History Main / ProdigalHero

* Lelouch from ''Anime/CodeGeass'' is an example as an exiled Prince who comes back to destroy his ArchnemesisDad's empire!

* ''FanFic/AllTheRoofsOfUncertainty'': Jason finally returns to the manor after trying to stop killing for a month and discovering it so hard that it convinces him he really needs to stop altogether, as he's realized he's just become another hypocritical murderer. Alfred even says "The prodigal returns, Master Bruce," when Bruce walks in and sees him.

* {{Deconstruct|ion}}ed in ''Manga/KyonBigDamnHero''. [[spoiler:"Shinobu" left her traditional family after her [[YamatoNadeshiko "well-behaved"]] [[PolarOppositeTwins twin sister]] accepted an ArrangedMarriage to Tsuruya's father. During her independent life overseas, she became an activist and fought for women's rights but her lack of political tact earned her and her closest allies some dangerous enemies. Without thinking of the potential consequences, Shinobu fled to Japan but her parents refused to give her shelter. In an unusual twist of this trope it was Tsuruya's mother, TheDutifulDaughter, who offered her sanctuary with her new family. Eventually, Shinobu's enemies caught up with her and decided that [[RevengeByProxy killing her sister made for a better revenge]]. [[MyGreatestFailure They]] [[AngstySurvivingTwin were]] [[TheAtoner right]].]]

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'', being an adaptation of [[Literature/TheBible the story of Moses]], tells this story, mixing both the accidental murder as well as disgust of the Egyptians' treatment towards the Jews.

* According to the story, a pampered Indian prince one day saw suffering in the world (hunger, sickness, and death) for the first time (he was sheltered from it all his life). So he left the palace to seek an answer as to why people suffer. What he realized would later become the foundation of Buddhisim.

This story is usually AnAesop on growing up, facing the past, and taking responsibility, and goes to show the protagonist transforming from someone who once ran away from his past returning to confront it. The original decision to leave may come from the realization that they were MosesInTheBulrushes.

Usually results in RightfulKingReturns if the protagonist was royalty, or AProtagonistShallLeadThem if they were not. Related to CharlieBrownFromOuttaTown, if the hero comes under a different (albeit similar) identity and costume. Compare / contrast AchillesInHisTent, RefusalOfTheCall.

* Zuko of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' was ''forced'' to leave home, but otherwise fits here.

* Subverted in ''{{VideoGame/Fallout 4}}'' with the East Coast branch of the Brotherhood of Steel. Originally they broke off from the West Coast branch due to disagreements with their policies, and the West Coast branch was nearly annihilated a few years later. Now they've reestablished contact with the old leaders of the West Coast and are building a second generation Brotherhood of Steel out of Washington DC. However, though this saved the Brotherhood and did stop a lot of powerful tech ending up in the wrong hands, from the perspective of outsiders this made them more villainous. They dropped the ideals of the old East Coast branch, namely that they should help everyone, and adopted the insular quasi-fascist rhetoric of the West Coast branch.

** The main character of the first ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' game actually is referred to as 'the Prodigal Knight' in the Light Side ending. See mostly doesn't fit with this trope (and he certainly doesn't fit the definition of prodigal), however.

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* [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Harry Potter]] had to flee and hide all over England to stay a step ahead of Voldemort, but when the last Horcrux was hidden in Hogwarts and he found that out, he rushed to Hogwarts to find it, which sparked the FinalBattle.

* In ''Franchise/StarWars'', [[TheObiWan Obi Wan Kenobi]] exiles himself to watch over little Luke Skywalker from a distance, and then returns to the first line to be his mentor.

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* ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'': The Enchantress used a love spell on Hercules to send him against the Avengers. Hercules broke free from the spell, but Zeus banished him from Olympus for making the forbidden journey to Earth. The Avengers welcomed him as a guest, and then made him a full member. And when the year passed, Hercules returned to Olympus, to request permission to stay on Earth (so it would be by choice rather than exile). However, when he returned, Olympus was empty: the titan Typhon broke free from his own exile of millennia ago, and sent the Greek gods to a dark dimension. Unable to kill Hercules, he sent him as well. But, as a demigod, Hercules could be sent back by Zeus. He defeated Typhon in battle, and forced him to undo the spell, returning the gods to Olympus.

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This story is usually AnAesop on growing up, facing the past, and taking responsibility, and goes to show the protagonist transforming from someone who once ran away from his past returning to confront it. The original decision to leave may come from the realization that they were MosesInTheBullrushes.

