You Are Better Than You Think You Are / Western Animation

Times where somebody tells another that "You Are Better Than You Think You Are" in Western Animation.

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• In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Iroh tries to tell Zuko this, though he's too busy wallowing in his "Well Done, Son" Guy syndrome to notice.
  • Until his Heel Realization, that is.
  • Ironically, his sister Azula rather uncharacteristically provides a more villainous variation of this trope when she reassures Zuko that their father does not have to restore his honor, since he already restored it himself by helping her conquer Ba Sing Se (despite Zuko's ambivalence about receiving her approval at the expense of betraying his uncle).
  • Also from Avatar, we have two examples from "The Firebending Masters":
    Aang: (holding some fire) But what if I can't control it?
    Zuko: You can do it. I know you can. You're a talented kid.
  • And:
    Aang: You know, Zuko, I don't care what everyone else says. You're pretty smart!
  • In "Sozin's Comet: The Old Masters", when Zuko hesitates to enter his Uncle Iroh's tent because he doesn't think he'll be able to forgive him after his betrayal and what he put him through, Katara confidently assures him that Iroh will forgive him because he's sorry for everything he did. She is more confident in his redemption than he is his own because she knows his remorse is genuine, especially considering that only two episodes ago was "The Southern Raiders" when Zuko selflessly aided Katara in tracking down her mother's killer.
  • Later on, when Iroh tells Zuko he must be the one to become Fire Lord after Aang defeats Ozai, Zuko doesn't think he can because of all the mistakes he's made. Iroh tells him that, yes, he made mistakes, but he battled through his struggles and suffering to find his own path and restore his honor on his own, making him the perfect candidate to do the same for the Fire Nation.
  • In the Sequel Series The Legend of Korra, Korra is suffering questioning the necessity of the Avatar and Asami reminds her of all of the important things she did to save the world. When she still has problems, Korra confronts Zaheer, who praises her for her strength and says that Korra has more power than she could possibly imagine, the only stumbling block is her own doubt. This is what finally gets Korra to reach her full spiritual potential and overcome her PTSD.
• In Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, Bruce Wayne says this to Terry McGinnis at the end.
  "Terry, I've been thinking about something you once told me, and you were wrong. It's not Batman that makes you worthwhile, it's the other way around. Never tell yourself anything different."
• In the Beast Machines episode "The Weak Component", Rattrap, feeling inadequate due to his robot mode not possessing any offensive weapons or capabilities (which is constantly remarked to him, contemptuously, by his fellow Maximals) in a moment of desperation, strikes a deal with Megatron, who promises to give him "noise-makers" in exchange for protection during one night of crucial repairs. When the rest of the Maximals find out about the deal, they confront Rattrap, who they accuse of treason (not without reason). Rattrap replies by stating that "You never believed in me. Ever" to which Optimus, who just arrived on the scene, replies "I believe in you" and "You don't need these weapons. You're stronger than you know. Stronger than ANY OF YOU know [referring to the other Maximals]". With renewed self-confidence, Rattrap ceases his attack on his teammates and leaves peacefully, having fulfilled his promise to Megatron as the sun rises and he was not touched by Maximal hands.
• Parodied several times in Beavis And Butthead. Many characters, most notably Cool Teacher Mr. Van Driesen, think that the boys are just "misunderstood" and just need someone who supports them and believes in them. Unfortunately, they're exactly as bad as they think they are. Butt-head literally makes the world worse just by existing, and Beavis is so stupid he's a virtual blank slate and Extreme Doormat. In fact, in the It's a Wonderful Plot episode, it's revealed that without Butt-head's domineering, Beavis would just get bossed around by Butt-Monkey Stewart instead and turn into a carbon copy of him.
• Ben 10: In spite of their constant bickering, when Ben loses access to the Omnitrix and thinks he can't do anything, it's often Gwen who has to remind Ben that he's a hero with or without the Omnitrix.
  Gwen: You are a hero. Even if you can't go hero.
• Blue Eye Samurai: Swordfather Eiji has an uphill battle trying to get Mizu to understand this. Thanks to the extreme xenophobia of Edo-period Japan, being half-white gives her a huge amount of internalized racism (to the point where her quest is to kill her potential fathers in vengeance for her own birth). Swordfather tries to persuade he that it's only a defect if she wants it to be one because the best swords are not formed of pure metal but of alloys. Later in the series, when she suffers a massive setback, she ruminates on her failure and whether she really is the demon others accuse her of being. Swordfather raps her with his tongs like she's a clumsy apprentice and then suggest that another type of person who dedicates their life to one purpose to the exclusion of all else is artist, like himself.
• The Dragon Prince
  • Ellis certainly seems to think so of Callum; she see's Callum's worth beyond the powers granted to him through the Primal Stone, in spite of not knowing him very long chronologically. Though not as pronounced as in the scene with Ellis, Ezran seems to concur with the notion throughout the course of the first season.
  • In book 3, when Rayla is overcome by self-deprecation, after discovering she was exiled from her home, Callum's reaction is this, nearly verbatim:
  Callum: You're too good to feel this bad about yourself. I know that, and you should know that.
• In the Family Guy/The Simpsons crossover, Lisa interrupts Meg's "The Reason You Suck" Speech about herself with a very gentle "Shut up, Meg."
• At the end of "Cold Warriors" on Futurama, Fry helps save the world from the common cold by remembering he lost a science fair to a kid who launched a preserved virus culture into space, and how his dad heckled and taunted him and was disappointed in him every step of the way for how dumb he is. In the end he's depressed from mulling over bad memories, and Leela has this to say:
  "You saved millions of lives, Fry. You should feel proud, no matter what your dad said to you.
• In Gargoyles, as the Magus dies, Goliath thanks him. The Magus can't believe that since he was the one who cursed the clan in the first place, but Goliath insists that saving the clan's children more than makes up for it.
• Gravity Falls: Dipper Pines, despite going up trumping supernatural menaces on a weekly basis, has severe self-esteem issues. He's such a bundle of anxiety (not helped by the teasing he gets) that he thinks of himself as this noodle-armed wimp whose only saving grace is having a Big Book Of Everything. He gets these sorts of speeches from three characters on separate occasions.
  "Dipper, you don't need that book. On your own, you defeated a giant robot with nothing but your bare hands! You're a hero whether you've got that Journal or not!" — Mabel, "Gideon Rises"
  "This summer was super boring until you showed up. I have more fun with you than anybody else, and if you ever stopped being my friend, I would, like, throw myself into the Bottomless Pit!" — Wendy, after giving the Better as Friends talk, "Into the Bunker"
  "This is what I was talking about. How many other twelve-year-olds do you think are capable of doing what you've done?" — The Author, Stanford Pines, "Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future"
• In Green Lantern: The Animated Series, "Steam Lantern", the titular Steampunk hero feels he's a fraud and not a hero, despite all the work he's doing against the local tyrant. Hal Jordan sets him straight during the brief time he's visiting, and this is reinforced when the Steam Lantern publically confesses the truth of his greatest "accomplishment" being fraud (not entirely through his own fault), but the people still love him because, despite that, he is very much a champion of the people. If anything, they love him more because he was willing to be honest.
  Hal: You're doing better than you think you are.
• Two different cases in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002):
  • After Mekanek saves the day by helping defeat Count Marzo after feeling a lack of self-worth over his rather lame powers in one episode, He-Man tells him he's "kind of special", and it helps Mek get his confidence back.
  • In another episode, after Orko causes a rather big accident at the palace, he goes to Castle Greyskull to beg the Sorceress to send him back to his home dimension, where he never made mistakes and was respected. The Sorceress agrees to do so, but while Orko is waiting in the library, he's approached by a mysterious "visitor" (actually the Sorceress in disguise) who shows him several occasions where he's made a difference on this world, including a Shout-Out to his origin in the original series. Later, Orko is able to help defend the Castle when Skeletor uses the Ram-Stone to break in, the pep-talk having worked.
• From Justice League:
  • "In Blackest Night": Green Lantern John Stewart is convinced that he inadvertently destroyed an inhabited world and submits to a trial and execution. However, his fellow Leaguers don't buy it and conduct their own investigation and eventually prove to John and his judges that he was framed.
  • "Wake the Dead": Several bystanders jeer and denounce Shayera for her role as The Mole during the Thanagarian invasion. Green Lantern snaps that she doesn't deserve that, but she sadly says that she does. Then, another bystander thanks her for saving her life, and Green Lantern tells her "You deserve that, too."
• Masters of the Universe: Revelation
  • When Teela initially refuses to save Eternia, Cringer tells her that he knows that she's not angry about the lies, but afraid — afraid of letting down Adam by not being able to protect Eternia in his place.
