Rainbow Dash: Today I learned what the most important quality really is; a certain kind of spirit; a stick-to-it-iveness. A never-give-up, can-do attitude that's the mark of a real winner! And this tortoise has it!
Twilight Sparkle: Tenacity!
Twilight Sparkle: Tenacity!
- Finn of Adventure Time is a good example. In one episode, he actually runs on broken legs (!) to save the candy people.
- Finn's unwavering moral code is what makes him such an awesome character. No matter how often he is criticized for it, or how many times its challenged, he is freaking intent on doing the right thing even if it's the wrong thing by accident.
- Simon Petrikov is so absurdly determined as to make Finn look spineless. There is an Artifact of Doom which, when used by an alternate timeline Finn, caused full and complete corruption in seconds. Simon, in contrast, had the artifact for decades before he lost his sense of self - and even centuries later, he's still not fully corrupted.
- Deconstructed and Reconstructed with Amphibia's Sasha Waybright. At her best, Sasha will never give up on protecting those she cares about, achieving nigh-impossible feats like standing up in Artificial Gravity strong enough to crush stone or getting back up with a slash across her entire spine. However, the flipside of determination is stubborness, and Sasha is equally unwilling to admit when she's wrong. It takes seeing Marcy get fatally stabbed as a direct consequence of her actions for her to finally admit that she messed up.
- Everyone from Animaniacs shows this, but one interesting example is Yakko Warner singing all the words in the English language. He's obviously broken down when shown singing the "Z" words but refuses to quit and doesn't faint until being requested to sing all the numbers above zero.
- Prince Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Even before he knows that the Avatar is alive, he sails around the entire world looking for him. He then chases him from the South Pole to the North, surviving at least one assassination attempt as well as several duels, infiltrates two heavily-protected fortresses on the way, defeats a master firebender and battles with a master waterbender, and is only defeated when a blizzard prevents him from moving too quickly. He gets into about two dozen fights during that time... and that's just the first season. Sokka's opinion is that "if we know one thing, it's that Zuko never, ever gives up," but Zuko's statement is rather more poetic.Zuko: "My father says [Azula] was Born Lucky. 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."
- His flashback in "Zuko Alone" shows just what the above line is all about. He was no prodigy like his little sister Azula, so his daddy Ozai paid him virtually no mind and his little sister Azula laughed at his every misfortune even then. However, he always strove to improve his abilities and to prove himself to everyone. His mother recognized this, as shown by the following line, which came after the example in the flashback:Ursa: "That's who you are Zuko. Someone who keeps fighting even though it's hard."
- 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!"
- Fire Lord Ozai also has shades of this. It does not matter how freakishly powerful the Avatar is, the man simply will not admit defeat. Even when Aang actually took away his firebending and Ozai could barely move, he still conjured the effort to insist on his title as Phoenix King. Getting thrown in jail at least managed to humble him a bit.
- Azula as well, though not quite to the same extent as Zuko. "Almost perfect" will never be good enough for her.
- His flashback in "Zuko Alone" shows just what the above line is all about. He was no prodigy like his little sister Azula, so his daddy Ozai paid him virtually no mind and his little sister Azula laughed at his every misfortune even then. However, he always strove to improve his abilities and to prove himself to everyone. His mother recognized this, as shown by the following line, which came after the example in the flashback:
- The Brave Engineer features Casey Jones
going through the gauntlet while delivering the mail:- The track's flooded? He gets on the roof of his engine and paddles.
- A Damsel in Distress is Chained to a Railway? He scoops her off the track and hand her to the next station master.
- A mad bomber destroys a trestle bridge? His train climbs up the side of the gorge.
- Bandits attack his train? He doesn't even notice them until he almost shovels one into the boiler, after which he fights them all off.
- The train's falling apart from going too fast? He fixes while on the run.
- Head on collision with another train? He carries the mail bag himself and rides the remains of his engine down to the station.
