Basic Trope: A character refuses to give up, no matter what.
- Straight: Alice never gives up, no matter the odds.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice never gives up, even after Emperor Evulz blows up the Earth and everyone on it.
- Even long after her body has expired, Alice keeps fighting.
- Determined Defeatist
- Defiant to the End
- Downplayed: Alice has a reputation for determination, but she knows when to fold 'em.
- Justified:
- Alice keeps so much of her strength in reserve to make it look like she's fighting on the pure spirit.
- Alice is the only one who can defeat Emperor Evulz. If she gives up, it's all over.
- Alice's Pride won't let her give up on any task.
- Detective Alice is very thorough and looks through all clues in detail. This is something that requires a lot of time.
- Alice's parent/sibling/child/grandchild/lover is in danger, and absolutely nothing is going to stop her from saving them.
- Inverted:
- Alice gives up at the first sign of trouble.
- Stopped Caring
- Extreme Doormat
- Dirty Coward
- Subverted:
- Due to overwhelming odds, Alice finally surrenders after a long, drawn-out battle...
- Alice eventually gives up on a very difficult task.
- Not giving up isn't a trait unique to Alice. A lot of people aren't likely to call it quits.
- Know When to Fold 'Em
- Double Subverted:
- ...But it turns out her surrender was a trick to lull the other side into a false sense of security.
- Alice just thought of an easier way to complete her task. Once she implements it, she gets back to work with as much determination as ever.
- But the outright insane things Alice has done for the sake of accomplishing a task that she refuses to give up on have given her quite a reputation.
- Unfortunately for the bad guys, Alice can see a Surrender Backfire coming from a million miles away, so trying to exploit the moments she decides to give it up is never going to work.
- Parodied:
- Alice states that she never gives up...while her teammates all put up white flags.
- Emperor Evulz finally kills Alice, she returns as a zombie. So Evulz destroys her body, her ghost continues to haunt him. Evil uses his sorcery to contain her spirit in a small orb, but the orb would jump at his face whenever Evulz is nearby. He throws the orb Alice into the ocean, but his teeth broke that evening when he accidentally bit a small orb in a cooked fish. Then the orb makes Evulz choke to death.
- Zig Zagged: Alice gives up, but it turns out to be a trick to give the enemy a false sign of security. So they fight her again and this time, she does seem to give up. But then it turns out to be part of another plan...
- Averted: Alice surrenders, but only after a fair amount of fighting.
- Enforced: "Alice is The Hero, right? Heroes never give up!"
- Lampshaded: "I never give up, even in spite of overwhelming odds!"
- Invoked: A villain keeps on fighting Alice, knowing that she'll never give up - he's hoping she will fight herself to death.
- Exploited: Evulz knows Alice will never give up, so he makes an endless hallway that he knows she'll run down forever trying to find the end.
- Defied: A massively powerful villain forces Alice to surrender.
- Discussed: "This is the sixtieth time we're attacking Emperor Evulz. Her constant stamina is very tiring, don't you think?"
- Conversed: "Wow, character Alice just never seems to give up! I wish I was more like her".
- Deconstructed: Detrimental Determination, which can happen in many ways:
- Alice's refusal to give up takes a heavy psychological toll on her troops, as they'd like to surrender and at least hope to be treated well by their captors.
- Alternatively, Alice's refusal to give up is fairly foolish, as the hope of winning is only in her head.
- Alice's refusal to give up takes a heavy psychological toll on her troops, who eventually leaves her to fight the enemy herself. The series ends with her facing thousands of soldiers by herself, when one pulls out a gun and shoots her in the forehead, killing her instantly.
- Alice sustains a heavy injury in battle and refuses to retreat and regroup while there's still a fight to be won. Her weakened condition quickly proves detrimental and leads to a swift defeat for her side.
- Alice realizes that this kind of attitude, over time, becomes bad for your health. Sometime after the battle, Alice is forced to deal with the personal consequences, with a permanently and irrevocably crippled body.
- Alice has all her limbs chopped off, while trying to fight, allowing the enemy to get past her, while she taunts them.
- Alice will do whatever it takes to achieve her goal, even if it means crossing the Moral Event Horizon.
- Alice's determination is solely fueled by The Power of Hate and nothing else, and her sense of hatred would gradually corrupt her into into a spiteful person.
- Alice just naturally tries hard at things that she likes. Only things she likes. Other than that she has a hard time trying hard at anything else, so it's questionable if she's this trope.
- Reconstructed:
- Alice's refusal to give up resonates with the people of Troperia, who start turning the tides against their oppressors, and the sight of her wound-covered body strikes fear into the hearts of their enemies; if these injuries can't stop Alice, what can?
- It turns out that Evulz' forces Take No Prisoners and the guys who have tried to surrender have discovered it the hard way. Alice's refusal to give up may be bonkers, but it's the overall better choice.
- Alice knows that her determination is insane. She is literally clinically insane and she accepts that once she wins the war the reconstruction forces will put her in an asylum. But as long as Evulz's tyranny falls, it's as a price worth paying.
- Alice's sheer determination does take a toll on her opponents, who are exhausted and driven to insanity from having to fight her without a break. And as it turns out, they're not nearly as determined as she is, and unwilling to endure more, they eventually give up.
- Played For Laughs:
- Emperor Evulz sees Alice charging his men all by herself. Because of the fact he knows she'll never give up, he's afraid, although his odds are overwhelming - in fact, he can be seen shouting for his mummy.
- Alice is a determinator not only in war but in EVERY aspect of her life. She'd spend days not eating or sleeping just to, say, win a Nintendo Hard video game.
- Played For Drama: Along with her soldiers, Alice charges Emperor Evulz his men, despite the enemy having overwhelming odds. She could've waited a little longer to gain more soldiers, but she didn't do so, being too determined to destroy the enemy. The men keep on fighting until eventually, they all rout and Alice is the only one standing...
- Alice is normally dainty, quiet, and relatively meek despite the fact that she can kick ass when needed, but in this particular moment where she is the only person who can save those she cares about, Alice displays uncharacteristic bravery in the face of fear, and this shows the audience her determination. From hereon, this is a character defining moment if Alice survives, or a a defining death in the story if she doesn't.
- Played For Horror: Alice is a Yandere who absolutely refuses to give up on her quest no matter what. Which leads to a lot of dead bodies, a lot of psychological trauma, and in the final confrontation the heroes start to yell "Why Won't You Die?" because she really, really won't.
- Plotted A Good Waste: "Alice" is the titular heroine of a hit shonen anime and her determination helps her save the day. But this is Jim the Otaku's story and trying to base his approach to a problem on sheer determination is getting him more problem than it's worth. The Aesop of this story is Know When to Fold Them... or at the very least that determination and strategy are necessary, even if that strategy is to look like you're giving up.
I'll go back to Determinator, even if there's a whole field of air, land and sea mines between me and that page!
