History Main / GloryHound

%%* All over the place in ''Catch-22''.

* Pell, an F-86 pilot in James Salter's novel ''The Hunters'', consistently puts the rest of his squadron in danger by failing to cover them and going after the kill instead.

* The fan game ''Videogame/RakenzarnTales'' has a guild of them, with the Morning Glory guild. [[HateSink A group of lying jerkass Glory Hounds]].

* Yaginuma in ''VisualNovel/KaraNoShoujo'' is pretty open about being this. On the other hand, it's implied that were he to screw up he would take responsibility for it, meaning he has to actually be pretty competent.

* Cobalt from WebAnimation/WolfSongTheMovie is this in the most literal sense (he, like the entire cast, is a wolf), as although a clear cut villain, he likes to take credit and doesn't like it when others discredit his own "actions" (running off during single combat, leaving the job of capturing Alador to his squad and ending up down by 2 {{mooks}} due to said absence, only returning once the dust settles) and takes such an offence *violently* serious. Every time his squad manages even a minor victory, he just tends to try and take credit of its success, as stated by him claiming responsibility for a lot despite not being on screen for most of it.
->Cobalt (to Zar):" I singlehandedly captured your friends, foiled your plans and made your worst nightmares a reality."

* Zapp Brannigan from ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''. He will not hesitate to throw wave after wave of his own men to their deaths to merely force killbots to shut down by reaching their pre-programmed kill limits or command a battle fleet in a dangerous space battle remotely from the New New York Appleby's.
-->'''Zapp:''' Just say the word and I'll throw wave after wave of my own men to help you out! Isn't that right, men?\\
'''Zapp's men:''' ''(mortified silence)''\\

* ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'': [[Characters/MonsterVerseWalterSimmons Walter Simmons]], the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive corporate CEO]] who's backing Team Kong's efforts to combat Godzilla's enigmatic attacks, is ultimately revealed to be one. [[spoiler:He's been ''knowingly'' provoking and continuing to provoke Godzilla's attacks on populated cities (disrupting a completely-beneficial truce between Godzilla and mankind in the process), not caring for the thousands to millions of innocent lives lost, all so that he can become a FakeUltimateHero when he has his lackey use [[HumongousMecha Mechagodzilla]] to kill Godzilla. Whereas Simmons' right hand [[TheDragon Ren Serizawa]] and his daughter Maia both have more [[ItsPersonal personal]] [[WellDoneDaughterGirl reasons]] for participating in his plot, Simmons is unambiguously doing all of this for the sake of his own warped {{pride}}, self-aggrandizement and [[AmbitionIsEvil ambition]]]]. The novelization notes that this isn't limited to Simmons' plot concerning Godzilla's rampage either: if Ren's internal musings are to be believed, Simmons has a habit of taking all the credit for other people's technological innovations.

** [[AttentionWhore Bender]] desperately wants to be remembered for his greatness and doesn't care if his "success" is only nominal. After winning third place in a sausage-making competition, he threw the second-place winner in front of a charging rhino and the first-place winner over an icy slope and took their trophies. [[HiddenDepths On the other hand]], he's occasionally capable of [[TheGreatestStoryNeverTold noble actions undertaken with no hope of reward]].

-->'''Dripalong:''' Put down that Comedy Relief! ''I'm''' the hero of this picture!

-> ''"GLITZ! GLAMOUR! I'LL FINALLY HAVE IT ALL! SO WHAT IF A FEW PEOPLE HAVE TO DIE? THAT'S SHOW BUSINESS, BABY!"''

* ''ComicBook/WonderWomanWarbringer'': [[spoiler:Jason]] wants the glory afforded to the heroes of Myth/ClassicalMythology and has decided that his inheritance and power and descendant of Helen of Troy entitles him to it. He intends to cause a worldwide war, destroy the technological abilities of everyone besides himself, and bring back the power of mythological creatures to get it.

* Barnaby Brooks Jr. from ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' appears to be one at first, but it turns out that his PunchClockHero tendencies have a more complex reason than that. [[spoiler:Specifically, the head of his sponsoring company is the orphaned Barnaby's trusted mentor -- and has used the opportunity to raise a hero who won't complain about compromising morality for the sake of appealing to the masses.]]

* ''Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya'': The alternate Earth is running out of Mana, which will eventually make it uninhabitable. Julian Ainsworth comes up with a solution that involves sacrificing Miyu to the Holy Grail so that they can make a wish for humanity to be able to survive. The heroes rescue Miyu, and Illya proposes that they work together to find a different solution that doesn't involve sacrificing anybody. Julian angrily refuses and attacks them, calling them evil for opposing him. As Miyu's brother explains, Julian refuses to admit he could be wrong and wants to get sole credit for saving the world so that he can become a legend.

