Monkey D. Luffy of One Piece fits this perfectly. Despite being an Idiot Hero, he is the captain and the leader of the Strawhat Pirates, and is always the one to take on the big bad in the end of every big story arc. His normal outfit, before and after the Timeskip, is even Red and Blue.
Maybe, maybe not. As of chapter 634 in the manga, Luffy has explicitly stated that he isn't, and doesn't want to be, a hero. In fact, he only agrees to save Fishman Island by being bribed with food. Then again, Luffy has never been a 'traditional' hero....
Kuro from Kurokami qualifies this despite her lack of social skills, being [1] heavily physically abused alot, and being a a third part of the Bigger Bad of the anime.
Interesting variation in Gantz. Originally the Gantz team's nominated leader was Masaru Katou who seemed to be The Hero while the actual main character, his Jerk Ass old friend Kei Kurono, seemed to be The Lancer, despite Kurono being notably the more powerful fighter. But after the entire team, except for Kei, gets wiped out in a mission, and Kurono undergoes some serious character development, he becomes The Hero for the new team. And then he resurrects Katou. And dies. And Katou resurrects him.
He's more properly an Anti-Hero. Though he does take initiative among his own group of friends, this is by dint of him being the most powerful among them and being personally connected to the current conflict. The rest of soul society, namely the captains (some of them), are the ones who usually do the hero-ing.
Natsu from Fairy Tail. An interesting variation - Erza actually leads the team.
Last but not least, Kenshiro from ''Fist of the North Star. His nickname is "The End-of-Century Savior".
The eponymous character of Black★Rock Shooter OVA is not an example of this trope. In fact, it's strongly implied that were she to follow this trope to the letters (always win, resolving everything with force) she will notget thegirl.
Her videogame, & Manga counterpart however truly fits this trope very well.
While The Protagonist is debatable, there's not much doubt that the hero of Medaka Box is none other than Medaka Kurokami herself.
Kazuma Shudo of Kagerou-Nostalgia steps into this role as the story progresses, shifting from a bitter, disillusioned, and nearly psychotic Anti-Hero, to the leader of the reincarinated heroes, and a more or less altruistic (if still incredibly cynical) character.
Sakura Kinomoto/Avalon of Cardcaptor Sakura, albeit with Syaoran Li as a heavy Deuteragonist. Despite Executive Meddling's best attempts to make them co-Heroes, she is still obviously this in the Cardcaptors dub as well.
Comic Books
Superman. Every hero in comic books, at one point or another, has been compared specifically to Superman, either in how he's similar or how he's different. Even in the case of antiheroes and indy comics, as more often than not, the first thing they'll do is take a swipe at the Superman mythos. The entire genre of superhero comics starts with him. And that's why Superman will always be the greatest, most iconic representation of a superhero.
Elizabeth Swann-Turner and Will Turner are the Pirates of the Caribbean version of this. Used loosely, as heroes aren't as pure in her world.
Luke Skywalker fits this trope so well that Psychology textbooks show a picture of him in reference to the archetype of a hero. In parts of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, variations on "I won't leave you here. I have to save you" are practically his catchphrase.
Interesting because Aragorn is not the protagonist, but he's clearly the hero, and the leader. This does make him The Aragorn though.
Even more interestingly, Tolkien himself made the argument that Sam could be considered the Hero of the Story, as he was the one whose story was closest to Bilbo of the previous book, who was definitely the Hero.
In the X-Wing Series books, there are always two to three primary protagonists and viewpoint characters. One or two, depending on whether this book is part of Michael Stackpole's run or an Aaron Allston novel - and whichAaron Allston book - is the suboordinate who experiences more Character Development, goes through personal revelations and a personal plotline, gets beat up, and is generally a good person but not quite "pure", often having some dark guilt, flaw, or secret. The other primary protagonist is always Wedge Antilles, who leads, bounces back from setbacks, has a plotline that isn't really all that personal, and is rarely wrong.
'Starfighters of Adumar, which is intensely Wedge-centered and has no other viewpoint characters, is the exception, and although Wedge is severely heroic and an Ace Pilot there too, he's not The Hero to the same extent.
Hector period, really. Among the Greeks and Trojans he's just the best guy. Not that he doesn't have his bad moments, but almost everyone else is a total jerk.
