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| 9 | [[quoteright:305:[[Webcomic/{{Oglaf}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/withsympathy.jpg]] ]] |
| 10 | |
| 11 | ->''Courage is the complement of fear. A man who is fearless cannot be courageous. (He is also a fool.)'' |
| 12 | -->-- '''The Notebooks of Lazarus Long''', ''Literature/TimeEnoughForLove'' |
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| 15 | %% One quote is sufficient. Please put additional entries on the quotes tab. |
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| 17 | The difference between [[BrassBalls courage]] and [[IdiotBall stupidity]] lies in the ability to react appropriately to fear: to know when to fight it and [[FearIsTheAppropriateResponse when to listen to it]]. Those who risk their lives for a worthy cause are brave; those who flee when they should stand are cowardly; those who risk their lives for a trivial gain are idiotic, and those who don't respond to fear ''at all'' are just plain fools. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Feeling scared in a dangerous situation is the necessary condition for courage. Fearless Fools are never afraid, but that's not because they are braver than everyone else; they're not afraid because [[TooDumbToLive they don't know they're in danger]], meaning their survival (if they ''do'' survive) will come down to [[TheFool blind luck]]. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | The opposite of this trope is the DirtyCoward, who is often scared but never brave. Also compare MilesGloriosus, who are happy to talk about their bravery when they'll never be called on it, and {{Cowardly Lion}}s, who never think their actions are brave because they have to fight their fear the entire time. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | Frequently the [[AnAesop Aesop]] of YouthIsWastedOnTheDumb. Often a case of AttackAttackAttack. May sing a BravadoSong. Compare NobodyCallsMeChicken and SuicidalOverconfidence. Also compare PerilousOldFool, who is frequently this. Contrast FearlessUndead, where reanimated dead beings -- for obvious reasons -- no longer have a survival instinct, and FearInducedIdiocy, for when fear makes people stupid. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | Naturally, any hero who blurs the line between 'brave' and 'stupid' is going to hear about it in the AfterActionPatchup, even if they are ultimately [[ArsonMurderAndLifesaving praised for their deeds]]. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | ---- |
| 28 | !!Examples: |
| 29 | |
| 30 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 31 | |
| 32 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 33 | * Discussed in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', with many people considering Eren Yeager to be exactly this. His classmates even refer to him as being a "suicidal idiot", with Jean accurately predicting that anyone assigned to [[LeeroyJenkins Eren]]'s squad will end up dead. However, Eren explains that it isn't actually that he's not afraid, but that he believes he has a responsibility to fight. |
| 34 | * Claire Stanfield from ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'' not only knows no fear ([[MookHorrorShow apart from the fear of Claire he puts in others]]), he's convinced himself that he's ''immortal'' (despite being one of the [[BadassNormal few characters that aren't]]) simply because he can't imagine what it'd be like to be dead. |
| 35 | * ''Anime/BangDream'': During an event story where the girls of Afterglow are accidentally locked in the school trying to retrieve Himari's homework, it ends up a ScareDare with the girls invoking the seven mysteries" of Haneoka High School. Moca, self-described "genius", is utterly unfazed, even as everyone around her starts panicking. |
| 36 | * ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'': |
| 37 | ** Taichi "Tai" Kamiya from ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' gets shades of this after being told that everything in the Digital World is made of computer data, including him. When it finally gets drilled into his head that if he dies here he still [[AllDeathsFinal dies for real]], he goes to the opposite extreme and becomes petrified with fear. Part of his character development is finding the balance between the two, true courage. Takuya Kanbara from ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'' had a similar arc, although he was a tad less HotBlooded |
| 38 | ** A more completely straight example would be Tai's successor Davis from ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02''. He's nearly fearless and is generally a complete idiot. [[DependingOnTheWriter The effectiveness of this tended to vary from episode to episode]]. Curiously enough, unlike Tai and Takuya (and Takato, who was never like this) he never really grew out of this. At least not on screen. |
| 39 | * ''Franchise/DragonBall'': |
| 40 | ** In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' Vegeta qualifies for this trope, as he is the first to charge into battles against opponents that are far more powerful than he is, and even lets them power up because of his arrogance. |
| 41 | ** Videl sometimes, as shown when she tries to charge against Spopovitch and Yamu when they attacked Gohan. |
| 42 | ** Gotenks. When he was first born, what's the first thing he tries to do? He rushes into battle with Majin Buu without thinking of the consequences and ends up getting himself beaten to a pulp. |
| 43 | ** Chi-Chi. She usually [[MamaBear tries to charge into battles to save her sons,]] without thinking of the possible consequences of her actions (with the other characters [[LetMeAtHim having to hold her back]]). She plays this straight when she walks up to Majin Buu, the scourge of the universe, and slaps him in the face for killing Gohan. She gets turned into an egg and killed as a response. |
| 44 | ** Even Goku falls to this at times. Frieza outright refers to him as one in ''Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF'', stating his power made him overconfident and too willing to forgive his enemies. |
| 45 | ** Bulma can be this way in ''Anime/DragonBallZBattleOfGods'' and ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', being the DitzyGenius she is. Like Chi-Chi, she is not afraid to insult Beerus, a DestroyerDeity, and Frieza, a galactic overlord who can destroy an entire planet. Vegeta has to close her mouth to prevent the planet from getting destroyed! Justified for Beerus becoming friends with Bulma, but Frieza would destroy her. |
| 46 | * In ''Manga/FairyTail'', during the S-Class promotion test, Gildarts uses the overwhelming difference in strength between himself and [[LeeroyJenkins Natsu]] to beat this trope out of the latter and teach him that sometimes it's okay to be afraid since fear helps one know their weaknesses. Notably, he only allows Natsu to pass after [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness he admits that he can't win against Gildarts.]] |
| 47 | * While Motoko Kusanagi of ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' doesn't do this in the way ascribed to most shonen heroes, she is still equally guilty of it. As the episodes go on it becomes more and more clear that she does things even her hardened comrades consider incredibly reckless, and one loses count of the number of times she nearly gets herself killed over the course of the series. It's almost a running joke that Batou will specifically tell her to "not do anything stupid" and she'll do it anyway. In-universe, it's actually quite common for [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul heavily cyberized individuals to begin to have loss of emotional response]], and the Major muses on it frequently, wondering if she still counts as "real" when only her brain is organic. |
| 48 | * ''Manga/HunterXHunter'': Gon's single-minded determination to defeat someone his way or prove his point to the point he grievous injuries himself puts him in this territory, like the time he uses Zetsu on an arena filled with BattleTops that can break bones if hit at that state for 50 minutes (which put him out of commission for 2 months) and the time he fights Genthru his way to scoring a hit on him (at the cost of losing his left hand, most of his right hand and throat). It's later shown that this attitude is his FatalFlaw, as his tendency to charge in scenarios that would leave even experienced Nen users hesitating has a few characters [[WhatTheHellHero call him out for this,]] like Wing slapping him for his stunt at the arena and Tsezguerra chewing him out for endangering his friends while they're injured. |
| 49 | * Misaki Yata from ''Anime/{{K}}''. Lampshaded in the movie when Kuroh and Neko are looking to save a hostage from inside of a tower, and Kuroh runs through all of the ways the tower is guarded, and finishes with, "Only a fool would try to break in through the front."... and two seconds later, Misaki comes around the corner, charging in on his skateboard, screaming. |
| 50 | * In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', the titular character fits this to a tee at first glance, as he pretty much leaps into danger with a smile, ready to punch or (as necessary) headbutt his enemies without fear of his own safety. While his lack of fear indeed started out of recklessness, after the encounter with the Demon Brothers (one of the only times he's scared for his life) and his "Oath of Pain", it came out of a desire to prove himself and protect his loved ones. |
| 51 | * ''Manga/OnePiece'': |
| 52 | ** The hero Monkey D. Luffy is pretty much the embodiment of this trope. He charges headlong into dangers great or small without once thinking of his own wellbeing. This includes leading a small army in a siege against the World Government stronghold Enies Lobby, [[spoiler:punching out a World Noble, who are treated as walking gods, engaging in a battle in TheAlcatraz known as Impel Down, heading to the Marine Headquarters with a large group of dangerous convicts to fight the entire Navy]]! One of the only things Luffy is shown to be scared of is ''his own grandfather'' [[spoiler:Marine Vice-Admiral Garp]], due to the fact that he was raised by him in near-constant TrainingFromHell and [[MegatonPunch Punches of Love.]] After meeting the old man, his friends concluded that the grandfather is responsible for his lack of fear, as very few things compare to him. |
| 53 | ** Luffy's sworn brother Ace. He never runs from a fight and is willing to defy explicit orders to avenge his friends, risking his own life. Unlike Luffy, he fears absolutely nothing, [[spoiler:and his bravery and foolishness lead to him losing to all the top fighters of the story. He ends up submitting to Whitebeard, being captured by Blackbeard, and getting ''killed'' by Akainu.]] |
| 54 | * In ''Manga/{{Parasyte}}'', despite being repeatedly stated as incapable of feeling human emotions, the parasites obviously care about their well-being enough to avoid any unnecessary danger (even showing visible fear on occasion). The only parasite who fits the bill is Mr. A, the lover to fellow parasite Reiko, who admits that he is "not one of our smart ones". Indeed, Mr. A is repeatedly shown to have no capacity for subtlety or deception, even using his shapeshifting abilities in front of the public by reasoning that he can get out of trouble by fighting, running away, or changing into a different form. This comes to bite him in the ass HARD, as his open attack on Shinichi and his parasite companion, Migi, leads to him getting critically wounded and then disposed of by Reiko when he threatened her undercover lifestyle. At one point, during his attack on the school, when he tried to punch a random student, he missed and punched the wall which completely and permanently shattered his (human) arm. |
| 55 | * Hareta from ''Manga/PokemonDiamondAndPearlAdventure'', who often laughs in the face of danger because he figures it's another opportunity for an awesome Pokemon battle. |
