked]]'', Glinda, while still a student, magically pulls an old woman back from the brink of death. Why, oh why did the musical have to make her incompetent as a witch (er, sorcess)?

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** Marshall has a few good ones, but toward the end, he runs into Shawn, {{spoiler|the guy who had led his daughter into a cult and had been helping the others try to force her to ceremonially kill herself.}} Marshall doesn't say a word, just {{spoiler|punches the little bastard's lights out then and there.}} I don't think ''anybody'' didn't want to see that by this point.

* If you're familiar with the Young Adult novel [[Speak]], then you are lying if you did not cheer when you read three little words:

{{quote| {{spoiler|"I said ''no''."}}}}

{{quote|{{spoiler|"I said ''no''."}}}}

* Phillip Reeve's steampunk fantasy ''Larklight''. This troper half expected Grindle to shout [[Order of the Stick|"I AM A SEXY, SHOELESS GOD OF WAR!"]]

* Sophos finally gets his moment in the action climax of Megan Whalen Turner's fourth historical fantasy ''A Conspiracy of Kings'' wherein he {{spoiler|chooses to be like Attolia and seizes control of his government}} after having been perceived as an incompetent weakling for three books (which he kind of was.) This awesome {{spoiler|gunslinger bad-ass}} moment is followed soon after by a crowning moment of hissy-fit that is equally justified.

** Gen has several crowning moments of awesome himself, and his best was simultaneously a military victory and a love confession.

* Not sure if it should go here or Web Original, but there's a moment in ''[[The Big One]]'' novel ''Crusade'' that made this editor feel warm inside. A restored Caliphate has pissed off the United States by shooting at an American bomber on a mostly peaceful recon mission, and the US has issued an ultimatum to the Caliphate: Grovel and pay restitutions, or we will wipe you out to the last man, woman, and child. The Caliphs are unconcerned; God will save them from the infidel, and visit his righteous wrath on the Americans. Eventually their professional military advisor, a defected Nazi who remembers when Germany was wiped off the map, gets their attention by shooting one of them, and delivers the following speech, paraphrased.

{{quote| Wehrmacht Officer: When the Americans came for my country, they killed 60 million people. Each of the bombs those American planes are carrying are as powerful as all the bombs dropped on Germany combined, each plane can carry 4 such bombs, and the Americans have sent thousands of those planes. You say Allah will protect you from the Americans? ''Who will protect Allah from the Americans?''}}

{{quote|Wehrmacht Officer: When the Americans came for my country, they killed 60 million people. Each of the bombs those American planes are carrying are as powerful as all the bombs dropped on Germany combined, each plane can carry 4 such bombs, and the Americans have sent thousands of those planes. You say Allah will protect you from the Americans? ''Who will protect Allah from the Americans?''}}

** The Caliphs submit, grovel, and the bombers are called off. I might be a horrible person for liking that scene, but, y'know? 'Merica, fuck yeah.

* [[Tad Williams]]' ''[[Otherland]]'' has a bunch of these.

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* ''[[Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn]]'' has one, and only needs that one. "I'm sorry... you should not have suffered so." Leading in short order to the Storm King {{spoiler|getting his undead ass handed to him}}. However, for sheer crowd-pleasers, it doesn't get much better than the [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass|still-brainsick]] Camaris kicking the ever-loving crap out of [[Smug Snake]] Aspitis, ending his ambition to "own" Miriamele for good.

* ''[[Around the World in Eighty Days]]'':

{{quote| "I have sent for your, sir, to ask you to sell me your ship."~~ ~~

{{quote|"I have sent for your, sir, to ask you to sell me your ship."

"No! by all the devils, no!"~~ ~~

"No! by all the devils, no!"

"I shall be obliged to burn her."~~ ~~

"I shall be obliged to burn her."

"Burn my ship! A ship that is worth fifty thousand dollars!"~~ ~~

"Burn my ship! A ship that is worth fifty thousand dollars!"