- Riley from The Boondocks. He's not a very good fighter, but he's able to take a lot of punishment before going down.
- Clarence: In "Sumo's Boat", Sumo spends the entirety of the episode building a boat, ignoring his friends, working through rain and storms, and working throughout night and day.
- Courage the Cowardly Dog will brave any danger and take any punishment to save Muriel. His best example of sheer determination didn't even involve saving her. After getting beaten to a ridiculous pulp by Mecha-courage repeatedly, he just keeps getting up, eventually shorting out the robots batteries through sheer persistence.
- Courage routinely lampshades this trope with one of his catchphrasesCourage: The things I do for love...
- This is also shown in the episode "Ball Of Revenge," when he refuses to give up against the villains to save Muriel.
- Courage routinely lampshades this trope with one of his catchphrases
- Monkey in the Dexter's Laboratory 'Dial M For Monkey' short series. Most notable in one episode where Monkey fights against intergalatic wrestling champion Rasslor, and gets his ass handed to him over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over...until Rasslor finally throws the match out of respect for Monkey's inability to stay the hell down. This short is actually a parody of a famous Marvel story, Monkey taking the role of the Thing.Rasslor: This is unbelievable! I could crush your body, I could smash your bones, but I could never break your spirit!
- In DuckTales (1987), El Captain was so determined to get the Treasure of the Golden Suns he managed to live four hundred years just because of that.
- DuckTales (2017) has Donald's sister Della. It doesn't matter if she's stranded on the moon hundreds of thousands of miles from any human contact. It doesn't matter if she was forced to amputate her own leg. It doesn't even matter if her ship is out of fuel and was half-eaten by a giant moon mite. She is getting home to her children one way or another.
- Eddy from Ed, Edd n Eddy. When he has his mind set to a goal, he refuses to give up (due to his stubbornness, but still). A perfect example for this would be in the episode "The Good, The Bad, and The Ed."
- The Kankers, when it comes to the Eds.
- Wicket from Ewoks. Not so much in the first season of the animated series and the comics, taken to the extreme in the second season; where he's often motivated solely for wanting to fill his belt of honour.
- Parodied, like many other things, in an episode of Family Guy.Chris: Dad...I want to quit the Boy Scouts.Peter: Chris, you're a Griffin! And the Griffins never quit!Cut to scene in hospital. Peter is in surgical scrubs and holding defibrillator paddles.Peter: Clear. poomp Clear. poompPatient: Thanks, doc, you saved my life!Peter: Clear. poomp
- Another example comes from Carol Channing, of all people. During her celebrity boxing match with Mike Tyson, she just WOULD NOT go down.
- The announcer in Follow the Sun is unquestionably this, trying his damnedest to retain any sense of the jovial mood in which we started while continuing to countdown until showtime despite the rapidly deteriorating circumstances. Granted he mistakenly announces "40 seconds to showtime" while the caption which accompanies him clearly reading "30 seconds to showtime" but given the situation (notably, several of the moviegoers within the lobby carousel have already died of dehydration, with only two left alive and the snack bar engulfed in fire by the time the feature begins) any such slip-up is beyond excusable, just that fact that he's still there displays a devotion to duty that any five-star general would be jealous of.
- Bender of Futurama, who, while missing a leg and both his arms, crawls with his eyes to save his friends.
- Just as Determined is Fry, who wouldn't give up hope looking for Bender, who was lost in deep space.
Fry: You can't give up hope just because it's hopeless. You have to hope even more! And cover your ears and go Blah blah blah blah blah! - Russel of the Gorillaz is swimming to Plastic Beach, and he doesn't look happy. Not to mention Noodle who, depending on which story is true, may have just clawed her way out of hell.
- Grunkle Stan from Gravity Falls, despite having always been treated as the less intelligent twin, spent thirty years working day and night to understand the science underpinning his brother Ford's work, including studying physics for what was almost certainly the first time, considering that Stan was kicked out of the family home before completing high school, and attempting to rebuild the inter-dimensional portal with only a third of the instructions.
