Heartwarming / Sky High (2005)

• Steve Stronghold (the Commander) and Josie Stronghold (Jetstream) showing they're Good Parents multiple times:
  • When Steve hears the students his son brought home to study with are all sidekicks, he's proud of his (assumed hero) son for not being a Smug Super and treating sidekicks kindly.
  • The two are upset for a short time after hearing Will doesn't actually have any powers, but Josie brings up this doesn't make them any less a good family. Steve agrees, stating their son could always go into real estate, the other family business.
  • Steve wanted his son to be a hero not because of pride, but because he wanted him to feel how good it is to save people. Also, the fact that the Commander (one of the greatest heroes in the setting) considers the most important part of the job to be saving people.
  • When Steve and Josie break up the party at their house, Steven asks Will if he had planned this. When Will responds that he didn’t, Steve is all for letting the whole thing drop, his son’s word is good enough for him.
  • Steve and Josie don't like being at Homecoming without Will (feeling they don't need another trophy) and are about to head home to be with him when Principal Powers calls them to the stage.
• Will tries to be nice to Warren on learning that they're supposed to be archnemeses because their dads are bitter enemies. In their interactions, Will apologizes for spilling lunch on him, and tries to call a truce when Principal Powers puts them in detention. The only time Will actually gets physical and his powers activate? When Warren threatens his friends.
• Despite the fact that Warren has been nothing but nasty to him, when Will sees Speed asphyxiating him during "Save the Citizen", he abandons the (fake) citizen to rescue him and then tosses Warren at the dummy to catch her, making Warren the hero by default. Noticeably, while Warren doesn't thank him, he defrosts towards Will and his friends during the rest of the movie.
• Namely, Will isn't jealous about Layla going to the dance with Warren; he's worried. Will is more than fine with Layla dating another guy; his argument is that it shouldn't be with a guy who tried burning her alive. Her scheme backfired because Will values her life more than any love.
• Will is sitting in the Paper Lantern, calling Layla and begging for her forgiveness when learning that Gwen made her cry. Then the guy who started out as his Arch-Enemy shows up...
  Warren: Dude, you are so stupid. [Layla]'s totally into you.
  Will: Not after tonight. I wouldn't be surprised if Layla or any of the other guys never talked to me again.
  Warren: You must've been a real jerk, because no matter what I do, I can't get them to stop talking to me.
  • Seems to be a common theme: Warren comforts Layla after she's shown sulking at the Paper Lantern, offering to warm her dinner and giving her some advice.
  • This might work both ways, too: Warren is always shown completely alone at school, and the bullies are willing to play pranks on him/use him in a prank. Layla might be the first person to actually try and reach out to him in any way. It follows that the rest of the gang might be his first real friends.
  • Summing up Warren Peace: his father may be a supervillain, but that doesn't mean Warren has to be. Principal Power says as much when putting him in detention.
• Warren warned Layla that if they're doing Operation: Jealousy, he's not renting a tux for homecoming. He shows up in one anyway, gruffly explaining that it was his dad's suit. She compliments his outfit and offers him a cheese cube.
• Coach Boomer dropping his hardass teacher persona to help as many kids as possible escape from the gym can also be seen as heartwarming. He orders "Hothead" aka Warren to find or make an exit before attempting to distract Royal Pain.
  • Warren then blasts open an air vent and silently gestures the sidekicks to enter first. He also refuses to burn them alive by accident when they mention it's too dark to see.
• Warren is completely fine with working with Will when he helps the sidekicks come out of the air vents and apologizes to them for letting Gwen's sexiness distract him from her obvious red flags. As Royal Pain's lackeys come to fight them, Warren tells Will to go ahead and stop Gwen because they can handle the "clowns".
• Ron Wilson Bus Driver has always wanted to be a hero. He gets his chance when Will calls him for a ride to Sky High, explaining this is an emergency and to get help if Will is not back in thirty minutes. Then Ron sees Stitches hijacking the school buses, and goes to confront him; this ends up saving the de-aged students, teachers, and Strongholds. Stitches goes down in one punch. It was less than thirty minutes, so he was abiding by Will's orders. He may not have powers, but Ron is a hero through and through.
• Seeing Ron Wilson, Bus Driver get superpowers and work for the mayor is immensely satisfying. It honestly couldn't have happened to a more deserving person.
• A very small but adorable example: Warren's Ship Tease with the ice girl at the end of the film. They look at each other, his hand flares up and she holds it, dousing its flame with her ice as the two smile at each other. Awww!
• After the Big Bad is defeated, the Commander and Jetstream give the Sidekicks the Hero of the Year award and call them what they truly are: Heroes.
  • You have to pay close attention, but Ethan, debatably the most mistreated of the sidekicks, is the one to keep the award.
• There is also the fact that Warren went from becoming Will's self-described "enemy" to his "best friend". The end card splash comic page shows Will with his friends, and Warren for the first time is smiling.

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