History Main / NeverBeAHero

* ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'': Captain America views Spider-Man as an inexperienced teenager who's in way over his head, despite all of the good Spider-Man has done. During his time "mentoring" him, he tries to guilt Peter into quitting heroics by taking him to a veteran's cemetery. [[spoiler:He changes him tune when Spider-Man dies [[TakingTheBullet taking a bullet meant for Cap]]]].

# Attempts to [[MugglePower gain super powers]] are seen as [[AmbitionIsEvil rank ambition]], and dangerous in and of themselves. This carries the FamilyUnfriendlyAesop that we shouldn't try to rise above our stations. Superheroes are special, and we should just be content to be {{Red Shirt}}s and CannonFodder.

* ''Fanfic/AManOfIron'': Ned Stark disapproves of Iron Man's vigilante actions. Not only is it illegal, but he's worried that people, especially untrained peasants, will be inspired to imitate him, which will lead to them getting killed. Ned says the proper procedure to dealing with crimes is to report them to the king or lord so that they and their knights can deal with it.

** Stephanie Brown especially: for years, she was being told time and again not just by Batman, but (eventually) by nearly everyone associated with him that she should stop crimefighting, but she never backed down. It even went so far that she ''got herself killed''' trying to prove that she was worthy. Eventually, she got better ([[TookALevelInBadass in more ways than one]]); now, she's an accepted member of Batman's inner circle. And most ironically, there's a new guy in her own title who ''she'' is telling to Never Be A Hero.

* Averted in Literature/TheBible, book of Mark 9:38-41. When told by John that the apostles had stopped a man driving out demons in his name, Jesus tells them not to. Then it is played straight with Simon Magus in Acts 8:9-24, because he wanted to ''buy'' that kind of power.

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' has the recurring character [[HeroWorshipper Conrad Verner]], who really wants to help his idol Shepard save the galaxy. Thing is, Conrad is a civilian without Shepard's military training, and is an idiot high on hero worship and doesn't realize his limitations. After a brief stint at trying to be a badass BountyHunter or Alliance officer, the trope is subverted when it's revealed Conrad's doing genuine good without being a badass. [[spoiler: Shepard inspired him to set up a charity which is really helping all the orphans and people hurt in the wake of the first game's FinalBattle.]]

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': In a world where superpowers called Quirks have become commonplace and becoming a hero is a possibility, Quirkless Izuku Midoriya is often put down and bullied by others because of his dream to become a hero despite his disability. Midoriya's idol, [[TheCape All Might]], has to break his heart and say that it's impossible to become a hero without a quirk. When Midoriya acts without thinking and attempts to save his childhood friend/main bully from a sludge villain when no one else on the scene does, he get reprimanded for endangering himself. Luckily, this act convinces All Might that Midoriya has the true heart of a hero and selects him as his successor via his transferable quirk, One For All.

* ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'': Captain America views Spider-Man as an inexperienced teenager who's in way over his head, despite all of the good Spider-Man has done. During his time "mentoring" him, he tries to guilt Peter into quitting heroics by taking him to a veteran's cemetery. [[spoiler:He changes him tune when Spider-Man dies [[TakinTheBullet taking a bullet meant for Cap]]]].

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': In a world where superpowers called Quirks have become commonplace and becoming a hero is a possibility, Quirkless Izuku Midoriya is often put down and bullied by others because of his dream to become a hero despite his disability. Midoriya's idol, [[TheCape All Might]], has to break his heart and say that it's impossible to become a hero without a quirk. When Midoriya acts without thinking and saves his childhood friend/main bully from a sludge villain when no one else on the scene does, he get reprimanded for endangering himself. Luckily, this act convinces All Might that Midoriya has the true heart of a hero and selects him as his successor via his transferable quirk, One For All.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* This was, for the most, completely avoided in the ''Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse''. It was even remarked upon by in-universe scientists studying the hows and whys of superpowers that only about a half of the people who ended up empowered possessed powers that were... well... ''powerful'' enough to become superheroes or villains, and out of that half, only about a third ever did. The rest either did nothing with the powers, or found some other purpose for them (like the super-strong "forklift operator" who didn't need a forklift, or the faith-healing televangelist who could actually heal) than superheroics.
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom''. [[ProudToBeAGeek Poor]], [[TokenMinority poor]] [[BlackBestFriend Tucker]]. He's been given superpowers at least twice, each time ending badly. The first instance occured when Desiree granted his wish to have ghost powers like Danny, which gave him rapidly evolving abilities that quickly surpassed Danny's own in everything except control. By the end of the episode he was BroughtDownToNormal again. The second time happened when he was recognized by a mummy as an ancient pharaoh, and given a magic scepter that gave him total control over the Sphinx and several ghostly minions. His evil abilities were once again demonstrated by [[WorfEffect beating up on]] [[TheHero Danny]].

# Only the hero has the moral fiber to resist succumbing to TheDarkSide. Anyone else will quickly get DrunkWithPower and become a [[MonsterOfTheWeek Villain Of The Week.]]

It should be noted that when the subject of this aesop doesn't have any powers and seeks to emulate a BadassNormal, NonPoweredCostumedHero or a hero with {{Charles Atlas Superpower}}s, this overlaps with DontTryThisAtHome and makes sense -- in these situations, the hero trained long and hard to be able to do what they can do, and those who seek to emulate the hero usually ''don't'' have the training and experience required to make it as a hero themselves. When the subject gains the powers and skills of the hero, then it turns into a FantasticAesop, since people don't spontaneously become firefighters and paramedics in RealLife.