* ''Fanfic/DavionAndDavionDeceased'' has a Mechwarrior officer inform the infantry he should be supporting that he's 'jousting' against the enemy 'Mechs. The infantry officer makes at least a token effort to warn them of the enemy airstrike heading towards the 'joust'.
* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/541006/chapters/961664 The Value of Strength]]'': Steve Rogers lets the fight against a dragon continue over an hour after figuring out its weakness because "There’s no glory in prevention".
* ''Fanfic/{{Wyvern}}'': While Armsmaster is mostly a WellIntentionedExtremist, this does not change the fact that his ultimate goal of trying to get Taylor into the wards is so that he can mentor her and partner up with the goal of defeating an Endbringer [[spoiler: He literally thinks that he'd "be fine" with half the fame]], but also because he has always wanted to partner with a dragon.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'', Syndrome's plan is certainly reckless with people and property. His plan is to act as a Super so that he gains the admiration of the public, which involves a giant robot doing massive amounts of damage and putting lives at risk. Not to mention all the Supers he killed off.

* In ''Film/OsmosisJones'', the villainous virus known as Thrax plans to kill Frank (whom in the setting is like a heavily populated city-state) within 48 hours to "get [his] ''own'' chapter in the medical books". More specifically, he is envious of big-name diseases like Ebola and AIDS, believing himself to be deadlier than they are, and [[FameThroughInfamy wants their levels of global infamy]]. To do this, he tricks several pathogenic gangs to create symptoms of a common cold infection to divert the immune response away from him, then abandons them to die as he steals a DNA bead to send Frank's body into a death spiral while he alone escapes to find another host to kill.

* Lord Rust in ''{{Literature/Jingo}}!'' marches an army to war with little preparation and starting the invasion at the worst possible place because the enemy ''would never suspect anyone to do so''. Indeed, this is the basic outline of all military thinking on the Sto Plains. The important part of war is that you took part and there were Glorious Casualties. Actually winning is a minor, inconsequential detail, and [[WeHaveReserves keeping one's troops alive is seen]] as irrelevant at best, outright ''cheating'' at worse.

** In Creator/DanAbnett's Literature/GauntsGhosts novel ''Ghostmaker'', the general in overall command claims credit for victories essentially won by Gaunt and his Ghosts.

** In Creator/DanAbnett's Literature/HorusHeresy ''Horus Rising'', Eidolon sent his men to the planet surface, wasting them in small groups when overwhelming force was clearly needed, to claim glory. Later, when Tarvitz's actions in blowing up [[WhenTreesAttack certain trees]] has beneficial effects on [[WeatherDissonance unnatural storms]], Eidolon claimed he had had it done when he had in fact rebuked Tarvitz for doing it.

** In Creator/BenCounter's ''Galaxy in Flames'', [[spoiler: Lucius]], being [[GreenEyedMonster envious]] claims to [[spoiler:Eidolon]] that [[spoiler:Tarvitz]] had once been content to plod along as a common soldier, but has discovered a thirst for glory [[spoiler:leading the betrayed loyalist Space Marines on Isstvan]]. [[spoiler:Which is why he wants to become a TurnCoat]]. [[spoiler:With the advantage Lucius gives him, in a quest for glory, Eidolon strikes ahead of with no thought of tactics. Tarvitz gets the loyalist Emperor's Children to disengage, join him, and make a flanking attacking. Eidolon's troops are slaughtered, and Horus is signally displeased with him.]]

** In Mitchel Scanlon's Imperial Guard novel ''Literature/FifteenHours'', it's what [[spoiler:kills]] the protagonist: he is part of a recon team on the field of the day's battle, led by an officer looking for an easy medal. Things go horribly wrong, most of the team being killed by scavenging Orks.

** In Creator/GrahamMcNeill's Literature/{{Ultramarines}} novel ''The Killing Grounds'', Uriel recognizes Barbaros's personality as a Glory Hound at once, even though he is mustered out and serving as Governor.

