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Wide-Eyed Idealist: Difference between revisions
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It may be the [[Naive Newcomer]] who [[Jumped At the Call]] -- he or she has a ''huge'' stack of comic books/movies/bards' tales, and thinks they're pretty [[Genre Savvy]]. Unfortunately, [[Wrong Genre Savvy|their universe is more toward the cynical end]] of the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]] than the stories they know. Alternatively, they might just be [[The Messiah|generally nice people]] whose idealistic attempts at solving the problems of their world turn out to go horribly ''horribly'' awry as [[Horrible Judge of Character|no one else plays by their rules]]. Usually used as nothing more than a device to highlight the realism/grittiness/cynicism of the setting.
This character either becomes a victim of [[Trauma Conga Line]] or [[Break the Cutie]], [[Too Dumb to Live|dies horribly]] or [[Jade-Colored Glasses|acquires a coat of jade]] post-haste. In particularly [[Anvilicious]] cases, expect deployment of [[Diabolus Ex Machina]] to deal with them.
If the character remains triumphant and idealistic throughout, then it's a case of [[Good Is Not Dumb]] or [[The Pollyanna]]. May also be [[Stupid Good]].
While [[The Messiah|messiahs]] are frequent victims of wide-eyed idealism, [[Doomed Moral Victor|their suffering or sacrifice]] can encourage them to become full-blown [[Messianic Archetype|Messianic Archetypes]] and inspire others in the setting to lighten up and thereby change the setting, unless they're [[Dark Messiah|a different kind of messiah,]] in which case the setting is only cemented.
When [[The Hero]] appeals to a group of people, often [[Least Is First]] falls under this.
Compare [[The Pollyanna]], the [[Love Freak]], [[The Ingenue]], and [[Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids]] Contrast the [[Grumpy Bear]], the cynic in an idealistic setting. See [[Turn the Other Cheek]] and [[The Farmer and the Viper]].
{{examples}}
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*** Some of the stupidity probably isn't fake. The line is impossible to find, as is common with [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]] types.
*** His backstory involves a bit of this, despite all his childhood trauma--it caused him to wind up a sworn assassin in a civil war.
* [[Large Ham|A]][[Axis Powers Hetalia|me]][[Love Freak|rica]] is pegged as one of these by Fanon.
** Though, considering [[Keet|his]] [[Adult Child|nature]], he could very well be one of these in [[Canon]].
* ''[[Now and Then Here and There]]'' is based around this trope.
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** This is subverted in the second season, where Suzaku forms a reasonable, if rather myopic, plan to free Japan (the rest of the world isn't his concern) and begins suffering from a bad case of [[Motive Decay]] until he realizes his ideals are nothing but smoke.
*** This is spoofed in official side comics, where Suzaku and Euphy are portrayed as so blindingly naive that they still believe in the [[Delivery Stork|Delivery Stork and Cabbage Patch Babies]], while Lelouch looks on in stunned disbelief.
** This trope is lampshaded artistically with Shirley, who has literally the largest eyes in the whole cast, with Euphemia just in second place.
* In the manga version of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' Scar's brother and the Rockbell family are wide-eyed idealists who believe in the basic good nature of man. The Rockbells leave their practice so they can heal the Ishvalans being massacred by the Amestris army, and Scar's brother wants to learn alchemy so that he can better understand the bonds of humanity. During an attack Scar's family is killed, and Scar's brother tries to shield Scar, {{spoiler|but is unsuccessful, and Scar loses his arm, Scar's brother sacrifices an arm and his life to save Scar, and Scar wakes up in the Rockbell's hospital. Finding out that his brother's arm is now attached to him causes Scar to go temporarily insane, and he kills the Rockbells in a [[Freak-Out]].}}
** Roy Mustang is the other side of the coin. His sometimes [[Good Is Dumb|borderline dumb]] faith in human nature helps him sometimes (when he took for granted {{spoiler|Dr Knox would cover his scheme to save Maria Ross, ''because they were war buddies''}}) and other times dooms him (when he believed {{spoiler|overthrowing the Fuhrer would be a piece of cake when people found out he was a Homunculus. It turned out the brass [[Government Conspiracy|knew and couldn't care less]]}}). Still, his idealism is precisely what makes his subordinates so loyal to him.
