History Main / HeroicVow

* Sparhawk of Creator/DavidEddings' ''Literature/TheElenium'', who maintains an ironclad sense of personal honor and dignity despite his own world-weary cynicism and the criminals and evils he has to deal with.

* Surprisingly defied in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' when the Fellowship is formed. Gimli wants the Fellowship to swear an oath to protect Frodo and get the Ring to Mount Doom, but Elrond refuses to allow it. "No oath, no bond is laid on you to go further than you will." Turns out to be a good thing in the end, since it allows most of the Fellowship to part from Frodo (due to circumstance and necessity) without becoming TheOathBreaker.
** In the [[Literature/TheSilmarillion backstory]] of the setting, Elrond's parental figures swore a not-so-heroic oath and brought disaster on the world in their attempts to follow it. By the time Elrond was born, they had started to sincerely regret swearing the thing but felt they had to continue to obey it and eventually lost everything as a consequence. It makes sense that Elrond would want to stop any rash vows being made.

* ''Literature/{{Otherverse}}'': While all magical people/Others in this series CannotTellALie without losing a huge amount of power, oaths are next level. If a Practioner or an Other swears to do something, you can be abosolutely certain they will do it ([[ExactWords at least to the letter of the oath, if not the spirit]]). Breaking an oath is SeriousBusiness to the extreme, with the consequence of a broken oath being a FateWorseThanDeath.

* In ''Literature/{{Pact}}'', Blake Thorburn swears to Evan Matthieu, the [[UndeadChild ghost of a murdered child]], that he will kill monsters like the one that killed Evan. Blake keeps this oath even after being made an {{Unperson}} by a demon and [[HeWhoFightsMonsters losing his humanity]], though he later redefines his definition of "monster" to include monstrous ''people''.

* Chevalier the mouse, hero of the webcomic Webcomic/{{CHEVALIER}} makes one to determine his destiny. Read it [[http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Chevalier/ here.]]

* There's a RunningGag in ''Film/GalaxyQuest'' where Sir Alexander Dane winces every time he hears or says his CatchPhrase. It becomes a Heroic Vow after [[spoiler:the death of his protege Quellek.]]

* The indie RPG ''{{Ironsworn}}'' has this as its levelling mechanic. Player characters earn experience by fulfilling an "Iron Vow" that they make to another person. The more complex and dangerous the oath, the more experience points it is worth. Abandoning or failing to fulfill an oath is a freely available option, but can and will have negative effects for doing so.

* Many heroes [[ThouShaltNotKill refrain from killing]], but ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' is very, ''very'' serious about the topic -- to the point of preventing ''other'' people from killing if at all possible. It's {{justified|Trope}} by the fact that it's pretty much all that prevents him from regressing back to his "Hitokiri Battousai" persona: A emotionless killer who is utterly remorseless about any and all lives that he takes. He took the vow after [[HeelRealization realizing just how far]] [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone he had fallen]] in his service to the Meiji revolution/government as an anti-Shogunate/pro-Meiji assassin during the Bakumatsu period.
* Also in the ThouShaltNotKill camp, Vash from ''Manga/{{Trigun}}''.
* In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'', Kyosuke promises Lamia that he'll kill her if she loses her mind.
-->If you ever lose your mind, don't worry. I'll destroy you myself.

