Line #106 Fanfic/AHero


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a_hero_by_dalekavion_d4fdazl.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Who would ever think that a ''Dalek'' of all things could become a hero before this?]]
3	So, [[Series/DoctorWho Dalek Sec]] died a horrible death, leaving behind his casing after [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E4DaleksInManhattan what happened]] in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E5EvolutionOfTheDaleks Manhattan]], right?
4
5	[[KilledOffForReal Well, yeah]]. [[UnexplainedRecovery But he's here now.]] Because of [[TimeyWimeyBall time shenanigans]], he has now appeared in the universe of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''.
6
7	[[OhCrap Oh dear.]]
8
9	In his investigations of temporal space, he meets one [[TimeTravel Homura]] [[TheStoic Akemi]] and, hopefully, they can finally fix this GroundhogDayLoop that she's stuck in.
10
11	Written by [[Tropers/{{Dalekandrews}} Bioweapon 155]], the fic is available on [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6918227/1/A_Hero FanFiction.Net]] or Spacebattles ([[http://forums.spacebattles.com/showthread.php?t=190449 first thread]], [[http://forums.spacebattles.com/showthread.php?p=6603831 second thread]], [[http://forums.spacebattles.com/showthread.php?t=204644 third thread]]).
12	----
13	!!Tropes:
14	%%* AllThereInTheManual: The Spacebattles thread.
15	* {{Angrish}}: Sec's fourth attempt at ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' is described as "''UNINTELLIGIBLE SOUNDS OF INTENSE RAGE.''" Justified as, well, [[DeathWorld it's]] ''[[EverythingTryingToKillYou Dwarf]] [[CrapsackWorld Fortress]]''.
16	* AntiHero: Obviously Dalek Sec, but he's apparently mellowed out to the point where he'll help Homura Akemi. For a good reason, of course.
17	* AWizardDidIt: Explicitly denied by Sec.
18	-->'''Sec:''' I RE-FUSE TO GI-VE UP AND RE-DUCE MY-SELF TO U-SING "MA-GIC" AS AN EX-PLA-NA-TION FOR E-VERY-THING. [[ClarksThirdLaw THIS IS SCI-ENCE,]] WHERE [[MagicAIsMagicA A IS E-QUAL TO A,]] CA-USE HAS EF-FECT AND THI-NGS DO NOT HAP-PEN "BE-CAUSE SO".
19	* BadassBoast: Sec gets one against Kyubey.
20	-->'''Sec:''' I COME FROM A [[Series/DoctorWho PLACE]] WHERE [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien GODS ROAM A-MONGST THE STARS]], WHERE THERE ARE [[RealityWarper BEINGS THAT COULD E-RASE ALL OF RE-AL-ITY]] WITH [[PhysicalGod BUT A ME-RE THOUGHT]], [[TimeMaster THAT COULD BEND TI-ME TO THEIR WILL]] [[RetGone AND FREE YOU FROM HAVING EVER BEING BORN]]!! YET, NO MAT-TER HOW PO-WER-FUL THEY ARE, [[TheDreaded THEY ALL FEAR THE SAME THING]].\
21	'''Kyubey:''' You?\
22	'''Sec:''' NOT ME. A [[CharacterCatchPhrase WO-RD]]; IT IS A WO-RD THAT CAU-SES SUCH FE-AR, THAT E-VEN THE LORDS OF TI-ME ARE SENT TO THEIR KNE-ES.\
23	'''Kyubey:''' And what word is that?\
24	'''Sec:''' ''EX-TER-MINATE!!!'' ''[blasts Kyubey]''
25	* BadassPacifist: Madoka, who convinces Sec not to crush Kyoko's skull during their first encounter with her. When you can talk an OmnicidalManiac ''out'' of killing someone, there really isn't anything else you could possibly be ''but'' this. Sec is a bit more mellow than the average Dalek, but still.
26	* BadBoss: Sec's former commander, the Dalek Inquisitor General. To the point that Sec got promoted to Supreme simply by virtue of ''surviving'' five consecutive missions under his command.
27	* BeamSpam: How Sec gets rid of a few hundred familiars.
28	-->''"AU-TO-MA-TIC FI-RE EN-A-BLED!!'' '''''EX-TER-MINATE!!'''''"
29	** Dalek Jast, of the Cult of Skaaro, was apparently fond of this.
30	* BeneathTheMask: Homura, unlike other examples, she does this because her own caged emotions would be enough to literally destroy her.
31	* BlueAndOrangeMorality:
32	** One of the central conflicts is about Sec's new human morals and how they mesh with standard Dalek ideas. How do they fit together? They often don't, but that's half the fun.