* Pell, an F-86 pilot in James Salter's novel ''The Hunters'', consistently puts the rest of his squadron in danger by failing to cover them and going after the kill instead.
* Captain Falco from Creator/JohnHemry's ''Literature/TheLostFleet'' makes himself out to be the hero of the Alliance even though his victories are all but indistinguishable from his defeats. [[spoiler:This ends up blowing up in his face spectacularly when he persuades a chunk of the titular Fleet to go haring off on a [[AttackAttackAttack glorious headlong charge]]... straight into an enemy ambush. When we next see Falco, [[HeroicBSOD his mind has cracked completely]].]]
* In Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' books:
** Prince Serg in ''Literature/ShardsOfHonor'' and his supporters. [[spoiler:The Emperor intentionally let them go to war against enemies who had weapons they didn't know about to get rid of them.]]
** The Cetagandian attackers in ''Literature/TheVorGame''. During the fighting, Miles thinks that they should have realized that all was lost and retreated, but owing to the dishonor, they [[AttackAttackAttack attack on and on]] in hopes of redeeming themselves with victory. Justified in this case, as a defeat would lead to the campaign being disavowed by their government to save face and the commanders facing (likely fatal) punishment for their "unauthorized" actions.
** Miles himself runs dangerously close to this trope; while he runs his people well and ensures that the Dendarii are incredibly useful as a covert operations force, ''his own mother'' speculates that he does so only so that he can keep being the dashing, dazzling Admiral Naismith, and not the crippled, unregarded Lieutenant Vorkosigan. However, that's only one side of his duality: the other side is [[spoiler:the man who will jump after a woman he barely knows, as she's falling out of a shuttlecraft, and try to grab her despite her being twice his size and weight and the action almost certainly causing his death, because [[AFatherToHisMen she has been drafted as One Of His People]]]].
* Two perfect examples in Norman Mailer's acclaimed book, ''Literature/TheNakedAndTheDead''. Sergeant Croft and General Cummings both fit this role, though Croft is the foul-playing war-lover, whereas Cummings is part of the ArmchairMilitary. Cummings believed war can be calculated with a formula, whereas Croft is just bloodthirsty. Either way, they're both out for glory regardless of the cost, and both attempt to send Lieutenant Hearn, one of the protagonists, to his death. [[spoiler:They are successful. Cummings assigns Hearn to Croft's squad, and Croft sends Hearn ahead to lead the group, and he gets killed in an ambush due to his lack of battlefield experience.]]
* The ''Literature/InDeath'' series: The FBI, especially Agent Jacoby, definitely is this in ''Betrayal in Death''. Eve and her unit were about to arrest an assassin named Sylvester Yost when the FBI shoved them out and Yost escaped because he saw them coming in. Karma hit the FBI pretty hard on that one.
%%* Captain Wakeman in JohnHemry's ''Literature/PaulSinclair'' novel ''A Just Determination''
%%* All over the place in ''Catch-22''.
* Domingo Espada, the BigBad of ''Literature/DoubleShot'', is already a famous figure through his years as a bullfighter, but still wants his name to be remembered in history books by orchestrating the takeover of UsefulNotes/{{Gibraltar}} for Spain.

* General Damon from ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' uses your Militia Squadron as cannon-fodder, sending you on one suicide mission after the other -- and when you actually succeed, against all odds, [[StealingTheCredit he claims it as a victory for himself and the conventional army]]. While you're busy trying to save your tiny nation from being entirely overrun and/or razed by TheEmpire, he's more concerned with earning his Field Marshall star...
* Gail from ''VideoGame/FrontMission1'' is also one, a skilled Wanzer pilot who "pay for glory with the blood of his own men" by Hell's Wall leader Greg, he becomes Kevin's rival in the game.

* Most paladins in role-playing games tend towards this too, even though it goes against their alignment.
* Ratchet from ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' is a bit like this. His main motivation is the fame and fortune that come from his adventures. But by game three, he has become jaded when Clank gets his own secret agent series that has Ratchet as his chauffeur, constantly annoyed that Qwark and Clank keep getting credit for his work.
* Yaginuma in ''VisualNovel/KaraNoShoujo'' is pretty open about being this. On the other hand, it's implied that were he to screw up he would take responsibility for it, meaning he has to actually be pretty competent.

* Cole in ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield 3}}''. Campo calls him this(out of earshot), and later [[spoiler: it plays a major part in getting Campo and Matkovich killed in ''A Rock And A Hard Place''.]]

* Axton of ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'' was formerly a commando of the Dahl corporation whose obsession with personal glory eventually led to him botching an escort mission by using the person he was supposed to protect as a targeting beacon and forcing him to go AWOL at the advice of his wife (who was also his CO).
* Dr. James Whitman in ''VideoGame/TombRaider2013'' is an archaeologist who is obsessed with having fame and glory for himself. Whitman's reality TV show based on his discoveries had dwindled greatly and he resorted to more general reality TV elements that don't pertain to what he does for a living. Whitman was so used to glamorous parties, fine dining, and the attention being focused on him that he was willing to do anything to get his glory back. When Whitman and the rest of the crew get shipwrecked on Yamatai, he becomes so fascinated by the crazed cult and the Sun Queen that he focuses on trying to study them so he has a story to sell to the media and barely even bothers helping Lara Croft and the others find a way to escape from the island. [[spoiler: At one point, Whitman kidnaps Lara's best friend, Sam, and hands her over to the BigBad (whom he had planned to use the girl as a vessel to restore the Sun Queen's soul) just so that he could make his story bigger for the media after he witnessed what would happen to Sam during the ritual. LaserGuidedKarma bites Whitman in the ass hard as he gets killed by a pair of undead samurai.]]
* The fan game ''Videogame/RakenzarnTales'' has a guild of them, with the Morning Glory guild. [[HateSink A group of lying jerkass Glory Hounds.]]

