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"Why? I'll tell you why! Because I'm brave! Because I crave adventure! Because I need to go where no bobcat has ever gone before! And because I'm a hero for crying out loud!" —Bubsy, Bubsy the Bobcat cartoon pilot
"If there is one thing I've learned it's that when destiny calls, you answer the phone!" —Hiro, Heroes
For some heroes, when they receive the Call To Adventure, they refuse the call. When they finally accept the call, they continue to complain that " I Just Want To Be Normal".
Heroes that Jumped At The Call wonder what's wrong with those people.
These heroes are excited when adventure comes calling. They never, ever, ever say " I Just Want To Be Normal". They already have a costume, already picked out a codename, and they have been practicing how to deliver a Pre Ass Kicking One Liner. They're already swallowing the red pill before you can even offer them the blue. About the worst thing you could do to them is to bring them down to normal. Or tell them someone else Missed The Call. They don't even care that more experienced people are reluctant; Least Is First.
Often, had a Changeling Fantasy once upon a time, and generally has otaku tendencies. He is truly living the dream. Such a hero is also the most likely to be The Unchosen One, the Chosen hero that chooses himself.
However, you can also be TOO eager to jump, and end up jumping off a cliff. Beware shady strangers offering you everything you want. Genre Savvy bad guys, especially the Big D, will try to get you to miss the real call by jumping at theirs instead.
When a hero is given a chance at returning to heroism and jumps at it, he is usually in love with being In Harms Way. Neophytes might think themselves in love with it, and may actually turn out to be, but they may also discover, after real adventures, that they do not love it after all.
Examples:
Anime/Manga
- Takamachi Nanoha from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. At the age of nine, she was already Desperately Looking For A Purpose In Life.
- Yui Kasuga from Corrector Yui was an Otaku obsessed with Magical Girl, and loved the idea of being one herself.
- Though Minto Aizawa in Tokyo Mew Mew wasn't happy about working with Ichigo at first, manga extras note that she thought it was her destiny to become Mew Mint and was even secretly delighted, which fits well with her reaction to her object of affection's Refusal Of The Call.
- Subverted in The Twelve Kingdoms: the Genre Savvy Yuka Sugimoto is thrilled at the prospect of being the heroine of a Trapped In Another World adventure story when a mysterious blond Bishonen and a flying monster or two show up at her high school... except she isn't and they weren't there for her. The real heroine of the story, her classmate Youko Nakajima, has a typical (and one might say extreme) Refusal Of The Call reaction to the early events of the series. Unfortunately, Yuka's stubborn insistence that she was the one being called causes her to act as an antagonist for a significant chunk of the first Story Arc. To her merit, opnce she does realize how mistaken she was, Yuka conceeds and goes back home, letting Yoko take over.
- Antihero example: Alucard of Hellsing isn't really a hero, but he's willing to do heroic deeds just for the action. Very willing. Enough that one of his catchphrases is demanding he be given an order by his master.
- Kazuki from Parallel Trouble Adventure Dual provides an excellent example of this. The second-in-command of Sanada's organization prepares a long, overwrought speech trying to convince him to fight in a mecha on behalf of their organization, and she is barely able to get five words out before Kazuki readily agrees.
- Gai Daigoji from Martian Successor Nadesico (real name: Jiro Yamada, but he didn't think that sounded heroic enough) is so eager to be a giant robot pilot that he arrives to his post three days ahead of schedule. He promptly breaks his leg from showing off (literally).
- Suzumiya Haruhi fits this trope so much that instead of waiting for the Call, she actually goes out looking for it (never realizing that it could be behind her back the whole time).
- The main protagonist from the anime MAR (Marchen Awakens Romance) does not seem to be bothered one whit that he was sucked into a magical world of adventure without his consent. Indeed, he rather enjoys the new life he finds there.
- When a shopkeeper informs him that the particular ARM he's looking for (Monpierre Blanc, which can send him back home) isn't in her selection and would probably be far too rare and expensive to just buy somewhere, he's relieved; he'd been worried his adventure would end too soon.
- Asuka from Neon Genesis Evangelion has been a Mecha pilot most of her life and revels in it. In fact, facing alien invaders is about the only thing she doesn't complain about. Finding herself paired up with a reluctant hero who is all "I Just Want To Be Normal" (Shinji) leads to a certain amount of tension. Add in an Emotionless Girl, and the whole gig starts to lose its luster. When it starts to become clear that she isn't The Chosen One and is likely to end up a Sidekick at best, she starts down the Hourglass Plot path, ending up in Mind Rape and Convenient Coma.
