History Main / IJustWanttoBeNormal

* Violet from ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', at least in the beginning of the movie. Then the AdrenalineMakeover makes her realize how awesome she is when she has confidence, and uses her powers to protect her family and fight crime.

** In a later arc, she finds out that a power-suppressing drug exists, but her mother won't let her have it until she's older (not to mention that it only works for a few hours a dose and taking two doses too close together can be lethal).

* In ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes'', Summer Mighty has inherited her father's powers, which caused her former friends to avoid her. It's also why she's been reluctant to train herself to control her powers, [[http://eheroes.smackjeeves.com/comics/1880935/no-tool-like-an-old-tool/ something her boss calls her out on.]]

* Gumiya from ''Webcomic/NextSoundOfTheFuture'' is a RidiculouslyHumanRobot who was manufactured to be an IdolSinger. Living the exceptional life of an idol never felt right to him, so he quit and tried to get a normal job instead. By the present day of the comic, he lives as an average guy who works as an accountant and is much happier with his life that way.

-->"Now you know how it feels to be like everyone else. Isn't it ''just''...peachy?"

* This trope is OlderThanFeudalism, appearing in ''Literature/TheBible'' with the first two chapters of the Book of Jonah. After being selected by God to go to the city of Nineveh to prophesy against it "for their great wickedness is come up before me", Jonah did ''not'' want this responsibility, and tried to flee by going to the city of Jaffa and then sailing to Tarshish (which was in the opposite direction from Nineveh). When a storm threatened to sink the ship, the sailors suspect that Jonah is the cause, and he admits it. They toss him overboard, which causes the sea to calm, but Jonah's life is saved when he is swallowed by a "big fish" who carries him to land after three days. During that time, Jonah prays to God and decides to accept the task given to him.
* The Lord our God does not take 'no' for an answer. Moses' efforts to persuade the Burning Bush to look elsewhere for the savior of the Hebrew people is downright hilarious; 'but nobody will believe me!', 'but I don't speak Hebrew', and so forth.

** ''VideoGa,e/KingdomHeartsI'': Sora journeys not to save the Universe (which he ends up doing), but to find his friends. Once he has done that, he still needs to restore his homeworld.

* ''Film/Dune2021'': Leto Atreides tells his son Paul that he would rather had been a [[Franchise/StarWars fighter pilot]] instead of a Duke and head of the House.

* One of ''Website/{{Cracked}}'''s [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-things-movies-always-get-wrong-about-awkward-people_p2/ 4 Things Movies Always Get Wrong About Awkward People]] is that people with NoSocialSkills necessarily want to be cured.

See also CursedWithAwesome, InternalizedCategorism, ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne, WhoWantsToLiveForever, and RefusalOfTheCall. Contrast JumpedAtTheCall, where wanting to be normal never even occurs to the hero and KeepingTheHandicap, where the character chooses to stay disabled (or similar) even if they could feasibly cure it. Naturally, the opposite of this trope is IJustWantToBeSpecial. See also BlessedWithSuck, when the hero has ''every reason'' to want to be normal.

!!!"Reluctant Hero" redirects to this page. For the ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' fanfic, [[Fanfic/ReluctantHero go here]].

* Roxas spends most of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' like this. He's perfectly happy in his nice normal town, doing nice normal chores with his nice normal friends. When the villains and the Keyblade come to call, telling him of some grand former life he used to have, he really doesn't care. He just wishes they'd all stop bothering him.
** In the first Kingdom Hearts, Sora fits this trope. He journeys not to save the Universe (which he ends up doing), but to find his friends. Once he has done that, he still needs to restore his homeworld.

* Shinjiro Aragaki in ''VideoGame/Persona3'' would like nothing better than to be rid of his Persona -- with good reason, since [[spoiler:he once lost control of it during a mission, causing the death of an innocent woman and orphaning her eight-year-old son]]. He stubbornly rejects Akihiko's efforts to bring him back into the fight and goes so far as to [[spoiler:poison himself with Persona-suppressing drugs]]. In the female protagonist's route in the PSP version of the game, he all but says the trope name word for word during his Social Link.
** Mitsuru in the same game also struggles a little with wanting to be normal; in her case it has less to do with her Persona and more to do with the fact that she's the heir to a large corporation and thus a lot of her life has been shaped by the expectations on her to live up to her role. To make things worse, her company is responsible for [[spoiler:all of the events in the game, including the Dark Hour, the Fall, Strega...]]so her company name is actually a severe burden. All things being equal, she'd like to be able to wear the same kinds of clothes and frequent the same hangouts that other students her age do, but instead her clothes are chosen for her by her family's stylist and she's engaged to a man twice her age who she feels she must marry in order to secure the future stability of her family's company.

* ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' [[{{Zigzagged}} zigzags]] the trope in regards to [[AnimeChineseGirl Chun Li.]] When she debuted back in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'', she was [[YouKilledMyFather out for revenge]] [[BigBad against M. Bison.]] Yet, in her character ending, she said she wanted to live a normal life. Like many things in ''SF'', this was [[{{Retcon}} retconned]] years later, beginning in the ''[[VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha Alpha]]'' series, which portrays Chun Li as a dedicated agent of Interpol. But by ''[[VideoGame/StreetFighterIII SF III]]'', she's retired from Interpol and teaches at a dojo of her own.

