History Main / ContagiousHeroism

* Kyouko in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' is introduced as an UnscrupulousHero and clashes violently with the heroic Sayaka at first. However, after the true nature of magical girls is revealed to them, Kyouko grows more attached to Sayaka, rediscovers her own long-forgotten heroic self, and ultimately [[spoiler:commits a HeroicSacrifice to stop a rampaging Witch!Sayaka]].

** Garrus is unique as a companion in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' in that you can shift his attitude to life with your actions and dialogue. He starts off as a frustrated CowboyCop, but traveling with a Paragon!Shepard convinces him that playing by-the-book is the better alternative. Of course, working with Renegade!Shepard only reinforces his original beliefs.

** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', you can continue to influence Garrus on his Loyalty Mission, but the game also gives us Jack, characterized as "the meanest and most spiteful creature in the galaxy". While she certainly tries to live up to that description, undertaking the SuicideMission with Shepard brings out the more selfless traits in her. If she dies there, her FamousLastWords blame Shepard for her starting to "care". If she lives, she becomes a much more helpful and caring person by the [[VideoGame/MassEffect3 next game]], even jokingly blaming Shepard for bringing out her softer side.

* This is a gameplay mechanic in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicII'': not only are you able to swing between [[KarmaMeter the Light and Dark Sides of the Force]], but you can also build up RelationshipValues of your party members to sway their own attitudes towards Light and Dark from their default positions to whatever philosophy your support, so the Light-Sided Exile will inevitably do this to her Dark-Sided companions.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse '' peridot lapis and eventually [[spoiler:the diamonds]] become better people after spending time with Steven

** Persistently picking Paragon dialogue and interruptions in the ''Omega'' DLC can push Aria away from her worst impulses and more towards a JerkWithAHeartOfGold as she, Shepard, and Nyreen work together to kick Cerebus off of Omega Station. Once General Petrovksy is defeated the following cutscene has Aria [[spoiler: physically grabbing him by the throat with intent to choke him slowly to death as revenge for forcing her to flee her station. Normally if the player doesn't have Shepard use a Paragon interrupt here Petrovsky is choked to death; however, if Paragon options had been consistently chosen throughout the campaign Aria will spare Petrovsky on her own without needing Shepard to intervene.]] Aria comments that just being around Shepard for a few hours makes her "go soft", comparing Shepard's steadfast moral code to a disease. Nyreen also plays a role with her unyielding nobility towards caring for the civilians on Omega as well as [[WorkingWithTheEx being Aria's ex] -- Aria's dialogue at the end, should she move towards softening, suggests [[spoiler:she's partially doing it to honor Nyreen's sacrifice at the entrance of the Afterlife nightclub]].

** Persistently picking Paragon dialogue and interruptions in the ''Omega'' DLC can push Aria away from her worst impulses as she, Shepard, and Nyreen work together to kick Cerebus off of Omega Station. Once General Petrovksy is defeated the following cutscene has Aria [[spoiler: physically grabbing him by the throat with intent to choke him slowly to death as revenge for forcing her to flee her station. Normally if the player doesn't have Shepard use a Paragon interrupt here Petrovsky is choked to death; however, if Paragon options had been consistently chosen throughout the campaign Aria will spare Petrovsky on her own without needing Shepard to intervene.]] Aria comments that just being around Shepard for a few hours makes her "go soft", comparing Shepard's steadfast moral code to a disease.

A type of CharacterDevelopment. ToxicFriendInfluence and PeerPressureMakesYouEvil are the opposites. Compare GotMeDoingIt (which is about mannerisms rather than internal values), GoodFeelsGood (which is about good's inherent superiority over evil, rather than personal influence), and TheParagon (who actively strives to make this happen). Compare/contrast MoralityPet, who induces niceness in a villain who otherwise remains perfectly vile.

* In the first two ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' books, career criminal Mulch Diggums only works with the rest of the cast in exchange for time cut off his sentence or a MercyLead over the cops who want to arrest him, or as a result of being blackmailed. By the third book, he's incredibly annoyed to learn that he's developed a fondness towards Artemis and is prepared to commit an entirely non-selfish act to prevent Artemis being kidnapped by [[TheMafia the Chicago mob]].

When an [[AntiHero anti-heroic]] or outright {{villain}}ous character is forced by circumstances to work with a [[{{Heroes}} heroic character]] and over time, becomes more selfless and cooperative as a result (though not necessarily to HeelFaceTurn levels). They may even blame TheHero for making them go "soft" — often right after a ConscienceMakesYouGoBack or a ChangedMyMindKid moment. This is even more likely to occur if the heroic character is a MessianicArchetype, an AllLovingHero, etc.