"[[Screw the Rules, I Have Money|Here are sixty thousand!]]" }}

* In Guy Kay's "Lions of Al-Rassan" the fanatical expy-Muslim Muwardi desert warriors have attacked an expy-Christian encampment. Their leader's first move is to bash in the skull of a thirteen year old boy. Then, for the next handful of pages, you think this is going to be a Crowning Moment of Heartbreak where we see the boy die because no-one has the skills to save him. Then - the expy-Jewish refugee doctor steps up to the plate and performs their world's first trepannation to relieve the pressure on the boy's brain. It's an operation no-one had believed possible, or dared to perform before this but this man ''knows'' he has the skills to pull it off. And he does and the boy lives. What makes this even more awesome is that he blind and dumb and performs the operation by momory, instinct and feel with his wife translating his instructions since she is the only one who can understand him. It is a scene to make you cry with joy and exultation.

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** The entire first eight paragraphs of Chapter 71. It details a series of vignettes as to how and why the humans would stop running and make their stand, and ends with "Sure, most [humans] had run. But more had stayed. And the [Posleen] would have the [Washington] Monument over their dead bodies". The very definition of a Moment of Awesome.

* [[Peter Pan|Peter Pan in Scarlet]] has one near the end: {{spoiler|Right after a [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]] between Wendy and Captain Hook, Peter Pan tries to banish Wendy to Nowhereland for helping his enemy.}}

{{quote| {{spoiler|'A french window for me, if you please!' said Wendy defiantly, and Peter, taken aback, made the door into a pair of french windows instead.}}~~ ~~

{{quote|{{spoiler|'A french window for me, if you please!' said Wendy defiantly, and Peter, taken aback, made the door into a pair of french windows instead.}}

{{spoiler|'Wendy Darling, I banish you to Nowhereland for giving succour to the enemy! Go now!'}}~~ ~~

{{spoiler|'Wendy Darling, I banish you to Nowhereland for giving succour to the enemy! Go now!'}}

{{spoiler|'The door jambs are not straight,' said Wendy, and folded her arms. ... Wendy did not look very punished. She did not even look very banished, standing there on the far side of the door with her arms crossed. 'Stand away, please,' she said sharply, and the boys stepped smartly backwards--Even Peter Pan. Then Wendy bent down, picked up an imaginary boulder, and hurled it through the imaginary french windows. There was the most tremendous smash of breaking glass. 'Bosh and tosh!' she said, stepping through the wreckage of glazing bars and locks and bolts, being careful not to tear her pirate-flag dress on the jagged glass. 'Sometimes, Peter, you are ''such'' a ninny!'}} }}

* In [[Vampire Academy]], even though Dimitri {{spoiler|turns Strigoi and Rose thinks she kills him}} he manages to send her a letter including {{spoiler|the stake that Rose stabbed him with, and Strigoi can't even TOUCH stakes}} and promises that Rose would see him again. Definately a Crowning Moment of Badass for our little Dimka.

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* In the David Brin novella Thor versus Captain America, the protagonist taunts Odin to the point of intolerable rage, grabs Gugnir out of the air and SNAPS IT OVER HIS KNEE (it broke his leg, but they were executing him in a minute anywat) when it is thrown at him.

* E.E. "Doc" Smith's ''Lensman'' series has a bunch, but one in particular simply defines ''Moment of Awesome''. In "Second Stage Lensmen", the bad guys are invading Tellus (aka, Earth) via the "interspatial tube", a means of traveling from one galaxy to another without the inconvenience of traversing the intervening distance. After the shock globe of bad guy capital ships has been disposed of by sending in wave after wave of powerful mines, after the bad guy's main battle fleet has been disposed of by the superior coordination and efficiency of our main battle fleet, the bad guys up the ante, by showing their [[Lensman Arms Race|true strike force]]:

{{quote| Planets. Seven of them. Armed and powered as only a planet can be armed and powered, with fixed-mount weapons impossible of mounting upon a lesser mobile base.}}

{{quote|Planets. Seven of them. Armed and powered as only a planet can be armed and powered, with fixed-mount weapons impossible of mounting upon a lesser mobile base.}}

** The good guys dispose of the planets by turning the entire solar system into a vacuum tube and concentrating 100% of the Sun's output into a tight beam upon those planets, such that their ice caps boiled, seas exploded into steam, and mountain ranges melted in and around the afore-mentioned weapons. Smith also gets it right when he describes how the planets cooled off quickly after the good guys turned off the sun-beam, recognizing that "[[Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale|even the Titanic forces at work had heated those planetary masses only superficially]]".