* Jarod Shadowsong, a night elf from ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}''. In the novel ''Literature/TheWarOfTheAncients'', he is a simple guard from the city of Suramar who gets wrapped up with major lore characters in the fight against the [[LegionsOfHell Burning Legion]]. When the general of the night elven army dies, Jarod is given the job of commanding the army comprising of night elves, [[OurMinotaursAreDifferent tauren]], [[BearyFunny furbolgs]], [[LivingStatue Earthen]], and ''demigods''. He knows the job has to be filled but wants nothing more than to go back to just being a faceless guard. After the war, Jarod vanished instead of taking up the offer of being co-leader of his people. He would reappear in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft Cataclysm'' when Mount Hyjal was threatened by Ragnaros, this time much more willing to take command after his [[TenMinuteRetirement Ten-Thousand Year Retirement]].
** The novel ''Wolfheart'' reveals that he left because he fell in love with another night elf (not Shandris), and they decided to run away to have a normal life together. He only returned because she got sick (a side effect of the loss of immortality).

* Ruby Rose from ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' is a strange ZigZaggedTrope: she wants to be a badass [[CreatureHunterOrganization Huntress]], but she's terrified of the social pressure that could result if word got out that she was let into (what amounts to) college two years early, at the Headmaster's personal request no less. She wants to be special in a normal way, not special in a special way.
** Pyrrha Nikos is another example: for a long time, all she ever knew was combat, no social skills, no relationships, nothing like that. As such, people only recognized her for her accomplishments, rather than who she really is. Due to this, everybody she ever met had her placed on a pedestal, and never bothered to interact with her because, in their eyes, Pyrrha was just too good for them. But when Jaune comes along, he knew nothing about her, and even when he was told of Pyrrha's fame, he still treated her like anybody else. This is one of the reasons why she has a crush on him (which, [[RuleOfDrama naturally]], he was very slow to reciprocate).

* In ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}'' this is Ash's eternal lament. What with the GenderBender, the drunken angel posing as her boyfriend, and being treated like the local badass's [[ReplacementGoldfish surrogate little sister]] you can't really blame her.
** Interestingly, Emily is actually enjoying her new life more than her old one and is beginning to disagree with Ash's desire to return to the way things were.

* ''Webcomic/SinFest'': Jesus thinks about [[http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3362 getting married and having a normal life]], and maybe [[http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3216 opening up a Jewish IKEA]]. His Dad says no.

* Zoe is like this a bit in ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance''. She just wants to graduate from college and get a good job, while all her friends are more interested in summoning demons, exploring [[AnotherDimension other dimensions]], building [[HumongousMecha giant robots]], fighting vampires, or concocting various {{Zany Scheme}}s. It doesn't help that, while the other characters can cast spells, build MadScientist style inventions, or kill demons with a swing of their sword, Zoe's "power" is turning into a camel whenever someone says "shupid" (which her friends do whenever they're feeling a bit vengeful).
** In the Stormbringer arc, she appears to muster up her will in an attempt to avert this trope. Except that amongst her circle of friends, taking a shotgun into a time-travelling go-kart ''is normal''.

They [[BlessedWithSuck didn't want these powers]], this magic, this curse, or whatever it is that was foisted upon them. [[ComesGreatResponsibility The responsibility to save the world?]] Forget it! [[InHarmsWay All those exciting adventures and the ability to potentially do anything?]] Take them away. [[HomeSweetHome They want nothing to do with it]].

"Reluctant Hero" redirects to this page. For the ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' fanfic, [[Fanfic/ReluctantHero go here]].

[[folder:Fan Works]]

