Man of the City

Elsie: Is that what this is about? Is this about your pride?
John: It's about what's best for Coalwood. If this mine doesn't produce, then the town dies.

—October Sky

A city is a living organism. It grows, it flourishes and, sometimes, it gets sick and dies.

The Man Of The City will not allow that to happen.

Though not Always Male, the Man Of The City is a character whose entire purpose in life is to ensure the well-being of a city. For some reason, perhaps altruistic, perhaps sinister, this character has a vested interest in the well-being of the citizens and the quality of the infrastructure. This type of person may sometimes use illegal means to ensure that the city is in order, and he might be ruthless enough to make sure that any unwanted elements in his city leave at best and are buried in a shallow grave at worst, but it's still with the city's best interests in mind (gentrification on their own terms, in other words). The city is the Man's home, and woe unto anyone who commits offense against it.

Expect them to give a "No More Holding Back" Speech about why they love that city.

"City" can also refer to a small town or county. As long as it's an individual all-encompassing area, this trope applies.

When the city's best interests are secondary or ignored, it's either I Own This Town, which happened by Taking Over the Town, or outright Villainous Gentrification.

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Examples:

Anime and Manga

• Bubblegum Crisis: The Knight Sabers are Women Of The City for Mega-Tokyo. Sylia and Nene in particular are also benefactors of the city outside their role as vigilantes, as a businesswoman and police dispatcher respectively.
• In Karas, characters are empowered by the spirit of the neighborhood in order to fight demons. Given that a neighborhood in Tokyo is more analogous to a borough of New York, this is a sizable territory to protect.
• In a sense, Daisuke and J from Heat Guy J.
• Roger Smith from The Big O will protect the City of Amnesia, Paradigm City from monsters, terrorists, giant robots and the memories of the long forgotten past, either with his skills as The Negotiator, or the Humongous Mecha that gives the anime it's name.
• Franky and Iceberg share this for Water 7 in One Piece, although only Iceberg is acknowledged as such by the citizens. Iceberg is the city's mayor and runs Galley-La, the biggest ship-building company in the city. Franky is a mob boss, but his actions ultimately benefit Water 7, turning their own riff-raff into productive (but still very raucous) members of society and chasing away pirates.
• In The Law of Ueki, one of the competitors is a young man from and dying country town who's class is set to be the last graduating class before their middle school shuts down. His goal for the competition is to get a Village Raising Talent so he can save his town.