Discworld usually subverts or averts this trope, often favoring the Anti-Hero instead. Carrot Ironfoundersson of the City Watch plays it straight, but he's not the central protagonist.
In Percy Jackson and the Olympians, we're lead to believe that Percy is the hero of the series. The hero is not who we thought he was. Luke Castellan takes up that role instead.
Percy is still The Hero of the series. He's just not the hero of the prophecy.
Max Evans of Roswell fits this to a T. His teammates frequently Lampshades it regularly asking him "What do we do now, Max?" even if sometimes they openly criticize him for his "passively watching" instead of taking action sooner, something that doesn't change when he's actually declared the king of his planet.
Col. John "Hannibal" Smith on The A-Team, though like Mal Reynolds, he's also kind of a Lovable Rogue as well as a Trickster. Notable for being most likely the only person in this trope to be over 50 years old.
Tidus from Final Fantasy X is clearly the main character to the player, but he's a late-comer to the other characters, who already composed the rest of a Five-Man Band before he showed up.
This is also an example of what can happen when The Hero and The Captain are not represented by the same character, or rather, when there is no Captain at all.
Yuna takes up this role in the sequel. Very interesting considering that she was The Chick in the previous game. She even fights like Tidus and uses one of his swords in her Warrior dressphere.
Sora from Kingdom Hearts was The Hero but not the leader of his original Three AmigosPower Trio. That position went to The Lancer, Riku, who was older, bigger, stronger, and more adventurous. It was Riku's idea to build a raft and leave their home behind to visit other worlds. If Riku hadn't been a littletooeager to seek his destiny, he might have become the de facto leader of a full Five-Man Band, with Sora and Kairi functioning as the team's heart and conscience. Sora might lead with his heart and by example, but Riku would have led with his head and from the front. Even after Sora formed a new Power Trio with Donald and Goofy, Donald was initially more the leader due to his drive and seniority.
Master Chief Petty Officer John 117 of the SPARTAN IIs. Not the strongest, fastest, smartest of the Spartans, or the best at anything at all, except in leading the others and always getting the job done. He is so unbelievably Mario in comparison that even though there is at least one SPARTAN that can do something better than him, he wins everything because there is nothing he is bad at. Nothing. And he knows it. That's why he was made the leader of the rest.
Although Cortana says he has one thing the rest didn't: LUCK.
Another thing he is the best at is being the Bravest with a capital B, as said by Dr. Halsey herself. Spartans are by definition extremely brave and invulnerable (latter as symbolism, but proven with the best record of survival rate per engagement). However John takes it to the pure insane combined with his luck and courage to do the pure impossible even by Spartan standards.
Sonic is both the hero of the series and Team Sonic's (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles) de factoleader.
It varies in some alternate medias however (in Sat Am Sonic for example he is more akin to the Lancer, with Princess Sally placed more in this role). He also has some moments of a Standardized Leader due to Loads and Loads of Characters in the franchise.
Mario, of course. He names the franchise, is the main playable character, is the Jack of All Stats, etc., etc.
Although there's the possibility of it being too obvious to be worth listing here, the majority of the main characters in every Dragon Quest game serve as the Hero, to the point that in Dragon Quest VIII the hero's default name is Hero. Nearly all of them have balanced abilities and use (or have the option of using) swords, and many of them have lightning and/or fire in their selection of attack magic. One of the only exceptions is the Hero from Dragon Quest II, who learns no magic at all and serves as the physical fighter of the party.
Another DQ Hero-Subversion, in V the hero plays the role as more the party's priest, and his son is the legendary hero.
Devlin McCormack from The Orion Conspiracy. Unlike a lot of games out there, he is different. How so? For starters, he is a middle-aged guy who has a number of issues. He was not a good father or a good husband. He does feel bad about it. His son and wife are both dead. He fought as a soldier in the Corporation War. However, the game demonstrates that he seems to prefer using his brains and guile rather than a gun and physical combat. He also engages in lying, petty larceny, blackmail and some Shoot the Dog moments. The Chick is also not attracted to him. With all that said, he does lead the charge more than once in the game.
Rosalyn from Okage is another case of the hero not being the player character, generally being a superb Hero's Guild Member and overshadowing Ari. But then, everyone does that last bit.
