History Main / SympathyfortheHero

->''"You are an honest and honorable man, Lord Eddard. Sometimes I forget that; I have met so few of them in my life. When I see what honor and honesty have won you, I understand why."''
--> -- '''[[TheSpymaster Varys the Spider]]''', ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''

* Lich sorcerer Xykon thoroughly outclasses hero Roy Greenhilt during the Battle of Azure City in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' and takes a certain degree of pity on him, [[YearsTooEarly offering to let him go off and train for awhile]] so they can have a decent fight later on. Roy refuses, of course, and things end... poorly.

* ''Fanfic/AllForLuz'': Even someone with a black heart like [[EvilMentor All For One]] is compelled to make genuine effort to comfort Luz after her horrible experience at the Battle of Gravesfield that leads her to break down into tears after its over, [[PetTheDog which is probably the first altruistic thing he's done in over a century]].

Remember, please keep all examples InUniverse only, this is not a YMMV or AudienceReaction trope like TheWoobie or UnintentionallySympathetic. For fan examples, see UnpopularPopularCharacter.

* Fanfic/NecessaryToWin'': As an old friend of Hisa's, Yasuko has a lot of respect for her despite how circumstances have led to them attending different schools and pitted their respective tankery teams against each other. She also doesn't believe that Hisa's team has any chance of winning, but she sympathizes with her wanting to make the most of her singular shot at entering the high school tankery tournament.

* ''Fanfic/AllForLuz'': Even someone with a black heart like [[EvilMentor All For One]] is compelled to make genuine effort comfort Luz after her horrible experience at the Battle of Gravesfield that leads her to break down into tears after its over, [[PetTheDog which is probably the first altruistic thing he's done in over a century]].
--> '''All For One''': You’ve been through a lot. More than any child should have to go through.

* In the fifth chapter of ''Fanfic/TheStoryOfApolloDaphneAndLucaAnItalianTragedy'', [[spoiler: [[BigJerkOnCampus Vincenzo]] in spite of being a haughty jerk and a petty bully, feels genuinely concerned about Luca's emotional state after his fight with Giulia]].

* ''Fanfic/AllForOne'': Even someone with a black heart like [[EvilMentor All For One]] is compelled to make genuine effort comfort Luz after her horrible experience at the Battle of Gravesfield that leads her to break down into tears after its over, [[PetTheDog which is probably the first altruistic thing he's done in over a century]].

* Since the Tag Battle Tournament at the end of the first season of the Diamond and Pearl arc of the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, Team Rocket grew a fondness for Ash's Chimchar due to his tragic backstory, even rooting for Ash every time it battled.

* ''Fanfic/{{Foxfire}}'': The Kuchisake-Onna shows sympathy for Li's situation, touching his burn scar while noting that "You will never find peace so long as the person who did this lives."

Compare ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne and AntagonistInMourning. See MirrorCharacter for a frequent cause of this. When the villain sees the hero going through so much shit and cannot understand how they can still be heroic after that, it's often because EvilCannotComprehendGood. Compare ''and'' contrast BaddieFlattery. SympathyForTheDevil is the inverse, when the heroes are sympathizing with the villain. See also HurtingHero, which is often what leads to this.