Comic Books

• The comic prequel to 28 Days Later features Hugh Baker a Patriotic Londoner who remained behind in the city to fight the infected Crazy Survivalist style long after it was evacuated.
• The Authority: Jack Hawksmoor is literally and biologically a man of cities.
• Batman:
  • You can't even litter in Gotham without Batman kicking your ass. In his public persona as Bruce Wayne, he's the city's biggest philanthropist and provider of jobs. Lampshaded by the Riddler in stories by Neil Gaiman, who notes about Batman, "That man was the city."
  • All-Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder plays this up for Bats by having him wax poetic by comparing Gotham to a woman (Frank Miller apparently hadn't gotten out of this mindset from writing The Spirit), only for the Joker to invert it as a counterpoint.
    "Gotham is an ugly city full of shame, far beyond redemption. This city's an ugly old whore... but she's beautiful when she cries."
  • Batman's former protégé Nightwing serves as the same for its neighbouring city, Bludhaven; downplayed though as Dick typically has less resources than Bruce and his public persona isn't a well-known citizen (for a while, he was just a regular beat cop), and so Nightwing is more just a single man trying to make the city a better place.
• The Flash: The Flashes are Men of Two Cities, Central City and its neighbouring/twin city, Keystone City. Both cities are home to different incarnations of The Flash (Jay Garrick lived in Keystone City, his successor Barry Allen lived in Central City, and the third Flash, Wally West, lived primarily in Keystone but protected Central City as well, and most recently moved to Central City to cover Barry's territory). Regardless, both cities are shown to adore the Flash family for what they do for their towns, to the point they opened up an official Flash Museum. It helps that, unlike a lot of superheroes who just protect the city and move on, its shown that the Flash Family tend to be personable with the citizenry, with Wally being on first-name-basis with a huge chunk of the populace of both cities.
• Green Arrow: Oliver Queen a.k.a. Green Arrow is this to his hometown of Star City, both as a crimefighter and a crusader for social reform. One arc even had him successfully running for Mayor in order to help the city rebuild after a major supervillain attack.
• Green Lantern: Hal Jordan a.k.a. Green Lantern is so much a man of the city he brought it back from the dead. Coast City's slogan is "The City Without Fear" in his honor.
• Hellblazer
  • He may not admit it, and in fact he'd be the first to tell you that the city's a stinking shithole, but John Constantine has a fatalistic sense of duty towards the city of London.
  • Constantine's fellow wizard Map is possibly the living incarnation of this trope. The Spirit of the city of London itself has chosen him to be its champion, and he can harness the mystical energies of the city itself to power his magic.
• Just try to commit a crime in Mega-City One, and face the long arm (and explosive side-arm) of Judge Dredd. He is the law, after all.
• Mister X: The title character is on a personal crusade to repair the psychetecture of Radiant City. This might be because he's the architect who screwed it up in the first place.
• At the end of The Punisher: Welcome Back, Frank, bumbling cop Martin Soap revels in how New York is a place where even "a loser like me" can rise to power through blind luck and a little blackmail, reiterates his love for the town even after another Butt-Monkey humiliation, and vows that he will use his new authority as police commissioner to reform the deeply flawed NYPD into the police force "this city deserves." However, the humiliating loss of his job a short time later seems to sour Soap on this issue, and he leaves New York for Las Vegas in his final appearance.
• The Sandman (1989): In the story "Ramadan", the Caliph of Iraq is highly proud of Baghdad, the splendid capitol city of his empire. He knows that its splendor won't last forever, so he makes a bargain with Dream, sacrificing the material wealth of Baghdad if Dream will ensure that the idealized memory of the city will live on in people's dreams forever.
• Quoth Spider-Man: "You can't say 'I love New York'. Tourists can love New York. Me? Who grew up here? Who's lived here my whole life, who's crawled over every stone and swung off every cornice... I am New York. It's in me, in my blood, like a disease... you know, like a blood disease but a good one, like a happy... cancer... Okay, clearly I was not bitten by a radioactive poet."
• Superman:
  • Superman is a milder example than Batman, but it's still a very bad idea to commit a crime in Metropolis. As Clark Kent, he's an incorruptible champion of truth as reporter for the Daily Planet.
  • Lex Luthor is a mild subversion: he does genuinely care for Metropolis, and has served as its benefactor in myriad ways. He gives its citizens jobs, organizes charities for the city's welfare and has constructed various important landmarks, including reconstructing Metropolis whenever a supervillain has a field day with the infrastructure. However, he'd be more than willing to personally slit every Metropolis citizen's throat if it furthered his vendetta against Superman.
  • The Krypton Chronicles: The architect Pym-El passionately rebuilds Kryptonopolis, hunts down and arrests saboteurs who want to stop the rebuilding efforts, and lobbies hard for the city to become the new planetary capital (feeling great disappointment when he fails).
• Spider Jerusalem of Transmetropolitan. His love/hate relationship with The City is very similar to John Constantine's relationship with London. He hates most of the people within The City, but still finds it his responsibility to uncover the Truth for them.
• Subverted by Rorshach in the first issue of Watchmen, as we discover that this isn't quite a standard superhero story.
  Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach. This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout "Save us!"... and I'll look down and whisper "No."

