History Main / GoalInLife

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Most of humanity, both on species-wise and individual levels, has lifelong goals. It may involve trying to expand their world, do as much good to the world, find the answers to life, build a huge freaking tower for building a huge freaking tower's sake. Or just getting drunk and having sex.
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* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Homer Simpson has had frequent "lifelong dreams" parodying the concept (such as rushing onto the field during a baseball game), the played straight-est version being when he revealed he's always wanted to own the Dallas Cowboys. He gets started on the road towards Cowboy ownership buy (a) buying Tom Landry's CoolHat from a collectible store and (b) being given the Denver Broncos by a SuperVillain he briefly worked for. Homer wasn't happy about (b), though, since the Broncos were the laughing stock of the NFL at the time, a far cry from the then-dominant Cowboys. Every time, Marge points out Homer already had a lifelong dream, which he has already achieved.

* His friend/rival Sasuke Uchiha wants to avenge and rebuild his can after it got wiped out. [[spoiler:He succeeds after killing Danzo and having a daughter with Sakura]].

* The titular character ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' dreams of becoming Hokage, the leader of the Hidden Leaf Village, and gaining the respect of his people after a childhood of neglect and loneliness. [[spoiler: He becomes Hokage No.7]]

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', there are two examples. One is Yuna, who has dedicated her life to completing her pilgrimage to destroy [[PersonOfMassDestruction Sin]] and save Spira, following in the footsteps of her father Braska who did the same thing ten years ago. [[spoiler:Initially this is supposed to be fatal to her upon completion, but thankfully Tidus and company find a much better alternative]]. The other example is Auron, whose main goal of protecting Tidus under the instructions of Tidus’s father Jecht is always clear, but the greater purpose of putting him in this role is much more complicated. [[spoiler:After serving as a guardian to Braska with Jecht ten years ago, Auron learns that not only is Braska going to die and Sin is going to return anyway, but Jecht is also going to be transformed into the next Sin. Seeing the futility of a situation that requires all of this sacrifice in a never-ending cycle, Auron dedicates the rest of his existence to ending this cycle by recruiting Tidus to be a guardian for Yuna and influencing him to help him find the alternative solution which will kill Sin for good. After an entire decade and entire second pilgrimage for Auron, this eventually works, and upon completion, Auron chooses to die for good right then and there, having fulfilled his mission and telling the rest of the group that the world is theirs now]].

* Giorno Giovanna from ''Manga/VentoAureo'' has his dream to become the Don of the Mafia, so he can make them NeighbourhoodFriendlyGangsters.

* ''Film/{{Soul}}'': Deconstructed. While it's a good thing to have a dream or passion, being obsessed with it is not. Life offers many possibilities and interests to enjoy, and being focused on just one of these will not make you happy nor complete. [[spoiler: This is best exemplified by The Lost Souls who are turned into monsters driven by the desire to fulfill their obsessions.]]

* ''Literature/CanYouSpareAQuarter'': Graham has been missing ''something'' in his life before the encounter. [[spoiler:He eventually realizes that having a kid to take care of is what he was missing, and Jamie happily accepts that function]].

* The titular character ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' dreams of becoming Hokage, the leader of the Hidden Leaf Village, and gaining the respect of his people after a childhood of neglect and loneliness. [[Spoiler: He becomes Hokage No.7]]

* The titular character ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' dreams of becoming Hokage, the leader of the Hidden Leaf Village, and gaining the respect of his people after a childhood of neglect and loneliness. [[Spoiler: He becomes Hokage No.7)

* Giorno Giovanna from ''Manga/VentoAureo'' has his dream to become the Don of the Mafia, so he can make them NeighboorhoodFriendlyGangsters.
* The titular character ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' dreams of becoming Hokage, the leader of the Hidden Leaf Village, and gaining the respect of his people after a childhood of neglect and loneliness.

* In ''VisualNovel/MajiDeWatashiNiKoiShinasai'' it's a central plot point in Wanko's route. Seeing her working so hard for the sake of her goal inspires Yamato to revive his own childhood dream of becoming [[spoiler: a man capable of moving Japan itself, i.e. the Prime Minister]]. In the [[WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue epilogue ten years later]], he's shown to have worked his way up to becoming a [[spoiler: city council member]]. Momoyo's route features the same idea, but with slightly different motivations.

* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'' [[DeconstructionFic deconstructs]] [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} Goh's mission]] to chase after Mew by highlighting how this has driven a wedge between him and his ChildhoodFriend Chloe. When the two have an argument after a hard day, Goh accuses Chloe of not ''having'' any goals or dreams of her own, prompting her to [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech go off]] before running away - and encountering the WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain, which takes her on a JourneyToFindOneself.

* To cut a long list short, every ToBeAMaster show ''ever''.
* ''Manga/SangatsuNoLion'' plays with this concept immensely. In his back-story, Rei pushed himself hard in order to become a professional shogi player as early as possible. He succeeded by the time of the actual start of the story, and because of this, most believe he's already had his goal in life set and achieved since he was young. However, flashback chapters reveal ulterior motives in forcing himself to make such a significant lifestyle decision, and there are a few claims in both the narrative and dialogue that he does not even like the game itself as much as he probably should, despite his skills and scenes suggesting otherwise. His ambiguous feelings for the very game he's trying to build a livelihood on is one of the main focuses, leaving to question whether or not Rei has unconsciously developed, or will develop, a liking and sincere life goal in the game on his own terms despite his rather dubious initial intentions.
* ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'': Griffith's goal in life -- his "dream" -- is to become the ruler of his own kingdom. One of his primary character traits is that he'll sacrifice ''anything'' to achieve that dream -- and given ''Berserk'''s [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism highly cynical bent]], that leads him to do some [[MoralEventHorizon truly horrific things]].

* After ten episodes [[spoiler:and several GroundhogDayLoop]] DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife, the eponymous ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' finally find a Goal in Life, [[spoiler:'''SAVING REALITY ITSELF!''']] [[note]]She does so by turning herself into a [[AbstractApotheosis cosmic law]].[[/note]]. Since the universe is potentially without end, it's probably the ultimate job security.

* ''FanFic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'' [[DeconstructionFic deconstructs]] [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} Goh's mission]] to chase after Mew by highlighting how this has driven a wedge between him and his ChildhoodFriend Chloe. When the two have an argument after a hard day, Goh accuses Chloe of not ''having'' any goals or dreams of her own, prompting her to [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech go off]] before running away - and encountering the WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain, which takes her on a JourneyToFindOneself.

** Roronoa Zoro seeks to be the world's greatest swordsman to fulfill a childhood promise.

* After ten episodes [[spoiler:and several GroundhogDayLoop]] DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife, the eponymous ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' finally find a Goal in Life, [[spoiler:'''SAVING REALITY ITSELF!''']] [[note]]She does so by turning herself into a cosmic law.[[/note]]. Since the universe is potentially without end, it's probably the ultimate job security.

* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', Taylor's purpose is helping people. As the story goes on she has to choose if and how much she wants to balance it with friendship, family, the public's perception of her, and the morality of her methods. There's a reason the tagline of the serial is "Doing the wrong things for the right reasons."

** Angel's one is to protect Buffy as she assumes the Slayer mantle and, later, to fulfill the Shanshu Prophecy and become human. Angel sometimes deviates from this, for various reasons, among them a belief that his mission is being clouded by self-interest. By the fifth season of ''Angel'', his faith wavers to the point of dismissing the Prophecy entirely. In the Series Finale, Angel is forced to literally sign away his chances in the human sweepstakes, nullifying the prophecy with a signature in blood. In the comic continuation, the Senior Partners finally give him a glimpse of the Shanshu Prophecy: Himself standing in an apocalyptic wasteland, grinning like a maniac. Now, Angel's goal is to keep improving the world ''in spite'' of the Prophecy; with luck, the future can be altered. (Unless the Partners were just dicking with him again.)

** In case you don't have a Goal in Life, [[ShmuckBait you can always turn to the Yozis]], [[BrainwashedAndCrazy they will give you a sufficiently grand Urge that you must follow]]. [[DealWithTheDevil They will even give you the power to do the job!]] Sample Urge: '''[[MemeticMutation GO FUCKING KILL LYTEK]]'''.

* ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'': Griffith's goal in life--his "dream"--is to become the ruler of his own kingdom. One of his primary character traits is that he'll sacrifice ''anything'' to achieve that dream--and given ''Berserk'''s [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism highly cynical bent]], that leads him to do some [[MoralEventHorizon truly horrific things]].

* The titular character ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' dreams of become Hokage, the leader of the Hidden Leaf Village, and gaining the respect of his people after a childhood of neglect and loneliness.

* All of the Straw Hat Pirates of ''Manga/OnePiece'' are sailing together to fufill their dreams.

** Roronoa Zoro seeks to be the world's greatest swordsman to fufill a childhood promise.

* The Vorlon and Shadow Questions in ''Series/BabylonFive'' are all about this. The Vorlons ask "Who are you?" to understand what someone already has and what parts of their past and present define their present outlook (and thus how they can '[[KnightTemplar nurture you]]' to their liking). The Shadows ask "What do you want?" as a way to understand someone's future ambitions, motivations and goals (and thus how they can "[[EvilMentor help you along]]").

* Sougo Tokiwa from ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'' is a pretty bizarre version of this trope. He aspires to become a king, which is a pretty dumb goal in this day and age. To his delight, he discovers that he fulfils his dream...by becoming an EvilOverlord ruling over a desolate post-apocalypse world known as Oma Zi-O. His reaction? To declare that he will become the greatest, kindest demon king of all. This desire has waxed and waned with CharacterDevelopment, but he has never wavered from his path to become king. And he's the protagonist.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': This is built into the game mechanic itself with Motivation, which gives you extra dice to roll if you do an action that will gets you closer to its fulfillment. Motivation ''must'' be grand. Sample Motivation includes: [[TakeOverTheWorld becoming the Empress of Creation]], [[GottaKillThemAll killing every Dragon-blooded]], [[DepravedBisexual shagging all Celestial exalts]]...

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Homer Simpson has had frequent "lifelong dreams" parodying the concept (such as rushing onto the field during a baseball game), the played straight-est version being when he revealed he's always wanted to own the Dallas Cowboys. He gets started on the road towards Cowboy ownership buy (a) buying Tom Landry's CoolHat from a collectible store and (b) being given the Denver Broncos by a SuperVillain he briefly worked for. Homer wasn't happy about (b), though, since the Broncos were the laughing stock of the NFL at the time, a far cry from the then-dominant Cowboys. Everytime, Marge points out Homer already had a lifelong dream, which he has already achieved.

* As he [[LargeHam loudly proclaims]] [[CatchPhrase many times]] in the series, Monkey D. Luffy's goal from ''Manga/OnePiece'' is to become the Pirate King.

* Marla in ''ComicStrip/{{Retail}}'' has one goal in life: finally get out of Grumbel's and start her ''own'' business. However, things keep coming up that force her to delay her goals: the recession, getting pregnant, getting promoted to store manager (and the responsibility that comes with it). The longer she put it off, the more she wonders if she really wants to do it anymore. She eventually confesses to Val that her goal's no longer feasible: it's become too big a risk for her to leave Grumbel's since she has a mortgage, her family needs her health insurance, and she had to think of her daughter's future. [[spoiler:At the end of the strip, when Grumbel's shuts down, she takes a job as an office manager.]]

* Marla in ''ComicStrip/{{Retail}}'' has one goal in life: finally get out of Grumbel's and start her ''own'' business. However, things keep coming up that force her to delay her goals: the recession, getting pregnant, getting promoted to store manager (and the responsibility that comes with it). The longer she put it off, the more she wonders if she really wants to do it anymore. She eventually confesses to Val that her goal's no longer feasible: it's become too big a risk for her to leave Grumbel's since she has a mortgage, her family needs her health insurance, and she had to think of her daughter's future.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': This is built into the game mechanic itself with Motivation, which gives you extra dice to roll if you do an action that will gets you closer to its fulfillment. Motivation ''must'' be grand. Sample Motivation includes: [[WorldDomination becoming the Empress of Creation]], [[GottaKillThemAll killing every Dragon-blooded]], [[DepravedBisexual shagging all Celestial exalts]]...