- Ford, too, worked 'twice as hard' at university, and made his way through college and his phD 'three years ahead of schedule'.
- Hey Arnold!:
- Arnold is the only person who never gives up in Hey Arnold! The Movie.
- Helga does anything to keep her secret infatuation with Arnold a secret.
- Brainy has been given Offhand Backhands whenever he tries to be near Helga since the age of three... He now has nine, and he still does it.
- Dib of Invader Zim is a Determinator well past the point of insanity, considering Failure Is the Only Option and he's surrounded by people ignorant of problems. 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 really is that stupid.
- Lucan in Invincible (2021), even by Viltrumite standards. After getting Gutted Like a Fish by Nolan (who also rammed a stalactite through him for good measure), he's still able to get up, make his way to where Mark and Nolan finished their fight against Vidor and Thula, and deliver a knockout blow to Nolan and send a message to General Kregg before finally succumbing to his wounds.Lucan: Next time you kill someone... make sure they're dead.
- The Exterminator from The Itsy Bitsy Spider never gives up on trying to get the spider.
- The Legend of Korra: Tenzin (must run in the family, considering Katara's his mother); it took the combined might of the Red Lotus (four of the most powerful Benders in the world) to defeat him in Season 3, and even then he refused to stay down.Tenzin: "As long as I'm breathing, it's never over."
- Wile E. Coyote, Sylvester, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Marvin The Martian, and Daffy of Looney Tunes.
- On Mack & Moxy, even though it never works out for him, Shelfish Sheldon is resolute in trying to steal the Great Helpees and keep their happiness to himself. Mack has indicated that he admires this about him, even if he doesn't agree with his goals.
- "The Busasaurus" episode of The Magic School Bus showed Arnold's Determinator side.Phoebe: C'mon, Arnold, let him go. It's just an egg.Arnold: But it's Dr. Skeledon's egg. And it's up to me to get it back to her!
- This episode also ended with Arnold fighting off a T.Rex to protect the class and get the egg back.
- Molly of Denali: No matter what the situation is, Molly always keeps pushing forward. Lampshaded in "Welcome Home Balto."Henry (to Molly): You sure are determined!Tooey: Tell me about it.Midge: You don't know the half of it.
- Mr. Bogus would also qualify for this trope. Despite the fact that he is only a few inches tall, nothing will stop him from fixing a problem that has arose in either Tommy's house or in Bogusland.
- The six main ponies from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic are each considerably persistent characters, and the value of perseverance is a common theme throughout the series.
- This is one of Twilight Sparkle's most defining traits; she'll keep trying at a task, no matter how impossible it seems, for better or for worse.
- Applejack is a surprising deconstruction, though, in that in the fourth episode of the first season she is used to demonstrate that persistence can be a bad thing if one is overly persistent in trying to do something when surrounded by evidence that it cannot be done; in that case, trying to pick all the apples in the orchard herself and becoming sleep-deprived in the process. Of course, this is presented in the context of being compared to doing something else that would achieve the same thing more practically; namely, accepting help from friends in picking the apples.
- The Cutie Mark Crusaders. Sweet Celestia and Luna both, the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "And we will never stop the journey, not until we have our Cutie Marks."
- The tortoise from "May The Best Pet Win" takes this arguably even further; taking part in every competition even after losing each previous one, and never giving up on winning over Rainbow Dash's approval even as she keeps putting him down.
- Princess Cadance has also proved herself to be capable of this. During her opening episode, "A Canterlot Wedding Part 2", she runs past a momentarily hesitant Twilight to push a mine cart free, despite having been without food and water for days. She momentarily collapses, but partially because she physically has run out of energy. In "The Crystal Empire", she maintains a force field to keep Sombra out for three days, nonstop, again without much food (or sleep, for that matter).