Fan Works

• Cheating Death: Those That Lived: Mizar and Bear (the first victors of District Nine and Eleven respectively) spend most of their lives devoting themselves to philanthropic efforts to help the poor and suffering in their district, as well as rebel activities meant to end their suffering and oppression at the hands of The Capitol. Due to his past as a ruthless bully, it takes a long time before Bear's neighbors appreciate his efforts, but Mizar is pretty beloved by his neighbors. Both of them also work hard to help and comfort the tributes under their care (although they are hardly unique in that respect).
• Peter Wisdom a.k.a. Regulus Black is this to Britain as a whole in Child of the Storm, and one of the most dangerous characters in the series as a result, being The Unfettered: protecting his country is pretty much his only motivation. All implying that he might put personal benefit over what is good for his country will do is make him angry — and that is not something that anyone wants.
• The End of the World: In the years after winning the 2nd Quarter Quell, Haymitch seems to know most of the people in District 12. He works hard to try and save his tributes and limit the amount of abuse that the Capitol heaps on District 12. However, this lessens a bit as he becomes more cynical and withdrawn later in the story.
• The King Nobody Wanted : Tommen Brightflowers and many of his fellow merchants feel a passionate attachment to King's Landing that makes them seek to protect its safety and economic prosperity, and feel that there is nowhere else they'd rather be. The following exchange in chapter 99 may best display this.
  Janos: Have you ever thought of… oh, if you and yours had become lords of Brightwater Keep?
  Tommen gave a shrug. "Oh, occasionally when I was a child, but… never deeply." He looked at Janos seriously. "This is our home, Janos. It has served us well, and we… we have served it well. We love it. We love it deeply...Outsiders may call this city a stinking hole, and perhaps it is. But it is so much more than that. There is beauty here, and not just in the fine septs and pretty fountains. In deals made, and bonds honored. In trades practiced with skill and artistry by free people, not slaves. In men and women going about their lives, looking to stand a little taller than they did the day before, and hoping their children can stand taller still." To Janos' surprise, Tommen's eyes seemed to glisten somewhat, as if he was holding back tears. "As I said, a beautiful thing. What need have I for a castle that I could sit in while I dreamed of getting a better castle, when I have this?"

Films — Animated

• Encanto: Alma and her magic helped the local village grow from nothing. She and her family use their magical gifts to keep the community safe and prosperous in the decades that follow (sometimes at the cost of their happiness) and are beloved by the townspeople in return.
• Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost: A slightly sleazier example then usual. Mayor Corey and his four accomplices (one of whom, a hardware store owner, has no apparent way of personally profiting from the situation) fake the witch hauntings out of desperation to bring back tourists and save the town's struggling economy. At the end, Corey is also distraught about the loss of most of their tourist attractions.

Film

• Sheriff Buford Pusser is this to McNairy County, Tennessee in the Walking Tall (1973) films, willing to go far beyond his responsibilities as sheriff to rid the county of crime.
• George Bailey, sacrificing his own happiness to make Bedford Falls a better place in It's a Wonderful Life.
• In The Spirit, the titular character himself starts off the movie by monologuing how he only lives to protect the city. She is all he needs to survive, and all he wants. He lives for the city. He will die for the city, and nothing else. His attitude is an unholy amalgamation of this trope, Cargo Ship, and Married to the Job.
• The Big Lebowski: "Sometimes, there's a man, and I'm talkin' about The Dude here, sometimes there's a man, well, he's the man for his time and place. He fits right in there. And that's the Dude, in Los Angeles."
• Batman Begins: Thomas Wayne was Gotham City's benefactor before his death, dedicating his wealth to philanthropy, urban planning and science. Gotham fell into crime and decay after his death, and Bruce/Batman stepped up to fix this with philanthropy and crimefighting.
• Cold Turkey:
  • Mayor Wappler collects an annual salary of less than $1,000 for his work as the mayor and the city's mail is forwarded to his barbershop. He is also the first person to grasp that Eagle Rock can enter the tobacco cold turkey contest and revitalize the Dying Town with the $25,000,000 prize, even though he's a heavy smoker and going cold turkey will be hard for him. He plays a decent role in rallying people to sing the pledge and enforcing the tobacco ban without being tyrannical. He does get caught up in the showmanship and media circus of the contest and has some self-interested moments (like wanting to spend some of the money on a proper city hall despite the difficulty making a good budget), but manages to seem Only Sane by Comparison next to everyone else.
  • Reverend Brooks seems like this to the public, and does far more to rally the town than Wappler does, but he only wants to save and improve Eagle Rock to impress his bishop and get promoted to a parish away from the town.
• The Dead: Brian and Daniel encounter an army officer who is leading several men in defending their hometown. The officer is determined to keep his people safe, but also refuses to evacuate to a better-defended area (although it turns out to be a Safe Zone Hope Spot) due to his connection with the area and determination to help the village survive along with its residents.
• The Experts: Mr. Smith has spent years running the town that trains Soviet agents and is deeply concerned about his boss wanting to uproot the lives of its residents when the experiment is deemed a failure, to the point that he is among those who defect and helps recreate the town in America.
• The Grand Seduction: Murray's love for Tickle Head, the Dying Town he grew up in, causes him to enlist his neighbors in spending a month hard at work using all kinds of deceptions and enticements to convince Dr. Lewis to move to the town permanently, as Tickle Head needs a doctor before a plastics company will consider building an economy-reviving factory near the village.
• Matewan: The mayor and sheriff are portrayed as people who want to limit the influence of the coal company because it's in the interests of the townspeople (who are treated as de-facto slaves by the company), refuse to be bribed, and put themselves in physical danger to confront the strikebreakers even when they have an opportunity to sit things out.
• October Sky: Mining foreman John Hickam is obsessed with keeping the mine productive to protect the jobs of his neighbors and keep the Company Town alive, while also having some Chronic Hero Syndrome every time there's a mining accident and working hard to rescue anyone in danger.