| 56 | * ''Manga/SaintSeiya'': The hero Pegasus Seiya has no sense of self-preservation whatsoever, often veers into TooDumbToLive territory, and will happily sacrifice his life on multiple occasions for his friends/goddess. When asked how he manages to keep on living, he most often responds with "I don't know." |
| 57 | * In ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'''s anime adaptation, this trope is invoked when Takeda Shingen lectures his HotBlooded servant Yukimura on how the absence of fear does not mean courage... [[PunctuatedPounding while punching him into a wall repeatedly]]. |
| 58 | ** Naoe Kanetsugu is no better, except unlike Yukimura, he's a BoisterousWeakling with no fighting skill to back up his [[SmallNameBigEgo hilariously overinflated ego]]. He proudly claims to be the only member of the Uesugi's undefeated First Squad, all while [[LeeroyJenkins charging alone]] at Honda Tadakatsu. Tadakatsu is Japan's greatest warrior...reimagined here as ''[[HumongousMecha a god-damned Gundam]]''. This ends about how you might expect, but true to the trope, even being smacked into next week does little to dampen Kanetsugu's enthusiasm or ego. |
| 59 | * ''Manga/SoulEater'': Black Star is the man who will surpass God! Of course he's not afraid of anything! It's a good thing Tsubaki is around to keep him out of trouble. |
| 60 | * ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'': |
| 61 | ** Kamina's EstablishingCharacterMoment involves him challenging a HumongousMecha to a fight while armed with nothing but a katana. [[spoiler:Played with later on, when he confides in Yoko that he knew exactly how stupid he was being at the time, but did it anyway in order to inspire [[CowardlyLion Simon]]. He has such absolute trust in Simon's abilities that he feels comfortable doing such incredibly stupid things knowing they will give Simon the courage to step up and save everyone.]] |
| 62 | ** Subverted on another occasion: when Simon implored Kamina to run before an apparently superior enemy, Kamina says that he can't run. Simon starts to invoke this trope, but Kamina interrupts him to state turning his back on the enemy would be a ''poor tactical choice'' which would result in his being cut down before he could reach safety. |
| 63 | * [[TheAce Jaden Yuki]] from ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' is like this, but it generally works for him...until [[{{Deconstructed|Trope}} Season 3]]. |
| 64 | * ''Anime/ZombieLandSaga'': Saki Nikaido, [[Characters.ZombieLandSagaFranchouchou Franchouchou]]'s BadassBiker babe is hot-headed and brave, but this trait of hers ended up being her FatalFlaw because she was so determined to win a game of chicken against a rival biker gang that she just kept speeding on and was mortally injured by the ensuing crash. She does get a second chance as a zombie... and she does the exact same thing all over again. She survives this time thanks to her undead nature, even though there was no guarantee that she would've survived the crash intact enough to keep functioning |
| 65 | [[/folder]] |
| 66 | |
| 67 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 68 | * ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'': |
| 69 | ** In ''Recap/AsterixAndTheNormans'', the titular Normans literally don't know the meaning of fear, even as children. The Gauls teach them, by making their awful bard Cacofonix play his music at them. They came to Gaul to learn fear because they heard "Fear gives you wings", and [[LiteralMetaphor took it literally]]. |
| 70 | ** Obelix himself also qualifies to a certain extent. Justified because [[InvincibleHero there aren't really many things that can harm him]] but it becomes really obvious in ''WesternAnimation/TheTwelveTasksOfAsterix'' where he doesn't quite grasp the concept of monsters or ghosts and that's why he remains unafraid. That makes for a contrast with Asterix who understands perfectly but is just as brave and can be cautious when necessary. |
| 71 | * ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'': |
| 72 | ** Daredevil is called [[SuperheroSobriquets the Man Without Fear]], though this may be because of his name. In truth, he ''doesn't'' seem to have many fears, as befits a blind man who goes out superheroing... but usually, those few he has are found and exploited by anyone who can manage to become the BigBad of an arc. |
| 73 | --->'''Daredevil:''' If I could see what I was doing, I'd be terrified. |
| 74 | ** Once in a ''ComicBook/MarvelComicsPresents'' story arc, this trope was taken literally with him. That was when an alien parasite who feeds on fear tried taking over various Franchise/MarvelUniverse SuperHero characters, only to be driven out each time by them [[FaceYourFears overcoming their fears]]. In desperation, the starving parasite tried taking over a random human, only to die when he discovered to his horror that this human had no fear, and that turned out to be Daredevil. |
| 75 | ** Once, when Daredevil went charging in despite the presence of hostages, Spider-Man told him that ''that'' sort of thing is why nobody likes to team up with him and that ''some'' caution ''some'' of the time might not hurt. It turned out in that case that the hostages were an illusion, and Daredevil hadn't even known that Spider-Man was seeing them. However, it does mean at least ''one'' hero thinks Daredevil is a bit too fearless and has heard of others thinking so as well. |
| 76 | * ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'': |
| 77 | ** The Green Lantern Corps are supposed to be fearless. Taken literally, that means they're, well, dangerously insane. Of course it's understood that "fearless" is an emphatic way of saying "courageous". The Green Lanterns are not, in fact, "The Men [and Women and Nonsexual Aliens] Without Fear"; rather they have the ability to overcome great fear, and in that ability find the power to wield the Green Lantern Ring. Sometimes the description has been taken more literally than other times; one currently-ignored story had it that rings ''removed'' all fear from new Green Lanterns. Canonically, the rings now state that the owner can "overcome great fear". |
| 78 | ** However there ''is'' one Lantern that's insane, to the shock of his partner (who just thought he was a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}). DependingOnTheWriter... there was a Green Lantern/Flash story by Mark Waid, which made much of the fact that Hal Jordan had ''never'' experienced fear until he thought [[HeterosexualLifePartners Barry]]'s life was in danger because of him. |
| 79 | ** Guy Gardner in his early appearances was usually described as being [[TooDumbToLive too stupid to realize he's in danger.]] In Guy's earliest ([[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]]) appearances he was pretty much just a normal guy. And then he developed brain damage, which (among other things) made him a more literal example of this trope. |
| 80 | ** An early ''Tales of the Green Lantern Corps'' story features a search for a Green Lantern candidate on a [[PlanetOfHats planet full of cowards]]. One was eventually found -- in an insane asylum. |
| 81 | ** It was lampshaded a few times during Kyle Rayner's stint, as he was chosen despite his fear. This paid off when his awareness of fear left him able to fight off Parallax's influence. Even [[ComicBook/TheSandman1989 Dream of the Endless]] noted this, [[http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lg8kkheYsS1qzw76bo1_500.jpg telling Kyle it would help him surpass the other Lanterns.]] |
| 82 | * In ''ComicBook/LockeAndKey'', Kinsey uses the Head Key to remove her senses of fear and sadness. This leads her to do some dangerous things -- both physically, like exploring a flooded cave, and emotionally, like getting into a LoveTriangle between her friends. |
| 83 | * Whirl in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' combines this with BloodKnight and DeathSeeker for all your stuff-getting-dismembered needs. There's no fight he won't challenge, and if you order him to retreat or otherwise avoid a fight, it's unlikely that he will pay attention. [[note]]It's eventually revealed that he's actually got strong DeathSeeker tendencies stemming from crippling insecurities.[[/note]] |
| 84 | -->''' Whirl:''' So this is what running away feels like? I'm not keen. It's like fighting, but in the wrong direction.\ |
| 85 | '''Cyclonus:''' Rodimus told us not to engage.\ |
| 86 | '''Whirl:''' He did, yes, he absolutely did. And I'm going to interpret that as a veiled order to attack... Care to join me? |
| 87 | [[/folder]] |
| 88 | |
| 89 | [[folder:Fairy Tales]] |
| 90 | * ''Literature/TheStoryOfTheYouthWhoWentForthToLearnWhatFearWas'' doesn't know what fear is because he's TheFool. He spends three nights in a HauntedCastle, with increasingly-terrifying events happening each night, in an attempt at learning about fear, but none of it works. In the end, he inherits all the treasure of the castle and becomes king, but still hasn't learned fear. When he's woken up by being splashed with water filled with still-living fish, he thinks that his shivering means he's finally found fear. |
| 91 | * ''[[http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/350.htm The Boy Who Found Fear At Last]]'' has a young boy who's confused at why his mother is scared when a gust of wind slams their cottage door open. Seeking to learn what fear is, he goes on an adventure, during which he encounters a gang of bandits, a greedy ogre, and three separate ghosts (who he later meets again), none of whom scare him in the slightest. In the end, he does find fear... [[spoiler:when he's crowned king through a random selection ritual, which makes him panic as he realizes this means spending the rest of his life saddled with responsibility]]. |
| 92 | [[/folder]] |
| 93 | |
| 94 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 95 | * Rainbow Dash, in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic ''Fanfic/LunasPowerAndRainbowsLove'', [[DefiedTrope defies this]], while presenting a front that looks like this. |
| 96 | * Deconstructed with Mei in ''Fanfic/{{Game Theory|LyricalNanoha}}''. Due to being from a [[TheBerserker berserker]] [[SuperpowerfulGenetics lineage]], she lacks a functioning fear response, which causes her to pull all kinds of crazy, reckless stunts that put herself or others in danger. It's treated as a mental disorder, and she eventually starts taking medication that mitigates the problem. |
| 97 | * [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''Fanfic/HarrysNewHome'' where due to his abusive upbringing with the Dursleys, Harry lacks a sense of self-preservation and self-defense, allowing him to place himself in danger without a thought, much to Snape's annoyance and horror. |
| 98 | * Defied in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' fanfic ''Fanfic/GoingAnotherWay''. After the battle against Shamshel, Shinji comes to the conclusion that he needs to be afraid of the Angels. After all, if you are not afraid of the towering monsters, then you are bound to screw up and won't live for much longer. The trick is, to not let the fear take over. |
| 99 | * ''Fanfic/EquestriaGirlsFriendshipSouls'': Exemplified and ''weaponized'' by Human Lightning Dust, whose Schrift "The Daredevil" makes her stronger the more danger her life is in, allowing her to perform feats against otherwise superior foes others wouldn't be able to. As a result, she's a LeeroyJenkins ''and'' a DeathSeeker who throws herself into combat without fear, admitting that she would rather die young in a blaze of glory than waste away in old age. [[spoiler:By the end of her fight with The Smooze's [[EldritchAbomination Resurreccion]], she's victorious after basically infecting herself with every life-threatening disease known to life and unlife in the process to unleash a DeathOrGloryAttack that almost completely incinerates him, but in exchange her body's so screwed up she would have dropped dead were it not for Hoity Toity's "The Xenomorph" dealing with the worst of it. Even so, the internal damage was so intensive that she had to retire from being a Sternritter after the battle, with her grumbling she would have preferred otherwise since he "ruined" AGoodWayToDie.]] |