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* [[Galaxy Fraulein Yuna|Yuna Kagurazaka]] is one of the rare examples of this trope ''not'' to suffer either of the standard fates.
* This is what makes Alice L. Malvin of ''[[Pumpkin Scissors]]'' stand out from many of the other nobles of the setting. She firmly believes in her cause to "eradicate evil" and that others will push for it too. This is what got [[The Smart Guy|Machis]] and [[The Big Guy|Oland]] to join in the first place.
* Albert from ''[[Gankutsuou]]'', along with having [[Horrible Judge of Character]]. He is undoubtedly the most naive and idealistic of all the characters in that series. He truly believed for a long time that his friends' (and his ''own'') families were perfectly rosy, and that the Count is a wonderful person. (He was very wrong, by the way - they were all insanely messed up.) Not to mention how he manages to go on about [[Love Freak|"true love"]]. However, [[Trauma Conga Line|despite all hardships he goes through]], Albert ends up taking the route A and becomes a better person who {{spoiler|not only saves the Count's soul from Gankutsuou but also fixes his father's wrongs by becoming an envoy of peace}}.
* Negi of ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' starts out as one of these, but he eventually starts to realize that good and bad aren't quite as clear cut as he thought they were. [[Cynical Mentor|Evangeline]] actually deliberately discourages his idealism (despite the fact that she's a [[Noble Demon]] who's constantly sliding towards [[Anti-Villain]] territory). Negi eventually admits that he can't always be the good guy, although he still tries to go with most "good" option available
* Subverted in ''[[Baccano!]]!'', specifically in ''[[Light Novel|Druge & the Dominoes]]'': turns out that even the [[The Ingenue|widest-eyed]] of wide-eyed idealists can be provoked into [[Beware the Nice Ones|trying to blow your head off]] [[You Killed My Father|if you push the right buttons]]. {{spoiler|The only thing that stopped her was the fact that [[Noble Demon|Luck]] [[Shoot the Dog|got to him first]].}}
* Tenma and Nina from ''[[Monster (manga)|Monster]]'', despite being frequently subjected to [[Break the Cutie|horrific trauma]]. The fact that Tenma in particular absolutely refuses to become cynical about the human race drops him straight into [[Badass Pacifist]] territory.
* Arguably, Éclair from ''[[Kiddy Grade]]'', who, despite having dealt with the dreadful realities of GOTT and galatic politics for many, many years, has somehow avoided becoming a cynic, and actually keeps up her spirit to fight for her ideals. Granted, this may be due to two things: (1) she does use autohypnotic suggestions to {{spoiler|block out some of her memories temporarily}}, and (2) as a superhero, and with her partner, she does in fact have the ability to back up those ideals with with force.
* Akari from ''[[Aria]]'' is a special case, in that she manages to stand out in a setting that is practically paradise incarnated.
* [[Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei|Kafuka]] takes this trope and runs with it. Everything has a good side to her: a Trash Can is a 'Treasure Chest for the Homeless' and it only gets worse from there.
* [[Trigun]]'s Vash The Stampede is determined to be one. No matter what he sees, what humans or Knives or anybody do, to him or anyone. His traumas are simultaneously cases of [[Break the Cutie]] and [[Break the Badass]], and are usually horrific. Worse in the manga, where he is clearly fighting to maintain his idealism over his own common sense and has a lot more bleak moments. The setting is also much darker, since the series went seinen after the Fifth Moon. But he always stands up again. Because he won't give up on humanity and by extension Rem.
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* UC [[Mobile Suit Gundam|Gundam]], have at least one pacifist who thinks they could stop the fighting, usually they are proven wrong and lives to watch the ramifications of their actions.
