Sandbox / Hero Tropes

♫ He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight! ♪
L - R, top to bottom: Wonder Woman, Mario, Goku, and Korra.

"You see that you and I are of a different stripe, don't you? We don't have to dream that we're important. We are."

— Mr. House, Fallout: New Vegas

The Hero, seeks to defeat the villain, save the princess, find the treasure, etc. Generally the Protagonist. Always wins in the end. This index covers all tropes about and related to them.

Note: while many tropes about goodness can and do apply to heroes, this is not an index for every positive portrayal of a character or entity, nor about goodness in general. That's Goodness Tropes.

Contrast this index with its antithesis, Villains. There's also a Wiki.

See Heroes for other pages (tropes and works alike) that reference heroes.

Related Tropes and Indices:

• Anti-Hero
• Being the Hero Sucks
• The Chosen One
• Goodness Tropes
• The Hero
• Hero Ball
• Sidekick
• Superhero Tropes

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Tropes:

Common Qualities Found Amongst Heroes

• 100% Heroism Rating
• Always Lawful Good: An entire race of completely benign beings.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: Most heroes tend to be very physically attractive.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Heroes who can be quite dangerous and formidable when pushed too far.
• Blue Is Heroic: Many good guys like to wear blue clothes.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Being associated with darkness doesn't make the character less of a hero.
• Determinator: Absolutely nothing can make the hero give up.
• Embodiment of Virtue
• Face: A good guy in wrestling terms.
• The Fettered: The hero's strength is their moral limitations.
• Friend to All Living Things: A hero who protects and cares deeply for animals.
• For Great Justice: The good guys' motive is "justice", "goodness", etc.
• Friend to All Children: A hero who cares deeply for and protects kids.
• Genius Bruiser: The hero has both brains and brawn.
• Good Is Not Dumb: A character who is good gets underestimated because of it.
• Good Is Not Nice: A hero who acts like a jerk most of the time.
• Good Is Not Soft: A hero who has no qualms about severely punishing villains.
• Good Wears White: Heroic characters dress in white clothing to symbolize their goodness.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: A good guy/girl with blonde hair.
• Heroic Build: Many heroic men have an impressively muscular body.
• Heroic Resolve
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: The hero belittles themselves.
• Heroic Spirit
• Heroes Love Dogs: Good guys like to keep pet dogs.
• Heroic Mime: A good guy who never talks.
• Heroic Willpower: The hero is in danger of being corrupted by an evil force, but manages to fight it off by doing their best not to give in to the madness.
• Hope Bringer
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: The hero who is morally pure and is immune to temptation.
• Jumped at the Call: A character is eager to uphold the responsibility of being the hero once they are given the chance.
• Lawful Good
• Light Is Good: Heroes are usually associated with the light and bright colors.
• Loved by All: The hero is universally liked by everyone.
• Pink Heroine
• We Help the Helpless: Heroes will lend a hand to anyone in need of their help. The less fortunate classes of society are no exception.
• Working-Class Hero: The hero comes from a lower-class background.
• "X" Marks the Hero: A character has a cross-shaped scar to show they're a badass good guy.