*** In ''Anime/TheLastNarutoTheMovie'', he made another one to Hinata, only this time it was [[spoiler:to save her from [[BigBad Toneri]] and properly return her love for him]]. He also succeeded.
* Edward Elric from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' made a vow to his brother to restore his body without resorting to the Philosopher's Stone, which drives him for most of the story. He also [[ThouShallNotKill refuses to kill people]] but unfortunately sometimes his two vows clash.
** Also, and similar to the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' example, Riza Hawkeye has promised Roy Mustang that if he ever deviates from the righteous path, she will shoot him rather than let him go against his ideals. In an odd twist, this was ''his'' idea.
* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'', Banagher gave his word to Audrey that he would protect her, and he's sticking to it, no matter what fights he gets plunged into and whether Audrey would like this or not.
* Shinn from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'' [[DeclarationOfProtection vows to protect]] Stella, even if it means [[spoiler:handing her over to the Earth Alliance for medical treatment (and handing them a powerful combat asset), not attacking her while she wipes Berlin off the map, or attacking the Freedom in order to stop it from doing so.]]
* Balsa from ''Literature/MoribitoGuardianOfTheSpirit'' has vowed to save one life for everyone who died to protect her. When her childhood friend and healer [[WhatTheHellHero called her out]] on how many lives she was taking in her efforts to accomplish that goal, she further swore [[ThouShaltNotKill never to kill]].
* In ''Anime/EurekaSeven'', Renton make a personal vow that he will protect his beloved Eureka. He nearly broke his vow when he [[spoiler: ran away from Gekkostate]] in episode 21, but this vow eventually motivates him to go back.

* Dr. Kenzo Tenma in ''Manga/{{Monster}}'' is bound and resolved to do two things: save every life he possibly can (as a wanted fugitive, he more than once has to hold people at gunpoint in order to get them the emergency care they need), and kill Johan. The inconsistency between these two vows is not missed, to put it mildly.
* Even though they were the [[HeroAntagonist antagonists]] at the time, the [[AntiVillain Wolkenritter]] swore during ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'' that [[ThouShaltNotKill they wouldn't kill anyone]] during their quest to fill the [[ArtifactOfDoom Book of Darkness]] since it would taint [[MoralityPet Hayate's]] name with blood.

Compare and contrast with EmptyPromise, IGaveMyWord, PinkySwear, and ExactWords. When someone has broken this vow so thoroughly they become ostracised they're TheOathBreaker. If the oath is strong enough to prevent even mind control from forcing them to break it, it's an IntrinsicVow.

Often an application of HeroicSpirit, and popular with a KnightInSourArmor. When done well, can lead to [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Moments of Awesome]]. When handled poorly, can result in HonorBeforeReason, StupidGood, or SeriousBusiness. If a hero becomes obsessed with enforcing his Heroic Vow, he may end up becoming TheFettered. If unlucky, they'll be forced to make their vow a FrequentlyBrokenUnbreakableVow when circumstances force them to break it.

* A HeroicVow is a common requirement of initiation for many religious orders.

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'' Axel made a vow to never give up on his friends Roxas and Xion no matter what. A vow he kept even after losing his memories, death, and rebirth as a new person.

--> '''Axel''': Go on you just keep running. But I'd always be here to bring you back.

* The (quasi-)historical king Harald Fairhair vowed to not cut his hair until he ruled all of Norway. [[RealityEnsues He obviously never conquered all of modern day Norway]], but the sagas acknowledge him as the first king. The part about him conquering Norway for the love of a woman may have been exaggerated a bit.

* The historical king Harald Fairhair vowed to not cut his hair until he ruled all of Norway. [[RealityEnsues He obviously never conquered all of modern day Norway]], but the sagas acknowledge him as the first king. The part about him conquering Norway for the love of a woman may have been exaggerated a bit.

* The indie RPG ''Ironsworn'' has this as its levelling mechanic. Player characters earn experience by fulfilling an "Iron Vow" that they make to another person. The more complex and dangerous the oath, the more experience points it is worth. Abandoning or failing to fulfill an oath is a freely available option, but can and will have negative effects for doing so.

* Balsa from ''Anime/MoribitoGuardianOfTheSpirit'' has vowed to save one life for everyone who died to protect her. When her childhood friend and healer [[WhatTheHellHero called her out]] on how many lives she was taking in her efforts to accomplish that goal, she further swore [[ThouShaltNotKill never to kill]].

[[caption-width-right:350:"I will keep watch."]]

Most protagonists are depicted as imperfect; though heroic, they aren't flawless paragons of perfection, and will have some minor shortcomings to help the audience identify with them better. [=SuperBob=] can selflessly save the world on a daily basis, but mild-mannered Bob Trope will regularly leave the refrigerator door open.

* Not using a DangerousForbiddenTechnique is frequently requested by a {{Mentor}} or MoralityChain, or self imposed after seeing the potential consequences.

