Line #26 PlayingWith/ResignedToTheCall


1	'''Basic Trope''': The hero has very little excitement about accepting the CallToAdventure, but does anyway because they believe YouCantFightFate.
2	* '''Straight''':
3	** Arnold, from a desert suburb, is called out of nowhere to become a hero on a major quest. [[GenreSavvy Realizing]] he lives in a DoomedHometown and that [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive his normal life is already over]], he agrees to the adventure he never really wanted.
4	** Arnold's DoomedHometown is struck without warning, and he [[TheCallHasBadReception never received the call beforehand]]. Arnold himself barely survives. Rather than lie forever in {{Wangst}}, he decides to join the epic quest that promises him a meaningful life, even though he never wanted adventure, at least not on the quest's terms.
5	** Arnold has been told his whole life that he's TheChosenOne. In spite of his doubts, he's just come to accept that everyone expects it of him, so he tries to fulfill the role just to please them.
6	* '''Exaggerated''': Arnold and ''all'' his teammates are reluctant participants in the quest, because [[ThrowawayCountry all of them had their hometowns hit without warning]] before they received the call. They end up [[GotVolunteered getting volunteered]] into plenty of sidequests along the way, until they all become [[KnightInSourArmor Knights in Sour Armor]].
7	* '''Downplayed''': Arnold kinda wanted to finish the book he was writing in his spare time, but the CallToAdventure seems far more important so he compiles all his notes he had for the book to leave with a friend and sets off.
8	* '''Justified''':
9	** Arnold has seen what happened to his friend Bob, who [[RefusalOfTheCall refused a similar call]], and how Carol withered away in meaninglessness when she MissedTheCall. He's also seen Dave, who JumpedAtTheCall, get blown to pieces by being careless. He therefore has vowed not to make any decision regarding the Call without thinking it over first.
10	** TheCall employed [[MandatoryUnretirement a little known, rarely used Reserve Activation Clause]] on Arnold.
11	* '''Inverted''': Arnold was DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife, and is forced to proclaim: "TheCallPutMeOnHold" when nothing happens. He takes it badly, and then [[MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds inadvertently]] destroys his hometown himself. And the Call ''still'' rejects him! May lead to him becoming an AntiHero, or it may become his StartOfDarkness.
12	* '''Subverted''': Arnold accepts certain parts of the call more willingly than other parts.
13	* '''Doubly Subverted''': ...and then those parts he does enjoy start coming at a price.
14	* '''Parodied''': No one enjoys the Call. Everyone goes along grudgingly. "No, please no, I like my life how it is" is the ritual statement made by everyone going out to adventure.
15	* '''Averted''': Arnold either refused or jumped at the call. He isn't GenreSavvy enough to be resigned to it.
16	* '''Enforced''': "RefusalOfTheCall is too much like ''Star Wars''! And we don't want him to be naive by jumping at it either...let's have him make an informed, begrudged decision!"
17	* '''Lampshaded''':
18	** "I didn't turn this life down when it came; I no longer had a reason to. Yet, I would not have chosen this life if I still had decent alternatives."
19	** "Okay, the dragon's dead. Can I go home now?"
20	* '''Invoked''': "You may as well just accept it, even if you hate it. It's not like you can avoid it."
21	* '''Exploited''': The prophet knows Arnold is unwilling to accept the CallToAdventure, and so decides not to warn him about [[DoomedHometown his hometown is going to attacked by monsters]] while he's going to go off to gather water at a distant oasis.
22	* '''Defied''': "Having a character in that kind of a situation is [[MindScrew too deep]] for our target audience. And having the town doomed without warning like that is [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath too unsettling]]. [[ExecutiveMeddling We're gonna have to make you change it]] to be more traditional [[TheHerosJourney monomyth]], so that the audience can understand it."
23	* '''Discussed''': "After that, Arnold knew he had two options: wallow in meaninglessness forever, or accept a life he didn't want, but never had the chance to reject outright. All his distractions were eliminated preemptively."
24	* '''Conversed''':
25	--> '''Bob''': Oh, whatever to do? Your friends and family were all nuked while you were away, and nobody thought to tell you until now. I don't suppose you could help us out? What else are you gonna do? It's not like you can avoid it anymore! You don't have to want this; just...understand that you need it.\
26	'''Arnold''': Very well. Let's get it over with, shall we?
27	* '''Deconstructed''':
28	** The quest turns out to be more fun than he ever thought possible, and he can't understand why he ever was so cautious to begin with. In fact, he begins to love it a little [[BloodKnight TOO much]].
29	** Arnold accepts the call grudgingly, and his skepticism turns out to be right. The quest turns out to have been every bit as futile as he imagined, so he commits suicide.
30	* '''Reconstructed''': Arnold accepted the call grudgingly, but after being on his quest for a while, realized that it was as much a spiritual journey of growth as anything else. No matter how badly he fails or how much his skepticism proves to be true, he knows that no amount of failure can rob him of his new-found spiritual growth.
31	----
32	Back to ResignedToTheCall... If we must.
33	----
34	%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
35	%%
36	%%* '''Implied''': ???
37	%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???
38	%%* '''Played For Laughs''': ???

Context PlayingWith / ResignedToTheCall