->"I should hope that the explanation is more interesting than some tedious issue of "willpower"."
-->-- A {{Claymore}} villain after finding a hero withstanding a GrandTheftMe attempt

->''"Tell me, Drummknott, are you a betting man at all?"\\
"I have been known to have the occasional 'little flutter,' sir."\\
"Given, then, a contest between an invisible and very powerful quasidemonic '''thing''' of pure [[{{Revenge}} vengeance]] on the one hand, and the commander on the other, where would you wager, say... one dollar?"\\
"I wouldn't, sir. That looks like one that would go to the judges."\\
"Yes," said Vetinari, staring thoughtfully at the closed door. "Yes, indeed."''
-->-- Lord Havelock Vetinari and Drumknott, on [[BadAss Commander Samuel Vimes]] vs. [[EldritchAbomination the Summoning Dark]], ''Discworld/{{Thud}}!''

The worst has happened; TheHero has not only been infected by the BigBad with the [[DemonicPossession soul eating]] [[TheVirus virus]], but their [[FightingFromTheInside determined resistance]] looks like it's about to finally peter out. Just as his friends, family, and [[LoveInterests significant other]] look on in growing horror as he [[TranshumanTreachery becomes a monster]] and [[WarmBloodbagsAreEverywhere turns to eat them]]... ''he doesn't''. Even though TheVirus has their [[BodyHorror body]] and maybe even their [[BrainWashed mind]], it doesn't have their [[OurSoulsAreDifferent heart or soul]]. Through sheer grit, or [[HeroicResolve to protect a loved one]], they manage to not only resist the lure of TheDarkSide, but use EvilIsCool against itself. They may become far stronger than a typical Virus-afflicted, especially if young vampires/werewolves/monsters of that kind are weaker than old ones like the BigBad and under their control.

The hero who manages to reverse the {{curse}} uses their newfound powers to fight the BigBad and their [[TheDragon Dragon]], and [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours beat them at their own game]] as a VampireRefugee. Usually, doing so manages to break whatever curse they're under thanks to NoOntologicalInertia -- [[DownerEnding except when it doesn't]]. If so, or if they choose to stay infected to fight other monsters (as borderline {{Zombie Infectee}}s) they end up CursedWithAwesome or become a FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire.

The power up gained with HeroicWillpower sometimes manifests by becoming a OneWingedAngel or with a move up the BishonenLine, visually distinguishing them from rank and file infected. Incidentally, despite the name this isn't exclusive to heroes, the {{Determinator}} is a [[ImplacableMan classic villain archetype]] after all.

The internal struggle is often verbally indicated by the character gaining the VoiceOfTheLegion, paired with [[FightingFromTheInside physical and verbal tics]] like biting off each word in a loud (or even shouting) voice in a ThisIsSPARTA manner. When PlayedForLaughs the character will {{Lampshade}} this by saying something along the lines of "Must. Speak. Like. [[WilliamShatner William. Shatner!]]"

A SubTrope of HeroicSpirit.

Compare HeroicResolve, {{Determinator}} (when the character is almost nothing but resolve and willpower), GoodIsDumb, DeadlyUpgrade, IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight.

Contrast with FightOffTheKryptonite.