- Midori in Mai-HiME is not only enthusiastic about her powers, but also seems to think she's Sailor Moon, complete with the "V" gesture, over-the-top introductions, and inspirational speeches about justice and friendship. Doubly ironic because not only is the series notably devoid of all that (and is significantly darker), but also because the original just wanted to be normal.
- Princess Amelia from The Slayers is Jumping at the Call as well. Despite being a magical princess in a fantasy setting, she draws up long speeches about Justice, names attacks — like punching someone really hard — and generally tries to be a superhero. She also always has the high ground (even if she tends to fall off of it). This is largely because she's a parody of Sailor Moon.
- Admittedly, this seems to be a family trait - her father does exactly the same thing.
- Prince Phil (Ameila's dad) went so far as to fake his death and start running around the rooftops in a frikkin' Batman costume. Despite being the bloomin' King!!
- Who could forget (the great) Kamina(-sama) of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann? When a giant mech, technology that was completely unknown, drops into their underground village, he stands up to it and threatens it with a completely ordinary katana, heroic speech at hand. Even after the girl with the absurdly powerful rifle, also unknown technology to the village, barely damages it. Then again, Katanas Are Just Better. This is just the start - his entire job in the series seems to be heroic speeches and epic-but-ridiculous action, down to called attacks like the "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?! KICK!".
- In Yes! Precure 5, Nozomi Jumped At The Call before she even knew there was one, and in fact this is what brings the Call To Adventure to her.
- After seeing Shizuru effortlessly demolish a fleet of battleships in the first episode of Mai-Otome, Arika made the decision on the spot to start her path toward becoming a full-fledged Otome just like Shizuru, as part of her journey to find her long-missing mother.
- While it would be considered normal within the context of the involved world, Ash Ketchum of Pokemon jumps at any chance to test his skills as a Pokemon Trainer, visiting whatever lands on his quest to become the Pokemon Master.
- Chiko, from The Daughter Of Twenty Faces. Never has a "kidnapping victim" been so willing.
- Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece. Can you picture him wanting to be anything but a pirate?
- Interestingly, a early short story that would later evolve into One Piece exists. After eating the Devil Fruit and losing the ability to swim, he tells his grandfather (who owned the fruit) he's fine with it since he doesn't want to become a pirate anyway. However, at the end of the story his cool slips and he admits he's devastated since he wants to become a pirate more than anything. (As this doesn't match Luffy's backstory in the series, this cannot be considered canon.)
- Several characters in Mahou Sensei Negima, unsurprisingly. Haruna stands out, as when the Masquerade is broken for her, she threatens to torture her three best friends for not letting her in on it sooner.
- It took her half a picosecond to immediately snog Negi when she learned this would give her magic powers. When this failed to work the first time (Chamo didn't have the contracting spell ready), the only reason it took her a little longer to snog him again was because Negi was running scared by then and she had to catch him first.
- The Digimon Frontier kids had to follow the directions of a literal call on their cellphones to make it to the Digital World, but Takuya was the one who actually jumped. Also, Daisuke, Miyako and Iori from Digimon Adventure 02, although the last two almost immediately regretted it and while they never quite made it to I Just Want To Be Normal, they never managed to be as gung-ho as Daisuke in the most critical moments.
- Kenji in Koutetsushin Jeeg - much to the surprise of the base staff, who had a big "I know this isn't going to be easy for you" speech lined up.
- Light Yagami: "I just killed two men... no wait... this is exactly what I've been thinking about lately. The world is rotting and those who are making it rot deserve to die!" Normal kid to A God Am I in less than a 5-minute sequence.
- Yuji Sakai from Shakugan No Shana, once he learns that he's just a Torch and will disappear one of these days, figures that he'd rather do something else than just waiting until he disappears, and does what he can to aid the titular Action Girlfriend, Shana.
- Would you run after the girl that just stapled your mouth and told you to not involve yourself with her in order to offer her help? Araragi's
 charm is in Jumping At The Call Sight of an Oddity.
