Motivational Kiss

Link: How about a kiss, for luck?
Zelda: You've got to be kidding.

— Link: The Faces of Evil

The Hero is just about to take on a herculean and possibly life-threatening task, be it facing down the Big Bad, barging into a burning building, or even trying to clear a massive Bottomless Pit. All his friends are depending on him, and time is running out, but he still may be a little nervous and apprehensive. He needs some sort of Heroism Incentive.

All he needs is a little peck and he'll be ready to go.

A Motivational Kiss happens when someone, almost Always Female, gives the main protagonist a kiss that gives him an extra boost in confidence. The kisser will often, but not always, be the protagonist's Love Interest, or at least someone with whom he's been Ship Teased in the past.

May sometimes overlap with Forceful Kiss, Last Kiss, Now or Never Kiss, or a (successful) Comically Small Bribe. Inverted by the Smooch of Victory.

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Examples:

Anime and Manga

• Sometimes the hero is the one who steals a kiss to give himself motivation: In Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, both Kamina and Kittan choose to kiss Yoko shortly before dying heroically in battle.
• Inverted in Baccano!, when Jacuzzi kisses Nice just before running off to confront an Ax-Crazy Mook with a Flamethrower. She admits that's the first time they kissed.
• Sara gives one to Knuckles in Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie.
• Neon Genesis Evangelion. Misato's infamous Last Kiss to Shinji in The End of Evangelion. Although she'd tried being a Cool Big Sis to Shinji, she kisses Shinji in an attempt to bring him out of his depression, saying, "That was a grown-up kiss. We'll do the rest when you get back." Misato then shoves him into the elevator and collapses onto the floor, having been shot in the back moments earlier. Exactly how motivated Shinji was by the kiss is open to question, as he tastes blood on his mouth afterwards and realises Misato is dying.
• Inverted in Gunslinger Girl when cyborg Triela gives her handler Hilshire a peck on the cheek before going to take on some terrorists.

Fan Works

• Naru-Hina Chronicles:
  • After getting a book about time-space jutsu from the library, Naruto cries over how it looks so hard and he'll never work his jutsu out. In order to cheer him up, Hinata decides to interrupt him with a kiss. After the kiss is over, she asks him if he feels calmer and he replies with "Eh, heh, heh heh. ...Yeah~" while blushing and having a large smile.
  • When Naruto and Hinata are talking about Kosuke's connection to the Kyubi, the Uzumaki is sad and wonders if their discussion about it was also the kind of discussion the elders and the Third Hokage would have about himself. This causes Hinata to interrupt Naruto again with this kind of kiss.
• In Naruto: the Secret Songs of the Ninja, Hinata gives Naruto a kiss on the cheek the night before his arranged duel with Gaara as "a good luck charm", after Naruto confesses his fears and insecurities to her. It ends up saving Naruto's soul from the Kyuubi when it tries to take over his body during the battle, allowing Naruto to hear Hinata scream his name.

Films — Animation

• At the climax of Monster House, protagonist DJ is faced with the task of climbing up a tower crane and dropping a stick of dynamite down Constance's chimney, destroying her once and for all. When he says that he doesn't think he can do it, his Love Interest Jenny loudly proclaims, "Yes, you can!" before kissing him on the mouth.
• In Hey Arnold! The Movie, before she sends them on their quest to save Arnold's neighborhood from being demolished, Bridget gives Arnold and Gerald a kiss for luck, after she kisses Gerald his hair springs out and he faints.
• Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars. Johnny Rico is dying of thirst in a Martian desert when a Helpful Hallucination of his deceased lover Dizzy Flores wakes him up with a kiss and gets him moving again. There's Homoerotic Subtext to this as 'she' is actually a psychic vision sent by Carl Jenkins.

