History IJustWantToBeNormal / AnimeAndManga

* Before she was [[NextLifeAsAFictionalCharacter reincarnated into Elizabeth]], the protagonist was born very sickly and spent her entire life bedridden. It's understandable that as she's dying, she wishes she'd be reborn in a healthier body. This trope, however, doesn't apply to her post-reincarnation, owing to her being rather extreme in RevelingInTheNewForm.

** Despite being a badass who saved the world from the androids and kept Majin Buu from being revived, Future Trunks is envious of Gohan since he can live his dream and have a happy family, while [[spoiler: Goku Black]] stole everything from him including his [[spoiler: mother and Mai (so he thinks)]]. Just being reminded of the life he could of have if Black never came to Earth reduces Trunks to tears.

** It's brought up again subtly with [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Evangeline]]; she admits that the reason she hates [[spoiler: Asuna]] is because [[spoiler: Asuna]] was actually successful at becoming normal, but gave it up anyway. Eva is pissed because the person who got what she most desired threw it away, while Eva never got a chance to be normal to begin with. The fact that she lives in a brightly decorated room filled with adorable dolls and teddy bears in private hints that her [[IncrediblyLamePun Vampy]] and sexy EvilOverlord act is just a defense mechanism, and that she really wants be to an innocent and happy little girl again.

* In the beginning of ''LightNovel/ThePetGirlOfSakurasou'', Sorata is this by wanting to leave the local QuirkyHousehold ASAP -- he was sent there because he wanted to [[KindheartedCatLover keep a cat]]. Eventually, [[DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife an identity crisis]] driven by the said place's {{Bunny Ears Lawyer}}s and being the CloudcuckoolandersMinder for an IdiotSavant caused him to [[IJustWantToBeSpecial opt otherwise]].

* ''LightNovel/{{Campione}}'': Godou Kusanagi's greatest wish is to have a peaceful, normal life. Unfortunately, he is a Campione, a godslayer who must fight to defend the people from maddened gods. He learns the hard way that shirking his responsibilities leads to people getting hurt.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'':

* ''Anime/Danganronpa3'': Despite how much he puts his highly talented classmates on a pedestal and how dismissive he is towards those that lack one, it’s revealed in an ImageSong released for the anime that Nagito would prefer to live a normal life without his own talent, feeling burnt out from the constant miracles and tragedies that were constantly bestowed onto him his whole life by his [[UnluckilyLucky extreme luck, both good and bad]]. This would be expanded on in an [=OVA=], where it’s revealed his version of an ideal world is one where he never had his luck cycle and lives as a relatively normal boy. It also reveals that’s it not just his own talent he resents, but talent as a whole, thinking it prevents everyone from having an equal chance at happiness. However, once he snaps out of the illusion and returns to his regular self, he immediately denies thinking this way.
* The premise of the Light Novel series ''LightNovel/DidntISayToMakeMyAbilitiesAverageInTheNextLife'' is a ChildProdigy worn out by the social isolation her intelligence brought her and the expectations of her family, so she asked to be reincarnated as somebody totally average after dying in an accident. As such, in her next life, everything about her is a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10. However, [[ExactWords since she didn't specify the scale on which she is to be considered average]], and she reincarnates in a fantasy world, [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor 10 is not peak human, it's peak ability for rare mystical creatures. Peak human is more like a low 3, making her incredible by human standards]].

* ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'':

* Sousuke begins entertaining these thoughts midway through ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic''. It's not that he particularly ''dislikes'' being an ace mecha pilot and soldier; rather, as he's started learning that LivingIsMoreThanSurviving, he's also become painfully aware of his CripplingOverspecialization and worries about his ability to carve out a future for himself now that he actually kind of wants one. [[spoiler:In the end, he actually does wind up quitting Mithril altogether so he can stay with Kaname.]]

* We're still not sure what the hell's going on in ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'', especially in relation to Kyon. He continually mentions how he wishes Haruhi would just settle down and be a normal, well-adjusted schoolgirl (Hell, it's even in his ImageSong), but the fact that he's an UnreliableNarrator (in regards to his feelings, anyway) and that he was once stuck in a universe where everything ''was'' normal and he ''still'' attempted to revert it to its very Haruhi, abnormal state may prove otherwise...

* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'': It turns out that in spite of his BloodKnight attitude and constant desire to push his abilities to the limits in battle, this is Vali Lucifer's deepest desire. When he was caught in a LotusEaterMachine, his ideal world was living a peaceful, ordinary life with a loving family.

* ''LightNovel/LoveChunibyoAndOtherDelusions'''s Yuuta just wants to spend his high-school days in relative normalcy after [[DeconstructedTrope treated as a virtual pariah]] due to his [[OldShame middle-school-age delusions of grandeur]]. Alas, along came Rikka.

