History Main / PrinciplesZealot

* Rorschach in ''{{Watchmen}}'' follows this trope very consistently. [[spoiler: The page quote is literal. He would rather let the world perish than neglect one of his moral principles just for once.]]
* JudgeDredd is in many ways a parody of this, with Judge Death as a parody of the parody. While Judge Dread is a KnightTemplar ByTheBookCop and Judge Death a OmnicidalManiac CompleteMonster, they are still the same kind of PrinciplesZealot. And this is what makes them NotSoDifferent.

* Galad Trakand in ''TheWheelOfTime'' is described as someone who "always does what's right, no matter who it hurts," which also indicates a very peculiar idea of what constitutes "right".

* In ''StarTrekVoyager'', Seven of Nine has this attitude to her [[BlueAndOrangeMorality ideals of perfection]]. See the page quote. Janeway also drif into this territory sometimes, when it's ''her'' principles that are at stake.

* The [[ProudWarriorRace Qunari]] of ''DragonAge''. Whilst there are exiles who do not follow to their code, those that adhere to the Qun will ''never'' compromise if the "demands of the Qun" aren't met. Sten can never return home without his sword as he will be killed on site for losing it.

* Batman, in The Dark Knight, would rather veer off and crash his bike, leaving himself vulnerable to the Joker, than simply running the Joker over and ending the whole fiasco. Even though the Joker is unloading machine-gun fire into random motorists at the time Batman still will not kill him. YMMV.

* In ''DragonAgeII'' has several examples. Katojen submits to the Qun despite its consequences for him and regardless of Hawkes actions [[spoiler: willing chooses death]]. An Aravaad attempts to kill you even if you have his respect [[spoiler: because you ''may'' be "corrupted"]]. The Arishok will not leave without [[spoiler: the relic ''and'' Isabela]] despite your willingness to let it all end peacefully. [[spoiler: He and his men will leave peacefully if you hand said party member over.]]

* In ''DragonAgeII'' has several examples. Katojen submits to the Qun despite its consequences for him and regardless of Hawkes actions [[spoiler: willing chooses death]]. An Aravaad attempts to kill you even if you have his respect [spoiler: because you ''may'' be "corrupted"]]. The Arishok will not leave without [[spoiler: the relic ''and'' Isabela]] despite your willingness to let it all end peacefully. [[spoiler: He and his men will leave peacefully if you hand said party member over.]]

* The [[ProudWarriorRace Qunari]] of ''DragonAge''. Whilst their are exiles who do not follow to their code, those that adhere to the Qun will ''never'' compromise if the "demands of the Qun" aren't met. Sten can never return home without his sword as he will be killed on site for losing it.

* The [[ProudWarriorRace Qunari]] of ''DragonAge''. Whilst their are exiles who do not follow to their code, those that adhere to the Qun will ''never'' compromise if the "demands of the qun" aren't met. Sten can never return home without his sword as he will be killed on site for losing it. The Arishok in ''DragonAgeII'' will not leave without [[spoiler: the relic ''and'' Isabela]] despite your willingness to let it end peacefully.

A person who WillNotTellALie, for example, crosses over into Principles Zealot when they maintain truthfulness even in the face of horrible consequences that they know could be averted by lying. A hero who will commit any atrocity rather than [[IGaveMyWord break a promise]], even if they were tricked into making it, is a Principles Zealot. Please note that such a Principles Zealot isn't necessarily more ''principled'' then someone who normally WillNotTellALie but can make exceptions in extreme cases. The difference is that the zealot refuses to see the big picture, clinging blindly to the principle and the principle only.

** [[spoiler:Based on the movie, it was not certain that nuclear war would break out. Likely, but nothing is certain. Something else might have happened. What they did now is blame the blue guy and make everyone hunt him. The blue guy left so that hunt for him wont last that long. It's a temporary solution at best, to a problem that could have been solved otherwise.]]
*** So?

** [[spoiler: based on the movie, it was not certain that nuclear war would break out. Likely, but nothing is certain. Something else might have happened. What they did now is blame the blue guy and make everyone hunt him. The blue guy left so that hunt for him wont last that long. It's a temporary solution at best, to a problem that could have been solved otherwise.]]

-->--'''Rorschach''',''{{Watchmen}}''

->"''No. Not even in the face of Armageddon. '''Never compromise.'''''"

-> No. Not even in the face of Armageddon. Never compromise.
-->'''Rorschach''', in ''{{Watchmen}}''

* Batman, in [[TheDarkKnight]], would rather veer off and crash his bike, leaving himself vulnerable to the Joker, than simply running the Joker over and ending the whole fiasco. Even though the Joker is unloading machine-gun fire into random motorists at the time Batman still will not kill him. [[YMMV]].

* [[Batman]], in [[The Dark Knight]], would rather veer off and crash his bike, leaving himself vulnerable to the Joker, than simply running the Joker over and ending the whole fiasco. Even though the Joker is unloading machine-gun fire into random motorists at the time Batman still will not kill him. [[YMMV]].

->"No. Not even in the face of Armageddon. Never compromise."

->'''Seven of Nine:''' "Those orders are the result of Starfleet's ignorance and fear. I can alleviate your ignorance. As for your fear..."
->'''Captain Janeway:''' "Sometimes fear should be respected, Seven. Tell me...how many Borg were sacrificed during this experiment?"
->'''Seven of Nine:''' "Twenty-nine vessels, 600,000 drones—but that is irrelevant."
-->A disagreement in ''StarTrekVoyager'', regarding an experiment that Seven of Nine wishes to re-create for semi-religious reasons ("The Omega Directive").

A Principles Zealot can be a WellIntentionedExtremist, KnightInSourArmor, KnightTemplar or even a CompleteMonster who ended up on the wrong end of [[SlidingScaleOfUnavoidableVersusUnforgivable that Sliding Scale]]. Contrast TotalitarianUtilitarian, who is ''another side'' of these four kinds of fanaticism: While the Principles Zealot cares only about principles, the Totalitarian Utilitarian cares only about results. Note that a fanatic doesn't have to fall into either of those two categories: His fanaticism can be about a ''[[MyCountryRightOrWrong cause]]'' or a ''[[TheFundamentalist belief]]'' instead.

[[AC:{{Other}}]]

-->A disagreement in ''StarTrekVoyager'', regarding an experiment that Seven of Nine wishes to re-create for semi-religious reasons.

A character who care [[{{Understatement}} a bit]] too much about his principles, often at the expense of [[HedonismTropes caring about the results of his actions]]. While many characters believe in ideals like [[WillNotTellALie truth]], [[ForScience knowledge]] and [[ByTheBookCop the rule of law]], these guys take it to [[UpToEleven uncomfortable levels]]. May be PlayedForLaughs, or played straight in [[SlidingScaleOfUnavoidableVersusUnforgivable one way]] or [[StrawmanPolitical another]].

* Nicholas Angel, the hero in HotFuzz, takes ByTheBookCop to [[PrinciplesZealot zealot]] [[PlayedForLaughs levels]].

* This can lead to an infamous bad end in the ''Heaven's Feel'' route of ''FateStayNight''.

* Shirou's unwillingness to give up on his ideals can lead to an infamous bad end in the ''Heaven's Feel'' route of ''FateStayNight''.