Films — Live-Action

• Subverted radically by the villainess Poison Ivy in Batman & Robin. Late in the film, Robin is lured into the villainess' lair under the pretense of her love for him. When Ivy reveals Freeze's plan to destroy Gotham City, Robin turns to leave in order to stop him, only to be pulled back by her. In truth, it's Double Subverted by Robin, as he came prepared and thus doesn't die.
  Poison Ivy: One kiss, my love. For luck. [Robin and she lean in, with Robin unaware of her evil smirk, and share a passionate kiss] Bad luck, I'm afraid.
• In Captain America: The First Avenger, Steve Rogers receives a kiss from Peggy Carter just before he boards the Red Skull's plane.
• Played more-or-less straight in Mystery Team... except that Jason doesn't actually know how to kiss, and just blows into the love interest's mouth.
• In A New Hope, Princess Leia gives Luke a peck on the cheek "for luck" before he tries to swing over a precarious gap.
• In Peter Pan, Peter is nearly defeated by Hook until he gets one of these from Wendy.
• Happens in Van Helsing when Van Helsing and Anna split up before the climactic battle, he to face down Dracula using his werewolf power to defeat the vampire and she to retrieve the werewolf cure serum.

Literature

• Gender Flipped in Stephen King's The Stand, where Stu Redman gives Dayna Jurgens two kisses for luck when she's about to go away on a dangerous mission.
• The Battle Of The Labyrinth: Right before Percy heads into a volcano for a very dangerous mission, Annabeth gives him a kiss and tells him to be careful. Then disappears under her hat.
• The Dresden Files book Cold Days has a Shout-Out to the Star Wars example between Harry and Murphy, and later they get a The Big Damn Now or Never Kiss right before another probable Suicide Mission.
• In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Hermione gives Ron a kiss on the cheek before his first Quidditch game.
• Another Gender Flipped example in A Wrinkle in Time in which Calvin kisses Meg right before she goes off to face It and save her brother. In front of her own father, no less. Actually subverted in the film version, in which he whispers, "I'd kiss you, but your father's here."
• In The Martian when Dr. Beck, the mission EVA specialist is suiting up to save Watney at the end of the story Johannsen gives him a kiss on the outside of his helmet.
  Johannsen: That was stupid. Don't tell anyone I did that.
  Beck: Don't tell anyone I liked it.
• A Darker Shade of Magic: Lila kisses Kell before they cross worlds the first time, telling him it's for luck - not that she needs it. At the end of the book Kell echoes the kiss and her words.
  Lila: What was that for?
  Kell: For luck. Not that you need it.

Live-Action TV

• Star Trek: The Next Generation: One time when Data was on an away mission a local girl gave him such a kiss. He was perplexed.
• The Suite Life on Deck episode Maddie On Deck: Maddie's kiss to Zack allowed him to do an overkill of noodle-whacking towards the prince, enough for the prince to surrender and run home crying for his mommy!
• Done by Captain Power to his female crewmate Pilot before the big trench run against the Icarus Platform.
  Power: For luck.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer
  • In "Never Kill A Boy On The First Date", Buffy has to run off and save Giles from a vampire, interrupting her date with Owen who doesn't know anything about The Masquerade. So she makes a point of kissing Owen to let him know she's not just making an excuse to run out on him.
  • In "No Place Like Home", Riley Finn (who does know about The Masquerade) gives Buffy a good luck kiss on her forehead when she has to do something dangerous. Buffy says she needs more luck than that, so he smooches her on the lips as well.
• Daredevil (2015): In "Dogs to a Gunfight", Grotto tries to ask Karen to give him one prior to participating in a sting as part of his plea deal (actually a police operation to ambush the Punisher). Karen steps close...and gives him a middle finger.
  Grotto: [chuckles] I'll take it.

Professional Wrestling

• Gail Kim to Eric Young at TNA Slammiversary 2007 as a way for him to get his mind off of Ms. (Traci) Brooks seducing him once again and focus on defeating Robert Roode to free himself from his service.
• Michelle McCool to Kaval before he faces Husky Harris for the third time on NXT. While he was already motivated to defeat him, the look he gives after receiving a kiss shows he appreciated it.