| 100 | * ''Fanfic/TheSecretReturnOfAlexMack'': Hanna was genetically engineered to lack the normal fear response, leading her to throw herself into danger for fun. She almost gets kicked off the team after she [[spoiler: ignores orders to flee from a cave full of giant spiders]]. |
| 101 | * [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in ''[[Fanfic/TheReapingOfHatsuneMiku The Return of Hatsune Miku]]'', when [[EmotionlessGirl Kaai Yuki]] ends up in the Reaper's Game. When she and her partner run into a Reaper, the Reaper calls her brave for not being scared; Yuki points out that "being brave isn't not being scared; it's not letting being scared stop you". |
| 102 | * ''Fanfic/VowOfNudity'': Kay'la is constantly leaping headfirst into deadly situations without a thought to her own survival, often emerging alive only thanks to her status as the IdiotHero of the series. |
| 103 | [[/folder]] |
| 104 | |
| 105 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 106 | * Luis and Carmelo from ''WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife'', like other Sanchez members, were very brave but unfortunately very foolish as well, so much so that they allowed hubris to get the better of them. |
| 107 | * Henry from ''WesternAnimation/TheGoodDinosaur''. Justified, he wants his son to be brave until he ended up pushing it too far by going through danger [[spoiler: until it was too late for him to realize it.]] The T-Rex Butch even lampshades the trope later in the movie. Heck, this trope is sort of the movie's [[AnAesop message]], that sometimes courage has its limitations and people need fear in order to live. |
| 108 | * Young Simba in ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'' gets a speech to this effect when he goes into the elephant graveyard to prove how fearless he is only to be accosted and nearly eaten by hyenas. Mufasa explains that being brave doesn't mean he doesn't have fears, only that he overcomes them, and this becomes a running theme for the film. |
| 109 | -->'''Mufasa:''' I'm only brave when I have to be. Simba, being brave doesn't mean you go ''looking'' for trouble. |
| 110 | * Barley from ''WesternAnimation/{{Onward}}'' tends to be reckless when facing danger. He has a FreudianExcuse for this however, he saw his dad dying in the hospital but didn't get to say goodbye on account of how scary he looked, hence why he is so reluctant to be scared. |
| 111 | * In ''WesternAnimation/PussInBootsTheLastWish'', this is Puss's FatalFlaw. [[spoiler:Thanks to the fact that CatsHaveNineLives, he arrogantly believes he is the legend that will never die. Unfortunately, due to his cocky attitude, he ends up losing eight lives and doesn't realize he only has one left until he's made to count. Adding to his trouble, the GrimReaper himself, in the embodiment of TheBigBadWolf, was fed up with Puss disrespecting him and that he had needlessly wasted his lives, and chose to chase down Puss and claim his final life personally]]. |
| 112 | * Shaggy ends up becoming this thanks to hypnotism in ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooLegendOfThePhantosaur'', turning him from his famous cowardly persona into a tough-as-nails, one-liner-spouting macho man capable of going toe to toe with a gang of bikers every time he hears the word "bad". |
| 113 | * The main Toad in ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'' is noted as being a rare brave Toad but it crosses over into foolishness at times, like when the gang is being taken on a wild kart ride to see Cranky Kong, Toad's having the time of his life even as he's nearly flung out the kart several times, all while Mario and the otherwise unflappable Peach are screaming in terror. |
| 114 | [[/folder]] |
| 115 | |
| 116 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 117 | * Batman in ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' initially has no fear of death, which he thinks gives him power but is in fact why he can't find the motivation to escape Bane's prison. He needs to find something to be afraid of or he'll be useless. Bane points this out by saying, "You don't fear death. You welcome it. Your punishment must be more ''[[FateWorseThanDeath severe]]''." |
| 118 | * The titular hero of ''Film/{{Eragon}}'' is described as "one part brave, three parts fool". |
| 119 | * Film/ForrestGump is this when he runs through the jungle in Vietnam rescuing his comrades, being completely oblivious to the bullets and explosions around him. |
| 120 | * Skylar Lewis in ''Film/GirlVsMonster'', but she later develops a sense of fear and grows out of this. |
| 121 | * ''Film/GrizzlyMan'' chronicles the life and death of [[BearsAreBadNews bear enthusiast]] Tim Treadwell. Three guesses how the guy met his end and no, it wasn't by choking on a pretzel. |
| 122 | * Franchise/MonsterVerse: |
| 123 | ** The [[Characters/MonsterVerseSkullIslandKaijuAndOtherCreatures Skullcrawlers]], due to being driven by singular HorrorHunger. Although they can be smart about it, they'll charge and attempt to eat virtually ''anything'' they encounter that isn't them, even Kong despite the latter's superior physical prowess, and they won't stop until either they or their opponent is dead. |
| 124 | ** ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' essentially features several: |
| 125 | *** [[Characters/MonsterVerseKingGhidorah One of King Ghidorah's three independent-minded heads (the right head, Ni)]] in particular shows signs, attempting to fight back a charging Godzilla with nothing but his teeth while the other two heads and the body are immobilized, which goes as well as you'd expect. |
| 126 | *** {{Downplayed|Trope}} with [[Characters/MonsterVerseRodan Rodan]]: he has an OhCrap and initially pulls back when he ends up flying into Ghidorah's storm, but a few moments afterwards, Rodan charges straight at Ghidorah in a territorial match despite the three-headed dragon significantly outclassing Rodan in power. Rodan also opts to bow to Godzilla at the end rather than fight him, but he only shows clear signs of submitting after receiving an intimidating snort and DeathGlare from Godzilla. |
| 127 | *** This is a big influence on [[Characters/MonsterVerseEcoTerrorists Emma Russell]]'s actions, which the tie-in graphic novel ''Godzilla Aftershock'' further expands upon. When Emma sets her mind on pursuing a hot trail towards what she believes to be a solution to whatever serious problem she is trying to solve, she'll head for it and ignore all the signs of mortal danger or of it being a bad idea in favor of getting to what she wants. [[spoiler:This leads her to, whilst enacting a UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans plot (looking to release all the dormant Titans and then use the ORCA to manipulate them), unwittingly releasing a rival alpha Titan who actively threatens to create an even more rapid extinction event than the one Emma was trying to prevent, never mind the CreativeClosingCredits[='=] implications that Emma trying to use the ORCA to control the awakened Titans long-term would have backfired severely if her plan had worked out without any hitches.]] |
| 128 | [[/folder]] |
| 129 | |
| 130 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 131 | * In ''Literature/{{Bambi}}'', Faline's brother Gobo is taken from the wild as a fawn, raised to adulthood by humans, and then released. He returns with no survival instincts at all, believing humans are now his friends -- an attitude which eventually gets him killed. |
| 132 | * Mandorallen of ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' is the pinnacle of knighthood: honourable, courteous, fearless, and [[BadassNormal incredibly badass]]. The problem is that he is also completely unable to accept the premise that it is possible for him to be hurt or killed. The one time he actually does experience fear, it leads to him putting a bit more discretion in his valour... for about six pages, and then he goes right back to proposing things like taking a handful of friends and attacking the united armies of a continent-spanning empire. There's a reason the heroes rarely use strategies proposed by Mandorallen. |
| 133 | * In Creator/SandyMitchell's ''Cain's Last Stand'', Literature/CiaphasCain tells the cadets that he is afraid, in order to urge prudence on them. But when he describes himself as a DirtyCoward, Amberley Vail cites that a brave man is one who overcomes his fears, not one who has none, to say that Cain may not be giving himself enough credit. |
| 134 | ** At one point, earlier, Cain's aide Jurgen offers to come on a mission. Cain is not sure whether this is courage or being too stupid to realize the danger.[[note]]The answer may also be "too emotionless to feel fear".[[/note]] Amberley Vail, having seen much of Jurgen over the years, isn't sure either. |
| 135 | ** Jenit Sulla, a LeeroyJenkins who leads her men into heroic charges no matter what the sensible action. Her unit takes the highest losses of the regiment but also has the highest morale. |
| 136 | * In Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/CaptainVorpatrilsAlliance'', Ivan charges a man with a stunner, and Tej pronounces him either very foolish or very brave. Ivan explains that it was his own stunner, which is set up so only he could fire it. |
| 137 | * In ''Literature/CityOfAshes'', Jace gets a Fearless rune put on him by Clary. After a few minutes of fighting TheLegionsOfHell, he notes that the rune might be ''a little bit'' of too much of a good thing. In particular, he notes how blase he was becoming in regard to injuries. |
| 138 | * In ''Literature/{{Divergent}}'', one of the factions, Dauntless, values bravery. They show their bravery by jumping on and off trains and performing crazy stunts, many of which do result in death or injury. |
| 139 | * In Creator/JimButcher's ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' novel ''Blood Rites'', Trish/Trixie is not afraid of getting blacklisted because she's so dumb she really thinks she's indispensable. |
| 140 | ** In ''Death Masks'', several warnings get thrown about, about confusing courage with stupidity. |
| 141 | ** In ''Blood Rites'', when he is rescuing the puppies, one rears up in the box to bark at their former captors. Harry describes it as either more brave or more stupid. |
| 142 | * Gaia Moore of ''Literature/{{Fearless}}''. Having been born without the capability for fear, she repeatedly finds herself in over her head because she lacks the ability to judge that a situation is beyond her. |
| 143 | * In ''Literature/AGameOfThrones'', [[DecoyProtagonist Ned Stark]] tells his sons that the only time a man can be really brave is when he's afraid. |
| 144 | * In ''Literature/HarryPotter'', Gryffindors have a tendency to be this. |
| 145 | * Done unintentionally in most Creator/JamesByronHuggins novels. Even though most of his protagonists are {{Badass Normal}}s, when your opponents are ancient Egyptian undead sorcerers, giant shape-shifting Nephilim, prehistoric Hulks, a genetically-engineered dragon, and Satan himself, for them fear is never the appropriate response, and every time, they win against these threats, but the first two acts they don't react with fear. |
| 146 | * Michael is this in the first book of the ''Literature/KnightAndRogueSeries''. Any point in later books where he chooses to flee rather than fight includes a line about Fisk having finally gotten it through his skull that in some situations it's a much better idea to run. |
| 147 | * One version of Creator/{{Plato}}'s [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laches_(dialogue) Laches]] argues the definition of cowardice, courage, and recklessness, illustrated by a soldier dropping his sword so he can better cover himself with his shield as he runs, the soldier facing the enemy with sword and shield, and the soldier throwing his shield behind him so he can get to the part where he stabs people faster. |
| 148 | * In RickCook's ''Literature/LimboSystem'', Billy Toyodo is unafraid of death because he thinks life is just a computer simulation and he'll just get another run-through. The captain feels [[DirtyBusiness ashamed]] to ask him to volunteer for something dangerous because of it. (Still does, though.) |
