History Main / WhaTTheHellHero

''[-They did a bad bad thing (twangie guitars)-]\\
[-They did a bad bad thing (twangie guitars)-]''

Occasionally, an author will drop [[BlackAndGrayMorality some]] [[GreyAndGrayMorality gray]] into his otherwise flawlessly good guy hero... and have others, particularly TheHeart, ''notice.'' This can add guilt and remorse to a character as they [[KickTheMoralityPet feel shame for their evil actions]], and legitimately have to fight to [[ClearMyName restore their name]], [[MustMakeAmends undo the harm]], or simply live with the guilt and shame of it. In this case, you can expect to hear some variation of "Haven't you done enough already?" More extremely, it can be the first step towards AntiHero-dom or a full-blown FaceHeelTurn. A RedemptionQuest is usually considered the most noble or morally good way to respond to this.

[[caption-width-right:300:Except [[TokenGoodTeammate Fighter]]. [[GuiltByAssociationGag He's a casualty.]]]][[note]]"Yay!"[[/note]]

[[caption-width-right:300:Except [[TokenGoodTeammate Fighter]]. [[GuiltByAssociationGag He's a casualty.]]]]

Some video games offer dialogue trees or something similar that might allow your character to call someone out for their horrible behavior, which can be immensely satisfying. If your character is the one being called out, it's WhatTheHellPlayer MyGodWhatHaveIDone may be a self-inflicted version. Can come right off the heels of a SadisticChoice foisted on the player in a video game. The hero may attempt to invoke IDidWhatIHadToDo as his justification, though this does not always succeed. Of course, those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, and one should beware of his own MoralMyopia leading to TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong. Results may vary against the SociopathicHero or TheUnfettered; beware you don't get a ShutUpKirk or HannibalLecture in response. EtTuBrute may also counts as this when a hero does not make a full FaceHeelTurn, but gets called out for nearly betraying his allies. If it's a child calling out a parent, it's CallingTheOldManOut. Can somewhat overlap with TheReasonYouSuckSpeech if a character points out a hero's flaws in very long detail in the most brutal way possible. A character verbally chastising the hero may realize s/he WasTooHardOnHim if s/he feels uncomfortable in chewing out the hero. The hero may lash out at the reproof since he CantTakeCriticism.

Almost never applies to those PowersThatBe who have an OmniscientMoralityLicense, although characters who RageAgainstTheHeavens might attempt it. Likewise, villains tend to be immune to this thanks to their ItsAllAboutMe attitude (or, at best, MoralMyopia), though a HeelRealisation might clue them in, perhaps leading to a VillainousBSOD. (Then again, this trope doesn't really apply to [[ForTheEvulz villains who aren't even]] ''[[ForTheEvulz trying]]'' [[ForTheEvulz to do anything decent for the world in the first place]].) Those pesky {{Trickster Mentor}}s may also find themselves on the receiving end of RageAgainstTheMentor.

Occasionally, an author will drop [[BlackAndGrayMorality some]] [[GrayAndGrayMorality gray]] into his otherwise flawlessly good guy hero... and have others, particularly TheHeart, ''notice.'' This can add guilt and remorse to a character as they [[KickTheMoralityPet feel shame for their evil actions]], and legitimately have to fight to [[ClearMyName restore their name]], [[MustMakeAmends undo the harm]], or simply live with the guilt and shame of it. In this case, you can expect to hear some variation of "Haven't you done enough already?" More extremely, it can be the first step towards AntiHero-dom or a full-blown FaceHeelTurn. A RedemptionQuest is usually considered the most noble or morally good way to respond to this.

Some video games offer dialogue trees or something similar that might allow your character to call someone out for their horrible behaviour, which can be immensely satisfying. If your character is the one being called out, it's WhatTheHellPlayer MyGodWhatHaveIDone may be a self-inflicted version. Can come right off the heels of a SadisticChoice foisted on the player in a video game. The hero may attempt to invoke IDidWhatIHadToDo as his justification, though this does not always succeed. Of course, those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, and one should beware of his own MoralMyopia leading to TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong. Results may vary against the SociopathicHero or TheUnfettered; beware you don't get a ShutUpKirk or HannibalLecture in response. EtTuBrute may also counts as this when a hero does not make a full FaceHeelTurn, but gets called out for nearly betraying his allies. If it's a child calling out a parent, it's CallingTheOldManOut. Can somewhat overlap with TheReasonYouSuckSpeech if a character points out a hero's flaws in very long detail in the most brutal way possible. A character verbally chastising the hero may realize s/he WasTooHardOnHim if s/he feels uncomfortable in chewing out the hero. The hero may lash out at the reproof since he CantTakeCriticism.

'''Important note''': This article is ''exclusively'' about scenes where the hero is called on his morally ambiguous or directly evil actions by characters ''in the story''. '''If the DesignatedHero is a {{Jerkass}} (or worse), but no one calls him on it in the series, then take your example to MoralDissonance or DesignatedHero. Good-intended mistakes fall under NiceJobBreakingItHero.''' Reviewers can call out the MoralDissonance in their reviews, but they themselves are not engaging in What the Hell, Hero? as they are not part of the series being criticized (though this line can be blurred if they have some sort of skit depicting the events as that technically could be considered fan fiction).

