History Main / TheOnlyBeliever

Whether out of corruption, ambition, greed, or some other reason, all of the people who claim to be part of this group don't really care about the cause and mostly care about themselves... Except for one person, who truly and honestly believes in the cause, [[BreakTheBeliever and is increasingly shocked or appalled when he sees that everyone else is a hypocrite.]]

* An issue of ComicBook/{{Shazam}} show us a version of the Legion of Sivanas, a LegionOfDoom composed of some Captain Marvel ArchEnemy Doctor Sivana AlternateUniverse. One of them was a Nobel Prize winner with some personal problems that wants to exchange knowledge to save the world, and discovers to his horror that every of his AlternateUniverse counterparts is a SuperVillain.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'': In the episode, "The Great Can Drive", 3rd Street School holds it annual Thanksgiving Canned Food Drive to help the homeless, the poor, the handicapped, etc. Initially most of Miss Grotke's class, save for Mikey, bow out of the drive, knowing whichever class has [[AlphaBitch the Ashleys]] is going to win. When the Ashley's start taunting Mikey over collecting cans by himself, however, T.J. rallies the rest of the class to help Mikey... purely in order to beat the Ashleys. Mikey remains the only one involved for the sake of helping the less fortunate.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* In ''{{Series/MASH}}'', Frank Burns and Margaret Houlihan are the only main characters who actually believe in the cause of UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. All the other main characters are draftees who share the writers' anti-war views.

* In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', N is the only important member of the AnimalWrongsGroup Team Plasma who actually believes in liberating Pokemon. Worse, he's being manipulated as a puppet figurehead. ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'' reveals that roughly half of Team Plasma actually did believe in helping Pokemon, and after the events of the first game they split off from the main team and do what they can to atone for the group's misdeeds.

* An issue of ComicBook/{{Shazam}} show us a retelling of the [[LegionOfDoom ''Legion of Sivanas'']] where the original creator of this organization of AlternateUniverse Dr. Sivana was a Nobel Prize winner with some personal problems that wants to exchange knowledge to save the world, and discovers to his horror that every of his counterparts is a SuperVillain.

-->'''[[TooDumbToLive Zangief]]: [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments ...you got paid?]]

* Near the end of the ''Film/StreetFighter'' movie, we find that DumbMuscle Zangief is the only one who believed Bison's lies and propaganda about his cause. Everyone else was just there to get paid.
-->'''Zangief:''' ''[[CaptainObviousReveal General Bison is a bad guy?]] If you know then why do you work for him?''//
'''Dee Jay:''' ''[[OnlyInItForTheMoney Because he paid me a freakin fortune]], Man! If you know what's good for you you'll save your own ass!''//
'''Zangief: [[TooDumbToLive ...you got paid?]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tumblr_nnmq09deuz1sce56po1_640_4.jpg]]

[[caption-width-right:350: ''This particular'' [[Franchise/Shazam Doctor Sivana]] didn't realize that their AlternateUniverse counterparts all had ScaryShinyGlasses that give away them as MadScientist and EvilGenius with FourEyesZeroSoul.]]

[[caption-width-right:350: ''This particular'' [[{{Franchise/Shazam Doctor Sivana]] didn't realize that their AlternateUniverse counterparts all had ScaryShinyGlasses that give away them as MadScientist and EvilGenius with FourEyesZeroSoul.]]

[[caption-width-right:350: ''This particular'' [[{{Franchise/{{Shazam}} Doctor Sivana]] didn't realize that their AlternateUniverse counterparts all had ScaryShinyGlasses that give away them as MadScientist and EvilGenius with FourEyesZeroSoul.]]

* An issue of ComicBook/Shazam show us a retelling of the [[LegionOfDoom ''Legion of Sivanas'']] where the original creator of this organization of AlternateUniverse Dr. Sivana was a Nobel Prize winner with some personal problems that wants to exchange knowledge to save the world, and discovers to his horror that every of his counterparts is a SuperVillain.