See also SheepInWolfsClothing, CursedWithAwesome, TheDarkSide, EvilIsCool, NoOntologicalInertia, TheVirus, ViralTransformation, DoomedProtagonist.
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!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* This is the ability of one of the main characters in ''{{Claymore}}''. She can go "past the point of no return" in accessing youma powers, but still come back. She can also use this ability on others.
* In ''TokyoMewMew'', [[spoiler:Deep Blue has told a sobbing Mew Ichigo that her precious Aoyama-kun is no more. Out of nowhere, Masaya's spirit manifests, taking control of the body again, and begins a cycle of HeroicSacrifice suicides and {{resurrection}}s by TrueLovesKiss. They eventually sorta cancel each other out, leaving them both alive.]]
* ''Devilman'' is about a timid teenager with a pure heart who allows himself to be possessed by a powerful demon, so he can use that demon's power to fight and kill its comrades (thus, preventing an oncoming demonic invasion.) The boy's personality gets altered after merging with the demon, making him more aggressive.
** One OVA involves him undergoing enough psychological stress he ''loses'' his HeroicWillpower and spends the finale battling inside of his own mind to regain control.
* In ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' main love interest Nia fights against her newly discovered Anti-Spiral purpose and allows Simon save humanity from the enemy's Extermination System.
* Subverted in ''{{Dragon Ball Z}}'' by the reformed Vegeta, who gets possessed by an evil wizard, then though sheer willpower refuses to obey the wizard's commands to kill a god... and then attacks Goku anyway, revealing he ''chose'' to be possessed in order to get the power needed to crush his old rival.
* The Vizard from ''{{Bleach}}''. Either they can control the [[SuperpoweredEvilSide raw power of their darker desires given form]] or they turn into psychotic soul devouring monsters that must be put down for their own good.
* Hayate in ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha A's'', who reasserted her role as master and administrator of the [[ArtifactOfDoom Book of Darkness]] after it had taken full control of her body, leading to her ascension as the [[PersonOfMassDestruction Queen of the]] [[DarkIsNotEvil Night Sky]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* In ''ThirtyDaysOfNight'', sheriff Eben Olemaun allows himself to be infected with vampire blood in order to become strong enough to defend his town. [[spoiler: It works, and even though he’s ravenous for human blood he manages to control his urges and fight and kill several vampires, including their leader. He doesn’t turn human again afterwards though, and allows himself to die when the sun finally rises.]]
* In ''Batman Hush'', Superman is controlled by Poison Ivy's special Kryptonite blend of mind-control lipstick, leading to a big fight with Batman, who frantically stacks the deck by playing Superman's innate boy-scout tendencies against him-those base-level urges are so innate to Superman that Poison Ivy couldn't make him ignore them. The control is finally broken by a supreme burst of Heroic Willpower caused by Catwoman shoving Lois Lane off of a building.
* [[TheAuthority Midnighter]] gets a moment like this when he (along with Jack Hawksmoor, Jeroen, and most of the ''planet'') is infected with an evil [[PathOfInspiration cult virus]]. Though the virus has made him obedient to the cult's will (so much so that they've got him flogging himself), he manages to hold out until Swift rescues him. Why? Well, the fact that they wanted him to publically break up with [[HappilyMarried his husband Apollo]] and denounce his former lifestyle [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming might have had something to do with it.]]
* Leia Organa Solo provokes this in her [[MindControl mind-controlled]] brother in the first ''[[StarWarsExpandedUniverse Dark Empire]]'' graphic novel, despite [[BackFromTheDead the Emperor's]] assurances that his personality had been completely annihilated.
* During the Marvel Zombies/Army of Darkness crossover, Doctor Doom reveals that he's been infected with TheVirus. The reason he doesn't attack the heroes is because he's so incredibly BadAss that he's just holding it off because no goddamn virus is going to mouth off to Victor Von Muthafuckin' Doom.
* {{Deadpool}} while temporarily infected by a [[YouWillBeAssimilated T-O Virus]] (in a reality hopping storyline), complete with the obligatory “Must… speak… like… William… Shatner!” line.
* In the Spider-man comics there’s the [[FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire good symbiote]] [[EnsembleDarkhorse Toxin]] (the host is a cop, and new father who decides to [[ArtifactOfDoom use this power]] [[ScrewDestiny to do good]]). Also the lesser known character Hybrid (though he/they are something of an inversion with the symbiote(s) being more placid and the human host more prone to UnstoppableRage.)
* The GreenLantern Corps is powered, quite literally, by heroic willpower.
* Danny "{{Iron Fist}}" rand can focus his chi so intensely that he can punch through steel and cure cancer. At the same time.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* In ''{{Underworld}}'', Michael is bitten by a werewolf and slowly starts turning into one. He later has the curse reversed for him when Selene, a vampire, gives him some of her blood, allowing him to become a hybrid Werewolf/Vampire with enough raw strength and speed to stand toe to toe with the vampire elder Victor.
* In ''TheLostBoys'', the older brother, Mike, is given blood that’s slowly making him a vampire. After a climactic battle where he, his brother and friends defend their home from the vampire gang that was turning him, he manages to beat the strongest vampire in the gang. When he doesn’t turn human again [[spoiler: and the [[TheManBehindTheMan real vampire lord]] show up, he beats him too and finally regains his humanity. (To be fair, though, Michael gets beat down hard; the day is won by their senile grandfather backing through the wall.]]
** [[spoiler: The "senile" grandfather has a ''[[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass load of sharpened tree trunks]]'' in the back of his truck, then quips about the "goddamned vampires" ruining his town after killing the BigBad.]]
* ''{{Doom}}'' (the film) revolves around a chromosome which, when injected to people with an "evil" gene, turns them into murderous monsters. When Reaper is injected with it, he becomes superhuman, since he doesn't have the evil gene.
