History Main / HeroicWannabe

* [[TheCape Sayaka Miki]] in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' once she becomes a magical girl (even dressed in a costume [[InvokedTrope with a]] [[SuperheroesWearCapes cape]]) sees herself as a hero, saving Mitakihara from witches and their familiars. Until it goes horribly downward with her once she realizes [[OurLichesAreDifferent what she really is]] and what transpired from her [[SecretlySelfish not-so-selfless]] [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor wish]], confesses she's been stupid as she is [[DespairEventHorizon driven to despair]], and ultimately becomes [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie a witch]].
* Utena Tenjou from ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' desires to become the saintly Prince who saved her as a child, and most of the series deals with deconstructing, subverting, and arguably playing straight this concept as Utena is essentially sent through Hell and back, and that's before we find out that her memories of her encounter with the Prince are anything but fully accurate.
* Leopold Scorpse from ''LightNovel/ScrappedPrincess'', who follows the heroine out of equal parts sense of chivalry and growing feelings for her.
* Katsushiro from ''Anime/SamuraiSeven'' -- character notes even say that he was supposed to look like his equipment had never been in a real fight before. Kikuchiyo from the same series is similar, though more in a PluckyComicRelief sense.

* ''Manga/MagicalCircleGuruGuru'' gives us two examples. First is main character Nike's father, who dreamed of being a Hero but was forced to give it up due to there being no evil to be Heroic ''at.'' He therefore raises Nike to become a Hero and, when evil does return, sends him out to battle it. The second example is Gale, who appears nearly OnceAnEpisode, faces the current crisis claiming himself the 'True Hero,' [[TheChewToy only to get beaten down and/or humiliated immediately after.]]

* Jason from ''Series/TrueBlood''. He's constantly striving find some way to become a hero, but he tries to find short-cuts too often to be more than a wannabe.

* Billie from ''Series/{{Charmed}}''. She even [[spoiler:turns evil, but then turns right back once she realizes it involves killing something other than demons.]]

* Poor Ben Perkins from ''{{Sharpe}}''. He's made a Chosen Man, ignores the advice of an older and wiser man to turn it down, and ends up murdered by a traitor from his own side.

* Khamsin from ''VideoGame/MetalGearRising'' is the only member of the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Winds of Destruction]] to have actually heroic intentions (liberating Abkhazia), and actually could be a hero if he could only work on his [[NoSocialSkills complete lack of social skills]] and [[DumbMuscle get a brain in his skull]]. He's a lot like a [[Film/StreetFighterTheMovie certain depiction of Zangief]] in that he works for the "Winds of '''Destruction'''" and doesn't realize he's working for the bad guys.

Compare TheChosenWannabe.

See TheGunfighterWannabe and YoungGun for Western-flavored variants of this character and the KidSamurai for the Eastern.

See TheGunfighterWannabe, SuperZero, and YoungGun for Western-flavored variants of this character and the KidSamurai for the Eastern.

See TheGunfighterWannabe and YoungGun for Western-flavored variants of this character and the KidSamurai for the Eastern.

* In the episode "Cyborg the Barbarian" from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', the antagonist is a barbarian named Krall who conspires with a witch to send an army of slug-like monsters to attack his people so he can defeat them and become a hero. However, [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor the creatures prove too strong for Krall]], so he asks the witch for strength to defeat them, which results in Cyborg being pulled from the future. When Cyborg learns of Krall's treachery and confronts him, he begs the witch for the power to defeat Cyborg and is turned into [[HumanoidAbomination a larger version of the slug-creatures]]. He then attacks his people a final time, now commanding the monsters.

* In the episode "Cyborg the Barbarian" from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', the antagonist is a barbarian named Krall who conspires with a witch to send an army of slug-like monsters to attack his people so he can defeat them and become a hero. However, [[BeCarefulForWhatYouWishFor the creatures prove too strong for Krall]], so he asks the witch for strength to defeat them, which results in Cyborg being pulled from the future. When Cyborg learns of Krall's treachery and confronts him, he begs the witch for the power to defeat Cyborg and is turned into [[HumanoidAbomination a larger version of the slug-creatures]]. He then attacks his people a final time, now commanding the monsters.

* In the episode "Cyborg the Barbarian" from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', the antagonist is a barbarian named Krall who conspires with a witch to send an army of slug-like monsters to attack his people so he can defeat them and become a hero. However, [[MilesGloriosus the creatures prove too strong for Krall]], so when he asks the witch for strength to defeat them, which results in Cyborg being pulled from the future. When Cyborg learns of Krall's treachery and confronts him, he begs the witch for the power to defeat Cyborg and is turned into [[HumanoidAbomination a larger version of the slug-creatures]]. He then attacks his people a final time, now commanding the monsters.