* In ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'', Ash suffers a HeroicBSOD when he learns [[spoiler: that Iris, Dawn and Cilan might be dead in the new timeline.]] After snapping out of it, [[DeclarationOfProtection he vows to become stronger to protect the friends he still has.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda,'' Po endures everything thrown at him in his TrainingFromHell to become the Dragon Warrior. Noting that "a real warrior never quits," Po vows to persevere no matter what, and endures everything inflicted on him without complaint.

* Vlad's in ''Film/DraculaUntold'', when someone mentions they couldn't win the fight against the Ottoman Empire.

** In the [[Literature/TheSilmarillion backstory]] of the setting, Elrond's parental figures swore a not-so-heroic oath, and brought disaster on the world in their attempts to follow it. By the time Elrond was born they had started to sincerely regret swearing the thing, but felt they had to continue to obey it and eventually lost everything as a consequence. It makes sense that Elrond would want to stop any rash vows being made.

[[folder: Live Action TV]]

** The principle is generally expressed as a right of self-determination for any society. Even if this means that society making choices which harm or even destroy itself (like oppressive government or civil war). It is also taken much more seriously in the case of civilizations which have not yet developed interstellar travel, that's where the "normal development" part really comes into play; these civilizations have to find their own way to the stars while figuring out how best to run their society (or not). They are treated some-what like under-age minors, simply off-limits even if you might have the best of intentions. In-universe, opinions differ on whether "normal development" includes acts of nature (like the local sun going supernova or a naturally occurring disease which threatens to wipe out a sentient species who possess inadequate medical technology).

** The so called "War Doctor", or Not-Doctor, iteration is thus his deepest shame. Because he feels like in that incarnation he ''did'' give up on finding a way to TakeAThirdOption, choosing mass genocide (of his own people) in order to save the universe. [[spoiler: Except it turns out he didn't, but loses his own memory of interacting with his future selves when they saved Gallifrey instead]]

** In the Fifth Edition of Dungeons and Dragons, all {{Paladin}}s must swear an oath when they reach third level. The oath of a paladin not only determines what abilities they will get as they level up, but also sets a code of conduct which they must always uphold. For example, Paladins who swear the Oath of Devotion [[KnightInShiningArmor strive to uphold the ideals of honor and chivalry]]. Those who swear the Oath of the Ancients promise to protect all the beautiful, life-giving things in the world. Paladins who swear the Oath of Vengeance devote their life to [[KnightTemplar hunting down and punishing evildoers, no matter the cost]]. If a Paladin willfully breaks their oath, they either lose their paladin abilities until they repent, are forced to switch character classes, or become an [[TheOathBreaker Oathbreaker]].

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', the [[KnightTemplar Black Templars]] chapter of {{space marine}}s, an army of particularly pious {{warrior monk}}s, may choose a vow that affects how they fight a battle. One, for example, gives all models a weak saving throw against ranged attacks that would normally ignore their PowerArmor, but keeps them from taking cover, while another forces units to charge at the nearest enemy but grant them significant combat bonuses when doing so.
* The indie RPG ''Ironsworn'' has this as its levelling mechanic. Player characters earn experience by fulfilling an "Iron Vow" that they make to another person. The more complex and dangerous the oath, the more experience points it is worth. Abandoning or failing to fulfil an oath is a freely available option, but can and will have negative effects for doing so.

* There are assorted variation of the speech Shepard can give in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' before the final assault on the Collector Base, but most of them come out as one.

* From ''VideoGame/{{Persona}}'', Yukino Mayuzumi pledges to rescue Saeko-sama from the Snow Queen, no matter what.

%%* Morley's Code of Ethical Behavior from ''Literature/BurntEmpire''.
%%-->Rule One: Don't kill anyone, ever.
%%-->Rule Two: Never blackmail, especially not for anything disgusting.
%%-->Rule Three: Never steal, ever.
%%-->Rule Four: [[ThereIsNoRuleSix There is no Rule Four]].
%%-->Rule Five: Don't insult anyone who doesn't deserve it.