| 149 | * In [[Creator/JohnHemry Jack Campbell's]] ''Literature/TheLostFleet'' novel ''Invincible'', when asking Jane Geary why she changed, Geary explains to her that he was afraid, and her brother was afraid while making their heroic stands. |
| 150 | * In Max Frei's ''Literature/LabyrinthsOfEcho'' becoming this is a ''necessary'' step for any wizard wishing to progress beyond a certain point. For most, it just means that they've come to the EldritchAbomination[=/=]PhysicalGod level, and literally have ''nothing'' to fear, as they've embedded themselves into the fabric of the {{Multiverse}}, becoming completely indestructible. |
| 151 | * ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'': |
| 152 | ** Crump's incredibly high tolerance for dangerous conduct and general disregard for his own life is not only a family trait but undoubtedly stems from his [[AxCrazy Ax Craziness]] and love of grenades which he gleefully demonstrates in ''Literature/TheBonehunters''. |
| 153 | ** ''Literature/TheBonehunters'' also gives us Corabb Bhilan Thenu'alas, who is blessed by the twin gods of luck and also a GlorySeeker par excellence -- which makes for an explosive combination of accidental awesomeness in delicate situations. |
| 154 | * Creator/PatriciaAMcKillip: |
| 155 | ** In ''Literature/TheBookOfAtrixWolfe'', they send off Saro to deliver the tray of food to the prince in his half-ruined and haunted towers, on the grounds she wouldn't understand it enough to be afraid. |
| 156 | ** In ''Literature/TheRiddleMasterTrilogy'', Morgan had, in the {{backstory}}, casually won a riddle game where hundreds of others had lost their lives. He came home with his reward (a crown) and hid it under the bed because he wasn't sure that he wasn't a complete idiot. |
| 157 | ** In ''Literature/TheForgottenBeastsOfEld'', Sybel is too young and too powerful to know fear. She proves the fearless part when she summons The Rommalb, a creature that destroys any who fear. She proves the fool part when she continues to steal {{Spell Book}}s from other wizards, despite Maelga's warnings. |
| 158 | * The second-in-command in ''Literature/MobyDick'' tells the crew a fearless man has no business being on a whale hunt. |
| 159 | * In Patrick Rothfuss's ''Literature/TheNameOfTheWind'', Chronicler tells Kvothe that they say he's fearless. Kvothe disclaims: only priests and fools are fearless, and he's not been on good terms with God. |
| 160 | * In ''Literature/ThePillarsOfTheEarth'' King Stephen went into battle and was fearless but, because of that, he didn't retreat when necessary and was captured. |
| 161 | * Used as the twist in ''Literature/RowanOfRin''. John is beaten by the mountain not [[DwindlingParty because he was afraid]], but because he wasn't and should have been. Exhausted and slowly freezing he realises that Sheba was right, only fools do not fear, and admits this to Rohan. |
| 162 | * In Creator/MichaelFlynn's ''[[Literature/SpiralArm Up Jim River]]'', the Brute is the only one not afraid, he's too stupid. |
| 163 | * In ''Literature/TheStainlessSteelRat Gets Drafted'', Jim repeatedly expresses confidence that the [[FacelessGoons military authorities]] will be fooled by his latest trick, despite the fact that the [[StateSec MP's]] have already displayed detective work that would be [[ScarilyCompetentTracker a]] [[ImplacableMan credit]] [[SuperPersistentPredator to]] Franchise/SherlockHolmes. |
| 164 | * Marvin Russell in Creator/TomClancy's ''Literature/TheSumOfAllFears''. At first, the terrorists using him as a useful fool are impressed by his fearlessness, but they quickly realize that they are dealing with a crazy person. (Doesn't stop them from still using him as their fool, though.) |
| 165 | * In Creator/CSLewis's ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader'', when Lucy agrees to go into a magician's tower for invisible beings who are threatening to massacre them, and the boys [[MoreHeroThanThou can't dissuade her]], the boys appeal to Reepicheep, confident that he will tell her not to do it in order to save them. Reepicheep, however, does not play the Fearless Fool: he observes they have no hope of saving her, and that she is not being asked to do anything dishonorable, so he will not speak against it. The boys are rather embarrassed. |
| 166 | ** Elsewhere in the book, though, it's mentioned that this is a weakness in Reepicheep's [[SmartPeoplePlayChess chess strategy]]: He will sometimes get too caught up in the game and bravely advance a piece into a hopeless LastStand between a queen and a castle. |
| 167 | * ''Franchise/Warhammer40000ExpandedUniverse'' novels: |
| 168 | ** In Creator/DanAbnett's ''Literature/BrothersOfTheSnake'', when a young Marine [[YouthIsWastedOnTheDumb tries a forbidden challenge]], and an older one comes after to ensure that he lives, the younger one says he must think him a fool, and the older one, that courage and folly are not always easily divided. |
| 169 | ** In William King's ''Literature/SpaceWolf'', Ragnar is unable to tell whether the nightgangers attacking them are that brave or that mindless. In ''Grey Hunters'', when one Marine speaks of a heroic death, he is rebuked for not knowing the difference between heroic and stupid. |
| 170 | ** In Creator/BenCounter's ''Literature/HorusHeresy'' novel ''Galaxy in Flames'', Tarvitz explicitly thinks that while it is said that Space Marines know no fear, the truth is that they are trained to master it, not to not feel it. |
| 171 | * In Creator/DanAbnett's ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' novel ''Blood Pact'', Kolding [[PlayingPossum plays possum]] when [[spoiler:Maggs]] goes berserk and attacks him. Gaunt says this was wise; Kolding says it was not very courageous. [[spoiler:He had survived a Blood Pact attack by the same method as a child -- the sole survivor.]] |
| 172 | * In Creator/JamesSwallow's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' Literature/BloodAngels novel ''Deus Encarmine'', after an attack that drove many Blood Angels into the black rage -- UnstoppableRage -- that resulted in their horrible deaths, Arkio accuses veteran Blood Angels of being afraid. They counter that they had all seen those deaths and are horrified and, yes, afraid. Sachiel claims that dying for the Emperor ought to negate that, but Arkio concedes that they would not be human if they did not feel as they did -- and weeps ManlyTears over the deaths -- before urging them to fight anew. |
| 173 | * In Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Wintersmith}}'', Granny tells the Nac Mac Feegle that they need TheHero to go to the underworld because they themselves would not be afraid of doing it, and TheHero needs to be -- so she sends them after the Baron's son Roland, who would be afraid. |
| 174 | ** Other characters are shown to be almost fearless as well, Cohen and his 'horde' foremost among them. Ridcully and Vetinari are also practically without fear, but ''they'' are far from foolish. |
| 175 | ** In ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals'', Dave Likely, at least in Trev's eyes. Nutt points out that he was only human, and furthermore people who did foolish things that could kill them have been important to humanity. |
| 176 | ** In ''Literature/{{Night Watch|Discworld}}'', Vimes describes Lord Rust this way. "He thought idiot stubbornness was bravery." |
| 177 | * A variation in ''{{Literature/Wulfrik}}'', when Wulfrik's warband raids a Chaos dwarf fortress guarded by (among other things) statues enchanted to cause fear in intruders. The Norscans don't cower in fear, they attack the statues in berserk fury... but all they do is blunt their weapons and bloody their fists against the stone. |
| 178 | * The ogres of ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' are famous for being too stupid to fear anything. But this is played with -- it combines with their great strength to ensure that every living creature smarter than them (and that's everyone, including a number of plants) fears ''them''. Even dragons know they can't match the sheer power-to-weight ratio of an ogre and that an ogre wouldn't be afraid of coming after them, and avoid picking fights. |
| 179 | * Jason in Creator/TomHolt's ''Ye Gods!'' |
| 180 | -->''Being a Hero, he didn't know the meaning of fear, just as the average person doesn't know the meaning of the word'' fourmart* .\ |
| 181 | ''* polecat'' |
| 182 | ** Later, this is invoked several times with the observation that what he felt couldn't really, therefore, be fear. |
| 183 | [[/folder]] |
| 184 | |
| 185 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 186 | * [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugsy_Siegel Benny "Bugsy" Siegel]] in portrayed this way in ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire''. Even from when he's first shown as a teenage hoodlum he seems to have absolutely no fear of anyone or anything, casually joking about telling his boss, the cold and ruthless Arnold Rothstein to go fuck himself (with his tone conveying that he would in fact say it with no worries for the consequences) and swearing revenge on [[TheDreaded Joe Masseria]], a mob boss who holds a large swath of New York in an iron grip and makes even AxCrazy and unhinged characters like Gyp Rosetti shake in fear at the thought of upsetting him. As he grows up a little this makes him an audacious hitman who [[RefugeInAudacity either succeeds or at least manages to strike and get away unscathed in impossible situations]], and it also leads him into taking mind-boggling stupid risks in everything from his work to [[ReallyGetsAround his affairs]] to angering enemies who could decide to [[OffingTheMouth shut him up by killing him]] at any moment. |
| 187 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 188 | ** In the serial "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E4PlanetOfTheDaleks Planet of the Daleks]]", the Doctor explains to a Thal, a fellow captive, that his heroic action of leading off the enemy was heroic despite his fear, and that everyone else who does heroic things is the same. |
| 189 | ** More than once, the Doctor has expressed that knowing when to get the hell out of the way of the Dalek extermination rays is a ''good'' thing, and how much running his life involves is a RunningGag. We have also seen him truly, properly afraid more than once. At one point, when cornered by a monster that kills at a touch, he said "I said I was afraid of dying, and that's no lie. Advantage, ''me!''" and makes escaping (through a method he was actually testing the viability of with a series of apparently meaningless actions earlier) a moment of awesome. As he once said to Clara, "We don't walk away. But when we're holding on to something precious, we run. We run and run, fast as we can, and we don't stop running until we are out from under the shadow." |
| 190 | * In ''Series/{{Gotham}}'', after [[spoiler:Johnathan Crane's father]] gives himself a treatment to help rid him of fear, upon being cornered by Gordon and Bullock, despite them being armed, he attacks them, claiming that he no longer has fear. [[spoiler:He's almost immediately shot and killed.]] |
| 191 | * When Ralph Malph from ''Series/HappyDays'' became paralyzed with fear over an upcoming tornado, they had a doctor hypnotize him to be brave. [[GoneHorriblyRight It ended up working too well]] and turned him into this trope, deliberately putting himself in danger for the sake of it. They managed to snap him out of it before the tornado hit, only to discover he [[CowardlyLion truly was brave all along]] when he pushed Richie out of the way when a bookshelf almost fell on him. |
| 192 | * Captain "Dreadnought" Foster in ''Series/HoratioHornblower'' is shown to be a man with no fear -- in his first scene he takes command of the supply ship he's on and orders it to fire on a Spanish ''frigate'', in one of his last heroically climbs aboard a fire ship to steer it away from the British fleet. But though Foster bravely disregards his own life, he disregards the lives of everyone around him, too -- most of the schooner's crew is killed and Horatio, initially an admirer, realizes how foolish his hero is when Foster insists on taking supplies from his own supply ship, which is under quarantine for plague. |
