History Main / HeroesFrontierStep

* In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', this moment is actually given to an unnamed extra. [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] has set up a SadisticChoice in which two ferries are booby-trapped to explode, with each ship having the other ship's detonator, and the passengers on both ships being told that they ''must'' make the decision to blow the other ship or else Joker will just [[KillEmAll blow them both]]. While the civilians on one side hold a debate and a vote, a convicted criminal on the other seizes the detonator... and throws it out the window, decisively declaring it [[SuicidalPacifism Better To Die Than To Kill]]. The entire ''film'' has been about the Joker's premise we live in a WorldHalfEmpty; with one action, this unnamed convict disproves his thesis for good and all, irrevocably changing the film's tone and raising the possibility Gotham can EarnYourHappyEnding.

Compare FaceRealization, where a character surprises even themselves by proving how good they are deep down.

** Mr. Satan/Hercule is a buffoon who never has any clue about what’s going on, is excessively weak, and [[FakeUltimateHero a complete glory hound]]. But this is one of the reasons that he is also one of the most heroic characters of the series. He became the best friend of a rampaging monster, whom he convinced to stop killing innocent people without even fighting. He also convinced the earthlings to send their power to Goku's Spirit Bomb, and got Vegeta to safety in time for Goku to finish off Kid Buu. FakeUltimateHero and LovableCoward he may be, Mr. Satan certainly has the heart of a hero, if nothing else.

** Neville Longbottom, whose parents became insane, and got bullied for years by other students when his grandmother wasn’t ashamed of him, grew from an insecure and powerless kid to a handsome and fierce fighter for the Resistance in his school. He was brave enough to insult Voldemort and kill his snake with the Sword of Gryffindor (that you can only get your hands on if you have the bravery of a hero).

** And, of course, Harry Potter himself. Granted, he gets easily angry and often acts before he thinks. Can you blame him? He was bullied by his foster family for years. He had to face monsters, injustice, torture, loss of loved ones, and he wasn’t even an adult! Actually, he has much more [[FreudianExcuse Freudian Excuses]] than Voldemort to become a murdering psychopath. What does he do? He saves his bullying cousin's soul. He saves his rival’s life (twice). He treats every species, including elves and goblins, as an equal. He spares his enemies. He feels pity for the man who ruined his life. And he saves every… single… person… in danger. [[spoiler: And to top it off, he willingly walks into his (temporary, as it turns out) death.]] He made lots of HFS before defeating the most dangerous wizard of all time!

-->There was a slight noise from the direction of the dim corner where the ladder was. It was the king descending. I could see that he was bearing something in one arm, and assisting himself with the other. He came forward into the light; upon his breast lay a slender girl of fifteen. She was but half conscious; she was dying of smallpox. Here was heroism at its last and loftiest possibility, its utmost summit; this was challenging death in the open field unarmed, with all the odds against the challenger, no reward set upon the contest, and no admiring world in silks and cloth of gold to gaze and applaud; and yet the king’s bearing was as serenely brave as it had always been in those cheaper contests where knight meets knight in equal fight and clothed in protecting steel. He was great now; sublimely great. The rude statues of his ancestors in his palace should have an addition—I would see to that; and it would not be a mailed king killing a giant or a dragon, like the rest, it would be a king in commoner’s garb bearing death in his arms that a peasant mother might look her last upon her child and be comforted.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The Doctor is an immortal alien, last of his species, who can go anywhere in space and anywhen in time. Does he try to conquer? To get more power? To get revenge for his destroyed planet? Nah, that’s the Master’s work. The Doctor didn’t choose his name for nothing: he wants to make people better. Anywhere he goes, he meets a threat, and stops it. For people he hardly knows. And he never stops to make a family, to settle, to have peace. He just keeps going, following his TARDIS’s will, and always saves as many lives as possible. But it goes beyond. The Doctor treats his enemies with respect. He gives them chances to stop, and doesn’t kill them if can be avoided (though sometimes, when pushed to the limit, he does punish them in a WORSE way). One of the best examples of the Doctor’s pure heart is in the "Last of the Time Lords", where after witnessing the world destroyed, the humans terrorized, and being humiliated and tortured by the Master, the Doctor defeats his worst enemy, who seems horrified. He goes to him… hugs him… and whispers three words that such a monster cannot bear: ''"I forgive you. ''" Being a Time Lord, he doesn’t have one, but two hearts. Two golden hearts.