[[caption-width-right:350: ''This particular'' [[{{Franchise/Shazam}} Doctor Sivana]] didn't realize that their AlternateUniverse counterparts all had ScaryShinyGlasses that give away them as MadScientist and EvilGenius with FourEyesZeroSoul.]]

[[caption-width-right:350: ''This particular'' [[{{Franchise/Shazam}} Doctor Sivana]] didn't realize that their AlternateUniverse counterparts all had ScaryShinyGlasses that give away them as MadSciencist and EvilGenius with FourEyesZeroSoul.]]

[[caption-width-right:350: ''This particular'' [[Franchise/Shazam Doctor Sivana]] didn't realize that their AlternateUniverse counterparts all had ScaryShinyGlasses that give away them as MadSciencist and EvilGenius with FourEyesZeroSoul.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]

* Played for tragedy on one episode of''Series/{{CSI}}'': A con man had set up a cult that ripped off the "Heaven's Gate" cult in Nevada, a scam that he had done repeatedly (brainwash people, take all possessions, do a faux-suicide with Kool Aid and sleeping pills, run away while everybody's knocked out. It is said that he had not been caught because the other times he'd done that had not been fully documented out of the cultists' embarrassment). While the other cultists "believed" out of brainwashing, one young woman truly believed because her life was crap and she wanted to go someplace better, and when she discovered the con man checking his getaway vehicle and he let her into the secret of his scam, she killed him and went out to get ''real'' poison for the mass suicide (and while she chickened out of committing it with the rest of the cultists because she was horrified at seeing their death throes, she tried to kill herself anyway a few hours later. The cops caught her and saved her life, but Brass made it clear in the aftermath that someone believing this kind of stuff as hard as she did probably won't be deprogrammed any time soon).

And common good to all, made one of them.

->''"This was the noblest Roman of them all. All the rest of the conspirators acted out of jealousy of great Caesar. Only he acted from honesty and for the general good."''

** In ''Literature/SmallGods'', the "great god" Om is stunned to realize that despite having a [[CorruptChurch theocratic]], [[TheFundamentalist fundamentalist]] church devoted to him and a nation of millions named after him, nobody actually ''believes'' in him. (Again, this in a world where GodsNeedPrayerBadly.) People believe in the ''Church'', sure, and have ''feelings'' about Om such as hope and fear, but the one one who actually believes in Om is Brutha, who ranks so low in the Church hierarchy that he's barely even a part of it. There's also one extremely determined atheist that militantly and ''very specifically'' disbelieves in Om even while acknowledging the existence of other gods. Om notes that this kind of attitude is so similar to actual belief that it's almost as good as the real thing.

** ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'' takes place in a country where the common people have more or less given up the faith in their petty and increasingly unhinged god and begun transferring all the belief and feelings toward the country's Duchess. While all the humans in the squad pay lip service to the Duchess, (except one girl who hates everything the Duchess and the country's mainstream society stands for), Wazzer is the only one who truly believes in her. Because [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly Discworld gods are powered by belief]], all this has turned the Duchess into a quasi-deity and makes Wazzer into a JoanOfArchetype who hears the Duchess' voice guiding her.
** ''Discworld/NightWatch'': In the revolution to overthrow Lord Winder as Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, Reg Shoe is the only one who ''really'' thinks that a revolution will actually be a good thing or change anything. When he finally realizes just how little anyone cares about his ideals, the cynical, self-interested way that people are using the revolt for career advancement and such, and that the revolution is going to be a FullCircleRevolution, he breaks down sobbing. And then [[{{Determinator}} he stands up and starts fighting again]].
** In ''Discworld/SmallGods'', the "great god" Om is stunned to realize that despite having a [[CorruptChurch theocratic]], [[TheFundamentalist fundamentalist]] church devoted to him and a nation of millions named after him, nobody actually ''believes'' in him. (Again, this in a world where GodsNeedPrayerBadly.) People believe in the ''Church'', sure, and have ''feelings'' about Om such as hope and fear, but the one one who actually believes in Om is Brutha, who ranks so low in the Church hierarchy that he's barely even a part of it. There's also one extremely determined atheist that militantly and ''very specifically'' disbelieves in Om even while acknowledging the existence of other gods. Om notes that this kind of attitude is so similar to actual belief that it's almost as good as the real thing.