| 193 | * The ''Series/{{Jackass}}'' crew while performing stunts. |
| 194 | * [[CowboyCop Raylan Givens]] of ''{{Series/Justified}}'' is a badass, no doubts about it. However, he tends to let his reputation go to his head a little, and pick fights with people he really shouldn't. Like two giant guys in a bar while he's wasted, or [[MightyGlacier Coover Bennett]]. Then in Season 3 he goes and pulls a gun on Limehouse seemingly forgetting that he is all by himself in a remote community where everyone is extremely loyal to Limehouse and would have no problem with killing a white law enforcement official and making the body disappear. Having a dozen rifles and shotguns pointed at him in response, Raylan luckily clues him in that he has gone too far and instead makes a deal with Limehouse that lets them both walk out of there alive. |
| 195 | * In the ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'' episode "Blink", the main culprit is a high-functioning psychopath who does not experience fear like a normal person. His lack of self-preservation instincts lead him to feel he's invincible, and to engage in risky sports (cave diving, base jumping) and work (high-steel construction), in addition to committing crimes without fear of arrest and making dubious deals with mobsters who are likely to kill him if he slips up. [[spoiler: He eventually ''does'' experience fear when he learns that his own wife, whom he'd believed had faith in his invincibility, has secretly taken out extra life insurance on him because she's 100% convinced he's going to get himself killed.]] |
| 196 | * ''Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger'': [[RookieRedRanger Kai Ozu]] starts out as this, with his EstablishingCharacterMoment being him climbing up a post to retrieve a balloon. It's not until he learns the true meaning of courage that he's granted his powers, being the last of his siblings to do so. |
| 197 | * Series/TheOrder: The Emperor Demon Rogwan creates these after he eats the fear of various people. Being he's an Emperor Demon and part of the cause of World War 2 in-series he's bad news. But that fear you feel to him only makes you all the more visible to him. |
| 198 | * Alan Davies on ''Series/{{QI}}'', whose job is to leap in with the obvious answers where a wiser panelist might hesitate. Has been working in his favor lately, as the panelists have started to assume the obvious answer will be incorrect and go to great lengths to avoid giving it -- when it was correct all along, giving Alan easy points. |
| 199 | * In the ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIIIPolymorph Polymorph]]", Lister has his fear removed by the Polymorph beast, which [[EmotionEater feeds on emotions]]. He wants to charge in recklessly at the beast and volunteers to be the bait, so the others can kill it "while it's eating me to death". |
| 200 | * ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': |
| 201 | ** The episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E18ComingOfAge Coming of Age]]" explicitly references the trope, even though it doesn't show an example of the character in that episode. Wesley is worrying about the final test for his Starfleet Academy entrance exam: a psychological test designed specifically to stoke their fears and test how they face them. Worf helps him, much to Wesley's surprise -- he saw Worf as the bravest man on ''Enterprise'' and thought that meant he had no fear. Worf's response seems to echo the trope name quote: "Only fools have no fear." He then explains that even Klingons, known as a "fearless" [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy warrior race]], know fear, but only those who overcome it ever go on to greatness. |
| 202 | ** In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E21RightfulHeir Rightful Heir]]", this trope is explained in an anecdote by Kahless, who's basically the Klingon Messiah. Once, Kahless was staying in a village that was about to be ravaged by a powerful windstorm. All the Klingons who lived there took shelter in a cave, save for one man who stood at a cliff facing the storm. When Kahless asked why the man didn't hide with the others, he replied, "I will not run away from this danger. I will stand here and make the wind respect me." Kahless honored his wish and went inside to hide. When the citizens came out the next day, they quickly found the man's body among the wreckage. "The wind does not respect the fool." |
| 203 | * ''Series/StarTrekPicard'': |
| 204 | ** In "[[Recap/StarTrekPicardS1E07Nepenthe Nepenthe]]", Elnor declines to return to ''La Sirena'' because he wants to assist Hugh and the other ex-Borg drones on the Artifact rise up against their Romulan oppressors. His crewmates believe that he's both nuts and courageous for doing so. |
| 205 | --->'''Elnor:''' Go without me. [The massacre of xBs] will not happen again. My help is needed here.\ |
| 206 | '''Rios:''' Everyone here thinks you're ''crazy''.\ |
| 207 | '''Jurati:''' And brave.\ |
| 208 | '''Rios:''' And brave. |
| 209 | ** Invoked by a Centurion in "[[Recap/StarTrekPicardS1E08BrokenPieces Broken Pieces]]" when Narissa asks if the Borg frighten him. |
| 210 | --->'''Centurion:''' I'd be a fool if they didn't. |
| 211 | * An episode of ''Series/TheStoryteller'' adapts the folktale of "The Boy Who Set Out To Learn What Fear Was," mentioned above, but with the heartwarming twist that, after a parade of grotesqueries, what finally gets Fearnot to genuinely shudder is [[spoiler:the fear of losing his sweetheart]]. |
| 212 | * ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Dean can be this at times. Pamela's response to an especially powerful entity warning her to turn back from psychically contacting him is, "Sorry, Castiel, I don't scare easy." It costs [[EyeScream her eyes]]. |
| 213 | * Max of ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace''. Lampshaded in the Zombie Prom episode. |
| 214 | * Arguably, Mulder of ''Series/TheXFiles''. He tends to rush into dangerous situations without thinking, leading to several instances in which Scully has to come save his butt. Some have speculated that he has subconscious self-destructive urges that play into this. |
| 215 | [[/folder]] |
| 216 | |
| 217 | [[folder:Podcasts]] |
| 218 | * Defied by Georgie Barker in ''Podcast/TheMagnusArchives''; her encounter with an [[HumanoidAbomination avatar]] of [[EldritchAbomination the End]] wound up leaving her incapable of feeling fear (really, it left her incapable of feeling [[EmotionlessGirl anything at all]] at first, but she got all of her other emotions back eventually). Her inability to feel fear doesn't hamper her ability to recognize threats or assess risks and she's learned to compensate for it. Really, if anything she ''over''compensates and tends to be too cautious. |
| 219 | -->'''Georgie:''' I am well aware of my situation, it does ''not'' make me an idiot. |
| 220 | [[/folder]] |
| 221 | |
| 222 | [[folder:Pro Wrestling]] |
| 223 | * It is quite common that a good guy, or "baby{{face}}" is said to have "more guts than brains" (as Wrestling/JimRoss would say), because they continue to fight back despite being beaten down time and again, refuse to submit to submission moves, have no problems with accepting a 3-on-1 challenge, etc. |
| 224 | * The "Rate Tank" Kellie Skater (weighing in at ''[[LargeHam 68 kilograms of pure adamantium]]'') of Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}} was a heel version -- she blithely walked up to every badass woman on the roster, registering no fear whatsoever as she disrespects them and challenges them to matches. Every single time, she got obliterated -- but at no point did Kellie ever catch on that she was being destroyed. She kept on taunting her opponent and bringing the fight even as she got smashed against the barricades, tied into a pretzel, or back-fisted in the face. Fellow heel Tomoka Nakagawa did teach Skater, better tactics, if not necessarily fear, and in the process, the two performed a HeelFaceTurn as the still-but-nowhere-near-as-foolish [[TagTeam Global Green Gangsters]]. |
| 225 | [[/folder]] |
| 226 | |
| 227 | [[folder:Roleplay]] |
| 228 | * Hyeon from ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues''. When snake-like apparitions invade the school and start spearing students, Hyeon's response is to attack them with a fire extinguisher rather than run away like everyone else. A few days later, when he sees Daigo strangling Harriet, he doesn't hesitate to attack him with a guitar case. In the ensuing fight, where spears and bullets are being flung around, he's much more focused on getting Carlie to safety rather than any fear for his own well-being. |
| 229 | [[/folder]] |
| 230 | |
| 231 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 232 | * ''TabletopGame/ArkhamHorror'': Hank Samson the [[FarmBoy farmhand]] has the special ability "thick-skulled". Normally, whenever a PlayerCharacter encounters a monster, they have to pass a Horror test or suffer [[SanityMeter sanity damage]], but Hank only has to make the test if he can't [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere evade the monster]] or [[OneHitKill kill it on the first try]]. |
| 233 | -->Now, some might have questioned their own sanity at the sight while others might have fainted away in sheer horror. But Hank, he just took aim and blew the darn thing's head off. It only occurred to him later to wonder just what it had been. |
| 234 | * In the ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' setting for ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', kender suffer the quadruple afflictions of an extreme sense of curiosity, low tolerance for boredom, zero understanding of property ownership, and a very limited capacity for fear -- most kender only ever experience it through magic designed to terrify people, such as that broadcast by dragons or powerful undead, and even then, it's very muted. This unholy combination of traits makes them prone to doing ''very'' ChaoticStupid things and is one of the reasons why they are TheScrappy for ''D&D'' players. Both in and out of universe they're considered TooDumbToLive, and in-universe humans are baffled by the fact that they're not going extinct given their combination of high childhood mortality rates and adult kenders rarely understanding how reproduction works (or how to take care of their offspring). |
| 235 | ** In the ''Literature/DragonlanceTheNewAdventures'' novel series, Koi [[MeaningfulName Fearbreaker]] has made it her goal to become the first kender to experience fear, [[LampshadeHanging after seeing how many of them have died because they weren't afraid when they should have been]]. |
| 236 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': |
| 237 | ** This likewise shows up when a character needs to fail a Valor roll or else spend Willpower to avoid doing something foolhardy. And if they do spend Willpower, then they'll accrue Limit, and when it finally tops off, something stupid and horrifying will happen. |
| 238 | ** Various Charms can turn even the wimpiest of losers into a Fearless Fool. One [[DealWithTheDevil Infernal]] Charm in particular, ''Cosmic Transcendence of Valor'', makes you unable to feel any kind of fear -- even when you're staring at the depth of Oblivion. |
| 239 | * One demonic, gluttonous race called the Gordians (imagine a cross between an ogre and a dwarf that has been fed on a steady diet of lard) in [[TabletopGame/{{Rifts}} Palladium]]'s ''Land of the Damned One: Chaos Lands'' are described as having eggshell thin egos and going to insane lengths to prove themselves worthy ("You call Throka coward? Watch, Throka kill Dragon!"). |