** And also, one of the marines resisted it and killed himself before he completely turned into a zombie.
* ''Evil Dead II'' had our hero Ashley Williams corrupted and turned into a Deadite. He couldn't actually fight it off when it mattered, beating the hell out of the only other survivor and approaching her unconscious body to finish her off. Then he came across the bit of jewelry that he'd given his girlfriend earlier in the film, lets out a howl of pain, and successfully fights off possession.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* In TerryPratchett's ''[[Discworld/CarpeJugulum Carpe Jugulum]]'', Granny Weatherwax pulls this one off with vampiric infection. An interesting twist is that she uses the blood connection to make the ''vampires'' weaker, rendering them unable to drink blood or harm humans and giving them an unnatural addiction to tea and cookies. One ends up wondering who infected whom. It's not entirely made clear if getting bitten was a masterful {{Xanatos Gambit}}, or if she was just more stubborn that even she realised.
** She also actually says something along the lines of "I haven't been vampired, you've been Weatherwaxed." to them, suggesting that she at least understood what had happened.
***It was a gamble, given that she told Mightily Oats to get ready to kill her, but she definitely did it on purpose, betting that once she got into the vampires defences she would be stronger than them.
*Then there's Sam Vimes in ''[[Discworld/{{Thud}} Thud!]]'', as discussed above.
** ''[[ThisIsSPARTA That! Is!! Not!! My!! Cow!!!]]'' [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Dwarves forever will fear those words.]]
** Vimes [[strike: has experience with]] is freakin' made of this trope. It happened to him in ''[[Discworld/MenAtArms Men at Arms]]'', and got Lampshaded too: "The pounding spirit of the gonne flowing up Vimes' arms met the armies of sheer stoneheaded Vimesness surging the other way."
*** To be fair, a desperate alcoholic who keeps a bottle of whiskey in his desk drawer as a permanent test is going to have some serious willpower to bring to bear. The man ''works out.''
* In ''SecondApocalypse'' Kellhus displays HeroicWillpower in shrugging off mind control.
* In ''The Tommyknockers,'' by Stephen King, Bobbi Anderson's sister (forget her name) is a lifelong bully and control freak who makes everybody around her frightened and/or miserable. She has "heroic willpower" in exactly the sense Hitler claimed to have "fanatical will power." But when she is turned into a living battery for the Havenites, her ultradominant personality at least enables her to rebel and subvert the machinery.
* Occurs in ''GoodOmens'': Adam is a 11-year-old boy who also happens to be the Antichrist destined to [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt end the world]]. As the Apocalypse draws closer, he gradually becomes less like his playful kid self and more like a ruthless CreepyChild RealityWarper. When his [[ThePowerOfFriendship friends]] make him realize that he's NotHimself, he visibly struggles against another presence within himself (presumably some hellish influence) and manages to regain control of himself to enact a ScrewDestiny mission.
* Let's just say that Terry Pratchett is REALLY good at writing this, and end there.
* Edward Cullen in {{Twilight}} is a poster boy for this. Even though Bella is his singer, the one human whose blood is absolutely irresistible to him, he painfully prevents himself from killing her, since he "doesn't want to be a monster" and because he eventually falls in love with her. Of course, his blood lust is a metaphor for real lust, which he's also experiencing, and which he also has to demonstrate incredible willpower to resist, since he's sure sex would kill Bella.
**Until he infects her with vampirism, THEN proceeds to brutally sex her up with massive amounts of broken bones with a vamp-child who... No, I'm just going to leave it there.
* ''{{Dragonlance}}'' has some not-quite-but-close examples. Raistlin who whilst opening the portal to the Abyss realizes he has failed just like his predecessor before him and was about to die and cause great destruction all around him as the portal was closing, through sheer force of will alone held the portal open long enough to enter it. The difference here is that Raistlin was not a hero, so it was more like Villainous Willpower, if there is such a thing.
** His nephews Palin and Steel managed through will to brave their way through the Shoikan Grove -- a passage that no mortal had ever passed before without an invitation from the master of the Tower.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* Zhaan in ''{{Farscape}}'' had a variation of this happen to her. Tahleen, an evil member of her race, telepathically tore from her mind the knowledge she used to overcome a wasting insanity she suffered by telepathically murdering her former lover for being a traitor. The result was that she became borderline-sociopathic with [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]]. She managed to SnapBack thanks to sharing minds with Crichton, showing her that the kindness she was capable of was inherent and couldn't just be ripped out. As a result, she also became more spiritually powerful, and destroyed the evil priestesses' chance to grow stronger.
* In the short-lived show ''OdysseyFive'', Chuck Taggart is infected with {{Nanomachines}} that are slowly turning him into a "Synthetic", or cyborg servant to an [[AIIsACrapshoot Evil AI]]. As the process is about to complete and he links with the AI, he resists becoming it's servant and instead steals the knowledge needed to reprogram the nanites to turn him human again.
* In the ''DoctorWho'' episode "Doomsday" Torchwood leader Yvonne, who helped cause an invasion of Cybermen by interfering with the Doctor, is captured by the Cybermen and undergoes Cyber-conversion. She manages to maintain her free will through her love of "Queen and Country"(or the fact that she was already robotic enough that the Cyberman procedure had no effect), and [[YouShallNotPass holds off several of the Cybermen]], [[RedemptionEqualsDeath at the cost of what was left of her own life]], while the Doctor saves the day.
* In one episode of ''KnightRider'', Michael gets poisoned and becomes steadily weaker as he searches for the antidote. Towards the end, as KITT monitors Michael's vitals, he actually ''says'' "You're now operating on sheer willpower!"
* Inverted in ''Stargate: Atlantis'', where the Wraith Michael manages to overcome the effects of a virus that turns Wraiths into submissive humans (on two separate occasions) through a sort of "Villainous Willpower".
* Inverted in ''{{Series/Heroes}}'' Sylar resists Doyle's PeoplePuppets trick through "[[EvilerThanThou Villainous Willpower]]."
** Of course, Sylar is a frighteningly powerful telekinetic. Even if his motor functions weren't obeying him, he could have moved his body with that power.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Music ]]