* In ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'', Milo is the only character who thinks the expedition's goal is to find Atlantis to advance science, it turns out the entire expedition is OnlyInItForTheMoney. He does manage to make most of the team [[HeelFaceTurn switch sides]] once they find out that taking the treasure will mean destroying the Atlantean civilization, barring the main bad guy and his right-hand woman... and their GasMaskMook army.

** Most people who seek to join the Military Police do so because of the perceived life of ease and luxury, which is sure to be far, far away from man eating Titans which have humanity dangerously close to extinction. From the 104th Trainee Corps, only [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth Marco]] actually believes in the honor of serving the King, everyone else wants the easy life.
** And we later encounter another character in the Military Police with similar idealistic beliefs. Marlowe declares that his goal is to work his way up the chain, purge the now notoriously corrupt Military Police of corruption and turn it back into a force humanity can be proud of. His fellow new recruits mock him for it. When he sees some of his superiors selling arms to the black market, he tries to stop this, it goes about as well as you'd expect.

* In IDW's ''ComicBook/TheTransformersRobotsInDisguise'', the Decepticons started out as an equality movement that got twzisted into fascism and war-mongering. Only a few seem to still be committed to the early ideology as opposed to the opportunity to indulge in sadistic violence, most notably Soundwave.

* ''Film/TheHuntForRedOctober'': Dr. Petrov is the only officer in the "Red October" (other than ThePoliticalOfficer, and Ramius kills him soon after leaving shore) that doesn't believesthe Soviet Union and Communism are a load of bull (all of the rest are loyal to Captain Ramius and had been tossed to the wolves by the Party in one way or another) and as a result he's left in the dark about the plan to turn the submarine over to the Americans and when the time comes to fake scuttling the ship so it "won't be captured", he's convinced to leave the ship with the rest of the crew while the other officers stay and he sincerely swears to Captain Ramius that he will try to make sure the Captain gets the Order of Lenin for his (alleged) HeroicSacrifice.

* Similar to the above, in the backstory of the novel ''Beach Music'' by Pat Conroy, during college Shyla became passionately involved in an anti-[[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam War movement]]. While presumably there are other sincere people that we never actually encounter, both the leader of the movement and Shyla's lover turns out to be moles, a betrayal that is not good at all for a BrokenBird with some schizoid issues.

** ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'' takes place in a country where the common people have more or less given up the faith in their petty and increasingly unhinged god and begun transferring all the belief and feelings toward the country's Duchess. While all the humans in the squad pay lip service to the Duchess, (except one girl who hates everything the Duchess and the country's mainstream society stands for), Wazzer is the only one who truly believes in her. Because [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly Discworld gods are powered by belief]], all this has turned the Duchess into a quasi-deity and makes Wazzer into a JoanOfArchetype and who hears the Duchess' voice guiding her.
** ''Discworld/NightWatch'': In the revolution to overthrow Lord Winder as Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, Reg Shoe is the only one who ''really'' thinks that a revolution will actually be a good thing or change anything. When he finally realizes just how little anyone cares about his ideals, the cynical, self-interested way that people are using the revolt for career advancement and such, and that the revolution is going to be a FullCircleRevolution, he breaks down sobbing. And then he stands up fighting.
** In ''Discworld/SmallGods'', the "great god" Om is stunned to realize that despite having a [[CorruptChurch theocratic]], [[TheFundamentalist fundamentalist]] church devoted to him and a nation of millions named after him, nobody actually ''believes'' in him. (Again, this in a world where GodsNeedPrayerBadly.) People believe in the Church, sure, and have feelings about Om such as hope and fear, but the one one who actually believes in Om is Brutha, who ranks so low in the Church hierarchy that he's barely even a part of it. There's also one extremely determined atheist that Om counts as almost as good, because he disbelieves in Om ''very specifically''.