** I recognized this as a ''Moment of Awesome'' decades before [[TV Tropes]] existed, and I quoted the above from memory, having these 27 words burned into my brain permanently the first time I read them.

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* Ten-year-old [[Jane Eyre]] [[Calling the Old Man Out|calling her cold-hearted, tyrannical aunt out]], with impeccable logic: "I am not deceitful: if I were, I should say I loved you; but I declare I do not love you: I dislike you the worst of anybody in the world except [[Spoiled Brat|John Reed]]; and this book about the liar, you may give it to your girl, Georgiana, for it is she who tells lies, and not I." Damn strong words from a little girl to an adult authority figure in a 19th-century novel. . .and she gets away with it too!

* The poem "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley. Full text:

{{quote| Out of the night that covers me,~~ ~~

{{quote|Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,~~ ~~

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be~~ ~~

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.~~ ~~

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance~~ ~~

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.~~ ~~

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance~~ ~~

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.~~ ~~

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears~~ ~~

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,~~ ~~

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years~~ ~~

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.~~ ~~

Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,~~ ~~

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll.~~ ~~

How charged with punishments the scroll.

I am the master of my fate:~~ ~~

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul. }}

* In ''Pilgrimage: The Book of the People'', Valancy vs. the fire. "Get under the tarp!"

* The [[World of Cardboard Speech]] from Jennifer Cruise and Bob Mayer's ''Agnes and the Hitman'', which deserves to be reprinted in full:

{{quote| "You listen to me. On Saturday at noon, the cake will be beautiful, the flowers will be magnificent, the photographer who is taking pictures of the sand right now will be taking pictures of the bride, the catering will be amazing and legal, and the bridge will not only be back, it will be so strong that twenty trucks could cross it. And the house will be the house you have always dreamed of having, and, as God is my witness, ''will never have'' because I will defeat you utterly and completely, I will grind your face in the dust, I will make you nothing before the world, Brenda Dupres, and my kitchen will not be a crime scene because I will have proved that you picked up that goddamned frying pan in that goddamned bomb shelter and whacked your goddamned husband with it twenty-five years ago, and you will spend the rest of your life in an orange jumpsuit in prison where there is no moisturizer and your face will look like old luggage and the only man you'll be able to seduce is a guard named Bubba with no teeth, so go back to your boat and pray, Brenda, get down on your knees and pray to whatever obscene and vicious god that made you that you do not cross me again ''because I will destroy you''."}}

{{quote|"You listen to me. On Saturday at noon, the cake will be beautiful, the flowers will be magnificent, the photographer who is taking pictures of the sand right now will be taking pictures of the bride, the catering will be amazing and legal, and the bridge will not only be back, it will be so strong that twenty trucks could cross it. And the house will be the house you have always dreamed of having, and, as God is my witness, ''will never have'' because I will defeat you utterly and completely, I will grind your face in the dust, I will make you nothing before the world, Brenda Dupres, and my kitchen will not be a crime scene because I will have proved that you picked up that goddamned frying pan in that goddamned bomb shelter and whacked your goddamned husband with it twenty-five years ago, and you will spend the rest of your life in an orange jumpsuit in prison where there is no moisturizer and your face will look like old luggage and the only man you'll be able to seduce is a guard named Bubba with no teeth, so go back to your boat and pray, Brenda, get down on your knees and pray to whatever obscene and vicious god that made you that you do not cross me again ''because I will destroy you''."}}

* This troper has always loved the part in the Odyssey where Odysseus escaped from the cyclops. Before the cyclops went to sleep, Odysseus told it "I am Noman." While it was asleep, Odysseus and his men blinded it with a flaming stake, then ran away. The cyclops began yelling and when the other cyclopes called out to him to ask what was wrong, he said "Noman is hurting me!" Thinking that "no man" was hurting him, i.e. that he was all right, the other cyclopes never came to help, and Odysseus got away safely.

** And after that? He taunted the Cyclops as they sailed away. Also, when he returned home to kill the suitors.