Line #34 Quotes/ProtagonistCenteredMorality


1	[[AC:Fan Works]]
2
3	->Hello, [[Series/TheAvengers1960s Emma]] dear. Let me begin by thanking you for [[OutWithABang the most wonderful death a womanizing government hitman could ask for]]. Oh, so sorry, you should instead be focusing on how good you feel. After all, your loved ones have all been properly avenged. [[VengeanceFeelsEmpty Granted, they’re all still dead]], [[AllForNothing and you’ve done nothing to stop my work as M]]. But that’s not important. What’s important is that you did what hundreds of terrorists and war profiteers could not. You deprived England of her greatest defender. [[VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine Do you feel like a hero yet?]]
4	-->--[[Literature/JamesBond Jimmy]] [[DeadManWriting via tape]], ''Fanfic/LeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemenTempestRewrite''
5
6	->'''[[WhatMeasureIsAMook Kangaroo miner]]:''' ''(about to be force-fed to a crocodile)'' '''''PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!'''''\
7	'''Murray:''' Hey, guys? You think we might be going a bit too far this time?\
8	'''Sly:''' Relax, Murray! [[BreakingTheFourthWall We're the main characters.]] We're always in the right no matter what we do. Just like [[Series/StarTrekVoyager Captain Janeway]]!\
9	'''Bentley:''' [[DeadpanSnarker Well, we can now officially add premeditated murder to our list of crimes.]]
10	-->-- [[https://www.furaffinity.net/view/36991255 Fan art]] based on ''Franchise/SlyCooper''
11
12	[[AC:Films -- Animation]]
13
14	->We've done a lot of things we're not proud of--robbin' graves, plunderin' tombs, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking double parking]]... but nobody got hurt! ({{Beat}}) Well, maybe somebody got hurt, but nobody we ''knew''...
15	-->--'''Vinny''', ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire''
16
17	[[AC:Films -- Live-Action]]
18
19	->Our God...[[GodIsEvil is not good. He is not good, He was not ever good. He was only on our side]].
20	-->--'''Rabbi''' on ''The Torah'', ''Film/GodOnTrial''
21
22	[[AC:Literature]]
23
24	->It was so dark when I entered the Coach that I could not distinguish the Number of my Fellow-travellers; I could only perceive that they were Many...'What an illiterate villain must that Man be! (thought I to myself) What a total want of delicate refinement must he have, who can thus shock our senses by such a brutal Noise! He must, I am certain, be capable of every bad action! There is no crime too black for such a Character!' Thus reasoned I within myself, and doubtless such were the reflections of my fellow travelers.
25	-->--'''Creator/JaneAusten''', ''Literature/LoveAndFreindship''
26
27	->"...and then [[Literature/JackAndTheBeanstalk Jack]] chopped down the beanstalk, adding murder and ecological vandalism to the theft, enticement and trespass charges already mentioned, but he got away with it and lived happily ever after without so much as a guilty twinge about what he had done. Which proves that you can be excused anything if you're a hero, because no one asks inconvenient questions."
28	-->--'''Susan''', ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}''
29
30	[[AC:Music]]
31
32	->''I'm that first person they talk about in all the books\
33	I'm that perspective you cannot doubt, see how I look\
34	Control the narrative reliably, baby, it's all about me\
35	And I wrote the book about throwing the book at those who don't do it by it''
36	-->--Music/WillWood, "The Main Character"
37
38	[[AC:Video Games]]
39
40	->'''Sam:''' ''(holding a time bomb)'' Max, where should I put this so it doesn't hurt anyone we know or care about?\
41	'''Max:''' Out the window, Sam! There's nothing but strangers out there.\
42	''(Sam throws the bomb out the window; shortly thereafter, it explodes)''\
43	'''Sam:''' ...I hope there was nobody on that bus.\
44	'''Max:''' Nobody we know at least.
45	-->-- ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxHitTheRoad''
46
47	[[AC:Web Animation]]
48
49	->''"...Need to make a clear distinction between good and evil characters? MarySue makes it easy! If a character disagrees with her, then they are most certainly a bad guy, while all those who agree with her are one hundred percent virtuous without fail. This removes any character who could call out MarySue for her mistakes, which she never makes, so it isn't needed."''
50	-->-- '''WebAnimation/TerribleWritingAdvice - [[https://youtu.be/YhrfhQbY0K8 MARY SUE]]'''
51
52	->'''Android 17:''' You know something I don't get? ''You'' try to kill Goku and that's fine. ''We'' try to kill Goku and suddenly, you get all uppity.\
53	'''Piccolo:''' True, but when I did it, it was for revenge. You're just doing it [[ForTheEvulz for shits and giggles.]]\
54	'''Android 17:''' Tell you what, you live a few years in stasis with your creator repeating the words "Kill Goku" over and over again in your subconsious, then you can ride that high horse all day long.
55	-->-- '''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'''
56
57	[[AC:Web Comics]]
58
59	->'''[[DisposableFiance Burt]]:''' I came all the way out here to get you and you're cheating on me?\
60	'''Nick:''' He has a point...\
61	'''Carol:''' No!! I choose Nick! He's kind and has stubble and good arms and doesn't spend all my money on Seamless while I'm at work- And he made me remember how '''magical''' Christmas can be!\
62	'''Burt:''' I mean yeah but it's still cheating.\
63	'''Carol:''' IT'S CHRISTMAS MAGIC SO IT DOESN'T COUNT!!