Characters Who Frequently Are The Hero

• Action Dad
• Action Genre Hero Guy
• Benevolent Monsters: Scary-looking creatures who would much rather befriend humans instead of harming them.
• Action Girl
• Action Mom
• Action Pet
• Action Survivor: They're not a skilled fighter, but prove to be quite capable of handling a dangerous situation anyways.
• Amicable Ants: Ants are depicted as heroic or friendly bugs.
• Anti-Anti-Christ: The Antichrist is expected to help the forces of evil with conquering/destroying the world. Fortunately, this Antichrist wants to save the world instead.
• Anti-Hero Substitute
• Anti-Hero Team: The team that consists of anti-heroes.
• The Anti-Nihilist: A character who knows how terrible the world is, but instead of succumbing to despair, decides to create meaning, values and purpose in life out of it.
• The Atoner: The hero really wants to redeem themselves for bad deeds or horrible mistakes they've made in the past.
• Badass Pacifist: While they would never beat the crap out of their enemies, they're brave enough to stand up for their beliefs anyways.
• Benevolent Mage Ruler
• Big Good: The most powerful and significant force of good who exists in the story.
• Bully Hunter
• The Cape: The archetypal superhero codified by Superman.
• The Captain
• The Chosen One: According to fate and prophecy, this hero is destined to save the world.
• The Chosen Zero: But they're kind of a loser as well.
• The Conscience: A character that acts as the others' moral compass.
• The Cowl
• Crusading Lawyer: An attorney who genuinely tries hard to help out their client without ulterior motives.
• Captain Space, Defender of Earth!: A parody of space opera heroes.
• Chummy Commies: Communists who are benign, friendly and/or heroic.
• Crimefighting with Cash
• Dark Magical Girl: A Magical Girl with a Dark and Troubled Past, who starts out as an Evil Counterpart to The Hero, but usually switches sides after being taught The Power of Love, Friendship, and Acceptance after a big showdown.
• Dork Knight
• The Drifter
• The Everyman: The protagonist is a (mostly) average, normal, ordinary guy just trying to deal with everyday life. Though sometimes they get forced into dealing with extraordinary problems...
• Experienced Protagonist: A veteran hero who clearly isn't a rookie or newbie.
• Fallen Princess
• Farm Boy: When the hero is just a simple peasant from the countryside.
• The Good Chancellor: A character who serves their kingdom or nation with utmost earnestness.
• The Good King: A monarch who honestly wants what's best for his people.
• The Gunslinger
• Heroic Russian Émigré
• The High Queen: The queen is beautiful and good to an inhuman degree, and is to be held in awe.
• Hunter of Monsters: Someone who fights and slays dangerous supernatural creatures to protect other people.
• Kid Detective: A child who solves crime.
• King in the Mountain: A legendary figure is believed to be in hibernation until the people they've protected need them again rather than dead.
• Knight Errant: Drifting heroes who do good deeds as they pass by.
• Knight in Shining Armor
• Knight in Sour Armor: A cynical hero who nonetheless continues to do good.
• Magical Girl: Young girls learning to find their place in the world while secretly fighting to protect it with magical powers.
• Man of the City: The hero who ensures the safety and well-being of the city they live in.
• Naïve Everygirl
• Nazi Hunter: Someone who tries to bring fugitive Nazi war criminals to justice.
• You Meddling Kids

Common Situations and Plots For Heroes

• A Hero to His Hometown
• Adaptational Heroism: The villain character from the original work is a hero in the adaptation.
• Badass Unintentional: The hero is completely oblivious of their great power.

• Big Damn Heroes: Good guys save the day at the right time.

• The Cavalry: Reinforcements for a last-second dramatic rescue of the heroes.
• Celebrating the Heroes

• Chronic Hero Syndrome: The hero can't resist helping out anyone and everyone in need who they may come across.
• Create Your Own Hero: A villain's actions inadvertently lead to someone rising up to oppose them.
• Defends Against Their Own Kind
• Even the Loving Hero Has Hated Ones: An All-Loving Hero has at least one exception to their rule of loving others.

• From Hero to Mentor: A character who, after being the hero, becomes the mentor for an intended subsequent hero.
• From Shame, Heroism: A character is ashamed of something they've done, and turns to heroism as a result
• From Zero to Hero: A character starts as a nobody, and rises up in the world through their heroic deeds.
• The Good Guys Always Win: As a near-universal rule of fiction, the heroes must always defeat the villains and save the day in the end (with some rare exceptions).
• Good Versus Good: Where two heroes are in conflict against each other.
• Headbutting Heroes: Good guys who despise each other.
• Heel–Face Turn: The villain becomes a hero.
• Heel–Face Return: The villain gets Put on a Bus and returns as a good guy.
• Heroes Act, Villains Hinder: Good guys kickstart the plot, and the bad guys are holding them back.
• Heroes' Frontier Step: A character commits an action so noble that it proves that they're a hero.
• Heroic Lineage
• Heroism Motive Speech
• Heroic Rematch
• Heroic Sacrifice: Getting oneself killed in a selfless effort to save other people.
• Heroic Vow
• Heroism Equals Job Qualification
• Heroism Won't Pay the Bills: Fighting for all that's good isn't a well-paying job.
• Hero on Hiatus
• Hero with an F in Good: A character who isn't very good at being a hero.
• High-Heel–Face Turn: When a villainous group has just one woman, then she's the one who will turn good in the end.
• Horseback Heroism
• Hospitality for Heroes
• I'm Not a Hero, I'm...