* When Maria in ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'' was younger she was admired for being a friendly and pretty little girl. However, she activated magic when she was young, scaring away her friend even as she healed her injury. As a result of her magic, she became isolated in the community because it made her special and different. On top of that, it tore her family apart because of constant rumors that it must mean she's an illegitimate child since magic tends to run in noble families and she's a commoner. Her father started staying away from home and her relationship with her mother became strained. Maria just wants to go back to being normal and having friends again, but since that's not possible she begins to hope that she can make friends at magic school instead. And she does, eventually, but only because the main character of the story is way nicer than she's supposed to be.

* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}''

** In the LightNovel series, it's a different matter entirely; he isn't completely motivated by vain in regards to his appearance, but rather, it's revealed here that after his [[MagnificentBastard great-grandfather Rezo]] [[CursedWithAwesome cursed]] him, he was forced to serve as his bodyguard and fulfill gruesome and morally questionable tasks (it's implied that one of those tasks involved getting together with a woman and murdering her) for Rezo's sake. So rather than vanity, Zelgadis wants to be normal so that he can [[ClearMyName eradicate his past]] as "the Evil Swordsman" (his given moniker) and live life the way ''he'' wishes to.

* In ''LightNovel/StrawberryPanic'', Amane doesn't want to be Etoile and didn't ask for her legions of [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer fangirls]] -- she just wants to ride her horse in peace. Her [[TheRival rival]], Kaname, finally makes the point to her that only she can win the Etoile election for Spica; the whole school has placed its hopes on Amane, and like it or not, that gives her a responsibility. It's strange how this particular [[AnAesop Aesop]] feels more [[BrokenAesop Broken]] with a normal human being than with a superhero, Slayer, or whatever.

** At the end of Part 1, [[spoiler:it's revealed that this was [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse Makima]]'s motivation because [[{{foil}} like Denji]] she was [[TykeBomb raised to be a weapon]] and just wanted to have a normal family which her powers made impossible. The whole reason she latched on to him and Pochita so hard was because [[ILoveYouBecauseICantControlYou they could make her dream a reality]], which ends up being realized after she reincarnates into a CreepyChild that [[RaiseHimRightThisTime Denji adopts]]]].

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'' while Zenitsu later shows that he has an inner dream where everyone sees him as a hero who can be relied on to always protect them, thus being a wish of someone [[IJustWantToBeSpecial who wants to be special]] in the end, the boy used to gravitate mostly towards thinking that the demon slaying life really isn’t for a person like him, asserting that a normal humble life where he lives quietly and builds a family is the best outcome he could ever hope to achieve.

* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', Alphonse wants his normal body back, and wants Ed to get his limbs back. This is also the whole motivation of the homunculi in the first anime, especially in the case of Lust.

* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDxD'': It turns out that in spite of his BloodKnight attitude and constant desire to push his abilities to the limits in battle, this is Vali Lucifer's deepest desire. When he was caught in a LotusEaterMachine, his ideal world was living a peaceful, ordinary life with a loving family.

* After a lot of CharacterDevelopment [[spoiler:Chimera Ant King Meruem]] from ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' professes that he wishes he was born a human.

--->'''Kenichi:''' ''Where did I go wrong in life?''

* Lucia from ''Manga/RaveMaster'' comes off as an odd example. As the BigBad with no real superpower who opted to take over the main criminal orginization he doesn't seem like the type to express that sort of desire. However [[spoiler: he's the descendent of the sole survivor of TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt (who created a 'false' parallel world where humanity didn't die off) and is therefor cursed to suffer every misery the universe can throw at him.]]

* Judai in ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' becomes notably less cheerful when suddenly the only thing stopping all his friends from dying and the world ending is the card game he loved so much. And up until this point he was the only one who really ''did'' seem to treat it as a card game. [[spoiler:Eventually the stress becomes so bad that he surrenders to his super powered evil side and starts taking over the duel monsters world, requiring ''two'' heroic sacrifices to get him back to ''efficiency''. He doesn't start enjoying dueling again until a decent bit into the next season... at which point the next big bad starts trying to implement their AssimilationPlot.]] [[{{deconstruction}} Sucks, huh?]]

* Kahlua from ''Anime/GalaxyAngelRune'' and ''[[VideoGame/GalaxyAngel Galaxy Angel II]]'', as a child, had tried to save a friend with her magic, but said friend was less than grateful, instead scared away by her strength. The result was a fear of not being normal, and she mentally [[SealedEvilInACan sealed away]] a large percentage of her own power by choice. This created her SuperpoweredEvilSide, Tequila.

** ZigZagged by Denji. Having grown up a penniless orphan, all he ever wanted was to have the same basic necessities as everyone else and enjoys his DemonSlaying job because [[OnlyInItForTheMoney it allows him to have the three meals a day he dreamed of]].

* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', unlike virtually everyone else in a [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters cast of thousands]] who are either trying to become heads of state, living legends, outright immortals, gain the acceptance of their [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer persecutors]], [[RoaringRampageofRevenge avenge horrific wrongs]], or various combinations thereof -- Shikamaru Nara's driving goal in life has ever been to achieve a basic level of competence as a ninja, meet a decent girl, get married, have two kids, and stay alive until retirement. Poor bastard never had a chance. Given his CharacterDevelopment in ''Shippuden'', it would appear that his goals have become somewhat more lofty.

** Earlier there's Captain Kuro, who was genuinely sick of being a pirate and wanted to live a nice, safe civilian life. Unfortunately, he wanted to be normal and ''rich'', and was willing to kill to get that life. He ultimately fails and is forced back to the sea.

* ''LightNovel/{{Campione}}'': Godou Kusanagi's greatest wish is to have a peaceful, normal life. Unfortunately, he is a Campione, a godslayer who must fight to defend the people from maddened gods. He learns the hard way that shirking his responsibilities leads to people getting hurt.

** One story arc has the half-demon Gyu-oh. He is a pure human during the day and a pure [[ALoadOfBull bull-yokai]] [[NighttimeTransformation at night]]. He wants to create a new jewel of the four souls in order to be able to be a pure human being. However, his plan is not sucessfull.

* Maya Matsumoto from ''Manga/{{Working}}''. Ironic in that, in her attempts to be normal in a restaurant full of strange characters, she comes off just as weird to the other employees.

** Gohan has the potential to become the strongest fighting in the universe, far surpassing his dad and the other hybrids. Instead, he chose to live a peaceful life as a scholar and family man, and only fights if there is an immediate threat. At least Gohan is a bit of an exception as he ''does'' step up when he has to and doesn't descend into complaining about having to play the hero (heck, he even became a {{Protectorate}} in his late teens), he just has better things to do during the down times and his passions in life are different from his father's.

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order.

* A few {{Magical Girl}}s, especially Usagi of ''Anime/SailorMoon'', who spent all of the first arc of ''Sailor Moon R'' saying this and got two separate chances at it via reincarnation-induced amnesia - once before the show started, once at the end of the first series.

* The Wolkenritter in ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'' are a quartet of immortal super-warriors who have been fighting an even battle against the entire multiverse for centuries. Their one true wish in the series is for a peaceful family life with the one person who has ever showed them kindness--a nine-year-old paraplegic Japanese girl who is being slowly devoured by the very thing that allows them to exist. [[ArcWords "It was only a small wish,"]] indeed... That said, they merely want to ''live'' normally, not ''be'' normal, as all four of them take great pride in their abilities, and Signum in particular [[BloodKnight loves combat]].

* ''Manga/NurseAngelRirikaSOS'' - the heroine is in the middle of a really happy childhood full of warm, quirky, supportive relatives and warm, thoughtful, reassuring friends. So when protecting her loved ones starts leading into FriendOrIdolDecision(s) and SurvivorGuilt, it produces a lot of EmotionalTorque.

** At the end of his fight with Zoro, Kaku expressed regret that he never got to lead a normal life, having been raised to be an assassin. In the manga, him and the rest of [=CP9=] take a stab at this with the World Government hot on their tails. [[spoiler:Lucci and Kaku at least eventually wind up back as assassins anyway, now members - and in Lucci's case, the leader - of Cipher Pol Aigis ''Zero''.]]

* In the beginning of ''LightNovel/ThePetGirlOfSakurasou'', Sorata is this by wanting to leave the local QuirkyHousehold ASAP--he was sent there because he wanted to [[KindheartedCatLover keep a cat]]. Eventually, [[DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife an identity crisis]] driven by the said place's {{Bunny Ears Lawyer}}s and being the CloudcuckoolandersMinder for an IdiotSavant caused him to [[IJustWantToBeSpecial opt otherwise]].

** This is also attempted in ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' and ''Anime/TenchiUniverse''. In ''Muyo!'', while the girls don't leave, Tenchi's thankful that the craziness with Kagato is over with and he doesn't have to put up with that anymore. But, being with the girls proves that going back to normal won't cut it anymore. In ''Universe'', after Kagato's dealt with, everyone goes their separate ways, but when Ryoko suddenly returns to Earth, she points out that the others are following right behind - they liked how things were and want to return.

** Played somewhat straight in the gag spin-off Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - Guren Gakuenhen, taking place in a modern Japanese setting. Simon expresses a desire for a life of normalcy (even praying to his deceased parents), but circumstances won't let him him (with Kamina's HotBlooded nature getting him into further trouble or out of it.) Granted, by a normal life, he is referring to not wanting to deal with the misforunte in his life up to that point (kidnapped by monkeys in a zoo at infancy, running away from home as a gradeschooler with Kamina and ended up in a tuna fishing boat, and losing his home being demolished in various disasters.)