[[TheTerminator http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Terminator.jpg]]
[[caption-width:200:[[IncrediblyLamePun De Terminator in action]]]]


->''"I don't know the '''meaning''' of the word 'surrender'!... I mean, I know it, I'm not dumb... Just - not in this context."''
-->-- '''TheTick'''

->"''Determination'' - A will of steel. Their determination is supporting them. They won't go down easily."
-->-- [[HajimeNoIppo Miyata Ichiro]]

Every character needs a certain amount of HeroicWillpower, but there are some who take it just too far. The personification of raw perseverance, this is the character - good guy or bad, and usually male [[PluckyGirl (but not always)]] - who never gives up. ''Ever''. No matter what. Whatever other attributes he may possess, his persistence stands out.

There is no stopping the {{Determinator}}. He does not understand patience. He does not KnowWhenToFoldEm. No one can reason with him. No price is too great to pay for success, up to and including his own life (and others'). He'll do [[IDidWhatIHadToDo whatever he has to do]]. Do not expect him to consider he might be better off letting it go, even if [[YouCanBarelyStand he can barely stand]]. Giving up is just not in his nature.

[[TheFettered The nobility of his goal]] is in no way proportionate to his persistence. This is just as often an obsessive rival with a grudge as it is a hero on a chivalrous quest. In such cases, his determination could actually be what makes him [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain sympathetic]].

Whether his super willpower ultimately leads to his victory or destruction tends to depend on his position. For heroes, "hit the villain until he drops" is a virtue that will be rewarded in a MyNameIsInigoMontoya moment - the villain loses simply because the hero is too stubborn to stay down.

For [[AntiHero anti heroes]], it's a sign of why they're too insane to be heroes. [[AntiHero Anti heroes]] tend to lack [[GenreBlindness genre blindness]] in this role, often looking down on their heroic counterparts for whom victory/success comes more easily. This makes the {{Determinator}} hard to fit on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism - at times he seems to stand off to one side of the Scale and reach for both ends at once.

As for villains, especially those heavily influenced by comic book/cartoon cliches, this streak is occasionally written into their usually one-dimensional personality via WeWillMeetAgain. Villainous Determinators often come off as scary-{{badass}}, particularly when they keep [[ImplacableMan implacably coming after the hero]] despite things that by all rights [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat they shouldn't]] [[NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow have survived]], and frequently elicit cries of [[WhyWontYouDie "Why won't you die?!"]]

In any case, you admire his dogged persistence even in the same breath that you might have to say, [[WhatAnIdiot "What an idiot!"]]. There is no line for him between "perseverance" and "insanity."

In {{shonen}} {{anime}}, it's comparatively rare to find a main character who ''isn't'' one of these.

Likewise, practically every scrolling [[ShootEmUp shooter]] [[BossBattle boss]] ever won't give up, even when it's had huge holes blown in it, is trailing smoke and flames, or has mostly fallen apart. In fact, [[TurnsRed it may actually get more powerful as a result]].

A SubTrope of HeroicSpirit (as long as it's a hero of course).

Compare HeroicResolve and the (generally more short-term) UnstoppableRage. Includes the ImplacableMan, DoomedMoralVictor and WellIntentionedExtremist. Quite commonly, he will also be the BadassNormal. Prone to ScrewDestiny and continue fighting when [[NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow normally, he should be dead now]]. LawfulStupidChaoticStupid characters often act in this fashion. AttackAttackAttack is the fight-specific (and often unmotivated) version of this. Among the characters who most frequently prove to be TheUnfettered, though it's also a frequent trait of TheFettered as well. The PluckyGirl is a slightly variant DistaffCounterpart of this trope, where the heroine ''might'' have a breakdown at some point, but will inevitably get back up and be even more unstoppable than before. The SuperPersistentPredator will never give up either, even/especially when it has every reason to go pursue something else.

Generally, it's a good idea to [[NeverTellMeTheOdds Never Tell Them The Odds]]. They tend to have no idea [[KnowWhenToFoldEm when to fold 'em.]] If you're ever kidnapped or lost, count on TheDeterminator being the one [[IWillFindYou who will find you.]]

----
!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: {{Advertising}} ]]
* The Duracell/Energizer bunny. It keeps going and going and going...
* The [[TheWoobie Trix rabbit]].
** Those kids who chase Lucky for his Lucky Charms as well.
*** For that matter, Toucan Sam, Sonny the Cuckoo Bird, Chip the Dog/Wolf, and most other kids cereal mascots.
* In Brasil there was once a series of advertisements of people getting better in life that always ended with the sentence "...porque (ele/a) é brasileiro/a e não desiste nunca.", or, in english, "...because (he/she) is Brazilian and never gives up.". It became a MemeticMutation. In other words, the Brazilian government made the citizenry consider themselves [[MemeticBadass Memetic Determinators]].
[[/folder]]



[[folder: {{Anime}} & {{Manga}}]]

