"Now you see that Evil will always triumph, because
Good Is Dumb."
—Dark Helmet, Spaceballs
It's the third act, and Brent
McHeroman has
Doctor Klaus Von Puppykicker disarmed and backed into the corner. And Brent is... giving Klaus a stern warning. Didn't Klaus
kill Brent's girlfriend and
carpet-bomb his hometown? Wasn't he threatening to nuke the
Throw Away Country thirty seconds ago? Why won't Brent just
Kill Him Already?
Oh, that's right, he's holding the Hero Ball.
This is the hero-specific form of the
Idiot Ball, which causes its holder to make downright moronic decisions solely because the plot demands it. Unlike the
Villain Ball, the Hero Ball almost never leads to its holder's permanent defeat; it merely delays the hero's inevitable victory, ratcheting up the dramatic tension in the meantime (at least, until the
Fridge Logic kicks in). Of course, once victory is assured, the Hero Ball will prevent its holder from killing or permanently incapacitating the villain — after all, the villain needs to be
back on his feet in time for the next episode.
If he carries the Hero Ball long enough, one almost gets the impression that the hero is more interested in padding the plot than in actually defeating the
Big Bad. This can be particularly frustrating when we've been shown
(or at least told) that the hero
should be smarter than this.
Heroes who are likely to carry the Hero Ball:
Plot and devices resulting from the Hero Ball:
Note that some of these tropes are mutually contradictory; for example, a
Lawful Stupid character carries the Hero Ball all the time, but would sooner die than
Save the Villain. Apparently, there's only so many ways to be smart, but idiocy is Legion.
Modern, Western action movies usually combine the Hero Ball with some form of
Karmic Death. The hero can't actually be shown executing the villain, but that doesn't mean the villain can't fall to his death, be
eaten by his own monster, crushed by his own machine, fall into nearby acid or lava, or impale himself on some nearby sharp object, or be otherwise
Hoist by His Own Petard.
Compare with the
Villain Ball and
Holding Back the Phlebotinum. Contrast
Flaw Exploitation for when an antagonist exploits a heroes' flaws. Contrast
No Nonsense Nemesis, who isn't prone to carrying the
Villain Ball.