[[AC:Crossover]]
* ''Fanfic/TheBridge'' (''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' & ''Franchise/MyLittlePony''): Godzilla Junior's greatest dream is to live the rest of his life in peace. As long as there are evil Kaiju and evil aliens threatening the world, he will continue to fight and lead the Defenders.
* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'':
** Harry struggles with a conflict between this and ChronicHeroSyndrome, further complicated by the meddling of Doctor Strange. On the one hand, he'd really, ''really'' love to have a normal life (defined as one where he doesn't have grand responsibilities). Sadly, being the Boy Who Lived, son of an Avenger, second in line to the throne of Asgard, and the [[TheChosenOne keystone]] to Doctor Strange's plan to prepare Earth for the coming of Thanos, all means that that is unlikely to happen. On the other hand, he's an adrenaline junkie -- a large part of him ''enjoys'' being InHarmsWay, and he just can't turn aside. Eventually, in the sequel, he becomes first a KnightInSourArmor who's bitterly ResignedToTheCall, then [[{{Reconstruction}} more]] [[KnightInShiningArmour classically]] [[KnightErrant heroic]] again.
** Jean-Paul Beaubier, one of Harry's friends, a mutant speedster -- and from the finale of the first book, [[spoiler:this world's version of the Flash]] -- who makes it very clear that he prefers ''not'' to get involved in fighting (though when he does get involved, he demonstrates just how terrifying an utterly ruthless speedster can be), and in the sequel somewhat wistfully discusses this trope, wishing he was just a normal mutant or even a normal human.
** Jean Grey is, by the sequel, the most powerful psychic that Earth has ever seen [[spoiler: (jointly with her SeparatedAtBirth twin, Maddie, and even then, it's hinted that Jean is ever so slightly stronger)]]. However, as Harry points out to Clark (also an example), she's much more comfortable leading a normal teenage life and studying to probably become a doctor someday. Unlike most eamples, though, she's perfectly comfortable with her powers.
** Clark Kent, as on ''{{Series/Smallville}}'', really just wants to be normal -- though as Harry points out, [[ChronicHeroSyndrome he can't resist helping]], on the quiet. Unfortunately, destiny (and Doctor Strange) have other plans.
** Hermione just wants to be a normal witch, with [[MagicAIsMagicA logical magic]] to study and understand. Unfortunately, though she doesn't know it ([[spoiler: until chapter 66 of the sequel]]), she's the biological daughter of [[ComicBook/ScarletWitch Wanda Maximoff]] and ComicBook/JohnConstantine, the granddaughter of {{ComicBook/Magneto}}. This leaves her with Chaos Magic based RealityWarper powers that play to the exact opposite of her strengths, and, from chapter 64 of the sequel, [[spoiler: an Omega Class spatial manipulation based X-Gene]]. In the former case, she keeps refusing to truly accept that chaos magic doesn't work like normal magic, and it keeps tripping her up, something that she resents. Accordingly, she takes both [[spoiler: the manifestation of her X-Gene and the revelation of her heritage]] extremely badly.
* ''FanFic/MyLittleAvengers'' (Franchise/MarvelUniverse & ''Franchise/MyLittlePony''): [[TheHero Big Macintosh]] spends a good portion of the story regretting ever finding Mjolnir and becoming Thor but eventually comes to terms with it. [[spoiler: This contributes to his HeroicBSOD when [[BigBad Loki]] steals Thor's powers from him, and after he gets them back, it's shown that he's fully embraced his role.]]

[[AC:Franchise/TheDCU]]
* Downplayed for Leslie Willis in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13535700/7/Sparks-Fly Sparks Fly]]''. She ''does'' enjoy the perks of being a celebrity -- having enough money to be financially secure, being able to influence thousands of people listening to her radio emission -- but she's pretty unhappy about reality intruding on her private time (paparazzi barging in the restaurant in which she took her boyfriend in a date).
** Unbeknownst to her, Superman too feels the same, and has started to date her because she was interested in his SecretIdentity of Clark Kent rather than his superpowered self -- she makes him truly feel a FarmBoy instead of an HumanAlien.

[[AC:FusionFic]]
* ''Fanfic/NeitherABirdNorAPlaneItsDeku'' (Franchise/TheDCU & ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia''): Izuku is horrified by his growing array of ComboPlatterPowers after he nearly killed Katsuki Bakugou -- whom he considered his best friend -- when they got into a fight as kids. This piles on top of his angst over being an alien on a planet that hates aliens. Because of this, he swears off his dream of becoming a superhero until the day he meets All Might.

[[AC:''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'']]
* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': One of the reasons why [[spoiler:[[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnonHumans Susan Graham]]]] turns down San's suggestion that he could save her from dying [[spoiler:by absorbing her as a third part of [[TwoBeingsOneBody Monster X]]]] is because the former feels she isn't suited to the kind of life that San and Vivienne are living.

[[AC:''Literature/HarryPotter'']]
* ''Fanfic/MyImmortal'' gives us [[OverlyLongName Ebony Dark'ness]] [[SoBeautifulItsACurse Dementia]] Raven [[CostumePorn Way]], who likes to remind us that being such a special snowflake isn't really a good thing
-->''"Yeah but everyone is in love with me! Like Snape and Loopin took a video of me naked. [[RonTheDeathEater Hargrid]] says he's in love with me. [[CanonSue Vampire]] likes me and now even Snaketail is in love with me! [[WishFulfillment I just wanna be with you ok Draco!]] Why couldn't [[{{God}} Satan]] have made me less beautiful?... I'm [[InformedAbility good at too many things]]! [[IJustWantToBeNormal WHY CAN'T I JUST BE NORMAL?]] [[{{Wangst}} IT'S A FUCKING CURSE!]]"''

[[AC:''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'']]
* ''Fanfic/PowerChordHighSchoolMusical'': Throughout the story, Luna despises her powers and refuses to accept them. Eventually, she does learn to accept them somewhat more, but not fully.