| 240 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Scion}}'' has Virtues that divine beings possess. Two of these are Courage and Valor. The higher your score, the more power you can draw from them... and the harder it is to resist them. If you want to act against them, you either need to ''fail'' a Virtue roll or spend Willpower. (So if you're half-dead and someone is attacked by Titanspawn, you roll Valor -- and if you succeed, you ''have'' to save them even though you'll probably die trying.) This also comes with the Virtue Extremity -- if you somehow manage to keep avoiding your higher Virtues, you ''will'' eventually snap and pursue them without any thought towards your own well-being. |
| 241 | * ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': |
| 242 | ** The Imperium of Man as a whole can be seen as this. However, humanity is not just a Fearless Fool, but an extremely well-armed fool, too. |
| 243 | ** The Orks too, arguably. Although the only reason for their lack of fear is they were the only race not affected by the Nightbringer, they definitely ''appear'' Fearless Fools to the rest of the galaxy. One savvy (insane even by Ork standards, but still savvy) ork boss knows that Orks aren't afraid to die. So, when da boyz piss him off he tears their arms off instead. THAT intimidates them. |
| 244 | ** "And they shall know no fear" -- except that that would indeed make {{Space Marine}}s fools. So often enough in the fluff, a character will admit that they do know fear, they just don't let it rule them. |
| 245 | *** The rule "And They Shall Know No Fear" ups the odds that the Space Marines will rally after falling back from combat. With their latest codex, it combines with [[TacticalWithdrawal "Combat Tactics"]] to let them escape fights they can't win, hop back to a safe firing range, and continue blasting away. Fear is just their way of knowing when they need to change tactics. |
| 246 | *** In the Deathwatch RPG, Space Marines really don't know fear. Fear that can kill humans or make them insane just makes Space Marines lose cohesion as a fighting unit. The lack of fear is one reason why Space Marines have difficulty understanding humans. The closest thing to fear that they feel is disorientation and discomfort. |
| 247 | ** By contrast, there's a universal special rule called Fearless. It used to come with the "No Retreat" clause (which has since been abolished), which caused extra casualties when a Fearless unit lost a close combat.[[note]]Still a better deal than being routed and failing to escape, which would result in the unit being instantly wiped.[[/note]] The most famous example of "Fearless" units are Khorne Berserkers, who undergo lobotomies to remove their frontal lobes, completely removing their ability to feel fear. |
| 248 | ** The Literature/{{Space Wol|f}}ves invoke this with their assault units. Where most Chapters have their Marines progress as both Devastators and Assault Marines before having demonstrated they have the skill to stand and the sense not to rush in are moved to the main battle line as Tactical Marines, the Bloodclaws and Skyclaws are the Wolves' newest recruits, being both young and stupid enough to try CrazyEnoughToWork tactics. By contrast, their Long Fangs are much OlderAndWiser, having abandoned the GlorySeeker ways of their youth. |
| 249 | ** ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'' gives these two quotes: |
| 250 | --->Foolish are those who fear nothing, yet claim to know everything.\ |
| 251 | Brave are they who know everything yet fear nothing. |
| 252 | ** The Tyranids are similar -- while they aren't capable of feeling fear, they can and do retreat if the ZergRush tactic doesn't seem to be working. In fact, it might be said that "fearless" in most 40K terms is not synonymous with "lacking common sense". The vast majority of 'nids probably do fall into this trope, but only in the sense that without their psychic synapse creatures to guide them, they are little more intelligent than dogs. |
| 253 | ** The (pre-6th edition)[[note]]They're no longer an example from 6th ed onwards: Their mooks' feelings are dulled but not completely, and fear is pretty much the only one strong enough to poke through the haze.[[/note]] Necron codex explains that while they don't actually feel fear, they still need to take morale tests for pinning and such because the best tactical move would be to stay down. |
| 254 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'': |
| 255 | ** Over in classic ''Warhammer'', frenzied units often fall into this due to UnstoppableRage -- units with frenzy are totally immune to psychology effects like terror or panic and get bonus attacks, but at the same time, they automatically surge forward at enemy units, even when this would involve running through [[QuicksandSucks Hollywood Quicksand]], over a cliff, into a necropolis occupied by swarms of the undead, or into a position where a unit of [[BlackKnight Chaos Knights]] led by [[HeroKiller Archaon, Lord of the End Times]] has a flank charge open. Of course the survivors lose their Frenzy after suffering a bad round of combat, but against some opponents, that's not going to leave a whole lot of sadder but wiser units. |
| 256 | ** Also in the fantasy version, we have Dwarf Slayers who intentionally invoke this in-universe. Occasionally, a dwarf will do something that so destroys his honor (like, say, leading a troop into a blazingly obvious trap that kills everyone else) that their only recourse is ritual suicide; not [[{{Seppuku}} quietly in their own homes]], of course, but rather by finding [[DeathSeeker the largest, most dangerous thing in the land and charging at it shirtless with a hand-axe]]. They ''start'' as Troll Slayers, and eventually move up to Giant, Dragon or Daemon slayers. Note that these aren't badges of armor; they're warnings to not come between this orange-mohawked ball of death and something large and nasty enough to actually kill them. This is because the dwarves are ''so'' [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame stubborn as an entire race]], that they're psychologically incapable of suicide in any other fashion than "at the hands of a ridiculously dangerous enemy". [[spoiler: Gotrek, the most famous Slayer and most "successful" was only finally killed when the entire universe was destroyed by the Chaos Gods, and even then it's implied he was resurrected as one of the new Dwarven Pantheon.]] |
| 257 | ** Units with the "Stupidity" rule are also immune to psychology (fear and terror effects). They are literally too dumb to realize they should be frightened. |
| 258 | * ''TableTopGame/MagicTheGathering'': Knights of Embereth, one of the five courts of Eldraine, [[ZigZaggingTrope zig-zag this]]; they believe courage to be the highest and most important virtue, and as such refuse to carry shields, and take on especially dangerous or frightening quests, ''especially'' ones that require them to face their own personal fears. However, they're not ''stupid''. They know full well that recklessness is not courage, and is in fact a good way to get yourself killed; instead, view fear as a motivating force, and a few even learn to channel it into a rare form of magic called "phobomancy." A favored saying of theirs is "Fear is proof that foe is worthy of the end of your lance." |
| 259 | [[/folder]] |
| 260 | |
| 261 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 262 | * [[Music/RichardWagner Wagner]]'s ''Siegfried''. Wagner explicitly described him as The Boy Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was (the name of an old fairy tale). And it's what kills him in the end... |
| 263 | [[/folder]] |
| 264 | |
| 265 | [[folder:Theme Parks]] |
| 266 | * In ''Ride/TheAmazingAdventuresOfSpiderMan'' at Ride/UniversalStudios, the guests themselves are this in the context of the ride's story, where they all willingly agree to go out into the city that's currently infested with some of Spider-Man's most deadly villains just to get J. Jonah Jameson the scoop on what's happening out there. |
| 267 | [[/folder]] |
| 268 | |
| 269 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 270 | * In ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', almost ''nobody'' is safe from Kazooie's wisecracks and snarks. This includes larger and scarier bosses and this often always gets the duo into trouble. Especially for [[CowardlyLion Banjo]] who would rather settle things peacefully than fight. |
| 271 | * In ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'', any hero with the "Risk Taker" quirk becomes this, gaining increased damage but also having reduced Dodge. The Ancestor will also sometimes warn you ''not'' to become one of these. |
| 272 | -->''"Remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer."'' |
| 273 | * ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': The Lancer storyline revolves around this. Guildmaster Ywain teaches [[PlayerCharacter adventurers]] that a lancer must have courage in order to effectively fulfill [[DamagerHealerTank their role as a damage dealer]]; he specifically points out that courage is ''not'' an absence of fear, but a combination of composure and resolve. In contrast, the questline's antagonist, Foulques, wholeheartedly believes that true courage is the willingness to throw yourself into danger sight unseen. Ywain decries Foulques' mindset as "vainglorious tripe", [[spoiler:and Foulques ends up proving him right in the Level 20 and 30 quests, when he finds himself outmatched (by [[FullBoarAction the Lord of the Bramble Patch]] at Lv.20 and [[MoralEventHorizon upon challenging the player]] at Lv.30) and shows that for all his showboating, he is not as immune to fear as he would like to think]]. |
| 274 | * Boyfriend and Girlfriend from ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin'' take on demons, [[VideoGame/{{Pico}} red-headed hitmen,]] and [[EldritchAbomination eldritch abominations]] with nothing less than optimism and unbridled cheer. The only thing that either of them actually seems to be afraid of is thunder, which is especially hilarious when you can see Girlfriend freaking out over it in the background during Week 2, and not over the [[HumanoidAbomination giant, terrifying lemon-headed monster]] bleeding from its eyes and mouth [[SkewedPriorities that her boyfriend is currently rap battling.]] |
| 275 | * ''[[VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4 God of War]]'', Magni and Móði have this combined with a bit of SuicidalOverconfidence. The two of them were fated to survive the events of Ragnarok itself so they're completely convinced that they are invincible. As far as they are concerned they have nothing to fear from some random dude and his kid. [[spoiler:[[MuggingTheMonster Big mistake]]]]. After [[OutsideContextProblem Kratos]] axes [[spoiler:Magni]], this attitude goes into a complete 180 and turns [[spoiler:Móði]] into a DirtyCoward who runs whenever the tables are turned on him. |
| 276 | * ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'': The Thirteenth Precept of [[SelfProclaimedKnight Zote]] [[BoisterousWeakling the Mighty]] is 'Never Be Afraid'. As he explains it, feeling fear can only hold you back, [[FaceYourFears facing your fears]] takes too much effort, so you should just not be afraid in the first place. Zote follows this precept faithfully by being only irritated in such situations as being chewed on by a Vengefly King, facing the Knight in single combat, and being webbed up in Deepnest. [[UngratefulBastard And showing no gratitude to the Knight for saving him in these situations.]] |
| 277 | * The eponymous Kerbals of ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'' are fearless enough to want to go to space and foolish enough to fly there in the spacecraft you built. Special mention goes to Jebediah Kerman, Valentina Kerman, and any random 10% of the white-suit Kerbals, all of whom bear a hidden "[=BadS=] = true" attribute -- these men and women will ''never'' show any trepidation about the craft, its [[MadeOfExplodium current]] [[StuffBlowingUp explodiness]] or trajectory. They will all wear their same gleeful smiles all the way to whatever landing awaits them. Jebediah's Steam trading card [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this perfectly. |
| 278 | -->''Fearless? Brainless? Who can tell?'' |