* Mittens the cat would've been content to stay behind in Las Vegas while ''Disney/{{Bolt}}'' continued to Los Angeles, had not Rhino reminded her of Bolt's selfless ethics. Bolt's heroism is infectious to the point that Mittens rescues Rhino the hamster during his HeroicSacrifice, something that would have been inconceivable when Mittens and Rhino first met.

When an [[AntiHero anti-heroic]] or outright {{villain}}ous character is forced by circumstances to work with a [[HeroicArchetype heroic character]] and over time, becomes more selfless and cooperative as a result (though not necessarily to HeelFaceTurn levels). They may even blame TheHero for making them go "soft" — often right after a ConscienceMakesYouGoBack or a ChangedMyMindKid moment. This is even more likely to occur if the heroic character is a MessianicArchetype, an AllLovingHero, etc.

* Luffy from ''Manga/OnePiece'' is hardly a hero (and doesn't want to be one), but he has a massive problem with powerful people abusing their power and often demonstrates it with his fists. Thanks to his charismatic and caring nature, this attitude quickly takes hold on most of his crew mates, even on the stoic and previously uncaring swordsman Zoro.

* Downplayed in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''. One of [[Characters/DiscworldCityWatch Carrot's]] defining traits is that he expects people around him to behave and be good to each other, and they do. The effect from his presence tends to be temporary, and wears off shortly after he's gone, but as long as he's around, it works on just about everyone.

* Doyle in ''Series/{{Angel}}''. In the first episode, he is reluctant to help Angel in any way other than getting the visions and passing on the message; after Angel forces him to come along to Russel's place, Doyle almost bails when he hears gun shots. Fast forward to the episode ''[[Recap/AngelS01E09Hero Hero]]'', where Doyle [[spoiler:decides to make a HeroicSacrifice instead of Angel]].

** From the same game, there's also Miranda Lawson. At the beginning, she is one of the most loyal operatives that the Illusive Man has in all of Cerberus. At the end, she dramatically gives her resignation from Cerberus, having become even more loyal to Shepard.

* Parodied in ''Webcomic/SamAndFuzzy''. The majority of the comic's early story arcs revolves around Sam being drawn into Mr Blank's plot to resurrect the defunct Ninja Mafia (and Mr Black's desire to keep it dead). One of the players in this plot ends up being Getrude Dupont, who spent most of her life training in the hopes of becoming Ninja Emperor, a position Sam basically stumbled into under false pretenses. When the position is in her grasp if she just lets Mr Blank kill Sam, she finds that she cant go through with it, and points out that, out of all the people she has betrayed and backstabbed in her life, Sam was the only person who ever expected her to do the right thing, and it makes her want to do...''something''.

* ComicBook/GreenArrow from ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' was already a hero but is introduced adamantly refusing join because he doesn't like the League's style. They only seemed to fight the "big monsters" while he preferred help the "little guys". However, after he takes down a giant radioactive "monster", he starts to reconsider, that and ComicBook/BlackCanary walking by didn't hurt either. Interestingly, it's later implied that ''he'' is playing this role for the rest of the League -- that Green Arrow is acting as a kind of MoralityChain for the more powerful members of the League, keeping their attention on the "little guys".

* Luffy from ''Anime/OnePiece'' is hardly a hero (and doesn't want to be one), but he has a massive problem with powerful people abusing their power and often demonstrates it with his fists. Thanks to his charismatic and caring nature, this attitude quickly takes hold on most of his crew mates, even on the stoic and previously uncaring swordsman Zoro.
* Zabuza from ''Anime/{{Naruto}}'' has a moment of this due to Haku
* Both Piccolo and Vegeta from the ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' series fell prey to this, though it took a ''lot'' longer with Vegeta.

->''"Wish I'd never met you, Doctor, I was much better off as a coward."''
-->--'''Captain Jack Harkness''', ''Series/DoctorWho'', "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E13ThePartingOfTheWays The Parting of the Ways]]"

When an [[AntiHero anti-heroic]] or outright {{villain}}ous character is forced by circumstances to work with a [[HeroicArchetype heroic character]] and over time, becomes more selfless and cooperative as a result (though not necessarily to HeelFaceTurn levels). They may even blame TheHero for making them go "soft" -- often right after a ConscienceMakesYouGoBack or a ChangedMyMindKid moment. This is even more likely to occur if the heroic character is a MessianicArchetype, an AllLovingHero, etc.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E6TheVampiresOfVenice "The Vampires of Venice"]], Rory Williams [[WhatTheHellHero calls the Doctor out for this]], pointing out that the Doctor is terribly dangerous because he inspires people to try and impress him. Ironically enough, Rory himself goes with Amy to assist the Doctor in saving Venice, the Doctor recalling Rory's words.