* ''{{Naruto}}'''s "Way of the Ninja" consists of three basic concepts, which remain consistent throughout the series, all of which hinge on the trope. Several instances stand out:
** Rock Lee; who out-Determinators even Naruto to the point of assuming a fighting stance despite the fact that nearly all the major muscle groups in his body have been torn and his left forearm and leg have been completely shattered, while ''unconscious''. Taken to a hilarious degree in a battle where he fights back, and actually has the upper hand, against a villain who attacks him while he's [[strike:drunk]] [[FrothyMugsOfWater sleeping]].
** Jiraiya.[[spoiler:He brings himself back to life in one chapter of the manga by ''willpower alone''.]].
**Taken to extremes in the Sasuke Retrieval Arc, where no less than ''five'' characters show they are Determinators (even Lazy Ass Shikamaru, if he wants to)
***In the same arc, there is also Sasuke and Kimimaro. Sure, Naruto was a great determinator in the battle, never backing down despite Sasuke trying to kill him, but Sasuke was the one who took a pill that would only give him power after ''killing'' him and he was the one who went against Naruto when he transformed into the One-Tailed state. Kimimaro, on the other hand, was the one who went against enough fox-enhanced Narutos to form a small army, and won without a scratch, before going against a weakened (but deadly when drunk) Lee and winning ''again'' before finally fighting against Gaara, who had an instant advantage for being a long distance fighter while he was a hand-to-hand fighter, and almost winning after twice having survived an attack that, up to this point, had proven very effective in crushing the target with sand to the point where the meat and bones of said target were indistinguishable from their blood. The second time the technique being performed with a ''desert's worth'' of sand. Oh, and he did all of this while suffering from a [[IncurableCoughOfDeath disease]] that was implied to have actually rendered him paralysed.
** [[FanofUnderdog Hinata]], adopting Naruto's ninja way as her own, becomes one by extension, as she refuses to give up against Neji despite her injuries, standing up one last time even after the referee declares her unable to go on.
** And then there's this: "GIVE UP TRYING TO MAKE ME GIVE UP!"
*** ...Which was orginally [[spoiler:''Pain/Nagato's'' line]], which could make him something of a subversion or deconstruction.
** The Raikage appears to be one. [[spoiler: When confronted by Sasuke's incomplete Susano'o which has been reinforced by a coating of Amaterasu's lethal flames, the Raikage responds by ''punching through it anyway'' and letting himself be ignited, seemingly giving up his left arm to hit Sasuke despite the latter's 'ultimate defense'.]]
* ''{{Dragonball}}'', also has quite a selection.
** Son Goku of ''{{DragonBall}}''. Before the Cell Saga, he didn't know the meaning of the word surrender! And even when he did then, [[XanatosGambit it was because he knew what he was doing.]] However, the greatest example was fighting [[OmnicidalManiac Kid Buu]] at Super Saiyan 3, which consumes a hell of a lot of energy. As intense as the fight was, Goku was losing energy...and fast. He finally collapses from exhaustion, leaving [[TheRival Vegeta]], to take his place in the fight instead. It was for five minutes, or less and Vegeta found himself nearly killed only for Goku to save him and transform into Super Saiyan 3 again, and battle him.
** Vegeta is a bit of Determinator himself. Perhaps even more than Goku, part of why he's such a badass is the insane amount of punishment it takes to bring him down. Seriously, he gets his ARM SNAPPED IN HALF, but when Trunks tries to jump in and help he's all like "NO STAY BACK I GOT THIS".
*** His saga as a villain proves this beyond a shadow of a doubt. No matter what any of the z-fighters throw at him, he simply refuses to stay down. He gets knocked around by Goku's Kaio-ken, knocked into the sky with the Kamehameha-- overwhelming his own attack-- and the most powerful move in the anime, the Spirit Bomb. He had his tail cut off, reverting himself from his Oozaru form after expending the energy needed to create the power ball letting him turn into it. And then he fought Gohan in HIS Oozaru form and ''beat it''. No matter what happened, he just kept going. Even when he was finally defeated, he didn't stop moving. He crawled to his spaceship to flee so he could heal up and fight another day.
** Son Gohan inherited the Determinator trait from his father.
** Every last Z Senshi during the [[KameHameHadoken Kamehameha]] [[BeamOWar struggle]] between Gohan and Cell, in the anime.
** Tien deserves special mention for ''coming out of freaking nowhere'' with a long string of Kikohos - just to keep Cell on the ground temporarily. (The Kikoho saps huge amounts of energy, to the point that it's quite possible to die from exhaustion when using it - Tien keeps it up for several minutes before he passes out.)
** Krillin has shades of this, too - the little guy gets flattened on a regular basis, but is just as regularly seen dragging his bleeding self off the ground to keep fighting, even when he knows that the best he can do is buy time.
* From ''OnePiece'', we have Hannyabal. When faced with Luffy and his [[BadassCrew group of extremely powerful prison escapees]], he takes several attacks from Luffy's Gear 2 form (including Gomu Gomu no Jet Gatling, the attack that beat [[spoiler: [[WorthyOpponent Rob Lucci]]]]) and keeps going, refusing to let Luffy leave despite [[BadassNormal having no Devil Fruit abilities]].
** Uh, hello? Usopp much? Not only is he the weakest member of the Strawhats (According to WordOfGod, he will ALWAYS be the weakest, no matter WHAT), he is completely NORMAL. No Devil Fruit. No Haki. No CharlesAtlasSuperPower. Completely. Effing. Normal. He survived a 4-TON BAT TO THE FACE, multiple ''explosions'', having almost every bone in his body ''shattered'', and got up to continue the fight, winning through cleverness and sheer determination. This after traveling through the desert for several days (admittedly, so had the others).
*** No one who's travelled the Grand Line for this long can be considered normal, though. Usopp and Nami are at least BadassNormal from sheer experience alone.
* GreatTeacherOnizuka ''is'' this trope. Let no examples be made because we'll be stuck all night and end up with a fifty foot long page.
* Ichigo from ''{{Bleach}}'' definitely qualifies for this. "Do you want to fight or live?" "[[TakeAThirdOption I want to win!]]" He sometimes seems to ''need'' to [[BloodFromTheMouth get beaten to within an inch of his life]] before he can call on his true power. Later, he [[spoiler: just got a hole blown in his chest, and it was stated to be unhealable. [[{{HeGotBetter}} He. Got. Better.]]]]
** Though this is subverted somewhat earlier when a certain Big Bad nearly cuts him in two (his spine is the only thing holding his upper and lower body together).
** Let's not forget Byakuya. The man doesn't even flinch cutting his own с.tendons when his limbs are [[spoiler: controlled by one of the espada]]. And of course, the time he wanted to [[spoiler: execute his own sister just because the headcrew said so.]] It took almost cutting him in half, for him to understand that he [[DeadLittleSister missed some points]].
** Also, [[{{BloodKnight}} Kenpachi]]. No komments.
*** Less determinator, and more that he just doesn't care.
* Even ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}'' has some, despite being about [[MerchandiseDriven card]] [[MemeticMutation games]]
** The hero, of course. Or at least his SuperpoweredEvilSide.
** And his [[TheRival rival]], Seto Kaiba
** Katsuya Jounouchi, proven when he got all the way to the semi-final of Battle City without holding a [[GameBreaker Egyptian God]] card.
* The Gutsy Geoid Guard, protagonists of ''King of Braves GaoGaiGar'', actually had written ''into their bylaws'' (Called the "Oath Sworn through Courage") : "Article 5, Section 120: ... Under no circumstances must a GGG member ever give up."
** [=ChoRyuJin=] = Determinator Incarnate, even out-"never give up"-ing '''''Guy.''''' Even [[spoiler: '''''THE END OF THE''''' (prehistoric) '''''WORLD''''']] cannot and '''will''' not stop him.
* Daisuke/Davis Motomiya from ''[[{{Digimon}} Digimon Adventure 02]]'': "No! I'll never retreat! Not as long as there's a fighting chance! I've never quit before, and I'm not going to start now!"
** Ditto Masaru from ''DigimonSavers'' in fact [[spoiler: he broke through a shield made by the god of the digital world (even if it had been weakened) with a ''punch'' using his determination]]
* Kamina from ''[[TengenToppaGurrenLagann Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann]]''. A clear example, he inspires the BadassCrew to fight even when they have ''no'' chance of winning. Being blasted apart by the pure awesome he radiates isn't worth missing the show for when he starts to fight. His line early in the series, @@"A real man never dies even if he's killed!"@@ sums up this trope as perfectly as a single sentence can. [[spoiler:Considering the posthumous influence his attitude and ideals enjoyed, both in the series and in real life, it seems he was right.]] Simon also becomes just as much a Determinator as time goes on.
** Of course, due to the way Spiral Energy works, sheer willpower and fighting spirit can make the impossible happen. Hell, Lagann uses it as fuel.
* Kenshin Himura from ''RurouniKenshin''. More in the manga than in the anime, the protagonist defeats enemies seemingly by pure willpower alone, such as his determination not to kill. He survives several seemingly insurmountable fights in quick series, sustaining massive injuries each time and still managing to win every single time.
** The young man who gave Kenshin the first slash of his X-shaped scar did so despite being nowhere near Kenshin's level as a swordsman. Kenshin told witnesses, "His skill was nothing. But his desperation to live ... was terrible." It didn't save him.
* Almost every boxer Ippo faces in ''{{Hajime No Ippo}}'' shows HeroicResolve, but the title of ''{{Determinator}}'' must go to Takeshi Sendo who, in one fight, after fracturing several ribs, not only fights savagely for a whole 'nother round, but after being brutally KO'd (and shattering two ribs in the process) he stands up and walks out unassisted.
** And Date Eiji, who kept fighting with a broken rip, fist ''and'' jaw against the world champion.
* ''BusouRenkin'' not only [[JustifiedTrope justifies]] this behavior in its protagonist Kazuki, it uses it as a major plot point. [[spoiler:The kakugane serving as Kazuki's heart is a highly dangerous, modified version, which has given Kazuki energy-draining abilities and is slowly turning him into a monster.]]
* Ueki from TheLawOfUeki just ''will not'' go down until he succeeds, no manner how much damage he takes. His absolute determination is so great that many characters have incredulously asked: "Is this guy immortal?" It helps that he ''is'' a cosmic being, albeit still killable, who was raised as a human, but even other cosmic beings are awed at his refusal to go down.
* Gon from ''HunterXHunter'' makes all the above guys look like pansies, mostly because unlike the rest of 'em, he's far from the strongest fish in the pond. This is a trait all Hunters share, since the final exam is to eliminate the least Determinator among them (it's an inverse fighting tournament where the loser moves forward, and the only way you can lose is by admitting defeat - killing an opponent will disqualify you). During this exam, Gon's opponent Hanzo clearly outmatches him, beating him unconscious several times, and breaking his arm. Even after ''hours'' of this, he still refuses to surrender. He finally wins as Hanzo realizes that Gon has won him over and that he's not willing to do what it would take to win (actual torture and permanent damage). As soon as he recovers, Gon pulls the same trick again when he's trying to find Killua - each time he crosses the boundary, he's smacked several yards back, but he keeps it going all day long until the person who's smacking him cries out in desperation, eventually persuaded to let him pass. A later arc has him getting his arm blown off - and counting that as a victory because he made his opponent use his special ability. Frankly, Gon's determination (or stubbornness) would probably get any non-protagonist killed within minutes. In the manga, he has gotten even worse since [[spoiler: the death of [[{{TheObiWan}} Kaito]] ]]
* Rosette Christopher in the ''ChronoCrusade'' manga. She'll do ''anything'' to get her brother back, going as far as making a DealWithTheDevil that would ultimately cost her much of her life to do so. She even comes back from the dead, almost entirely by sheer force of will.
* Vita of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' would never fail Hayate (and later, Nanoha) if she could help it. For the people she loves, she will never allow herself to lose, no matter how injured she is. This is especially shown in the final battle of the third season. With her weapon damaged, her catridge supply almost spent, and [[NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow her chest sporting a large, gaping wound]], she finally reaches the Engine Room after fighting through a swarm of elite MechaMooks, only for the security system to kick in and direct a large amount of lasers at her. Her response?
-->'''Vita''':...Bring it on.
* The four main characters of ''{{Vandread}}''. Hibiki pulls through by sheer stubbornness, Meia is TheStoic, Jura pulled a BigDamnHeroes moment after being wounded in battle and on painkillers and Dita... Well, you'll [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome know it when you see it]]. Considering her [[TheDitz usual]] [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} behavior]], she is also a good example of a CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass.
* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in ''{{Eyeshield 21}}'' - Hiruma in one early match against the Oujou White Knights stops playing because he realizes Deimon's chances for victory have reached 0%, although he is willing to keep playing in any other match as long as his team's chances for winning are even marginally greater than nil. In recent chapters, he's gone from being a subversion to almost an embodiment of [[TheDeterminator sheer determinatorism]]: [[spoiler: He plays half a game with a broken arm and apparently heals it in less than a month by willpower alone. Well, willpower and his oxygen tank/segway. Hahahaha.]]
** Then there's Yukimitsu Manabu, who has more determination than any of the other Devil Bats, and managed to overcome ''Agon'' in the game with the Shinryuuji Nagas. Ojou's Sakuraba and Takami both elevated themselves into great players by never giving up; Takami, particularly, had to overcome a lack of speed that many said killed his chances of being a quarterback. He compensated by practicing the living Hell out of throwing until there wasn't a more precise QB in the country. Monta managed to overcome the Nagas' catching ace, as well. Because catching is all he's good at, he's vowed to become the number one catcher in the world if it kills him. Interestingly, characters who started out hearing threats of "do it, or I'll kill you!" (Sena, Monta, the Ha Ha brothers, etc.), end up deciding for themselves "I'll do it even if it kills me!"
* Hikari from ''SpecialA''. [[DisproportionateRetribution Because she lost a wrestling match against Kei as a kid]], she's attempting to beat Kei at ''anything'', and will stop at nothing to achieve that.
* Guts from anime and manga ''{{Berserk}}'' is a pure example of this trope. No matter how hellish his life is, no matter how many soldiers he faces, no matter how large and invincible the demons he fights are, no matter how seemingly impossible his goals are, he will simply not give up! It probably helps that he knows what will happen to him if he dies, and that he needs to complete his revenge before he gets taken out.
* Most (if not all) the teams in ''SlamDunk'', but in particular the main protagonist Sakuragi Hanamichi, who helps will his team to victory against all odds and a nigh-invincible opponent, [[spoiler: despite crippling pain from a potentially career-ending back injury]].
* Inspector Lunge in ''{{Monster}}'' obsessively chases Tenma all over Germany trying to get him to confess to the murders [[spoiler:that were actually committed by Johan]]. Nothing - not even [[spoiler:his wife and kids leaving him, or losing his job]] - matters as much as catching Tenma. In a more traditional example, not even be stabbed so badly that he quickly falls unconscious from the blood loss stoped Lunge from trying to smash the windows of Tenma's car in order to catch him.
* Niz from ''BattleAngelAlita: Last Order'' holds "persistence" as his core tenet, and manages to impress the local {{Badass}}, Sechs, enough to learn what she can from his philosophy. Considering that Sechs had much more combat experience, was more physically capable, was kicking his ass for most of the fight, and on top of that was notorious for ignoring anything apart from a straight-on berserker assault, the mere fact that Niz made such an impression on her was pretty amazing. Then again, remaining standing and not crying or grimacing in pain after your arm, artificial heart, and half of your chest is blown away would probably have an impact on whoever you were fighting.
** And let's not forget Gally/Alita herself. She's quite the dogged survivor and determined fighter -she has even survived [[spoiler: war on Mars, being sentenced to dying in outer space two hundred years before the events of ''Gunnm'', nearly getting mashed and thrown to the garbage on Chief Bigot's order, being blown apart by Desty Nova, and, depending on whether you're reading ''Last Order'' or the ending of the first ''Gunnm'', fusing with the Ladder or being entirely destroyed at the nano-level while looking for the fata morgana]]. On top of all the more 'regular' fighting and danger, which include the destruction of several of her cyborg bodies. And let's not forget that *just* achieving the Panzer Kunst and the whole training around it is a feat in itself.
* Alucard from ''{{Hellsing}}'' suggests that this is part of the reason why Humanity fascinates him, after Father Alexander Anderson refuses to roll over and give in despite having a partly blown off left arm and being severely outnumbered.
* Haruka from the ''{{Mai-HiME}}'' anime and manga is "Never Say Die" personified (even more so in ''{{Mai-Otome}}'', where she's a freakin' ''general of an army'').