- The Owl House: Emperor Belos has spent the past 400 years working to ensure his plan to kill everyone on the Boiling Isles comes to fruition without a hitch. He's mutilated his body to allow himself to live far past his natural lifespan, and then manipulated and fearmongered the population into compliance until he was installed as Emperor and practically worshiped as a god. After his plan for the Day of Unity was thwarted and his body was liquefied by the Collector launching him into a wall, Belos still does not give up, regenerating From a Single Cell by consuming woodland creatures, possessing both Hunter and Raine to get what he needs, and in the end, possessing the body of the Titan itself to cleanse the world of those he deems unworthy. However, this attitude has made him chronically incapable of ever admitting fault or entertaining the idea that he might be wrong about witches being inherently evil, to the point that he murdered his own brother for falling in love with one.
- Phineas and Ferb:
- Phineas. He believes that nothing is impossible and refuses to give up because of this belief.
- Candace. She never gives up on her objective of busting her brothers, despite the number of failures.
- Doofenshmirz also qualifies. Every scheme is either about taking over the Tri-State Area or humiliating his brother and no matter how many times Perry the Platypus foils his schemes he keeps trying (with a few momentary successes).
- Pinky and the Brain: No matter how many times the Brain's plan for world domination fails, he just gets right back up and prepares for tomorrow night.Pinky: Why, Brain? What are we doing tomorrow night?
- Ready Jet Go!: All the Propulsions are this, as they never give up. In fact, there's no word for failure on Bortron 7. Jet even has his own song about not giving up.
- Otto Rocket's defining character trait in Rocket Power. It doesn't matter if he loses, gets exhausted, bails on an impossible trick, or even has a broken leg. When it comes to extreme sports, he will never back down from a challenge and will continue playing until he prevails. And when he does, don't expect a friendly gesture from him.
- She-Ra and the Princesses of Power:
- Even people like Adora who are no stranger to either stubbornness or bravery respect Glimmer's stubborn bravery. In the fourth season, she makes a terrible mistake that nearly dooms everything, and even though all the other princesses are paralysed by the effects, Glimmer manages to force herself to her feet and drag herself to the nearest runestone in a desperate attempt to destroy it and fix her mistake.
- Hordak is a villainous example. After being stranded on Etheria with no immediate way to contact Horde Prime's fleet, he built a technologically advanced military force and conquered large swaths of land while secretly suffering from an illness in a matter of years. In "Destiny, Part 2", during his fight with Catra, he shrugs off attacks that should have stopped him dead in his tracks, including a punch to the face, having his cybernetic exoskeleton de-powered, having part of a building fall on him, and taking an exploding arrow directly to the face.
- The Simpsons:
- Apu Nahasapeemapetillion thinks that the town of Springfield should hire more police officers. In one episode, he mentions that he'd been shot by armed robbers 8 times already this year. As a result, he almost missed work. Almost.
- When Bart was playing hooky, he destroyed a wooden bridge to stop Principal Skinner from following him. Skinner simply walks into the river, momentarily emerging at the other side.Bart: Oh my god. He's like some sort of... non...giving-up...school guy!
- In fact, both Homer, Bart, and especially Lisa exhibit this trait when they're passionate about something they care about or have their hearts set on something they believe in, while Marge exhibits these traits for the sake of her own motherly propaganda, usually acting as a foil for her husband and children, by interfering with their interests or trying to outlaw something that they happen to love.
- Humorously, Homer shows this trait for pretty much every purpose except his actual job. As producer Al Jean noted in a commentary, "Homer will work insanely hard as long as it's for a misguided purpose."
- Sideshow Bob should be the poster boy for this trope. His entire reason for living is to kill Bart.note And he goes to extreme lengths to do so, and consequently ruins his own life, repeatedly.
- Sofia the First: According to Prince Zandar, he doesn't stop trying because "in Tangu, there is no such thing as giving up."
