Line #121 Main/HeroismMotiveSpeech


1	->''"Winning? Is that what you think it's about? I'm not trying to win. I'm not doing this because I want to beat someone, or because I hate someone, or because, because I want to blame someone. It's not because it's fun and God knows it's not because it's easy. It's not even because it works, because it hardly ever does. I do what I do because it's right! Because it's decent! And above all, it's kind. It's just that. Just kind.''"
2	-->-- '''The Twelfth Doctor''', ''Series/DoctorWho'', "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls The Doctor Falls]]"
3
4	TheHero makes a speech about why they became the hero and/or what being a hero means to them. In a lot of works, the hero's motive speech typically lists having a great desire to help those in need. Losing a loved one or being saved from danger in their younger years is usually what they list as the moment where they had their heart set on being a savior. The reasoning might just be ForGreatJustice -- righteousness and the hero's principles.
5
6	The hero might use this speech while training their younger protege, while advising a friend, or as a counter to the villain's MotiveRant.
7
8	It doesn't always have to be for a noble cause, though. Some heroes just do it for fun or something fairly simple (ToBeAMaster is a common one), while darker characters like anti-heroes might be motivated by a grudge or hatred. KnightTemplar and GoodIsNotNice characters might focus their speeches on wanting to punish evil.
9
10	May involve the delivery of the StandardCopBackstory. May be part of a BadassCreed.
11
12	Related to MotiveRant, where the villain talks about what pushed them to villainy in detail.
13	----
14	!!Examples:
15
16	[[foldercontrol]]
17
18	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
19	* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Ichigo tells Ishida about losing his mother, and after seeing his father and sisters suffer as a result, not wanting anyone else to feel the same. He states that he can't save everyone, but wants to protect as many people as he can, which makes Ishida reflect on his grandfather's teachings and accept his offer to fight the Hollows together.
20	* Happens at the end of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', when Madoka finally makes her wish to become a magical girl. The whole series up to this point lays out why she should never, ever do this, first because her naive selflessness would put her in danger, and later because this would literally cause a planet-scale apocalypse due to her uncontrollable power [[spoiler:turning her into an unstoppable witch]]. But she realizes that [[LoopholeAbuse there's a way around the latter problem]], allowing her to use her immense power for good, and fulfilling her desire to sacrifice herself to save others:
21	-->'''Madoka:''' I wish to erase all witches before they are born. [[spoiler:All the witches in all the universes, both past and future.]] With my own hands! [[note]]This includes ''her own'' witch form, preventing the normally-inevitable negative karmic backlash.[[/note]]\
22	'''Kyubey:''' If a prayer like that were granted, it could unravel the fabric of time itself! It would go against the very force of karmic destiny! Do you truly intend to become a god?\
23	'''Madoka:''' I don't care what I become. All those who have fought against witches, who believed in hope as magical girls... I don't want to see them cry. I want them to be smiling to the very end. If any rule or law stands in the way of that, I will destroy it. I will rewrite it. That is my prayer... my wish. [[FaustianRebellion Now, grant my wish, Incubator!]]
24	[[/folder]]
25
26	[[folder:Fan Works]]
27	* ''Fanfic/TheEndOfTheWorldFernWithy'':
28	** When Haymitch asks his friend Danny Mellark if he wants to keep smuggling rebel messages after starting a family, Danny replies affirmatively.
29	--> '' "I used to hate the Games because they could take me. But I'm nothing compared to him." He kisses the baby's head. "I don't just want to hope he doesn't get picked. I want to do everything that I can do to make sure no one's baby gets picked again."''
30	** When Haymitch asks Ed Mellark about his newfound involvement in the Rebellion, he has an excellent BigBrotherInstinct-based speech about why he is taking these chances.
31	--> '''Ed:''' They hurt my baby brother. They left him in a pile of mud for days, then made Katniss gamble with his life. Then they tried to get her to murder him because they thought it would be great entertainment to watch two kids who love each other fight to the death. They're rabid and they need to be put down.
32	* ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'': When Kyril is telling his apprentices Sanakan and Hugh why he took the two of them in, he gives a speech about why he wants to help Eostia's people and fight the Black Dogs.