* Franchise/{{Batman}} went through so many horrors, so much loss and torture that a lesser person would put the costume in the closet. But he keeps going, keeps fighting villains who hurt him in more and more personal ways, to protect a [[ViceCity corrupted city]], without anything in return. And [[ThouShaltNotKill he never kills anyone]]. Never. For these reasons, the mere fact that he keeps coming back to protect Gotham is a Heroes' Frontier Step. For a specific moment, his confrontation with Darkseid in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' where BatmanGrabsAGun, trumping his personal code for a "once-in-a-lifetime exception" to save the universe. Batman may be a man of principle, but he's willing to put it aside if it means saving everyone.

* In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', this moment is actually given to an unnamed extra. [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] has set up a MortonsFork in which two ferries are booby-trapped to explode, with each ship having the other ship's detonator, and the passengers on both ships being told that they ''must'' make the decision to kill the passengers on the other ship or else Joker will just [[KillEmAll blow them both]]. While the civilians on one side hold a debate and a vote, a passenger on the other -- which is filled with convicted criminals -- seizes the detonator on his ship... and throws it out the window, decisively declaring that it is better to die than to kill. The entire ''film'' has been about the Joker's premise we live in a WorldHalfEmpty; with this one action, the unnamed convict disproves his thesis for good and all, irrevocably changing the film's tone.

** ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'': Peter Parker has spent most of the movie [[spoiler:struggling with the absolute breakdown of his life from Mysterio spitefully revealing his secret identity at the end of the preceding film, to the point he goes to Dr Strange and asks him to cast a spell to make the world at large forget Peter Parker is Spider Man. Unfortunately, the spell goes wrong and starts bringing in ''anybody'' who knows Peter is Spiderman into the MCU, threatening a multi-dimensional collapse from other realities. At the film's climax, with the impending breakdown of reality, Peter realises one way to fix the damage: [[{{Unperson}} make everyone forget Peter Parker exists]], sacrificing the normal life he so desperately wanted to keep throughout his previous films and turning himself into a ghost in his own world. Aware that [[WhatYouAreInTheDark nobody will even remember the sacrifice he's making]], Peter still goes through with it to save everybody, and afterwards, despite having lost everything about his old life, he keeps being Spiderman to save others, despite the world still remembering Spiderman as a 'killer' thanks to Mysterio's manipulations]].

* Throughout ''Storm Front'', the first Literature/DresdenFiles novel, the Warden Morgan is presented as a [[InspectorJavert ruthless enforcer bent on finding Harry doing something, anything wrong]] as an excuse to [[OffWithHisHead lop off his head]]. However, at the end of the book, Morgan charges into a burning building to save Harry's life; since Harry hadn't crossed the line into warlock-hood, Morgan was still duty-bound to protect his fellow White Council member. This was the first indication of Morgan's stance as a guardian of the order who felt that it was his duty [[LawfulNeutral to carry out the law exactly as written]], but who nonetheless had a brave, even noble heart.

* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'''s Ningguang is initially presented as a ruthless, calculating businesswoman concerned solely with her own fortune. The greatest symbol of such is the Jade Chamber, a floating palace that stands as a monument to her wealth and power, which she is constantly expanding and is said to value above all else. [[PlayerCharacter The Traveler]] is openly distrustful of Ningguang and her intentions up until the climax of the Liyue story, when [[spoiler:after the vengeful god Osial is unleashed on the city, Ningguang sacrifices the Jade Chamber in a ColonyDrop to finish him off, proving her genuine concern for the welfare of Liyue and its people. In-universe, many of her detractors subsequently come around to admire her for this noble act.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'': Woody starts off as selfish and rude in the first movie being jealous of Buzz, but he eventually befriends him and starts becoming a better person. But he truly made his step to being a true hero in ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3''; Woody not only saves [[BigBad Lotso]] from the incinerator, but he gives up his dream of going to college with Andy so the other toys don't have to be left in the attic.

* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'''s Ningguang is initially presented as a ruthless, calculating businesswoman concerned solely with her own fortune. The greatest symbol of such is the Jade Chamber, a floating palace that stands as a monument to her wealth and power, which she is constantly expanding and is said to value above all else. [[PlayerCharacter The Traveler]] is openly distrustful of Ningguang and her intentions up until the climax of the Liyue story, when [[spoiler:after the vengeful god Osial is unleashed on the city, Ningguang sacrifices the Jade Chamber in a ColonyDrop to finish him off. This proves her genuine concern for the welfare of Liyue and its people, and in-universe, many of her detractors subsequently come around to admire her for this noble act.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'':
** Quasimodo didn't make a step when he saved Esmeralda. No. His HFS is when he [[SaveTheVillain holds Frollo by the cape and doesn't let him go]]. He wouldn't let the man who mistreated him for years, killed many gypsies, including his mother, fall to his death. This short moment definitely solves the riddle: "who is the monster and who is the man?"
** Phoebus spends the first half of the film as a soldier of Frollo's, but proves himself to be a true KnightInShiningArmor when he puts out a torch intended to burn a house down; when Frollo himself lights the house on fire, Phoebus [[HeroicFireRescue rushes inside to rescue the family trapped inside]].
* WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}} becomes a God the same way he became a hero: by saving the love of his life at the risk of his own.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'': Being inspired by ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'', Simba lost his father to his evil uncle. But unlike Hamlet, Simba doesn't have a dilemma. He makes his choice right away, despite the anger he feels.
-->'''Scar:''' What are you going to do? You wouldn't kill your ''own'' uncle...?\\
'''Simba:''' No, Scar. I'm not like you.

* In the original ''WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}}'' film, the title character rescuing Faline from Ronno and a pack of hunting dogs was to establish his evolution from a sweet but cowardly and oblivious kid to a selfless and bold young adult and future Prince of the Forest. [[WesternAnimation/BambiII The midquel]], however, sets it even earlier into childhood, when, despite being broken over being sent to live away from his father, he chooses to rescue his adoptive mother by [[HeroicSacrifice distracting a hunter's dogs onto himself]].

* Sunset Shimmer from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'' manages to do this twice.
** Sunset is the BigBad of [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls1 the first movie]] and pulls a HeelFaceTurn at the end, but there are plenty of people who have doubts she is being genuine. In the sequel, ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks Rainbow Rocks]]'', Sunset [[ReformedButRejected still isn't trusted]] by the students, all while trying to be TheAtoner and even being mocked by the Dazzlings for her failures at being a villain. But in their DarkestHour, Sunset finally gets the courage to come between the Rainbooms' arguing and tell them why their magic hasn't been working. At the end of the movie, she steps on the field with her friends when they're on the verge of defeat despite having visible doubts she has any right to help them, giving them their HeroicSecondWind. This in turn cements Sunset's HeelFaceTurn as genuine, and her place as TheHero of the spinoff series as a whole.
** She gets another one in ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsForgottenFriendship Forgotten Friendship]]'' due to her friends having their memories of her HeelFaceTurn removed via LaserGuidedAmnesia. When the BigBad is cornered and attempts to remove all of the Equestria Girls' memories of high school, Sunset [[TakingTheBullet jumps in the way of the spell]], losing all of her memories not just of high school, but of being human. This is enough to convince the other Equestria Girls that even if they don't remember Sunset being a good person, she's earned the right to be their friend.
* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'': Woody starts off as selfish and rude in the first movie being jealous of Buzz, but he eventually befriends him and starts becoming a better person. But he truly made his step to being a true hero in ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3''; Woody not only saves [[BigBad Lotso]] from the incinerator, but he gives up his dream of going to college with Andy so the other toys don't have to be left in the attic.

* ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'': Darth Vader killing Palpatine, thus saving Luke and allowing the Resistance to win. While he [[RedemptionEqualsDeath dies shortly after]], we see his ghost in the afterlife alongside Obi-Wan and Yoda, implying that he's completely redeemed.

* ''Film/ComeAndSee'' centers around Flyora, a Belarusian teenager who decides to take up arms against the Nazis who have invaded his village. But rather than becoming a heroic solier, Flyora spends much of the story becoming a horribly disheveled wretch who endures one tragedy after another.[[spoiler: The next-to-last shot of the film shows him balking at killing baby Hitler, showing that while Flyora lost his innocence, he still retained his humanity]].

* ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'': Darth Vader killing Palpatine, thus saving Luke and allowing the Resistance to win. While he [[RedemptionEqualsDeath dies shortly after]]l we see his ghost in the afterlife alongside Obi-Wan and Yoda, implying that he's completely redeemed.

* ''VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime'': [[TheLancer Bentley]] spends most of the game worried about his missing girlfriend Penelope, and when he finds out [[EvilAllAlong the truth about her]], he's [[HeroicBSOD crushed]]. However, when [[TheSociopath she]] goes after [[TrueCompanions Sly and Murray]] out of sheer hatred, Bentley builds himself a mecha to counter hers, goes to confront and dump her, and fights her to defend his brothers, Carmelita, and ''[[AttackOnOneIsAnAttackOnAll all Coopers in history]]'' in an ActOfTrueLove, reaffirming both his loyalty to the Cooper Gang, and [[HonorAmongThieves his morality in general]]. This also coincidents with Penelope's MoralEventHorizon, which makes her Bentley's EvilCounterpart.

Compare WhatYouAreInTheDark, where a character surprises even themselves by proving how good they are deep down.

** ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk'': The Hulk is considered by many to be nothing more than a mindless monster. He is shown to be more than that when he saves Betty from dying in the crossfire between him and the military.

** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'': Peter Quill is an intergalactic thief who seems to be purely motivated by money and his own self-preservation. When Gamora is left floating in the vacuum of space, however, Quill is willing to sacrifice himself when he gives her his helmet in order to survive. The rest of the Guardians later prove their worth when they are willing to fight Ronan and his forces despite being at a huge disadvantage.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'':

''Manga/DrStone'': Gen Asagiri. He's a lazy, self-absorbed, playboy who states it himself that he's a superficial person that will choose the winning side in a heartbeat if it secures his own comfort. Even after choosing to side with Senku and lying to Tsukasa about his survival under the promise of soda and (nearly) sabotaging Hyoga's attempt at attacking the village, you can't help but still be suspicious of his true motives. But then he figures out Senku's birthday with little information to go on, and goes so far as to have all of Ishigami Village help him in making a telescope for him, with no strings attached. You really can't doubt him after that.

* ''Film/{{Wonder Woman|2017}}'': Veld's No Man Land was the moment Wonder Woman entered the war and performed her first heroic act by liberating the village's innocent people.

''Manga/DrStone: Gen Asagiri. He's a lazy, self-absorbed, playboy who states it himself that he's a superficial person that will choose the winning side in a heartbeat if it secures his own comfort. Even after choosing to side with Senku and lying to Tsukasa about his survival under the promise of soda and (nearly) sabotaging Hyoga's attempt at attacking the village, you can't help but still be suspicious of his true motives. But then he figures out Senku's birthday with little information to go on, and goes so far as to have all of Ishigami Village help him in making a telescope for him, with no strings attached. You really can't doubt him after that.

** [[GodOfChaos Discord]] began the series as an evil RealityWarper before softening up to become a neutral trickster. In "To Where and Back Again", he commits his first heroic act by joining the mission to rescue the Mane Six and Royal Family from the Changelings. In "The Ending of the End Part 2" [[spoiler:Discord despite being responsible for the villains conquest, he vows to make up for his actions, and commits an act so heroic that he manages to be forgiven by the ponies, by starting the heroes counterattack risking his life to get Starlight free so she could free the other prisoners and joins the battle against three villains without any powers to give the Mane 5 and Spike time to escape so they can save equestria.]]