History WhatTheHellHero / Literature

** But any discussion of this grey morality was promptly thrown out the window since [[spoiler: [[IGotBetter He got better]]]]

** A twofer in the person of Kyp Durron. Durron ''destroys an [[BeyondTheImpossible entire inhabited solar system]]'' while DrunkOnTheDarkSide, and when he sobers up Luke takes him in with no questions asked. Luke is called out for this by Corran Horn and his own future wife Mara later on, while Durron hears about it [[NeverLiveItDown for the rest of his life.]]

* ''TheActsOfCaine'' are rife with this in all directions, given how nastily the [[BloodSport Actors]] sent by the Studio act one they're on Overworld, and how much of a {{JERKASS}} Caine is. Notable ones in ''Blade of Tyshalle'' include the message sent by the dying primal regarding the HRVP infection, sections of Raithe's slow HannibalLecture to a captured Caine, and Caine and Kierendal ripping each other verbally after the HRVP outbreak in Ankhana. That last example is an interesting two-way example of this trope (Caine is the obvious protagonist, and Kierendal suspects she may be saving the Folk and the city from a HeroicSociopath).

** Perhaps the best WTTH? in Inheritance is the poor soldier Eragon and Arya meet on their way back to the Varden. "Why are you doing this, you're a monster!" he screams as he surrenders. Eragon still [[PyschoForHire murders him because "he was a threat"]]

** Harry mentally applies this trope to [[spoiler:his dad in ''Order of the Phoenix''. After entering one of Snape's memories, Harry is appalled to see his teenage father casually attack and humiliate Snape for fun in front of a crowd of people (something Harry had experienced himself several times).

** Snape gives one [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome memorable]] WhatTheHellHero speech of the series...to [[spoiler:Dumbledore]], when Dumbledore reveals that [[spoiler:Harry, whom Snape has been protecting out of his love for Harry's mother, must die in order to defeat Voldemort.]]

** Harry mentally applies this trope to [[spoiler:his dad in ''Order of the Phoenix''. After entering one of Snape's memories, Harry is appalled to see his teenage father casually attack and humiliate Snape for fun in front of a crowd of people (something Harry had experienced himself several times). This leads him to wonder if his father was really the wonderful person everyone always said he was.]]

** Snape gives probably the single [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome best (and most deserved)]] WhatTheHellHero speech of the series...to [[spoiler:Dumbledore]], when Dumbledore reveals that [[spoiler:Harry, whom Snape has been protecting out of his love for Harry's mother, must die in order to defeat Voldemort.]]

* ''SkulduggeryPleasant'': Valkyrie gets this from Fletcher on a number of things in ''Death Bringer''. It even makes her pause and consider her actions. For a moment.

**** And to be even more fair, a substantial chunk of the next book, ''Ghosty Story'', features Harry mentally applying a WhatTheHellHero? to ''himself'' for the lines he crossed in ''Changes''.

* The prominence of BlackAndGrayMorality in ''Literature/ChroniclesOfMagravandias'' means that WhatTheHellHero is almost the status quo of the series. The heroes of the story, such as they are, constantly disagree, do questionable to deplorable things, and argue with each other over who is less wrong.

* ''Sisterhood'' series by FernMichaels: The book ''Payback'' had Jack giving Nikki this after suffering a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown from three men with gold shields sent by Charles. Shortly afterwards, Nikki gives one to Charles. In ''Sweet Revenge'', Jack gives this to Nikki over the Vigilantes trying to get revenge on Rosemary Hershey by driving her literally insane!

*** Remember that A: Katrina reveals that she disobeyed him in front of ''the entire village'' and B: that Roran's cunning plan had the village walking through the Spine - the same place Sloan's [[DeadLittleSister wife fell off a waterfall to her death]]. Also, the first book makes Sloan out to be evil because, [[SarcasmMode shock horror, he won't accept a funky blue rock (from the same place his wife died) that no-one knows the value of.]]
**** Oh, and he murdered a night watchmen in order to rat out his village to the Ra'zac.

* In ''{[Warrior Cats}}'', Foxleap's plan to save a group of a cats from a hawk goes wrong and one Tribe cat gets killed. One Tribe cat scolds him harshly for not listening when he was told to not interfere.

** What about that scene in ''Death Masks'' when he [[spoiler: has sex with Susan]], who is basically drugged and bound?

**** Of course, he was always a massive dick about it.

*** As with many, ''many'' things in the InheritanceCycle, this is ''highly'' [[YourMileageMayVary subjective]]. Especially the situation with [[AssholeVictim Sloan]]. But one WhatTheHellHero? cannot be denied, and that is the nameless soldier in Feinster who calls out Eragon for helping to perpetuate a brutal war when the majority of the empire just wants to go about their lives. Even the people who don't see Eragon as a HeroicSociopath cannot deny how effective that particular WTHH? was.