* Shu in ''NowAndThenHereAndThere''. He keeps repeating "Everything's OK!" in the most extreme circumstances -to the point that he might seem completely unconscious or heartless, as when he tells [[spoiler: Sara that "everything's okay" because she's alive, even though she was spirited away from her world, unfairly imprisoned, raped by a soldier whom she had to kill, and ran away from a military fortress to avoid getting executed. Oh, and the rape resulted in a pregnancy that she tried to terminate by bashing herself in the stomach with a rock, until the ever determined and optimistic Shu talked her into carrying it to term.]].
* Karasu from ''{{Noein}}'' is the series' Determinator. If you threaten Haruka, he will smack you down. It is that simple. In the last episodes he took this to the extreme, by taking on an entire universe just to get to her.
* Pretty much every character in ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]''. Hell, Rumiko Takahashi is FAMOUS for making characters like this. It'd be quicker to list the ones that AREN'T [[{{Determinator}} determinators]].
* The entire [=InuYasha-tachi=] from ''{{InuYasha}}''. [=InuYasha=] himself, Sango, Miroku, Kirara/Kilala, even gentle Kagome and Shippo, who usually plays comic relief. The only time any of them could be said to give up [[spoiler: is when Sango thinks Miroku is about to die from his curse. "Take me with you."]]
* Even Ataru Moroboshi from ''UruseiYatsura'', who is a rather luckless, perverted version, comedically embodies this trope. Heaven help anyone between him or a beautiful girl, or the girl herself who tries to use him to get at Lum and then underestimate how far he'll go for a kiss or grope, demonstrating a tenacity that makes his "friends" wonder if he's even human. Even when it seems fate, the gods, and creation itself is determined to keep him from getting laid, Ataru will NOT give up.
* In ''MahouSenseiNegima'', Negi is accidentally turned into one of these after Nodoka asks him for a kiss, unaware that the nearby TheWorldTree forces him to accept. He's going to kiss somebody, dang it, or die trying. He eventually kisses [[spoiler: Asuna, nearly suffocating her in the process.]] Later on, he has more traditional Determinator moments:
** Right after Negi and crew arrive in the magic world, [[spoiler: Fate attacks Negi, putting a stone spear through his chest. When he moves to attack the students, Negi stops him by pulling the spear out and hitting Fate in the head with it.]]
** Later on, Negi gets attacked by a shadow mage. During the course of the fight [[spoiler:his right arm gets cut off. His response? "''I still have my left!''" and attempts a finishing blow. Unfortunately, Jack Rakan stops the fight before we find out if it would have worked or not. And don't worry, he gets the arm back.]]
** The finals between Negi [[spoiler: and Rakan]]. Good lor'. Negi's got [[spoiler: TearsOfBlood, a gaping chest wound and is puking up blood...]] and he still gets up to fight on. Even [[spoiler: Rakan]] is surprised by his tenacity.
** Negi's tendencies along this line showed as early as vol. 7. When he first asked Evangeline to train him she refused unless he could use the kung fu he was learning from Ku Fei to land a hit on her servant [[RobotGirl Chachamaru]] (note that the martial arts lessons only started a couple of days prior, and the challenge was that weekend). At the appointed hour he came, got sent spawling halfway across the courtyard (Evangeline having ordered Chachamaru not to hold back, while Negi insisted on same), and was told to go away. He simply picked himself up and pointed out to Eva that no time limit was set. The resulting [[CurbStompBattle beating]] lasted for over an hour before Chachamaru got distracted and Negi landed a feeble blow.
* ''MagicKnightRayearth'': "Cephiro, the world that is shaped by the strength of the believing heart]]." And no one, absolutely ''no one'', has a stronger heart than little pint-sized Hikaru Shidou, even when she's torn apart with injuries that would have killed a grown man. It's actually a plot point in the {{anime}}'s second season, when [[spoiler:her loss of will is downright catastrophic for the entire ''world'', and her subsequent recovery makes her virtually [[AGodAmI omnipotent]]]].
* This is half the point of ''JoJosBizarreAdventure'', for both flavors of 'tagonist. The other half is being wicked clever bastards. JJBA fights are traditionally won by the protagonist being put under an ungodly amount of pressure causing him to figure out something completely, well, bizarre and thus turn the tables on the unfortunate villain involved. Or sometimes to just [[spoiler: stop time]].
* Katou Masaru of ''{{Gantz}}'' is a determinator ''[[TheMessiah messiah]]'', of the "Leave no man behind!" and "There is no 'Combat Ineffective' in 'Sudden Battlefield Limb Amputation'!" variety. In one case he beats an unstoppable alien demigod equipping his own severed arm, and in another he crawls over to a BFG, props himself up on his bleeding leg-stumps, and cuts loose on yet another unstoppable alien demigod. His favored tactic? Talking people down. And he's not even the main character. Main character Kei Kuruno isn't far behind, except for the messiah thing at the beginning.
* Kazuma of ''{{Scryed}}'' is definitely a {{Determinator}}, and Ryuhou may be considered one, as well.
* {{Akagi}} pursues outrageous, life-threatening gambles with absolute determination. Part of it is due to completely trusting in his abilities (which would already qualify him for this trope), but his total disregard for the possible consequences of failures even when large amounts of luck are needed has forced every single character, including a batshit insane serial-killer, to call him "a devil" and "a lunatic with a deathwish".
* Thorfinn of ''VinlandSaga will'' do whatever is required of him to earn a duel with Askeladd, even if its down right suicidal.
* Kuwabara from ''{{Yu Yu Hakusho}}'' tends to win all of his major battles by refusing to stay down. One example is his battle against Rishou in the Dark Tournament. Kuwabara starts the fight severely weakened from a previous fight and proceeds to get the stuffing beaten out of him for an entire episode. In the end, he manages to pull off a win with some help from {{The Power of Love}}. Yusuke and Kurama have had their Determinator moments as well.
** Don't forget in the Four Saint Beasts arc, when after [[spoiler: A) getting the crap beaten out of him at Genkai's tournament and only RECENTLY having his arms heal, he B) almost gets his ticket punched by some weak but abundant man-eater demons (not to mention the psycho humans), then C) Has to hold up a huge amount of weight at the Gate of Betrayal, surviving only to D) nearly be turned into confetti by Byakko's hair-clones (a la Journey To The West's original Son Goku), after skewering them (and thus wasting precious energy to LEAVE them pinned) he then has to E) face the 10-foot+ Byakko, who ABSORBS his energy, beats the crap out of him, and is seconds from killing him before a clever tactic kills him...only to find that Byakko SURVIVES, and then after absorbing back as much energy as possible Kuwabara follows the crazy tiger into the room o' doom with stone pylons and acid/lava, where F) he almost dies AGAIN by Byakko's MOLECULAR BOND-SHATTERING SCREAMS. THEN he G) faces death once more as, after pursuing him with said screams, Byakko leaves him stranded on a pylon and begins to throw razor-WHISKERS at him, at which point Kuwabara uses his Reiken to POLE-VAULT over to the giant demon, punch him over the edge, and then H) AGAIN almost die by falling over the edge of the pylon ANYWAY, a snag of his samurai-style ab bindings the only thing that saves him. Then I) Yusuke almost drops him BACK into the acid in his joy. Then they all get past the third Saint Beast and up to Suzaku's tower, only to be faced by a hoard of zombie-like homunculi. THEN Kuwabara J) gets to be the base of a three-man ramp for Yusuke to jump into a window and thus avoiding fighting the zombies as time runs out. Note that Kuwabara has to RUN while carrying the weight of about two grown men, then have his friend step on him and the two people on his shoulders WHILE STILL RUNNING. After that he K) gets to fight the zombies. Oh joy.]]
** [[spoiler: And after THAT he gets to have the crap beaten out of him by a little kid, using the pole-vault again and knocking the kid out of bounds WHILE BLEEDING FROM THE HEAD. Then he gets back up and tries to get back in the ring, only Rinku remote-controls the yoyos still attached to his larger opponent, binding him for long enough to win. Then Kuwabara, STILL bleeding from the head, challenges him to a rematch, but Rinku wants none of that.]]
**[[spoiler: THEN he 'fights' Shishiwakamaru, except he gets randomly teleported back to the first arena; then he comes back and fights Suzuki, who does the SAME THING, and the random teleport drops him in the EXACT SAME PLACE AS BEFORE.]] Also Byakko. Nuff said.
* [[AcePilot Kallen Kouzuki]] and [[EnsembleDarkhorse Jeremiah Gottwald]] are competing fiercely for this title in ''{{Code Geass}}'', with the former having succeeded in [[spoiler: fighting Suzaku to a CombatBreakdown standstill]] in the GrandFinale, and the latter [[spoiler: having survived everything from Kallen blowing his mech to hell to getting hit point blank with an EMP device specifically designed to work on the mineral his later cyborg parts were powered by, and continuing to ''keep moving by sheer force of will.'' And what's left of his human muscles, of course.]]
* ''Orguss 02's'' Verifer Decimator shrugs off absolutely ''everything'' the Rivellian army throws at it, from artillery to bombs aimed directly at its head. Even when it's finally damaged (by having ''nuclear weapons'' detonated right against its body) it only loses both legs, continuing to drag itself forward with its hands until it's destroyed by an even ''bigger'' Decimator.
* Killy from ''{{Blame}}!''. Broken arm? Use the other one. Three-fourths of your body incinerated? Grow a new one. Half of your skull blown off? Just shoot back. Seriously, there is nothing that can stop this killing machine. Now add in the fact that his quest takes 3,000 years to complete, during which he does not complain or quit ''once''. Furthermore, he ''walks'' through the majority of TheCity. The City is roughly a light-year across.
* Edward Elric and Roy Mustang of ''FullmetalAlchemist'', falling into the "shonen characters" example at the top of the page.
** Ran Fan also deserves special mention. She is one of those people willing to [[spoiler: cut her own arm off]] for the cause, and does not give up on the Young Master even after he is [[spoiler: turned into a homunculus.]]
* ''{{Gundam}}'' has his own bunch of 'em.
** Domon Kasshu of the ''GGundam'' is probably the best example, but in G your fighting spirit is your most powerful weapon anyway.
** ''{{Gundam00}}'s'' Determinator surely is... Patrick 'the Immortal' Colasaur unwilling to stop fighting Gundams (and for his love interest) [[ButtMonkey no matter how often he gets shot down.]] Though, there is Graham Acre (aka Mr Bushido) who keeps fighting up to the point where he 'overcomes reasoning with his recklessness' - and it works.
**[[BadassNormal Garrod Ran]] from ''{{Gundam X}}'' is another example. This trope is the entire reason why Garrod is able to debunk Newtype prophecies again and again. [[spoiler: D.O.M.E. even says this outright in the final episode.]]
** Heero Yuy of ''GundamWing''. Shoot him, blow him up, he's gonna complete his mission even if it kills him. Though that's pretty unlikely, even he can't manage to kill himself.
***"I WILL SURVIVE" He screams, as Wing Gundam Zero literally disolves around him, re-entering the Earth's atmosphere unshielded and backwards, in the series finale.
* ''Xabungle'' has Jiron Amos... possibly the most hot-blooded Real Robot pilot ''ever''. The guy has the guts to take on, ''catch'', and ''throw back'' an ICBM, isn't scared to take on the entire military force of the Innocent, and ignores the statute of limitations on his parents murder so that [[JusticeWillPrevail their murderer is killed.]]
* Vash the Stampede of ''{{Trigun}}''. There's even a section where he explains he chose his [[BadassLongcoat red coat]] because Rem told him that in the language of flowers a red geranium meant 'determination.'
* ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'' and ''UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'' have a bunch:
** Rika and Battler Ushiromiya [[spoiler: are both fighting to save themselves from horrible fates; Battler in particular has stopped the ceremony to empower an evil witch three times (so far) by the virtue of his sheer refusal to believe in Witches, and it's implied that Rika has been denying fate for hundreds and hundreds of years. God DAMN.]]
***Oddly enough, the trope is played with to a certain extent with both characters. By the time we meet [[spoiler:Rika]] as the main character, she actually has just about given up. As for Battler, both the [[spoiler:second and third arcs' endings]] provide examples ([[spoiler:Especially the second]]) in which he does essentially try to run away from his goal and is pulled back largely by events outside his control.
** Keiichi is the one who [[spoiler:in the end inspires Rika to keep going]]. If you want to see a good example of this, see the Miotsukushi-hen ending, where [[spoiler:he's cornered by Takano, who's pointing a gun at him, when he gets [[DeadPersonConversation a pep talk by Hanyuu]], and then manages to [[DodgeTheBullet dodge every bullet]], knock pepper spray into Takano's eyes, and escape with Rika and Satoko]]. GAR to the Nth power.
** Not to mention [[spoiler:Takano herself, whose status as Determinator created the fate that Rika spent hundreds of years trying to escape from.]]
* The protagonists in ''[[DGrayMan D.Gray-Man]]''. Well, they're shounen heroes after all. Allen and Lenalee in particular push their innocence past all reasonable limits, willing to sacrifice themselves in the process to save their friends. Allen also has his promise to Mana to never stop walking the path he's chosen until he dies.
* Clare from ''{{Claymore}}'' is a positively epic Determinator. She can get filled with holes, lose her limbs, knocked down over and over again, and it [[BloodKnight just.]] [[UnstoppableRage Doesn't.]] [[{{Badass}} Matter.]] While considered a GeckoEnding, her climactic battle with [[BerserkButton Priscilla]] in the anime is the best example of this.
* Two words: Fukutsu Toshi. The main character of ''GyakkyouNine'', his name literally translates to "Indomitable Determination." Being a KazuhikoShimamoto character, he is a walking inferno of [[HotBlooded hot blood]] and believes that with determination, his baseball team can achieve anything.
* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in ''{{Shaman King}}''. Yoh Asakura, [[spoiler: after ten or so volumes of trying to become the Shaman King, gives up without a fight. Granted, it was to bring Ren back to life, but he didn't even think twice about it.]]
* Mitsu from ''HoneyCrush'' is quite the determinator as she doesn't even let a pesky thing like death stop her from pursuing her love interest. Her unwillingness to ever give up is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by her rival, Kyouko.
* [[{{Meido}} Roberta]] from ''BlackLagoon''. {{Terminator}} jokes are made, but saying them will be regretted to a point where any {{Shounen}} protagonist you want elected for this trope should just step aside.
* Rei in ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'' has her determinator moments, most notably in the climactic fight of Rebuild 01 where she blocks a particle accelerator beam that ''melts half a mountain'' behind her.
* Describes [[FullMetalPanic Sousuke Sagara]] after [[spoiler:the kidnapping of Kaname Chidori.]] Since ''Continuing on My Own'', he has survived [[spoiler:the destruction of the ARX-7 Arbalest, battling various other Arm Slaves (often at the same time, including an M9) in a single Rk-91 Savage, a rifle round to the stomach (necessitating the removal of a kidney, part of his liver, and a portion of his digestive tract and causing him to spend 56 days in a coma), escaping an island under seige less than a day after waking from a coma, rigorous (read: abusive) "rehabilitation" training from one of his former superiors, and his rescuee (under mind control) attempting to shoot him (although his death was only an illusion that he woke up from).]] He shows no signs of slowing down or giving up and will do ''anything'' to [[spoiler: get her back.]]
* Kyoko Mogami of ''SkipBeat'' has this as one of her defining characteristics (the other being [[{{Revenge}} holding intense grudges]] against anyone who mistreats her). In a flashback in Act 7 of the manga, she is given a ''daruma'' doll as a gift from her old boss, which is a symbol for unwavering persistence.
* From Witch Blade, Masane Amaha was mostly a PunchClockHero, at first. However, since circumstance (being a single mother) forced her to do something to provide for her daughter Rihoko, she willingly put herself in harm's way for said daughter. In fact, she refused to DIE one episode because no one would be around to effectively parent her child. Once that wasn't a problem anymore, then she WAS willingly to die. Like a total Badass with a smile on her face. Basically, Rihoko was the one motivation that kept Masane from refusing to give up. Period.
* [[LoneWolfAndCub Ogami Itto]]. Enough said. Well no, not really. Er... go read the page!
* [[TsubasaReservoirChronicle Syaoran]] will get Sakura's feathers back without fail. No matter what. This becomes [[NightmareFuel quite]] [[{{Squick}} creepy]] in the Acid Tokyo Arc.
* Kyuzo from Samurai7 fits this trope as a classic career fighter in a shonen series. He is willing to destroy as many enemies as necessary just so he'll be around for the one duel he actually wants to fight. After destroying countless mecha and getting his arm severely damaged, he responds that he can still fight with the other one.
* Hibari Kyouya from [[KatekyoHitmanReborn Katekyo Hitman Reborn!]]. Even when half of the bones on the his body are broken [[spoiler: by Mukuro]], he continues fighting so hard he was said to be moving too fast to be seen. Partially subverted, though, that he collapsed before he could take out the Big Bad of that arc.
* Otoha of ''{{Karas}}'' definitely falls into this category. He was "killed" twice in the series that we saw--and both times just pissed him off. And yes, he ''was'' in human form both of those times.