| 279 | * In ''VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar'', this is brought up in a general's speech, when he describes anyone who is genuinely not afraid before a battle as a "moon-struck fool." |
| 280 | * ''[[VideoGame/MightAndMagic Might & Magic VIII]]'', with the artifact Berserker Belt. It raises the Might stat to obscene levels and grants immunity to fear... at the considerable expense of both Accuracy and Armor Class. The trope is mentioned in the FlavorText, describing the belt as a failed attempt to create an ultimate warrior. |
| 281 | * ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'': |
| 282 | ** In ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter3Tri'', part of the reason why the Great Jaggi and the smaller Jaggis that accompany it are the series ButtMonkey is a combination of this, BullyingADragon, and TooDumbToLive. It has a tendency to pick fights they can't win, even in large numbers. This contrasts the Great Maccao, its replacement in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterGenerations'' which is a DirtyCoward that tends to avoid any real danger. |
| 283 | ** In ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterWorld'', this spot is taken by Odogaron, a huge, lean, speedy dog-thing with way too many claws. Odogaron is a legitimately dangerous monster, being the apex predator of the Rotten Vale and is so vicious it can shred most other monsters it gets into fights with... but it will also pick fights with Deviljho (who will [[HumiliationConga pick it up and use it like a chew toy]]), and Vaal Hazak (the resident Elder Dragon, who fends off Odogaron with its passive defenses). |
| 284 | * ''VideoGame/OrcsMustDie'': |
| 285 | ** The player character. Throughout the levels, he constantly shows no fear and continues to taunt the invading Orcs, despite the fact that the world appears doomed as there are not enough Warmages to stop the Orcs. |
| 286 | --->'''Old Warmage:''' Now she's bound the numberless horde to her will and returns to teach the Order harsh lessons in humility and subservience. But she's in for a surprise; I'm reasonably sure my apprentice is unteachable. |
| 287 | ** The Old Warmage shows a bit of grudging respect for his Apprentice in the end, admitting that the Apprentice was the only member of the Order brave enough, or foolish enough, [[spoiler:to sacrifice magic to save the world]]. |
| 288 | * ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' has this in the form of fairies. |
| 289 | ** Justified with the Spellcard rules making official fights nonlethal, but you would think that, given that fighting is still ''painful'', to the point where even true immortals just give up rather than keep getting hurt, some fairies would learn not to die in relentless RedshirtArmy wave attacks at heroines who are functionally impossible for a [[{{Mooks}} basic nameless fairy]] to kill, [[ConservationOfNinjutsu no matter the odds]], especially since some don't even have offensive powers, and essentially can only harm a heroine by simply standing there as the heroine blindly collides with her. As a justification for the fearlessness (if not the aggression in the first place), fairies have lives tied to nature, and as long as nature exists, they will regenerate FromASingleCell. |
| 290 | ** Cirno deserves special mention. In spite of being a fairly weak character (normally), she proudly boasts about how she's "The Strongest" (of the fairies, which isn't saying much, as most fairies are weaker than unpowered ordinary humans), and trying to prove it by repeatedly challenging beings far more powerful than herself, even though those characters have already easily curb-stomped her in the past. Apparently, TheFogOfAges is on extra strength for Cirno, and she can't remember the numerous humiliating defeats she seems to suffer on a regular basis. |
| 291 | ** Likewise, though a heroine herself and of formidable power, Marisa Kirisame is an [[EmpoweredBadassNormal ordinary magician]] in a realm full of living goddesses and freakishly powerful monsters, performing such feats as casually stealing from ancient vampires, challenging goddesses to fights, stealing spells from Youkai that ''Cirno'' is able to recognize are very dangerous, and threatening to skin a live tiger. Suffice to say, the spellcard system has likely been the only thing keeping her alive. |
| 292 | [[/folder]] |
| 293 | |
| 294 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 295 | * In ''VisualNovel/SpiritHunterNG'', some of Akira's more reckless actions -- such as continuing to stay in an apartment that he knows is haunted -- are attributed to his unwillingness to be scared of the spirits that are haunting him. |
| 296 | [[/folder]] |
| 297 | |
| 298 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 299 | * ''WebAnimation/DSBTInsaniT'': TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior aside, Bear doesn't seem to notice when in a situation that will get him killed, as long as there is some fun to be had with it. |
| 300 | * Downplayed in the case of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'''s Clover Ebi. His Semblance is Good Luck, meaning that the odds are always tilted in his favor. While he's not completely reckless, he always straddles the line between confidence and arrogance, doing things that would otherwise end badly like tossing a dust crystal in a mine full of unstable crystals, or falling out of an airship when there are flying Grimm in the air. [[spoiler: He pushes his luck, literally, when arrest orders for Qrow go out, and he decides that he can take on both Qrow ''and'' Tyrian at the same time. Unsurprisingly, he dies by the end of the episode.]] |
| 301 | * ''WebAnimation/{{Shrapnel}}'': The Ugandan Knuckles warrior pride gives them a sort of bravery that makes them kinda dumb at times, rushing off on their own and putting themselves in danger. [[DumbassHasAPoint Sometimes]] their assessment of the situation actually isn’t half bad, such as the Commandah doing recon without telling Reznya first, but only because he’s seen firsthand how terrifyingly effective she is in combat and trusts that she will get to him in time if he calls for help. It also can lead to cases of them BullyingADragon with [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe predictably bad results.]] |
| 302 | [[/folder]] |
| 303 | |
| 304 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 305 | * In ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', Ysengrin says something to this effect when Antimony admits she was scared during a fight. |
| 306 | -->'''Annie:''' In truth, Ysengrin, I was scared back there.\ |
| 307 | '''Ysengrin:''' Haha. Good. Scared is good. It sharpens your senses, increases your resolve. |
| 308 | * Five Waves Fury in ''Webcomic/KeychainOfCreation'' has a Valor score of 5...and doesn't it just show. All characters have four Virtues: Compassion, Conviction, Temperance and Valor. Each Virtue is ranked from 1 to 5, with 1 being low and 5 being ''extremely'' high. In fact, a Virtue of 4 or above is overpowering, and compels someone to action (or inaction) ''even if they know it's a bad idea''. In the case of Fury, her absurdly high Valor means she is scared of nothing, not even her [[EldritchAbomination Deathlord]] boss, [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The First and Forsaken Lion]]. |
| 309 | * ''Webcomic/NoRestForTheWicked'': The Boy. (Since he's The Boy Who Set Out to Learn What Fear Was, and TheFool -- what a surprise.) |
| 310 | * ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'' provides the current page picture with [[http://oglaf.com/withsympathy/ this strip]], where an EmotionEater wraith eats the character's fear. |
| 311 | * In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Miko Miyazaki calls [[BigBad Xykon]] (a lich) an unholy abomination. [[TheDragon Redcloak]] [[BreakThemByTalking proceeds to explain why Xykon's far more natural than she is.]] Specifically, he became a lich to continue to survive, survival being a basic instinct. Miko, however, has a class feature removing fear, which Redcloak argues is such a fundamental instinct that the act of removing it makes the paladin far more unnatural than Xykon. |
| 312 | * In one strip of ''Webcomic/PixieAndBrutus'', Pixie finds a porcupine whom she assumes to be upset about the stereotypes of it pricking those who come near it and decides to hug it in affection in spite of the porcupines insistence that those stereotypes are accurate and that he will in fact spike her if she even tries to hug him. Fortunately, Brutus arrives in time to [[TakingTheBullet take the spikes himself]], but he does [[AngerBornOfWorry chew her out for such recklessness]]. |
| 313 | * Tikoloteo from ''Webcomic/RestauranteMacoatl'', fits this trope perfectly he usually takes the most dangerous path, even worst because he used to be a Tour guide. |
| 314 | * Jareth in ''Webcomic/{{Roommates}}'' is thought to be this in-universe. In reality, he acts this way because he is so [[BewareTheSillyOnes powerful]] that he rarely is in any actual danger (if he looks concerned OhCrap is on the horizon) so he is an inversion. |
| 315 | -->'''Jareth:''' [[http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-27-Karaoke-Pt-2-74546486 C'mon]] [[AxCrazy Erik]]. ... [[IShallTauntYou Where's your artistic integrity?]]\ |
| 316 | '''James:''' [[DeadpanSnarker Vacationing in Guam with your sense of self-preservation]] [[LampshadeHanging apparently]]. |
| 317 | * Rak from ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod''. In a test where the wrong decision would cost his head, he figures that the lack of clues must have meant that he had to gamble. That was one of his smarter moves. |
| 318 | * In ''Webcomic/YokokasQuest'', after Yokoka has finished her training in the underground village, she [[BloodKnight just wants to fight]], without regard for how dangerous her opponent may be. |
| 319 | [[/folder]] |
| 320 | |
| 321 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 322 | * Vax of ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' uses the line between "brave" and "foolhardy" like a skipping rope, frequently [[LeeroyJenkins rushing into dangerous situations without waiting for backup]], [[AttackAttackAttack going toe-to-toe against much stronger enemies]], or [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking pranking the goliath barbarian]]. He generally [[DopeSlap hears]] [[PunctuatedPounding about]] [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou it]] from the rest of the party after the fact. |
| 323 | * Rob from the web fiction serial ''Literature/DimensionHeroes'' seems to go out of his way to pick fights with Creturians who invade his city. |
| 324 | * ''WebVideo/LeeroyJenkinsVideo'': Leeroy certainly doesn't care that he's aggroing a lot of whelps that can lead to his death. All he cares about is that he's not chicken and will face those threats singlehandedly without any silly plans. Time's up, let's do this, '''LEEROOOOOOOOY JEEEEEENKIIINNNNSSS!!!''' |
| 325 | * Denied by ''Blog/ThingsMrWelchIsNoLongerAllowedToDoInAnRPG'': |
| 326 | -->374. I am not to combine the advantage Fearless and the disadvantage Curious in the same character again. |
| 327 | [[/folder]] |
| 328 | |
| 329 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 330 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Arcane}}'': Going hand-in-hand with some of her {{Fatal Flaw}}s, Vi has a tendency to just jump into action and start punching people. She never shows any hesitation in starting a fight even when she knows she's outmanned and outgunned. This has some seriously negative consequences for her. Though on the flip side of this, Vi is only fearless when it comes to herself, when it comes to others, especially those she cares about, she can often become distracted and overwhelmed by fear of them being harmed. |