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSdwYsNlcQs “The Curse” by Disturbed]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* Inverted in ''{{Warhammer}}'' and ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'', where Villainous Willpower determines which of the two possible OneWingedAngel routes a follower of Chaos goes down - becoming a mindless Chaos Spawn or a Daemon Prince who retains sentience and control over his powers.
** But HeroicWillpower is usually an attribute which sets apart the {{BadAssNormal}}s from the RefugeInAudacity named BadAss characters, and commonly just the elite forces from the less-so.
*''DungeonsandDragons'' 3.5 had Iron Heart Surge, which, due to poor clarification, can end anything from raving insanity to ''[[http://4chan.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/1027569/ being pregnant.]]''
**Bonus points for vampires. I'm in sunlight. ''[[ApocalypseHow I end the sun]]''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* ''{{Tales of Symphonia}}'''s AppliedPhlebotinum has the nasty side affect of turning people into monsters if they're not correctly protected. Marble sacrifices herself by exploding (!) into the resident bad guy. However, Lloyd and Genis had just beat the shit out of her after she attacked them, so maybe it doesn't count.
** Happens to [[spoiler:''TheHero'']] in ''{{Tales of Hearts}}''. The possessor ends up stabbing his host body and leaving. [[spoiler:Shing gets better.]]
* In ''{{Grandia}} II'', Ryudo gets a piece of the devil stuck in him. Through an extended dream sequence, he fights off the devil and comes out of the coma. Later when he tries to become a god (being the only person qualified in the room with a piece of the devil in him) he becomes a monster; later, through the power of song and friendship, he pulls through and becomes human again.
* The second ''MegaManStarForce'' game briefly has the hero taken over by an ancient UpgradeArtifact, but this doesn't last long once a friend of his tells him to GetAHoldOfYourselfMan. The third game has a different character use TheCorruption within them in order to pull off a HeroicSacrifice.
** This is, in fact, simply a continuation of a recurring theme in the [[MegaManBattleNetwork prequel series]]. Most notably, in Batle Networks 5 and 6. In 5, he is poisones by [[TheVirus Dark Chips]] and can learn to use them more effectively. In 6, he gets posessed by a Cybeast (based on your [[OneGameForThePriceOfTwo version]]), and uses the Cybeast power to boost his own. It's reasonable to assume that the Cybeast instance is the inspiration for the [[UpgradeArtifact OOPart]] posessing Geo in Star Force 2, by seeing all the similarities between the two.
* Sergeant Nathan Hale in ''Resistance: Fall Of Man'' is an example of this trope, as even when he is infected with the Chimera Virus, he just turns into a lean mean bug-busting machine.
* Subverted in [[{{Sonic the Hedgehog}} Sonic Rivals 2]]; In the last mission of the stories of Sonic/Tails and Knuckles/Rouge, Ifrit, the monster of the game, will possess the partner to attack you throughout the boss. It has the same full effectiveness on all of them - even Sonic, the main hero. Of course, it's only very temporary.
* In ''{{World of Warcraft}}'', undead player characters have a racial ability called ''Will of the Forsaken'', which allows the player to escape from fear or mind-control effects.
** In fact, the Forsaken are all this trope. They've all got TheVirus, but they keep themselves free of the Lich King's normal dominance over the Scourge.
* Your own character ostensibly manages this in the [[BaldursGate Baldur's Gate]] series, particularly if you play as a Good aligned character. You are the son/daughter of the deceased God of Murder, with wanton killing of innocents supposedly in your very blood, but through a series of dreams you fight off that influence and 'remake yourself in your own image.'
* Revealed to be very important to a certain werehog in SonicUnleashed. [[SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]] apparently has so much of this trope that he can practically guzzle down the power of an EldritchAbomination yet be almost completely unaffected mentally. What's even more impressive is that he wasn't even ''aware'' that he was doing it.
** Makes you wonder how he would act if he had learned [[spoiler:That just before the final boss, Eggman had shot down Tails' Biplane, and subsequently flipped his shit.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* (Mötley Crüe example moved to the [[HeroicWillpowerDiscussion discussion page]] for grammar cleanup).
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