-->"Everyone's a hero in their own way.\\
Everyone's got villains they must face.\\
They're not as cool as mine,\\
But folks, you know it's fine\\
To know your place."\\
-- ''Captain Hammer'', DrHorriblesSingalongBlog.

In many works of fiction, the hero does good deeds on a level that would be difficult, if not impossible, for anyone in the real world to emulate. They stop wars, dismantle criminal syndicates, SaveTheWorld so often it [[WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld becomes part of their regular schedule]], and never shy away from performing a HeroicSacrifice (sometimes even giving their lives for the greater good [[DeathIsCheap several times]]). Yet if the hero runs into a firefighter, volunteer worker, or soldier ([[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism if they're on the idealistic side of the spectrum]]), the hero will often make a comment along the lines of, "You guys are the real heroes."

The idea of such a scene is usually to pay tribute to real life heroes who may not have their own TV shows or look like supermodels, but still give of themselves to save other people's lives. This is a noble motive on the writer's part, but it can create some problems if the story's FourthWall is firmly in place. The characters don't know they're fictional, after all; from their perspective, Superman tossing a nuclear bomb into outer space is no less real than a firefighter saving someone from a burning building. This can make the audience wonder why the story's hero considers him/herself a lesser hero than some guy who's never even saved the world '' once.'' If the main character is a superhero, writers [[JustifiedTrope justify]] this by pointing out that rushing into danger takes a lot more courage if you're not NighInvulnerable. Of course, this doesn't explain people like {{Comicbook/Batman}} and [[GreenArrow Green Arrow]] who are just [[BadAssNormal Bad Ass Normals]](Besides the fact that they're rich beyond belief)).

The rationale for this without making it cheesy even with the FourthWall in place is that even though the firefighters and police can't toss a bomb into the sun, they go out every day to do their jobs ''without superpowers'' and they save the world on a much smaller scale than {{Superman}} or GreenLantern or {{Spider-Man}} or [[TheMightyThor Thor]] is able to. Even in a world with superheroes, they are still real heroes. The people in EmergencyServices would just count as heroes for what they do.

[[ItGotWorse It gets worse.]] These same heroes will just as soon say "NeverBeAHero".
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'''Examples:'''
* Played with in ''TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella'': Wonderella, being a {{Jerkass}}, refuses to acknowledge The Real Heroes. After all, she has a '''[[TheCape cape]]'''
* This was pretty much the premise of the kids' show ''Higglytown Heroes''. Although there were no superheroes in that show, it was all about "normal" people being heroic for different reasons.
* Happens in an episode of ''TheFairlyOddParents''.
* {{Hancock}} did it... reluctantly.
** It was true though since Hancock was a JerkAss.
* ''SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'': [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=484#comic "Lex Luthor had a much easier time killing all the 'real' superheroes."]]
* The LooneyTunes short "Super Rabbit" had BugsBunny receive a supply of [[SuperSerum Supercarrots]] that turn him into the titular Super-Rabbit. At the end of the cartoon, the carrots run out and Bugs reverts to his old self, at which point he says, "Hmm, this looks like a job for a real hero!" He then runs into a phone booth and emerges wearing a Marine uniform, then he marches off to fight in WorldWarTwo.
* [[http://www.seanbaby.com/comicads/images/meatloaf.jpg This]]... Meatloaf... ''thing.''.
* A great number of comic books companies and creators rushed to publish stories featuring TheRealHeroes in the aftermath of 9/11. [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped And with good reason.]] Of course, they probably shouldn't have been set in the mainstream superhero universes considering that A) it didn't make sense that it happened, and B) even if it did, the average supervillain does stuff 10 times worse a couple of times per week, so seeing Doctor Doom and Magneto (especially Magneto, who you may recall is himself a terrorist who has repeatedly tried to kill all nonmutants) cry over it when they've blown up countries was more {{Narm}}ful than anything.
**That fact that a few months before 9/11 Magneto turned New York into a death camp didn't help matters either
***That's why Magneto was crying. He was just [[EvilerThanThou jealous]] he didn't think of it first. (TooSoon?)
* {{Subverted}} and {{deconstructed}} in ''{{Superman}}: Doomsday''. Superman and Lois discuss a reporter who is going to Afghanistan to cover the war. Superman says that, because he's invulnerable, he's not putting his life on the line when he does what he does, as opposed to the people who are fighting fires, fighting for freedom, and bringing the truth of such feats to the world. He even explicitly states that he's not brave, he just can take a bullet better than others. Of course, the reporter that sparks this discussion is Clark Kent, so there might be some ego stroking in this statement.
*Near the end of ''[[DrHorriblesSingalongBlog Doctor Horrible's Sing-along blog]]'', Captain Hammer sings a song with this message. Unfortunately, his massive ego prevents him from going too far with this, repeatedly pointing out just how much cooler a hero '''he''' is:
-->"Everyone's a hero in their own way/In their own not-that-heroic way".
* Taken to a logical conclusion in the ''Rescue Heroes'' cartoon [[MerchandiseDriven based on the toyline]], where the characters are a team of firefighters, police and other professions (mountain climber, construction worker) who operate like superheroes, who focus on disaster relief and rescues rather than fighting crime. (no, not a superhero version of the VillagePeople)
** We'll leave that to KingdomCome, shall we? (Look close and don't blink.)
* {{Rush}} deals with this theme in the song [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY2FtyhvG6A "Nobody's Hero]].
* Played with in ''{{Watchmen}}'' as the police and normal citizens eventually grow to resent the costumed vigilantes who take the hero-ing business into their own hands. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5WsciSNVS0 This]] fake PSA advertising the movie mentions "real American heroes" who "don't need to wear masks", and at one point a group of rioters is seen with a sign reading "Police, not masked freaks".
* The whole point of the show ''{{Dirty Jobs}}''
* A CityOfHeroes fan story published in the monthly comic had a short tale about a hero defeating a gang of Trolls that were threatening a young couple - the hero denied that he receive any praise for what he did, as the Trolls were of no threat to him, but instead drew attention to the fact that the young man stood up to the thugs, protecting his girlfriend - even though he could have been killed with a single punch.
** That takes balls.
* PlayedForLaughs in ''[[MontyPythonsFlyingCircus Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'', where all the normal Supermen stand in awe of their hero, Bicycle Repair Man.
* The TearJerker Fan Fic "February 1, 2003" has Superman telling Wonder Woman that HE can fly into space without any threat of personal harm, which is why he admires non-powered astronauts who do it regardless.
* Samaritan from ''AstroCity'' says this when receiving an award from the fire service. He really believes it, but it still seems that he's fed up with having to reiterate over and over at so many different award ceremonies.
* When Metropolis featured a non-powered superhero, Gangbuster, he and Superman had a talk in this vein: Gangbuster has actually run into fights joining Superman, when he was in far more danger than Superman was, and Superman tells him that he deeply admires it and wonders whether he would do the same without his powers.
* Played in {[Witchblade}}, TheSavageDragon and RisingStars - main characters form first two, and one from thrith have superpowers and fights crime not as superheroes, but cops.
* The new PowerGirl series manages to squeeze it in, and it does not even seem too {{Anvilicious}}, it actually makes perfect sense given the context. Power Girl is unconcious and lying in the middle of a large blast crater, being tended to by firefighters and EMT's. When she regains conciousness while being carried off on a stretcher they put her down and work to clear away the growing crowd of onlookers taking pictures while one firefighter helps her walk away. He says that he rarely gets a chance to help somebody like her ("Like me?" "Yeah...a ''hero''") and she replies "I can say the same thing about you."
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