| 331 | * Sterling Archer from ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'' often displays nearly suicidal levels of overconfidence and certainty that whatever he does will work out with no consequences for him, no matter the odds against him. This frequently leads him to charge headfirst into danger against the advice of other, more level headed people, and be shocked when he needs to be saved from his own recklessness. This and his [[ManChild general immaturity]] are probably his greatest flaws. |
| 332 | * ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'': Paco lampshades this as applied to the ComicBook/{{Green Lantern}}s, saying that "a man without fear has a ''serious mental condition''." |
| 333 | * A ''WesternAnimation/{{Bonkers}}'' short has a messenger service with Fawn Deer as the clerk and a customer comes in wanting their most fearless rider to deliver his item. Fawn Deer notes "Our most fearless rider is right over there," and points to a grave, complete with headstone; when the customer reacts into confusion and Fawn notes in complete earnestness, "Sometimes, it's smart to show a little fear!" |
| 334 | * ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'': Jack Fenton to a tee. He has a very bad habit of rushing off into battle whenever a ghost appears. Unfortunately he's only semi-competent when it comes to fighting, being he's the BumblingDad and all. He's often saved either through his [[TheHero superpowered]] [[SecretIdentity son]] or just plain luck. Though once in a blue moon, he will show above-average skills. |
| 335 | * ''WesternAnimation/DaveTheBarbarian'' suffered this while wearing [[Literature/TheRedBadgeOfCourage the Red Sweater of Courage]]. He becomes so confident and fearless, he arranged for three of his worst enemies to team up against him to give himself a challenge. Rather than think of a plan to beat them as he normally would, Dave just charged in head first and got pummeled for it. [[DetrimentalDetermination Repeatedly]]. |
| 336 | * Dewey Duck in ''WesternAnimation/Ducktales2017'' takes after his mother's love of adventuring. And her impulsiveness as well, unfortunately, which often causes him to rush headfirst into danger without ever considering the consequences. In the very first episode, he tries to dance through a laser grid and, predictably, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome triggers every single trap]]. The only reason he survives is that his uncle Donald is nearby and prepared to disable them before he's hurt. |
| 337 | * An episode of ''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim'' where Jim ends up in a world similar to ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', where all his friends and enemies play the roles of the characters, has the Hamsternator playing the role of the Cowardly Lion... However, instead of always being afraid, he never feels any fear whatsoever, leading him to do outlandish, dangerous things that almost always end with him getting injured. This includes running out in front of an (offscreen) big truck. |
| 338 | * Invoked in ''WesternAnimation/FatDogMendoza''. As Fat Dog himself puts it, "Being fearless and being dumb usually go hand-in-hand." |
| 339 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheGhostAndMollyMcgee'': In "F.O.N.A.A.", Scratch decides to curse Molly with fearlessness for twenty-four hours, mostly so she'll get over her fear of the creepy mascot of the local dentist's office. It backfires when Molly decides to go around recklessly facing her various fears, culminating in Molly [[CatapultToGlory launching herself across town with a trebuchet]]. |
| 340 | * Max Goof from ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'' is very clever when it comes to coming up with ideas. When it comes to thinking the ideas through... not so much. Over the course of the series, he wanted to help a baby bear find its parents, go to the big city unsupervised, skate on a ramp that even a famous professional thought was too dangerous, try to save his dad from TheMafia by himself, among other things. He treats his [[OnlySaneMan more sensible]] friend, PJ, as TheDragAlong. In multiple episodes, Max ends up in [[DistressedDude serious danger]] because he was being too careless. |
| 341 | -->'''Max:''' Remember the three rules of camping. Be clean, be courteous, and be careful. Helping this little guy is the ''courteous'' thing to do.\ |
| 342 | '''PJ:''' You let me know when we hit that part about "careful". |
| 343 | * In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Hilda}}'' two Viking clans are fighting over a medallion that makes those who touch it lose their fear. Each night they fight over it, and the next night both clans are resurrected and they fight again. Whichever clan has the medallion inevitably loses the fight and gets slaughtered by the other clan, because completely removing their fear and caution makes them fight recklessly, while the clan who doesn't have possession of the medallion fights with better tactics and prevails. |
| 344 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': Violasse keeps running head-first into bad situations because she's curious to explore new places and lacks the intelligence to realize that she's in danger, and the danger is augmented by her [[BornUnlucky terrible luck]]. |
| 345 | * ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': Chloé's mother, [[RichBitch Audrey Bourgeois]], isn't fazed in front of Akumatized people, even though she definitely should be. It's not exactly bravery on her part; it's just that Audrey is so arrogant that the idea that things might go poorly for her doesn't even register, and she has no sense of danger as a result. |
| 346 | * ''WesternAnimation/MollyOfDenali'': "Molly and the Great One" introduces Mac [=McFadden=], a celebrity outdoorsman who has done multiple dangerous stunts, including diving into an active volcano. In the special, [[spoiler:he tries to make it to the top of Denali amidst a blizzard and to make a long story short, it does not go well, and by the end, his leg is in a cast]]. |
| 347 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Rainbow Dash is the most willing to face whatever conflict happens in an episode, but her brashness when trying to solve the problem has her make impulsive decisions that more-or-less make the problem worst than it was. |
| 348 | * In ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries The New Batman Adventures]]'' episode "[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE6NeverFear Never Fear]]", the Scarecrow creates a toxin that ''removes'' fears and inhibitions, making everyone who falls under its influence -- Batman for one -- thoroughly reckless... and worse. In Batman's case, it also renders him rather heartless, as he no longer fears what will happen if he breaks [[ThouShaltNotKill his own rule]] and murders a criminal. The writers thus make the point that fear is ''necessary'' to the very survival of civilization, as it keeps people from acting on their worst impulses most of the time; we would ''not'' want to be around to see what would happen if Scarecrow had succeeded in turning ''everybody'' in Gotham into fearless fools with his gas as he was threatening to do. |
| 349 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'': |
| 350 | ** Mort, the butt-monkey of the show doesn't feel pain because, according to [[TheSmartGuy Kowalski]], he's simply not aware that he's in danger. |
| 351 | ** An episode has the penguins deal with [[DoofyDodo a dodo]] cloned from Kowalski's inventions from a feather they mistook to be from an extinct species of penguin that they wanted to fight on their team. Although the penguins found his fearlessness appealing at first, they very soon realize that with fearlessness comes a complete and utter disregard for personal safety as the dodo repeatedly gets himself killed in a variety of ways, forcing the penguins to resurrect him numerous times.[[note]]One of the factors contributing to the dodo's extinction was the fact that there were no predators on the island they lived on until humans showed up. They adapted no defenses against predators and were flightless so you can probably guess how well that combination ended...[[/note]] |
| 352 | * ''WesternAnimation/RocketPower'' features the rebellious Otto Rocket, a CompetitionFreak who is willing to take risks even under the warning of how dangerous it could be. Unsurprisingly, he would pay for his foolishness every time. |
| 353 | * ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo:'' When faced with a monster Scrappy Doo always says "Let me at 'em!" and punches the air, while Shaggy and Scooby grab him and run. |
| 354 | ** Averted a few times like in "The Nutcracker Scoob", Scrappy has zero problem defeating a cat that's bigger than him and throwing it right out the building. He also dispatches a larger human Farquard in ''Boo Brothers''. |
| 355 | ** Also averted in "South Seas Scare" [[spoiler:''where he throws an honest-to-goodness lava monster back into the volcano at the end of the short'']]. |
| 356 | ** Not to mention at the end of "The Scarab Lives!" he manages to get a one-up on The titular Scarab by jumping on his head and holding his paws over the Scarab's eyes, allowing, Shaggy and Scooby to barrel into them and subdue the Scarab. |
| 357 | ** At the end of "The Ghoul, The Bat, and The Ugly" when the MonsterOfTheWeek tries escaping through a revolving door, Scrappy runs after him and spams it so that it spins it right back out again and causes it to crash into a pool table. |
| 358 | --->'''Velma:''' You got him alright, Scrappy! Right behind the 8-Ball! |
| 359 | ** Also, in "Mummy's The Word", where Scrappy takes on a bunch of crocodiles by leaping from croc to croc, forcing each one's mouth shut. |
| 360 | ** Subverted in "Gem of a Case", where Scrappy hears Shaggy out after he's pulled back. |
| 361 | ** And in "The Chinese Food Factory", made a lasso out of nothing but cooked noodles to catch the main antagonist. It worked. |
| 362 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'': The Tick himself is [[NighInvulnerability Nigh-Invulnerable]] and ''completely insane''. This means that no amount of danger can stop him from serving the evildoers a hot justice sandwich [[{{Metaphorgotten}} (no toppings necessary!)]] |
| 363 | * Hank Venture from ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'', as opposed to his CowardlyLion brother Dean. He idolized his bodyguard Brock Samson and tries to emulate him whenever he can. Unfortunately for him, Brock is an ultra-violent badass and SociopathicHero, leading Hank to make foolishly suicidal choices. |
| 364 | [[/folder]] |
| 365 | |
| 366 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 367 | * [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbach–Wiethe_disease Urbach-Wiethe Disease]] is a very rare condition that causes calcium deposits to form in the amygdala, the part of the brain that controls the fear response. Thus, those with the condition experience no fear or other traumatic symptoms even in dangerous situations such as being held at knifepoint, though they still do recognize intellectually that it is a good idea to (say) get out of the way of oncoming traffic. An interview with one sufferer, identified only as "S.M." for safety reasons, was featured on [=NPR'=]s ''[[http://www.npr.org/2015/01/16/377517810/world-with-no-fear Invisibilia]]'' podcast, describing symptoms that sound remarkably like this trope. |
| 368 | * This is frequently an issue for animals living in isolated ecosystems which are unfamiliar with mainland predators. They do not understand that these are dangerous animals that should be avoided, especially if the environment in which it normally lives has no or few predators to begin with. For example, Antarctic land animals like seals and penguins are comfortable around humans because there are no large land predators on the entire continent. This allowed early explorers to easily kill droves of them simply because they didn't know they should flee. The isolation of the dodos on Mauritius is believed to have contributed to their extinction since they couldn't recognize the sailors and the predatory animals they brought as threats to their well-being. |
| 369 | [[/folder]] |
| 370 |
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