33	** Madoka thinks that [[WhoWantsToLiveForever immortality is a curse]] after hearing Homura talk about it. Sec, on the other hand, is proud to have lived to be a quarter of a million years old.
34	* CassandraTruth: '''"I AM AN IM-PERIAL-ISTIC SPACE NAZI."''' Though played with in that he says that he ''deliberately'' tells the truth because it's ''so'' ridiculous that everyone just forms their own conclusions anyway.
35	* CharacterFocus: Read this page. Notice how someone keeps getting mentioned.
36	** WordOfGod has it that this is to make up for the fact that he wants to make a believable and interesting character out of something that usually isn't.
37	** He has also stated that he'd like to get more ''PMMM'' characters and elements in on the action, with a little less focus on the ''Series/DoctorWho'' side of the crossover.
38	* ContinuityNod:
39	** Given the events of Satellite Five [[spoiler:where it's revealed that the Dalek Emperor has been doing pretty much exactly what Kyubey has in this story]], you'd be surprised at the attitude that Sec takes towards Kyubey's cultural manipulation of humanity to be more pliant. However, if you remember "Daleks In Manhattan", the human spirit and their capacity for endurance, rebuilding, and survival against all odds were things that Sec very much admired, calling it "almost Dalek". It makes sense that he hates Kyubey...
40	** Kyouko tempts fate by asking the last known Dalek in the universe if it's going to try killing her with its plunger arm. Like the 'Metaltron' from "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E6Dalek Dalek]]", Sec is capable of fulfilling the challenge and is crushing Kyouko's skull like the lone Dalek was with Simmons when Madoka begs him to stop.
41	* CosmicPlaything: Sec is absolutely convinced that the universe, or at least some god-like entity, is actively screwing with him - and considering that he's in a fanfic, he's kinda on to something. In any case, he isn't happy about it. [[UnstoppableRage At]] [[HairTriggerTemper all.]]
42	* CrackFic: Played with. The general idea of the fic, that [[OmnicidalManiac a Dalek]] would turn into a hero, is very, ''very'' crack-y. The rest of the fic ''isn't''.
43	* CurbStompBattle: Sec vs. [[EldritchAbomination Uhrmann]].
44	** Sec tries fighting [[spoiler:Krimehild Gretchen]], even though he knows the Witch will likely destroy the solar system. While the Witch utterly destroys him, he gets revived by Homura restarting her time loop.
45	** The Dalek Inquisitor General, a pre-Time War Dalek, gets teleported onto a ship occupied by the 2010 Daleks, and shreds them like a tank through wax paper.
46	** The hunt for seven witches that Homura and Sec go on is openly called "Curb Stomping".
47	* DeadFic: WordOfGod says that he is extremely unlikely to come back to this.
48	-->"Probably not. A Hero was written when I was still new to writing, and I've moved on from many of the themes present in it. If I did go back to it, I would probably re-write a whole lot of it."
49	* DeadpanSnarker: Unsurprisingly, Sec.
50	** WordOfGod says, when asked how Daleks can be deadpan, that they do it "'''''LOUD-LY'''''!", complete with a font size increase.
51	** Kyouko, as well.
52	%%* DrivesLikeCrazy: Kyouko.
53	* EldritchAbomination: Witches. Even Sec's confused by them. But that didn't last too long.
54	* EpicFail:
55	** When Sec tries to recreate the Dalek race, his first casing ends up being a horrible kludge with almost no internal mechanisms, unstable life-support systems, an eye-stalk that's almost blind, control mechanisms that keep [[IncendiaryExponent lighting themselves on fire]], and trans-solar disks that keep reversing. [[EvenEvilHasStandards He thinks putting ANYTHING inside would be absolutely cruel.]]
56	** To say nothing of his [[ExplosiveInstrumentation experiments with Grief Seeds...]]
57	--->'''Homura:''' There was nothing there that could've caught fire, there was nothing there to spark a fire, and there was absolutely no reason at all for a Grief Seed [[MadeOfExplodium to catch fire]].\
58	'''Sec:''' CO-RRECT.\
59	'''Homura:''' Then ''why'' did that thing catch fire?
60	** Sec attempts to play ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' and somehow manages to trash ''[[LOL69 69]]'' fortresses in a few minutes.
61	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Played with. Sec's human morals tell him that what the Incubators are doing is wrong, even though as a Dalek he approves intellectually of the concept behind their operation. What he ''doesn't'' approve of is the Incubators undermining the human race's right to self-determination by manipulating their cultural and social evolution to make them more pliable and easy to manipulate.