[[AC:''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikerS'']]
* In ''FanFic/WhiteDevilOfTheMoon'', between not having a princess or real leader to rally around and fighting a losing war against the Dark Kingdom, then finding their princess only to find she's Nanoha, queen of the workaholics, the Inner Senshi want this so damn bad. [[spoiler: They get it in the end when Nanoha absolves them of their duty to her, though Ami does choose to go study magic in Mid-Childa, her role would be more passive, and the other senshi resume civilian lives in Japan. Also, while Artemis did not specifically ''want'' this trope, he was certainly more willing to become a normal housecat than [[DiscoDan Luna]] was.]]

[[AC:''Franchise/MegaMan'']]
* In ''FanFic/MegaManDefenderOfTheHumanRace'', Mega Man struggles with feeling this way throughout the story.

[[AC:''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'']]
* Midoriya Shikinori feels this way in ''Fanfic/OriginOfANonHero'', to the point that he's desperate to have his Quirk removed outright so that his father will stop expecting him to [[FollowInMyFootsteps become a Pro Hero just like both of his parents]].

[[AC:''Manga/OnePiece'']]
* In ''FanFic/AGamerInSouthBlue'', Jack decided early on that he really didn't want to be in the center of all of the insanity that [[Manga/OnePiece the Straw Hats are causing]]. But he reflects at the end of Chapter 9 that getting sucked into canon may be inevitable.
* ''Fanfic/ThisBites'': Dowplayed with [[spoiler:Buggy the Clown]]. After dealing with the insanity of the Grand Line and [[spoiler:being part of the Roger Pirates]], he wanted to have a carefree life as a pirate in the [[spoiler:East Blue]]. [[spoiler: Unfortuently for Buggy, he not only gets dragged into chaos thanks to Luffy, but has his past as a cabin boy on the Roger Pirates exposed by the marines. This ends pushing him to the RageBreakingPoint that he [[LetsGetDangerous goes ballistics and takes on Mihawk in a fight]]... and is [[AdaptationalBadass evenly matched]]]].

[[AC:''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'']]
* ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfRemnant'': At the party, Jaune is so desperate to appear normal to the other teens that he ends up ordering them alcohol and getting absolutely wasted.
* In ''Fanfic/ForgedDestiny'', Pyrrha Nikos came to [[ExtranormalInstitute Beacon academy]] to escape the fame and expectations placed on her in Mistral due to her being a [[PrestigeClass Champion]].

[[AC:''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'']]
* In ''FanFic/TheEndOfEnds'', this gets subverted and possibly {{deconstructed}} depending on how you see it. [[spoiler:Terra's]] decision to lead a normal life drove Beast Boy over the edge and [[spoiler:caused him to gain a SuperpoweredEvilSide simply because the only person who actually liked him dumped him.]] When the former finds out what her actions of trying to be normal caused, not to mention the whole [[ApocalypseHow void thing]] going on, it made her reconsider her decision.
* ''Fanfic/NewTamaran'':
** The story begins with this being Starfire’s ultimate desire, which is the reason she starts a modeling career. Robin shares her dream, which is why he decides to retire from hero work and proposes to her.
** Once Wonder Girl finds out she’s pregnant, she asks Speedy (who isn't the biological father) to have a normal life with her. He agrees.

[[AC:''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'']]
* ''Fanfic/AChildShallLeadThemTransformers'': Swoop is like this after gaining the Matrix and becoming leader of the Autobots -- he feels rejected by both the Autobots and the Dinobots due to his new position, and at one point even ''throws the Matrix at Grimlock'' in an effort to reject his position. He ends up coming to terms with his new role as he undergoes CharacterDevelopment.