Literature

• Discworld's city of Ankh-Morpork:
  • Havelock Vetinari, the Patrician of the City of Ankh-Morpork. He may be a scheming, conniving Magnificent Bastard, but he's Ankh-Morpork's scheming, conniving magnificent bastard. The novels have actually shown that, when he somehow loses his position, the city starts to fall apart.
  • On the right side of the law, you have Commander Sam Vimes and the rest of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, who protect the city from crime.
  • Captain Carrot is the embodiment of this trope: he always does what is best for the city; knows (and is liked by) everyone (literally - everyone); and he's even refused to acknowledge that he is almost certainly the rightful King of Ankh-Morpork (to the point of destroying any evidence he finds) because that wouldn't be best for the city. He indicates to Vetinari, when the two come to an unspoken accord at the end of Men at Arms', that he'd really rather not be King, because people would obey him because he's Carrot, rather than because it's the right thing to do. Accordingly, he thinks he can do more as a policeman, and unless the City really needs him to do so, he won't take the throne. The fact that Mr. Vimes (who he deeply respects) would go spare may also be an influencing factor.
    • In the above-mentioned scene in Men at Arms, Carrot notes that "policeman" is a portmanteau word meaning "man of the City". Vetinari considers this, commends Carrot on being a man who thinks about language, and asks him, benevolently, to consider the derivation of the word "politician." And both are right...
  • Lancre is witch country. Every citizen of Lancre is proud of their witches. Or else.
• Marcone of The Dresden Files, a pragmatic mob boss who knows the value of Vetinari Job Security. In some ways, Chicago is very fortunate to have him controlling it; he protects against most of humanity's supernatural foes, and he won't allow any of his employees to harm a child. But he is still controlling it, and does so mostly for his own benefit.
• Hinzelmann of American Gods appears to be a jolly, helpful Cool Old Guy who is quick to befriend Shadow the moment he moves into Lakeside. He is actually a Germanic Kobold who kills a child/young teenager every year (as a sacrifice to himself) in order to keep the town permanently prosperous, in what is hinted to have been a Deal with the Devil - Hinzelmann being the devil - with the town's founders.
• The western Genre Anthology "Ghost Towns" features such a character as the protagonist of the story "The Ghost of Two Forks'' He starts out trying to help his town get a railroad stop to boost the economy through various impassioned means. When this fails and his neighbors are gradually forced to leave, he won't leave and spends the rest of his life as The Hermit. This is due to feeling that as long as the town has one person living in it, it isn't officially dead. When he finally dies, a cowboy friend of his makes it seem as if his ghost is still there so the town will become a tourist attraction and will still endure in some form.
• N. K. Jemisin's Great Cities duology features city avatars: human beings who become the literal embodiment of their cities. Because cities thrive on uniqueness and distinctiveness—and, conversely, are weakened by the bland homogeneity imposed by Villainous Gentrification—avatars take on Man/Woman Of The City roles and use their cities' unique strengths as literal and metaphorical weapons.
• J.A. Johnstone's Assault of the Mountain Man. Mine owners Thaddeus Walker and Emerson Teasdale and dairy owner Raleigh Jones have a great deal of pride in their hometown of Crystal, Colorado, and hope it will someday be one of the largest communities in the west. They want to construct a hydroelectric dam to usher their town into the modern age of electricity and provide an additional revenue source that will let the town survive far into the future, even if the silver mines play out. The three are shot during a bank robbery before they can unveil their plan, and Crystal becomes a ghost town within thirty years.
• InCryptid: Gone Horribly Right in That Ain't Witchcraft. James's distant ancestor was a sorcerer who made a deal At the Crossroads so that his bloodline would remain magical and there would always be a member of his family to protect the town from supernatural threats. The Exact Words of this deal have resulted in each new member of the family being killed soon after the birth of their child, and said child being magically prevented from leaving town no matter how badly they want to.
• The Last Days of Krypton: Zor-El is the mayor of Argo City and is devoted to bettering it with his inventions and civic plans. After standing against Zod, he works on protecting his city from retaliation with an energy field and is saddened about having to destroy a historic piece of infrastructure in the process. After the war, he declines a seat on Krypton's council (endorsing Jor-El in his place) to focus on repairing Argo City. When Zor-El speaks, all of Argo City listens to him and trusts him. When the destruction of Krypton is imminent, Zor-El spends the last few hours taking in Argo City's beauty while wondering if his energy shield will save them or not.
• Linked: Realtor George Rowley is the town's "number one cheerleader" and obsessed with a theme park deal that would let him get rich and bring fame and prospierty to the community as a whole.
• Much Ado About Grubstake: Teenaged boarding house owner Arley Pickett is determined to keep Lockwood's efforts to buy everyone's land from making the Dying Town of Grubstake (which she is attached to) a ghost town without ruining anyone's efforts to get the money they deserve or leave if they want to.
• Murder in Coweta County: Sheriff Potts seems to know everyone in Coweta County, is passionate about enforcing the law there, and goes out of his way to do things like anonymously donating money to a poor family and asking a witness to the murder about his health.
• Serge Storms: In The Pope of Palm Beach, Darby Pope is a local surfer who is famous for knowing everyone in the town of Riviera Beach. He is always giving people friendly greetings and happily does whatever favors anyone asks. Even the Dirty Cops view him with pure respect.
• The John Sandford book Silent Prey features a Killer Cop who passionately argues that he can make Manhattan about twenty times safer by killing a hundred people (repeat offenders, a particularly successful criminal defense attorney, etc.).
• The Tower: New York City mayor Robert Ramsey is deeply devoted to his city's image and economy and wants to have New York City declared its own state.
• Wars of the Realm: Drew enters the ghettos of Chicago just so he can hide out from the "invaders" while looking for Ben. Soon enough, though, he's walking the streets at night as a vigilante to suppress gang activity and make the place safe for decent citizens..
• The Water Knife: In the first chapter, Angel the Anti-Hero and his Corrupt Bureaucrat bosses destroy the waterworks of a rival water appropriator, Carver City, under (barely) legally defensible grounds. The bureaucrat in charge of the installation, Simon Yu, has been fighting hard to get court orders that will stop Angel and get investors to build the town up. Yu tries to stay in the condemned building to deter the demolition crew or become a martyr who will turn public opinion against Angel. Angel just drags Yu out of the building before having his gunships open fire and cut off the town's lifeblood. Angel observes Yu crying over "the place he had tried so hard to save", and Yu later works hard to cause Angel and his boss legal troubles, although his efforts don't amount to much.

