History Main / PragmaticHero

* Zigzagged across ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra''. Aang, the original show's protagonist, has a strict code he follows but most of the other characters and the past Avatars don't share his views.

** Sokka tries to take this approach in "The Painted Lady" when the group comes across a village suffering from pollution, hunger, and sickness. Katara wishes to stop and help them, but Sokka insists that they don't have time to help everyone they meet and that they would be doing a lot more good by succeeding with their plan to invade the Fire Nation. Even when she clandestinely holds the group up and sneaks food and medicine to the people, he points out that it's a bandaid solution at best since the real problem is the military's factory polluting the area (which, again, they can solve for this village and many others by defeating the Fire Lord and de-militarizing the country).
** Korra is also willing to kill. She unambiguously kills her EvilUncle Unalaq after he forces her hand in season 2 even though she regrets having to do it.
** Korra's allies are also pragmatic in how they deal with villains. Suyin deliberately kills P'li by metalbending a cuirass around P'li head as she's about to fire another combustion ray. Mako also kills Ming-hua by shooting lightning up her water arms when she lures him down to an underground pool.

* Kyle from ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' often plays this role, particularly when confronting one of Cartman's many schemes.

** Castiel through Seasons 4-8. He [[spoiler:stole souls, nearly destroyed an entire town to stop the Apocalypse, killed countless angels and people while trying to stop a Civil War in Heaven, killed countless ''more'' to restore heaven, and killed an innocent girl while believing he was uniting his angels]]. Yeah, he did this a lot...

** Stannis falls firmly into this... while [[PlayingWithATrope playing around]] with LawfulStupid. He has a very strong sense of what is ''right'' and will not hesitate to do whatever it takes to achieve this; including having his own brother, Renly, assassinated with blood magic. It helps that Renly was a {{Jerkass}} who intended to kill Stannis, but what Stannis had to do still torments him -- though it is still a matter for debate among the fandom how responsible Stannis was for Renly's death. Later, Stannis considers burning his nephew, who is the illegitimate son of his late brother, King Robert, in a ritual to raise a dragon (for which King's Blood is required) but he is clearly very reluctant to do so and tells Melisandre if it fails, she'll die slowly. [[spoiler:However, his honest advisor Lord Davos Seaworth sends Edric away from Westeros before Stannis can do so.]]
** Daenerys Targaryen is... learning; she ''is'' [[AChildShallLeadThem a rather young queen]] after all. Depending on who you ask in-world, however, the [[NotQuiteTheRightThing various outcomes]] of some of the [[PayEvilUntoEvil methods]] she tries instead have some people thinking she's a [[PragmaticVillainy villain]], not a hero. However, in reality, she is compassionate, has heroic intentions, wants to protect vulnerable people (while making their tormentors pay very dearly), tries to go about doing the right thing whatever the cost to herself (and others), [[HeroicFatigue bleeds for every mistake she makes]] and is genuinely ''learning'' from both her success and failures -- despite her [[TheMcCoy passionate stubbornness and tendency to leap a lot before properly looking]], especially if she thinks she sees a quicker (and, quite regularly, a dirtier) way to get where she wants to go. The problem is, gaining experience with pragmatism through merely bull-headed trial and error (and a massive resolve to not be like [[StupidEvil her brother]]) is only really an effective way to wind up in [[UnscrupulousHero deep]], [[ObliviouslyEvil deep]] [[HeWhoFightsMonsters trouble]]. While running in circles getting more and more frustrated, to boot. The lesson here is: a ''properly'' accredited teacher ''you actually listen to'' is a helpful thing to have when learning the sometimes [[DoWrongRight dirty work that lies behind heroism]], kiddies.
** Like Daenerys, Jon Snow has to start climbing the learning curve at top speed when he joins the Night's Watch and he's also compassionate, heroic, and is always trying to do the right thing. While he has many traits of a "classic hero," is described as a [[https://youtu.be/yarEbKyk8PU?t=146 "classic hero"]] by [[WordOfGod author, George R. R. Martin]], and is trying to protect people, he also finds out that doing the right thing, as well as his Stark traits of honor and duty, put him at odds with other members of the Night’s Watch -- learning that doing what's right and going by the Watch's [[TeamSwitzerland tradition]]/[[LawfulStupid rules]] don’t always go hand in hand. Jon's continued efforts to do the right thing and his sympathy for the Wildlings -- who Jon has to explain are ''people too,'' which contrasts the entrenched, traditional views of some Watch members -- do ''not'' earn him the best reputation from some fellow members. While he maintains his morality, compassion, and drive to save people, this strains his personal safety and well-being, meaning the [[TheStoic stoic]] aspects of his personality ramp up when he is elected [[AChildShallLeadThem Lord Commander]], whereupon he sends his friends away to do other jobs for the Night's Watch and isolates himself to try and focus on only duty (while strong emotions, like [[RelativeButton his love for his mostly-lost family]], continue to dog him) in an effort to observe the leadership advice his father and Maester Aemon had given him. When necessary, Jon will go against tradition and opinions of fellow Watch members for the sake of doing the right thing -- like his efforts to save Wildling men, women, and children; protecting people in need; and teaming up with [[EnemyMine Wildling warriors]] to [[WeAREStrugglingTogether fight everyone's true enemy]], [[GreaterScopeVillain the Others]]. In addition to Jon's humanitarian reasons for rescuing the Wildlings, he also makes a pragmatic argument to his opposers that they can't risk letting the Wildlings die, as anyone who dies north of the Wall would become part of the aforementioned [[ZombieApocalypse giant army of the dead]], which is coming for them ''all'' and they need a way to defend against this.

