History Main / PatrickStewartSpeech

* Dante in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' gave one of these to Agnus when the MadScientist asked how a [[HalfHumanHybrid half-demon]] could be stronger than a full-blooded one. Worth noting is that he said that humans have something that demons don't... but he didn't say what it was.

** Of course, it kinda lost a little of its initial, profound bite when the BigBad called him out on the MoralDissonance in that speech.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'': Captain America gives one to the Vision with a bit of WhatMeasureIsANonHuman added in.

** The Doctor has also commented on humanity's genius with confectionery, from jelly babies to [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E11FearHer edible ball bearings]].

--> [[spoiler: '''Ranka:''' I'm not alone anymore, Because you are with me.]]
--> [[spoiler: '''Sheryl:''' I want to survive, even living on the edge, I'm in love with you... '''Ranka:''' I'm not alone anymore...]]
--> [[spoiler: '''Sheryl:''' With the star's guidance... '''Ranka:''' Because you are with me...]]
--> [[spoiler: '''Sheryl/Ranka:''' I want to live, I want to survive, I'm in love with you (I love you)Until I show you my serious heart I will not sleep!]]

-->'''Optimus''': Were we so different? They're a young species - but I have seen good in them. We cannot let the humans pay for our mistakes. [[CatchPhrase Freedom is the right of all sentient beings.]]

'''Boimler''': Well, they're not, and that's okay. We all joined Starfleet to dive first into the unknown. We're explorers, of course we don't always know what's going on. Did Picard know about [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E16QWho the Borg]]? Did Kirk know about [[Recap/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeriesS1E7TheInfiniteVulcan that giant Spock on Phylos]]? Did Dr. Crusher know about [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E13SubRosa that ghost in the lamp thing from the Scottish planet that she hooked up with that one time]]? That whole thing. You clearly want us to say that the captain and her crew messed up, but we simply don't have the full story, and that's the truth! Whatever they did, I guarantee you it was all for good. You have shown no evidence that they're guilty of a crime, in fact, I find ''you'' guilty of trying to take them down with this [[KangarooCourt sham of a trial]]! [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E21TheDrumhead DRUMHEAD]]!" ''[[MicDrop drops horn]]''

*** In a narrow sense, these can be viewed as the trope-codifying (or at least trope-defining) moments, as "Encounter at Farpoint" was ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''[='=]s pilot episode (and of course these lines were spoken by the trope-namer himself).
** WebSite/SFDebris theorises that Q introduced humanity to the Borg, which resulted in Picard getting assimilated and becoming obsessed with revenge against them (culminating in ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact''), as a response to this.
--->'''Picard:''' ...and I will make them ''PAY for what they've done''!\\
'''SF Debris:''' And somewhere, Q is laughing, and quoting those lines from ''Hamlet'' with all the irony with which they were intended. Evolved ''indeed.''\\
Q is ''directly responsible'' for humanity's first encounter with the Borg, flinging the Enterprise halfway across the galaxy and directly into the path of a Borg Cube ''[[EvilIsPetty just to make a point]].''

This will lead into the hero responding with the Patrick Stewart Speech, in which he may concede that humans are weak (at least for the moment), but there is much that is noble about humanity, as well. He notes that they have much potential, and he admires humans' capacity for [[ThePowerOfLove love]]/[[ThePowerOfFriendship friendship]]/[[AFriendInNeed loyalty]]/[[HeroicSpirit courage]]/[[{{Determinator}} persistence]]/whatever virtue it is the writers want to {{Aesop}}. If you hear the sentences "There is much that we could learn from them," or "We were NotSoDifferent, once," you're likely in the midst of a Patrick Stewart Speech.

---> '''[[OmnicidalManiac Dolf]]''': [[ShutUpKirk Sanctimonious whelp!]] [[NotSoDifferent How many souls have you yourself released from their corporeal bondage?]]

** Though it's also subverted in that the protagonist who is JustAKid [[RealityEnsues isn't able to think up a good defence]]. Fortunately a couple of other aliens speak out in their defence, saying that the humans should be allowed a chance.

The villain, or The GreatGazoo, or just a misguided member of an [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien advanced race]] comments on how weak/pathetic/cowardly/worthless (or just [[MugglePower un-powered]]) [[PunyEarthlings humans]] are. "Why do you care about them?" Or, the villain will be more direct and point out that HumansAreTheRealMonsters and thus not worth saving.