Video Games

• Galaxy Angel:
  • At the climax of her route in the first game, Ranpha specifically requests Tact to kiss her, so he can give her a boost of confidence before the final battle.
  • In Moonlit Lovers, Vanilla gives Tact a kiss on the cheek as a good luck charm (apparently on Ranpha's suggestion) after he convinces her to pilot Unit #7 together at the end of her route. Once they're aboard and ready to launch, Tact returns her the favor at her request.
• The Legend Of Zelda C Di Games:
  • Actively defied by Zelda in Link: The Faces of Evil; Link asks if Zelda can give him a lucky kiss, to which she refuses.
  • In Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon. Link gave his canteen to Lady Alma in exchange for a kiss.
• In Mass Effect 3, when EDI describes the Normandy's readiness before the final battle, she states she even kissed Joker for luck.
• In Tonic Trouble, once you lose all your lives, Ed is teleported to a graveyard where Grögh and Suzy wait for you to decide to "Quit" or "Continue". If you choose "Quit", Grögh will beat Ed up, but if you choose "Continue", Suzy will shower Ed with kisses.

Web Comics

• In Girl Genius:
  • Gil gets one here (continued to the next page). Unusual in that it's prompted by his romantic rival — it's not that Tarvek wants him to end up with Agatha, but he knows that everyone's depending on Gil to do well, so it's in his best interests.
    Gil: Right. I... I'm off.
    Tarvek: [whispering to Agatha] Oh, for pity's sake. Go give him something to fight for.
    Gil: GET WOUND, STURMVORAUS! I DO NOT NEED YOUR HELP—
    Agatha: [launches herself at Gil and kisses him]
  • A lesser version from Pix and Abner, serving as the start of their relationship.

Web Original

• Critical Role has Pike kiss Scanlan during the battle against K'Varn the Beholder, and the Game Master, Matthew Mercer, rules that this grants him inspiration for his next roll. Vax's attempt to replicate the feat by kissing Percy is unsuccessful, though, with the note that it will need more narrative buildup.

Western Animation

• In the Ben 10: Ultimate Alien episode "Fame" after Ben fears the entire school will hate him after finding out his secret that he can change into different aliens, Julie gives him a kiss to assure him that not everyone hates him.
• In Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, Taffy often asks Captain Caveman to do something for her which he doesn't want to do. Once she kisses him, he's ready for anything.
• In the Captain Planet episode "You Bet Your Planet," before Wheeler participates in the foot race for the fate of Earth, Linka gives him a kiss for luck.
• Towards the end of Frisky Dingo, at one point Stan and Taqu'il are dangling from a ledge, and Ta'quille uses a grappling hook concealed in his belt to lift them to safety. Before he does, Stan (referencing the Star Wars example above) gives him a quick kiss and says "For luck." Taqu'il is not amused, and activates the grappling hook with nothing more than a cold look.
• In an episode of Punkin' Puss and Mushmouse, Mushmouse's girlfriend kisses him as incentive to face up to Punkin' Puss. It gives Mushmouse plenty of courage, but the matter of size weighs against him.
• In the Thunder Cats 2011 episode "Into The Astral Plane'' before Lion-O begins his quest in the plane Cheetara gives him a kiss for luck. Tygra becomes jealous of this, thinking she has feelings for Lion-O, and volunteers to go with him.
• Total Drama: There's been a few motivational kisses, most of them delivered forcefully.
  • Because Vito is being uncooperative during the challenge in "Finder Creepers", Anne Maria promises him he'll "get more of this" if he gets moving. Having uttered that line, she delivers an intense kiss on his lips. With that prospect in mind, Vito throws himself into the game enthusiastically.
  • Sky ends up with Dave as her helper in "Lies, Cries and One Big Prize". After her earlier rejection of his advances, she knows he'll be a worthless ally unless he has a motivation of his own. Thus, she kisses him and explains that her earlier rejection was because she wanted to stay focused on winning. She suggests he still has a shot with her after the finale, which is plenty for Dave to want to do everything in his power to make sure Sky wins.

Real Life

• "Morganna the Kissing Bandit" was a woman who'd sneak onto the baseball field and try to kiss a player. By 1990 she'd kissed over 40 professional athletes. She continued despite being beaten by security once.

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