  • Evil-Lyn, of all people, gives one to Orko after he tells her about how he disappointed his family and the other Trollans for being a terrible sorcerer. She tells him that to his enemies and especially his friends, what they believe they possess is simply sorcery, something that anyone can use, but to each individual sorceress, it's more special — magic.
• Miraculous Ladybug: Tikki often encourages Marinette when the latter starts doubting herself, reminding her that she's an amazing girl who's already accomplished so much and that she will always find a way to conquer any challenge thrown at her. It goes back to their very first interaction, where Tikki was trying to convince Marinette to wear the Ladybug earings and become the titular heroine:
  Marinette: This is all going too fast, Tikki... I... won't be able to pull this off!
  Tikki: Trust yourself, Marinette.
• In the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode "Flight to the Finish", has Scootaloo, a young pegasus who can't fly (a situation that, in fanon, is considered equivalent to a kid being handicapped), getting mocked and bullied for this, and ends locking herself in her room, extremely depressed. Her surrogate Cool Big Sister, Rainbow Dash, gives her a speech after she loses all faith in herself, getting her out of her Heroic BSoD.
  Rainbow Dash: Listen, Scootaloo. Maybe you'll fly someday, or maybe you won't. You're all kinds of awesome anyway. Who's the toughest little pony in town?
  • Equestria Games's lesson, and Spike's character arc for the episode, revolve around him learning this.
  • The basic idea behind the Princesses song to Twilight in "Twilight's Kingdom - Part 1".
  Cadance: But you stand here for a reason,
  You are gifted and you are strong,
  That crown is upon your head because you belong!
  • Princess Luna needed one as well in "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" - it turns out the nightmare-inducing Tantabus was created by Luna to punish herself every night for what she did as Nightmare Moon, not believing that she deserved forgiveness; that the Tantabus escaped and started giving the Mane Six then all of Ponyville nightmares and threatened to escape into the waking world just made her guilt worse and in turn made the Tantabus even stronger. Twilight points out that all the effort and work Luna's done to try to stop shows that Luna is not the pony Nightmare Moon was since Nightmare Moon would have gleefully let the Tantabus wreak havoc.
  • This is a recurring trope for Starlight Glimmer:
    • "The Cutie Re-Mark": Being defeated once again, giving up her ideals for good, on top of witnessing the dire consequences of her actions, Starlight is left guilt-stricken and broken. She doesn't know what to do with herself anymore and is ready to face whatever punishment awaits her. Twilight and the others decide to bring her in, so they can show her the true benefits of Friendship. Twilight in particular seeing and noting Starlight's amazing talent and even greater potential that Starlight herself never noticed or realized. Starlight Glimmer is now Twilight's new pupil, effectively becoming a Sixth Ranger to the Mane Six.
    • "The Crystalling - Part 2", Starlight expresses disappointment after her initial attempts to reconcile with Sunburst don't work out and questions whether or not Twilight Sparkle was right in considering her worthy of friendship and giving her another chance as her pupil. Spike tells Starlight she is worth being friends with and encourages her to keep trying to reconcile with Sunburst. Which she manages in the end.
    • "To Where and Back Again", Trixie assures Starlight that she is a good leader and that she must embrace her talent for it, despite her own fears. This pep talk is enough to convince Starlight to press on with the rescue mission.
• Phantom Investigators:
  • At the beginning of "Demon Driver", Daemona downplays her importance to the team as she's the only one without powers. Navarro reassures her to never underestimate her role as the team's leader.
    Navarro: You four kids have a lot of power. Use it responsibly. Help people.
    Daemona: Talk to them. They're the ones with the power.
    Navarro: And you're the brains. Never underestimate your importance.
  • In "Birthday Presence", Casey feels jealous of Brad, who's rich and popular, as he's living a "terrific life". Daemona reassures him otherwise:
    Daemona: All those kids downstairs; those aren't really Brad's friends. They just want to be part of the "in-crowd". You're the one with the terrific life. You're smart and you're kind. You're already doing something with your life that matters. Face it- you rock.
