History Main / PunchClockHero

* The Devil Hunters of the titular ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' shop are largely in it for the money, as evidenced by them having to wait for a customer's phone call and TrustPassword before accepting the job. In ''5'', Dante is also delighted at the prospect of a "cash-upfront" offer. However, it's also implied they do a lot of pro-bono jobs for people in need who don't have the cash, or if enough risk is at stake from letting a demon run loose.

* The Devil Hunters of the titular ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' shop are largely in it for the money, though it's implied they do a lot of pro-bono jobs for people in need who don't have the cash, or if enough is at stake.

*** (3) his primary motivation for always wanting to become a stronger and more powerful warrior, and pushing past any limits that could stand in his way was just because always wanted a rematch with Goku. However, every time an opportunity for a rematch presented itself, a way more powerful villain who was way more evil, sadistic, and cruel than any previous villain they had to face together in the past would show up (as mentioned above in #2), and logically he would have to team up with the good guys (Goku and the Z fighters) to help defeat those said villains.

** In Anime/DragonBallZ (DBZ) and Anime/DragonBallSuper (DBS), [[Characters/DragonBallVegeta Vegeta]] can be seen as an example of both a Punch-Clock Hero and a NominalHero. The reason why is because throughout the DBZ and DBS franchises (in both the manga and the anime) Vegeta has a HeelFaceTurn as he transforms from a villain into ''somewhat'' of good guy, but he's not an AllLovingHero like [[Characters/DragonBallSonGoku Goku]] and the rest of the Z Fighters. Vegeta only fights on the side of good because (1) he feels like he has to protect his pride, reputation, and ego as a self-proclaimed ''"strong and mighty warrior"'' and as ''"one of the best warriors in the universe"'' (as he would say in his own words); (2) When he was a villain in the past, he was almost bested and almost nearly beaten by Goku, and even though the battle was decisively fought to a draw between the two of them, Goku still humiliated him and shattered his pride and ego, and after their initial first battle, Vegeta never really became a good guy or hero ''per se.'' He was just always forced into several situations where he had to fight on the side of the good guys to fight against way more powerful opponents who were way more evil, sadistic, and cruel than he was.

* ''Franchise/BaldursGate'': the main character could be this, depending on your dialogue choices and quest decisions. Some can be really explicit in that you can choose to openly say that you don't really care, despite all the intrigues, the mastermind villains going after you, the demigod-wannabes, the prophecies and whatever, forcing you to go for the greater goal rather than going your own way. Sometimes this borderlines with [[Railroading being railroaded]] though, such as in the second game, where you are forced to go after the BigBad either to take revenge/get answers or to rescue your childhood friend, despite nothing initially preventing you from leaving the place altogether.

* ''Franchise/BaldursGate'': the main character could be this, depending on your dialogue choices and quest decisions. Some can be really explicit in that you can choose to openly say that you don't really care, despite all the intrigues, the mastermind villains going after you, the demigod-wannabes, the prophecies and whatever, forcing you to go for the greater goal rather than going your own way. Sometimes this borderlines with [[Railroading railroading]] though, such as in the second game, where you are forced to go after the BigBad either to take revenge/get answers or to rescue your childhood friend, despite nothing initially preventing you from leaving the place altogether.

* ''Franchise/BaldursGate'': the main character could be this, depending on your dialogue choices and quest decisions. Some can be really explicit in that you can choose to openly say that you don't really care, despite all the intrigues, the mastermind villains going after you, the demigod-wannabes, the prophecies and whatever, forcing you to go for the greater goal rather than going your own way. Sometimes this borderlines with [[Railroading]] though, such as in the second game, where you are forced to go after the BigBad either to take revenge/get answers or to rescue your childhood friend, despite nothing initially preventing you from leaving the place altogether.