- South Park:
- Kyle is this frequently, almost always in an attempt to thwart Cartman's latest scheme.
- Cartman may be a fat-ass brat, but when he wants something he'll go to almost ridiculous lengths to get it.
- Stan is also this when he wants to be, as shown in "The Passion of the Jew" and "Margaritaville", traveling all across the country just to get what he wants.
- Butters in "Super Fun Time". Even when Cartman is made his partner for the day, even when he's dragged to a arcade, even when German thieves hold everyone hostage, even when a grenade blow up behind them, nothing will stop making him hold the fat-ass brat's hand and get back onto the bus.
Butters: (panting) "Teacher, my partner is back on the bus."- Jimmy in "Erection Day" and "Up the Down Steroid".
- Spongebob Squarepants.
- Plankton. Day after day after day of failures and yet he never stops trying to steal the Krabby Patty secret recipe and drive his rival into the same level of success he lives in now.
- Spongebob may be a pushover most of the time, but nothing will stop him doing his duty for the Krusty Krab, whether it's delivering a pizza or saving his boss from execution. Even little things like returning a hall pass can bring this out of him as he forced himself out of a tar pit to return to class after ditching.
- SpongeBob takes this to an episodic example in "A Day Without Tears". Squidward bets he won't cry before midnight which he accepts, yet Squidward tries to get SpongeBob to cry himself. Amazingly, despite Squidward's efforts, SpongeBob manages to hold in his tears all the way until midnight, and wins the bet.
- A villainous example in Star vs. the Forces of Evil. Ludo may be a cowardly, wimpy Harmless Villain, but it's shown that he never quits no matter how many times he loses, or how badly he's beaten. In "Ludo In the Wild", it's the only reason he survives.Ludo: Worried about me? Don't you get it? I lost my army, my kingdom, my clothes! And look...STILL STANDING!
- Star Wars Rebels: Agent Kallus is very dedicated to his job in hunting down rebels, especially the Ghost crew. Of particular note:
- "Relics of the Old Republic": He won't let a sandstorm keep his AT-ATs from following the rebels, even if the storm renders their sensors useless and following them in the storm is suicidal.
- "Legends of the Lasat": He ends up following the Ghost into Wild Space, beyond the jurisdiction of the Empire, to try and catch them.
- "Zero Hour" also has an example, but of a rather different nature, due to Kallus having had a Heel–Face Turn. He gets into a fistfight with Grand Admiral Thrawn after the latter reveals he knows about Kallus being The Mole and loses, but at no point during the entire brawl does he give in to Thrawn's blows. Thrawn even comments on Kallus' determination.
- Pearl, from Steven Universe is a big advocate of practice and determined study. Even in the very first episode, her advice to Steven with regards to summoning his weapon is to focus on hard work and dedication. Later on, we find out that a lot of the things we associate with Pearl, such as her skills in sword fighting and engineering, are skills that Pearls are not intended to possess, and which she has only mastered because of her own interest and refusal to give up. While she has mellowed a bit in the actual episodes due to her self-esteem issues, pretty much every flashback shows her as nothing short of a assassin badass cutting through gems twice to three times her size (who are later revealed to be Quartzes, a kind of gem designed to be strong warriors) and even Garnet had been horribly scared of her at one point and never stopped respecting her and her skills.
- ThunderCats (2011):
- "Ramlak Rising" introduces fishman Captain Tunar, who persues his Planimal Nemesis the Ramlak with the zeal that comes from putting Revenge Before Reason.
Tunar: "I'll follow ya straight to the flamin' pits of Magmel before I give you up!"- Series Hero Lion-O also has this quality, though to a more benificent end. In "The Duelist and the Drifter," after suffering defeat in a duel with a predatory Master Swordsman, Lion-O heads to a forge and stubbornly insists that he'll make a sword that can withstand a rematch, no matter how many attempts it takes, despite having no training in swordsmithery. A retired swordmaker is so amused by Lion-O's determination that he hangs a lampshade on it, and offers to lend a hand.