* In the episode "Cyborg the Barbarian" from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', the antagonist is a barbarian named Krall who conspires with a witch to send an army of slug-like monsters to attack his people so he can defeat them and become a hero. However, [[MilesGloriosus the creatures prove too strong for Krall]], so when he asks the witch for strength to defeat them, which results in Cyborg being pulled from the future. When Cyborg learns of Krall's treachery and confronts him, he begs the witch for the power to defeat Cyborg and is turned into [[HumanAbomination a larger version of the slug-creatures]]. He then attacks his people a final time, now commanding the monsters.

* ''Anime/MahoujinGuruGuru'' gives us two examples. First is main character Nike's father, who dreamed of being a Hero but was forced to give it up due to there being no evil to be Heroic ''at.'' He therefore raises Nike to become a Hero and, when evil does return, sends him out to battle it. The second example is Gale, who appears nearly OnceAnEpisode, faces the current crisis claiming himself the 'True Hero,' [[TheChewToy only to get beaten down and/or humiliated immediately after.]]

-->-- '''Col. John Konrad''', to Walker [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall and the]] [[WhatTheHellPlayer player]], ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine''

** The game draws comparisons between Walker and the player themselves at several points, and this is probably the most obvious and explicit of them. ''The Line'' disguises itself as a standard modern military shooter to begin with, [[{{Wrong Genre Savvy}} so the player assumes that they can sort everything out by just pressing forward, as does Walker]]. But when the game reveals its [[{{Deconstruction}} true nature]], it calls out the player for wanting to be a hero and treating war as a power fantasy through showing just [[FromBadToWorse how much worse things get]] due to Walker's actions.

* Reiner Braun from ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' is hinted to be one, at least according to childhood friend Bertolt. He has strong ideals about how the strong should always protect the weak, and has a bad habit of rushing into danger as a result. [[spoiler: A ''very'' dark and tragic example, since he's actually TheMole and committed an act of mass murder at the age of 12 for the sake of his mission. The guilt over his crimes, and attachment to the humans he's gotten to know, causes him to go insane and begin [[BecomingTheMask repressing]] his memories so he can continue to believe he's a hero.]]

* Interestingly, it's strongly implied that [[DarkMessiah Lelouch Lamperouge]] of ''Anime/CodeGeass'' is this, as indicated by several in- and out-of-universe factors. For example, he's a fan of {{Tokusatsu}} and WordOfGod says that his voice actors[[note]]Creator/JunFukuyama, who is practically typecast as TheHero, and JohnnyYongBosch, best known for being a [[PowerRangers Power Ranger]][[/note]] were chosen in order to show that Lelouch is trying very hard to be something that he's not.

* ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'': The opening of the episode "There's A Penfold In My Suit" has Penfold putting on one of DM's jumpsuits under the delusion it will make his as heroic as DM.

* Most of Nikki Roxx's more embarrassing or horrific defeats were half TheWorfEffect and half this trope. She is a big strong wrestler but nowhere near as big or strong as she thinks she is, as seen in various runs such as All Pro, LLF and Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}} but none more apparent than Wrestling/{{TNA}}, where her efforts to be helpful lead to the Wrestling/TheBeautifulPeople, who eventually ended Roxxi's TNA career.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', most of Junpei Iori's motivation to help SEES is based on his desire to be a genuine hero. This desire causes him to [[IdiotHero rush into dire situations without any forethought]], become intensely jealous of the Main Character for his role as TheCaptain of the group, and even reveal his SecretIdentity to a girl to gain recognition (a move that later backfires horribly). [[CharacterDevelopment He eventually grows out of it, though]], and by the time of [[PlayableEpilogue The Answer]], he is arguably the most level-headed member of the party.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}: Innocent Sin'', there's a character who was convinced that she's the reincarnation of a Chinese Warrior and ended up being used by the bad guys as she tried to be a great heroine. It eventually led to her being trapped in a burning building. Poor thing.

* Conrad Verner from ''Franchise/MassEffect''. He's Commander Shepard's number 1 fanboy, but hasn't got the brains to recognize that he's not anywhere near skilled enough to follow his/her example and become a Spectre. It's up to the Commander to keep him from getting himself killed. [[VideogameCrueltyPotential Or not]].

* Illidan Stormrage from ''Franchise/Warcraft'' grew up being told he had a great destiny because he was born with rare golden eyes. Being told that all his life fed his ego and much of his personality revolves around how he has to be the one to save the day and get the girl, though he grows to resent [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter his twin brother Malfurion]] for being the one to ''actually'' do that in the War of the Ancients. Eventually he became a WellIntentionedExtremist and UnscrupulousHero branded as a villain by those around him. Best summed up in a quote of his in ''World of Warcraft's'' Well of Eternity dungeon: