History HonorBeforeReason / Literature

** Eddard's son Robb Stark unfortunately inherits this trait. [[spoiler: Despite his pledge to marry a Frey lady to seal his alliance with the Freys, he marries another woman, to save her honor after sleeping with her, shortly after Frey men died fighting for him, which eventually leads to them betraying him.]] So does Ned's bastard son, Jon. At least he does right up until [[spoiler: he starts repeatedly doinking his wildling girlfriend, despite his vow of celibacy.]] Although to his credit, he was playing the FakeDefector at the time.
*** Yes, he was doinking her as a matter of sworn duty. Really.
**** ''"Just [[LieBackAndThinkOfEngland lie back and think of Winterfell.]]"''
*** Well, of all the characters, Jon currently has one of the highest concentrations of "heroic" and "alive" so we'll take what we can get.

* The entire novel of ''[[DonQuixote Don Quixote De La Mancha]]'' is a parody of the ChivalricRomance of Cervantes' time, including their obsession with honor.

* Rudolph Rassendyll of ''ThePrisonerOfZenda'' loves Princess Flavia and is loved by her, and she is arranged to be married to her boorish cousin and TheWrongfulHeirToTheThrone. Raaendyll admits to himself that the best possible outcome would be allowing the villains to dispose of his look-alike relative before stopping them, allowing him to be a good ruler and be with the woman he loves. However, because of his honor, he helps restore the king to the throne and [[DidNotGetTheGirl does not get the girl]]. For her part, because of her own honor, Flavia accepts being married to a man she despises rather than one she loves.

* BraveNewWorld: [[NobleSavage John the Savage]], oh so very much.

* In Brandon Sanderson's Literature/TheStormlightArchive this is how Dalinar is perceived by his fellow Alethi lighteyes. YourMileageMayVary as to whether this is true.

* This attitude gets [[PGWodehouse Bertie Wooster]] into (light comedic) trouble on a regular basis.

** [[CatchPhrase Et sularis oth mithas]].

*** That's pretty much the plot of the Quenta Silmarillion: Things are going well, someone gets a Silmaril, and all the good guys start killing each other.

* Byrhtnoth Byrhthelming, hero of the Anglo-Saxon poem ''Literature/TheBattleOfMaldon'' (fought in 991, making this OlderThanPrint), has a horrible case of this: the Saxon army is on the mainland, the Viking enemy are on a marshy island with a one-man-wide causeway as the only way off, the Viking leader says that a really honourable opponent would let them cross and fight on open ground... and Byrhtnoth ''agrees''. The Saxons are crushed and he dies.

* Byrhtnoth Byrhthelming, hero of the Anglo-Saxon poem ''TheBattleOfMaldon'' (fought in 991, making this OlderThanPrint), has a horrible case of this: the Saxon army is on the mainland, the Viking enemy are on a marshy island with a one-man-wide causeway as the only way off, the Viking leader says that a really honourable opponent would let them cross and fight on open ground... and Byrhtnoth ''agrees''. The Saxons are crushed and he dies.

* Rudolph Rassendyll of ''ThePrisonerOfZenda'' loves Princess Flavia and is loved by her, and she is arranged to be married to her boorish cousin and the WrongfulHeirToTheThrone. Raaendyll admits to himself that the best possible outcome would be allowing the villains to dispose of his look-alike relative before stopping them, allowing him to be a good ruler and be with the woman he loves. However, because of his honor, he helps restore the king to the throne and [[DidNotGetTheGirl does not get the girl]]. For her part, because of her own honor, Flavia accepts being married to a man she despises rather than one she loves.

* Refreshingly averted in the ''HonorHarrington'' series (even though you'd be forgiven for mistaking the trope name [[IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming for one of its titles]]): most main characters, while definitely being persons of honor, hold those who enter the LawfulStupid territory due to this in the very low regard. Especially the title character, who once suffered a command officer that tried to use this trope to cover his incompetence.

** HonorBeforeReason could easily be the Stark's back-up family motto. Those Starks who don't subscribe to this policy do so usually as part of distancing themself from the house.

* Eddard "Ned" Stark from ''{{A Song of Ice and Fire}}'' is a classic example, hence the comic on the main page. The series being highly [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism cynical in outlook]], this is a tragic flaw which leads directly to [[spoiler: his own death, his daughter's captivity, and his son's armed rebellion.]]

* In David Wingrove's ''ChungKuo'', members of the House (the parliament) have the son of the T'ang of Europe killed. Knowing where this could lead, the T'ang decides to let matters be. The leader of his army, Marshal Tolonen, does not obey orders. Instead he marches into the House in session and slits the throat of one of the plotters. This sets the stage for everything else.
* BraveNewWorld: [[NobleSavage John the Savage]], oh so very much.
* Kel from TamoraPierce's ''TortallUniverse''. In particular, she goes [[spoiler: into enemy territory with the intent of rescuing 500 refugees]]. By herself.
* Horton The Elephant from DrSeuss is an elephant of unshakable honor; once he gives his word, ''nothing'' will make him go back on it regardless of much danger, humiliation or rejection he suffers. Fortunately, his stories always end with him coming out on top because of this sense of honor.

** Eddard's son Robb Stark unfortunately inherits this trait. [[spoiler: Despite his pledge to marry a Frey lady to seal his alliance with the Freys, he marries another woman, to save her honor after sleeping with her, shortly after Frey men died fighting for him, which eventually leads to his murder.]] So does Ned's bastard son, Jon. At least he does right up until [[spoiler: he starts repeatedly doinking his wildling girlfriend, despite his vow of celibacy.]] Although to his credit, he was playing the FakeDefector at the time.

* Eddard Stark from ''{{A Song of Ice and Fire}}'' is a classic example. The series being highly [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism cynical in outlook]], this is a tragic flaw which leads directly to [[spoiler: his own death, his daughter's captivity, and his son's armed rebellion.]]

* In one of MercedesLackey's [[HeraldsOfValdemar Tarma and Kethry]] stories in ''Oathblood'', Tarma and Kethry (and their Kyree Warrl) get a [[ClingyMacGuffin bad-luck cursed coin]]. Kethry refuses to do anything to pass it off onto another innocent party. Warrl comments, "Admirable. Stupid but admirable."

* In Brandon Sanderson's TheStormlightArchive this is how Dalinar is perceived by his fellow Alethi lighteyes. YourMileageMayVary as to whether this is true.

* The [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Elites]] in the ''Halo'' expanded universe often would rather die with honor than live without. In ''The Cole Protocol'' it's even dishonorable to have another Elite give you a mercy killing, implying you're too weak to even kill yourself.

** For example, his refusal to simply take over Jing province before Cao Cao's arrival, even when Zhuge Liang specifically calls him on it, is because it would be interrupting the "natural" succession to the eldest son of current governor Liu Biao, and he doesn't want to take any criticism from "the people" for it, even though Liu Biao himself requested this. (In an earlier case though, the late governor's officers and people begged Liu Bei to accept the succession, with the governor inadvertently helping by dying on the spot... and even then, he tries to give the office away to ''[[TheDragon Lu Bu]]''.)

* In Brandon Sanderson's ''Stormlight Archives'' this is how Gavrilan is percieved by his fellow Alethi lighteyes. YourMileageMayVary as to whether this is true.

* The [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Elites]] in the [[Halo Halo]] expanded universe often would rather die with honor than live without. In ''The Cole Protocol'' it's even dishonorable to have another Elite give you a mercy killing, implying you're too weak to even kill yourself.

**** "Carrot, what have I told you about the Marquis of '''Bloody''' Fantailler?"