[[/folder]]


[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* Frank. Rock. His first appearance had him taking on a tank with two busted hands, getting hit, getting back up, and blowing the tank up with a bazooka.. His only statement when told to move on? "Get up and fight." As one of the numerous one shot characters who tried to replace Easy's topkick noted, "A wall may fall, but brother, not a rock!"
* Every time you beat the hell out of the Comicbook/IncredibleHulk, he gets madder. And when he gets madder, he gets stronger. For reference, in the official MarvelUniverse RoleplayingGame, the highest possible strength score is 10, which is reserved for Thor and other gods. When angry, the Hulk has a maximum possible strength of 18.
* {{Comicbook/Batman}} in most incarnations. {{Lampshaded}} in an issue of ''Superman/Batman'' where the two heroes are standing in the Mall in Washington D.C., surrounded by an obscene number of supervillains.
-->'''Superman''': They're all around us, you know.\\
'''Batman''': Do you think we can take them? I think we can take them.\\
'''Superman''': You always think we can take them.\\
(Spoiler alert:[[spoiler: turns out they can take them]].)
** All of the [[BadassNormal Batfamily]] probably counts, but Jason Todd gets a special mention. In one issue, he's hanging far above the ground, hunted by a tentacled monster as Gotham burns around them.
--->'''Tentacle Monster''': Is that ''your'' super-power, boy? Too ''stupid'' to ever give up?
--->'''Jason''': *heh*... Maybe it ''is''.
*** In ''The Cult'', he also argues with Batman when Batman, having been tortured and had his will broken by the leader of a cult, wants to give up on Gotham, and he's the one who finally persuades him to go back on his decision. At the end of the series, he also saves Batman's life after ''dragging himself through the sewers with a bullet in his leg''.
** [[AngstWhatAngst Steph]]. Her [[AbusiveParents dad]] was the third-rate villain the Cluemaster, her mother was an addict, she took up crime-fighting to get back at her father, and she basically spent the next several years being strongly discouraged and occasionally tolerated by [[MasterOfTheMixedMessage Batman]]. Then he made her Robin, then he fired her, then she was tortured half to death, then she [[ScrewDestiny came back to Gotham anyway to keep on fighting crime]].
* {{Comicbook/Superman}} In Emperor Joker, Batman is broken by having himself killed, night after night after night. Only Superman's selfless offer to take those memories (thanks to Mxyzptlk and Spectre) enables him to go on. Superman is also seen in an earlier John Byrne reboot boosting a group of Green Lanterns rings. He also beat Doomsday. The JLA had been crushed and Superman was frequently described in the story as never giving up.
** In Emperor Joker, mentioned above, the Joker literally has absolute power over the entire universe and has twisted everything to fit his warped vision but Superman keeps snapping free and reemerging in his true form. Its explained that he is the strongest willed being in the universe.
* ''{{The Tick}}''.
* Basically every main character in ''SinCity'': Hartigan, Marv, Dwight, Wallace...Some of the predicaments that these characters find themselves in are flabbergasting, yet they never show more than the slightest notion of fear in their endeavors.
** The very first Sin City yarn is a prime example of this trope. A hooker named Goldie was killed, and Marv survived multiple injuries (he had to get himself bandaged up at least twice), including gunshots, being hit by a car and being hit in the head with a sledgehammer, to avenge her death because she slept with him (and [[spoiler: took his virginity ]]), even though in all likelyhood she was just using him for protection and felt nothing for him. [[spoiler: Even when he's on Death Row and they execute him at the electric chair, it takes two tries to finish him. ]]
*The graphic novel ''[[ThreeHundred 300]]'' (and really, the real life battle that it it based on) makes a note of showing that all of the 300 Spartans (particularly King Leonidas) are some of the most {{badass}} {{Determinator}}s imaginable.
** It's also important to note, in final day of the real life battle, the Thespians (from Thermopylae not the other kind) who also stayed with the Spartans to the end to protect the allied retreat. The Thebians, on the other hand... not so much (they eventually surrendered).
* The to be-Saint of Killers from ''{{Preacher}}'' managed to retain his mind even in death by pure hatred of the two men who he had swore vengeance on.
* The Thing of ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'' never gives up, no matter how often his opponents may have beaten him before.
--> '''The Thing''': ''Mister, maybe I'm too '''dumb''' to collapse -- too '''ugly''' to die!! I'll let '''you''' figger out the reasons...'' - [[http://bullyscomics.blogspot.com/2009/01/365-days-with-ben-grimm-day-4.html Fantastic Four #40 (July 1965)]]
* In the Marvel ''GIJoe'' continuity, Snake-Eyes has just been in a helicopter crash, his crush is badly injured, and his head and throat have been burned and implanted with shrapnel-like shards of glass. Ordered to stand down, he writers two letters in the sand: C M. '''C'''ontinue '''M'''ission. Then, he all but single-handedly pulls the mission off.
* Rorschach from ''{{Watchmen}}'':
-->"No. Not even in the face of Armageddon. ''Never'' compromise."
* Wolverine of ''Comicbook/{{x-Men}}'': Healing factor + PowerCreepPowerSeep + REALLY BAD TEMPER = Pants-wettingly tenacious.
* ''{{Captain America}}'' defeats superpowered opponents with both his incredible fighting skills...and that he just won't quit!
* And Comicbook/{{Spider-Man}} could be his protege. That's almost as much a part of the character as Spider-Sense and webslinging.
** For one of the best examples, check out Amazing Spider-Man 229-230, where Spidey tries to stop the Juggernaut.
* The ''GreenLantern Corps'' is full of Determinators, with Hal Jordan being the biggest of them all. Seeing as their rings are fueled by will power, this is probably a given.
** [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Hal Jordan? Are you kidding?]] Of all the Lanterns, this trope belongs to Guy Gardner. Originally passed over for the GL job, he got it later, was forced to give up his ring, stole a yellow one, broke it fighting Parallax, went out and got an ''entirely new set of powers'', then gave it up to become a Lantern again. He is now Lantern #1 in the Honor Guard specifically because of his utter fearlessness.
* Suprisingly enough, ''{{Empowered}}'' is one if you think about it. Setting aside the fact that a sane person would have hung up the [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman hypermembrane]] a long time ago rather than put up with the constant [[NoRespectGuy humiliation]] at the hands of almost everybody, her boyfriend once had to shred said suit in order to keep her from responding to an alert concerning a local [[BigBad "Heavy Hitter"]] on the move when so sick she could barely stand (then ''he'' [[MoreExpendableThanYou answered said summons]] [[MundaneSolution with nothing more than a]] [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim sniper rifle]]).
* In the Marvel G1 ''{{Transformers}}'' comics, Grimlock's early hot-headed temper and stoneheaded stubbornness were revealed to be evidence of a greater quality: that of being unwilling or unable to consider giving up. He engaged in forbidden science to bring back his troops, attacked Unicron willingly, and even after the Decepticons had cut them down to five, as he explained to Prowl, post-eviscerating a Decepticon ambush: "''[[HulkSpeak That]]'' [[HulkSpeak what we do, Prowl. We fight.]]"
* Zone from ''SpecialForces'', a severe autistic cajoled into the military by a desperate recruiting officer. He follows a list for his daily activities, and if it's on the list it gets done. When his squad's first mission goes sour and only he and Felony are alive, he adamantly refuses to stay down; the mission was on the list, and he's not going to stop until it's completed or he's dead. Later, when he's captured, the enemy leader remarks that "Long have I heard tales of the indominable will of the American fighting man... this one is something else. Superhuman! It's as if he could not feel pain!" Zone would eventually ride a motorcycle up a giant sword to jump into a helicopter carrying his quarry, and [[spoiler:sacrifice himself at Felony's behest for the sake of the mission]].
* In the seventh issue of the original ''{{Daredevil}}'' series, Daredevil alone faces off against the Sub-Mariner in a desperate bid to keep him from demolishing Manhattan in a fit of rage. Broken and beaten to a pulp, he still tries to stand and challenge Namor; this feat of courage and determination is so moving to him that he immediately leaves for Atlantis out of respect. ''Hard. Core.'' Namor even remarks that he has faced off against many very powerful enemies, from the Fantastic Four to the Avengers, but never had he seen such bravery, and from the most vulnerable challenger of all.
* Alice L. Malvin from ''{{Pumpkin Scissors}}'' can't stand injustice or inequality so much so that she will literally jump into any fight and won't back down, no matter what the odds are. This usually means her troops have to end up dragging her out of situations. There is an upside to this though - she's definitely not just the {{Idiot Hero}} when she gets serious.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]
* Obviously, [[TheTerminator De Terminator]]. As well as the quote formerly at the top of this very page:
-->'''Kyle Reese''': "You still don't get it, do you? He'll find her! That's what he does! It's '''all''' he does! You can't stop him! He'll wait for you! He'll reach down her throat and tear her fuckin' heart out!"
** Given the hellhole of a future he lived in, Reese himself must have been one to survive. Also, Sarah embraces her inner {{Determinator}} in the climax of the first movie, and practically ''becomes'' a Terminator in the second, to the point she's halfway to shooting a defenceless, wounded man in front of his wife and children for something he ''hasn't actually done yet''. Even after that, she's still perfectly capable of firing a 12-gauge shotgun repeatedly after minutes earlier having an inch-thick metal spike rammed straight through her shoulder. Fuck the third film, [[DisContinuity there are only two Terminator movies]].
* In ''Defiance'', there is a random woman firing a mounted machine gun. While firing, she gets shot and, consequently, mortally wounded. She turns and shouts "No!" before using her dying breath to throw her weight down so that her corpse would keep the machine gun trigger pulled, which means it continues firing after she's died until it runs out of ammo. Tuvia Bielski himself is also a determinator. He got blown up like, a lot of times in the movie. He always managed to pop back up after each and every one.
* Carl Brashear in ''MenOfHonor'' put up with bigotry, an insane instructor, and [[HandicappedBadass losing his leg]] and was still unbowed.
* Captain Vidal in ''PansLabyrinth''. This makes him an utterly terrifying villain, while at the same time almost pitiable. ([[spoiler:In fact, when he got shot in the head, he actually had the time to feel it!]])
* The Black Knight from ''{{Monty Python And The Holy Grail}}'' - is actually a DeconstructiveParody of this, based on the old British idea of never surrendering, no matter what.
* Paul Newman's character Luke in the movie ''CoolHandLuke'' is a perfect example of a Determinator. Acts of sheer determination include eating fifty eggs in under an hour to win a bet, multiple attempts to escape from jail, resisting the worst the warden could give him, and "winning" a boxing match by repeatedly getting up, no matter how many times he was knocked down, until his opponent, who was so far unharmed, refused to hit him any more. His nickname came from his habit of keeping going and refusing to quit when he has absolutely nothing - specifically, the time he won a poker game by bluffing.
-->'''Dragline''': Nothin'. A handful of nothin'. You stupid mullet head. He beat you with nothin'. Just like today when he kept comin' back at me -- with nothin'.\\
'''Luke''': Yeah well, sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand.
* Both Neo and Agent Smith of ''{{The Matrix}}'' are up there - Smith possibly even more so.
* Anton Chigurh from ''No Country for Old Men'' has a belief system that revolves around this trope.
* Rocky Balboa of the ''{{Rocky}}'' films, as summed up in this [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1tXhJniSEc speech to his son]].
* Alex Forrest, the character played by Glenn Close in ''[[WomanScorned Fatal Attraction]]''.
* Nana from ''Madagascar'' and ''Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa'' is a parody of the trope.
* John Creasy from ''Man On Fire''. Being severely wounded with a partially collapsed lung does not deter him from hunting down, torturing and killing the kidnappers of his charge or anyone else involved.
* Ethan Edwards, the Confederate soldier-turned-Indian hunter in ''{{TheSearchers}}''.
-->''' Ethan:'''Injun will chase a thing till he thinks he's chased it enough. Then he quits. Same way when he runs. Seems like he never learns there's such a thing as a critter who'll just keep comin' on. So we'll find 'em in the end, I promise you. We'll find 'em, just as sure as the turnin' of the earth.
* Momma from ''ThrowMommaFromTheTrain''.
-->'''Larry:''' She's not a woman. She's the Terminator!
* The paperboy in ''BetterOffDead''. "I want my two dollars!"
* [[TheBourneSeries Jason Bourne]]. At various times, he's shot, thrown off buildings, beat to a bloody pulp, put through horrendous car crashes, been right next to an exploding bomb. And he just gets up, hunts down who did that to him, and keeps on trucking.
* The crew of the ''Leper Colony'' in ''DrStrangelove'' will complete its mission, no matter what.
* Porter from ''{{Payback}}'' wants the money he is owed, will not be stopped by anyone.
* Two Words: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79ditPebZ8g&feature=related Tony Jaa]]
* [[spoiler:The Yul Brynner robot.'']] in the film {{Westworld}}.
* Harold Abrahams in Chariots of Fire: "I'll take them all on, one by one, and run them off their feet."
* Will 'Elizabeth goes free!' Turner in the first ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' movie. He has a one track mind about saving her, and he's certainly not too worried about getting himself killed in the process.
* The protagonist of the 2007 remake of ''3:10 to Yuma'' certainly doesn't KnowWhenToFoldEm, and it's [[HonorBeforeReason not even about the money]]. No one (maybe even not he himself) knows why he's so determined to keep going until the end, though one reason is to make his son proud of him. He wins everyone over by sheer amazement about his stubborn determination. Not that that's enough to save the day, but pretty close.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]
* Paul in the [[TheBible New Testament]] practically exhorts all Christians to be determinators, ''especially'' in the face of persecution and/or death.
* Lee Child's ''WalkingTheEarth'' protagonist Jack Reacher (imagine ''UsagiYojimbo'' if Usagi was a muscular ex-Army major). When the TownWithADarkSecret (and a MeaningfulName) of Despair tosses him out for no real reason other then being an outsider, it only makes him more determined to find out what's going on.
* Ethan Gage from William Dietrich's books ''Napoleon's Pyramids'' and ''The Rosetta Key''. No matter what his enemies throw at him, he manages to survive it, including [[spoiler: dangling him over a pit of snakes, burying him up to his neck in the middle of the desert and sending an entire (Napoleonic) French military brigade]] after him. His enemies ask him whether or not he is immortal on several occasions, Including [[spoiler: Napoleon right before his planned execution]]
* Edmond Dantès, aka the ''{{Count of Monte Cristo}}'', is certainly worth a mention. After his betrayal he devotes his entire life to the pursuit of vengeance. Absolutely everything he does is somehow a step in his giant XanatosRoulette designed to get his just revenge. [[spoiler: He does settle down in the end, but by then he's pretty much accomplished everything he intended.]]
* As far as I know... every single DickFrancis hero/narrator character. I'll just mention one: Sid Halley, who is tortured by a villain who [[spoiler:destroys his crippled left hand]], then threatens to [[spoiler: destroy the right hand as well, the thing he most fears.]] Needless to say, he doesn't give up. And that's topped in a later book.
* The main character of the ''SwordOfTruth'' series is described at at least one point as "the kind of man who would jump over a cliff to come after you". Which is either TooDumbToLive or {{Determinator}}. Or possibly both.
* Hawk and Fisher, the titular characters from Simon R. Green's books, are definitely up there as determinators. Despite being completely human, they're willing to go up against anything Haven can throw at them and stick to their principles. Usually while insisting they've seen worse.
* Most characters in ''LesMiserables'', including Jean Valjean, who is an insatiable dogooder who won't stop even when half the police in Paris are breathing down his neck, Eponine and her insane suicidal crush, eventually ''all'' the revolutionaries (even Grantaire), Fantine, who keeps working to save her daughter despite losing her teeth, hair, dignity, health and life, the Thenardiers and especially InspectorJavert.
* In ''{{The Wheel of Time}}'', there are several instances.
** Rand.
** The Aiel, on the other hand, [[BadassCreed take an oath to be Determinators]]:
--->''Till shade is gone\\
Till water is gone\\
Into the Shadow with teeth bared\\
[[DoNotGoGentleIntoThatGoodNight Screaming defiance with the last breath]]\\
To spit into [[{{Satan}} Sightblinder]]'s eye on [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the Last Day]]''
** The extinct nation of Manetheren, who took this trope to absolutely crazy extremes. The Trolloc Wars devastate the world? The Red Eagle of Manetheren flies at the forefront of every battle against the Dark One's armies. The Manetheren army receives word while still on the field of battle that a massive Trolloc army has Manethren in its sights and there's nothing they can do in time to save their home from a horrific fate? They march home faster than even their allies thought humanly possible and meet the army before it crosses the river into their territory. Said army includes a legion of Dreadlords and Ba'alzamon himself? Doesn't faze them one bit. Their aid from other nations (their one remote chance of surviving) is cut off by betrayal by the Amyrlin Seat? They keep on fighting, only crossing the river and burning its bridges when they don't have any more troops left to fight. They finally have to evacuate their beloved mountain city and flee because the Trollocs are at the gates? Some flee, but a huge part of the non-soldier population (most of which consists of farmers and shepherds with nothing but pitchforks) takes up the slack and rides out to fight the Trollocs in a titanic final battle. Every last one of them gets massacred? The Queen, fueled by her anger over the death of her beloved husband on the field of battle, ''nukes'' the entire Trolloc army with the One Power, destroying herself and the abandoned city in the process. The few survivors of Manetheren, rather than fleeing to other lands, decide to stay and rebuild what they can. Holy. Freaking. Crap.
* Roland of Gilead, the Gunslinger of StephenKing's ''TheDarkTower'' series is determined to make it in spite of [[spoiler:losing every friend he ever had, losing a few fingers and toes, and every old man's bane, arthritis.]]
* Lisbeth Salander from Stieg Larsson's ''Millennium'' trilogy: Do whatever you want to this [[LittleMissBadass 4 feet 11 inches tall girl]]: strand her on a bed for one full year, beat her nearly to death, rape her in the most gruesome way you can imagine, attack her in the middle of a tropical storm, send half the Scandinavian police after her, shoot her in the head then bury her, she will get back and have [[AxCrazy her revenge]] no matter what.
* Captain Ahab, from ''{{Moby-Dick}}''.
* Given the large number of books, it's no surprise that ''{{Discworld}}'' has featured several.
** Big Fido of ''[[Discworld/MenAtArms Men At Arms]]'' is a tiny poodle that rose up through the ranks of the feral dog population by being a small, fast, impossible to defeat, killing machine. The narration notes that you could have sandblasted him for five minutes and what was left 'still wouldn't have given up and ''you'd better not turn your back on it'''.
** Then there's Zombies, who are literally fueled by their obstinate refusal to die. Reg Shoe is probably the shining example.
** Vimes gets a couple of points here too. The man managed to outlive zombies, Trolls, and Golems in an alternate universe where the Watch was wiped out by Klatch. Not to mention ''killing two werewolves with his bare hands'', getting taken off the list of acceptable targets by the Assassins guild (a move he was inclined to appeal), taking history by the throat and making it cry uncle...the man is the the living embodiment of this trope!
** Also, the Luggage. Yes, its sole purpose for existing was to carry luggage around in extra-dimensional space for its owner, and it was only armed with its own lid as a mouth, a big red tongue, and the hundreds of very short, very small feet it used to move around. But this thing never ever felt fear, was completely immune to every type of magic, could shrug off most physical damage like it was nothing, and always knew where its owner was and the fastest way to get to him/her. It has an amazing track record, fighting across multiple continents, along the bottoms of oceans, from the end of time to the beginning of creation (in that order), fighting with the incarnation of a God of madness, and smashing through a diamond shell that encased it. It only ever took two breaks of its own free will, one was to get hammered at a bar, and the other was to get it on with a female Luggage on a trip to its home continent, and to the confusion of its current and previous owners somehow father several children. Keep in mind, till this point the Luggage race were seen as well crafted luggage from special trees.
* The protagonist of half of JohnSteakley's novel ''Armor'' joins the military in a BugWar. This leads to him being in scout armor (weaker than standard issue) in a mission gone very wrong.[[spoiler: He's the only person to survive the mission, which, due to a processing error, means he gets sent on every single high casualty raid against the bugs. He doesn't quit. He doesn't complain. He doesn't die. He just kills. Over and over again, eventually devoting a whole mental subroutine to living through constant war.]]
* The Deliverators from Neal Stephenson's ''Snow Crash'' will get you your pizza pie within thirty minutes or else the head of the corporation will fly down by helicopter and personally apologize for wasting your time, offering your family free tickets to Sicily at a luxury resort for compensation. Needless to say, they do not give up lightly. Of course, considering that they work for '''''Cosa Nostra Pizza''''', and given their bosses original full time occupation, I would not want to cause him to be 'inconvienced' either.
* Fëanor, from ''{{The Silmarillion}}'', who [[spoiler:has a dying vision that the Noldor will never defeat Morgoth, and tells his sons to keep their oath to take back the Silmarils at all costs anyhow]]. His sons die too early or break down at the end.
** And that was after he got himself - and his followers - banned from Valinor for the actions they took in pursuit of the Silmarils. The Feanorians' Oath was basically to be [[TheUnfettered unfettered]] Determinators about getting the Silmarils back. [[spoiler: Which they sort of do, eventually. They only really break down after learning that it was all for nothing.]]
* Speaking of JRRTolkien, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli's pursuit of the orc band who kidnapped Merry and Pippin in ''TheLordOfTheRings'' shows that they have a bit of TheDeterminator in them as well. And then there's Samwise Gamgee, a simple gardener and loyal friend/servant/[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_(military) batman]] to Frodo, who is the only member of the Fellowship who actually makes good on their original goal: to carry the Ring to Mount Doom and destroy it (though the last part was accomplished with a bit of unwitting help from Gollum).
* VillainProtagonist KnightTemplar head of the [[SecretPolice Guardian Service]] Operations Headquarters General and Colonel Stanis Alexander Rashid Trastamara from Yulia Latynina's ''Inhuman'', was at a certain point called [[TitleDrop "inhuman"]] by his boss, for being completely calm and unfazed even after having just [[TurnInYourBadge gotten fired]] as a result of intrigue and virtually exposed to revenge from his political enemies; as the boss mused, Trastamara was utterly ruthless (to the point of sending [[spoiler:his son]] on a suicide mission; then again, apparently he ''did'' become concerned when it got ''even more'' suicidal, implying that he simply was this confident in him), unfazeable and unbribeable. Another quote: "It was not as though Stanis thought he could get away. It was just a matter of principle: don't give up before someone fries your head with a laser, and don't do it yourself. This, after all... was the difference between him and the poor terrorist he stopped [at the spaceport by tackling him immediately upon noticing the mark of a symbiont, despite himself having broken legs from a recent botched operation and disabled prosthetics]. He did not seek death. He sought victory". That was just after he [[spoiler:shot the hyper-paranoid EvilPrince with a hidden "primitivi" projectile weapon and went on to have [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome an insanely awesome and successful escape from the prince's private fortress.]]]]
* Certain (Citizen) Major Victor Cachat, a special agent of (People's) Republic of Haven in the ''HonorHarrington'' books at a first glance is the least physically imposing or frightening person. A very young man for his rank and position (he is in his early thirties in a society where average life expectancy routinely tops 250-300 years), of slim build and rather short stature, somewhat [[HollywoodHomely moderately attractive]] (he was even described as ''cute'' at least once), kind, naive, eager, and a bit prudish, he isn't all that menacing... Except when he has his ''moments'', which tend to scare the utter shit out of LARGE groups of heavily armed and certifiedly {{Badass}} [[{{Mook}} adversaries]], including religious fanatics, terrorists and genetically engineered [[SuperSoldier super soldiers]]. And it isn't even SplitPersonality - he just takes his job '''very''' seriously, and pull absolutely [[GodModeSue no punches]]. The fact that his second novella is just called ''Fanatic'' speaks volumns.
* HonorHarrington herself, in the same series. If you are in the way of her fulfilling her mission, or hit the BerserkButton of threatening people she cares about (or both), nothing you can do will stop her from taking you down sooner or later. And it's usually [[{{CrowningMomentOfAwesome}} awesome]].
* One of the [[CatchPhrase catchphrases]] of the pulp hero ''{{The Shadow}}'' was "The Shadow never fails!"
* It's well known that Raistlin Majere of ''{{Dragonlance}}'' was willing to sacrifice anything for his magic.
* Inigo Montoya from ''ThePrincessBride''. His "overdeveloped sense of vengeance" drove him onward to [[MyNameIsInigoMontoya a truly iconic]] CrowningMomentOfAwesome.
* Corwin, from RogerZelazny's ''{{Book of Amber}}'' series. In the first book he fights his way up a thousand-foot staircase packed with enemy soldiers. Though he is overpowered, captured, starved, and [[spoiler:has his eyes burnt out of his head]], he eventually gets better and escapes. While still emaciated and weak he encounters an injured man threatened by monsters; he kills the monsters, builds a cairn over the dead with hundred-pound stones, then runs for a day and a night ''while carrying the wounded man in his arms,'' without pausing to rest. After that, he stops slacking off.
* Khalifa in ''[[{{Conqueror}} Bones of the Hills]]'' pursues the Mongol expeditionary force across approximately 150 miles of desert, during which time several horses on both sides die and the Mongols' and Arabs' eyes are rubbed red by dust. Unfortunately for him, Jochi and Jebe paced themselves to always remain ''just'' outside the range of the Arabs' bows so that, when dawn broke, the Mongols could turn around and more easily pick off the slightly less tired Arabs. When this happened, Jebe ordered their Chinese conscripts to move to the back line, but Shu Ten proved ''his'' determinator credentials by begging the generals to let his men fight on the front lines despite not having the toughness or endurance that comes from growing up in the steppes.
* The StarWarsExpandedUniverse was aware that fans [[EnsembleDarkhorse liked Boba Fett enough]] that he couldn't just be left to die ignominiously. So how did he escape something that preserves and digests victims over the course of millenia, trapping them in their own and each other's memories, while keeping them entirely immobile? With ''great'' difficulty. Go to AndIMustScream and ctrl-f "Sarlacc".
** [[HandOfThrawn Supreme Commander Pellaeon.]] He's an Imperial, the narration says, and Imperials never give up. Ever. He's also, oddly, a GracefulLoser who KnowsWhenToFoldEm, but that doesn't mean he ever gives up. Only that he knows his limitations, calls the retreat when it's expedient, and mops up when the newest great Imperial leader gets killed, putting the Empire's military back together each time. He does eventually [[PeaceConference call for peace with the New Republic]], but that's being realistic. The Empire was down to [[VestigialEmpire eight sectors and a thousand systems]] and was systematically being nibbled down by the New Republic. A lot of the people on this page would probably call him a quitter; ''his'' determination is very patient, duty-based, and has little glory.
* Tom Purdom's novella "Bank Run" includes "purpose-conditioned" mercenaries, psychologically programmed to be Determinators.
* [[LAConfidential Bud White]] spends years investigating a series of prostitute killings only he believes to be connected. Better still, he gets his man and beats him to death despite suffering massive injuries in the process. And speaking of that...
--> Bud White refused to die. (...) He survived massive shock, neurological trauma, the loss of over half the blood in his body.
* From the Warhammer 40K Last Chancer's novels comes Colonel Schaeffer. He and his personally chosen squads of felons and prisoners are given the most dangerous, desperate and vital missions the Inquistition can come up with. He's been run over by a tank, had his eyes cut out, shot uncounted times and gotten into fist fights with daemons. The Mechanicus has kept him alive for over 300 years by adding new parts to him whenever the old ones get shot off. To quote one of the men under his command, 'He has never failed'.
* [[spoiler:Darkfur]] in ''[[TheChroniclesOfAncientDarkness Ghost Hunter]]''. [[spoiler:She fights an eagle owl, survives a fall from a cliff into a river, travels through an ice-storm in the (literally) frezzing rain, treks over an icy wateland - all the while with a nasty injury on her leg, [[MamaBear and all in the name of rescuing her cub Pebble]].]]
* In [[{{Redwall}} Mossflower]], Martin the Warrior fits this trope perfectly. After being repeatedly savaged by a wildcat and being knocked down time after time, this mouse keeps rising back up to fight some more, refusing to just lie down and die.
* Miles Vorkosigan of the VorkosiganSaga has this approach to pretty much anything he sets his mind to. Four foot nine inches tall, with brittle bones, he really wants to go into the army. Aged seventeen, he undergoes a TrainingFromHell in order to be allowed to try the physical... and breaks both his legs a few minutes in. A normal person would choose another career at this point. Miles... finds a side entrance. And later, when he asks someone to marry him... he always tries again when he gets a refusal. From three different women. In one case, repeatedly over the course of several years. Just as well the man has charm.
* [[GoneWithTheWind Scarlett O'Hara]].
** Melly has her moments too, when it comes to defending Scarlett.