* The titular character of ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'', which, [[Your Mileage May Vary|for some]], can be infuriating when you realize that she refuses to see the emotional hardships that her peers go through ([[Defrosting Ice Queen|Juri's]] conflict over [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing|Shiori]] and her sexuality in general come to mind; Utena brushes it off and tells her to stop acting cold). Miki is this to a lesser extent, in regards to his sister Kozue, but it may be more that he's a genuine [[Nice Guy]] more than anything else.
* The anime and manga incarnations of [[Royals Who Actually Do Something|Princess Amelia]] of ''[[Slayers]]'', both genuinely and to a [[Lord Error-Prone|comedic]] extent. She does have [[Wrong Genre Savvy|a blind eye]] towards the more wicked intentions of certain foes, especially the [[
** The anime-exclusive character Filia, the Golden Dragon, is this combined with [[Holier Than Thou]] taken to aggravating levels. It doesn't help that she was sheltered for most of her life, but even after she learning the [[Awful Truth]], during the last battle she believes that the [[Big Bad]] isn't beyond salvation (it's established clearly that he is at that point) and doesn't want to destroy him, even as he's consuming the world at that moment...
* [[Those Wacky Nazis|The neo-nazi band]] in ''[[Black Lagoon]]''. Having no real experience with the way the criminal underworld works they're sent on a fixed race to "test their ability" against the protagonists, where they overspend resources, repeatedly underestimate the crew of the Lagoon, refuse to see facts, and waste time making dramatic and hammy proclamations about their heroic destiny as champions of the white race. Revy and Dutch kill all of them, and their would-be patron abandons them the moment it's obvious to him they've failed (though not before admitting to the leader that he set them up in the first place).
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* The main character of ''[[Invisible Man (novel)|Invisible Man]]'' is both this and a [[Love Freak]], albeit with (absolutely desperate) followers. Since he's also a [[Horrible Judge of Character]], he runs into a few problems . . .
* Colin Creevey in ''[[Harry Potter]]'' falls under this with his cheerful, naive, and innocent loyalty to Harry at all costs.
** Hermione also has her moments, with her working for House Elf rights even though they have [[Happiness in Slavery]], much to the amusement of others who know better.
* In ''[[Outbound Flight]]'', the smuggler Maris Ferasi fit this trope pretty well. She had the utmost trust in and adoration for the Chiss commander Thrawn. Unusually, she wasn't disillusioned within the book - Thrawn lied about what he had done to resolve an extraordinarily prickly conflict, letting her leave without knowing just how much of a [[Downer Ending]] the whole issue became. Why?
{{quote|'''Thrawn:''' There are all too few idealists in this universe, Car'das. Too few people who strive always to see only the good in others. I wouldn't want to be responsible for crushing even one of them.
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* The young baby-faced soldier boy in ''[[All Quiet on the Western Front]]'' definitely qualifies. {{spoiler|as should be completely obvious given the nature of the book and this page, he dies.}}
* ''[[Don Quixote]]'' severely deconstructs this trope: In the first part, [[Don Quixote]] cares more for fulfilling his fantasies than for anyone else. He confides that the farmer Haduldo will stop floggin the boy Andrés and that the Galley slaves he liberates will be grateful enough to make him a favor. (They´re not). His actions make him the original [[Lord Error-Prone]]. In the second part [[It Got Worse]]: [[Don Quixote]] really acts [[For Happiness]] and after some [[Massive Multiplayer Scam]] aventures that convince him he is a real [[Knight Errant]] he must face the sad fact that he has not helped anyone and therefore, all those [[Chivalric Romance]] tropes were [[Blatant Lies]]. This is so heartbreaking that he becomes [[Bored with Insanity]] and dies. [[An Aesop|Being called ''"Quixotic"'' is not always a good thing]].
* {{spoiler|God-King Susebron}} from ''[[Warbreaker]]'' - his entire experience of life outside his palace consists of having been read a book of fairy tales by his mother as a child. Semi-subverted in that while he does develop a more realistic view of the world, he never loses his almost childlike sense of [[The Messiah|straightforward goodness]].