* [[KidHero Ezra Bridger]] of ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' is originally a "street rat" who's mostly in it for himself. This changes when he joins the crew of the ''Ghost'' and sees how often they put themselves in danger to help others, inspiring him to do the same and setting him on the path to becoming a Jedi.

-->--'''Captain Jack Harkness''', ''Series/DoctorWho'', "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E13ThePartingOfTheWays Parting of the Ways]]"

[[folder:Web Comics]]

** Jack Harkness; when he's introduced in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E9TheEmptyChild The Empty Child]]", he's a time-traveling scam artist, but his time spent travelling with the Doctor turns him into an AntiHero. He [[LampshadeHanging acknowledges the change]] when he's preparing to make a LastStand against the Daleks to buy the Doctor some time, commenting good-naturedly that he wished he'd never met the Doctor because he preferred himself as a coward.
** Several series later, Rory Williams [[WhatTheHellHero calls the Doctor out for this]], pointing out that the Doctor is terribly dangerous because he inspires people to try and impress him. Ironically enough, Rory himself goes with Amy to assist the Doctor in saving Venice, the Doctor recalling Rory's words.

When an [[AntiHero anti-heroic]] or outright {{villain}}ous character is forced by circumstances to work with a [[HeroicArchetype heroic character]] and over time, becomes more selfless and cooperative as a result (though not necessarily to HeelFaceTurn levels). They may even blame TheHero for making them go "soft"--often right after a ConscienceMakesYouGoBack or a ChangedMyMindKid moment. This is even more likely to occur if the heroic character is a MessianicArchetype, an AllLovingHero, etc.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

* Doyle in ''{{Series/Angel}}''. In the first episode, he is reluctant to help Angel in any way other than getting the visions and passing on the message; after Angel forces him to come along to Russel's place, Doyle almost bails when he hears gun shots. Fast forward to the episode ''[[Recap/AngelS01E09Hero Hero]]'', where Doyle [[spoiler:decides to make a HeroicSacrifice instead of Angel]].
* Jack Harkness in ''Series/DoctorWho''; when he's introduced in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E9TheEmptyChild "The Empty Child"]] he's a time-traveling scam artist, but his time spent travelling with the Doctor turns him into an AntiHero. He [[LampshadeHanging acknowledges the change]] when he's preparing to make a LastStand against the Daleks to buy the Doctor some time, commenting good-naturedly that he wished he'd never met the Doctor because he preferred himself as a coward.

* Parodied in ''SamAndFuzzy''. The majority of the comics early storyarcs revolves around Sam being drawn into Mr Blank's plot to resurrect the defunct Ninja Mafia (and Mr Black's desire to keep it dead). One of the players in this plot ends up being Getrude Dupont, who spent most of her life training in the hopes of becoming Ninja Emperor, a position Sam basically stumbled into under false pretenses. When the position is in her grasp if she just lets Mr Blank kill Sam, she finds that she cant go through with it, and points out that, out of all the people she has betrayed and backstabbed in her life, Sam was the only person who ever expected her to do the right thing, and it makes her want to do...''something''.
--> '''Sam''': Be a better person?
--> '''Gertrude''': No, thats not it...
--> '''Sam''': ...pretend to be a better person while you think I'm watching?
--> '''Getrude''': Thats the one!

* Aside from "honest man" [[TokenGoodTeammate Nate Ford]], the main cast of ''Series//{{Leverage}}'' start the series as a misfit collection of unapologetic criminals who are mostly out for their own self-interest and were brought together by the promise of money. Realizing how much more ''effective'' they are as a team convinces them to do a second job together... but then GoodFeelsGood really starts setting in, prompting them to stick together for "one more." By the time the second season begins, they find that their old selfish ways no longer give them any satisfaction.

* Ymir in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' starts off as an extremely cynical and egoistic individual, but falls in love with the (unhealthily) selfless Christa Renz, and undergoes much character development under her influence (as well as vice versa). Before she is PutOnABus, we last see her [[spoiler:sacrificing herself for Christa, as well as Reiner and Berthold, and musing about how nice it feels to be a "goddess" for a change ("Goddess" being Christa's affectionate in-universe nickname among her comrades)]].

* Zabuza from ''Anime/Naruto'' has a moment of this due to Haku