It should be noted that when the subject of this aesop doesn't have any powers and seeks to emulate a BadassNormal, NonPoweredCostumedHero or a hero with {{Charles Atlas Superpower}}s, this overlaps with DontTryThisAtHome and makes sense -- the hero trained long and hard to be able to do what they can do, and those who seek to emulate the hero usually ''don't'' have the required training to make it as a hero themselves. When the subject gains the powers and skills of the hero, then it turns into a FantasticAesop, since people don't spontaneously become firefighters and paramedics in RealLife.

It should be noted that when the subject of this aesop doesn't have any powers and seeks to emulate a BadassNormal, NonPoweredCostumedHero or a hero with {{Charles Atlas Superpower}}s, this overlaps with DontTryThisAtHome and makes sense -- the hero trained long and hard to be able to do what they can do, and those who seek to emulate said hero usually ''don't'' have the required training to make it as a hero themselves. When the subject gains the powers and skills of the hero, then it turns into a FantasticAesop, since people don't spontaneously become firefighters and paramedics in RealLife.

It should be noted that when the subject of this aesop doesn't have any powers and seeks to emulate a BadassNormal, NonPoweredCostumedHero or a hero with {{Charles Atlas Superpower}}s, this overlaps with DontTryThisAtHome and makes sense. When the subject gains the powers and skills of the hero, then it turns into a FantasticAesop, since people don't spontaneously become firefighters and paramedics in RealLife.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Exosquad}}'', Captain Butler prefaces each deployment of his jumptrooper squad by calling out any heroes in their ranks--with the intention of leaving anyone who answered at the base, because "The only heroes I saw weren't breathing!" His squad, of course, knows that and consistently denies having any heroes among them.

However, if a {{Muggle}}, SideKick, or some other [[WhatMeasureIsANonSuper "mundane"]] gains superpowers and tries to be a HeroForADay it will [[GoneHorriblyWrong end badly.]] Only the starring hero is allowed to beat up crooks and save the day. Why? Because he says so.

* One of Columbus' biggest rules in ''Film/{{Zombieland}}'' is ''Don't be a hero'' because heroics can get you killed and the point of the rules is to survive. [[spoiler:He breaks his own rule in the end.]]

* Shows up in the second season of ''Series/JessicaJones'', where Jessica’s MuggleBestFriend Trish wants to become a hero. The show presents this as a bad idea, though mostly due to the dangerous methods she resorts to. After Jessica aborts an experiment that was supposed to give Trish Jessica’s powers, the two end up having a discussion over whether or not Trish would be happier with powers. Jessica claims that it ruined her life, but the season also raises the question of whether or not Jessica’s life was really as good as she remembered. [[spoiler:It later turns out that the experiment ''did'' give her powers after all. However, true to this trope, they do not awaken until after she has already crossed the MoralEventHorizon by killing Jessica’s mother, ensuring that she won’t be a “hero” any time soon.]]

* The City of Nexus in Webcomic/CaptainSNES actually has laws against hero work not done via the police, mostly because the citizens of Nexus come from such a staggering variety of games that they all have very, ''very'' different ideas about what they are and aren't allowed to do during such tasks. It is also pointed out that heroes tend to draw villains and show up at world-endangering times, to the extent that a world-weary VideoGame/MegaMan comments that a genuine hero is the absolute '''worst''' thing to ever encounter.

* There was an episode of the Sunbow ''GIJoe'' cartoon where Quick Kick's girlfriend ''successfully sneaked into the heart of Joe Headquarters'' to try and join the Joe team. Duke tells her to go to her local army recruiter. This from the team that recruited Shipwreck in the middle of desert and Quick Kick himself from the middle of the Arctic.

* Played for laughs in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', when the Planet Express crew is being held hostage by the crazed robot criminal Roberto. Fry, who has previously been psychologically broken into believing himself to be an invulnerable robot, steps in to save the day, but Hermes shouts:
--> "Don't be a hero, Fry! It's not covered by the health plan!"
** Turns out that actually did end up saving the day. Fry believes he's an invincible combat robot and slowly twirls his arms around while whirring and makes a slow walk towards this opponent. Roberto, being the neurotic nutcase he is, becomes intimidated and stabs Fry in the chest only to hit him in the oil can he stashed in his jacket. Fry "bleeds" but doesn't stop his approach leading to Roberto believe he really is a combat robot and jumps out the window to escape, only to land on the pavement and be arrested by the cops.

# Attempts to [[IJustWantToBeSpecial gain super powers]] are seen as [[AmbitionIsEvil rank ambition]], and dangerous in and of themselves. This carries the FamilyUnfriendlyAesop that we shouldn't try to rise above our stations. Superheroes are special, and we should just be content to be {{Red Shirt}}s and CannonFodder.

* Sam Vimes of the Night Watch in Creator/TerryPratchett's Series/{{Discworld}} doesn't care for it when other people try to do the things he does. Because they're not him.

* In ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'', Kuroko Shirai constantly scolds Mikoto Misaka and the others whenever they save the day, saying civilians should stay back and leave the heroics to members of Judgment or Anti-Skill. Mikoto and the others just ignore her, since Judgment and Anti-Skill [[TheCavalryArrivesLate are usually late to crimes and disasters]]. Also, Mikoto is more powerful and mature than Kuroko and her help is often essential.