33	-->'''Kyril:''' When I came here, I wanted nothing to do with the war. All I had wanted was to be left alone so I could suffer my memories in solitude. Until I learned what Vault planned for every single man, woman, and child. The women and children slaves and men who resisted his regime dead or dying. Yharnam was dead long before I came here. Eostia is war-torn but she still has a chance for peace.\
34	''[{{beat}}]''\
35	'''Kyril:''' If I [[BystanderSyndrome stood by]] and allowed an evil man to cause harm to a nation that has done nothing to deserve its fate then it is right that I bear the shame of doing nothing. I won't stand by and do nothing in Eostia. I will fight no matter the cost, so that others may live in peace. And when I do, maybe I shall finally lay down my blades and fade away.\
36	''[{{beat}}]''\
37	'''Kyril:''' Perhaps I came here for a change. Perhaps I decided to lend my strength to those who needed it. But either way, I am your mentor and you are my students. [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility I wish to give you power so you can do good]].
38	* ''[[Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K Star Wars vs Warhammer 40K]]'': Kombirr gives one to his mother in response to her initially refusing to let him and his father join the [[LaResistance Axum Resistance]] to fight the Imperials [[OccupiersOutOfOurCountry occupying their world]] because she's afraid they might get themselves killed.
39	-->'''Kombirr:''' This...this Imperium, [[FinalSolution what they are doing...]] If we let it go on, if we don't fight or draw a line or something... then things will NEVER get better! The burden will never get lighter, and I'll never be able to stop mourning all the people we lose, until you're mourning me instead.\
40	'''Vinorra:''' Kombirr, no...\
41	'''Kombirr:''' No what mom? [[WeAllDieSomeday We all die, life does not go on forever.]] [[YouTaughtMeThat You taught me that]] the reason we fight, the reason we keep the shrines and honor the fallen, is because the goal of the fight is freedom. Because the goal is justice. I know that this latest war has been cloudy, that [[GreyAndGrayMorality it has been hard to see right from wrong between the Republic and the Confederacy]]. [[WellThisIsNotThatTrope But this is no longer that same war.]] And if we choose not to fight, not to give everything we have, we will be dishonoring all the fallen we claim to care about. What good are the [[ShrineToTheFallen shrines to our honored dead]], if we have no honor? If the causes they fought and died for...died here? Isn't that a truer death than the ones they have already suffered? [[ArmorPiercingQuestion Wouldn't doing that...make me worthless in their eyes?]]
42	* ''Fanfic/TheVictorsProject'': [[spoiler:Cashmere]] makes an angsty speech when offering her support to the Rebellion after Beetee questions her motives.
43	-->[[spoiler:Cashmere]]: [[ThatManIsDead My brother is dead, they killed him]]. My parents when they sent us to that … [[AcademyOfEvil that place]]. [[IOwnThisTown Luster]]. The DAEYD. The Gamemakers. [[PresidentEvil Snow]]. They ruined the only person who ever loved me. They murdered my father. They [[SexSlave buy and sell my district]]. Every year they send another pretty thing like me into the arena, and I have to smile and teach her to poise and laugh and kill even as I pray that [[MercyKill the Twos murder her early]]. They have taken everything, and I will tear them down with my bare, bloody hands if I have to!
44	* ''Fanfic/WeMustBeKillers'': Claudius gets a ''preemptive'' motive speech in ''Fixed to a Star'', almost a decade before he officially becomes a rebel. He tells Lyme that the Capitol does nothing but evilly exploit them, and that someday they will do something to destroy even Lyme's MyCountryRightOrWrong sense of loyalty, and once they go that far, then he wants to be with Lyme when she retaliates.
45	-->'''Claudius:''' They ask, we give, and they take, that's the way it goes. But they just keep asking and just keep taking, and one day they'll take something you didn't want to give. Something so bad it's worse than marching kids to their deaths every year. One day you're going to walk away. Take me with you.
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
49	* In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAcrossTheSpiderVerse'', Gwen gives an impassioned one to her father [[spoiler:months after coming clean and revealing her secret identity]].
50	-->'''Gwen:''' You're a good cop, Dad. You know you put on that badge because you know that if you don't, someone who shouldn't will. But... you have to understand: ''(Holds up her mask)'' '''this''' mask is my badge! And I'm trying to be good too. I was trying so hard to wear this thing the way you would want... and I didn't! I didn't! I can do all of these things, but I can't help the people I love the most and they can only know half of who I am, so I-- I'm completely on my own! And now, I don't-- I don't even know what the right thing is anymore. I don't know what I'm supposed to do, but I know... I can't lose one more friend.
51	[[/folder]]
52
53	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
54	* ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'': [[spoiler:At Clark's funeral in Smallville]], Bruce has a conversation with Diana about [[spoiler:how badly he screwed up, and wants to change things and do better. He talks of bringing together the other metahumans and Diana says they don't want to be found, explaining that she gave up on humanity a long time ago. Bruce asserts that "[[PatrickStewartSpeech Men are still good]]." and they can do better]].
55	* In ''Film/HotFuzz'', when Danny finally gets Nicholas to open up to him, Nicholas reveals that his obsession with being a [[ByTheBookCop model police officer]] was inspired by his uncle Derek's (who was also a policeman) gift of a police pedal car when Nicholas was five years old. Even when Derek was later [[DirtyCop imprisoned for selling drugs]], Nicholas' desire to uphold law and order only grew stronger.
56	[[/folder]]
57
58	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
59	* In the episode "45-year-old new bodyguard!! Protect the lives of 20,000 spectators" in ''Series/BGPersonalBodyguard'', Akira Shimazaki was back to doing his work as a private security bodyguard contractor, after being reassigned to do Traffic Guard work from 2012 to 2018 from a NoodleIncident, when he subdued a reporter from a local magazine for trying to kill Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Aiko Tachihara. While Tokyo Metropolitan Police Security Bureau officer Yosuke Ochiai of the Security Police Division speaks to him, he can't help but mention that civilians like him are involved in close protection work. Shimazaki's speech serves as subtle foreshadowing of the growing rivalry between the TMPD and Hinode Security Service in the close protection realm. It also serves as Shimazaki's motivation for why he's involved.
60	-->'''Ochiai:''' I don't approve of civilians doing personal security. Money can't protect people. This is no place for yojimbos.\
61	'''Shimazaki:''' Do you know the meaning of yojimbo?\
62	''[Ochiai stares]''\
63	'''Shimazaki:''' Powerful servants employed by samurais and the mafia to finish off their enemies. That isn't the original meaning.\
64	''[Shimazaki takes traffic cone bar from safety cone]''\
65	'''Shimazaki:''' Using a pole[[note]]Bō in Japanese[[/note]] to defend[[note]]Yojim in Japanese[[/note]] themselves from an adversary... that's where the name comes from.\
66	'''Ochiai:''' So what?\
67	'''Shimazaki:''' If it wasn't for you guys [[=SPs=]] and your guns, he [the suspect] wouldn't have taken out his knife. By being unarmed and using only a pole... No.\
68	''[Shimazaki opens his suit jacket to show his white dress shirt and necktie only]''\
69	'''Shimazaki:''' It's because we're unarmed that we can protect people. Don't you think?\
70	'''Ochiai:''' ''[laughs]'' Must be nice. Doing and saying what you like as a civilian.\
71	'''Shimazaki:''' [[HumbleHero I'm sorry. That was self-important of me.]]
72	* In "Series/{{Community}}", this speech is very much a staple of every episode (usually done near the end of the episode). It is even referenced in-universe as "Winger Speech", named after the main character of the show, Jeff Winger. It is sometimes {{played for laughs}}, like when Jeff tries to convince Troy to join Greendale Community College's Football team and when he gave another speech to convince Troy to NOT join the team (much to the chagrin of the other players).
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Literature]]
76	* ''Literature/KaneSeries'' story "Cold Light" introduces KnightTemplar Lord Gaethaa, aka "The Crusader", who was born as an aristocrat but got tired of his pampered life and decided to devote his life and resources to fighting evil. He delivers his speech to citizens of plague-wracked Sebbei -- and it falls flat, as they have already crossed the DespairEventHorizon and only want to be left alone.
77	-->I have made it my mission in life to hunt down and destroy the agents of evil who bring death and deprivation to the helpless! Too long has evil held sway over our lives - too long have the creatures of evil run unchecked among mankind! Evil has ruled the lives of men with the consuming might of merciless force - and mankind has had to bow to its terror or else be destroyed! But I have sworn to destroy the servants of evil wherever they hold mankind in thrall!