* I'd say Toglio in Norman Mailer's ''The Naked and the Dead''. Always thinking to himself about how he and his squad are "The good ol' boys", hard-working and patriotic. Then, of course, he gets his leg shot up to hell and sent home.
* Cosima from [[Comrade Death]]. She flat out refuses to see Sarek for what he really is. {{spoiler|He confesses to [[Murder the Hypotenuse|abandoning her husband to die]], and later refuses to save her grandson from going to war, and both times she dismisses his spite as being concealed guilt and claims he would have helped if it had been in his power to do so.}}
* Rinaldo in [[Robert E. Howard]]'s [[Conan the Barbarian]] story "[[The Phoenix on the Sword]]," one of the conspirators of Ascalante's plot to overthrow Conan.
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== Videogames ==
* Tahlkora from ''[[Guild Wars]]: Nightfall''. "I signed on for the heroic songs and the praise. I did not sign on for the blood-sucking bugs."
* ''Will / Ed'' from [[Nintendo Wars|Advance Wars: Days of Ruin / Dark Conflict]]. His idealism arguably pushes him dangerously close to being an [[Idiot Hero]], as he is often wildly optimistic and consequently sometimes fails to look at situations properly. However, his will and [[Determinator|sheer determination]] in even the worst of situations often leads to at least one crowning moment of heartwarming. Case in point - mission 16, which starts off with desperate music playing pushing ever closer to the [[Despair Event Horizon]], when suddenly Will/Ed decides he's going to fight, and the music changes from desperate to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCD6ribbc-4 sheer awesome.]
* Flonne in ''[[Disgaea]]'' falls under this trope. She never ceases to be an overoptimistic idealist who believes that demons can love, and that Seraph Lamington is a good guy.
** In the best ending {{spoiler|she's absolutely right}}.
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* Emma Babineaux of the ''[[Battle Royale]]'' based RP ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'' arguably fits this. After winning a fight against [[Complete Monster|J.R. Rizzolo]], instead of shooting him, she tries to convince him to stop killing and escape the island with her - this being after he attempted to murder her ''twice''.
** {{spoiler|And then she gets killed for her troubles. Poor, foolish Emma.}}
** Chris Davidson from v4 may indeed be this as well.
** One could easily make a case for Carol Burke as well, who seems to genuinely believe they are going to be rescued and the terrorists wouldn't get away with it a fourth time. To her, very few at her school would actually play, especially her friends. Heck, she trusts ''[[Psycho Lesbian|Reiko]] [[Ax Crazy|Ishida]]'' {{spoiler|and like Emma, gets killed for her troubles}}.
** Orn "Dutchy" Ayers could also be interpreted as this. However, it's also a major reason why he's considered [[The Woobie]]; he's smart enough to know that although things should be good and he wants to do the right thing, things... [[Break the Cutie|aren't working out]]. As a result, he doesn't take things very well, and spends a good portion of his time on the island in a [[Heroic BSOD]], wishing he could save all his friends.
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* Zeta from ''[[The Zeta Project]]'' pretty much ''is'' this trope, naive and kind, always taking people at their word, a terrible of judge of character who thinks the best of everyone and generally easily manipulated. It's due to being so young and having no knowledge of the world beforehand, and to be fair, his friends do try to help him get better about this.
* This trope + [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] + [[Idiot Hero]] + [[Perky Goth]] with a side order of [[Dem Bones]] and [[Bad Santa]] gives us [[The Nightmare Before Christmas|Jack Skellington]].
* [[Avatar: The Last Airbender|Aang]] started off this way. But being shouldered with the weight of the Avatar Spirit, his entire people dying, Appa's kidnapping and the horrors of war quickly got rid of it.
** Zuko also started out this way. [[Break the Cutie|Then his father burned his face off and kicked him out of the country as punishment for his idealism.]]
* In ''[[Transformers Prime]]'', Optimus when he was Orion Pax as Megatron's protege in the Cybertron civil rights movement. He ended up endearing himself to the general public compared to his mentor's more ruthless methods.
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