History Main / PunchClockHero

* Done literally in ''DamageControl'' with the superheroes who've worked for the company; these include Speedball (as an intern in his civilian identity), Hercules (community service), Goliath, Monstro, and Visioneer.

** YourMileageMayVary on whether this belongs here or on the PunchClockVillain page. This troper suspects your answer will have a lot to do with whether you're American or not.
*** That is both a facile claim and an insulting one. It's unfair to imply that all Americans have a blind faith in the nobility of their government or their troops. It's also unfair to claim that every military action by the United States was harmful to the rest of the world. Just as opinion will be mixed within the U.S., it will be mixed outside it. Any side in a conflict is going to view their position as the correct one, and this usually results in their enemies becoming villains. The North Vietnamese probably didn't like the U.S. much, but the South Vietnamese sure did (until the U.S. left them high and dry when they pulled out.) The Germans and Japanese might not have liked the U.S. in WWII, but the rest of Europe and the Chinese were glad they were there to help, Europe especially after the war was grateful for the Marshall Plan helping to rebuild. The U.S. absolutely has a mixed history with its military action. It would be easy to find as many atrocities as moments of nobility (e.g. the Mexican-American War or the Philippine–American War). But to imply that the only people who respect American troops is the head-in-the-sand Americans makes people look as foolish as they consider Americans to be.

* {{House}} frequently has to be cajoled and pressured into taking a case (despite the fact that it is literally his job) but once he's interested he won't stop until he has a diagnosis.

* The comic book ''Capes'' is about a company of mostly punch-clock superheroes.

---> Harry: "I helped to do it and lived to walk away. But there was an unhappy ending."\\

* This is the FilmNoir DefectiveDetective in a nutshell. If they do good, it's because the [[FemmeFatale mysterious woman in the slinky dress]] hired them. If they get emotionally involved, it's because the villain [[KickTheDog hurt someone they love]].

** Even more frequently, running away causes him to be in the right spot at the right time to save the day. He'd much rather be locked in his room, safely examining boredom. Excitement chases him.

* The Post-Zero Hour LegionOfSuperHeroes had the Workforce. Most of them eventually left to join the Legion, though.

** {{The Incredibles}} has the hero working at a company

** In a possibly tragic example of this trope being played straight, a 50-year old man in Pennsylvania died two days after making the first of 10 911 calls. It happened during a snowstorm, and ambulances could only get to within a quarter of a mile to his house because of the snow. According to the AssociatedPress, paramedics allegedly told him he would have to walk to the ambulances, but his abdominal pain was so severe that he couldn't. However, it's not so much an issue of "being on the clock". It's more along the lines of not actually going the extra mile to save the man. The city of Pittsburgh will be instituting new emergency procedures (e.g., paramedics must now get to the house of the 911 caller no matter what) in order to prevent this from happening again, and according to the article, six paramedics could be discplined.

*** It is worth noting that in actually competent 911 systems like say New York City once initiated an emergency response cannot be called off by anyone, period and doesn't cease until physical contact with the patient or their last reported location is made. Of course this has the side effect of alot of doors to empty apartments being broken down and other collateral property damage when something gets in the way of a response.

** And [[strike:Skinner]] that other invisible dude is in it for the lulz.

* For the exact same reason that they are [[PunchClockVillain Punch Clock Villains]], [[TheTerminator The Terminators are also Punch Clock Heroes. They'll literally die for you (or kill those who try to harm you), because that's what their programming says to do. God help you, if their programming runs the other way....

* Speaking of corporate heroes, {{Watchmen}} had Dollar Bill, who was a "costumed adventurer" hired by a bank to combat bank robbers during the Depression, as well as being the mascot of the bank.