* ''VideoGame/SwordOfPaladin'': Berienstahl seeks to use the Extra Gems to start and win a world war, and then have history [[WrittenByTheWinners written to portray him as a "hero."]]
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'': Farwil is a nobleman's son who founded the alleged Knights of the Thorn, a SmallNameBigEgo club with no accomplishments to its name, and leads them straight into the planes of Oblivion when a [[{{Hellgate}} Gate]] opens outside his city. When you rescue him, he's indefatigable, even after having gotten most of his friends killed. Even his father admits that "Most would have left him for dead rather than deal with his ego."

** On the other hand, Mettaton is not as scrupulous: his end goal during the Hotland arc is to steal the Human Child's SOUL and reach the surface for himself. While he makes it clear that he wants to do this to [[spoiler: stop Asgore from exterminating humanity]], he's also completely open about the fact that he's gunning for fame and fortune among [[IntriguedByHumanity the race he's grown to love]].
* ''VideoGame/BugFables'': [[TeamPrimaDonna Mothiva]] is primarily motivated by fame and glory, and is willing to get it by any means possible, no matter unethical. She is even willing to attack other exploration teams if she interprets them as a threat to her own popularity, in hopes of stealing their missions to complete by herself to gain all the fame, and even went as far as to attempt to [[spoiler:beat Team Snakemouth, the main rivals of her team, on Colosseum to prove that her team is stronger so that Queen Elizant II would have to bring her along to defeat the Wasp King. She is so blinded by her pursuit of fame that she doesn't even acknowledge the possibility that her actions might doom all of Bugaria because if Team Snakemouth loses in the Colosseum, it would ruin the negotiation with the Termite Kingdom royalty who would use Team Snakemouth's defeat as a way to discredit the validity of Elizant's warning about the Wasp King, or that Mothiva's team might turn out to be not strong enough to defeat the Wasp King by themselves, both factors she [[SelectiveObliviousness willfully ignores]].]]

* Lieutenant Cross from ''Webcomic/ThePocalypse'' was perfectly willing to ignore the distress calls sent by the main characters because they got the missions he wanted. When this is revealed, he just attempts to kill them.

* He, Cato Sicarius from ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'', would like you to know that he, Cato Sicarius, is the greatest swordfighter among the Ultramarines and is the most qualified to succeed the Chapter Master; not that he, Cato Sicarius, wishes him anything bad, unlike regular Ultramarines who should be honored to die for the most esteemed Company Captain of the chapter. [[RunningGag Who is he, Cato Sicarius]].

-->'''Zapp:''' Just say the word and I'll throw wave after wave of my own men to help you out! Isn't that right, men?
-->'''Zapp's men:''' *mortified silence*
-->'''Voice from the back ranks:''' YOU SUCK!

* Sentinel Prime from ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated.'' He's willing to make a deal with [[BountyHunter Lockdown,]] a sociopathic monster who butchers his victims to steal their upgrades who is probably high on the Elite Guard's most wanted list, for him to, in exchange for parts from the Elite Guard's ship, capture Decepticons for him so he can take the credit and be the hero. This backfires, leaving him to be rescued by Optimus and the others. When they make contact with Cybertron, Optimus covers for him ''again'', [[KarmaHoudini leaving Sentinel free of any consequences.]] [[spoiler: At the end of the series, he's now the default leader of Cybertron, who is ''still'' taking credit for said captures?]] Optimus was also one to a lesser extent in the series pilot, made worse since he was a washout cadet assigned to a menial post. He is quickly sobered after his first confrontation with the Decepticons.
* Major Man from ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' at first appears to be a kind and selfless superhero. In reality, he's a con artist who deliberately causes crises when nobody's watching so that [[EngineeredHeroics he can show up and save the day]]. After he's exposed as a fraud, he admits that he only became a superhero so that people would admire him.

* Captain Falco from Creator/JohnHemry's ''Literature/TheLostFleet'' makes himself out to be the hero of the Alliance even though his victories are all but indistinguishable from his defeats. [[spoiler:This ends up blowing up in his face spectacularly when he persuades a chunk of the titular Fleet to go haring off on a [[AttackAttackAttack glorious headlong charge]]... [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome straight into an enemy ambush.]] When we next see Falco, [[HeroicBSOD his mind has cracked completely]].]]