Warrior Therapist: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

[[Implausible Fencing Powers]] meets [[Hannibal Lecture]].

 

See also [[Talking the Monster to Death]] for another variation of this trope.

 

== Anime and Manga ==

** He does this to Enishi while ''sitting still on a beach''. There is some fighting, but mostly he just talks the guy into...ripping out his own inner ear in response to emotional anguish. Yeah.

** His fight with Han'nya and his first fight with Aoshi, too, just to a lesser extent. He didn't get into Soujiro's head the first time at all, which was what made the guy so creepy, and he ''never'' managed to reach Shishio, which sets him apart as a villain. Oh, and there's Saitou, whom he ''misanalyzes'' during their first in-series fight and never really gets anywhere with. Although Saitou doesn't correct Kenshin when he lumps him in with 'his friends' during the final beach fight with Enishi.

* Izumi Curtis, Ed and Al's alchemy teacher in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', specializes in this, to the point where smackdowns with a benign [[Hannibal Lecture]] on the side are her principal teaching method.

* ''[[Bleach]]'': Kisuke Urahara is the [[Eccentric Mentor]] version of a Warrior Therapist. In his early training with Ichigo, EVERYTHING consisted of basically beating the crap out of him while spoon-feeding him some important tidbit about the facts of life and combat.

** Averted with Zommari who thinks he's this but utterly fails to understand Byakuya.

** Ichigo Kurosaki shows that he is this in his battle with Gin Ichimaru stating, "I'm not saying I don't remember your blade. I'm saying I don't remember your heart. When you cross blades, you can tell a little of what your opponent's thinking. I'm not saying you can read their mind or anything like that, but you can tell what kind of resolve lies behind their blade, whether they respect you or look down on you. That kind of thing, you can tell. When I'm actually fighting, there's no time to think about it, so I don't usually realize until afterwards, but in general, the stronger the opponent is, the more of that "heart" seems to come across."

* Technically '[[Card Games|Duelist]]' Therapy, but used heavily in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's]]'' by the protagonist Fudo Yuusei. Most of his duels in the first season tend to end up in a [[Defeat Means Friendship]] scenario, or just as a general means of befriending people in general, including [[Dark Magical Girl|Izayoi Aki]], who has to go several rounds with Yuusei before she [[Cursed with Awesome|gets]] [[Brainwashed and Crazy|over]] [[Power Incontinence|her]] [[More Than Mind Control|problems]].

** This trope also certainly applies to the protagonists of the [[Yu-Gi-Oh!|previous]] [[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX|two]] series as well.

** He's the very image of this trope in the series, actually. {{spoiler|He is able to lecture Lessar 15 minutes straight about proper girl mannerisms that she gets literally worn out listening to it.}}

* ''[[Inuyasha]]'': Shishinki, an enemy of Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's father, is an evil example. He deliberately turns up while Sesshoumaru is emotionally vulnerable fully aware of what happened and why Sesshoumaru couldn't fully master Tenseiga. Inuyasha's arrival allows him to immediately realise the half breed younger brother was chosen over Sesshoumaru to receive Tessaiga. Most of the fight consists of Shishinki insightfully exposing every single one of Sesshoumaru's fears over the meaning of the two swords and whether it's proof his father hated him. This culminates in the [[Awful Truth]], causing an [[Heroic BSOD]] that lasts beyond the fight and takes a while for Sesshoumaru to recover from.

 

== Comic Books ==

* Parodied in ''[[Deadpool]]'' #27, wherein Deadpool, on the recommendation of his psychiatrist, seeks out and picks a fight with Wolverine for just this effect.

* Dr. Leonard Samson, who treats [[Incredible Hulk|Bruce Banner]], [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Factor]] and the [[Thunderbolts]], and is gamma-powered himself without turning into a mindless freak.

* [[Superman]] has spent a good number of his battles simultaneously talking ''and'' beating some sense into his opponents. It's turned more than a few villains to a less destructive path.

* [[Spider-Man]] has done this as a way to help villains such as The Lizard or Vermin. More often than not, he actually uses this in a way that is normally reserved for villains or anti-heroes: he humiliates them verbally, making them reckless. It has been revealed that a number of his foes have actually suffered some mental trauma because of this (then again, many of them were crazy already, so...)