• Kid Hero All Grown-Up: They've entered a full-time career of heroism in adulthood.
• The Meddling Kids Are Useless
• Messianic Archetype

• More Hero than Thou: Good guys have a dispute over who gets to make the noble sacrifice.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: After the villain tries to break the hero's spirit by claiming that their heroic efforts are worthless or that the hero is no different from the villain, the hero responds by sharply rebuking the villain and rejecting their harangue as they prepare to kick the villain's butt.

• A True Hero

Other Associated Tropes

• Adaptational Nice Guy: A character is made nicer in the adaptation than they were in the original work. Often done with heroic characters whose rudeness might prevent them from being sympathetic.

• Virtuous Character Copy: A hero based on a villain from another work.

• Good-Guy Bar: A place for heroes to hang out after saving the day, just right across the street from the Bad Guy Bar.
• Hero Secret Service
• "The Hero Sucks" Song: Characters, usually villains, insult the hero through a song.
• The Real Heroes

D-F

• Ethical Slut: This character is a moral and benevolent person, at least when it comes to matters of romance and sexuality.
• Faux Action Girl

G-J

• Good Samaritan: A person does a good deed simply for others' well-being.
• Greater-Scope Paragon: A heroic being who is indirectly responsible for the heroes existing or being involved in their mission, but is not directly involved with the story.
• Handsome Heroic Caveman: A caveman is both physically and morally appealing, in contrast to the brutish Neanderthals or the Frazetta Man.

• Hero's Muse: The Hero is inspired or led by an idealized woman.
• Hero Academy: A school for training young heroes.

• Heroes "R" Us: An organized group of heroes.
• Heroic Bastard: A good guy born to unmarried parents.
• Heroic BSoD: A hero experiences an emotional breakdown.
• Heroic Comedic Sociopath
• Heroic Dog: A canine who really is man's best friend.
• Heroic Dolphin

• Hero with Bad Publicity: A good guy who has an (undeservedly) bad reputation among the citizens. Which may be the result of manipulations by a bad guy with a better reputation.

• Honest Corporate Executive: Not all wealthy businesspeople have to be ruthlessly greedy plutocrats.

• The Idealist Was Right: A character who was scoffed at for being idealistic ends up having the best solution for their problems.

• Iron Woobie: The hero is a miserable person, but that won't stop them from quitting their journey.
• It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: The hero dislikes being forced to face their destiny.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Some heroes are mean, but have a soft side deep down.

K-M

• Knight Templar: Characters who has noble goals, but can be self-righteous and extremist in achieving them.
• Lady of Adventure
• Lady of War
• The Lancer: The hero's second-in-command.
• Lancer vs. Dragon: When The Lancer takes on their Evil Counterpart The Dragon.
• Lantern Jaw of Justice: Good guys with huge chins.
• The Leader: A role always filled by the main hero/protagonist of the story.
• Little Old Lady Investigates
• Load-Bearing Hero: A hero that holds a falling object to save the members of main cast or others.
• Lord Error-Prone
• Lovable Alpha Bitch
• Lovable Coward: They're too chicken to confront danger, but end up being forced to do so anyways.
• Madonna Archetype
• Main Character Final Boss: The hero of the story also plays the role of its final boss.
• Mammal Monsters Are More Heroic: Mammalian monsters are portrayed as heroes.
• Martial Pacifist: They would personally prefer a peaceful solution, but that doesn't mean they aren't willing to put up a good fight if they have to.
• Mean Character, Nice Actor: The character is mean and nasty, but the actor behind that character is not.

• Mighty Whitey
• Monster Adventurers
• Moses Archetype
• Mr. Vice Guy: A hero who often engages in some sort of sin or vice.
• My Girl Back Home
• Mystery Writer Detective

N-R

• Neutral Good
• Nice Guy: A kindhearted hero who is a very swell guy/girl to be around with.
• No Badass to His Valet
• No Hero to His Valet
• "No More Holding Back" Speech: The hero makes a speech about the problems they've experienced and how they overcame them.
• Noble Bigot: They still try to do the right thing despite their prejudices.
• Noble Bigot with a Badge: A policeman who tries to uphold the law despite their prejudices.
• Noble Savage: Someone from a primitive tribe, who is generally more decent and wise than people from civilized society.
• Nominal Hero: Someone who may incidentally do some good deeds despite a total lack of altruistic motives.
• Non-Ironic Clown: This type of clown who is a good guy in every sense of the word, intending to entertain children in circus.
• The One with a Personal Life: The one member of the crew who still has a life outside of adventuring.
• Only the Chosen May Wield: A weapon only wieldable by the Chosen One or one with certain special attributes.
• Outdated Hero vs. Improved Society
• Outside-Context Problem, when they are the good guys
• Pajama-Clad Hero: A hero who does good deeds while in sleepwear.
• The Paragon: The hero who encourages others to be more heroic.
• Pet the Dog: An outwardly rude character does something nice to prove that they are good underneath.