* Iron Man in ''ComicBook/CivilWar''. When faced with the possibility of the implementation of a Superhero Registration Act, Iron Man tries to prevent it, to the point of speaking in a hearing against the SHRA. However, once the act becomes an inevitability and is subsequently passed, he decides to support it, not only hoping it could be diffused, but knowing that resisting the law would bring dire consequences for the superhero community. His methods to win the ensuing war between the pro-SHRA faction and the anti-SHRA forces (led by Captain America) include the creation of a prison for outlaw vigilantes in the Negative Zone and the recruitment of the supervillain team known as the Thunderbolts.

* In ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'' basically everyone is this. The heroes never hesitate to fight dirty and press every possible advantage they have. Even in just Season 1, two different fights turned into vicious two-on-one beatdowns where the heroes were overwhelming the villain to such a degree that the villain was forced to use a LimitBreak to turn the tide of battle.

* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'': Elliot Stabler, possibly. He uses IDidWhatIHadToDo as a CatchPhrase, because he is highly moral, but also sometimes too determined in achieving what he thinks are the best results. He has a closure rate of 97%, after all. [[spoiler:He finally hangs up the badge when "what he had to do" becomes too much for Stabler, in the form of having to shoot a child rape victim who had accidentally killed innocent bystanders while also (quite deliberately) killing her rapist.]]

* The ''Series/{{Heroes}}''/''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' crossover "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12045706/1/Dark-Days Dark Days]]" ends with the evolved humans, the vampires and the wolf-shifters facing the threat that the human race is now aware of the existence of vampires (at least in certain government circles) and intends to hunt them down. Anticipating that such a campaign would be followed by attempts to kill the wolf-shifters and then the evolved humans, all parties agree to work together to convince the governments to adopt a more balanced approach. Part of this will involve the vampires finding a substitute for human blood, but in the meantime, those vampires who still kill humans to feed agree to pass on the word to feed less regularly and focus on those humans who won't be missed, such as known criminals.

Most great fictional heroes fall into one of two broad categories: the IdealHero, such as TheCape or a KnightInShiningArmor who is pretty much exactly what one would hope for in a hero - skilled, courageous, morally pure, etc., and the AntiHero, who lacks one or more qualities normally considered necessary for an IdealHero. A ClassicalAntiHero lacks ability or self-confidence, a KnightInSourArmor lacks a positive attitude, an UnscrupulousHero lacks compassion, and a NominalHero lacks morally pure intentions and selfless motivation.

A Pragmatic Hero lacks the "moral cleanliness" of an IdealHero. When fighting evil, they are willing to commit acts that seem more characteristic of a villain than a hero. However, Pragmatic Heroes have noble intentions and generally hold themselves to strict moral standards -- it's just that those standards aren't always what others might expect from an ideal hero. This type of hero tends to be much more concerned with whatever heroic business the plotline has assigned them than the niceties of proper heroic etiquette. However, with the exception of unintentional mistakes, they will rarely if ever commit an evil deed that doesn't further the cause of good in a way.