78	* ''Literature/SpellsSwordsAndStealth'': Throughout the books, the ex-PC knight Timuscor has desired to be a paladin. He has the potential, and good instincts for the role, but is hampered by an unwillingness to fully devote himself to any god who might grant him the mantle and an incomplete understanding of what being a paladin truly means. For a while, he's a MartyrWithoutACause, determined at least to die like a paladin if he can't otherwise be one. The climax of the fourth book, ''Siege Tactics'', sees Timuscor finally understand the true meaning of paladinhood, enabling him to [[spoiler:become a Free Paladin, a paladin with all the divine powers without owing allegiance to any god]]. As he explains to the enemy his party is fighting:
79	-->But I have the strength to stand here, to face you. That's all the calling ever was, really. We put so much ceremony and divine law on it, yet at the end of the day, it is simply the will to stand between the innocent and the wicked. And anyone can choose to make that stand. My failing was in seeing the calling as something to die for, rather than a cause that must drive one to keep living. One cannot make an oath without both conviction ''and'' understanding. ... I pledge my sword to the innocent in need. I shall serve the kind, and the weak, and all who seek to live in peace. For so long as I live, I will strive to protect, to save, to endure. [[spoiler:My name is Timuscor, and I ''am'' a paladin.]]
80	[[/folder]]
81
82	[[folder:Podcasts]]
83	* ''Podcast/RedPandaAdventures'':
84	** In "Red Panda: Dead or Alive", the Red Panda explains to Kit that he initially became a crime fighter on a lark, for something to ''do''. As he trained to do so, as he became a beacon of hope for the people of Toronto, the Red Panda discovered that GoodFeelsGood, and, more and more, became a hero for the sake of others as much as himself and reached a point where he regarded his civilian self as a SecretIdentityIdentity.
85	--->When I started this, it was a lark. A thing to do to see if I could. The training, the equipment... then I started to make a real difference. I started doing more real good than I'd have ever done if I lived my other life a thousand times over. It became who I am. The spoiled rich boy became more thin character sketch than a person. I couldn't be him again if I wanted to.
86	** "The Rookie" features the Red Panda trying to discover the reasons young FlyingBrick Mr. Amazing has been rejected for the Allied Super Services and the home-based Danger Federation when heroes with less reliable powers are actively recruited. He discovers that Mr. Amazing's powers are finite, meaning his superpowers will eventually run out and, when that happens, he will die. When the Red Panda tries to convince Mr. Amazing to give up superheroics Mr. Amazing reveals he's had much the same GoodFeelsGood epiphany the Red Panda did, and would rather be a hero for a week than ''not'' be one and reach old age. The Red Panda respects this decision and makes Mr. Amazing one of the few heroes he'll allow to operate in his city.
87	--->It was in that girl's eyes when she saw daylight again. It was in her mother's tears, and the expression on the face of every man and woman there. They felt their lives touched by a miracle. And every single one of them will have hope in their hearts that they didn't have before. If I can do that for a week, a month, a year... and I choose ''not'' to so I can live to be a hundred? No. Not me, buster.
88	[[/folder]]
89
90	[[folder:Video Games]]
91	* ''VideoGame/MegaManZXAdvent'': After [[SchrodingersPlayerCharacter Grey/Ashe]] have a [[DuelingPlayerCharacters fight with previous playable protagonists Aile/Vent]] and clear up their misunderstandings, they ask why they're fighting the villains and [[ArtifactOfDoom Model W]]. Aile/Vent briefly explain that, [[NotSoDifferentRemark much like them]], they were [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive dragged into the fight]] and they lost many close people in the fights with Mavericks and Model Ws. Grey/Ashe therefore initially think it's about {{revenge}}, but Aile/Vent set the record straight and provide a bit of wisdom about their juniors' reasons for fighting.
92	-->'''Aile:''' No... I just don't want anymore people to suffer like I have. So I decided to destroy all Model Ws in order to put an end to the Game of Destiny. I decided to become a Mega Man because I wanted to help people. You're fighting because you're trying to find out who you are, but don't forget. Only you can decide your own destiny. No matter what anyone says you are. The power you contain within is the key to creating your future. That's what a special person said to me.\
93	'''Grey:''' My destiny... My future.\
94	'''Vent:''' No. You can't defeat an enemy with hate... You just make more enemies. I want to use my power for something I believe in. That's why I made that promise to my friends, to be the Mega Man that protects them. Mega Man power is strong. Strong enough to change the world. But, there's one thing it can't change... that is our own destiny. You have to use your own power to do that. Ashe... Don't lose yourself in the power.\
95	'''Ashe:''' How can you even say that and keep a straight face... But I like that... Those are good words to live by.
96	* Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog's speech is short and to the point before his final fight with Shadow in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2''.
97	-->'''Sonic:''' What you see is what you get. Just a guy who loves adventure. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!
