Line #61 Main/MotivationIndex


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4	Motivations are the reasons characters do anything. It brings them to action and directs their choices. These are not ''what'' characters do, such as SavingTheWorld or TakeOverTheWorld, but ''why'' they do it, such as ForGreatJustice or ForTheEvulz. See the GoalsAndObjectivesIndex for what characters are trying to accomplish.
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6	----
7	!!Tropes of motivation
8	[[index]]
9	[floatboxright:
10	Categories:
11	+DespairTropes
12	+HopeIndex
13	+ObsessionTropes
14	+RevengeTropes
15	]
16	* AimlesslySeekingHappiness: Characters want to be happy, but don't know how.
17	* AllLovingHero: A character is driven by unconditional love for all.
18	* AmbitionIsEvil: Obsession with self-improvement corrupts.
19	* AmbitiousButLazy: Character wants to achieve success without hard work.
20	* AttentionWhore: A character wants to be the center of attention.
21	* BecauseDestinySaysSo: Characters want to fulfill a prophecy.
22	* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: One character is loyal to another due to a single kind act.
23	* BetaTestBaddie: A character is driven by an inferiority complex.
24	* BucketList: A character who is dying makes a list of things to do before their time is up.
25	* CareerBuildingBlunder: When an early mistake provides a character's motivation.
26	* ChallengeSeeker: A character who seeks to challenge themselves.
27	* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Character is compelled to help everyone, all the time.
28	* CommunityThreateningConstruction: When a planned construction site motivates residents to defend their home, which is subject for demolition.
29	* ConceptsAreCheap: Characters have vague one-word motivations that could really mean anything.
30	* ControlFreak: Someone who wants to have control over themselves, other people and their environment.
31	* TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget: A character who uses evil means to accomplish a good goal loses sight of the goal over time.
32	* DarwinistDesire: A character wants to reproduce with the fittest mate possible.
33	* DebtDetester: Character repays debts as soon as possible so as to not owe others.
34	* DeclarationOfProtection: A person has their entire motivation built around protecting a vulnerable person (usually a girl).
35	* DeliberateUnderPerformance: A character wants to be average-or-lower in something.
36	* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: A character on a journey to find a meaningful place in the world.
37	* DesperatelyCravesAffection: A character desperate to be loved, and who may go to some extreme lengths to gain it.
38	* DesperatelyNeedsOrders: A character who completely lacks any kind of initiative and wants someone else to tell them what to do.
39	* DespotismJustifiesTheMeans: Bad guys who want only power and will do anything to achieve it, not caring about the state things'll be in.
40	* DeterminedDoctor: A healer wants to cure their patient, [[{{Determinator}} no matter what.]]
41	* DisappointedByTheMotive: Disappointment in another character's motivation.
42	* {{Dismotivation}}: Characters try hard to achieve nothing.
43	* DrivenByEnvy: A character wants something someone else has and resents them for it.
44	* DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Bad guys whose goal is to create a nightmarish CrapsackWorld.
45	* EmbodimentOfVice: A character is driven by a negative quality assigned to them as a defining trait.
46	* EmbodimentOfVirtue: A character is driven by the desire to achieve perfection in a certain moral virtue.
47	* EnemiesEqualsGreatness: Opposition or mistreatment from others is what gets a character highly motivated to do great things.
48	* EveryonesBabySister: Threats on a character that everyone cares about gets characters to act against the threat.
49	* EvilMalthusian: A villain who wants to prevent {{overpopulation\|Crisis}} by ''any'' means necessary.
50	* EvilReactionary: A villain whose goal is to remodel the world based on their old-fashioned beliefs and/or interests.
51	* FailureKnight: A character failed to protect someone once and is determined not to fail again.
52	* FamilyHonor: A character wants to live up to their family name and bring credit to their family.
53	* FightingForAHomeland: A character or group is motivated to fight by their desire for a new homeland.
54	* FoodAsBribe: Some people will do anything for food.
55	* ForGreatJustice: Good guys fight so that JusticeWillPrevail.
56	* ForHappiness: A character wants to spread joy and cheer.
57	* ForScience: A character wants to make scientific discoveries, even if they have no real practical purposes.
58	* ForTheEvulz: Bad guys do evil because they love evil.
59	* ForTheFunnyz: A character makes a joke, usually against their own self-interest, because they love jokes.
60	* TheFourLoves: A character searches for love, in any form.
