Trope Talk: Heroic Sacrifices
Added 2024-10-18 15:05:01 +0000 UTCThe hard part for this one wasn't finding examples. It was choosing examples.
Comments
Possible Trope Talk idea: Villains in Love (A possible treatise on how you don't have to be a hero to find love)
calvin praetorius
2024-10-19 23:52:59 +0000 UTCMe watching this video: *All of Aurora scrolling through my brain* Hey Red, you've been thinking about this trope for a long time, haven't you.
KipOfTheMany
2024-10-19 22:42:59 +0000 UTCMeanwhile Shadow-Weaver gets the last word on her interactions with Adora and Catra through her self-sacrifice. As Sarcastic Chorus said “Have fun complaining about me in therapy now!”
Jason Veevaert
2024-10-19 21:48:48 +0000 UTCI keep reminding myself of Mara's response to Adora in the PoP finale: you're worth more than what you can give to other people. In her case, that's what she needed to hear before she was about to make her self-sacrifice.
og.monstr
2024-10-19 14:15:16 +0000 UTCOn the topic of non-fatal heroic sacrifices, the current Transformers comic by Daniel Warren Johnson (which is SO GOOD!) has one where, and I’ll avoid names to try and limit spoilers for anyone who wants to read it themselves or is catching up, one of the Autobots is pinned down with a damaged arm as the Decepticon they were fighting just hurt one of the human allies. Seeing the Decepticon going to finish the human off, the Autobot RIPS THEIR DAMAGED ARM OFF and uses it as a melee weapon against the Dcepticon!
Jason Veevaert
2024-10-19 01:59:13 +0000 UTCLastly, my friend and I have been hoping for this particular Trope Talk for five years, and it truly means the world to us. So, most importantly, thank you to both Red and Blue for providing me and so many others with fantastic content and the opportunity to talk about all of the stories and characters we love. You guys are awesome. :D
Kura
2024-10-18 23:55:58 +0000 UTCBroadly covering most of the other examples so I can stop replying to myself: Lord of the Rings is awesome, obviously, Spock's death is just tragically perfect; I still like the 3rd, 5th, and 8th Pokemon movies despite being not interested in the franchise besides my four favourite games, and how integral Entei, Latios, and Lucario are is a big part of that; Claymore is a manga that I can't recommend to most people because of the amount of violence and body horror in it, but if you can handle that, for sure check it out, it's a fantastic story of humanity, monsters, and many different kinds of love; the Akira Himekawa manga duo made a two volume story out of a Zelda game with a non-existent plot, even managing to make Shadow Link sympathetic in such a short amount of time, and I applaud them for that despite not liking some things they did in their Twilight Princess adaptation; Wizardmon's death hit me so hard when I was little--I was so used to characters coming back [Mufasa and Bambi's mother being the only exceptions at that point], that it kind of scarred me, that his death was final; people always go to Zuko as the number one best redemption arc, but I actually prefer Beelzemon's arc more and I think his character development and growth is some of the best in any story; and, finally, Durkon's death in vol. 5 of The Order of The Stick, and the consequential events in Vol. 6 is just.....genius planning on such a devastating level. Phew. Done. I really hope I'm not inconveniencing anyone by rambling on like this.
Kura
2024-10-18 23:50:35 +0000 UTCGed/Sparrowhawk's journey starts in A Wizard of Earthsea as a proud young boy using magic for the first time to save his village from invaders. His sacrifice in The Farthest Shore is a little different from the others; rather than giving up his life, he gives up his magic, which is not only central to his identity, but also is him, in a sense. The fourth book, Tehanu, about rebuilding his life, almost literally, his struggles with the pain and emotional scars, and learning who he can be without that integral part of himself. Then the sixth book, The Other Wind, shows that he's accepted himself as not Ged the archmage or Ged the hero, but Ged the man, the person, and that he's content with it.
Kura
2024-10-18 23:41:26 +0000 UTCZack's death is the only thing I like about Crisis Core, along with his interactions with Aeris. Kenichi Suzumiya brings such a great optimism and likability to him, and Zack's death is one of his finest acting moments, coupled with Takahiro Sakurai putting everything into Cloud's anguished scream at the end. The price of freedom is steep indeed.
Kura
2024-10-18 23:35:51 +0000 UTCNext, Persona 3. I love that this game pulls no punches. It builds up to the protagonist's death by showing how they live, and everything they love, and all they have to lose. The female protagonist/Kotone is my preferred way to play, and made me care about the characters even more than before. Her death hit me even harder than how Makoto/the male protagonist's death is portrayed in the Persona 3 movies. [Also, I don't care what Atlus says, Kotone is canon.]
Kura
2024-10-18 23:33:20 +0000 UTCFirst up, Pokemon Explorers of Sky. Wow, a game with four heroic sacrifices, no wonder this is my favourite game of all time. Joking aside, the player character's heartbreaking farewell scene, Grovyle's utter dedication to doing the most he can to prevent the world's destruction [including his philosophy of "The important thing is not how long you live, It's what you accomplish with your life", along with Celebi's affirmation that she will 'devote my whole life to this cause!', and, in Special Episode 5, Dusknoir taking the hit for Grovyle and coming to understand his former enemy, and the final big heroic sacrifice by all three to keep Primal Dialga from altering the timeline...I could genuinely gush about this game, and how it changed my life, for hours. Ultimately everyone lives, and it's all the more beautiful for it.
Kura
2024-10-18 23:24:53 +0000 UTCReposting to save my huge list of favourite heroic sacrifices and explain why I like them most! Major spoilers ahead for a lot of things: Pokemon Explorers, Persona 3, Final Fantasty VII, the Earthsea series, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek II, Pokemon Spell of the Unknown, Pokemon Heroes, and Pokemon Lucario and The Mystery of Mew, the Claymore manga, the Zelda: Four Swords manga adaptation, Digimon Adventure, Digimon Tamers, and The Order of The Stick.]
Kura
2024-10-18 23:17:24 +0000 UTC