62	** Also, Sec's opinion that it would be cruel to put ''anything'' inside the improvised Dalek shell he constructs in Chapter 2.
63	** It also says something when a ''Dalek'' of all things, even an aberrant one with both human emotions and ''some'' idea of human morals like Sec does, calls you out on your BS.
64	* ExactWords: Sec mentions to Madoka that Walpurgisnacht will devastate "the area". What she hears is "destroy the city"; what ''he'' means is "annihilate the entire star system".
65	%%** Kyubey, but that's nothing new.
66	* FateWorseThanDeath: Spending any period of time with the Dalek Inquisitor General is considered this.
67	* FlatWhat: Homura gives one when she realizes that even though she's severed the link between her Soul Gem and her body, and thus is effectively deaf, she can ''still'' hear Sec ranting.
68	* FluffyTheTerrible: Kyubey, as usual. The difference is that from the ''beginning'', we know he's one of these instead of being the standard MagicalGirl mascot. Also, while he tries to use CutenessProximity to appeal to human females, it fails ''hard'' against Sec.
69	* ForWantOfANail: Besides the obvious, Sec's presence has changed a lot of the storyline.
70	** For example: the conversation between Madoka and Homura in Chapter 4, which has Homura revealing to Madoka that Puella Magi do not age. This causes Madoka to later figure out part of the reason why Homura is so insistent in not having her contract with Kyubey, as well as giving much FridgeHorror for the poor girl.
71	* GroundhogDayLoop: Still very much in effect here. Homura's not getting out of this thing any time soon.
72	%%** The Doctor's here now, as well.
73	* HoldYourHippogriffs: Sec, being a non-human, has a few of these. His main one is "[[ShoutOut SON]]-[[Webcomic/SecondEmpire OF-A-THAL]]!"
74	* HumanityIsInfectious: Zig-zagged all over the place. On the one hand, Sec now has human emotions. On the other hand, it's because of his attempt at hybridization in "Daleks in Manhattan", but he's also trying to work through those feelings. And while he's trying to examine human culture... it doesn't always go quite as simply as some of the more iconic examples of this trope (see his attempts at ''Dwarf Fortress'' or his reaction to ''Film/{{Avatar}}''). But on the other-other hand, he views humans as a great species because HumansAreWarriors. See below for more clarification.
75	%%* HumansAreSpecial: To a degree, Sec thinks this.
76	* HumansAreWarriors: Part of Sec's inner monologue implies that humans are only second to the Daleks themselves when it comes to war, which is a ''big'' compliment, considering it came from a being whose race's hat is "OmnicidalManiac". He's not amused that the Incubators see them as cattle.
77	* ImplausibleDeniability: Sec denies he was doing anything and claims that Homura didn't see anything after she witnesses him get frustrated enough by ''Dwarf Fortress'' to start shaking the computer monitor and scream at it.
78	* IntriguedByHumanity: As per "Evolution of the Daleks", Sec is this. He seems to genuinely respect them enough to think that the Incubators exploiting them is wrong.
79	* JustAsPlanned: Chapter 5 gives us two of these - from [[EldritchAbomination The]] [[HiveMind Mind]], and from [[spoiler: [[TheAssimilator the]] [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul Cybermen]]]].
80	* MadScientist: Sec and the rest of the Cult of Skaro. This was actually their entire purpose: to replace Davros after he was killed in the opening shots of the Time War, and if Davros was nothing else, he was a mad scientist of ''breathtaking'' proportions.
81	* [[MostDefinitelyNotAVillain Most Definitely Not An Alien]][=/=]HughMann: Inverted. Sec doesn't even bother using a disguise or hiding and even accompanies Homura in plain sight, [[ObviouslyEvil while telling everyone who bothers to ask that he's an alien Nazi.]] Naturally, [[RefugeInAudacity everyone finds it so ridiculous that they come to their own conclusions instead.]]
82	* NoSocialSkills: Homura. To the point that ''[[ScaryDogmaticAliens Sec]]'' is considered to have better social skills.
83	-->'''Kyouko:''' A little brusque, aren't we?
84	* NoIndoorVoice: Sec, being a [[LargeHam Dalek]] and all.
85	* NoodleIncident: Kyouko ''somehow'' managed to piss off the Matriarch of every single Puella Magi gang in Tokyo. WordOfGod has it that the incident in question involved [[NoodleImplements a sports car, a house, four cases of gasoil, five pots of boiling coffee, a Slinky, two boxes full of Grief Seeds, an Incubator drone, a van, a briefcase full of money of unscrupulous origins, a maid outfit, and cheese]].