 

* A ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' fanfiction once gave a ''Klingon'' Counselor to a starbase captain. (This was a bit of a [[Take That]] to the character in question, who had once been highly against being commanded by [[Ridiculously Human Robot|Data]] for the reason that computers don't make good captains, just like Klingons wouldn't make good counselors.)

 

* [[Star Wars|Luke Skywalker]] proves to be something of an impressive Warrior Therapist, able to talk his father--[[It Was His Sled|who happens to be Darth frickin' Vader]]—into [[Heel Face Turn|turning good]].

** Well, he tried. Vader didn't turn until the Emperor [[Papa Wolf|tried to kill Luke]] [[Too Dumb to Live|right in front of him]].

* Endearingly enough, Maxwell Smart Agent 86 in the 2008 film ''[[Get Smart (film)|Get Smart]]'' embodies this trope in a simultaneous [[Crowning Moment of Funny]] and [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]] where he [[Talking the Monster to Death|reaches out to the feelings]] of [[The Dragon|the giant henchman]], empathizes with his troubled family life, [[Cooldown Hug|hugs him]] and [[Heel Face Turn|(possibly) turns him into a good guy.]]

* [[The Silence of the Lambs|Dr. Lecter]]. Literally.

* Li Mubai and Shu-Lien from ''[[Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon]]''.

* Rafiki from ''[[The Lion King]]'' might qualify, although he's far more Therapist/Mentor than Warrior. (But he can still kick your ass when required.)

* In ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'', Jack Sparrow tries this on Will Turner the first time they meet.

* Done with much [[Narm]] by [[Steven Seagal]] in ''[[On Deadly Ground]]'':

* This is one of the many abilities of Anasurimbor Kellhus from ''[[Second Apocalypse]]''. He can completely analyse and deconstruct someone's personality by observing their movements and facial expressions. He can then use his own voice and movements to send subliminal cues and manipulate people into doing nearly anything.

* In R.A. Salvatore's Legend of Drizzt series, Drizzt Do'Urden is this to Artemis Entreri and vice versa, except one is a Good Warrior Therapist while the other is an Evil one, obviously.

** He specializes in knowing his enemies. Knowing them ''completely'', at least as well as they know themselves. In the moment that he achieves this level of understanding, he naturally loves them. [[Mood Whiplash|And then he destroys them.]] It's not good for him, emotionally. So he loses the 'warrior' part once they discharge him as [[Tyke Bomb]] grand admiral.

* Rider in ''[[Fate/Zero]]''. Within one [[Drinking Contest]]/conversation on the right way to be king, he manages what took Shirou and Archer two weeks. Irisviel hits the [[Reset Button]] by telling her that even if she sucked as a king, at least she is essentially the embodiment of (self sacrificing) ideals. Since this is a prequel, it's not like she's going to magically get better ''now'' right?

* Due to the incredible importance of the target's emotional state to their plans, in ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' "Ansem," as well as most of Organization XIII have this as their M.O.

* You ''can'' choose to be a [[Jerkass]] to your companions in ''[[Dragon Age]]'' ''Origins'', but helping them through their various issues rewards you with stat bonuses for them, the occasional unique (and sometimes useful) item, {{spoiler|and in Zevran's case, taking the effort to be friendly and supportive of him will avert his [[Face Heel Turn]] later in the game}}. The "Warrior" part comes into play since a few of your companions' Personal Quests, specifically Morrigan, Shale, and potentially Leiliana, involve combat. In Morrigan's case, {{spoiler|you have to fight a freaking DRAGON}}. The "Therapist" part usually comes in the conversations you hold with your companions right after the quests are completed. You can actually make {{spoiler|Alistair and Leiliana}} more cynical people right after their quests, depending on what you say to them.

* [[Rance]] despite being a [[Heroic Sociopath]] qualifies. Many normally competent and wise people become [[Horrible Judge of Character|Horrible Judges Of Character]] when trying to evaluate him. That's not to say that he always uses his psychologist skills for evil though. One notable example of the positive side of this trope is that in [[Sengoku Rance]], {{spoiler|he helped Kouhime recover from the trauma of being raped. This is extremely surprising because he himself is a serial rapist.}}

 

== Webcomics ==

 

* ''[[Flipside]]'''s Maytag demonstrates early on in the comic that she can do this to people.

* Arguably, Karkat from ''[[Homestuck]]''.