Load-Bearing Hero: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"This is really heavy."''|'''Spidey''', ''[[Spider-Man (Film)|Spider-Man]] 2''}}

Not to be confused with [[Load-Bearing Boss]] (but that may very well lead to this trope). [[Barrier Warrior|Barrier Warriors]]s will frequently do this. [[Bellisario's Maxim|Don't think too much]] about why the falling object doesn't break under its own weight and collapse all around the character, or how the ''ground'' underneath the character can support all that weight being channeled through the [['''Load-Bearing Hero]]''''s feet.

Not to be confused with [[We Cannot Go Onon Without You]].

* A sinister version was used in the Saint Beasts arc of ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' -- a—a falling ceiling trap designed to push down with exactly the amount of force that any three of the four heroes could hold up, meaning one of them would have the chance to either deactivate the trap or leave his "friends" to die. {{spoiler|Hiei is chosen to go since he's the fastest. He ponders betrayal, but decides that being the [[Token Evil Teammate]] is not the same as being a [[Jerkass]], saves his comrades, and skewers the [[Smug Snake|crooning eyeball-bat that gave the above exposition. Also, it turns out the switch the deactivate the trap was also booby-trapped, but he found out about it and survived thanks to that hesitation.]]}}

* {{spoiler|Raigyo}} does this in ''[[XamdXam'd: Lost Memories]]'', and dies.

* One-shot ''[[Ranma One Half|Ranma 1/2½]]'' character Youhyou does this to protect Ranma when his room in his mansion collapsed. Not that she [[Made of Iron|needed it in the slightest]], but it proved that he was not the [[Accidental Pervert|creep she thought]] and his intentions were noble.

* In ''[[Black Cat (Mangamanga)|Black Cat]]'', Beluga did this to save Nizer and Janus when they're escaping from Creed's castle.

* Domon does this in ''[[Flame of Recca (Manga)|Flame of Recca]]'' when the gang is storming Kurei's mansion to rescue Yanagi. Kaoru (before his [[Heel Face Turn]]) activates a giant stone wall that would permanently cut them off, and [[The Big Guy|Domon]] jumps in at the last second to hold it up so Recca and Fuuko can continue on. [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]], because they immediately [[Power of Friendship|try and help him hold it up instead of abandoning him.]] They become stuck under it until Mikagami shows up and destroys the wall completely.

* In ''[[Pokémon Giratina and The Sky Warrior (Anime)|Pokémon: Giratina and The Sky Warrior]]'', an enormous glacier begins to move, destroying everything in its path. Fortunately, the commotion also awakens [[Olympus Mons|Regigigas]], who, with a large group of Mamoswine, pushes the glacier back until Ash and friends can undo the damage that caused the disaster.

{{quote| '''Hulk:''' Bah! Stupid rocks try to smash Hulk! Hulk smash ''back''!}}

* Solomon Grundy in ''[[Starman (Comic Bookcomics)|Starman]]'' (the [[DC Universe]] comic) held a blown-up building.

* [[Spider -Man]] held up a corner of the Daily Bugle to keep if from collapsing in ''Peter Parker: Spider-Man'' #98.

== Film - Live-Action ==

* Sloth does it in ''[[The Goonies (Film)|The Goonies]]'' to help his friends escape from the crumbling cavern. {{spoiler|He survives.}}

* ''[[Krull (Film)|Krull]]'' has the cyclops do this to let the hero and his band enter the teleporting fortress. {{spoiler|He dies. Made more badass because he ''knew'', thanks to prescience, that he would die that way if he helped the heroes.}}

* [[Superman (Filmfilm)|Superman]] does this a lot, but is [[Nigh Invulnerable|almost never in any danger,]] considering he often can easily throw the load aside, crawl to safety or if necessary, dig or drill his way out if he's buried completely.

** In ''[[Superman Returns (Film)|Superman Returns]]'', he does this to lift ''[[Crowning Moment of Awesome|a continental landmass that is mostly made of Kryptonite]]'' out of Earth's atmosphere and fling it into outer space. All the more impressive because the aforementioned Kryptonite rendered him very NOT [[Nigh Invulnerable]] and he was in very grave danger.

* [[Spider-Man]] as well, but he tends to be in a lot more danger. One instance is near the end of ''[[Spider-Man (Filmfilm)|Spider-Man]] 2'' when Spidey does this to save Mary Jane from a falling wall. ''"This is really heavy,"'' indeed.

* Zangief performs this feat in the ''[[Street Fighter (Filmfilm)|Street Fighter]]'' movie shortly after making his [[Heel Face Turn]]. Subverted in that Ken and Ryu step up immediately to share the load long enough for everyone else to pass safely.

* An unusual example is seen in ''[[X-Men (Filmfilm)|X-Men]] 2'', as Jean Grey telekinetically holds back a giant wave of water to allow the rest of the team time to escape from it, dying in the process.

* From the silent movie classic ''[[The Golem (Film)|The Golem]]'': When out-of-control magic threatens to destroy the Emperor's palace, the Golem in this way saves the court from being crushed by a [[Descending Ceiling]].

* In ''[[Antz (Animation)|Antz]]'', Weaver, being a really strong soldier ant, holds the bottom of a giant "ant pillar".

* [[The Incredibles|Mr. Incredible]] does this in the final battle of the movie to keep his kids from being crushed by the robot.

* In Disney's ''[[The Jungle Book (Disney film)|The Jungle Book]]'', Louie and Baloo hold up part of Louie's collapsing ruins.