Live Action TV

• Arrow. As Oliver Queen reminds us in every Title Sequence, his one goal is to save this city. In fact his catchphrase for those who attempt to bring Starling City (later Star City) down is, "You have failed this city!"
• The Reagan family in Blue Bloods is an entire dynasty of Men of the city on New York.
• Leslie Knope is this to Pawnee in Parks and Recreation, even more so now that she's in the city council.
• Angel becomes this to Los Angeles, often choosing to stay out of Sunnydale even when his presence would be useful because it's no longer his city. It's quite telling that the pilot is titled "City of Angels".
• Chiefs: Hugh Holmes dedicates his life to making Delano a good place to live in, seeking to hire industrious police chiefs and show small town tyrants the door. In the book, though not the series, he has a heart attack due to depression over the horrific tragedy of the Serial Killer's crimes and how they will forever taint the town that he has done so much for.
• In Netflix's Daredevil (2015) Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk are opposing Men of the City, or more specifically, Hell's Kitchen. Both are concerned with saving the Kitchen, though they both have radically different notions of how to go about doing it; Matt by fighting injustice outside of the law as the Devil of Hell's Kitchen (later Daredevil), and Fisk by controlling New York's criminal underworld and later, by posing as a wealthy philanthropist.
• Kamen Rider W Shotaro would not let any harm come to the city of Futo if he can help it.
• Leverage: Redemption: In "The Fractured Job", Coach Billy DeWitt is the driving force behind the legal challenges against a hydraulic fracturing rig that is killing his hometown's livelihood. He is introduced trying to persuade a family not to leave town just yet and also buys clean water from out of town and delivers it to his neighbors.
• Murdoch Mysteries: Mayor Clarkson can be stiff-necked and abrasive, but he values the city's economy and industry enough that when he is stuck in a noise-activated Death Trap by a man who wants the city to be quiet, Clarkson is willing to sacrifice his life to keep the city's noisy but important companies from having to shut down.
• In NCIS: New Orleans, Special Agent Dwayne "King" Pride is this in spades. He may technically work for the federal government, but New Orleans is his city, and his real mission in life is protecting it from bad guys of all stripes. It gets him into deep trouble many times, and almost costs him his career at least twice.
• Northern Exposure: Maurice is the richest and most influential man in Cicely and is obsessed with bettering the town or at least preventing a downward spiral. While part of this is due to a desire to get rich by developing the area for tourists, and he sometimes throws his weight and influence around to get what he wants, he is genuinely attached to the town. He does a lot to help out his neighbors and once even gives a newcomer businessman a big discount on the space he wants to buy after seeing that the man has a large family whose presence will bring the population almost back to its old numbers after several people recently moved away.
• Psych: In "Dual Spires", Sheriff Jackson and Jack of All Trades Dr. Gooden are the town leaders who do a lot of work to keep their small, isolated town functioning and preserve the ideals of its founders, their ancestors. They are so obsessed with the town that they commit murder to keep their chosen successor from leaving.