The Swordmaker: You don't give up easily, do you?- Even the villains notice it:
Kaynar: You're like a toy that never breaks, I LOVE IT!- Hell, even death and failing the trials to come back to life wasn't enough to stop him.
- Tom of Tom and Jerry. He never gives up going after Jerry, even when it would probably be wise not to do so.
- Total Drama:
- Ezekiel, who, after being kicked off first once more in the third season, managed to get back in the plane four times after Chris tried to get rid of him, eventually going insane and becoming some sort of animalistic subhuman monster. All to prove he was worthy of winning the season.
- Courtney constantly strives to win, succeed, and prove she is perfect. As a result, she never admits defeat, no matter what the cost...or the consequences.
- Tyler. He never gives up trying to prove himself as the king of all sports, no matter how many times he fails at his athletic stunts.
- Gwen in the first season. The third episode, "The Big Sleep", is a testament to her exceptional willpower, which got her to the finale against all odds.
- Heather in "Hawaiian Punch", World Tour's finale, becomes this as she goes up against Alejandro, the biggest villain the show has seen so far and becomes the technical hero as a result.
- Sierra. If it's for Cody's sake, she can and will do anything, such as fight a pack of angry baboons or defeat a ravenous shark.
- "Lightning never quits!". He still tries to win the challenge for his team in "Ice, Ice Baby" even after they already lost.
- Transformers:
- Optimus Prime is this trope, with Megatron coming in a close second.
- This is a pretty regular thing for Starscream. In Transformers: Generation 1 he tried to take over the Decepticons at every possible occasion—even after he died and came back as a ghost.
- Dinobot from Beast Wars almost never willingly runs from a fight. This reaches its climax in 'Code of Hero', when 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 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 sent out to stop him.
- In Cybertron, Starscream was so much of a Determinator that he managed to use Heroic Resolve 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, 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.)
- In Transformers: Animated Starscream kept trying to kill Megatron after dying normally, becoming effectively immortal, dying many times, becoming a head, and then being killed again.
- Waspinator becomes this in Animated. Determined to get revenge on Bumblebee, he'll get blown into pieces to get the justice he thinks he deserves.
- Underdog was like this. Not only did he never give up, even when a situation looked hopeless, he did his best to encourage anyone else who was thinking of doing so. His motto in such situations was, "If at first you fail your need, try again till you succeed." And it always worked.
- Brock Samson from The Venture Bros.. Ambushing him made him mad and tranquilizing him lead to the new guy being choked to death after they rammed him with a car to knock him out like a silverback gorilla. Slamming the car into him only pissed him off even more. Driving over him in a bus knocked him out for a bit, but he still got back up more pissed than hurt. Even exposure to the vacuum of space had little effect outside of being a little frozen and a bloody nose.
- In Wakfu, Nox is so much of a Well-Intentioned Extremist, he's been artificially extending his lifespan for centuries in order to continue pursuing his goals. Rather darkly, when the cause for his determination is extinguished, he kills himself almost immediately.
- Winx Club often runs on this, usually for Bloom and the Winx. A most notable example is when Bloom is attacked by the Trix on Pyros in Season 3, and being reminded of Valtor pushes her determination to the max, vowing he won't win; this causes her to will herself into her Enchantix form and send the Trix away. However, it was revealed two episodes later that her Enchantix is incomplete because of this.
- What's New, Scooby-Doo?: Captain Guzman from the episode "Pompeii and Circumstance" continually chases the gang around for a treasure he believes to be rightfully his.Daphne: Well, you'd have to admire his dedication.
- Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum: In "I Am Marie Curie", Marie doesn't let sexist rules stop her from following her dream, as she goes to a secret girls' university and starts her own lab to learn more about science.
- Zig from Zig & Sharko never gives up on trying to catch Marina the Mermaid. Even with Sharko protecting her.