Fear Effect has Hana Tsu-Vachel/Mei Yun in this role.
Played straight in most of Fallout 3, but subverted in four of the five add-ons (Broken Steel being a continuation of the main storyline, very heroic, and something of an Author's Saving Throw for the original ending). The main game revolves around one man's dream to bring free, radiation-free water to the Wasteland, and how his child either achieves or subverts that dream.
Operation Anchorage requires the player to aid one of the least sympathetic non-psychopathic factions in the game (who only exist as a faction because they broke away from a group that decided it was more important to protect innocents from 8-foot-tall genocidal mutants than to hoard technology).
The Pitt forces the player to choose between allowing miserable slavery to continue in the name of rebuilding the only working steel mill on the east coast and finding a cure one of the most devastating mutations in the Wasteland, or freeing the slaves by replacing a Reasonable Authority Figure with his treacherous lieutenant, who then plans to use his former Lord's infant child to find a cure as fast as possible, her health be damned. Also, it is implied that choosing the latter will allow the steel mill to rot, a significant setback for rebuilding.
Point Lookout has the Lone Wanderer caught between a BadAss and a Chessmaster. While none of his actions are decidedly heroic or villainous, he gets outsmarted by brain-damaged drug addicts and (depending on what side quests he follows), a 200-year-old death trap. Both these events paint the hero as more of a gullible imcompetent than anything else.
Mothership Zeta is mostly a fight for survival, ending with the player willingly destroying a craft capable of traveling to other planets. That, you know, aren't ruined.
In the Video Game/Fable series, Heroes are a classification of people in Albion who possess the disciplines of Strength, Skill, or Will, and as such have extraordinary fighting and magical abilities. The player character in each game has control over all three disciplines, and can either play this trope straight or horribly invert it.
Cale'Anon Vatay of Looking for Group is a textbook example. He starts the comic as a "lone and righteous wolf," but quickly accrues of group of fellow adventurers, including the warlock Richard as his Lancer, whom he develops a close - if somewhat dysfunctional - relationship with. He is not the most intelligent of the bunch, clearly failing to recognize evil early on, but often displays quick thinking and good strategizing ability, especially after taking numerous levels in badass. (He is definitely the newest to adventuring of the main characters, having started out the comic with a healthy dose of Wide-Eyed Idealist.) Considering the actions of some of his group members, he can also be seen as an Only Sane Man. He fights with two swords and eventually shacks up with the resident Action Girl.
Web Original
Sasha Hunter is an undoubtable one in Greek Ninja.
Neil Sinclair of Survival of the Fittest is arguably the hero of the series. He might not always make the right calls, but he's about the only character who retains his moral high ground throughout the game, and strives ceaselessly to save as many people as possible. He has the distinction of being the only character ever to form an effectual pro-escape group. Which has a good chance to have succeeded, cliffhanger and Pyrrhic Victory notwithstanding; if nothing else, it's the closest the students have ever come to beating the system.
Palmer of Titan Maximum is a Deconstruction of the classic Mecha Team hero, being a glory-seeking Jerk Jock who as his former Lancer turned Big Bad Gibbs can tell you is "an egomaniac troglodyte who will let you all die a fiery hell before he shares even one iota of glory." Palmer does in fact put himself over the team and is directly responsible for Gibbs' Face Heel Turn (having once left him to die so that he wouldn't be late for a hot date), though he does have some degree of care for his "Friends".
In Futurama being an impulsive Cloud Cuckoo Lander and Idiot Hero has not stopped Philip J. Fry. He tends to have the most focus, often saves the day (even if accidentally) and most importantly of all, is the one who drew the Ragtag Bunch of Misfits together.
Almost anyone named Optimus (whether it ends in Prime or Primal).
Aqualad on Young Justice, though he's said he's willing to pass the mantle on to Robin (currently The Lancer) once he's matured and gotten better at working with a team, instead of as Batman's partner.
While established more as The Smart Guy of a three member ensemble, Sam of Totally Spies! is usually enthasised as what holds the team together, usually saving the team at least once per episode and sometimes even stopping the villain almost singlehandedly at times.
Oddly Rufus was established as such in early episodes of The Dreamstone, though was quickly downgraded more to Kid Sidekick and occasional Decoy Protagonist akin to Amberley later on.