[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* Agent Paul Ballard from ''{{Dollhouse}}'' is so radically this, it's pretty much a setup for future {{Deconstruction}}.
* Dani Beck from ''LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit''. Elliot Stabler admired her for her "over-zealous" reputation, but he was very much in the minority.
* [[ThePrisoner Number Freaking Six]]-'I will not make any deals with you. I resigned. I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered! My life is my own.'
* In ''PowerRangersWildForce'' the [[KidHero Blue]] and [[GentleGiant Black]] rangers' motto was "Never Give Up!", which they often used to encourage each other when the chips were down.
* ''DoctorWho has quite a few:
** The Daleks , utterly devoted to their self-imposed purpose of becoming the only form of life in the universe. Part of this is how they perceive themselves, but you have to admire a species that manages to survive even after being made extinct. Twice. At least. In the new series alone.
** The original series' Cybermen are up there too. By the end they're a pathetic bunch of tin soldiers floating around the galaxy in a derelict spaceship, with no home planet and no influence... and they still refuse to lay down and die. "They never get tired, and they never give up."
** Davros has survived several NoOneCouldSurviveThat scenarios through sheer willpower, and he has never abandoned his dream of ruling the universe through the Daleks.
* Yup. This this trope fits Mal Reynolds from ''{{Firefly}}'' to a 'T'. The man will NOT stay down. Shot in the arm? Minor annoyance. Hit in the chest with a thrown knife? Flinch and a gasp of pain. Shot in the stomach? Some medical tape and a jolt of adrenaline is all he needs. Impaled through the gut with a sword? Pull it out and keep fighting. ''Tortured '''to death'''?'' Get back up, stick the torturer with his own toy, and proceed to beat the hell out of the BigBad.
** Lose the war and every member of your platoon? Keep on fighting.
**Simon is a {{Determinator}} in a more quiet way. He tracked down Mei-Mei against all odds, continually labors to cure her and never EVER gives up.
* Jack Bauer of ''[=~24~=]'', who ''will'' stop the terrorists no matter what it takes. Torturing him to death just ''makes him angrier.'' Seriously, they've tried international assassins, nuclear bombs, nerve gas, and even corrupt Presidents; and they STILL can't stop The Bauer.
* Several characters from ''{{Babylon 5}}'', though none as much as G'Kar. Over the course of one arc, he takes off in search of a friend, is captured by his enemy, tortured repeatedly (only screaming once, and that was rather than die), ''has an eye plucked out'', and breaks out of "unbreakable" chains.
** Worth noting that his only reason to scream was his {{Enemy Mine}} Londo almost begging him to, and right after the scream he looks at him, making pretty sure that he would have remained silent otherwise.
* Not with violence, but Karl "Helo" Agathon in the ''BattlestarGalactica'' episode "The Woman King". Say what you like about the quality of the episode as a whole, but character-wise, seeing that something definitely wrong is happening, he refuses to drop his investigation, over the racism of his crewmates and demands from his superiors to just let it go.
-->'''Tigh''': You may as well take whatever credibility you have left and chuck it out an airlock. You seriously want to stand up for these crazy frakkin' people? What is it with you?
** Then there's Starbuck. As she says when someone asks what they're going to do at the end of season two: "Do what we always do. Fight 'em till we can't."
** William Adama isn't exactly known for backing down in face of adversity...
* ''StarTrek'':
** James T. Kirk. In ''StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'', it is pointed out that he is so determined to win that he cheated in his "Kobayashi Maru Test", an intentional no-win situation designed to test the character of officers-in-training. He won. The CharacterDevelopment of the film is that he must deal with losing Spock, there is no way he can keep Spock from dying.
*** Not to mention Khan from the same film. He's successfully stolen a ship, and can go anywhere he wants, but first he has to have his revenge on Kirk.
---->'''Khan''': He tasks me! He tasks me and I shall have him. I'll chase him round the moons of Nibia and round the Antares malestrom and round perdition's flames before I give him up!
** The Borg, even after their VillainDecay. In the ExpandedUniverse, they [[TookALevelInBadass take about six levels in badass]]
--->'''Q''': You can't outrun them. You can't destroy them. If you damage them, the essence of what they are remains - they regenerate and keep coming... eventually you will weaken; your reserves will be gone... they are relentless.
** Likewise, the Jem'Hadar.
--->'''Omet'iklan''':I am First Omet'iklan, and I am dead. As of this moment, we are all dead. We go into battle to reclaim our lives. This we do gladly, for we are Jem'Hadar. Remember, victory is life.
*** And in the same episode
--->'''Miles O'Brien''':I am Chief Miles Edward O'Brien. I am very much alive, and I intend to stay that way!
** Worf, in ''By Inferno's Light''.
** The [[CoolStarship cool ships]] are like this as well. Every version of the ''Enterprise'' has taken abuse that would reduce another ship to recycled scrap metal. The USS ''Voyager'' was stranded a bajillion light-years from any kind of base that could offer repairs and yet managed to take on, and defeat, hundreds of enemy ships and leave a trail of destruction and reconstruction on its way home. And of course, you have the ''Defiant'' which almost singlehanded won the Dominion War.
* It shouldn't be too terribly shocking, considering what she is, but Cameron of ''TheSarahConnorChronicles'' is pretty darn tough. Little things like getting caught in a massive car bombing don't do much more than give her a limp for a bit.
**There's also Allison Young, the girl whom Cameron's appearance was based on. She doesn't surrender, repeatedly attempts to escape, and when [[spoiler: Cameron is about to kill her]], she stares her right in the eye and declares she'll ''never'' help them.
* Comedy example: Jack Donaghy of ''[=~30 Rock~=]''. Among other things, he's grown an inch and a half and defeated a killer peanut allergy on pure willpower. Potentially increasing the impressiveness of the feat and making it much more disturbing to share, he specifically says he's grown an inch and a half - he does not say 'in height'.
* Done in a very silly manner in [[{{ptitlehwgm85et78jj}} Monty Python's Flying Circus's]] 'Upper Class Twit of the Year Show'. The commentator says of one particular Twit 'He doesn't know when he's beaten this lad. He doesn't know when he's winning either. He doesn't seem to have any sensory apparatus whatsoever'
* ''TheCloser'''s titular character, Brenda Leigh Johnson.
* {{Lampshaded}} in ''[[SuperSentai Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger]]'' where Red Ranger Ban gets a promotion, but won't leave until he's sure {{Sixth Ranger}} Tetsu can replace him as the "fireball."
* Charlie Crews from {{Life}}. As a cop that's been sent to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelican_Bay_State_Prison Pelican Bay]] - a federal maximum security prison - which houses Level IV criminals and some of the world's most notorious prison gangs, he pretty much got targeted for all kinds of hell and abuse imaginable. For the first few years of his incarceration, he spent more time in the prison infirmary than in gen pop because they kept breaking every bone in his body. One time, they cut him up so bad he had to get 241 stitches. That's not even taking into account the beatings he received from the COs. Aside from the physical and mental abuse that's already been heaped on him, he also got sent to the SHU for a few years and that knocked quite a few screws loose from his head. He then decides that he's had enough so when he gets back to gen pop, well... Let's just say the inmates get introduced to a ''whole new Charlie Crews''. He's finally let out from prison when, after 12 years, he gets exonerated. He proceeds to win a $50 million lawsuit against the city, gets back on the job as a detective despite the universal suspicion he receives from the LAPD, [[spoiler: ''tracks down the murderer he served the sentence for, and (after deciding not kill the guy) brings him in and puts him behind bars''.]]
** Crews, in the second season, gets shot in the chest. After he recovers, he [[spoiler: lies to the LAPD that he doesn't remember who shot him, gets the bullet that hit him and keeps it, melts it down later to make a new bullet, barges into the shooter's house and proceeds to shoot him w/ a gun loaded with ''that bullet'']]. It. Was. Awesome.
*** Oh, hey remember that time when his partner got kidnapped by the psychotic Russian mobster known as Roman Nevikov? Yeah, that whole episode was ''epic''. Despite the entire LAPD looking for him as his connection to Roman became known and his only assault weapon getting confiscated, Crews meets up with Roman and exchanges himself for his partner. He gets into the SUV completely weaponless, Roman sitting beside him and 4 or 5 heavily armed Russians surrounding them. ''It was not Roman's wisest move.''
----> [[spoiler: '''Charlie''': "Do you know how I survived 12 years in prison?"]]
----> [[spoiler: '''Roman''' (''sneers and laughs''): "Your Zen?"]]
----> [[spoiler: '''''Roman's''' laughter gets interrupted when '''Charlie''' reaches over and punches him in the throat.'']]
----> [[spoiler: '''Charlie''' (''watching serenely as Roman chokes to death''): "Like that."]]
* The ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'' episode "Avatar" plays on this when Teal'c is trapped in a virtual reality game that's programmed to shut down when he either beats the scenario or uses the emergency exit. Except subconsciously, he never gives up, and so the game forces him to play it to the bitter end.
** All of SG-1 qualifies, really. Throughout the entire series, I can't think of a single moment when they ''didn't''. Their {{Determinator}} status is so legit.
* There's this scene near the end of the first season of ''{{Leverage}}'' when Eliot is fighting a guy who has been totally kicking the crap out of him. After a while, the bad guy yells, frustrated, "Why won't you go ''down''?!" Eliot just laughs, spits some blood on the floor, and goes back to fighting. That, kids, is what {{Determinator}} means.
* [[GossipGirl Blair Waldorf]] definitely qualifies. If she sets her sights on something, she'll stop at nothing.
** Chuck Bass can be that way too. Which makes things complicated when he's determined to have Blair, and she's determined to have his best friend.

[[/folder]]


[[folder: Music ]]
* And its Spanish similar of sorts, Dúo Dinámico's "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNZv46WnY2Q Resistiré]]".
* Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
* "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi
** Also by Bon Jovi, "Livin' On a Prayer".
* "Stay Hungry" by TwistedSister
* Pick a song by {{DragonForce}}. Any song.
* "No Surrender", and "Unstoppable" (among others) by BoneThugsNHarmony
* "Stand" by Motorhead
* "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ-2J0b1uS0 I’m Alive]]" and "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSF2i0rU_Q8 Indestructible]]" by {{Disturbed}}.
* Queen's "The Show Must Go On" not only fits this trope in lyrics, but also in purpose; it was intended as Freddie Mercury's last defiant stab at death. It was released shortly before he died of AIDS.
* Pat Benetar's ''Invincible''.
* "Until the End" by Breaking Benjamin.
* "Curse of Feanor" by BlindGuardian - it is about Fëanor, after all. You can find his entry in the literature section.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Mythology ]]
* Let us not forget the original determinators, the {{Erinyes}} (a.k.a. the Furies) from GreekMythology (making this trope {{Older than Dirt}}.) Hell, one of them (Alecto) has a name that actually has a literal translation of "The Implacable"
* Don't forget Odysseus and his wife Penelope, sticking through twenty years of painful separation...well, mostly Penelope. Odysseus...[[AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder well.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Newspaper Comics ]]
* As [[http://www.joshreads.com a certain web commentator]] is fond of pointing out, once MaryWorth has her hooks in you, she will stop at nothing to meddle in your affairs until you are either "fixed" or dead. [[http://joshreads.com/?p=1799 YOU CANNOT ESCAPE SHE IS RELENTLESS.]]
* No matter how many times the entire universe [[ButtMonkey goes out its way to make him fail]], [[{{Peanuts}} Charlie Brown]] will just get up and try again out of sheer optimism. He'll whine, but he'll never surrender.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: ProfessionalWrestling ]]
* Pretty much every main event {{Face}} in ProfessionalWrestling since Hulk Hogan, and half the {{Heel}}s too. Incidentally, being a Determinator is one of the things that can make a heel a DracoInLeatherPants. It worked for Steve Austin, after all. In fact, wrestling actually has so many Determinators running around, that it actually has a contest to see who the biggest Determinator actually is: the I Quit Match, a special [[GimmickMatches Gimmick Match]] in which the only way for the match to end is for one of the participants to say the phrase, "I Quit," on a live mic, in front of the thousands of fans in the arena and the millions watching at home. Naturally, I Quit matches tend to be among the most brutal affairs one can see in wrestling.
** Austin lost his "I Quit" match vs. Bret Hart by passing out while in Hart's "Sharpshooter" hold, rather than submit. He'd rather deal with enough pain to make him lose consciousness than give up. That was just about the turning point...
*Kenta fucking Kobashi. This defined him. He lost over 60 matches in a row in AJPW, was constantly pinned in tag matches, and overall was made to look like he just barely lost for quite some time. This even worked it's way into his finisher, the Burning Hammer, where he was so determined to beat rival/friend Mitsuharu Misawa he had to invent a move that has yet to be kicked out of.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]
* ''DungeonsAndDragons'' actually has monsters based around this trope. The Inevitables, a race of extra-planar automotons, are designed to uphold the universal concept of law. Someone who has escaped a fate destined for them, or otherwise gained the ire of the Inevitables will be hunted down unceasingly by these creatures. If you manage to kill one that's after you, they'll just send more. No matter where you hide, no matter which ''plane of existance'' you flee to, they will hunt you down until you are dead.
** Characters that take the Diehard feat (and it's required precursor Endurance) tend to be the ones that will finish a fight, even if it kills them. (D&D has a 10 HP buffer between KO'ed and dead as a doornail, Diehard allows a character to ignore the KO and keep fighting at the cost of their few remaining HP)
** The real GameBreaker is the Frenzied Berserker class. When one of these goes into his UnstoppableRage, she literally cannot be killed or stopped by hit point damage. The frenzied berserk in question may have less than 100 hit points, but you can do ''millions'' of points of damage and she'll continue fighting. This state of affairs will continues until she calms down, at which point [[CriticalExistenceFailure her wounds suddenly take full effect.]]
** Some animals in the game, such as badgers and wild boars (as well as their giant-sized monstrous counterparts) are given an ability similar to the Frenzied Berserker.
* Between {{Space Marine}}s, [[RobotWar Necrons]], Imperial Assassins, [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orks]], [[BugWar Tyranids]] and various other daemons, freaks, unkillable monsters and religious maniacs, ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' has a horrifying number of these.
** The Necrons and their C'Tan gods are [un]living embodiments of this trope. Shoot them, they repair themselves. Blow them to bits with explosives, they reassemble. Rout them, they phase out and will come back for more eventually. Shoot the C'Tan with the combined power of thirteen Blackstone Fortresses, each capable of destroying a star (and the system along with it), and which fire the only weapon in existence, they're noted as powerless against and vulnerable to, and they take a nap (altho how much damage the C'Tan in question sustained is unknown, as it has been "napping" ever since, for 60 million years, and doesn't show any indications of waking up yet). Force the entire race into hibernation, and a few billion years later, they'll wake back up and resume the attack with gusto. Each and every Necron is a Determinator, and there are thousands of them at minimum, complete with physics-bending weapons, vehicles, and starships.
** The Imperial Guard get special mention, as the ''entire army'' is one giant Determinator. Unlike their opponents, the regular troops of the Guard are just [[RedshirtArmy ordinary men and women]] who will often break and flee in the face of the [[CosmicHorror mind-breaking horrors]] they have to fight. However, the Guard itself as an organization is a [[ImplacableMan massive, unstoppable entity that soaks up casualties without stopping]], [[WeHaveReserves refusing to break and surrender in the face of the tremendous suffering and terror it has to deal with.]]. The common strategy of the guard is to simply march their men straight into the enemy fire while simultaneously blasting everything infront of them with massed artillery.
** A more specific example would be the Death Korps of Krieg. These regiments are renowned as Determinators in an army of Determinators. The Death Korps soldiers unflinchingly advance under fire and dig in with World War I style tactics, seeing their massive casualties as penance for a planet-wide rebellion on Krieg millenia ago. They won't give an inch of ground as long as there are guardsmen living to grind it out in the trenches.
** The Space Marines embody this trope to the ''t''. Not only are they heavily armoured [[SuperSoldier supersoldiers]] with the ability to withstand wounds that would kill a normal man thrice over, they are also unshaken n their faith and determination. Some notable examples include the {{Ultramarines}} 1st (veteran) company that defended their chapter fortress against the innumerable [[AlienLocusts Tyranid swarms]]. They managed to hold them back long enough for the orbiting fleet to drive off the Tyranid hiveships, even though it cost them all their lives (as well as several nearly irreplaceable suits of Terminator armour). Also deserving of mention are the GreyKnights, which are always eliter-than-elite's-elite, who has never had any of its order succumb to [[TheDarkSide the call of the Chaos Gods.]] Then you start going into the named and higher-ranked characters and see [[RefugeInAudacity what Warhammer 40K is going for.]] It is said that ''"A fortress will not stop the Space Marines, although it may slow them down"''
** Generally [[AvertedTrope averted]] with the Tau, whose military doctrine considers ground won as irrelevant beyond being a place to kill the enemy. They consider a heroic LastStand to be the mark of an incompetent or unimaginative commander, and won't hestitate in retreating from a strong enemy attack. However, that [[HeroicBSOD all goes out the window]] if a Tau army's Ethereal leader is killed. The Tau version of [[UnstoppableRage battle-rage]] involves slowly advancing while pouring ridiculous ammounts of fire into the enemy, only stopping when they run out of ammunition.
** The Orks have an... Interesting view about defeat. Basically, they never lose. If they win, that's good. If they're defeated, they're dead, so that doesn't count. And if they retreat, it's for coming back later [[FunetikAksent fur annuver go]] with more boyz and MoreDakka. Those green barbarians just won't stop coming at your throat until you'd have wiped them all from a planet's ground... And as they emit tons of spores upon their deaths which will form new Orks, even this won't stop them from coming back. Unless you KillItWithFire, in which you may reduce it.
** Their galactic empire has collapsed. Their species is moving towards extinction and they have no real hope or chance remaining. What do they do? Do they flee the galaxy to live in peace? No, the Eldar keep fighting.
*** Mainly because they ''[[TheMilkyWayIsTheOnlyWay can't flee]]''. The Webway they use for FTL was made by their creators and has set positions, the Eldar can't repair or change it themselves and it doesn't extend beyond the galaxy. They could have curled up in a small corner of the galaxy and waited for Chaos to consume their souls and torture them for eternity though.
* ''7thSea's'' Erich Sieger, a ruler so stubborn that he salted the earth of his own lands to prevent an invading army from capturing it. He's the poster boy for the mechanical advantage the system calls, "Man of Will".