Tabletop Games

• In Exalted, city gods are celestial versions of this trope.
• City Princes or Barons in Vampire: The Masquerade can be this at their most benign. Yes, vampires are parasites of humanity, but as any other parasite, the health of the host is of paramount importance to them. Also, many vampires can have actual affection for a city and its people (Carthage and the Brujah being the most famous example).
  • One of the example characters in "Clan Book: Lasombra" is this to a small Latin American neighborhood, guiding and sheperding the people and dealing with any who would prey on it.
• Both version of The World of Darkness seems to assume that your player character is inextricable from the city, if not by their nature (see Vampire, above) then by the need for companionship (see Changeling). If you're a supernatural in WOD, then you want to take care of the city even as the city repeatedly hurts you. Whether this is a creativity leash is in the eyes of the players.
  • Werewolf: The Apocalypse has City Fathers/Mothers, powerful spirits that embody the collective identity of a large enough city. They can be either enemies or patrons of Garou, but all of them want to protect and expand their cities.
• Dungeons & Dragons had, with Dragon Magazine (later updated in the Dragon Compendium), the Urban Druid which is clearly this from level 1 to level 3, as they have a favored city they gain bonuses while in. It gets a bit less clear from level 4 onward, as they get to add another city as favored (culminating in six favored cities at level 20), thus being a Man/Woman/Other of Several Cities.
• Unknown Armies has two different versions: the Urbanomancer, an adept who draws power from his home city; and the Avatar of the True King, who in theory can become a Fisher King to a large area but in practice is usually limited to a small realm like a neighborhood or group of followers - maybe even a whole city for powerful True Kings - since in the modern day "all politics are local."

