History Main / HeroicSpirit

* This is actually canon in ''SuperSentai'', normally refered to as the "Super Sentai Soul". Pretty much, it's the reason why if Sentai teams [[{{Determinator}} absolutely refuse to quit]], they can manage to pull out an EleventhHourSuperpower. The team up specials normally result in the two teams invoking this together to power up the present team's mecha when they final battle is getting too rough. In the ''vs Super Sentai'' specials.

* As is Franchise/{{Batman}}. Most of the time, nothing will keep him down. It's notable that part of Bane's plan to actually defeat Batman involved running him completely ragged by basically hurling his ''entire Rogue's gallery'' at him all at once, ''while he was sick.'' And even so, Batman ''still'' basically tore apart everyone Bane tossed at him, refused to stop when was ambushed at his ''civilian'' home by Bane's QuirkyMinibossSquad, and ''still'' put up a hell of a fight against Bane himself.

* As is Franchise/{{Batman}}. Most of the time, nothing will keep him down. It's notable that part of Bane's plan to actually defeat Batman involved running him completely ragged by basically hurling his ''entire Rogue's gallery'' at him all at once, ''while he was sick.'' And even so, Batman ''still'' put up a half-decent fight when he was ambushed at his ''civilian'' home.

* KingdomHearts: Sora's heart is exceptionally strong, maybe even one of the strongest hearts in existence. Against all odds, he manages to regain his Keyblade from the AntiHero by merely reciting a quote pretty similar to the one on top of the page. He also managed to keep his free will in the form of a {{Heartless}} - something that is near impossible to do.

* ''MagicTheGathering'' 's story arc of "Rise of the Eldrazi" depicted a horribly outclassed humanity fighting against [[EldritchAbomination plane eating elder gods]] called the Eldrazi. One card in particular, "Time Of Heroes", sums up this idea in its flavor text: "...The threat of the Eldrazi presented a simple choice: lay down your weapons and die for nothing, or [[DoNotGoGentle hold them fast and die for something]]."

* Natsu and Erza from FairyTail. Regardless of what [[spoiler: Kyouka]] did to the latter character, she still got up and continued fighting.

* In ''FanFic/PurpleDays'', Robert Baratheon crashes a feast Joffrey's throwing, and suggests an impromptu melee. To his shock, Joff wins easily, though for the first time in his reign, this sparks him into action rather than drown him in apathy. He rises, demands a rematch, and gives the performance of a lifetime with his son. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, this, along with all the food and alcohol, exacerbates his many preexisting conditions and winds up giving him a stroke later that night.]]

** But there's no trace of this way of thinking in Mordor. Sauron sitting in his [[http://www.thelandofshadow.com/professor-tolkiens-dark-tower-of-mordor/ drab brick fortress]] was thinking in bureaucratic, impersonal, decidedly modern terms; when he died, his armies just kind of gave up, and didn't organize any sort of effective resistance. Look at the appendixes: Gondor's armies, which Aragorn judged completely inadequate to fight Sauron, were more than enough to conquer most of Near Harad and campaign with impunity in Rhun once Sauron's government was out of the picture. (The aftermath of ''The Lord of the Rings'' was a heroic version of the Fall of Rome; the total number of barbarians who conquered the Roman Empire was smaller than the population of the city of Rome itself.)

Not to be [[IThoughtItMeant confused with]] [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight the Servants]], or literal [[TheHero Heroic]] [[OurSpiritsAreDifferent Spirits]].

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 3.5's Iron Heart Surge is a manifestation of such, but the rules for it are pretty bad. It requires a standard action, so it's useless against mind control, stunning, nausea, and other incapacitating conditions; but, since the sun's heat is an effect under desert rules, and the sun's light lowers accuracy for some races, you can use an Iron Heart Surge to stop the sun from shining. ([[Series/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic The night will last forever]], too, since the sun's effects affect you and are not instantaneous.)

* Endou from ''InazumaEleven'' has been knocked down so many times by powerful shoots, and even when other people wouldn't have been able to stand, he struggles to his feet so that his team can continue to play and win the match.

* Page quote comes from "Marvel Two in One Annual" #7. A cosmically-powered warrior called simply "The Champion" beams the strongest heroes of Earth up to his ship to box with him. The fate of the Earth is at stake, naturally. The Thing is the last hero into the ring (the others being defeated in short order by a bored Champion, or 'disqualified' for not really understanding boxing and sent back to wherever they were yanked from). The Thing gives a good account of himself before being savagely beaten down. He gets back up and attacks again, managing to injure the Champion before being beaten to an utter pulp. He gets up and manages to land a few more blows before being beaten through the floor. As the Champion goes into his spiel about the fate of the Earth, the Thing drags himself up and grabs him by the ankles (weakly). At which point the Champion declares "I could break your body, but I could never destroy your spirit" and leaves for other planets and other challenges.

->''"It's not in the circuitry is it? It's not the machine that resists you. It's me. My spirit. And that's the part you can't break."''