---> '''Q''': [[FoeYay Jean-Luc]]... Sometimes I think the only reason I come here is to listen to these wonderful speeches of yours.

* Even though he's talking about hobbits instead of humans, [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Gandalf]] is fond of them. And Hobbits are just Englishmen anyway.

* Gandalf gives a similar speech in ''Literature/TheTwoTowers'', though about hobbits rather than humans (but as the hobbits are standins for the human reader, it counts as this trope). He specifically praises the humility and simplicity of hobbits, which makes it difficult for Sauron to corrupt them.

-->"She's got you thinking this is how you're supposed to be - ''well it's not!'' We're young! We're supposed to drink too much, we're supposed to have bad attitudes and shag each other's brains out! We were designed to ''party''! This is it. So a few of us - we'll overdose, or go mental - but Charles Darwin said you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs, and that's what it's all about, ''breaking eggs!'' And by eggs I do mean getting twatted on a cocktail of Class A's. If you could just see yourselves! It breaks my heart - YOU'RE WEARING CARDIGANS! We had it all...we fucked up bigger and better than any generation before us! [[PunctuatedForEmphasis WE WERE SO BEAUTIFUL!"]]

Q is ''directly responsible'' for humanity's first encounter with the Borg, flinging the Enterprise halfway across the galaxy and directly into the path of a Borg Cube ''just to make a point.''

--->'''Quark:''' The way I see it, hew-mons used to be a lot like Ferengi: greedy, acquisitive, interested only in profit. We're a constant reminder of a part of your past you'd like to forget. But you're overlooking something: Hew-mons used to be a lot ''worse'' than the Ferengi. Slavery. Concentration camps. Interstellar wars. We have nothing in our past that approaches that kind of barbarism. You see? We're nothing like you. We're ''better''.

* Parodied in the [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Treehouse of Horror]] segment "Night of the Dolphin." Homer's speech to inspire the humans to fight back contains nothing but minor accomplishments of humanity (except the first one): "[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking We invented computers, leg warmers, bendy straws, peel 'n' eat shrimp, the glory hole,]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and the pudding cup!]]"

** He gives another episode where his father thinks he's "bi-curious" and sends him to a [[CureYourGays Pray-Away-The-Gay camp]], eventually leading to Butters telling off his father and the counselors - [[InnocentInaccurate while having no idea]] ''what'' "bi-curious" means.

* ComicBook/CaptainAmerica ''loves'' these. In one issue of ''ComicBook/MarvelAdventures: ComicBook/TheAvengers'', he gave a brief one to the collector, saying that the one superpower he forgot about was [[HeroicWillpower willpower]].

** Which is perhaps why for the X-Men movies, Patrick Stewart was a perfect fit. (The other reason why being that, despite the character having been created when Stewart was only 23 years old, Creator/JackKirby drew Xavier at the time looking ''almost exactly'' like the Patrick Stewart of today.)
*** Patrick Stewart had lost his hair by his early 20s, and apparently [[http://cheezburger.com/3618145024/ he doesn't age]]... maybe there was an epic chance meeting unrecorded in the annals of fantasy/sci-fi history?
*** Xavier's appearance was actually apparently based on actor Yul Brynner. Google him and you'll see.

* Parodied in the [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Treehouse of Horror]] segment "Night of the Dolphin." Homer's speech to inspire the humans to fight back contains nothing but minor accomplishments of humanity (except the first one): "[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking We invented computers, leg warmers, bendy straws, peel 'n' eat shrimp,]] [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar the glory hole,]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and the pudding cup!]]"

* Guts delivers one of these in the first episode of the ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'' anime. The fact that he does it while slowly torturing a dying Apostle makes the whole thing truly disturbing.
* Simon gives a lengthy one (which is really more like a dialogue) in the last episode of ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' to counter the villain's PunyEarthlings speech.

* Variation in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', Negi is nearly tempted to return to Earth and abandon the MagicWorld to be destroyed by [[BigBad Fate]], who claims that the inhabitants' lives don't matter because they are just meaningless illusions. Asuna counters with:

* Almost the exact example given in the trope description was used in ''Manga/YumekuiMerry''.
-->'''Merry''': And besides, if you do kill them off, ''who the hell's going to make the doughnuts?''