Video Games

• Yakuza: One of Kazuma Kiryu's most admirable traits is that, no matter where he lives, he quickly becomes a pillar of the community. He is a gracious and friendly neighbor, is always helping people in need around him no matter how petty their problem, invests and helps out in local establishments, and is quick to let the fists fly on anyone abusing or taking advantage of his neighbors. Both in Kamurocho and Okinawa, and even in his brief time in Osaka, he instantly makes friends and earns respect and admiration from the townsfolk.
• Mayor Mike Haggar of Metro City in the Final Fight games. Not only is he the mayor, he's also willing to walk the streets and lay an unholy ass-beating on any gang members on his watch. Cody was one too, until his Blood Knight tendencies got the best of him.
• Good Cole McGrath is this for both Empire City and New Marais in the inFAMOUS games. Even when myriad enemies try to discredit him as a public menace, he still helps out whenever he can. In fact, the big Sadistic Choice in the first game that leads to Trish's death is one of the biggest examples of selflessness in the history of gaming.
  • This also happens in inFAMOUS: Second Son with a Good-aligned Delsin as he fights to kick the DUP out of Seattle.
• Ezio Auditore first becomes one to his uncle's hometown of Monteriggioni in Assassin's Creed II, but then he takes it to a bigger extreme when he dedicates himself to the city of Rome in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood: he wrests control of the city from the neglectful Borgia dynasty, purchases most of the city's small businesses in order to stimulate the economy, and provides the funds to preserve many of its historic landmarks. He's at it again in Revelations, by doing the same thing in Constantinople.
  • Shay Patrick Cormac of Assassin's Creed Rogue is a Templar-aligned example for the city of New York, though to a lesser extent than Ezio, using the relatively new science of urban renewal to rebuild parts of the city and ridding it of gang activity.
  • In Assassin's Creed III, Connor becomes this to the Davenport Homestead, bringing in various people like woodworkers, farmers, hunters, etc. to turn what was once a lonely house into a thriving village.
  • Assassin's Creed Syndicate: Jacob Frye falls in love with London, and most of his missions revolve around killing targets who exploit the locals. This contrasts with his sister Evie, who's not uncaring but is more interested in getting the Pieces of Eden before the Templars do.
    • Ironically enough, the Big Bad of the game, Crawford Starrick, is this. When the Bank of England's Governor is assassinated, he raises his workers' pay in an attempt to counteract the inflation that follows said assassination, while wishing to do the same to all of London.
• Mjoll the Lioness, of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim fame, is an ex-adventurer turned crimefighter who devotes her life to cleansing the city of Riften from crime: a truly herculean task. That is, until you persuade her to return to footloose adventuring. Yes, you can do this even if you are the organized crime boss of Riften and all Skyrim.
• In Vampyr, each of London's four districts has an important citizen referred to as "pillar" who is responsible for stabilizing the area and keeping it in order. If they are killed by the main character, than the district will quickly deteriorate into chaos, civilians will become more ill and enemies will become more numerous.
• Hawke is given the title "Champion of Kirkwall" at the end of act 2 in Dragon Age II by ending the Qunari invasion by either killing the Arishok, or handing over Isabela who had stolen a relic important to their culture.

Theatre

• The Titular Barber of Seville, Figaro, as explained in his song Largo al factotum. Everyone in Seville knows, loves, and can count on Figaro if they have a problem.

Webcomics

• In The Adventures of Dr. McNinja, King Radical is devoted to making Cumberland more... well, radical. Because of his influence, the city has, among other things, skydiving news anchors, a doctor who battled an Eldritch Abomination to cure someone's acne, and a Captain Ersatz of The Incredible Hulk advertising for a grocery store. He's not afraid to use illegal means for livening up Cumberland, and Doc is absolutely sure he's plotting something more sinister, but everyone else supports his efforts. Then horribly subverted when he kills hundreds of innocent people during the activation of his robotic weapon.

Web Original

• Skies Unbroken's Gloria has the Governess, Ordelia Avarro.
• Being one of the main builders and the creator of Stampy's Lovely World, Stampy is naturally this. Off-camera, he is also known to subtly replace old aspects of the builds with new ones, such as by using doors of more varied types of wood added in the newest editions of the game... and woe betide anyone who wishes his World or his Helpers, who help him build the World, harm.
• In Worm, local supervillains the Undersiders acquire this role for the city of Brockton Bay after it's badly damaged by Leviathan, first claiming territory and driving off the supervillains that are less friendly to the populace (drug dealers, neo-nazis, and serial killers) and then funding the city's revitalization with their illegally gained money, as well as providing smuggled supplies where government supplies fall short. When the city is about to be condemned, they convince the mayor to argue against it in Washington by invading his home and threatening his family. Later, they create the first stable gateway to an alternate world in order to bring revenue to the city and revitalize it.

Western Animation

• City Island (2022): Mayor Sitwell is always looking out for the well-being of the city and everyone in it.
• Jellystone!: Mayor Huck loves Jellystone fiercely and often innovates plots for the good of the town.
• In Justice League episode "Flash and Substance": Flash is so loved in Central City, they build a museum to honor the costumed speedster. During the episode, he gushes about how much he loves the city, and he even shows he knows everyone's name within it. When Batman and Orion actually are impressed with your dedication, it means something.
• TaleSpin: Shere Khan is an Anti-Villain example. Whatever his motives, and despite his occasionally unscrupulous and selfish actions, he has a vested interest in seeing Cape Suzette flourish. Khan Industries has contracts with the local government to improve the city's defense and infrastructure.

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