* ''Franchise/BaldursGate'': the main character could be this, depending on your dialogue choices and quest decisions. Some can be really explicit in that you can choose to openly say that you don't really care, despite all the intrigues, the mastermind villains going after you, the demigod-wannabes, the prophecies and whatever, forcing you to go for the greater goal rather than going your own way. Sometimes this borderlines with Railroading though, such as in the second game, where you are forced to go after the BigBad either to take revenge/get answers or to rescue your childhood friend, despite nothing initially preventing you from leaving the place altogether.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* Masane Amaha in ''Anime/{{Witchblade}}'' starts as this, albeit not realizing the full scope of her decision. After about the halfway point, the horrifying truth that BecauseDestinySaysSo kicks in, she jumps full force in being a full on hero [[spoiler:to the point of HeroicSacrifice]].

* When Terryman first appeared in ''Manga/{{Kinnikuman}}'', he was charging money for defeating the monsters that threatened Japan. The Japanese government went along with it because the alternative was relying on [[IdiotHero Kin]] to do it. Terry got a swelled head, but after Kin gave him an ArmorPiercingSlap for laughing at child offering chump change to save his father, changed his ways.

* The woman warriors of ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'' officially claim to be like this. It's not usually true, however.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** Ichigo claims to be like this, only caring about protecting the people close to him. His track record, however, suggests otherwise. He never walks away from someone in need, and he usually considers it his duty to do whatever he can to stop the bad guys, shown in the Hueco Mundo arc where he wants to stop Aizen even after rescuing Orihime.
** Also Mayuri Kurotsuchi. He doesn't really care about helping people. He just follows his orders and does what he can ForScience.
** Kenpachi Zaraki is this too. He doesn't care about anyone except Yachiru. The only thing he wants to do is fight.

* ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' is built around the idea of superheroes as corporate-sponsored celebrities, but at the beginning, Barnaby is the most blatant textbook example. The other heroes subvert this to certain degrees in that they genuinely want to help others. Even Barnaby has a deeper motive besides fame and fortune [[spoiler:namely taking revenge on his parents' killer.]]
* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' Saitou claims that he is this, stating he's only taking out Shishio because "he happens to be on the opposite side". While he is motivated by his personal justice, he's not always willing to help Kenshin and his group.

* Ayumu Mikoshiba from ''Manga/OtasukeMikoMikoChan'' doesn't want to take on the role of Miko-chan, mostly because she's a MagicalGirl and he's a [[DudeLooksLikeALady very effeminate guy.]] He's forced to, however, or else his family's shrine will close down from bankruptcy.