Occasionally, an author will drop [[BlackAndGrayMorality some]] [[GrayAndGrayMorality gray]] into his otherwise flawlessly good guy hero... and have others ''notice.'' This can add guilt and remorse to a character as they [[KickTheMoralityPet feel shame for their evil actions]], and legitimately have to fight to [[ClearMyName restore their name]], [[MustMakeAmends undo the harm]], or simply live with the guilt and shame of it. In this case, you can expect to hear some variation of "Haven't you done enough already?" More extremely, it can be the first step towards AntiHero-dom or a full-blown FaceHeelTurn. A RedemptionQuest is usually considered the most noble or morally good way to respond to this.

'''Important note''': This article is ''exclusively'' about scenes where the hero is called on his morally ambiguous or directly evil actions by characters ''in the story''. '''If the DesignatedHero is a {{Jerkass}} (or worse), but no one calls him on it in the series, then take your example to MoralDissonance or DesignatedHero.''' Reviewers can call out the MoralDissonance in their reviews, but they themselves are not engaging in What the Hell, Hero? as they are not part of the series being criticized (though this line can be blurred if they have some sort of skit depicting the events as that technically could be considered fan fiction).

->''"[[YouMonster You think I am a monster]], [[NotSoDifferent but you're no different from me, Drake]]. [[WhatMeasureIsAMook How many men have you killed]]? [[ArmorPiercingQuestion How many, just today]]?"''

[[quoteright:300:[[Webcomic/EightBitTheater http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Sarda_What_The_Hell.png]]]]

!!InUniverseExamplesOnly

Occasionally, an author will drop some [[BlackAndGrayMorality gr]][[GrayAndGrayMorality ay]] into his otherwise flawlessly good guy hero... and have others ''notice.'' This can add guilt and remorse to a character as they [[KickTheMoralityPet feel shame for their evil actions]], and legitimately have to fight to [[ClearMyName restore their name]], [[MustMakeAmends undo the harm]], or simply live with the guilt and shame of it. In this case, you can expect to hear some variation of "Haven't you done enough already?" More extremely, it can be the first step towards AntiHero-dom or a full-blown FaceHeelTurn. A RedemptionQuest is usually considered the most noble or morally good way to respond to this.

Some video games offer dialogue trees or something similar that might allow your character to call someone out for their horrible behaviour, which can be immensely satisfying. If your character is the one being called out, it's WhatTheHellPlayer MyGodWhatHaveIDone may be a self-inflicted version. Can come right off the heels of a SadisticChoice foisted on the player in a video game. The hero may attempt to invoke IDidWhatIHadToDo as his justification, though this does not always succeed. Of course, those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, and one should beware of his own MoralMyopia leading to TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong. Results may vary against the SociopathicHero or TheUnfettered; beware you don't get a ShutUpKirk or HannibalLecture in response. EtTuBrute may also counts as this when a hero does not make a full FaceHeelTurn, but gets called out for nearly betraying his allies.

->''"[[YouMonster You call me a monster]], [[NotSoDifferent but you're no different from me, Drake]]. [[WhatMeasureIsAMook How many men have you killed]]? [[ArmorPiercingQuestion How many, just today]]?"''

* WhatTheHellHero/{{Fanfic}}

'''Important note''': This article is ''exclusively'' about scenes where the hero is called on his morally ambiguous or directly evil actions by characters ''in the story''. '''If the DesignatedHero is a {{Jerkass}} (or worse), but no one calls him on it in the series, then take your example to MoralDissonance or DesignatedHero.''' Reviewers can call out the MoralDissonance in their reviews, but they themselves are not engaging in WhatTheHellHero as they are not part of the series being criticized (though this line can be blurred if they have some sort of skit depicting the events as that technically could be considered fan fiction).

* WhatTheHellHero/{{Other}}

->''"[[YouMonster You call me]] [[CompleteMonster a monster]], [[NotSoDifferent but you're no different from me, Drake]]. [[WhatMeasureIsAMook How many men have you killed]]? [[ArmorPiercingQuestion How many, just today]]?"''

'''Important note''': This article is ''exclusively'' about scenes where the hero is called on his morally ambiguous or directly evil actions by characters ''in the story''. '''If the DesignatedHero is a {{Jerkass}} (or worse), but no one calls him on it in the series, then take your example to MoralDissonance or DesignatedHero.'''

Some video games offer dialogue trees or something similar that might allow your character to call someone out for their horrible behaviour, which can be immensely satisfying. If your character is the one being called out, it's WhatTheHellPlayer MyGodWhatHaveIDone may be a self-inflicted version. Can come right off the heels of a SadisticChoice foisted on the player in a video game. The hero may attempt to invoke IDidWhatIHadToDo as his justification, though this does not always succeed. Of course, those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, and one should beware of his own MoralMyopia leading to TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong. Results may vary against the SociopathicHero or TheUnfettered; beware you don't get a ShutUpKirk or HannibalLecture in response.

->''"You call me [[CompleteMonster a monster]], [[NotSoDifferent but you're no different from me]], [[TheHero Drake]]. [[WhatMeasureIsAMook How many men have you killed]]? [[MoralDissonance How many, just today]]?"''