[[AC:Unsorted/Dormant/Dead]]
* In ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' story ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'', Kara is getting tired of the constant battles and light-and-death struggles and expresses her desire to live like a normal woman:
-->'''Supergirl:''' But I'm... oh, Sheol, I'm so tired of all this stuff. Fight after fight after fight. We save the universe, we kill Mordru, we kill Satan Girl, we come back, and here somebody throws Darkseid in our face again. Can't there ever be an end to it? [...] Well, it's gonna have to start coming somewhere else before long. I'm tired of this. I wasn't born to be a, a super-heroine. I just wanted to be a normal girl from Argo, and, and get a good job and a good man and settle down...
* Having been BlessedWithSuck, both Paul and John in ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached'' are terrified of going home as is, with all the life-ruining complications their new bodies and magic would entail. When told they have to be returned to normal to go back to Earth, they're delighted. The other two are... not as delighted.
** In ''Fanfic/TheKeysStandAlone: The Soft World'', the situation changes somewhat. First, everyone now knows it's temporary, so John, at least, can view their second trip to C'hou as a vacation rather than a curse. (At least until he realizes what a CrapsaccharineWorld C'hou has become.) Not so with Paul, who suffered tremendous psychological difficulties when he returned home because he couldn't shake the feeling that he was going to kill his family by touching them. He had just gotten over that when he was sent back. And Ringo, who discovered he was hopelessly addicted to his mindsight after he lost it, must now choose between keeping it, thus staying on C'hou and giving up his new love Barbara Bach and everything else in his life, or returning home and giving up his magic. (George, who is not connected to his magic like the others are, mostly views his ring as an experience; he hardly thinks it's worth giving up his family for. And he's certainly not willing to trade his freedom just for a little magic.)
* Kairi Niko in the ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' fic ''Destiny's Pawn'' is an amnesiac bookworm with skills she can't explain and really didn't ''want'' to know where she learned them. She flat-out asked the Masters if they could "shut off" her Force sensitivity, and only agreed to her conscription into the Jedi because there wasn't another option. Given her druthers, she's just quit and become a translator, but seeing as she's the ex-Dark Lord...
* Celestia breaks down at one point in ''FanFic/DiariesOfAMadman'', and laments that she would have preferred being a simple healer instead of a ruler.
* Petra in ''FanFic/{{Drakonophobia}}'' never asked to be [[TheChosenOne Dragonborn]]. All she wants to do is to live her life out in peace earning coin and getting enough to get by. Events at Helgen and the Western Watchtower cause the titular phobia to which Petra runs away to Riften where Brynjolf finds her in her sorry state and convinces her to join the Thieves Guild. She becomes a skilled thief and enjoys that because she gets to be on her own and it keeps her away from anything particularly major. Fate decided otherwise when an encounter with a dragon leads to Brynjolf eventually finding out about it. Everything just spirals downwards after that.
** It happens to Brynjolf as well, as their adventures take them to disturbing revelations [[spoiler: like Mercer's betrayal and the reveal that he's Bryn's father, but he's also the descendant of Tiber Septim, and the Grand Dragon Priest Zoklitinhaar and how the latter's spirit is encased in his body.]] he just wants to do his part as second-in-command.
* ''FanFic/ConsequencesOfUnoriginality'' points out just what it would mean if every character were to [[MindRape fall in love]] with a "perfect" character in a world where only they can save the day -- in shorter, every other character tries to violate him, while monsters spontaneously come into being to destroy the innocent for the sole purpose of making him show up to fight them. He ends up voluntarily ripping out one-third of his being in order to become normal, but the world remembers what happened because of him.
* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''/''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' crossover ''Fanfic/TheVampireOfSteel'', both Kara and Buffy remember what to be a normal, powerless teenager was like; and often they'd like to be normal again.
-->'''Supergirl:''' Sorry, I wasn’t trying to put anyone down by comparison. I know what it’s like, believe me. I didn’t always have powers.\\
'''Buffy:''' Neither did I. Sometimes I think I’d like to be back there.\\
'''Supergirl:''' That makes two of us.
* Since it's basically the title from ''Fanfic/ReluctantHero'', Zuko's stubborn desire to go back on his ship with his uncle doesn't come as a surprise. Alas for him, the Universe needs the Avatar and finds a way to force him on the path to his destiny.
* ''Fanfic/AFinelyHonedBlade'': [[Literature/{{Worm}} Taylor]] does ''not'' want to be a cape, and actively despises her powers. Even after Bakuda forces her to accept them, she's not exactly happy about having to [[spoiler:ascribe to cape traditions like hiding her face after taking over the ABB and going after Coil, though she relents when Lisa points out the practical value of a helmet]].
* ''Fanfic/MyLittleTitan'': A variant after the "Return of Harmony" arc. [[spoiler:The Teen Titans don't give up their powers, but they ''do'' opt to retire from superhero life and live as normal civilians in Equestria. Raven does this in part because she ''does'' want to be normal and be able to feel and act on her emotions without risking her powers going out of control, which she can't do back on Earth.]]
* ''Fanfic/LeastNoticeableAndLittleFlappy'': Though Claire likes herself and her powers, she sometimes wishes she could have a more normal life -- impossible for her, given her size, shape and invisibility:
-->She couldn't even go inside and be with other ponies at their festivals. None of the buildings in Dunnich, not even the Town Hall, was big enough for her now-gigantic form. And she couldn't dance at them, not even outdoors -- a couple of near-tragedies had made her realize that somepony who could crush a house in an act of clumsiness should neither dance around normal-sized Ponies nor even their structures. Sometimes she would stand at a window and watch a party, but never in town -- things were just too crowded there for her ungainly form.\\
Romance and marriage seemed out of the question for her. By her nature she was able to love anything sentient, of any sex, but there was no suitable creature for her to court. Normal Ponies, even those who knew and liked her, were not attracted to a huge invisible fluffy pony, especially one overendowed with heads and eyes and tongues.
* ''Fanfic/NewBeginningsSmallville'': Early in the story, young Clark Kent shouts that he would give anything to have no powers as arguing with his adoptive father.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'':