* ''Webcomic/OnePunchMan'' explores this trope:
** Saitama is ostensibly just a hero as a hobby, something which sated his boredom before he became [[ComicallyInvincibleHero so strong he could defeat all his opponents in]] [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin one punch]]. He also joined the Hero Association purely for the pay. [[SubvertedTrope However]], he eventually he shows little to no care for his ranking in the Hero Association, often willingly being a scapegoat when other Heroes mess up in order to preserve their reputations, and while the pay is nice, he was doing the hero thing on his own anyway, so joining the Association and getting paid for his efforts was simply a nice bonus.
** There are some heroes in the Hero Association registry who call themselves heroes but who don't really ''act'' like heroes. This is particularly prevalent among Class S heroes, most of whom are drunk with their own power, care more about competing with each other than helping people, or have some serious KnightTemplar tendencies. One of those very heroes (Flashy Flash) outright states the Association chooses S-Class heroes not based on any "moral character", but on [[OneManArmy raw power]] that normal people just don't possess.
* Some heroes in ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' are fighting for fame and money or revenge rather than justice. Those type of heroes are also the main targets of the HeroKiller Stain. Uraraka in particular notes that the money is a big part of why she became a hero and feels embarrassed about it. It's pointed out that her real motive (she wants to support her working class parents) is pretty sympathetic, and that the opinion of a crazy serial killer isn't one that should be taken seriously.
* Naofumi from ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' is perfectly willing to help others... as long as he gets paid. He's far more flexible than expected, however, being willing to accept goods and services, and not demanding up-front payment when the prospective client clearly can't pay up on the spot. He's more of a traveling merchant/mercenary than an outright hero.
* {{Downplayed}} in ''Manga/FairyTail''. The titular guild does care about innocent lives and takes jobs like catching criminals and fighting evil monsters because they can't stand the injustice as much as for the pay [[BloodKnight or the chance for a good fight]], but "saving lives" doesn't necessary mean they won't cause or ''care'' about causing a lot of damage in the process as clearly demonstrated by their nature as {{Destructive Savior}}s. Whenever the fate of the world hangs in the balance, Fairy Tail fights to save it just as much because it threatens their way of life, or because one of their TrueCompanions was threatened in some way than just because it's the right thing to do. In fact, Natsu and his friends have gone on record saying they don't care if the entire world is their enemy, or if they themselves become evil; if it means protecting the guild, they'll take on anyone in their way.
* ''LightNovel/GoblinSlayer'':
** Many adventurers pick quests that would earn them good money and fame. This results that many of the professionals only pick quests that not only pay well, but would would also improve their reputation. Due to this, low-level quests are mostly picked by beginners, by many of them die to their lack of experience. Goblin slaying quests are easy enough that beginners can still clear them, but they are also risky, and many of the professionals dismiss these quests because the payment is too low for its risk factor and doesn't increase their fame all at much. And since goblins are a recurring problem, a lot of villages are unable to help themselves against them. Goblin Slayer is the only professional who devotes himself to only goblin quests, due to his personal hatred against them. Since he witnessed first hand how terrible they are, he has devoted all of his skills in killing goblins and nothing else. While he occasionally picks up quests when he needs some money, he ultimately doesn't care how much he's paid as long as he can kill goblins. However, Goblin Slayer doesn't care for any other quest that could threaten the world, simply by the logic that if he's not killing goblins, someone else might die because of goblins. It also should be pointed out that the high-level quests involve much more stronger and more threatening monsters than goblins could hope to become, so it's not really a bad thing that the other professionals are picking exclusively those quests.
** When Goblin Slayer asks the entire guild to help him out to save his village from an upcoming goblin invasion, Spearman tells him that he should pay him for their service. Once Guild Girl promises them that everyone will get paid well, they all agree to help him, also because they are moved by Goblin Slayer's OutOfCharacterMoment, so not all of them (including Spearman) aren't just in for the money.

%%* The ComicBook/PowerCompany operates similarly to Capes, Inc, mentioned above.

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', in prior bonding with Tanjiro, both boys Zenitsu and Inosuke had no heroic aspirations for becoming demon slayers; Zenitsu just wanted to honor his master for taking care of him and Inosuke just wanted to fight demons for the sake of thrills, it is through later story developments that both of them experience personal growth and personal tragedies that turns them into very focused in killing demons for more heroic reasons: end all the suffering demons have inflicted.

* The Huntsmen and Huntresses of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' are essentially for-hire [[HunterOfMonster monster-slayers]]; there are bounty boards where Huntsmen can browse for one-off jobs, and just as many are contracted out indefinitely to act as security for small settlements or civilian transportation. While Team RWBY and their allies all got into the career for the sake of helping others, or more personal reasons, many are acknowledged as just looking for a good payday.

* The ''WebOriginal/ProtectorsOfThePlotContinuum'' primarily kill {{MarySue}}s and fight other forms of badfic because it's their job to do so. Individual agents can retire if they want to, in theory, but most never do so.

* The Post-Zero Hour ComicBook/{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}} had the Workforce. Most of them eventually left to join the Legion, though.