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Apparently, in PrincessWaltz, {{Badass}} and {{Determinator}} go hand in hand. This is even lampshaded.
* Kratos from ''GodOfWar'' and its sequel and prequel. He's literally ''climbed'' out of {{Hell}}... ''three times''. As he puts it: "If all of Olympus would deny me my vengeance, then all of Olympus must ''die''!" The fact that his only clear motivation is the desire to kick the ass of anyone who screws with him just solidifies his status as an undiluted BadAss.
* The space marine from ''{{Doom}}'' utterly refuses to go down without a fight, despite the fact that all hell has literally broken loose, and he is the only non zombified person in millions of miles. He proceeds to blow up all the demons and zombified people that are attacking him. He then fights his way into [[BonusLevelOfHell Hell]], kills everything there, and fights his way back out. And that's just the first game. In ''Doom 2'', he indirectly ''destroys Hell''. Talk about a BadAssNormal.
** He gets even more badass. In the Nintendo 64 exclusive Doom 64 (the last game in the Doom franchise before it was rebooted with Doom 3) one powerful "mother" demon resurrects everything Doomguy had killed in his previous fights. His response? Eradicate anything between him and the Mother, kill her, and then ''stay in Hell to make sure the demons don't try anything like that ever again''.
* Axel Almer from ''SuperRobotWars: Original Generation 2'' is absolutely obsessed with defeating Kyosuke Nanbu. The part that makes him a {{Determinator}} is that his actual beef is with the Kyosuke Nanbu from Axel's original dimension (he is part of an invasion from another dimension), this Kyosuke is known as "Beowulf" and repeatedly humiliated Axel in battle. The fact that this dimension's Kyosuke has no idea who Axel is or why he is so determined to defeat him doesn't seem to matter to Axel.
** ''Original Generations'' mellows Axel's Determinator personality a little, but he's still intent on stopping Kyosuke. Though he just uses another reason. [[spoiler:And when he's BackFromTheDead in OG Gaiden and had a HeelFaceTurn, he seems to completely lose his Determinator status...]]
** And speaking of Kyosuke Nanbu, whenever something happens to his partner and lover Excellen Browning, he himself becomes a {{Determinator}}, plowing through anything in his path to get her back.
** And, of course, Zengar Zombolt, despite being easily one of the most competent of the heroes and in a powerful machine to boot often finds himself outmatched, outgunned, and even out and out disabled. His response? "Shut up! And listen! I am Zengar Zombolt! The sword that cleaves evil!"
* Luca Blight, the main villain of ''SuikodenII'' is the embodiment of this trope. Despite being the prince (and later king) of a massive country, he is the single most powerful human warrior on his side of the field (and arguably, the entire Suikoden universe), turning the tides of entire wide scale battles simply by appearing and punishing/killing any of his men for so much as hesitating in battle. If more proof is needed, his [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat death scene]] should make this trope obvious. This trait, combined with the fact that he is a sadistic OmnicidalManiac and a NietzscheWannabe, makes him a very intimidating and frightening villain.
* ''[[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]]'' in ''{{Tales Of Symphonia}}'': Part of what made the KnightTemplar main villain what he is was that he could not, in any way, manage to give up on his ideals [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope as they became more and more warped]] and admit that there might be a better way to do it - [[spoiler:even as he lies dying, he is unrepentant and claims he would do the same things over again if given the chance to redo his life]]. This puts the villain in [[ShadowArchetype sharp contrast]] with Lloyd, whose ideals also clash with the way the world works - Lloyd, however, knows to yield and learn from his mistakes when it is obvious that he has done wrong, which is an integral part of the CharacterDevelopment that turns him into TheMessiah.
* FinalFantasy:
** The "Unsent" from ''FinalFantasyX'' are people who've died but still cling to existence through sheer willpower.
** ''FinalFantasyVIII'' has Seifer, who refuses to back down no matter how many times he gets his ass handed to him, even after it's been made clear to him that he's being manipulated and used by the BigBad.
***And to balance his determination, there's Squall, who develops into an immense {{Determinator}} in the third disc of the game. When faced with the only possibility of saving Rinoa after she goes comatose being crossing an ocean-spanning bridge on foot, he doesn't even hesitate, and ''carries her on his back, on foot, all the way across.'' Empty, monster-filled wasteland stretching on for tens of miles ahead of him? He just keeps walking. Finding himself inside a technologically advanced and potentially hostile country? Keeps moving forward. Finds out the only way to save her is to go into space? No hesitation to go up there. When she gets hurled out into the voids of space and all he's got is a quarter of an hour's worth of oxygen in his suit, and no real guarantee he's going to save her if he can get to her, Squall hurls himself right out after her. Nothing, and we mean ''nothing'' is going to stop him from saving her.
** Galuf from ''FinalFantasyV'' does it too. The rest of the party is imprisoned... it looks like the end... [[spoiler:then Galuf gets up and beats the hell out of Exdeath single-handedly in a completely awesome HeroicSacrifice.]] It's made even more awesome by Galuf refusing to acknowledge that he has ''[[spoiler:no HP left]]''.
** Terra, from ''FinalFantasyVI''. With the defeat of Kefka, [[spoiler: [[TheMagicGoesAway the source of magic is gone]]]] and all Espers are vanishing from the world. This includes the [[HalfHumanHybrids Half-Esper]] Terra. Even knowing this, Terra chooses to enter her Trance form and lead the party out of the [[LoadBearingBoss collapsing Tower]]. In the final stages of the ending, after the last shard of Magicite has vanished, Terra is ''still flying'' in order to lead the airship out, even as her power wanes and she beings to fall. In the end, [[spoiler:The Falcon catches Terra, who has reverted to a human form.]] Not only does she manage to outlive every other Esper on sheer determination, she manages to completely ''survive'', albeit [[spoiler: as a human.]]
** Cloud, from ''FinalFantasyVII'', especially shown in his pre-game fight with Sephiroth. Sixteen years old, relatively untrained, no super powers or super strength, 5'7" tops (assuming he didn't grow between ages sixteen and twenty-one) and maybe 100 pounds soaking wet and fighting against The General - several inches taller and with considerably greater mass, genetically manipulated, insanely strong (and just insane). Cloud is knocked out while his town burns, but gives chase, eventually fighting Sephiroth, getting impaled by Sephiroth, and while still impaled on the man's blade and hoisted several feet in the air, somehow manages to get the upper hand and send Sephiroth flying into a pit of Mako. Not half bad!
* Caim, the protagonist of ''{{Drakengard}}'', has it in for every single [[TheEmpire Empire]] soldier and civilian. [[HideYourChildren All of them.]] He will [[UnstoppableRage kill them all.]] No one will escape. Even his dragon mount, [[HumansAreBastards who detests all of humanity]], says to him, "Must you slaughter so many?" Not even TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt keeps him from fulfilling his vengeance.
* Adell from ''{{Disgaea}}'' takes this to the point where it actually grants him in-game bonuses: he deals extra damage against enemies with a higher level than himself.
* Vyse from ''SkiesOfArcadia''. In fact, his [[BraggingRightsReward Infinity Plus One Title]] can only be achieved by (among other things) never running from a single battle. At all.
* About everyone who has or once was suppossed to have a Snake in his name from the ''MetalGearSolid'' series.
**Liquid Snake. Pretty determined to kill his brother. He even beats him up after falling off a story tall Metal Gear.
** Naked Snake in Metal Gear Solid 3 is more straight example in that he keeps on going even though his mentor kicks his ass every time they meet.
** Raiden in Metal Gear Solid 4 is equalled in his stubborn desire to get himself killed only by his inability to give up under any circumstances. [[spoiler:A vampire is stabbing you repeatedly in the chest? Just fight harder! A building falls on you? You don’t need your limbs! [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat Someone drops a battle ship on your head?]] Bring it on.]]
** Not to mention Solid Snake himself, who spends most of the time between later missions coughing up his lungs and trying to put himself back together with sticky tape. It doesn't stop him for a moment.
*** there's a point where he crawled through what's esstentially a giant microwaved hallway, even if you lost all your health/psyche points, he will still crawl out... by his fingertips!
** Ocelot - the only character to appear in all the ''MGS'' games - is stubborn enough to [[spoiler: implant another personality into himself]] to carry on the plans his idol had for the world.
** Volgin. Beat him up with your fists, grenades, shotgun, and whatever else you may have, and then blow up the weapons hangar with him in it? He blasts his way out with the Shagohod and chases after you, trampling everything and everyone who would get in his way, including flipping over a jet on the runway. Blow up the bridge he’s crossing? He launches the Shagohod out of the wreckage and keeps coming. Pepper the Shagohod with RPGs until it finally breaks down? He punches his way out of the cockpit, uses his electrical powers to reanimate the blasted husk of a tank, and ''keeps on coming'' while you fire more RPGs and sniper bullets at his exposed body. And he STILL DOESN’T DIE until being struck by a lightning causes the bullets he wears all over his body to explode. Liquid would be proud.
* Vhailor from Planescape: Torment, a Knight Templar so unstoppably dedicated to his cause that[[spoiler: he didn't even realize he was dead, and endured as a haunted suit of armor]]
* Doctors Robotnik and Wily from the ''SonicTheHedgehog'' and ''MegaMan'' series share more than just a [[NotThatKindOfDoctor PhD in robotics]]: no matter how many times the heroes stop their plans to take over the world, they ''keep coming back''. Heck, toss Bowser from ''SuperMarioBros'' in and you have a triumvirate.
* SonicTheHedgehog himself is a pretty fair example. Although it's often obscured by his eternal optimism and devil-may-care attitude, it's clear to see that he will ''never'' say die:
** He has, to date, fought somewhere around ten final bosses in space/collapsing dimensions/in the sky/at the planet's core/etc., with his only protection from the environment being his [[SuperMode super form]] that's [[TimedMission running on a timer]].
** It's also arguable this is a ''gameplay feature,'' as he will never die (except via crushed by objects or falling into pits) as long as he has at least one ring.
** And reportedly (this editor isn't sure as he hasn't yet played it), in ''Sonic and the Black Knight'', [[spoiler:his will and determination is what gives him the strength to go super and face the final boss, even after it's already beaten him down.]]
** Re: "''never'' say die" above: [[spoiler:His death in ''[[Horrible/VideoGames Sonic '06]]'' doesn't count, as that game [[CanonDiscontinuity erased itself out of existence]].]]
**Shadow might also qualify.
* [[SuperMarioBros Mario]] himself while we're at it. No matter what the setting, the [[GenreShift genre]] or whether he's alone or with allies, the [[TheEveryman only real personality traits]] he has are kindness and simply not stopping.
** In the MarioAndLuigi series, arguably Fawful. Lost in the first game, got blasted out the castle floating in mid air, apparently survived to run a shop in the sewers, conquered the world a few games later and got destroyed AGAIN to the point he's some kind of dark insect creature. THAT thing then gets destroyed in the final battle, and... it still tries to take Mario and Luigi out in a final attack. Summed up quite nicely in the ending:
---> '''Starlow''': What? You're still at it? Look, give up already. Seriously, get over it. You're done with evil.
---> '''Fawful (partly)''': Fawful will disappear with no troubles. Forever disappearing... [[TakingYouWithMe WITH YOU!]]
** The game also shows Bowser himself as this. When faced with an EldritchAbomination [[spoiler:in his form?]] He decides that [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome he's at least set the stage for the perfect Final Boss battle and declares that he's not giving up the Mushroom Kingdom]].
*** Beautifully shown with one of [[spoiler:Dark Bowser's]] attacks where he conjures shadowy versions of just about every type of creature in Bowser's army and sics them on the Koopa King. How do you combat this onslaught? By simply trudging forward, stopping every few seconds to block an attack or swat another minion out of your way, because ''nobody's going to stop you!''
* The {{Nasuverse}} has a selection:
** Emiya Shiro from ''[[FateStayNight Fate/Stay Night]]'' simply ''refuses'' to die (or stop) when someone he cares about is in danger, or someone is about to create danger for others. Slashed from shoulder to waist, overloaded nerves in half the body, broken arms and legs, cuts and slashes, loss of sight, flung into the air from wind pressure, thrown out third-floor windows, et cetera... It appears that the closer he is to the verge of death, the more desperate and insane(ly powerful) his attacks become.
** Another protagonist, Tohno Shiki of ''{{Tsukihime}}'', is less of a {{Determinator}}, but shares the "closer to death, closer to power" attribute.
* Gordon Freeman from ''{{Half-Life}}''. Even when put up against extradimensional armies, the US Marine Corps, and alien-backed world governments, he still kills, kills, and ''never stops killing''. It's possible to temporarily restrain him, but he'll eventually break out and be more than happy to continue his trail of destruction. Not bad for a mild-mannered theoretical physicist from MIT.
*On that note, both the Master Chief and the Arbiter in ''{{Halo}}'' fit this pretty well. The Chief in particular literally ''does not believe in losing'' and will continue fighting against any odds.
-->'''Cortana:''' Just one question: what if you miss?\\
'''Master Chief: ''I won't.'''''
** Also seen in the final cutscene of ''Halo 3''. As [[spoiler:they're rocketing away from an unstable, about-to-explode Halo ring that will destroy Gravemind, the Ark, and their only portal home from intergalactic space, with the odds very slim of them reaching the wormhole in time to escape the blast...]]
--->'''Cortana:''' If we don't make it-
--->'''Master Chief:''' ''We'll make it.''
--->'''Cortana:''' (softly) It's been an honor serving with you, John.
* There is a saying about the Silencers of the ''{{Crusader}}'' series: "Silencers get the job done." They might not ''survive'', but they will get the job done.
* In ''BreathOfFire 2'', when Ryu is killed in battle, there is a random chance that he will shudder on to one knee as the game says “Ryu grits his teeth, gets back up.” Since he follows a path of revenge all the way up to killing [[GodIsEvil God Himself]], this is par for the course.
* Every single character in the ''ThingThing'' series.
* Beat in ''TheWorldEndsWithYou'' cannot be stopped by anything. Even [[spoiler:when he's about to erased from existence]], he forces himself to keep going. Actually played with at one point, when he ''punches'' through an InvisibleWall that stands in his way... and then later admits to Neku that he had the key for it, which is how the punch worked. (Neku had thought that he'd just muscled it open.)
* Gruntilda from ''{{Banjo-Kazooie}}''. She gets pecked and shot with eggs several times, gets slammed by a high-powered jinjo around twenty times, falls off her tower making a hole in the ground, gets hit again when a huge rock slams down on the hole...and ''still'' struggles to get the boulder off. In the sequel, she's freed after having spent two years in the hole, having been reduced to a ''skeleton'', but immediately blows up the protagonist's house.
** And that's just at the beginning of the second game. At the end of ''Banjo-Tooie'', she is reduced to a skull. And proceeded to spend the next eight years ''rolling and hopping across the country'' solely to take revenge on Banjo and Kazooie. She's prepared to fight them even without any discernable means of doing so before L.O.G. turns up.
* This is actually part of the battle structure in ''EarthBound''. First off, if your character has enough HP, they still stay conscious enough after a mortal blow for some quick healing. Furthermore, if their Guts stat is high enough, they may be able to shrug off even fatal blows!
* After Sparkster destroys most of its body, the final boss of ''RocketKnightAdventures'' follows him off the exploding Pig Star and ''keeps fighting him as they re-enter Elhorn's atmosphere''. It doesn't stop trying to kill him until it is vaporized by the heat.
* In the ''WingCommander'' series, the Kilrathi embody this trope. In fact, it's established in Wing Commander 3 that they ''literally'' don't know the meaning of the word "surrender" (even those few who are truly well-studied in Terran languages and culture seem to have trouble grasping the concept of it).
* Wander from ShadowOfTheColossus. As the game progresses, Wander's body is clearly deteriorating from all of his battles. [[spoiler:Not even something as petty as dying could stop him.]] [[PowerOfLove He must really have loved her]].
* Link of ''TheLegendOfZelda'' will do freakin' ''anything'' to stop the BigBad, including setting off volcanoes, turning back country-sized shrouds of twilight, killing monsters across multiple worlds ''as a kid,'' and generally making the timestream his bitch. [[NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow And if he has some fairies with him...]]
** Link is matched only by his greatest nemesis, Ganon. Turn Ganon to stone, [[SealedEvilInACan lock him in a void]], or just SLAY him, Ganon will rise again. It [[DeathIsCheap just doesn't stick]]. Of course, it helps that the Triforce bearers have some kind of mutual reanimation clause going on. In Ocarina of Time, when Link defeats him, he coughs up blood and stops breathing. Then, after Link and Zelda escape, he somehow comes back to life and turns into Ganon. After Link kills him for the second time by [[DeaderThanDead stabbing him through the head]], he shows up again in the very next cutscene having apparently sustained no physical injuries and is just trapped in the Sacred Realm.
*** And after the ''next'' stab through the head he receives from Link, he is still able to TALK a few words, before being TakenForGranite. Most fans agree that this probably wasn't lethal either. ''Spirit Tracks'' will show if they're right about that.
*** Twilight Princess had Ganondorf, after being brutally impaled on the Master Sword, dying on his feet - and ''staying'' there even after he expired.
* Zagi from ''Tales of Vesperia''. After running into the protagonist Yuri in Zaphias Castle, he mistakes him for Flynn- whom he's trying to kill- and attacks him. After losing, Zagi continues trying to kill Yuri, even though he knows he's not the man he was looking for, because he was "the first man to ever make him bleed". You proceed to fight him 4 more times before the end of the game.