* In ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', During the final fight with the Anti-spiral, Simon, Nia, and Yoko team up to give one to the Anti-Spiral King. And, as you would expect, it's totally awesome.

* Professor Xavier of the ''Comicbook/XMen'', multiple times. He lives and breathes the message as a creed, firmly believing in the sanctity of life on both sides of the mutant/human conflict while his detractors (Magneto and just about any bigoted human) only want it one way or the other.

* Played with in ''ComicBook/SwitchbladeHoney'': the DeconstructiveParody of Franchise/StarTrek featuring Creator/RayWinstone instead of Creator/PatrickStewart as Captain of a guerilla ship full of [[Film/TheDirtyDozen criminals]] who are fighting a losing war against an alien empire totally justified in attacking Earth. His speech is not so much "Humans are good at their core" as "HumansAreBastards who deserve the consequences of their stupidity, but can we really live with ourselves if we run out on them and leave them all to die?"

* In the ''FanFic/TamersForeverSeries'', [[spoiler: Gallantmon Crimson Mode uses this trope combined with TheReasonYouSuckSpeech and ThePowerOfLove to lay an epic [[BreakThemByTalking verbal smackdown]] on Daemon, whilst simultaneously [[CurbstompBattle beating the everloving crap out of him]]]].
* In ''FanFic/TalesOfTheEmperasque'' LIVII gives one on behalf of Eldar after Emperor gives him a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech directed at them. It manages to humble the ''God-Emperor of Mankind''. Roboute Guilliman also says one for humanity after he returns to Macragge.
* One is said about humanity by a frigging ''[[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Eldar]]'' of all things in the fanfiction ''FanFic/SecretWar''

--->'''[[Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]]''': [[PunyEarthlings She is just a human.]] (''[[ImStandingRightHere Chloe was standing right there]]'')\\

* In ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E19APrivateLittleWar}} A Private Little War]]", Kirk beat Picard to it, pointing out how humanity was once like Tyree's people and in time they too could emerge as a peace loving, intelligent society.

** LampShaded in the episode "[[{{Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E6TrueQ}} True Q]]":

** Subverted in the episode "[[{{Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E3CodeOfHonor}} Code of Honor]]". Picard is talking about how wonderful humanity is, then breaks off and says, "forgive me, this is becoming a speech." Troi replies, "You're the captain, you're entitled." Picard then says "I'm not entitled to ramble on about something everyone knows." While looking almost directly at the camera.
** "[[{{Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E1EncounterAtFarpoint}} Encounter at Farpoint]]" is Q stating HumansAreMorons, with Picard shooting back ShutUpHannibal lines and Q returning ShutUpKirk lines.

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. No doubt directly inspired by the TropeNamer, Q gives a heartfelt speech when he's about to be executed in " [[{{Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS3E10TheQAndTheGrey}} The Q and the Grey]]", but as the other members of the Continuum know all-too-well that he's an irresponsible JerkAss they're not impressed.

** As well in [[DownloadableContent Arrival]] you give one to Harbinger, which is pretty cool, especially considering how [[spoiler: you're on an asteroid about to crash into a Mass Relay.]]

-->'''Nero:''' Never could take those legends too literally, but I do know that Sparda had a heart. A heart that could love another person, a human. And ''that'' '''''is what you lack!'''''
** In the last episode of the ''Devil May Cry'' anime, the main bad guy is giving his "How could I lose!?" speech, wondering if those who are born weak are doomed to always fail. Dante says that winning and losing doesn't have anything to do with power, it depends on the quality of your soul. The bad guy tries to use this to his advantage, saying "Oh, so since your soul is good, you'll spare me, right?" [[spoiler:He doesn't.]]

* In a subversion, the FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' lists all the ways humanity is so great [[BossBanter as you fight him]]. Eventually, he sums up by saying that it none of it matters, because [[NietzscheWannabe everything's going to die anyway.]] Then he TurnsRed.

* In ''VideoGame/{{EnergyBreaker}}'', the party gives one of these to the final boss just before fighting him. These do tend to occur just before final boss battles.