** Juke, who has a boombox for a head, can only speak (and write) in beatboxing because his arms are too short to reach the speech switch behind his head. He's been trying to tell that to everyone for a year. In "The Night", Juke dreams he can finally speak, but now everyone else speaks in music.
** William just wants to be friends with Gumball and Darwin, but since he's a mouthless winged eyeball, they think he's a weirdo who just silently creeps up on people.
** In the episode "The Night", Hector's dream reveals he hates being a giant, and he's so happy to be normal-sized, enabling him to roam freely without destroying the neighborhood, to hug people without hospitalizing them, to take the bus, to sit in the classroom like everyone else, to buy clothes, to use a toilet instead of a volcano and to have a girlfriend. It's so good a dream that he doesn't want to wake up. Unfortunately, he's a [[{{Sleepwalking}} sleepwalker]].
* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'' also has this. While having dragon powers are cool, Jake often wrestles with being the protector of the American magical community along with the issues it brings to his personal life (especially not being able to tell his dad cause he's a normal human and losing his girlfriend... ''twice'') Even with having his friends, grandfather and animal guardian help, it often is a lot and why he is tempted to find shortcuts. It comes to a head in the penultimate episode of the series where he purposefully pulls a prank on the Dragon Council with his punishment being a week without his "dragon chi", all so he could enjoy his middle school graduation in peace.
** His overachieving younger sister, Haley, ends up appreciating this about her when she had to take up the mantle in his suspension. The massive shift in her life wrecks her nerves a fair bit though she understands Jake more too, to where she angrily defends Jake and his reasoning against their grandfather when she accidentally confesses the reason why Jake pulled the prank after he got kidnapped.
* Aang in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', in regards to being the ChosenOne. Even after being forced to accept the call, he still holds some desire to be a normal kid. In the third season, he goes as far as to take the huge risk of enrolling in a Fire Nation school just to experience what it's like being a normal kid, despite his friends' protests.
--->'''Aang''': You don't know what it's like, Sokka -- you get to be [[BadassNormal normal all the time]].
** The funny things is that "normal" for Aang still involves ElementalPowers, just not being [[TheChosenOne the Avatar]].
** Inverted in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra''. Korra defines herself so much around being the Avatar that she can't bear the thought of being BroughtDownToNormal -- even "merely" an airbender, the rarest kind of bender in the world. Or even living a normal life with mom and dad, while still having all her powers. [[spoiler: She does end up with this mentality to a degree as the various climaxes push her to her limit and causing plenty of truama for her and her friends.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'':
** [[ComicBook/AntMan Hank Pym]] would rather study science than fight crime as an Avenger, which conflicts with his TechnicalPacifist beliefs. Opposite of his girlfriend Wasp, who loves being a superhero (and isn't happy that Hank doesn't feel the same way).
** Colonel James Rhodes explains that he rarely dons the Comicbook/WarMachine armor because he's not interested in becoming a superhero.
* ''Franchise/Ben10:''
** In the [[WesternAnimation/Ben10 Original Series]] episode "Don't Drink The Water", the heroes come across the FountainOfYouth and the immortal Conquistator who has been guarding it for over 400 years. The Conquistador in question hates his immortatily because it prevents him from having a normal life, such as starting a family. [[spoiler:He is noticably relived when Ben is able to destroy the fountain as it means his immortality is gone (since you only remain immortal if you continuously drink the water) and he can now have a normal life]].
** ZigZagged in ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien Ultimate Alien]]'', where Ben either loving or hating his fame depends on the episode. While he manages to take his new-found fame in stride and seems to enjoy it after humanity finds out he's a superhero, he also admits that he wishes he could have his secret-identity back in "Absolute Power".
* In ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'', Danny tries to split his ghost and human halves to have some plain fun... [[GoneHorriblyWrong with mixed results]]. Similarly, in the finale, [[spoiler:Danny gets rid of his ghost half so he can be normal, though he does eventually get his powers back.]]
** Not to mention in the pilot episode, he expresses the desire to be fully human again early on ("If my dad can invent something that accidentally made me half-ghost, why can't he invent something that turns me back to normal?!")
** In TheMovie, his future self has Vlad separate his human and ghost halves to help him deal with [[spoiler:the death of his family and friends. It doesn't end well. At ''all''.]]
*** That's more of an inversion; Danny explicitly wanted to remove his ''human'' side. Well... [[GoneHorriblyRight he succeeded.]]
* A main plot point of the ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons1983'' cartoon was the kids wanting to leave their new sword-and-sorcery life behind and return to the normal world.
* ''WesternAnimation/GeneratorRex'', though Rex enjoys fighting, and helping people, he's not a fan of the life he has to lead when he's not on missions, which seems to consist of training and waiting around. He sneaks out often. [[spoiler: Leading the higher-ups to hire a kid to be his friend.]]
* In one ''WesternAnimation/GummiBears'' episode, the whole kingdom is overjoyed when Sir Paunch the royal candymaker is coming back, only to be disappointed to find he's only there to say hi, as he's retiring. While everyone loves him and his famous taffy, he's tired of all the attention, claiming it's "the pits". Unfortunately, while he seems to get his wish, he still does not divulge his secret recipe, claiming he cannot do so until he finds a worthy successor. (And after Cubbi, Tummi, and Sunni copy it and nearly blow up the castle trying to make it, one can hardly blame him.)
* The ''WesternAnimation/HarveyBirdmanAttorneyAtLaw'' episode "Turner Classic Birdman" reveals that this is why Harvey Birdman became a, well, attorney at law: he was tired of the constant stress of being a superhero and desired a more mundane life. A pity all his allies and enemies followed him into law, ensuring his law career was as crazy as his superhero career.
* In ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' Jackie would love nothing more than to go back to his life as a quiet and unassuming archaeologist rather than his current life as a secret agent who routinely defends the world from demons and what not.
* The titular character of ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'' has a condition where she winds up HulkingOut whenever she gets too angry and does mean and sadistic things to whoever made her angry, which seem to be beyond her conscious control. She doesn't want this "power" and has tried numerous times to get rid of it, but she never can.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' cartoon episode "Legacy," Alexis dismisses her trillionaire heiress LonelyRichKid[=/=]RichBitch lifestyle with "IJustWantToBeNormal." As her first real friend apparently ever, she tries to hold on to her relationship with Superman, and thus normality, by scheming and manipulating and eventually going ''completely off the deep end'' into supervillainy, Luthor-style, giving up on normality in favor of Revenge.
* The title character of ''WesternAnimation/TheLifeAndTimesOfJuniperLee'' practically embodies this role. Being the magical guardian seems cool, but most of her free time is consumed and she is actually bound to live in her area, unable to leave.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'' has this with the titular teenage robot, Jenny Wakeman. While she likes the amazing capabilities of her robotic weaponry, she also longs for the life of a normal teenage girl. Though this is mainly because she's the only robot in town, and thus it's more she wishes she could fit in with everyone else and have more sentient robofolk to relate too. Even with her human friends (and later her swamp monster cousin Glenn and sorta-friend Misty), she understandably still has the longing for robotic company. It's why she dates Kenny for a while and also her time with the Silver Shell. [[spoiler: In the "Escape From Cluster Prime" special, she finally gets to achieve this and struggles with leaving since she finally has a place she feels she belongs. We also see that her heroic nature exceeds this, since she becomes a vigilante and helps overthrow Vexus when she helps restore the battle capabilities of the robots. Despite the offer to stay, with her mother's blessing no less, she remains on Earth to be with her friends.]]