86	* NotWithTheSafetyOnYouWont: Subverted. Though Sec admits that there ''is'' a safety on his death ray, "no Dalek to his knowledge had ever used it."
87	* OmniscientMoralityLicense: The Incubators, who have not only been exploiting the human race since the Stone Age but have also been conducting social engineering projects to make humans easier to manipulate. Sec implies that they're responsible for creating the cultural image of the MagicalGirl, which in turn misleads so many young girls into contracting with them.
88	* OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: The ones in charge of the PMM plan. So far, we have an [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch]] HiveMind, an enormous Uber-Orwellian regime, and [[spoiler:the Cybermen]].
89	* PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny: One of the members of the Coalition is called "The People". WordOfGod has it that "They call themselves 'The People' for the same reason an oppressive dictatorship calls itself [[BlatantLies 'The People's Democratic Republic of X']]."
90	* PersonaNonGrata: As noted above, Kyouko managed to antagonize the Matriarchs of every single Puella Magi gang in Tokyo to the point that if she ever goes back there, [[EnemyMine they'll work together to kill her]].
91	* PrecisionFStrike: Uttered by Sec.
92	-->"SON-OF-A-THAL!"
93	* PunyHumans: [[EldritchAbomination Uhrmann]] seems to think so. [[spoiler:Which is why Sec [[CurbStompBattle stomps]] her/it.]]
94	* RealityWarper: Sec inadvertently warps space-time by projecting a block-transfer equation onto a wall, which is hovering ''above'' the wall even ''after'' the projector is turned off.
95	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld:
96	** There's no indication as to how many times Homura's repeated the GroundhogDayLoop, but she's done it enough times to [[spoiler:memorize nearly every single event in Mitakihara that could be remotely relevant to her cause, and learn nearly every single possible route in which events could unfold]].
97	** Sec claims to be 250,000 years old.
98	* RefugeInAudacity: Sec's strategy for remaining inconspicuous is to advertise the fact that he's an [[ScaryDogmaticAliens alien super-Nazi]] at every opportunity. Naturally, nobody believes him, and they come to their own conclusions.
99	* RunningGag: Sec ''never'' succeeds in his first attempt. Or in his second. Or third. And yes, this applies to everything, up to and including video games.
100	* ScarfOfAsskicking: Homura now wears one, much to Sec's chargin.
101	* ShoutOut: Apparently, [[Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic Dalek Science sneers at the impossible]].
102	** The entire CurbStompBattle against Uhrmann is a shout out to the ''Literature/{{Bolo}}'' series. Her defeat is even called a "Bolostomp" in the author's notes.
103	** WordOfGod has it that Sec's use of the word "Thal" as a swear word is one to ''Webcomic/SecondEmpire''. [[ShownTheirWork The Thals were the Daleks' mortal enemies in both of their origin stories]] ("The Daleks" and "Genesis of the Daleks"), so it makes perfect sense.
104	** Sayaka seems to be chanelling [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Shirou Emiya]] at times.
105	** Homura has taken to wearing a long scarf around her neck. Cue Sec muttering about "[[TheNthDoctor Jellybabies]]".
106	** In Chapter 5, Kyouku believes that Sec's emotions are stuck on "Always Angry, All the Time" - which is the battle cry of one of Website/FourChan's homegrown (original) [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer40000}} Space Marine Chapters]], the Angry Marines.
107	** One of the members of the Coalition is based on the story ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', especially in its use of Newspeak. Another race is [[spoiler:the Cybermen]]. They end their meetings with [[Series/BattlestarGalactica1978 "By Your Command."]]
108	** Sec is shown playing an unnamed game, but WordOfGod and clues, plus the rage and anger it invokes, shows that the game is ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress''.
109	%%* SlasherSmile: [[spoiler:Homura, of all people.]] Even Sec finds it disturbing.
110	* SpannerInTheWorks: Sec, to both Homura and the Incubators. Homura is seriously thrown for a loop when Sec shows up after Mami's death, but she recovers and begins to think that his arrival might be what she needs to finally win.
111	* SpeakOfTheDevil: The Dalek Inquisitor General.
112	-->[Sec] decided he'd better think about something else, lest he summon the terrifying Dalek ''here''.
113	* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: "I WAS DO-ING NO-THING. THIS DID NOT HAP-PEN."
114	* TemptingFate:
115	** While watching Homura [[spoiler:battle Walpurgisnacht]], Sec concludes that the witch isn't looking his way, and therefore won't attack him. A few seconds later [[OhCrap he realizes that he just assumed nothing would happen to him]] and, sure enough, there's a slew of familiars headed his way.