* ''Fanfic/MyHeroAcademiaMechanicalGreen'': Nezu is very much aware that sometimes, in order to ensure innocents are saved and lives are protected, bending the rules is necessary. While never to the extent of the corruption of the HPSC, Nezu is willing to employ more shady methods if he feels there is greater benefit than risk to them, such as allowing Izuku to keep Durandal as an emotional support animal/support item despite his being one of [[MadScientist Paxton's]] robots, and [[spoiler:enrolling the [[FountainOfYouth de-aged]] Chizome Akaguro [=/=] HeroKiller Stain into his villain rehabilitation program thanks to his being one of the few to have fought [[TheDreaded Argonaut]] and ''survived''.]]

[[folder:Film]]

* Judy Hopps from ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'' is a competent police officer who, at the end of the day, just wants to do her job. However, she does some devious things, like blackmailing Nick into helping her by threatening to charge him with tax evasion, and later [[spoiler: using her relationship with a mob boss to have him intimidate a suspect into providing evidence]].

* In the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' series:

** Sonic himself is this in ''[[VideoGame/SonicStorybookSeries Sonic and the Black Knight]]''. [[spoiler:He is fully willing to allow the Grand Kingdom to come to an end rather than allow Merlina to use her magic to make it eternal at the cost of turning it into a monster-ridden CrapsackWorld, unchanging and undying.]]

* Jim Raynor in ''VideoGame/{{StarCraft II}}''.

* ''Franchise/Batman'' fits this thanks to his willingness to use [[TerrorHero fear tactics]] and [[EnhancedInterrogationTechniques physical or psychological threats while interrogating criminals]]. Coupled with his propensity for [[ManipulativeBastard contingency plans against his own fellow heroes]] in case they turn against innocents, he's willing to make some dark choices to keep Gotham and any civilians safe.

* ''ComicBook/Batman'' fits this thanks to his willingness to use [[TerrorHero fear tactics]] and [[EnhancedInterrogationTechnique physical or psychological threats while interrogating criminals]]. Coupled with his propensity for [[ManipulativeBastard contingency plans against his own fellow heroes]] in case they turn against innocents, he's willing to make some dark choices to keep Gotham and any civilians safe.

* [[HeelFaceRevolvingDOor On his best days]], Eddie Brock's version of ''ComicBook/{{Venom}}'' is portrayed as this, standing firmly on the side of good yet making decisions and compromises for the sake of the greater good. For instance, during ''Absolute Carnage'' Eddie does not object when Spider-Man guilt-trips himself into being the last man to use a machine that would protect him from Carnage- Spidey reasons that his bringing the Venom Symbiote to Earth allowed all this madness to happen, while Eddie knows that Symbiotes have actually been present on Earth for decades before that. The reason Eddie doesn't free Spidey from his guilt isn't that he still hates the webslinger or anything -- the story itself shows them getting along rather well -- but as Eddie puts it, he needs backup for the duration in which the other people need the machine, including Eddie's own son, and Spidey is the one most qualified to give him said backup. In general, Eddie's Venom is also not as bound to ThouShaltNotKill as most heroes- he won't go out of his way to kill relatively harmless lesser bad guys and in fact fears losing control, but for the absolute scum of the earth like Carnage or Green Goblin few tears are shed.

* ''Fanfic/MyHeroAcademiaMechanicalGreen'': Nezu is very much aware that sometimes, in order to ensure innocents are saved and lives are protected, bending the rules is necessary. While never to the extent of the corruption of the HPSC, Nezu is willing to employ more shady methods if he feels there is greater benefit than risk to them, such as allowing Izuku to keep Durandal as an emotional support animal/support item despite his being one of [[MadScientist Paxton's]] robots, and [[spoiler:enrolling the [[FountainOfYouth de-aged]] Chizome Akaguro/HeroKiller Stain into his villain rehabilitation program thanks to his being one of the few to have fought [[TheDreaded Argonaut]] and ''survived''.]]