* K.Rool, antagonist of the ''DonkeyKong'' series. Each boss fight with him requires him to take a massive amount of punishment before going down, and in the second game he survives ''being eaten by sharks''.
* MaxPayne. Both games take place in a timespan of about 24 hours, during which Max hardly ever rests, is beaten up repeatedly, falls from serious heights, is shot and drugged on a regular basis and only really remains standing by virtue of dozens of dozens of painkillers. Of course, none of this stops him from going on a (mostly) solo RoaringRampageofRevenge across town, until he's found and killed whoever mistakenly believed that killing a maverick cop with a deathwish was going to be easy.
-->'''Nicole Horne:''' What do you mean, "he's unstoppable"? You are superior to him in every way that counts. You are better trained, better equipped, and you outnumber him at least twenty-to-one. Do. Your. Job.\\
'''Vladimir Lem:''' What the fuck is wrong with you, Max? Why don't you just die? You hate life, you're miserable all the time, afraid to enjoy yourself even a little! Face it, you might as well be dead already. Do yourself a favor, give up!
* [[IsaacAsimov Isaac]] [[ArthurCClarke Clarke]] from ''DeadSpace''. He has fought an entire Planet Cracker vessel's worth of [[RecycledInSpace space]] [[ZombieApocalypse zombies]] ([[spoiler:and their HiveMind]]) while doing more than the repairs he was originally sent for, [[spoiler:as well as being roped into a ThirtyXanatosPileup between TheMole and an artificial ArtifactOfDoom, coming out on top of it all, while being supposedly insane]], all because he wanted to find his girlfriend. And [[spoiler: during the scene where his girlfriend turns out to have been DeadAllAlong, Isaac's HeroicBSOD lasts all of five seconds, then he gets back to work. And by work I mean [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu taking out giant freaking monsters]] with [[ImprovisedWeapon mining tools]]]].
* Shepard and the gang from ''MassEffect''. They face incredible odds to say the least, and FailureIsNotAnOption. In addition, most of the alien races seem to thunk humans are like this on a species level, largely because human first contact with an alien race was a short war with the main galactic superpower which was fought to a stalemate (it ended before the Turian's resource advantage could be brought to bare).
* ''[[PrinceOfPersia Prince of Persia: Warrior Within]]'' has the Dahaka, an embodiment of fate and guardian of the timeline, who hunts the Prince after he attracted its attention by his liberal use of time-altering powers that allowed him to cheat death many times over in the first game. And in the other corner the Prince himself, who is just as determined to find a way to get rid of the monster as the Dahaka is to kill him. A secondary character lampshades this:
--> '''Kaileena:''' I had hoped the Dahaka would kill you. I had hoped that Shahdee would keep you from the Island. I even ''cursed'' the sword I gave you, AND YET YOU DID NOT DIE!
* Jon Irenicus of ''[[BaldursGate Shadows of Amn]]'' has one thing on his mind: the power he was denied when the Seldarine prevented him from becoming a god. If he has to rip the souls from living men and women, temporarily surrender to the authorities just so their guard is down and he can break out, work with thieves and vampires, make pacts with sworn foes of his people, pretend to be a humble servant, slaughter his kin or destroy entire cities to attain it, he will. You have to fight him no less than three times in the game, killing him ''twice''. And after all that, after following him to ''Hell'' and kicking his astral butt there, the ending cutscene shows his soul incarnating ''again'' and attempting to fight off a horde of gibbering demons with his bare hands.
** Another example would be Sarevok, the BigBad from the first game. He appears in the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon in ''Shadows of Amn'', and after dying ''there'' he appears to the player in ''Throne Of Bhaal'', the final instalment, having pulled himself back into a ghostly existence through sheer willpower in order to bargain his (vital) knowledge for the piece of the player's soul he needs to resurrect himself.
--->'''Sarevok;'''"[[EvilLaugh Hahahahaaaa]]! I swore I would scratch and crawl my way back into the world of the living... and ''I have done it''!"
* Crono of ''ChronoTrigger'' is pretty determined to protect his friends. "What's that, ancient evil? You've kicked my ass without even blinking and now you think you've won? Well, ''I'm not done yet!''" (Then he's done.)
** Magus is also a very good example. He survived in a (to him) post apocalyptic world, showering warfare on the world, all to find a way to kill the CosmicHorror that ruined his life. His most famous quote embodies this trope:
--->'''Magus:''' If history is to change, let it change! If the world is to be destroyed, so be it! If my fate is to be destroyed... I must simply laugh!!\\
I'm coming, Lavos!
** Ayla is this trope to a ''T'', in fact it's her whole life's philosophy and probably why there's a human race at all in the game world. Her most famous quote says it all:
--->'''Ayla:''' Ayla alive, Ayla fight! Win, live. Lose, die. That rule. No can change rule.
* Alwan in the ''{{Geneforge}}'' series. After surviving an attack on his school, his dedication to the Shapers results in him becoming the General in charge of defeating the Rebellion, personally leading a stealth attack on the Rebellion stronghold, somehow surviving massive injuries after the attack goes awry, and becoming the leader of a faction despite ending up like [[http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com/images/geneforge5/GF5AlwanTalk.jpg this]].
* ''[[FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R.'s]]'' Alma is one of these, to a point where her sheer force of will [[spoiler: allowed her to survive six days of being drowned with no life support (with one character commenting that she "simply refused to die") and her psychic presence continued to survive well after she finally died.]]
**The Replica troops are another variation on this, in that they will carry out whatever mission is given to them by their psychic commanders, immediately, without question, and without stopping until it has been completed, with no regard for their own lives. They'll go as far as suicidal frontal assaults to simply wound or slow down an opponent, to the point where they'll attack an enemy in a HumongousMecha with ''rifles'' just to distract and delay it for a couple seconds.
* Asagi from various NipponIchi games. Five games, five years, as many defeats by ''actual'' main characters, playing second banana to a freakin' ''[[ButtMonkey Prinny]]'', and all of it still has not extinguished her desire to, finally, one day, become a main character.
* Coily the snake from ''[[QBert Q*Bert]]''. While other enemies such as Slick, Sam, Ugg and Wrongway will eventually fall off the pyramid after trying to catch the armless orange alien, Coily will chase him all over the damn board. The only way to defeat him is by jumping on a flying disc and luring him to death by BottomlessPit.
* The main character from ''{{Persona 3}}'', during the real [[spoiler: FinalBattle]]. He's receiving an attack that performs instant 9999 damage (in a game with a 999 [=HP=] cap) and still ''stands up''. [[spoiler:At first he's Weak to them and gets knocked off his feet, but ThePowerOfFriendship and ThePowerOfLove keep pulling him to his feet, until they coalesce into the mother of all {{Spirit Bomb}}s that he uses to seal off the enemy... albeit [[HeroicSacrifice at the cost of his own life]]]].
* All of the protagonists of ''{{Lunar}} 2'' fits this to some degree, except for Lucia. In fact, one of the key points of the game is the "power of humanity" to never give up even in the face of impossible odds. The best example is when the entire party is struck down by Ghaleon... and then, through sheer willpower, all five stand back up on their own and fight him a second time.
* Ness in ''{{EarthBound}}''. Ness is overpowered later in the game, and he can take damage equal to five times his maximum HP and still take forty seconds or so to die. In this time, he can heal himself, his entire party, and kill everything in his way. Lather, rinse, repeat. After clearing [[spoiler:Magicant]], Ness and party are pretty much immortal. See EarthBound's entry on Combat Medic.
* The Willpower defense powerset in ''CityOfHeroes'' is described as nothing supernatural, unlike Invulnerability, Regeneration, Fire/Ice/Stone Armor, and the like; the character's defenses stem entirely from the fact that even though "bullets don't bounce off of you, and if you are cut, you bleed," the character is "tough, grizzled and strong willed. It takes more than a little cut to keep you down!" Some examples of powers within this set are High Pain Tolerance, Mind Over Body, and Indomitable Will; the EleventhHourSuperpower is called Strength of Will. Ironically, this is considered one of the better defense sets in the game, and is a favorite of Natural-origin {{Badass Normal}}s.
* Takeshi in ''{{Ever17}}'' comes down with Tief Blau, hasn't eaten in over a day, has been running around constantly when not passed out, is coughing up blood and suffers some really nasty decompression sickness right after being slammed into a wall. Then he swims through frigid, lightless water to rescue his love interest, swims back still without having rested and finally escapes. Then he's jettisoned out of a submarine to save his love interest again and sits on the ocean floor for awhile, having drowned. [[spoiler:And then a disembodied time traveler wakes him up, at which point he swims through the bottom of the ocean back into IBF, saves Coco and still lives to the story's True End. Oh, and he was dead/frozen on the ocean floor for at least long enough for a small robotic dog to swim down and recover the disc he was carrying. Three hundred feet down.]]
* In [[KnightsoftheOldRepublic Knights of the Old Republic 2]], this WAS Atton Rand's special ability. Unless he was the last man in the party standing, he literally got back up and kept fighting, his saving throws getting ''better'' the more damage was dished out on him!
** And of course Darth Sion, who has been shot, stabbed and blown up so many times that his sheer hatred and determination are literally all that's holding his body together. The only way to kill him is to [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath convince him to give up]].
*''[[{{Prototype}} "NOTHING CAN PROTECT YOU FROM ME! NOT MEN! NOT WEAPONS! NOT ARMOR!"]]''
* Would Rhythm-based games count, or should that go under Real Life? Either way, anyone who forces themselves through [[InTheGroove In The Groove's]] [[ShapedLikeItself Determinator]] is certainly this.
*In [[ChzoMythos the Chzo Mythos]], Trilby qualifies for this trope, to the point where [[spoiler:he is lying mortally injured, waiting for himself to be sacrificed to summon the avatar of a godly being and he Still. Won't. Die. Even when he acknowledges that it was only "his own stubbornness keeping him alive" and knowing that, should the Tall Man have no living sacrifice he would not answer the summons, you (the player) actually have to give Trilby the command to die. But then the ceremony still goes on, it just turns out that the Tall Man [[XanatosGambit isn't picky with who he takes]], instead absconding with [[MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning the would-be sacrificer]].]]
** [[spoiler:Subverted in 5 Days A Sacrifice, wherein we find clones of Trilby who are close enough to qualify as the real deal as far as Chzo / DeFoe / The Tall Man cares. Said clones are easily brainwashed, to the point where they serve as antagonists for half of the game. At the end Trilby (clone?) is seen quivering in terror inside of Chzo, cursed to the kind of immortal suffering that made the Tall Man into the Tall Man in the first place. Patently un-Determinator-like behavior all around.]]
* The entire Ur-Quan race in Star Control II. [[spoiler:After being forced to conquer the known universe and kill their only friends by their telepathic masters, an Ur-Quan scientist discovered that intense pain causes the telepathic link to shut down, supposedly to prevent their enslavers from experiencing discomfort. He (it?) proceeds to drink enough caustic acid to ensure its own agonizing death and takes the few seconds it bought with its life to broadcast its findings to all the Ur-Quan in range. The self-mutilation that followed bought the Ur-Quan time to develope a device that provided its user with constant border-line unbearable pain without inflicting physical damage. They proceeded to fight an entire interstellar war, constantly in throes of agony. No wonder they want to enslave/destroy the universe.]]
*[[{{Metroid}} Samus Aran]]. Certain logbook entries written by the space pirates in the Prime series mentions that no matter what they do, nothing has been able to stop the "hunter clad in metal".
** Among the things they have tried are elite Commandos and Commanders trained specifically to kill her and only her, Elite Pirates with her common tactics programmed directly into their brains, turning her weapons against her, blowing up the planet she is on, and throwing Dark Samus at her, who herself has tried corrupting Samus with radioactive physics breaking phazon, collapsing a dimension on her, and blowing up yet another planet in an attempt to kill Samus. By this point, the Space Pirates truly believe that "The Hunter" is an EldritchAbomination that has cursed them for eternity.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]
* ''GirlGenius'': Airman Higgs got Baron Wulfenbach out of a burning airship and to safety. During which, he had to deal with a bunch of monsters, an irate [[PsychoForHire Captain Dupree]], and a goose, breaking three out of four limbs in the process and getting an infected bite. He managed to get to a town despite his injuries, where he got shot in his last undamaged limb. He informed the local garrison of Wulfenbach's predicament, then passed out.
* ''{{The Order Of The Stick}}'s'' side character O-Chul, whom BigBad Xykon is speaking of in the Quotes Wiki. [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0541.html Just see]] [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0542.html for yourself]].
** A more recent (and subtle) example: "It's Xykon's spell list. Or most of it, anyway." "Are you kidding?!? How did you get this??" [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0670.html "One saving throw at a time."]]
* Meta-example: [[SchlockMercenary Howard Tayler.]] Nothing can stop him from updating SchlockMercenary every single day.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]
* Lee Phillips from ''{{KateModern}}'', when he wants to [[WhosLaughingNow punish Gavin for bullying him]].
-->'''Lee:''' "Right, a message for you, Gavin: I will fight you on the beaches, I will fight you on the landing grounds, in the fields, and in the streets, and I will ''never'' surrender! Bye, Winston." Terrence is also like this in season one, relentless in his efforts to retrieve his software, and violent to anyone who gets in his way.
*P rime example in ''TheSalvationWar'' - a Russian officer is killed during one of the battles for hell. His response? To climb out of the pit of torment he was thrown into upon dying, join up with LaResistance, and rejoin his original unit mere hours after he had died.
* ChuckNorrisFacts presents ChuckNorris as like this.
* [[FinalFantasyVII Tifa Lockheart]] in the fan film series ''DeadFantasy'' is an insanely awesome representation of this trope. Throughout five shorts, she has been slapped with an axe capable of downing a skyscraper, beaten to a bleeding pulp, which involved literally having the Materia knocked out of her, jumped onto a train, been [[spoiler: slashed quite a few times, filled with arrows like it was target practice, stabbed through the arm, and chained up by kusarigama. It takes Hayate's intervention to finally stop her.]] This is enough that I'm personally going to try to build Tifa like a walking tank from here on out on replays of Final Fantasy VII.
* [[{{Left4Dead}} The Tank]], the motherfucking Tank, he will take several shotgun shots to the head, get burned, or even ''scale a building'' to try to kill those survivors.
** And the Witch, who can do the same things as the Tank (Except the scale a building part), all the while being ''more'' difficult to get rid of.
* The ProtectorsOfThePlotContinuum. They have been led for a time by TheMole, faced a never-ending deluge of [[Horrible/FanFic badfic]], and been driven out of their headquarters by ThePlague; however, they never stop the fight against [[MarySue Mary Sues]].
* [[http://www.LordKaT.com LordKaT]] is brain behind the ''Until We Win'' videos, where he plays [[NintendoHard obscenely difficult]] video games and does not stop until he does in fact beat it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]
* Robin, especially in situations where he takes a {{Batman}}-esque BadassNormal Leader role on a team; for instance, ''TeenTitans'':
-->'''Starfire:''' They are too numerous to fight! What shall we do?\\
'''Robin:''' Fight anyway!
* Prince Zuko from ''AvatarTheLastAirbender''. Even Sokka, one of his enemies, remarks, "If we know anything, it's that Zuko never gives up." This often gives him a short-sightedness leading to WhatWereYouThinking Moments with his uncle. Zuko even gives an entire pep talk on the subject in "The Boiling Rock"...and kind of fails at it. He put it best earlier:
-->'''Zuko:''' My father says [Azula] was BornLucky. He says I was lucky to be born. I don't need luck though; I don't want it. I've always had to struggle and fight and that's made me strong. It's made me who I am.
** To a slightly lesser extent, Katara. Want to learn waterbending? Just a quick trip to the other side of the world. Your new friend's in prison? Okay, get yourself arrested and break him out. The local waterbending master won't teach girls? It's cool, just practice in secret, challenge him to a fight, and proceed to master the element faster than the Avatar. Want to help that repressed village? No problem, just disguise yourself as a minor deity and destroy a polluting factory. Oh, and about those guys who killed your mom... Not to mention several times she is all that's holding the team together, most notably in ''The Desert''. In her own words:
-->'''Katara:''' I will never, EVER turn my back on people who need me!
Way to go, supermom.
* Brock Samson from ''TheVentureBrothers'', being the BadAss that he is. The Monarch on the evil side, at least as far as his fixation on Dr. Venture's ultimate downfall.
* Optimus Prime of {{Transformers}} ''is'' this trope, with Megatron coming in a close second.