• In Paw Paw Bears, the Paw Paws are protected by Totem Bear (as well as Totem Eagle and Totem Tortoise) who always come to their aid when there's trouble. However, in "The Golden Falcon", the Paw Paws have become a little too dependent on Totem Bear, even calling him for the smallest problems. When he fails to show up to pull a thorn out of Bigfoot's foot, Brave Paw and Princess Paw Paw, after pulling it out themselves, find out the Totem Animals have disappeared. Just then, a small falcon appears and turns into a golden statue. The Paw Paws believe the Golden Falcon will provide them power and become more convinced when Princess Paw Paw is able to pull Brave Paw up after he falls over a cliff. Later in the episode, Dark Paw tricks the Bigfoot from earlier into fighting Brave Paw for him. All seems lost for Brave Paw until the Paw Paws ask the Golden Falcon to give Brave Paw power. However, the Golden Falcon they were asking was a fake one that the Meanos carved. Brave Paw succeeds in defeating Bigfoot and right afterwards, Mighty Paw appears with the real Golden Falcon. Seeing that Brave Paw actually defeated Bigfoot on his own, the Paw Paws realize that the Golden Falcon really came to them to show them that they all had the power inside them all along. At that moment, the Golden Falcon turns back into a normal falcon and flies away while the Totem Animals return. This also helps the Paw Paws understand the Totems will always answer their call for help, but first they need to try to help themselves.
• An episode of Pepper Ann features Nicky's older sister Becky come home for a visit, causing Nicky to feel trapped in her sister's shadow as everyone talks about Becky's achievements. What doesn't help is when their mother decides to put fitness equipment in Nicky's room, causing Nicky to feel as if she is The Unfavorite by having her room converted into a home gym. She finally snaps at Becky, who calmly takes it but tells Nicky about all the ways that she is better than her; pointing out that Nicky is the more creative and athletic between them. Even despite the coach's praising of Becky's athletic achievements earlier in the episode, Becky's only good at running and can't even bench-press fifteen pounds.
• In the Grand Finale of Phineas and Ferb, Vanessa tells her father this, pointing out that he's a decent human being who's terrible at being evil and doesn't need to let his past determine his future.
• Princess Natasha: When Natasha learns Oleg is a Zoravian spy and asks how Lubek doesn't recognize him, he says the bullying he suffered at the academy made him leave before the end of his second day and feels like a failure for it until she brings up how he helped her save the day the first time they worked together.
• Sofia the First:
  • In the pilot when Sofia has doubts at becoming a princess and doesn't know anything about being one, her mother reassures her she'll do fine and she just has to be herself.
  • In the special "The Mystic Isles", when Amber sings how she feels like she can never be a hero, Sofia convinces her otherwise, telling her about all the heroic things she's done.
• South Park:
  • The parody of Great Expectations involved Pip invoking this trope on his love interest. She snaps dozens of adorable little rabbits' necks before she gets bored of it, which he convinces her is proof enough that she's not the evil monster she considers herself. She was willing to try killing another one, but he insists his point is proven anyways.
  • Played straight in the episode "Tweek x Craig". After the town is convinced the two are in a relationship, Craig comes up with a plan to stage a fake break-up. When Tweek protests that he's a terrible actor, Craig tells him that he is "capable of more than [he thinks]". This ends up working so well that Tweek gets caught up in the act and unintentionally makes Craig look like a manipulative cheater. He later admits that Craig made him believe in himself like he never had before.
• Steven Universe:
  • In "Rose's Scabbard", Pearl expresses to Steven that if Rose could see her, she would be disappointed in Pearl for how lost and broken she is in the wake of Rose's death, even nearly letting Steven fall to his death while chasing after her. Steven responds with a brief but powerful one for Pearl, driving her to tears.
    Pearl: Everything I ever did, I did for her. Now she's gone, but I'm still here. Sometimes, I wonder if she can see me through your eyes. What would she think of me now?
    Steven: (giving Pearl a Cooldown Hug) Well, I think you're pretty great.
  • In "On the Run", it comes to light that Amethyst views herself as a mistake and a parasite, due to where and why she was created. After a Verbal Backspace or two, Pearl is eventually able to get through to her (see the quotes page).
  • In "Sworn to the Sword", Connie begins to display the view that as an ordinary human, she's nothing compared to Steven's legacy and power (a byproduct of learning from Pearl, who unwittingly projects her own self-esteem issues onto Connie). Steven shuts that down right away, reminding her how they work best as a team, and how much he admires her.
  • In "Friend Ship", Pearl breaks down and admits to Garnet that she depends on her for strength and that, being "just a pearl", she feels useless without someone else telling her what to do. Garnet responds with this:
    Garnet: It's not easy being in control. I have weaknesses too. But I choose not to let them consume me. I struggle to stay strong because I know the impact I have on everyone. Please understand, Pearl. You have an impact too. There are times when I look up to you for strength. You are your own gem. You control your destiny. Not me, not Rose, not Steven. But you must choose to be strong, so we can move forward.