* ''Fanfic/MyHeroAcademiaMechanicalGreen'': Nezu is very much aware that sometimes, in order to ensure innocents are saved and lives are protected, bending the rules is necessary. While never to the extent of the corruption of the HPSC, Nezu is willing to employ more shady methods if he feels there is greater benefit than risk to them, such as allowing Izuku to keep Durandal as an emotional support animal/support item despite his being one of [[MadScientist Paxton's]] robots, and [[spoiler:enrolling the [[FountainOfYouth de-aged Chizome Akaguro/HeroKiller Stain into his villain rehabilitation program thanks to his being one of the few to have fought [[TheDreaded Argonaut]] and ''survived''.]]

A Pragmatic Hero lacks the "moral cleanliness" of an IdealHero. When fighting evil, they are willing to commit acts that seem more characteristic of a villain than a hero. However, Pragmatic Heroes have morally good intentions and generally hold themselves to strict moral standards -- it's just that those standards aren't always what others might expect from an ideal hero. This type of hero tends to be much more concerned with whatever heroic business the plotline has assigned them than the niceties of proper heroic etiquette. However, with the exception of unintentional mistakes, they will rarely if ever commit an evil deed that doesn't further the cause of good in a way.

* ''ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'' is sometimes portrayed as this, for example in the 2013 CrisisCrossover ''ComicBook/AgeOfUltron'', where he [[spoiler: goes back in time and murders Hank Pym before Ultron can be created.]] Or consider a heartbreaking one-shot comic where a teen boy manifests a mutant power that's immediately and uncontrollably lethal to humans around him. It's Wolverine who tracks him down, shares a beer with him, explains what's happened, and then kills him for the greater good.

** ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' Captain James T. Kirk has zero tolerance for threats to his ship, and [[BerserkButton even less]] for the derailment of a sentient species' right to freedom. [[https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/A_Taste_of_Armageddon_(episode) He once threatened]] to [[OrbitalBombardment bombard an entire planet]] to save his ship, and [[https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Cloud_Minders_(episode) brazenly violated Starfleet's non-interference regulations]] to uncover a clandestine slaving operation.

* The Manga/GoblinSlayer [[CripplingOverspecialization may struggle with anything that doesn't deal with slaying goblins]], but he is very quick-witted and capable of using tools and spells in unconventional ways, such as using the Priestess's [[DeflectorShields protection spell]] to trap goblins in a fiery death trap, or [[spoiler:linking a portal-opening Gate Scroll to the bottom of the ocean, using intense water pressure from the abyssal depths to [[KillItWithWater cleave an ogre in twain]].]]

* Naofumi, the titular protagonist of ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'', has to become this out of necessity, given that he was summoned to a CrapsackWorld where within the span of a day he learns the hard way that there's people who will make his life a living hell just for the sake of it. While he goes out of his way to help people in need, he'll always demand fair retribution for his deeds because they're also his way to make a living. Interestingly enough, this attitude actually makes him more effective than the other three summoned heroes, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero whose acts often have unforeseen consequences that cause more trouble than they solve]], and Naofumi has had to step in and clean up their messes. While he gets his primary allies buying them from a slave trader, he treats them well enough and they quickly develop UndyingLoyalty for him, and more and more people are willing to assist him as time goes on.

A Pragmatic Hero lacks the "moral cleanliness" of an IdealHero. When fighting evil, they are willing to commit acts that seem more characteristic of a villain than a hero. However, Pragmatic Heroes have morally good intentions and generally hold themselves to strict moral standards -- it's just that those standards aren't always what others might expect from an ideal hero. This type of hero tends to be much more concerned with whatever heroic business the plotline has assigned them than the niceties of proper heroic etiquette. However, with the exception of unintentional mistakes, they will rarely if ever commit a villainous deed that doesn't further the cause of good in a way.

A Pragmatic Hero lacks the "moral cleanliness" of an IdealHero. When fighting evil, they are willing to commit acts seem more characteristic of a villain than a hero. However, Pragmatic Heroes have morally good intentions and generally hold themselves to strict moral standards -- it's just that those standards aren't always what others might expect from an ideal hero. This type of hero tends to be much more concerned with whatever heroic business the plotline has assigned them than the niceties of proper heroic etiquette. However, with the exception of unintentional mistakes, they will rarely if ever commit a villainous deed that doesn't further the cause of good in a way.