History Main / InspirationalMartyr

* ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'': In an alternate universe, Booker [=DeWitt=] has (posthumously) become an icon of the Vox Populi. When he apparently shows up again, alive and well, he is not welcomed as a hero, but relentlessly pursued as a supposed imposter because he's more valuable as a martyr.

* [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Joshua Stephenson in ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077''. Joshua is a death row inmate who [[UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} found Christ]] in prison and became TheAtoner. Since he was going to be put to death anyway, he sought to make his death have meaning and inspire others to have hope in spite of the CrapsackWorld they live in. His method of doing this? [[spoiler: Team up with a production studio and create a SnuffFilm in which they'd use him to recreate the death of Jesus Christ. And [[PlayerCharacter V]] has the option to befriend him and ''[[CrossesTheLineTwice put the nails in themselves]]'' so that [[VideoGameCaringPotential he at least dies with a friend by his side]] as there's no way to talk him out of it.]] [[VirtualGhost Johnny Silverhand]], who's the farthest thing from a religious man, recognizes Joshua as a [[{{Ubermensch}} true rebel]] which V can potentially agree with.

* ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'': [[spoiler:Franchise/{{Superman}}]]'s death at the end of the film proves his worth as humanity's savior. His sacrifice also motivates Franchise/{{Batman}} to form the Film/{{Justice|League 2017}} [[Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague League]].

* Towards the end of the first ''Literature/ArciaChronicles'', Lupe's worthless husband and wannabe poet Rodolph Gleo gets drunk and recites a short poem in public, calling his fellow Tayanans to resist the ongoing Tarskian occupation. He is promptly shot by a Tarskian informant but his FamousLastWords ("They shoot because they're scared... can't shoot us all... Fight them!") spurs on a riot that quickly spreads throughout the country and eventually lifts the occupation.

* ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'': [[spoiler:Franchise/{{Superman}}]]'s death at the end of the film proves his worth as humanity's savior. His sacrifice also motivates Franchise/{{Batman}} to form the Film/{{Justice League|2017}}.

-->-- Tertullian of Carthage, ''Apologeticus''

-> ''"The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the faith"''

* ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' {{avert|edTrope}}s this trope by diverting from the movie's events in favor of a more action-packed finale.

* In Fernwithy's ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' ''FanFic/TheEndOfTheWorld'', Maysilee Donner comes across as both this and a DoomedMoralVictor when she's reaped for the 50th Hunger Games shortly after engaging in various acts of Rebellion against the Capitol. Haymitch (the narrator) and various other characters remain certain that she was sent in deliberately, but in one of the spinoff one-shots, years later Maysilee's sister confesses that she'd rigged the reaping bowl, dumping lots of slips of paper with her name on it near the top, in the hopes that being martyred might spur the District into action and/or give her a chance to speak her mind on a Capitol stage, having short-term success with both goals.

* ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'' has Kelsier, who deliberately invokes this trope by knowing that he is too weak to defeat The Lord Ruler directly, wishing instead for his sacrifice to inspire the Skaa Rebellion to continue despite deaths. The Lord Ruler is eventually defeated by Kelsier's handpicked successor.
* In ''Literature/TheHungerGames'', after the death of Rue, Katniss makes a large show of [[DueToTheDead honoring her]] to the cameras. This is the spark that ignites the rebellions that begin to spring up around Panem.
** Katniss eventually decides on this fate for herself, as her PTSD gets worse. The Mockingjay is most effective as a symbol, while Peeta is the one with the skills to play to camera and inspire the rebellion. Katniss thinks it'll be simpler for everyone if she dies as a martyr rather than lives as a psychologically damaged tribute.
* In ''[[Literature/XWingSeries Wraith Squadron]]'', the backstory of ex-child actor Garik "Face" Loran features several films that are thinly-disguised pro-Empire propaganda, including one entitled ''Win or Die'' where he embraces the Imperial cause, over the objections of his stodgy, Republican parents, who eventually end up shooting him. In a stunning fit of patriotic {{Glurge}}, he dies in the Emperor's arms, wishing he would take over the galaxy already. Apparently, recruitment for the Imperial Navy went up ''5%'' when it was released. The modern-day New Republic fighter pilot [[TheAtoner is not proud]].

* The Franchise/{{Dune}} series plays a lot with the themes of heroes, messiahs and martyrs.

*** The ''Dune Encyclopedia'' offers a differing, though similar, explanation of a forced abortion of Jehanne Butler's unborn daughter Sarah, who would have borne the Kwisatz Haderach. It is at that point that some humans feel that the machines have too much control. The Jihad in this instance wasn't a RobotWar but a religious movement against the use of machines.

* In the German novel ''The Method'' by Juli Zeh, the antagonists went out of their way to keep the heroine alive specifically to avert this.

-> '''Raymond Sellars:''' What's bigger than a hero?\\
''(beat)''\\
'''Rick Mattox:''' A dead hero.
-->-- ''Film/RoboCop2014''

* ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'': [[spoiler:Franchise/{{Superman}}]]'s death at the end of the film proves his worth as humanity's savior. His sacrifice also motivates Franchise/{{Batman}} to form the Film/JusticeLeague.

* In ''{{Film/Spartacus}}'', the slave Draba defeats Spartacus in a duel and is ordered to execute him by his masters; disgusted, he refuses the order and attacks them instead, getting instantly killed for his act of defiance. His body is then hung up in the slave quarters to serve as a warning against rebellion... where it has [[SparkOfTheRebellion the exact opposite effect.]]

* In ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps2'', Raul Menendez becomes one in any ending where David Mason kills him. His death causes the ending to include a post-mortem posting of a Website/YouTube video, which inspires supporters of "Cordis Die" to revolt all around the world.

* In ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps2'', Raul Menendez becomes one in any ending where David Mason kills him. His death causes the ending to include a post-mortem posting of a YouTube video, which inspires supporters of "Cordis Die" to revolt all around the world.

* In the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'', the destruction of Alderaan was followed by an upwelling of support for the Rebellion.

It isn't a requirement to die, although the term "living witness" may be used instead of Martyr, in that case. Many times, the martyr's enemies will give them one last chance to refute their belief, just before killing them. If the martyr dies reasserting their belief, the crowd is often inspired by their death. If the martyr does refute their belief, the crowd's inspiration may be destroyed (which is why the enemy is trying this at all). If the crowd loses their inspiration, this is a subverted trope. If the crowd hears the martyr disown their beliefs, and ''still'' remains inspired by their example, it's a DoubleSubversion. And if the shadowy organization wants to turn a martyr against their cause into an asset, they can use propaganda to twist the martyr's belief into a PostMortemConfession in their favor, though this may take anywhere between a week and a few centuries.

* By the time of the ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' series, humans have grown tired of the seemingly endless RobotWar that ravaged their world, that most of them wanted nothing more to do with Reploids anymore. However, it was Zero's actions (most especially his HeroicSacrifice, saving a human colony from a ColonyDrop) that opened the way for the humans to accept Reploids again, and culminated in a peaceful era that lasted [[VideoGame/MegaManZX at least a century]].