* The climax of VideoGame/BreathOfFireIV occurs when the HeroicMime Ryu finally meets the game's other viewpoint character, the resurrected ancient dragon god-emperor Fou-Lu, who has spent the game going through a horrible TraumaCongaLine and is on the verge of deciding to wipe out humanity. Despite being a HeroicMime, Ryu manages to give one to Fou-Lu that reminds him that humanity is capable of great kindness as well as great wickedness. ([[MultipleEndings Unless, of course, you picked the choice that leads to the bad ending.]])

-->'''Gordon:''' ''(thinking)'' Same old Norman, still thinks he's some bitter, world-weary action hero, spitting out sardonic, overly dramatic responses and acting like a camera is doing close-ups on him. Maybe I can trip him up... ''(aloud)'' Golly! I've got terrible hemorrhoids all up my butt! What say you?

-->'''Gordon:''' ''(thinking)'' Damn he's good.

* [[http://web.archive.org/web/20080107003422/http://www.qwantz.com/fanart/japan/ People is sometimes kind.]]

* Optimus Prime of ''{{Franchise/Transformers}}'', multiple times.

* Several of Tsukasa's [[WorldOfCardboardSpeech World Of Cardboard Speeches]] in ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'' have elements of this; his speech in [[Series/KamenRiderAgito Agito's World]] is the best example, given to a race that protects humanity from monsters but also eliminates superior humans to prevent them from becoming corrupted.

See also KirkSummation, WorldOfCardboardSpeech, and IntriguedByHumanity. Contrast ShutUpKirk and ShamingTheMob.

The villain, or The GreatGazoo, or just a misguided member of an [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien advanced race]] comments on how weak/pathetic/cowardly/worthless (or just [[WhatMeasureIsANonSuper un-powered]]) [[PunyEarthlings humans]] are. "Why do you care about them?" Or the villain will be more direct and point out that HumansAreTheRealMonsters and thus not worth saving.

This will lead into the hero responding with the Patrick Stewart Speech, in which he may concede that humans are weak (at least for the moment), but there is much that is noble about humanity as well. He notes that they have much potential, and he admires humans' capacity for [[ThePowerOfLove love]]/[[ThePowerOfFriendship friendship]]/[[AFriendInNeed loyalty]]/[[HeroicSpirit courage]]/[[{{Determinator}} persistence]]/whatever virtue it is the writers want to {{Aesop}}. If you hear the sentences "There is much that we could learn from them," or "We were NotSoDifferent, once," you're likely in the midst of a Patrick Stewart Speech.

When done well, can give the viewer a [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments sense of pride]]. When done poorly, comes off as [[{{Anvilicious}} overly preachy]], [[FauxlosophicNarration pretentious]] or even [[{{Narm}} ridiculous]].

So named because Creator/PatrickStewart has delivered such speeches many times, both as [[TheCaptain Captain Jean-Luc Picard]] from ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' and as Professor Xavier from the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''. (He was trained as a Shakespearean actor, after all.) Do note, however, that while the Patrick Stewart Speech is always superb, with a perfectly balanced combination of precise logic and emotional appeal, a five-minute Patrick Stewart Speech barely holds a candle to a twenty-second WhoopiEpiphanySpeech, just in terms of pure wise clarity.

** The Doctor attempts one in [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion "The Christmas Invasion"]], but because [[ResurrectionSickness he's still loopy from regeneration sickness]], realizes halfway in that his impassioned plea is [[WaxingLyrical actually the lyrics]] to "The Circle of Life" from ''Disney/TheLionKing''.

*** In a narrow sense, these can be viewed as the trope-codifying (or at least trope-defining) moments, as "Encounter at Farpoint" was ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'''s pilot episode (and of course these lines were spoken by the trope-namer himself).

--->'''Picard:''' ...and I will make them pay for what they've done!\\

** Picard still gives his fair share of these speeches throughout the first season. The ''reaction'' he gets to these speeches varies from one character to the next. Rios, a former Starfleet officer, notes that he was specifically ''warned'' about Picard's reputation for speechmaking, and Admiral Clancy, a former subordinate of his, [[spoiler: cuts him off in the middle of a speech to tell him to ''shut up'' so she can agree to what he's asking her to do.]]

-->'''Cornwell''': You sat out the war... because if we'd lost to the Klingons, we wanted the best of Starfleet to survive. And as this conversation makes clear, that was you, and all you represent.
-->'''Pike''': ... Thank you.
-->'''Cornwell''': You're welcome. Now will you get off my ass so we can get to work?