* ''[[Bolt (Disney)|Bolt]]'' has {{spoiler|Rhino using his hamster ball to prop up the falling rubble of the studio so Bolt can get past, screaming "It is a good day to die!!!" as his ball starts to crack under the weight... Don't worry he lives.}}

* Gan does it in the episode of ''[[Blake's Seven7|Blakes Seven]]'' in which {{spoiler|he dies.}}

* ''[[The Tribe (TV)|The Tribe]]'': Lex uses his body to hold open an airlock door while Bray, Amber, Dal, and the dog escape from a self-destructing virology lab on Hope Island.

* Subverted in ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''. Teal'c tries this, but it doesn't really help. In another episode, a Russian commando tries to hold a door open, and is crushed ''before'' anyone could can through.

* Seen in ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' when Niki holds up a collapsed pillar to let Monica escape from a burning building. Unfortunately, since she's been depowered by the Shanti virus, it [[Heroic Sacrifice|doesn't end well]].

* Happens to Detritus the troll in the ''[[Discworld]]'' novel "[[Discworld (Literature)/Moving Pictures|Moving Pictures]]", albeit by accident rather than heroism. All the trolls in Holy Wood worked together to clear a passage into the underground theater, then headed in one by one, leaving Detritus stuck holding up the roof.

* [[Damon Runyon]]'s "Earthquake" ends with 'Earthquake' holding up an orphanage door to allow the nuns, children -- andchildren—and the policeman chasing him for a cop-killing -- tokilling—to escape the collapsing building. Even Earthquake can't stand up to a second temblor, though. Listen to a radio dramatization [http://www.radiomcdanger.com/DamonRunyon/Earthquake.mp3 here]{{Dead link}}.

* Keltset in ''[[Shannara|The Sword of Shannara]]''.

* ''[[Boundary (Literature)|Boundary]]'': A cave-in in an ancient ice tunnel. Luckily, while Our Hero did not have super-strength, {{spoiler|her spacesuit could become rigid on command, so the problem was merely replacing her with other bracing.}}

* In ''[[Chrono Trigger (Video Game)|Chrono Trigger]]'', Robo briefly uses his body to brace a heavy door open to stop the other characters from being trapped on the wrong side of it.

** Josef from ''[[Final Fantasy II (Video Game)|Final Fantasy II]]'' sacrifices himself holding back a rolling boulder trap, allowing the party to escape.

** Palom and Porom from ''[[Final Fantasy IV (Video Game)|Final Fantasy IV]]'' go as far as [[Taken for Granite|petrifying themselves]] to stop [[The Walls Are Closing In|crushing walls]].

** Tsuze the werewolf in ''[[Final Fantasy V (Video Game)|Final Fantasy V]]'' holds off the power augmenter from the Fire Crystal. That wasn't directly in the way of the heroes, but it did give them more time to escape the place.

** Sabin in ''[[Final Fantasy VI (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VI]]'' holds up the collapsing house.

* At the end of ''[[Mega Man (Videovideo Gamegame)|Mega Man]] 5'', Mega Man does this to save Dr. Light and Wily from a collapsing castle.

** In ''[[Mega Man X (Video Game)|Mega Man X]] 3'', Zero has to hold a spiked ceiling at bay while X destroys the [[Mini Boss]].

* Bowser and O'Chunks do this together in one of the final rooms in ''[[Super Paper Mario (Video Game)|Super Paper Mario]].'' Naturally, each tries to convince the other that they don't need their help, and that the other should leave, not wanting to share the [[Big Damn Heroes]] moment.

* {{spoiler|Presea's}} [[Heroic Sacrifice]] in ''[[Tales of Symphonia (Video Game)|Tales of Symphonia]]'' takes on this form.

** In ''[[Tales of Vesperia (Video Game)|Tales of Vesperia]]'', {{spoiler|Raven}} does this in the {{spoiler|Baction Shrine}} after {{spoiler|he is revealed to be [[Split Personality|Schwann]] and [[The Mole|working for Alexei]]}} in order to [[Heel Face Turn|save the party's lives]]. The party thinks that {{spoiler|he's}} [[Redemption Equals Death|dead]] [[Heroic Sacrifice|afterwords]]. He got better and rejoined the party not too long after.]]

* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: MajorasMajora's Mask (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Majoras Mask]]'' the four giants have to hold up the freaking ''moon'' so that it doesn't crush Clock Town and they have to hold it long enough for Link to get inside, do four puzzles, and finally defeat Majora (who has multiple forms).

* Horizontal example: In ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots (Video Game)|Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'' Raiden {{spoiler|holds up a giant ship threatening to crush Snake.}}

* Subverted in ''[[Indiana Jones and The Fate of Atlantis (Video Game)|Indiana Jones and Thethe Fate of Atlantis]]'', when the imprisoned heroine Sophia Hapgood won't crawl under a heavy iron gate with only Indy holding it up. (You have to go find a suitable piece of metal to brace the thing open instead. Sheesh.. some gratitude.)

* Superman does this a lot. In ''[[Superman: theThe Animated Series]]'', [[Tragic Monster|Bizarro]] does this, holding up a collapsing building to give Supes enough time to save Lois from a bomb, while staying behind himself. Don't worry, he gets better.

* In the Doom Patrol arc of ''[[Teen Titans (Animationanimation)|Teen Titans]]'', Elastigirl makes her [[Heroic Sacrifice]] holding up a collapsing section of cliff long enough for Beast Boy and Mento to escape.

* In the ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (TV series)|Legion of Super-Heroes]]'' cartoon, Bouncing Boy holds up a ferris wheel so Superman can fix it.

[[Category:Death Tropes{{PAGENAME}}]]