This is simply what you think is the (not some of the, the) best example of any trope (an objective trope, not subjective, since this already is subjective). The "Crowning Example" if you will.
There could be several reasons you think an example is the best.
You thinks it's the best in terms of illustrating the trope.
You think it's the most well done.
It's your favorite play in that trope.
You just really like the source material.
Oh, and each troper gets one example per trope, no more. Also, don't go "no, this is," or phrases like that. This is about our own personal favorites.
Etna. When confronted by the Prism Rangers, her response is to shoot them down as they transform.
Infermon/Diaboromon in the Digimon Adventure movies. Attacking during the evolution sequence, it must be some kind of genius. ~ Carla
Tarquin from The Order of the Stick exploits the underlying system of the Heroic Tale with brilliant ruthlessness. Xykon also knows a fair bit about the conventions for supervillains, but he doesn't exploit them quite as much.
Seconded. ~ Seiryu
The Joker. The only thing that stopped him from achieving total victory was the people in the boats standing up to him and refusing to play his mind games, even if it meant getting killed in the process. ~ KingCrInuYasha
Shadow Hearts. It's all over this game. Yuri, main hero of the first two games, is a Type 2 Anti-Hero who sometimes becomes simply The Hero, and who has no evil tendencies but a habit towards perversion. He's Darkness elemental. Lucia, a heroine of the second game, is a gorgeous Italian bellydancing fortune teller whose personality is, in essence, a combination of a Dumb Brunette with a morbid sense of humor. She's Darkness elemental. Shania, main heroine of the third game, is a Type 2 Anti-Hero who sometimes becomes simply the Hero, and who has no evil tendencies beyond a habit towards anger. She's Darkness elemental. In the second game, you find a map that lets you control demons- who grant you spells and serve as staunch allies. In all three games, you can fuse at least one character with a demon or spirit that can use Dark Magic... and you use this power to beat up bad guys. In addition, the main villain of the first game, who is Darkness elemental, is revealed to have been trying to stop an even worse evil, and that he became a Well-Intentioned Extremist and lost his way. He's not only sorry for what he's done, but dedicates himself to helping the party that killed him after his death.The sheer number of heroic examples of this trope is overwhelming.
The ending of Final Fantasy III. the only way the Light Warriors can beat the resident Eldritch Abomination is with the help of their counterparts, the very nice Dark Warriors.
Seconded, I mean seriously there is ONLY ONE COMPLETELY GOOD CHARACTER IN THE ENTIRE SERIES AND HE DIES!!! ~Troper49
American McGee's Alice is Darker and Edgier done absolutely right. The Steampunk level designs, the twisted (but horribly recognizable) versions of the characters, the "just a dream" atmosphere twisted to nightmares instead of whimsy. It's all given a Back Story that makes perfect sense. Top it off with the drummer for Nine Inch Nails using period instruments and toys to create a creepy soundtrack.
Suppose your first ever exposure to the Batman franchise was the campy 60s television show. Then someone mentions to you, "Hey, did you know that they made a film version of this?" and hands you a DVD of The Dark Knight. Yeah, that's kind of like how Power Rangers RPM compares to its Super Sentai source material and the Power Rangers franchise as a whole.
The 1989 Keaton/Nicholson Batman. Remember, the last we'd seen of Batman on any kind of screen, in heavy rotation on Nickelodeon in the late '80s was the 1966-68 Adam West TV series. — Nlpnt
Farscape: the regular series' last arc had a portable nuke that would explode if Crichton got too angry, too hungry, too hot, too cold, too horny, or, oh yeah, dead. ~ Haven
The Brak Show; Brak accidentally kills Thundercles' pet goldfish by feeding him a three ham omelet. — Tropers/{{Cuchulainn
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Six-year old Nicky gets a rabbit named Harry for Easter and leaves it in a box on the couch. Uncle Phil comes in to watch TV, and after an agonizingly long setup in which he *almost* sits on the box...Uncle Phil sits right down on the box and crushes Harry. Made all the funnier by Will freaking out when Phil tells him because he thinks Phil killed a human.