* In one of the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePony'' animated specials, Lily Lightly is the only unicorn whose [[CursedWithAwesome horn glows]] when she's excited or really happy, so she tries to hide it from everyone else. She even has an IWantSong about it.
* The Cutie Mark Crusaders of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' suffer a bizarre mix of this and IJustWantToBeSpecial. They all want to have the Cutie Mark that every pony has in their flanks and that they themselves hadn't gotten yet. Problem is, a Cutie Mark ''only'' appears in a pony after they realize what his or her ''unique'' talent really is, so the poor fillies are DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife just to fit with everypony else. [[spoiler: They finally get their wish in Season 5 when they realize their special talent is helping others find and understand ''their'' special talents.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer'': Don't you recall ... the most famous reindeer of all?
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' Peter Parker tends to suffer from this. When Peter is caught having taken pictures of his [[SecretIdentity alter-ego's]] battle with [[{{Animorphism}} mutated geneticist]] the Lizard, after [[SecretIdentityChangeTrick claiming he was going home]], his friends and superiors at the ESU labs distrust him, and fire him from his internship. Stealing a [[PowerNullifier gene cleanser]] from the lab, Peter briefly considers taking it before remembering his [[ComesGreatResponsibility credo]]. He does, however, keep it [[ChekhovsGun hidden under his desk]].
* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'': Peter considered quiting his life as Spider-man on a few ocassions, such as when a fight with Doctor Octopus resulted in a medical lab being destroyed.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheNewAnimatedSeries'': [[spoiler:The series ends with Peter throwing his Spider-man costume into the river, swearing he won't be Spider-man again.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', Craig is shown to be TheChosenOne who will defeat the giant Guinea Creatures as foretold by an Incan prophecy, though he states throughout the episodes that he doesn't want to get involved in any weird adventures and just wants to stay away from the main characters (whose every schemes always ends up in [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity Ensuing]]). Subverted in that his attempts at RefusingTheCall ends up leading him to fulfill his destiny and defeat the Guinea Pirate, with him noting that life is unexpected in the end (though he still learns to never trust the gang with anything).
** [[spoiler:Mysterion, a.k.a. Kenny]], is tired of [[spoiler:being immortal because no one remembers [[TheyKilledKenny his deaths]].]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' near the end of the series in the episode "World between Worlds" Ezra in a ShoutOut to a similar scene in Lord of the Rings wishes his life were different and that he had his [[spoiler:parents back.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'', especially in the episode "Mr. Universe", Steven laments that his father Greg's extremely [[FreeRangeChildren laidback parenting style]] (a reaction to Greg's [[StrictParentsMakeSneakyKids stifling childhood]]) and constant training and fighting with the Gems means that he never got the chance to have a "normal" childhood.
--> '''Steven''': ''(To Greg)'' Maybe your parents weren't so bad. Maybe they gave you curfews and chaperones and meatloaf f-for a reason! I grew up in a van! I never went to school! I've never been to the doctor until two days ago! I could have done all that stuff! My problem isn't that I'm a gem, my problem is that I'm a UNIVERSE!
* This is how ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' ends. After spending the whole episode trying to convince the schoolgirl/[[spoiler:Terra]] that she is the Terra he thought he knew, she delivers what can be considered the saddest line in the series. "[[ImNotAHeroIm I'm not a hero. I'm not out to save the world. I'm just a girl with a geometry test next period and I haven't studied.]]" As later revealed in the ''ComicBook/TeenTitansGo'' comics, [[spoiler:this is one of the few cases where BroughtDownToNormal not only is permanent but regarded as a change for the better, even by Terra's own ''brother'']].
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'': For a couple of episodes, April tries to get on with her life and pretend that mutant reptiles and aliens don't exist. She succeeds and meets the first normal human boy, Casey Jones, but she's sucked back into the crazy mess she was trying to avoid. However, April not only realized that she can't control her life but also come to terms with the excitement and adventure she has come to have.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama '', Mike has a SplitPersonality. He views himself as a “freakish weirdo” because of this, and worries his LoveInterest Zoey will too. At the end of the season, he learns to the message to BeYourself and Zoey accepts him for his disorder.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', Blackarachnia is obsessed with removing her organic side and becoming fully robotic again despite being both CursedWithAwesome and tremendously physically attractive to about half the cast.
* [[Franchise/TransformersGeneration1 Rodimus Prime]] never really felt worthy of succeeding Optimus Prime as the leader of the Autobots and bearer of the Matrix of Leadership. When Optimus apparently came back from the dead, Rodimus immediately handed over the Matrix and felt overjoyed when he reverted to Hot Rod as a result. He had to take it back when Optimus turned out to be an AxCrazy [[CameBackWrong zombie]]. Though Optimus came back for real, and Rodimus was reverted back to Hot Rod for real.
** Done again in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'', once he learns he's been chosen by the Matrix to be the next Prime [[spoiler: Smokescreen]] seems to want the position less and less as the series progresses (not that he wanted to be a Prime in the first place, he just wanted to be a great soldier). He even goes so far as to try and push the future responsibility onto Bumblebee.
* In the Season 2 finale of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', Dean ends up admitting this during a fit of delusion. It's become his defining motivation. [[spoiler: By Season 5, Dean finally admits to his dad he doesn't want to be a scientist or boy adventurer. What he doesn't tell him is that it's because he knows that his brother and himself are both clones after they've died over 14 times in the past.]]
** Deep down, this is all Rusty Venture really wants as well.
* Nightcrawler of ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'' was like this, but you couldn't really blame him given that he looked like a furry blue demon. Unlike the other mutants, who were actually fairly good about being exposed as mutants, Nightcrawler was really reluctant to let go of the illusion that he wasn't a mutant, but eventually did, and never let go of the human appearance given to him by his image inducer (can't really blame him, again).
* Inverted and played straight in ''WesternAnimation/Zevo3''.
[[/folder]]