-->-- [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans Cyborg]] to Brother Blood

* Amazing {{Spider-Man}} #33 was one of the best issues of the original Stan Lee/Steve Ditko run. It is the third part of "If This Be My Destiny" three part arc. Spider-Man trapped under a huge piece of equipment after a fight with Doctor Octopus. His Aunt May is dying and needs a serum to cure her. Spidey thinks about giving up, but he's determined not to let Aunt May down. He uses every ounce of strength and will and finally lifts the wreckage off. The sequence was later adapted in the animated series ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' in the episode "Shear Strength", and partially adapted [[spoiler: in live-action near the climax of ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming''.]]

* ''OnePiece'' has done this a number of times. Most notably with Usopp the LovableCoward, since he pretty much ''needs'' Heroic Spirit to break through his fear. His fight with Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas had him stand up after taking a four ton bat ''to the face.'' His battle with Perona did this more literally, with Usopp calling upon his alter ego Soge King to save him.

* In ''SonicUnleashed'', this was implied by [[FairyCompanion Chip]] to be the reason behind Sonic being able to survive in his [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Werehog Form]] without being fully corrupted by [[EldritchAbomination Dark Gaia]].

* While there was much debate as to [[HeroicLineage what]] [[{{Reincarnation}} connections]] each Link in ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series have to each other, the one thing that's outright stated is that all Links share the same HeroicSpirit.[[note]] With Hyrule Historia came the clarification that each Link is a reincarnation of Hylia's chosen hero, except when it's explicitly stated that it's the same Link or a descendant, as is the case between ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaofTime Ocarina of Time]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' Links[[/note]]. It's explicitly ''why'' he was [[TheChosenOne chosen to be the Hero]] as of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]''.

* Amazing {{Spider-Man}} #33 was one of the best issues of the original Stan Lee/Steve Ditko run. It is the third part of "If This Be My Destiny" three part arc. Spider-Man trapped under a huge piece of equipment after a fight with Doctor Octopus. His Aunt May is dying and needs a serum to cure her. Spidey thinks about giving up, but he's determined not to let Aunt May down. He uses every ounce of strength and will and finally lifts the wreckage off. The sequence was later adapted in the animated series ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' in the episode "Shear Strength", and partially adapted [[spoilers:in live-action near the climax of ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming''.]]

* Amazing {{Spider-Man}} #33 was one of the best issues of the original Stan Lee/Steve Ditko run. It is the third part of "If This Be My Destiny" three part arc. Spider-Man trapped under a huge piece of equipment after a fight with Doctor Octopus. His Aunt May is dying and needs a serum to cure her. Spidey thinks about giving up, but he's determined not to let Aunt May down. He uses every ounce of strength and will and finally lifts the wreckage off. The sequence was later adapted in the animated series ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' in the episode "Shear Strength".

*** ''Anime/MazingerZ'''s Mazinpower. It is hinted in the original ''Anime/MazingerZ'' series and more heavily in other ''[[Anime/CBCharaGoNagaiWorld related]]'' ''[[ShinMazingerZero series]] the "God or demon" Dr. Kabuto lecture is due to Mazinger-Z's power depends on Kouji's HeroicSpirit. If Kouji is in TheDeterminator mode and wanting to save the world, it will even move on its own to save Kouji. If Kouji has crossed the DespairEventHorizon [[spoiler:it will become a demon.]]

While this ''seems'' to be [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism strictly idealistic]], get an AntiHero against the ropes, and the same spirit will show up, even if manifested in different forms.

* Samwise Gamgee in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''.
** This is a trait of many characters, including Frodo and Aragorn. Even Gollum shows this at times.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 3.5's Iron Heart Surge is a manifestation of such, but due to poor wording it is able to stop the sun's heat (because it is an effect under the rules for a desert) or the sun's light (as it lowers the accuracy of some races) forever as they are effects effecting you that are not instantaneous. Conversely, it is useless against most incapacitating conditions - if you're mind-controlled, stunned or nauseated, you can't take the standard action to use the maneuver.

* Pegasus Seiya from ''SaintSeiya'' has this. Though he is a lowly Bronze Saint, when his life is on the line, Princess Saori's life, or the fate of the world and loved ones is at stake, Seiya will do just about everything in his power, even go beyond limits to bring justice and save the day, even if he gets beaten black and blue by Saints way above his power level.

[[folder:Comics]]

** As is Franchise/{{Batman}}. Most of the time, nothing will keep him down. It's notable that part of Bane's plan to actually defeat Batman involved running him completely ragged by basically hurling his ''entire Rogue's gallery'' at him all at once, ''while he was sick.'' And even so, Batman ''still'' put up a half-decent fight when he was ambushed at his ''civilian'' home. In many AlternateUniverse stories where the writers want to make the good guys bad, they will explicitly break Superman's spirit, and if there ''is'' a truly good guy left in that world, it's usually Batman.

->''"It's not in the circuitry is it? It's not the machine the resists you. It's me. My spirit. And that's the part you can't break."''

The spirit of a true hero is an awesome thing. The heroes can do anything if they are driven enough. They will not surrender, they will not stay down. Death, TheVirus, [[InjuryTropes Broken Bones]], they are all to be shrugged off when the chips are down. No DespairEventHorizon for them.