* In ''StarWars: KnightsOfTheOldRepublic II'', the main character is a broken, disgraced Jedi Knight who was exiled and stripped of her force power. She returns to the Old Republic to save it from a certain undesirable fate.
** The main character of the first game actually is referred to as 'the Prodigal Knight' in the Light Side ending. See mostly doesn't fit with this trope (and he certainly doesn't fit the definition of prodigal), however.
* ''{{Terranigma}}'' uses this.

* ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'': The Enchantress used a love spell on Hercules to send him against the Avengers. Hercules broke free from the spell, but Zeus vanished him from the Olympus for making the forbidden journey to Earth. The Avengers welcomed him as a guest, and then made him a full member. And when the year passed, Hercules returned to the Olympus, to request permission to stay in Earth (so it would be by choice rather than exile). However, when he returned the Olympus was empty: the titan Tifon broke free from his own exile of milennia ago, and sent the Greek gods to a dark dimension. Unable to kill Hercules, he sent him as well. But, as half-god and half-man, Hercules could be sent back by Zeus. He defeated Tifon in battle, and forced him to undo the spell, returning the gods to the olympus.

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' with the East Coast branch of the Brotherhood of Steel. Originally they broke off from the West Coast branch due to disagreements with their policies, and the West Coast branch was nearly annihilated a few years later. Now they've reestablished contact with the old leaders of the West Coast and are building a second generation Brotherhood of Steel out of Washington DC. However, though this saved the Brotherhood and did stop a lot of powerful tech ending up in the wrong hands, from the perspective of outsiders this made them more villainous. They dropped the ideals of the old East Coast branch, namely that they should help everyone, and adopted the insular quasi-fascist rhetoric of the West Coast branch.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/prodigal_son_9022.jpg]]

This is an element of the traditional "hero's journey" (in literary classes you learn that the first step in the stereotypical "heroic arc" is the "refusal of the call"). Perhaps an incorporation of the hero's journey's stages as subtroupes with some of the common subversions (such as JumpedAtTheCall).

* ComicBook/TheAvengers: The Enchantress used a love spell on Hercules to send him against the Avengers. Hercules broke free from the spell, but Zeus vanished him from the Olympus for making the forbidden journey to Earth. The Avengers welcomed him as a guest, and then made him a full member. And when the year passed, Hercules returned to the Olympus, to request permission to stay in Earth (so it would be by choice rather than exile). However, when he returned the Olympus was empty: the titan Tifon broke free from his own exile of milennia ago, and sent the Greek gods to a dark dimension. Unable to kill Hercules, he sent him as well. But, as half-god and half-man, Hercules could be sent back by Zeus. He defeated Tifon in battle, and forced him to undo the spell, returning the gods to the olympus.
* This was essentially {{Nightwing}}'s character arc which was a '''decade''' in the making. In the early 1980's, Bruce and Dick started to drift a part; Dick was spending less and less time in Gotham as he dedicated most of his time to college and the ComicBook/TeenTitans. After a mistake involving Clayface, Bruce outright fired Dick from the role. Dick assumed his own mantle end drifted to his own city to become a protector. Years later, [[KnightFall Bruce's back is broken by Bane]], and after his first choice of successor proves to be a disaster, Bruce finally repairs his relationship with Dick and Dick takes up the mantle of Batman.

* In ''StarWars'', [[TheObiWan Obi Wan Kenobi]] exiles himself to watch over little Luke Skywalker from a distance, and then returns to the first line to be his mentor.
* As the related trope of RightfulKingReturns would suggest, [[LordOfTheRings Aragorn]] is an example of this, having fled from his duty and being forced to take on his destined responsibility as king. (Only in the movie; in the book he's accepted his destiny and has been working towards it for decades.)

* Galadriel in Creator/JRRTolkien books ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' and ''Literature/LordOfTheRings''. She was one of the leaders of the rebellion of the Noldor, and she fled the Undying Lands to Middle-Earth, desiring to rule her own kingdom. After the destruction of the Noldor, downfall of both Morgoth and Sauron, beginning of the Reign of Men and 7000 years of exile she finally returned back to home, albeit having lost everything she once had had.

* Dawn from ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' novel ''Star Lord'', she was banished from Clan Steel Viper as part of Bret Andrews plan of getting rid of Warden minded warriors like her. She later returned to her Clan with the head of the last descendant of [[TheUsurper Amaris]].

* ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'' presents a dark version of this: Superman returns from his self-imposed exile after things have gotten entirely out of hand in his absence. However, given that the entire story is based around the trope of BewareTheSupermen, it is quickly made clear that his return isn't a ''good'' thing.