98	** He makes a similarly succinct-but-powerful speech when he refuses to retreat from the true villain of ''VideoGame/SonicAndTheBlackKnight'':
99	-->'''Sonic:''' It was never about chivalry for me! I’ve just gotta do what I’ve gotta do! That’s all!
100	* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake'': After failing to help the owner of the Gun Shop Kendo and his zombie-bitten daughter, Leon rants to Ada that he wants to find out whatever caused the virus outbreak in Raccoon City to satisfy his motive for becoming a policeman in the first place.
101	-->'''Leon:''' I want to find out what's happening here. And stop whoever's behind it. Helping people like them... that's why I joined the force.\
102	'''Ada:''' My mission is to take down Umbrella's entire operation. We may not make it out.\
103	'''Leon:''' Whatever it takes to save this city... count me in.
104	[[/folder]]
105
106	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
107	* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'':
108	** Near the end of the last case in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney: Justice For All'', [[spoiler:after discovering that his client is guilty,]] Phoenix begins to question what it means to be a lawyer. Edgeworth reveals what he learned in his time overseas. It's not about "winning", it's about revealing the truth.
109	--->'''Edgeworth:''' We prosecutors use anything we can to attack the defendant. But [...] It doesn't matter how many underhanded tricks a person uses... the truth will always find a way to make itself known. The only thing we can do is to fight with the knowledge we hold and everything we have. Erasing the paradoxes one by one... it's never easy... we claw and scratch for every inch. But we will always eventually reach that one single truth. This I promise you. That's the reason why prosecutors and defense lawyers exist.
110	** After the BigBad's VillainousBreakdown in the final case of ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'', there is some surprisingly poignant words from Klavier Gavin and the Judge about the nature of the law, given that the two of them are a BunnyEarsLawyer and a CloudCuckoolander. While the Big Bad believes "the law is absolute" and needed to protect the "ignorant masses" from themselves, Klavier and the Judge point out that the law is not absolute, full of contradictions that inadvertently help criminals, and is constantly changing as a reflection of human morals, and that it is thus the job of lawmakers and defenders to nurture it over time.
111	--->'''The Judge:''' The law is the end product of many years of history... the fruit of human knowledge! Like a gem, polished to a gleam through trials... and errors. It is this fruit we receive, and pass on, and face in our time. And it is always changing, growing. Nurturing it is our task as human beings.
112	** In the final case of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies'', as Phoenix, Apollo, and Athena deliver the final key piece of evidence that proves identity of the culprit, they also deliver a lecture about the power of trust that [[NotSoStoic punches a hole in the villain's unemotional facade]] and prompts a massive VillainousBreakdown.
113	[[/folder]]
114
115	[[folder:Web Animation]]
116	* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Ruby Rose talks to her friend Blake about how she was inspired by stories and fairy tales of heroes and grew up wanting to become just like those heroes of legend.
117	-->'''Ruby:''' I love books. Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters... They're one of the reasons I want to be a Huntress!\
118	'''Blake:''' And why is that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after?\
119	'''Ruby:''' Well, I'm hoping we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books... Someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves!
120	[[/folder]]
121
122	[[folder:Web Videos]]
123	* ''WebVideo/DrHorriblesSingAlongBlog'': Parodied with Captain Hammer's song "Everyone's A Hero," where he gives a speech about how being a superhero is all based in philanthropy, except he's both incredibly narcissistic about how cool it is to be a ''real'' superhero and incredibly insensitive towards the people he's supposedly helping (particularly Penny).
124	[[/folder]]
125
126	[[folder:Western Animation]]
127	* During a {{Flashback}} in the ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'' episode "[[Recap/SWATKatsS1E3TheWrathOfDarkKat The Wrath of Dark Kat]]", Jake Clawson and Chance Furlong are kicked off the Enforcers because of an incident involving BigBad Dark Kat, then forced to work in a salvage yard. However, this causes them to have an epiphany that leads to their becoming the SWAT Kats.
128	-->'''Jake:''' Hey, y’know, Chance, there’s enough military salvage here to build our own jet.\
129	'''Chance:''' And do what?\
130	'''Jake:''' Get back in the air and get back at Dark Kat! And all the other criminal scum who rear their ugly heads in Megakat City. Only this time, we do it our way!\
131	'''Chance:''' Well, what are we waitin’ for, buddy?
132	[[/folder]]

Context Main / HeroismMotiveSpeech