61	* FreudianExcuse: Something in a villain's past causes them to act the way they do, such as [[AbusiveParents parental abuse]].
62	* FreudianExcuseDenial: Nothing in a character's past is the reason/motivation for any of the questionable actions a character commits in the present.
63	* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: Terrible childhood or not, it still doesn't justify their crimes.
64	* GettingSickDeliberately: A character wants to get themselves sick, for one reason or another.
65	* GloryHound: A character who wants to be remembered and will commit atrocities in order to achieve that.
66	* GlorySeeker: A character wants other people to consider them to be a badass.
67	* GoalInLife: A character's main motivation through life.
68	* GottaCatchThemAll: A character wants to pursue a collection.
69	* {{Greed}}: Insatiable desire for material possessions and wealth.
70	* GreenEyedMonster: Someone's desire for what other people have driven them to evil.
71	* HealthcareMotivation: A character desperately needs money to pay for medical treatment.
72	* TheHedonist: A character wants to be amused and experience various kinds of pleasure, often at the expense of others.
73	* HeroismMotiveSpeech: Hero explains why they became a hero.
74	* HiddenAgendaHero: Undeniably a hero, but the motivation for why they do it is unsure.
75	* HiddenAgendaVillain: They ''have'' a motive, but we're not sure what it is.
76	* HomeSweetHome: A character is just trying to settle things so they can stay home.
77	* HonorBeforeReason: A character only wants to do the right thing above all else.
78	* HopeCrusher: A character who wants to make other people fall into despair and crush their hopes.
79	* HumbleGoal: A character wants to do or have something that happens to be simple.
80	* IJustWantToBeBadass: A character wants to be strong.
81	* IJustWantToBeBeautiful: A character wants to remain or become beautiful.
82	* IJustWantToBeFree: A character wants freedom from some sort of bondage.
83	* IJustWantToBeLoved: A character wants to feel loved.
84	* IJustWantToBeNormal: A character living an abnormal life wants to live a life without excitement.
85	* IJustWantToBeSpecial: A character living a mundane life wants to be more exciting.
86	* IJustWantToBeYou: A character wants to literally be the person they envy.
87	* IJustWantToHaveFriends: A character or a person who wants friends.
88	* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Someone wants to raise their self-esteem by adopting an egotistical attitude.
89	* InHarmsWay: Characters want excitement and danger in their lives.
90	* InspirationalInsult: A character gets inspiration from the insults hurled at them.
91	* IOweYouMyLife: A character feels indebted to someone who saved their life.
92	* ItAmusedMe: A character who acts purely for their own entertainment.
93	* ItIsBeyondSaving: A character or group of characters wants a society destroyed and/or abandoned under the impression that it is beyond saving.
94	* ItsPersonal: A character does something for a personal reason.
95	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: A character wants the person they love to be happy, even at the risk of their own happiness.
96	* IWantSong: Exposition of a character's motivation in the form of a song at the beginning of the story.
97	* IWantToBeARealMan: A character wants to be masculine or prove his masculinity.
98	* IWillFindYou: A character wants to find a lost or kidnapped loved one, whatever the cost.
99	* JustHereForTheFreeSnacks
100	* LazyBum: Characters with an extreme ''lack'' of motivation.
101	* LegacySeeker: A character is obsessed with leaving a lasting mark on the world.
102	* LifeAffirmingAesop: An Aesop about accepting life especially the hard parts of it.
103	* LivingOutAChildhoodDream: What you could only dream of as a child becomes possible when you're an adult.
104	* LovesOnlyGold: A character is obsessed with a particular form of wealth and will do anything to obtain it.
105	* {{Lust}}: Insatiable desire for something that doesn't properly have material existence, typically sexual pleasure or something more abstract (power, respect, knowledge, etc.).
106	* MacGuffin: It doesn't matter what it does, but all the characters want it.
107	* MissionCreep: You signed up for a mission which requires you to do a lot of grinding, sidetracking, and unrelated tasks to achieve it, risking compromise and failure.
108	* MoralPragmatist: You can turn a villain into a hero, if you can convince them that their methods hurt their motivation.
109	* MotivatedByFear: Fear is a powerful motivator.
110	* MotivationOnAStick
111	* MotivationalKiss: A character (usually male) becomes more confident and self-determined after receiving a kiss from a LoveInterest.
112	* MotivationalLie: A character is motivated into doing something they were initially reluctant to do after being lied to about it.
113	* MotiveDecay: A character has a great motivation but forgets it eventually.