* Jake gets this several times toward the end of {{Animorphs}}, mostly related to his [[spoiler: dumping of 17,000 helpless Yeerks into space]]

* Pretty much every main character in ''{{Animorphs}}'' has had several of these. The one calling them out on it -- mostly in a sober, thoughtful fashion -- is usually one of their own, commonly Cassie.

* Lucas Trask in ''Space Viking'' by H. Beam Piper has an ''internal'' one when he's talking with an eight-year-old princess and wonders how many of the people killed in his raids earlier in the book had been children.

* In ''TheDresdenFiles'' book, ''White Night'', Murph calls out Harry when he lets his temper get the better of him and he flings a fireball at a building. As Murph points out, Dresdenverse magic can only be done when you truly ''believe'' in what you're doing. This fact is the wake-up call Harry needed to realize Lasciel's shadow was influencing him.

** Karen Traviss's ''RepublicCommando'' novels provide a chance for various characters to call this on the Jedi, the ostensible good guys of the Star Wars universe, for taking a conveniently provided army of 'living slaves' who have been 'torturously abused' since birth and using them as 'cannon fodder' for a war in which the soldiers have no stake. For [[YourMilageMayVary some viewers,]] this unaddressed issue had been a huge, glaring MoralDissonance in the prequels, and it was a relief to see it finally addressed. For others...the execution left something to be desired, to say the least.
*** The real reason why the execution is so bad is because ''it contradicts what we've seen''. The Jedi were not only valuing their Clones, they were actively trying to protect them. KarenTraviss calls people who don't agree with her interpretation of Jedi (who she claims are prolonging the war) a 'Talifan' [[SmallNameBigEgo and threw a hissy fit and left Star Wars books when the creators of ]]TheCloneWars threw out her interpretation of Jedi, Clones, and, most importantly, Mandalorians.
**** Yes, they care for their clones, but apparently not enough to refuse to lead an army of soldiers deliberately bred to fight a war for the highest bidder, soldiers that are deprived of a natural lifespan, receive no pay, and enjoy none of the rights of the Republic they're depending, rights that the Jedi are sworn to uphold and is their primary reason for being. While some accuse Traviss of vilifying the Jedi, the opposite is also true, with some making the Jedi infallible paragons of virtue. The true nature of the Jedi is probably in between, men and women doing their upmost striving to do good in a very flawed and very gray universe, in which distasteful sacrifices have to inevitably be made. Thus, the Jedi still are generally the good guys serving the greater good, and their utilization of the clone army is a lesser evil they have to embrace in order to preserve the Republic as a whole (unaware of Palpatine's machinations). Thus, the clones and Mandalorians' grievances are legitimate, but the Jedi are still good guys trying to save the galaxy.

* ''InDeath'': Eve got this from Peabody in ''Ceremony In Death'' and ''Witness In Death''. It made Eve feel bad. Eve, on her part, got to pull some epic ones with Don Webster in ''Judgment In Death'' and Karen Stowe in ''Betrayal In Death''.

* Gaunt, in DanAbnett's ''[=~Gaunt's Ghosts~=]'' ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novels, manages to [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything avoid shooting his own men despite it being his]] ''[[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything job]]'' [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything ...most of the time]]. When he does attempt to fulfill his role as a commissar, it results in a confrontation with [[TheMedic Doc Dorden]].

** Snape gives probably the single [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome best (and most deserved)]] [=~What The Hell, Hero?~=] speech of the series...to [[spoiler:Dumbledore]], when Dumbledore reveals that [[spoiler:Harry, whom Snape has been protecting out of his love for Harry's mother, must die in order to defeat Voldemort.]]

** Jake [[spoiler:defeats the Yeerks]] with a truly magnificent [=~What The Hell, Hero?~=] sequence. Erek the android calls him on it before he even ''starts'', but he does it anyway. One of the major steps in the sequence is when he [[spoiler:flushes the Yeerk pool in the orbital spaceship into space, killing tens of thousands of Yeerks in one shot. After the war is over, he gets accused of war crimes during a trial]]. In addition, [[spoiler:recruiting the auxiliary Animorphs in the first place, all of whom are [[DisabilitySuperpower handicapped children]]]] because the Animorphs knew [[spoiler:the Yeerks wouldn't bother to infest them]], got a [=~What The Hell, Hero?~=] out of Cassie's dad.