• Plucky Girl
• Polite Villains, Rude Heroes: Good Is Not Nice versus Affably Evil.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: A hero who holds some very controversial beliefs about other people.
• The Poorly Chosen One: Unfortunately, they totally failed to achieve their great destiny.
• Positive Friend Influence: A character that helps others within their social circle (friends, family, Ragtag Bunch of Misfits, etc) to start making their way on overcoming their issues and become better people.
• The Power of Friendship: A hero can defeat a bad guy with companionship as his/her strength.
• The Power of Love: The heroes' love for each other lets them overcome their trials.
• The Power of Rock: A hero can defeat the villain via rock music.
• Pragmatic Hero: A hero who does morally questionable deeds for the greater good.
• Precursor Heroes
• President Superhero: A President (or otherwise Chief of State) of a sovereign country who happens to have superpowers — and does use them for heroics as a side job.
• Princess Protagonist: When the heroine is a member of royalty.
• Prodigal Hero
• Propaganda Hero
• Prohibited Hero Saves the Day
• Proto-Superhero: Early versions of the modern superhero archetype.
• Punch-Clock Hero: This character is a hero because it's his job. Not a big deal.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: A ramshackle group of characters has to save the day.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: The authority figure who mostly aids the heroes.
• Rebellious Rebel
• Reckless Pacifist
• Recruit Teenagers with Attitude: Instead of trained adults or the average superheroes, random teenagers are asked to save the day.
• Red Is Heroic: Many good guys like to wear red clothes.
• Redshirts: The Good Counterpart of evil Mooks. Unfortunately, they're not any more useful in a fight.
• Redshirt Army
• The Redeemer: The hero reforms a majority of villains they meet.
• Redeeming Replacement: The identity of a villain is assumed by someone who instead uses the identity to be a hero so as to make amends for their predecessor's crimes.
• Reformed Bully
• Reformed Criminal: Small time Criminals who have a change of heart and join the good guys.
• The Republic
• La Résistance: A group of people who intend to fight back against and overthrow the tyrannical regime oppressing them.
• Retired Badass: A hero who is retired (but no less brave or competent).
• Right Man in the Wrong Place
• Righteous Rabbit: Heroic rabbits.
• Rude Hero, Nice Sidekick: A hero who is a jerk who is accompanied by a nicer sidekick.

S-Z

• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: A character who listens and does what their heart tells them is the morally right thing to do and not what bureaucratic laws tell them to.
• Sealed Good in a Can: A hero who has somehow been imprisoned for a long time.
• Series Mascot: Most good guys serve as iconic characters chosen to represent a fictional universe or media franchise.
• Sheep in Sheep's Clothing
• Sidekick Song: The hero's sidekick has a moment to shine with a song.
• Sixth Ranger: An additional team member who joins the hero team a good while after the other members have been active.
• The Smart Guy: The most intelligent member of the group.
• Smith of the Yard
• Snooping Little Kid
• Spanner in the Works: The hero foils the villain's plan by accident or because the villain failed to anticipate their involvement.
• Stoic Woobie
• Summon Everyman Hero
• Super Zeroes: Incompetent superheroes.
• Supporting Leader
• Team Chef: The member of a hero team who does the cooking.
• Technical Pacifist
• Teen Superspy
• Things I Will Do If I Am Ever the Hero
• Token Good Teammate: The only nice person among a gang of scoundrels.
• Token Heroic Orc: The only heroic member of a species that is (otherwise) evil.
• Trenchcoat Brigade
• Tsundere
• Unfazed Everyman
• Unintentionally Karmic: They save the day and ruin things for the bad guy…but not on purpose.
• Upbringing Makes the Hero
• Villain Killer: A (oftentimes) heroic character who has killed numerous villains (including Big Bads, The Dragons, and or villainous factions).
• Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World: Young heroes have to balance their school life with fighting evil.

• Wealthy Philanthropist: An rich character who attempts to use their money to help the poor and other people who are in need.
• The Wise Prince
• Withholding the Big Good

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