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Author: TheHandle

Jun 7th 2013 at 7:59:46 AM

* Rastignac from HonoreDeBalzac's LaComedieHumaine is such a climber that his name has become synonymous with the trope in the French language. He's not especially dishonourable compared to others around him, though, and he makes mistakes and has setbacks. By the end of the series, he makes it to Minister.

Honestly, I don't see why the trope's description insists in painting the subject in a terrible light; it reeks of AmbitionIsEvil.

*In WesternAnimation/FriendshipIsMagic, Rarity, who is a tailor and fashion designer, has this mentality; she aspires to be "a lady" and become popular in the higher spheres of society. Not through any unsavory means, but through her merits as an artist and person of good taste. She doesn't notice it, but the show proves to us that it's really much more of a matter of connections rather than genuine talent.
*RPG PlayerCharacter tend to follow this behavior quite often; many quest lines are social climbs in different guilds and organizations, and it's not unusual to accumulate high positions and responsibilities, which somehow never get in the way of the primary activity of DungeonCrawling or war-waging or world-saving.
*In Film/TheDarkKnight the Joker becomes a social climber... in the criminal world... he doesn't want the positions for their own sake, but to sow destruction.