** Jon Snow joins the Night's Watch believing the hype about a thin line of defence against the supernatural horrors beyond {{The Wall|AroundTheWorld}}, but he's dismayed to find that over the centuries they've become an ArmyOfThievesAndWhores who don't believe in the Others and see their duty as preventing raids by the thoroughly human wildlings. The few other people who believe in the Watch having a higher calling are either unaffiliated (Melisandre), die off over the course of the story, or are sent away to raise support elsewhere. Jon's lack of support on this issue is {{Deconstructed}}: though he rises up to Lord Commander, his efforts to [[EnemyMine ally with the hated wildlings]] cause a huge amount of dissent and [[spoiler:he's assassinated by mutineers.]]
** Jaime Lannister starts off as a cynical BloodKnight [[KnightInSourArmor In Sour Armor]] widely reviled as a [[BodyguardBetrayal regicide]] and an [[TheOathbreaker oathbreaker]]. He was only accepted into the ranks of [[PraetorianGuard the Kingsguard]] to spite his father (as Kingsguard [[SuccessionCrisis cannot inherit titles]]), and nowadays he only sees it as a way to be close to his sister/lover the Queen. However, after a long arc of BreakTheHaughty and a positive knightly role model in Brienne of Tarth, Jaime starts to think about restoring his own honor and that of the Order he has come to command -- however, by this point his subordinates are all thugs and lackeys, a world away from the KnightInShiningArmor stories that inspired a young Jaime to join in the first place.

* While he's not the only true believer, the cult leader in the ''WesternAnimation/ChipAndDaleRescueRangers'' episode "The Cola Cult" was certainly the only one in the cult's priesthood who genuinely believed his religious order was intended to enlighten its various adherents. [[CluelessBoss He's genuinely surprised and dismayed to discover that the rest of his colleagues have been stashing the worldly possessions new converts surrendered to the cult in a kind of treasury, and are exploiting its followers]]. He also does what he can to help the Rangers escape and overthrow the priesthood, and is implied to be willing to try implementing their suggestion at the end that the cult's former laity continue to meet as friends (and maybe set up a social club) rather than as cultists.

* In ''Film/{{Equilibrium}}'', a dystopian society uses EmotionSuppression drugs to prevent violence, strife, and dissension from breaking out, and main character Preston is an enforcer for the regime. Eventually Preston goes off the drugs and joins the rebels, and along the way to singlehandedly overthrowing the government, he finds that nobody is really on the drugs or really believes in the propaganda, not TheRival [[TheDragon Brandt]], not BigBad [=DuPont=], not even Preston's CreepyChild son who had appeared to be the poster boy for the government!

* ''Film/TheHuntForRedOctober'': Dr. Petrov is the only officer in the "Red October" (other than ThePoliticalOfficer, and Ramius kills him soon after leaving shore) that doesn't believes the Soviet Union and Communism are a load of bull (all of the rest are loyal to Captain Ramius and had been tossed to the wolves by the Party in one way or another) and as a result he's left in the dark about the plan to turn the submarine over to the Americans and when the time comes to fake scuttling the ship so it "won't be captured", he's convinced to leave the ship with the rest of the crew while the other officers stay and he sincerely swears to Captain Ramius that he will try to make sure the Captain gets the Order of Lenin for his (alleged) HeroicSacrifice.

* The same goes for fake religions ([[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement none of which will be named here]]): even when a cult's founders are just looking for easy marks to exploit, they'll often promote some of their early converts to the leadership, because nothing sells a religion quite so convincingly as a true believer. The difference is that since these scammers are often playing a LongGame, these true believers usually will ''not'' be set up as patsies for anything, and can sometimes linger on and keep the cult going even when the original founders are long gone.