* The whole ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' crew, most of the time. Illustrated well during an early scene in the movie when a robber holds an old woman at gunpoint. Spike's reaction? "Well, that's a real shame. But, we're not cops and we're not from some [[WeHelpTheHelpless charity organization]]. Sorry lady, we don't protect or serve. [[OnlyInItForTheMoney This is strictly business."]] (This distracts the robber -- and enrages the hostage -- sufficiently for him to get a clean shot off). Jet weakly protests "I know you don't mean that, Spike!" and whether or not the crew as a whole are good for the sake of goodness or just for the cash is left ambiguous throughout.

* ComicBook/LukeCage and [[ComicBook/ImmortalIronFist Iron Fist]], ''ComicBook/HeroesForHire''! Cage is so dedicated to his job that he once shook down Dr. Doom himself for just $200 owed to him. Throughout the various other incarnations of the team, the dynamic has shifted a little now and then - to the point that in the latest version, "for hire" means "available to do a favor for Misty Knight".

* ''WesternAnimation/TheMask'': The Mask as always only wants to do dancing, have fun and mess about along with the reason that he fights the supervillains is because they have done something minor which gets him to go after them but he does have standards along with being a polite and well-mannered gentleman who will do his job as a superhero.

* Most of the cops in ''Series/TheWire'' are basically this. Much of the police force doesn't truly care for the people of Baltimore or the crimes they're investigating, they show up, go through the motions, and if they solve or help solve a case, great. If they don't solve the case they shrug and figure that [[WretchedHive soon enough the person who committed the crime will wind up in a]] ChalkOutline. While cops that are better than average might show more skill in solving cases, that doesn't mean that they care or are any more invested in the community, they're still in it for the pay and benefits. (And sometimes those better than average cops will complain about or badger the cops who actually do care or try to make things better.) The worst cops on the force are outright [[CorruptCop corrupt]] and/or [[PoliceBrutality brutal]] {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s that will actively screw over the public, their subordinates, and even ignore mass murder for the sake of their careers. At one point, a rueful [=McNulty=] estimates there are fewer than ten cops in the whole department who both care about the job and are capable of consistently solving cases.

* Most of the cops in ''Series/TheWire'' are basically this. They don't actually care for the most part about the people of Baltimore or the crimes they're investigating, the better ones show up and do a job, one which they're often not happy about, and sometimes get on the case of the ones who actually do care or try to make things better. The worse ones are [[CorruptCop corrupt]] {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s that will actively screw over the public, their men, and ignore mass murder for the sake of their careers. At one point, a rueful [=McNulty=] estimates there are fewer than ten cops in the whole department actually capable of solving cases.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheMask'': The Mask as always only wants to do dancing, have fun and mess about along with the reason that he fights the supervillains is because they have did something minor which gets him to go after them but he does have standards along with being a polite and well-mannered gentleman who will do his job as a superhero.

* ''Film/TheMask'' only wants to have fun, [[ChaoticNeutral no matter if someone gets hurt along the way,]] and will fight those who cause trouble to The Mask or Stanley. It's even more true in [[Westernanimation/TheMask the animated series]]. (but not in [[Comicbook/TheMask the original comics]], where the title mask seemingly makes anyone who wears it AxCrazy and ultraviolent)

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'''s Jack Rakan claims this. It's quite possibly true as well, since he doesn't seem to actually ''care'' about good and evil, he just does his own thing, which happens to be extorting people for lots of money for his help with their problems. Plus, fighting is fun!

* The titular character in Anime/SailorMoon becomes this briefly in the 2nd season, until she realizes her lack of enthusiasm is causing her powers to suffer.

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'': It's... ''uncommon'' for the heroines to have noble reasons for resolving incidents. Reimu does it because it's her job. Marisa is motivated primarily by a mixture of curiosity and greed. Sakuya only gets involved if something is inconveniencing her boss. Sanae is ultimately looking to spread faith in her gods (and the franchise considers religion to be fundamentally the same as a business).

* Like the original film, ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' always made sure to remind viewers this was ''not'' a team of vigilante superheroes protecting the world from supernatural menaces but businessmen doing a job that just happens to involve the supernatural.