Comic Books
Film
- Robert Parr aka Mr. Incredible from The Incredibles. When he was forced to retire, he didn't fall into civilian life like other heroes did (like his wife Helen, alias Elastigirl, and his best friend Lucius alias Frozone) and missed the action. So much in fact, that he jumped at an opportunity that turned out too good to be true.
- This was subverted in the opening act, with Mr. Incredible saying in an interview that he doesn't see himself doing superhero work forever, and Elastigirl boasting about being on top of her game and not about to quit. They end up switching attitudes when they're later forced to act normal.
- Johnny Storm in the 2005 Fantastic Four film. One of the few positive points critics cited towards the film was the refreshing portrayal, away from the more depressing, wangsty examples, such as that of Spider-Man.
Literature
- Stephanie Edgely, the 12-year old heroine of the book Skulduggery Pleasant, is only too glad to enter a fantastic world of magic, living skeletons, and vampiric museum guards.
- Its subverted in the second book where many charecters point out that Stephanie appears a bit too eager to join the supernatural world, and misses out on a lot of experiences with her family and people her own age and they try to explain to her that this is not a good thing (to little avail). Its most poignantly illustrated when the mirror image she sends to live her normal life tells her at one point that she has no friends at school (something she had been unaware of).
- In The Chronicles of Prydain, Taran jumped into the (literal) thornbush of adventure. When older and more experienced, he looked back at that incident of a sign of what an impulsive idiot he was when all he wanted was an adventure.
- Lampshaded in one of The Executioner novels. A female journalist asks Vigilante Man Mack Bolan why he's engaged in his Roaring Rampage Of Revenge against The Mafia. Bolan replies that he was "simply the one there when the duty roster was handed out". When she scoffs at this answer, Bolan replies that, just as it's ridiculous for him to assume she should give up her career in journalism and become a housewife, it's ridiculous for her to think he'll forsake his far-more extensive military skills (which he lists in detail) and ignore what the mob is doing to his own country.
- Sam Gamgee in The Lord Of The Rings is thrilled by the prospect of "going to see Elves and all." Merry and Pippin are also insist on coming along - and even have a "conspiracy" set up to keep Frodo from leaving the Shire without them - but that's more the Power Of Friendship.
Live Action TV
- Heroes:
- Hiro Nakamura recognised his powers the second he got them, and did everything he could to develop them so he could become a Super Hero. He didn't just jump at the call, he'd spent his life sitting by the phone.
- Early in the series, Peter Petrelli shows similar tendencies, spouting lines like "Do you ever think you were meant for something greater?" to then-strangers.
- Matt Parkman, to a lesser extent.
- Gabriel Gray would give up his abilities in a heartbeat for a little approval. When he remakes himself as Sylar, however, he not only jumps at his call but at anyone else's he can get his hands on.
- The Doctor (Doctor Who) didn't jump at the call, he stole a TARDIS and went looking for it.
- Donna Noble in the latest series of Doctor Who: after meeting the Doctor once and turning down an invitation to travel with him, she decides she's made a mistake and begins actively seeking out the paranormal and the just plain weird, on the theory that she's bound to run into him at some point. When she eventually does, it turns out that she's also been traveling around with a full set of luggage, just in case. This makes her ultimate fate of Victory Guided Amnesia especially sad.
- On a related note, both Rose and Martha from Doctor Who also jumped at the call: Rose, in particular, made a point of saying that she "wouldn't have missed it for the world".
- Faith's far more enthusiastic acceptance of being The Chosen One compared to Buffy in Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Of course it turned out she just enjoyed the power.
- In the seventh-season episode "Potential", this trope is turned on its head when Dawn at first jumps at the Call - after all, she's one of the only non-powered people among a bunch of superheroes, and the youngest to boot! - only to find out that the Call wasn't for her after all. Talk about a downer. Then again, in the Season 8 comics she gets perhaps more than she bargained for...
- Mack from Power Rangers Operation Overdrive jumps at the call to become Red Ranger. This is against his father's wishes, as said father was originally going to be Red himself before his son snuck the morpher out from under him. This is notable within PR because 95% of Rangers over the course of the franchise either refuse the call initially or accept with I Just Want To Be Normal undertones.
- Supernatural:
- While his brother, Sam, instead jumped at the chance to go to college, Dean stayed on with hunting and loved it. (This was before he got broke. Now he's not exactly so eager about it.) Arguably this could be more because he followed his Dad's orders without question and couldn't even comprehend disobeying than anything to do with noble heroics.