64	-->--[[https://storygirl000.tumblr.com/post/636339164354428928/dilfosaur-i-realized-this-was-also-lost-in-the This]] parody of your typical Christmas Rom-Com MadeForTVMovie.
65
66	->'''Garland:''' And what kind of tactics do you generally employ?\
67	'''Fighter:''' Oh, we usually murder our way to the top and claim victory whilst astride a pile of mangled bodies.\
68	'''Garland:''' I see...\
69	'''Fighter:''' But we're heroes, so it's okay when '''we''' do that.
70	-->-- '''Webcomic/EightBitTheater''' spelling out this trope [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2005/05/10/episode-551-so-close-and-yet-so-far/ here.]]
71
72	[[AC:Web Original]]
73
74	->I get that we are establishing this to be a brutal world where no weakness can be shown. Fine. But you're still trying to create drama that appeals to an audience that does not live in that world. When a character kills like it's goin' out of style, do not ask me to sympathize when they themselves - or someone close to them - is being threatened with death. 'Cos that just makes them hypocrites. They're saying "This is the only death anyone should care about because this one adversely affects me."
75	-->-- '''Creator/BenCroshaw''' [[https://www.escapistmagazine.com/killing-is-too-easy/ on]] murderous protagonists in modern video games
76
77	->Actually, I wanted that process of assumptions-breaking-down to be simultaneous, so while we learn that Laurent is more than simply a villain, we also learn that Damen is not harmlessly heroic. That was harder to do, to be honest. Particularly when I was writing the first book, I underestimated the power of protagonist-centric morality. Readers would just accept Damen's view of the world because he was the protagonist. I had to work hard to break it down. There's a scene in Captive Prince where Damen explains the slavery system in his country. He explains how well the slaves are treated, how well the system works. It was supposed to demonstrate [[MoralMyopia how mired he was in his cultural context]], but instead, a lot of readers simply bought it. "If Damen's saying it's okay, then it's okay." I learned that the protagonist's moral viewpoint is frighteningly powerful.\
78	But I think that is exactly the reason why I am drawn to subvert it.
79	-->-- "Guest Post: ''Literature/CaptivePrince'' author C.S. Pacat" ([[https://web.archive.org/web/20180409082428/badassbookreviews.com/guest-post-captive-prince-author-c-s-pacat/ Archive]])
80
81	[[AC:Web Videos]]
82
83	->The military tries to kill Gamera, but there's a kid named Toshiro who won't have it. He loves Gamera! Why? To begin with, he just loves turtles, like the famous internet meme, but this kid is the original. He has a good reason at least, because Gamera saved his life. But Gamera pretty much kills everybody else, so Toshiro's just a selfish shithead.
84	-->--'''Creator/JamesRolfe''' on ''Film/GiantMonsterGamera''
85
86	->"There's this weird little subplot that's been going on where Finn and Rey are like low-key shaming Poe for being a criminal. Like he keeps doing these illicit things and then they're like [[WhatTheHellHero "Hey man, what the fuck? How do you know how to hotwire a ship?]] And I'm thinking, why do you guys even care that much? You've all stolen shit before. ''You all do illegal things all the time!'' I wonder, Finn, was anything that you did on [[Film/TheLastJedi this planet]] ''[[ArmorPiercingQuestion legal?!?]]'' You didn't give this guy [[labelnote: Note]] Han Solo[[/labelnote]] shit for doing illegal stuff? Why do you care all of a sudden? And shit you guys all murder people! It's actually kind of weird how you revel in your kills in [[Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker this movie]]. Why are you cheering?!? He probably had a family! Star Wars really likes to do the [[HeelFaceTurn stormtrooper turned good guy story]] nowadays so it's just more noticeable here, I guess. I find it really weird that out of all of these movies, Finn never brings up the fact that he's now killing his old co-workers."
87	-->-- '''WebVideo/TheCosmonautVarietyHour''' on ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker''
88
89	[[AC:Real Life]]
90
91	->Since the nuclear stalemate became apparent, the Governments of East and West have adopted the policy which Mr. Dulles calls 'brinkmanship'. This is a policy adapted from a sport which, I am told, is practiced by some youthful degenerates. This sport is called 'Chicken!'. It is played by choosing a long straight road with a white line down the middle and starting two very fast cars toward each other from opposite ends. Each car is expected to keep the wheels on one side of the white line. As they approach each other, mutual destruction becomes more and more imminent. If one of them swerves from the white line before the other, the other, as they pass, shouts 'Chicken!', and the one who has swerved becomes an object of contempt. As played by irresponsible boys, this game is considered decadent and immoral, though only the lives of the players are risked. But when the game is played by eminent statesmen, who risk not only their own lives but those of many hundreds of millions of human beings, it is thought on both sides that the statesmen on one side are displaying a high degree of wisdom and courage, and only the statesmen on the other side are reprehensible. This, of course, is absurd. Both are to blame for playing such an incredibly dangerous game. The game may be played without misfortune a few times, but sooner or later it will come to be felt that loss of face is more dreadful than nuclear annihilation. The moment will come when neither side can face the derisive cry of 'Chicken!' from the other side. When that moment is come, the statesmen of both sides will plunge the world into destruction.
92	-->-- '''Creator/BertrandRussell'''
93
94	->''"If the 'baddy' uses violence, it's to show you how evil he is, and if the 'goody' resorts to violence it's to show you that, although he doesn't like violence, he will defend his friends and his home."''
95	-->-- '''Creator/BrianJacques''' on ''Literature/{{Redwall}}''

Context Quotes / ProtagonistCenteredMorality