116	--->''He had not just thought of that, had he? He had not just assumed that the universe would be kind to him for once, and he had most definitely '''not''' just invoked the law of disproportionate-retribution-for-confidence-he-should-not-have.''
117	** Upon Sec claiming that he'll give Kyouko a painful death, she laughs and asks if he's going to do it with a plunger. Sec decides to take it as a challenge, lowers his gun, and proceeds to thrash her with nothing but his plunger-shaped manipulator arm.
118	* TheAlliance: The Coalition, composed of [[EldritchAbomination The]] [[HiveMind Mind]] (Incubators), [[{{Dystopia}} The]] [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny People]], and [[spoiler: [[UnwillingRoboticisation the]] [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul Cybermen]]]].
119	* ThoseWackyNazis: Not actually appearing, but Sec has said that [[SarcasticConfession "I AM AN IM-PERIAL-IS-TIC SPACE NAZI."]]
120	* UnexplainedRecovery: Absolutely no indication of ''how'' Sec managed to come back from being killed in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E5EvolutionOfTheDaleks Evolution of the Daleks]]" is given, or how he managed to get his casing back, or how his [[HalfHumanHybrid previous condition]] was negated. Sec briefly muses on the matter before deciding that he doesn't want to know how he managed to survive.
121	** [[spoiler:In Chapter 4, the Doctor claims that when Amy rebooted the universe at the end of Series 5, it accidentally brought back everything that had ever died. Most of it died again, like it did in the original timeline, but Sec was somehow thrust into the Void, where he eventually wound up in the ''PMMM'' universe. WordOfGod states that the reason why the Doctor and Sec were able to get to the ''PMMM'' universe is because someone came here during the ''first'' Time War.]]
122	* UnstoppableRage: Sec, though given that he's a Dalek, it's not too surprising.
123	-->''Dalek Sec wasn’t quite near the I-will-kill-everyone-on-this-planet-with-their-own-internal-organs stage yet, but he was certainly getting there.''
124	** Noted slightly earlier that what a human considers "unstoppable rage" is merely "miffed" to a Dalek. If any other lifeform in existence felt what a ''Dalek'' considers unstoppable rage, they would ''explode.''
125	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Sec gets into an argument with a music store shopkeeper over an expired coupon. The shopkeeper is more concerned about Sec's belligerence than the fact that he appears to be some kind of robot.
126	* WhamEpisode:
127	** Chapter 4: [[spoiler:the Doctor is in the house]].
128	** Chapter 5: [[spoiler:one of the coalition members is the Cybermen]]! And [[spoiler:[[OhCrap the Dalek Inquisitor General is free]]]].
129	* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: More like "What Measure is a Non-Dalek", but similar principle. Some members of the Cult of Skaro, who were all modified to be able to "Think Like the Enemy", had nagging suspicions about this.
130	* WhoWantsToLiveForever: The revelation that Puella Magi do not age causes much FridgeHorror for Madoka.
131	** Subverted with Sec, and the subversion is justified: increased age means more combat experience, so having survived a very long time is [[BlueAndOrangeMorality a badge of honor for him]]. Also, he wants to restore his race eventually, and given his first attempts to create Dalek Embryos (in "Daleks in Manhattan") and his first attempt at making a casing (Chapter 2 of this story), he's probably gonna be around for a while.
132	* WorthyOpponent: Humanity, as far as Sec is concerned; they've earned the respect due to their spirit and determination to overcome anything they face. The fact that the Incubators have essentially brainwashed the whole species into compliant cattle sends him into a fury that is impressive even by Dalek standards.
133	%%* WrittenSoundEffect
134	* YouDidntAsk: Averted with a vengeance. Sec does ''not'' accept that logic.
135	-->'''Sec:''' YOUR METH-ODS ARE RE-PULS-IVE! YOU EX-PLOIT THESE HU-MANS, YOU WITH-HOLD VI-TAL IN-FOR-MA-TION--\
136	'''Kyubey:''' They did not ask,\
137	'''Sec:''' AND THEY DID NOT ''KNOW'' THEY SHOULD ASK! [...] YOU HAVE MA-NIP-U-LA-TED FAC-ETS OF HU-MAN-ITY TO CON-FORM TO YOUR GOALS, TO TAKE YOUR WORDS AT FACE VAL-UE! SO THAT YOU MIGHT NEVER ''HAVE'' TO LIE!
138	* YouDidntSeeThat: Homura walks in on Sec shaking a computer monitor and screaming in rage at ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' and asks what he's doing. After putting the monitor down and recollecting himself, Sec says [[ImplausibleDeniability he wasn't doing anything and the thing she saw didn't happen]].

Context Fanfic / AHero