- And it took a confused English teacher at a random school to teach Sam that he -could- go to college himself.
- And then there's Jimmy, who didn't so much jump at the chance to serve God as Castiel's vessel as wildly fling himself at it. It's kind of an understatement just to sayhe actually prayed for this...
Video Games
- Sam And Max will take any case from anyone (as long as they get paid) and always eagerly fight to answer the phone when it starts ringing. Sam always wins.
- Dante of the Devil May Cry series loves his work and actively flaunts his powers whenever possible.
- Joe of Viewtiful Joe, who had watched tokusatsu films and TV shows all his life and actively embraced his own chance to be an action hero.
- Zack from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, and to an initially less-successful extent, Cloud.
- Tidus in Final Fantasy X is generally unconcerned about suddenly being yanked out of his world, and eagerly follows Yuna around even after initially being told he cant't be one of her guardians.
- In the sequel, all it takes is one blurry, ancient sphere of someone who looks kind of like Tidus for Yuna to put on a Stripperiffic outfit, strap on a pair of pistols, and start globetrotting.
- Riku of Kingdom Hearts felt that there was something more for him beyond his homeworld. He was right. Unfortunately, The Dark Side was apparently aware of this as well, and Riku was too impatient to wait one more night.
- Everyone in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance but Marche and Cid.
- And everyone period in the sequel, especially the protagonist Luso.
- Travis Touchdown of No More Heroes fame is an otaku who spends 95% of his time watching wrestling tapes, various anime, and occasionally going out and slaughtering en masse. He literally buys a beam katana off of eBay, then when a random woman in a bar asks him to decapitate someone with it, is only too happy to do so. Then again, he also loves to grab the Idiot Ball as well.
- Midori 'Dolly' Komaki of Devil Survivor is a cosplaying camgirl. Once she witnesses your small band of survivors battling demons with your own summoned Mons, she squeals at the thought of "real heroes!" and literally snatches up a COMP of her very own. Unfortunately, she apparently snags an Idiot Ball along with it...
- The protagonist in Quest For Glory I: So You Want To Be A Hero goes out looking for quests to complete so that he can gain the title of hero after graduating from the "Famous Adventurer's Correspondance School".
Webcomics
Web Original
- Himei of Sailor Nothing initially jumped at the chance to be a magical girl just like on TV and fight The Heartless. Unfortunately for her, this turns out to have been a Bad Idea and completely irreversible.
- Chaka, from the webfiction Whateley Universe. She gets the hot body she always dreamed of, ass-kicking Ki powers, and the chance to finally tell off her two older siblings.
- Probably more the kick ass body HE dreamed of touching before the call.
- No, definitely the kick-ass body he dreamed of having before the call, because Word Of God said he was a very unhappy transgendered boy.
- As much as Rob from the web fiction serial Dimension Heroes was reluctant at first, it didn't take him long to realize that kicking inter-dimensional monster butt with futuristic super powers is a lot more fun than sitting around the house all summer.
Western Animation
- Ben Tennyson from Ben 10. Watch an episode, any episode; he's running headlong towards the Monster Of The Week (or a filler fight scene) before the first ad break. He has a code name for each of his many alter egos, never backs down from a fight... and several episodes heavily imply that he'd still like even more excitement in his life. Deconstructed a bit in the Made For TV Movie The Secret Of The Omnitrix, when Ben has to own up to the selfish and thrill-seeking motivations behind his superheroing.
- In the Alternate Universe episode "Gwen 10", Gwen, while calmer and more responsible, is simlarly thrilled with the powers of the Omnitrix and the adventure it entails. In the regular universe, she starts learning magic and becomes part of the adventure.
- Coop of Megas XLR, as implied by the opening theme song, digs his giant robot.
- The young Planeteers from Captain Planet fit the trope.
- Transformers Super God Masterforce: the kids approach Metalhawk and ask him for The Call.
- Kim Possible first jumped at the call when she saved a millionaire in her first mission, right? Wrong, she first jumped at the call in pre K, defending Ron from three super villains. Typically jumping at the call, literally, is the basis for most of her adventures.
- The titular character in Manowar's 'Defender'.
Truth In Television
- Project Chanology. Of all things.
- Charles Darwin jumped at the call when he took the post as the ship's naturalist on board the HMS Beagle, a move which eventually resulted in the development and publication of his revolutionary Theory of Natural Selection.
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