"The price of greatness is responsibility."
Responsibility is something that we are expected to accept. Commonly, it's something that we're obligated to do (going to a job, taking care of children, etc.) Most of the time, responsibility is something we have a problem dealing with and we would rather be free from the weight it puts on us, which at times can cause more problems. Here are tropes dealing with characters taking responsibility and the lack thereof.
See Blame Tropes for when characters hold other people responsible, and the Indebted Index for when taking responsibility requires giving something of value.
Tropes:
Also see:
- Accomplice by Inaction: You are held accountable for not helping someone in need.
- The Atoner: Taking responsibility to turn over a new leaf.
- Being God Is Hard: Being the Almighty One requires an unfathomable amount of responsibility.
- Being Good Sucks: Since being a good person requires responsibility, it can be difficult to bear it.
- Caregiver Angst: Being a caregiver requires stepping up to the job whenever their patient needs help regardless of the difficulties that come with it.
- The Chains of Commanding: Being a leader is tough responsibility.
- Childish Older Sibling: An older sibling is less responsible than the younger sibling.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Being accountable for saving everyone's lives.
- Conscience Makes You Go Back: Leaving someone in trouble, but takes responsibility in helping them anyways.
- Duty That Transcends Death: When a character's sense of responsibility lets them come back from the dead in some way or shape.
- Extremely Protective Child: Offspring is extremely protective of their parents' emotional and physical wellbeing.
- Foolish Husband, Responsible Wife: A wife is responsible while her husband isn't.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: One sibling takes responsibility while the other sibling doesn't.
- I Owe You My Life: When a character feels obligated to help the other who helped them.
- It's All My Fault: A character believes that he is responsible for something he didn't do.
- Guilt Complex: This character believes that he's responsible for everything bad happening.
- Lawful Good: The character alignment involving great responsibility in upholding the law and doing good.
- Lawful Neutral: The character alignment involving great responsibility in upholding the law.
- Lineage Ladder: When a character is expected to uphold a familial pattern or prevent one from happening to their descendants.
- Must Make Amends: Taking responsibility to fix a serious mistake.
- Never My Fault: Characters avoid taking responsibility and always blames others.
- Passing the Torch: The hero passes on the responsibility of heroism to a successor.
- Personal Gain Hurts: Putting personal interests before responsibility isn't a good thing.
- Personal Horror: The result of failing to do what you see as your responsibility.
- Prodigal Hero: The hero returns home to take responsibility.
- Promotion to Parent: An older sibling takes responsibility to take care of their younger sibling or siblings.
- Reminder of Duty: A person is reminded of their duties and obligations.
- Samaritan Syndrome: Feeling guilty for every time they might have saved someone, but didn't.
- Sliding Scale of Leadership Responsibility: The scale of the most responsible and the least responsible leaders.
- Stopping the Blame Game: A character gets called out on their refusal to accept responsibility for wrongdoings they've made when they try to blame someone else for them.
- With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: A hero is responsible for using their power for good.
- You Owe Me: When a character insists that the other he helped must return the favor.