An American Werewolf in London. And not just for its famous quotation on the subject. All of the dead people conversations in the film are flat-out hilarious to no end. ~ Ziggy Zag
Madness Combat. Hank dies at the end of pretty much every episode, only to revive with a few bandages next time. That's not mentioning Tricky the clown, who dies multiple times in a single episode and is possibly now immortal. ~Ninjat_126
Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. Let's just say that there's a reason that this series (especially during the later seasons) is called "NGE with card games" by many. ~ Lord Zorc
Glee Season 1. Teen Drama, parody of teen drama tropes, or quirky set-piece? Tune in and find out! ~ Nlpnt
Whateley Universe. Superhero action? High school hijinx? Superhero deconstruction? Lovecraft Country? Superhero parody? Wacky comedy? The usual answer is 'some of the above' but it depends on which of the dozen canon authors is writing. ~ Marvel Girl
The video game Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, which had an isometric perspective, but the gameplay treated it as overhead, so you can be walking on the ground and be blocked by the top of a tower. The trope page's picture shows it in action.
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, what happens when people reach the DEH is the main theme of the series, with most people falling over and resorting to such desperate tactics as wiping out every living thing in the Land on the off chance it will also kill the Big Bad that pushed him over, while the few that can be pushed up to a DEH but refuse to fall into it are the ones that ultimately defeat him. ~ Seraphem
The Big Bad from Tales Of Symphonia, if only because it's an effective villainous version of this trope. Seriously, the guy will not give up. ~ deeman45
Seiya from Saint Seiya. To the point where it becomes ridiculously annoying. ~ Carla
Vyse of Skiesof Arcadia is a great example, due to always having a 'never give up' attitude, and yet still seeming reasonable. Heck, there's only one point where he has given up all hope, as he has just been captured by The Empire, and has been stuck in a cell in the inescapable fortress. He is then called out on this for not acting like himself, by his cellmate, who pulls out a piece of wire and picks the lock. Vyse then immediately goes back into a 'Great! Let's find the others, and blow this Popsicle stand!' attitude.~ Smylar
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, it gets to the point were in the last book he flat out states "Deus ex Machina to the rescue" when he writes the hero's out of a trap. ~Seraphem
The one from the story titled "Deus Ex Machina" on Lost. Not just because of the Crowning Moment of Heartwarming, but also because of the brilliant twist revealed a whole season later: it was a two-edged Deus Ex Machina, and we saw only one end of it the first time around. Locke was saved by being given hope, but he unknowningly also rescued Desmond and saved the whole world the same way before even knowing of Desmond's existence, and the revelation of this leads to a third Deus Ex Machina. ~ Ziggy Zag
Everything that leads to Aang achieving Avatar State and defeating Ozai in the finale of Avatar The Last Airbender. ~ Carla
Branwell Bronte, the talented but dissolute brother of the Bronte sisters, supposedly pulled this off in real life. Dying of tuberculosis at the age of thirty-one, he had himself propped up against a mantelpiece just to prove that it could be done.
Dominic Sorel from Eureka Seven. How he could withstand Anemone's physical andverbal assaults in the name of love is astonishing. His perseverance pays off in the end, making his endurance legendary. ~ Sanfranman91
"You're a... *pauses, thinks for a moment, stands up and walks over to the wall to lean against it while half-smirking* ...guest of the Master Control Program."
Yashamaru. Up until 548 there was never any definite indication of just what his gender is in the English manga, and in several different languages the translators have made him a woman because he's just that pretty. Haku may be the better-known example of this from Naruto, but at least the translators never got in on the act as far as he's concerned.
From Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann we got Kittan's death. You can almost feel the quake from Valhalla's doors smash opening on this one because of the sheer awesomeness of it. ~ Mistermister, V Phantom
Zero. His sacrifice ultimately bring peace between the two species, despite being created by the one who started all the centuries-long war. ~ DAN 004, Cag