114	* MotiveRant: A villain gives a monologue about their motives.
115	* MyCountryRightOrWrong: A character do what needs to be done for the benefit of their country.
116	* MyMasterRightOrWrong: A character do what needs to be done for the benefit of their master.
117	* NatureLover: A character is driven by an affinity for the natural world.
118	* NeverBeHurtAgain: A character seeks to ensure that no one will ever hurt or take advantage of them again, usually by becoming a badass.
119	* NewYearsResolution: A character tries to use the promise of a New Year to create motivation.
120	* NotInThisForYourRevolution: A character is involved in an admirable pursuit for un-heroic reasons. Not necessarily evil, just not heroic.
121	* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: Their goals (or what they tell themselves and others about the goals) sound high-minded, but the actual motive isn't very noble at all.
122	* OmnicidalManiac: A villain who maliciously wants to destroy their setting's world and kill '''all''' who live in it.
123	* OnlyCaresAboutInheritance: A character wants to get their hands on a deceased person's inheritance.
124	* OnlyInItForTheMoney: A character works for a particular side just because doing so will be profitable.
125	* OpposeWhatYouSuffered: A character is motivated to fight against something that caused them to suffer in their past.
126	* PeerPressuredBully: A character is motivated to bully someone due to societal pressure.
127	* PepTalkSong: A song meant to increase the characters' confidence.
128	* PhysicalTherapyPlot: A character becomes disable after severe injuries and begins taking physical therapy to become mobile again. Frequently featuring characters pulling through via their mental willpower and dedication to keep going.
129	* ThePowerOfApathy: The character's ''lack'' of motivation saves the day.
130	* ThePowerOfFriendship: A character is motivated by their friends.
131	* ThePowerOfHate: A character desires what's worst for others.
132	* ThePowerOfLove: A character desires good.
133	* {{Pride}}: Characters value themselves and want to feel as if they're worth something.
134	* PrizedPossessionGiveaway: A character gives something they hold dearly to another person as a gift, wishing that person to accept it.
135	* PursueTheDreamJob: A character desires a specific job and follows their heart.
136	* RageAgainstTheHeavens: A character wants the gods to pay for what they've done.
137	* {{Revenge}}: A character wants another character to pay for what they've done.
138	* RestartTheWorld: A character wants to destroy the world and start over.
139	* RichBoredom: A character wants to need to do something.
140	* {{Sadist}}: A character wants to make others suffer for their own pure enjoyment.
141	* SamaritanSyndrome: A character feels guilt over the people they could save, but don't.
142	* ScrewDestiny: Characters want to go against a prophecy and prove it wrong.
143	* SeeksAnothersResurrection: One character seeks to resurrect another character who has died.
144	* SevenDeadlySins: A classic categorization of vices into seven basic motivations.
145	* SevenHeavenlyVirtues: A classic categorization of virtues into seven basic motivations.
146	* SignedUpForTheDental: The job sucks, but the benefits are worth it.
147	* SurvivorGuilt: A character doesn't want anyone else to die in their stead.
148	* TheresNoPlaceLikeHome: A character wants to go home again.
149	* TheyCalledMeMad: A character is motivated by the mockery they've received in the past.
150	* ThrillSeeker: A character is motivated by their search for excitement.
151	* ToCreateAPlaygroundForEvil: A character wants to make the world an eviller place.
152	* TotalitarianUtilitarian: A villain who wants to make everyone's lives better.
153	* TragicDream: The character is motivated by the desire for something they can never have.
154	* TrappedInVillainy: A villain only performs villainous acts because, if they don’t, they'll die.
155	* {{Troll}}: Characters who amuse themselves by provoking others.
156	* UndyingLoyalty: A character is motivated by desire to help someone or something they care about.
157	* UnstoppableRage: A character becomes furious enough to unleash everything they have on an opponent.
158	* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Characters, usually bad guys, who wish to create a better world but will go to extreme lengths to achieve it.
159	* VillainousGlutton: A self-indulgent villain with an insatiable appetite.
160	* WellDoneSonGuy: Someone who yearns for their parent or role model's approval, regardless of whether they're likely to give it.
161	* WellDoneDadGuy: Parents or role models who longs for the approval of their children/followers.
162	* WellIntentionedExtremist: A character has noble goals but goes about achieving them ruthlessly.
163	* WorkingForABodyUpgrade: Characters want their boss to repair or improve their physique/looks/abilities.
164	[[/index]]

Context Main / MotivationIndex