  • In "Too Short To Ride", Amethyst reassures Peridot after the other gem is shown to be insecure about herself and her lack of Gem abilities, saying that they like Peridot for who she is. It's nice because Amethyst's had to deal with the same sort of self-esteem issues herself, and now she's helping others with them.
    Amethyst: (to Peridot) This whole time we’ve been here you’ve just been focusing on what you can’t do, of course you’re not having any fun. You think that all you are is what you could be. But we don’t hang out with you because of who you COULD be! We like YOU.
  • This is a major element of Steven's relationship with Bismuth. When Bismuth first appears, she helps Steven feel better about his worries of measuring up to Rose Quartz. When things turn bad and Steven is forced to fight her, Bismuth acknowledges Steven as better than Rose for promising to tell the Crystal Gems the truth about what happened between them, when Rose had originally bubbled her and hid her away. In a later episode, Bismuth refers to Steven as the leader of the Crystal Gems since he's the one who has kept them together and believing in the future while they have been reeling from learning a shocking truth about Rose.
• In the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Superman's Pal", Clark Kent tells Jimmy Olsen that he's selling himself short while the latter is suffering from an inferiority complex. However, a crashing helicopter distracts both their attentions from the pep talk. At the end, after Jimmy has helped him with Metallo, Superman drops by to break his teenage coworker out of his slump.
  Superman: Still kicking yourself?
  Jimmy: Why shouldn't I? I messed things up big time.
  Superman: You lived up to your press, Jimmy. You saved my life again.
• Octus gives this to Kimmy in Sym-Bionic Titan after she has tried the entire time to seduce him to get him to do her work for her. She eventually breaks down and claims that since she is a cheerleader and popular she cannot be "smart". Octus flat out tells her that if she put the same kind of energy in her studies that she does in her cheer-leading she can do anything. With that, she finally gets the confidences and passes it on her own skills. And because of this Kimmy starts to date Octus.
• The ThunderCats (2011) episode "Omens Part One" has a nice little moment between Lion-O and Jaga.
  Lion-O: It's official, they think I'm a failure. And they always will unless I can prove I'm not chasing a childish dream... But how can I do that when even Grune said there wasn't tech out there?!
  Jaga: Don't let what Grune failed to see stand in the way of what you believe.
  • Comes back in the season finale after Mumm-Ra gets the Tech stone and his Love Interest Pumyra is revealed to be little more than his puppet Lion-O is reduced to a huddled wreck utterly convinced of his own failure until Kit reminds him that his actions saved countless lives and united the various races of Third Earth for perhaps the first time in history.
• Winx Club: Daphne gives this advice to Bloom near the end of Season 1, reminding her she never lost her powers and the Dragon Flame is still one within herself if she believes in it. Bloom takes Daphne's advice by heart, and with that, her powers return and she recovers the Dragon Flame.
• X-Men: The Animated Series:
  • "The Lotus and the Steel" opens with Wolverine struggling with his anger. A teenager cut him off in traffic and, in a rage, Wolverine nearly sliced him up and backhanded Jubilee for trying to stop him. Shaken, he returns to Japan and a monk he knows, Oku, to get his bearings, but Silver Samurai is threatening the locals. Wolverine resists the urge to fight because of his desire to let go of his anger and attain inner peace, but Oku reminds him that fighting to protect others is a worthy purpose that provides such peace. Oku theorizes Wolverine doesn't see himself as well as others see him and suggests he look at himself with new eyes. He's Back! ensues.
  • "Graduation Day" has Xavier's farewell words to Gambit sum up one take on this trope in a single sentence: "How many times must the scoundrel prove himself a hero before he believes it himself?".
• In the Young Justice (2010) episode "Satisfaction", Ollie is crushed with guilt after a harrowing Rage Against the Mentor tirade from the original Roy Harper. He thinks that he utterly failed at being a mentor for all three of his sidekicks: original Roy who was kidnapped, cloned, maimed, and kept on ice for years, clone Roy who fell into depression over Clone Angst, and Artemis who was "killed". Red Arrow reassures Ollie that he wasn't a terrible mentor. Especially poignant since Red Arrow spent most of the series resenting Ollie for one reason or another.

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