** Dinobot from ''BeastWars'' almost never willingly runs from a fight. This reaches its climax in 'Code of Hero', when [[spoiler: his insistence on stopping the Predacons from destroying the early humans costs him his life]]. Depth Charge also fits this trope, as his persistence to find and destroy Rampage leads to him putting that mission above all else, including [[spoiler: stopping Megatron from destroying the Autobots and changing the universe as we know it]]. Really, Depth Charge needs to get his priorities straight.
*** By the end of it, he was on board to stop Megatron. Unfortunately, at that time, Rampage was [[YouShallNotPass sent out to stop him]].
** In ''[[TransformersCybertron Cybertron]],'' Starscream was ''so'' much of a Determinator that he managed to use HeroicResolve in a way that's usually reserved for... well, the heroic. At one point, he took on the combined might of the entire Autobot team to get the MacGuffin, [[spoiler: dragging himself onward no matter how much damage he took, and taking the victory in the end with one well-timed dirty trick (hey, he ''is'' Starscream.)]]
** Actually, this is a pretty regular thing for Starscream. In ''TransformersGenerationOne'' he tried to take over the Decepticons at every possibile occasion--even after he died and came back as a ghost.
** And in ''TransformersAnimated'' Starscream kept trying to kill Megatron [[spoiler: after dying normally, becoming effectively immortal, dying many times, becoming a head, and then being killed ''again''.]]
*** ''Waspinator'' becomes this in Transformers: Animated, determined to get revenge on Bumblebee, he'll [[spoiler: get blown into pieces]] to get the justice he thinks he deserves.
* Dib of ''InvaderZim'' is a Determinator well past the point of insanity, considering FailureIsTheOnlyOption and he's surrounded by [[DyingLikeAnimals Bats]]. Zim is a similar case, continuing his "mission" even after being exiled due to his entire species loathing his very existence, although there's disagreement as to whether he merely ignores their scorn or he [[TooDumbToLive really is that stupid]].
* Riley from ''TheBoondocks''. He's not a very good fighter, but he's able to take a lot of punishment before going down. Likewise, he doesn't know when to shut up whenever he's making fun of someone.
* In the {{season finale}} of ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'', with no time to come up with a better plan, ''Batman'' keeps on coming after ''[[spoiler:Brainiac-Darkseid]]'' with nothing more than his fists, feet, and utility belt, relentless even though the other tosses him away casually. After the last such attempt, irritation is evident.
-->'''[[spoiler:Brainiac-Darkseid]]:''' You still try to fight? *tosses him thirty feet* Can't you see that it's hopeless?
-->'''{{Superman}}:''' *gives him a flying punch, then a right hook, and pins [[spoiler:Brainiac-Darkseid]] against the wall by the throat, one-handed* That man won't quit as long as he can still draw breath. None of my teammates will.
* How about Marlin from ''Finding Nemo''? Not exactly a {{Badass}} but VERY persistent.
** Not exactly a badass??? What the hell movie were ''you'' watching? He was such a BadAss Determinator, that the whole ocean was talking about how he took on killer sharks, electrocuting jellyfish, fish eating seagulls, and a fishing boat.
* Considering the fact he stayed locked up in prison for twenty years and, upon escaping, was just as intent on becoming the Dragon Warrior as ever, I'd say [[{{Badass}} Tai Lung]] from ''Kung Fu Panda'' qualifies.
** As does Po himself. Even when Shifu does his best to make Po quit, Po never does. While Po is in the middle of [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom rolling down the mountain due to a kick from Shifu]], the other student have the following conversation about it.
--->'''Tigress:''' If he's smart, he won't come back up those stairs.
--->'''Monkey:''' But he will.
--->'''Snake:''' He's not going to quit, is he?
* Darla Dimple from ''[[CatsDontDance Cats Don't Dance]]'', while not physically intimidating, is still a LittleMissBadass who refuses to allow ''anyone'' to interfere with her films, to the point of constructing [[XanatosGambit elaborate plans]] to discredit them, and (almost) suicidal attacks on their shows.
-->'''Darla''': I didn't get where I am today\\
By letting myself get pushed around!\\
And no man nor beast or kittycat or doggy\\
Is goin' to drag me down!"''
*Captain Clown from ''{{Batman The Animated Series}}'', who takes a ridiculous amount of crowbar shots to the head.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]
* Pretty much any US Soldier who has earned the Congressional Medal of Honor. You can find them all along with a description of the actions that earned them the medal [[http://www.cmohs.org/ here.]]
* Cole Younger, as part of the James-Younger gang, attempted to rob the bank in Northfield, Minnesota. During the robbery, Younger was shot in his arms, legs, and chest a total of eleven times before being captured. He died on March 21, 1916, forty years after being perforated like a block of Swiss Cheese.
* Squirrels that raid birdfeeders. Capsaicin powder in the seed, slinkies on the poles, greased poles, and a hundred other ploys will not keep these [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent Bastards]] from the birdseed for long. It gets really aggravating (although [[YourMileageMayVary some people derive amusement from the antics]]). People who want the birds to have a chance have produced the aforementioned contrivances and more. "Sorry, squirrel, this feeder's inaccessib- OhCrap. Maybe ''this'' will work..."
** You can buy birdfeeders that '''[[EverythingsBetterWithSpinning spin]]''' and they still hold on for dear life, and try again. You would think they would get the message, considering how smart they supposedly are.
* Pick ANY African-American who's broken the color barrier in any field, be it business, the military, sports, whatever. We're talking real men and women who've taken abuse that would reduce whole platoons of Marines to tears. Case in point, the Navy's First Black Master Diver Carl Brasher, as portrayed in MenOfHonor. Or there's the famous Malcolm X.
** Jack. Roosevelt. Robinson. Nuff said.
***Martin. Luther. '''''King'''''. Who really should've been the trope namer.
** The Little Rock Nine. Made even awesomer by how relatively young they were during their ordeal.
* Nichelle Nichols who played Lt. Uhura in ''StarTrek''. What's the big deal about her you ask?? During her first season on the show, the executives refused to make her a regular cast member, so she was being paid a ''fifteenth'' of what everyone else was making. One executive told GeneRoddenberry that he '''refused''' to film a scene where Uhura was shown in command of the Enterprise. Oh yeah, and her fan mail ''was kept from her''. It took MartinLutherKing himself to convince her to press on.
* In sport, Helio Gracie was an incredible Determinator. One of the founders of Brazilian Jujitsu, in 1955 he had two incredible matches that very much earn his title here. In the first, against Masahiko Kimura, he had two of the bones in his arm broken, and would have kept going, if not for his brother throwing in the towel. In the second, against Valdemar Santana, he fought for 3 hours and 42 minutes, only losing when he collapsed from exhaustion. The second was the longest fight in UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts history.
** Perhaps only rivalled by Kazushi Sakuraba's epic 90-minute fight with Helio's son, Royce Gracie in the PRIDE FC. Sakuraba is the Determinator here, as shortly after that fight he showed up for the next one, against the 50 lbs heavier, much better rested, and feared striker Igor Vovchanchyn (pretty much his worst nightmare if you would choose one)''and went the distance for another 20 minutes'' - fighting well enough for the match to be considered a draw. His corner decided to throw in the towel at this point before the extra round was on, just as Royce's corner had done earlier.
*** Not to be outdone (in what is now considered a classic rivalry), a few months later another Gracie, Renzo, faced off with Sakuraba and refused to submit to an armlock to the point where his elbow was broken - ''and beyond'', until the referee had to stop the match because of the injury. Renzo paid tribute to his opponent after the fight.
* In the quarterfinals of the 2009 Big East Championship Tournament, Syracuse beat Connecticut 127-117 in ''6'' overtimes, and Jonny Flynn of Syracuse played 67 out of a possible 70 minutes. [[strike:The next day]] ''That evening'', Syracuse played West Virginia in the semifinals, and again needed overtime to pull off a win--and Flynn didn't spend one second on the bench. Is this guy even human? Despite Syracuse losing to Louisville in the finals, Flynn was named the tournament MVP. Surprisingly, he was the ''fourth'' MVP to come from a losing team. There were others?
* William Wilberforce was determined to see slavery abolished and the character of the British people reformed. And he never faltered, though it took his whole life; he was in the final stages of a terminal illness when Parliament finally voted to outlaw slavery.
* The British Army (which included their Imperial allies, primarily Canadians and Australians) in World War One: Through fire and steel, despite failure after failure to achieve its stated aims, it kept on coming back for more; in the process grinding down the fine edge of the German Army. After the German March 1918 offensive, at which the British Army came within an ace of being scattered and broken, it came back and for the last 100 days of the war, it handed Germany its arse on a plate day after day. The culmination of this {{Crowning Moment of Awesome}} was to cut straight through the Hindenburg Line in three days, against defences which made the German positions on the Somme in 1916 look like a joke (''that'' battle lasted four months). That was when the Germans started talking seriously about peace. These days are actually named "Canada's Hundred Days". [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada%27s_100_days Look it up.]] Canadian soldiers also have gone trough this during World War 2. And Korea.
* When we are talking WWI, remember Serbia. They were being attacked by one of Great Powers, and their closest allies were thousands of miles away. And were practically surrounded by enemies or future enemies. So what do they do. They bitch slap Austria Hungary so hard two times (at that time Balkans was the only front on which Allies were winning), that AH only managed to break them by attacking them with twice as many troops and enlisting the help of Bulgarians to attack them from the rear. Also by that time the Serbian army was running out of ammo. In that kind of situation most of the nations would have surrendered, but Serbs instead opted to stage a fighting retreat towards Montenegro, and then through the frozen Albanian mountains, just to reach Adriatic sea where they were picked up by Allied navy, by which time most of them were walking corpses. After recuperating they again reorganized in Greece and by next year were already cracking heads, and taking fortified mountain ranges. In the end, in 1918, after non Serb/French Allies finaly found courage to continue the offensive, Serbs broke the back of Central power armies. They were advancing so quickly they were outrunning Allied cavalry, and were multiple times repremanded for advancing too quickly because their allies couldn't keep up.The end result is that Sebia in WWI lost 25% of total population, or in other words over 50% of male population.
* The Germans deserve their moment too, possibly even more so, for taking on the British, French ''and'' Russians and holding them all to a scoreless draw (until the advent of the US made the war {{unwinnable}} for them). But few people today remember what the British army actually achieved.
* Charles de Gaulle. Why? Because he was an officier of an army which had completely collapsed; because he saw the blitzkrieg coming and tried to warn French officials and failed to get their attention; because half his country was occupied while the other half was under the control of a puppet state. Because he was raised to believe that the army was some sort of moral elite and saw the role model for the officers of his generation (Petain) smugly commiting crimes of high treason; because half the resistance was communist and half of the remaining resistance did not trust him; because Churchill and Roosevelt never really took him seriously. He started with a lot of handicaps, yet still managed to organize the resistance, to recreate from nearly nothing the French army--hundreds of thousands of men strong--and make sure that France, which was supposed to know a fate similar to Austria, was considered to be one of the victors.
* David Ben Gurion. You're in charge of roughly half a million people, almost none of which are professional soldiers. Your enemies outnumber you about 20 to 1, with standing armies and military help, training and weapon supplies from Great Britain. You have almost no guns and not enough money to buy more ammo with. One third of your entire people is just recently gone in the flames of genocide, and you have no major alliances with anyone at this time. What do you? Declare independence and kick the living snot out of seven different countries simultaneously.
** He had a more then a bit of {{Determinator}} in him, but he was more like a {{Chessmaster}}. However the real credit for being a Determinator belongs to the Hagannah. And beyond that to Israel in general.
* BadassNormal Winston Churchill, who survived any number of setbacks and humiliations (being popularly but falsely regarded as the man behind Gallipoli in WWI) to prevail.
** "Even though large parts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, '''we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender,''' and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the Old."
* The Red Army in WWII. The infamous for Russians Order #227 (the establishment of penal battalions) is known as “Not a step back”, because of the lines it contained: “Not a step back! This should be our main credo. Each position, each meter of Soviet territory must be defended to the last drop of blood, each patch of Soviet soil must be clinged to and made a stand for.”
** Again, like the Germans, successful in spite of their government and its military policy.
* Joe Simpson, mountaineer and author of the book (and later award-winning documentary film) ''Touching The Void''. After completing an ascent of the west face of Siula Grande in Peru, reaching the 6,344 metre peak, he fell during the descent, his calf bone splitting his knee. Working together with his climbing partner, Simon Yates, they descended - until Simpson fell again, ending up hanging over a crevasse with no way to climb up or anchor himself - and with his body weight slowly pulling Yates after him. After a long time, Yates made the only possible decision - to cut the rope. Simpson, close to hypothermia by this point, fell again and ended up inside the crevasse, unable to climb back out the way he'd fallen; so he climbed down into the crevasse instead, and found a way back out onto the mountain. Then, with no food, water, or painkillers, he worked his way down the mountain - including an unroped crossing of a glacier - over three and a half days, finally arriving back at his Base Camp the night before Yates was planning to leave. He lost a third of his body weight during the ordeal, and he needed multiple operations before he could walk again. Then he started climbing again, and - later - broke his other leg while climbing in the Himalayas. He's now an author and motivational speaker.
* Mountain man Hugh Glass was mauled by a bear and left for dead by his companions. He awoke 200 miles from civilization, with a broken leg, exposed ribs, festering wounds, and no food, water, or weapons. Glass set his leg, wrapped himself in his death shroud, and began trekking through hostile Native American territory. He survived on berries, roots, and carrion, and stove off infection with maggots. After ''six weeks'', he reached the Cheyenne River, fashioned a raft, and floated to civilization. After a long recuperation, he hunted down his two former companions, but chose to spare both of them. He did, however, take his rifle back.
* Another mountain climber, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aron_Ralston Aron Ralston]], was forced to amputate his own arm with a cheap, dull multi-tool after a rock fell on it and trapped him for five days without food and water. After that he had to rappel down a 65-foot wall and walk for miles until he found help.
* Chris Ryan (pseudonym), the SAS member that during the First Gulf War walked over 200 miles in the Iraqi desert over 8 days with no supplies, evaded detection and capture, survived the weather and even drinking water contaminated with nuclear waste in what is by far "the longest escape and evasion" by any soldier to date.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt]] was the original modern theatre LargeHam, even taking on Large Ham ''male'' roles. Nothing could stop her - even being one-legged with almost no mobility could stop her from being an acclaimed actress.
*Rome in the Second Punic War. Every time Hannibal wiped out a Roman army the Romans just shrugged their shoulders and were in the field next year with another one because [[WeHaveReserves They Had Reserves]]. At the end it was the Romans who won.
* The defenders at Masada. Sure, you can call them completely insane, but you have to admire the fact that they wouldn't give the Romans the satisfaction of enslaving them (which for the Romans was the only true victory), and preferred to commit mass suicide before their walls could be breached.
**And given who they were up against(see above) that is more amazing.
*Thermopylae. Because [[ThisIsSparta They Were Spartans]].
*Byzantium. It endured for 800 years keeping [[VestigialEmpire what was left]] of TheRomanEmpire agains tremendous odds. The City of Constantinople itself endured more then twelve sieges. It preserved much that was worth preserving of ancient lore. Finally it fell wearily in a LastStand in 1453.
*George Washington. They found bullet holes through the clothes he was wearing in the fighting... Still he lived on to be president!
*On occasion, Israel. I mean... wow. Six Day War. Also, that could be said to be a Crowning Moment of Awesome.
** For those who don't know: after a series of border disputes, essentially the ''entire goddamn Middle East'' fought against Israel, primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, but also Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Tunisia, Algeria, Sudan, and Morocco. Israel won handily. In six days.
** That was indeed a CMOA, but it was more like IKnowKarate on a large scale then {{Determinator}}. A better example would be the Seventh Armored Brigade's defense of the Golon Heights in 1973.
* An uncountable number of boxers belong here, since many will often fight on with broken hands, (and continue to punch with those broken hands) broken noses, ripped muscles, etc. This troper feels like paying particular tribute to a relatively recent example, Danny Williams, whose right shoulder was dislocated twice in his 2000 bout with Mark Potter. The first time his corner popped it back in between rounds. The second time it came out just 30 seconds into the 6th round. For the next minute and a half, Williams somehow survived while Potter assaulted him, until the right handed Williams knocked Potter out with a single left uppercut. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY1jzjTjIhY I am ABSOLUTELY NOT making this up]].
*[[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8347164.stm This woman]], who finally passed her driving exam... on her 950th attempt.
** But do we really want to be sharing the road with [[OhCrap someone who takes NINE HUNDRED AND FIFTY FUCKING TRIES to pass a driving test?]]
[[/folder]]
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