[[AC:''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'']]

* Quasimodo's IWantSong, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DCALg2levk Out There]]'' From ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'': Peter considered quiting his life as Spider-man on a few ocassions, such as when a fight with Doctor Octopus resulted in a medicl lab being destroyed.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' Peter Parker tends suffers from this. When Peter is caught having taken pictures of his [[SecretIdentity alter-ego's]] battle with [[{{Animorphism}} mutated geneticist]] the Lizard, after [[SecretIdentityChangeTrick claiming he was going home]], his friends and superiors at the ESU labs distrust him, and fire him from his internship. Stealing a [[PowerNullifier gene cleanser]] from the lab, Peter briefly considers taking it before remembering his [[ComesGreatResponsibility credo]]. He does, however, keep it [[ChekhovsGun hidden under his desk]].

** At first it's just hinted at, with the titular blue alien trying to fit in at [[ItIsPronouncedTroPAY shool]]. Then it's [[ThenLetMeBeEvil averted]] for a while... before coming back into play when he pretends to be human for Roxanne. He even toasts "to being normal" during their date, but unfortunately for him, his cover is blown at the absolute worst possible time and [[ThenLetMeBeEvil he bounces right back to villainy]]. [[spoiler:[[HeelFaceTurn He ultimately]] [[SmoochOfVictory gets a]] [[HundredPercentHeroismRating better outcome and subverts it in a different way than before]]]].

* This is how ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' ends. After spending the whole episode trying to convince The Schoolgirl / [[spoiler: Terra]] that she is the Terra he thought he knew, she delivers what can be considered the saddest line in the series. "[[ImNotAHeroIm I'm not a hero. I'm not out to save the world. I'm just a girl with a geometry test next period and I haven't studied.]]" As later revealed in the ''ComicBook/TeenTitansGo'' comics, [[spoiler: this is one of the few cases where BroughtDownToNormal not only is permanent but regarded as a change for the better, even by Terra's own ''brother.'' ]]
* For a couple of episodes, [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012 April]] tries to get on with her life and pretend that mutant reptiles and aliens don't exist. She succeeds and meets the first normal human boy, Casey Jones, but she's sucked back into the crazy mess she was trying to avoid. However, April not only realized that she can't control her life but also come to terms with the excitement and adventure she has come to have.