Basic Trope: A hero who is popular/loved/well-known everywhere for their deeds... but not at home.
- Straight: Dash is a Tomboyish Loveable Rogue who grew up on the streets of Windvale before meeting Albert and joining his quest to defeat Emperor Evulz. Despite saving the world from his dark ambitions, back home she's still viewed as a shiftless troublemaker.
- Exaggerated:
- While Dash is a bit of a snarky braggart, she swiftly proves herself time and again as one of Albert's most reliable, fiercest and loyal companions, saving the day time and again and helping to prevent The End of the World as We Know It. However, everyone in Windvale sees her as a worthless, good-for-nothing thief — in fact, she's openly despised by its citizens, and was actually banished. There's even a standing order for her to be captured and/or executed on sight if she ever dares show her face around there again. If that wasn't bad enough, a number of Dash's supporters have been arrested (and also executed) for voicing praise to Dash. These include a few of Albert's aide, as well as official ambassadors of other city states.
- Dash is the center of a grand parade in her honor which turns into a tomato barrage as soon as they enter Windvale's city limits.
- Downplayed:
- Dash's status in her hometown is upgraded to "not the worst person ever" but they're still noticably cool towards her.
- Dash does have Windvale supporters (as well as supporters outside Windvale) who help here every now and then, but she also has detractors (most who are from Windvale) who are annoyed by the supporters in the same Windvale.
- Justified:
- Dash supported herself through thievery growing up, and the bulk of her heroics were done outside of Windvale.
- Before meeting Albert, Dash was accused (falsely) of committing an unforgivable crime, and failed to clear her name before being forced into exile.
- Windvale is a staunchly pro-Emperor Evulz town, so Dash being heroic against him doesn't come off well.
- Unfortunately, much of the fighting against Emperor Evulz ended up creating collateral damage on Windvale, which took away much of Windvale's livelyhood, as well as innocent civilian lives. As for Dash's supporters? Well, they live in other city-states and they had no idea that such tragedy happened in the process.
- Every citizen of Windvale, including the children, has had a history of accomplishments even greater than Dash's. She only merely defeated Emperor Evulz and nothing more, whereas even Tiny Bobby has at least thwarted an Alien Invasion.
- Dash was a dork growing up, and the townsfolk still see her that way. Those who didn't see her during her dorky years know her from her heroism and thus see her as a hero.
- Windvale is a Wretched Hive; Nobody give's a rat's ass about Dash or about anyone at all.
- Inverted:
- Finley is well-known and beloved in Windvale despite not doing anything to earn it, but to the rest of the world, he's a complete unknown... and those who do recognize his name don't have a very high opinion of him.
- Finley, instead of being known as a Fake Ultimate Hero, actually is Windvale's greatest hero, and is possibly one of the most powerful characters in the work; It's just that Windvale has such a comedically low profile that nobody bats an eye at the city or its inhabitants at all.
- Americans Hate Tingle.
- Finley is well-known and beloved in Windvale despite not doing anything to earn it, but to the rest of the world, he's a complete unknown... and those who do recognize his name don't have a very high opinion of him.
- Subverted: News of Dash's heroic deeds reach Windvale, and are recognized as legitimate.
- They put her into exile, but only because she was forced to break certain rules, and their laws require they exile anyone who does that. The townspeople's reactions make it clear that they still love her and do not want to exile her at all. They even tell her they did all they could to find a loophole to prevent the exile, only to find there was none.
- Double Subverted: Despite hearing of Dash's great deeds, the citizens of Windvale still consider her to be untrustworthy. As far as they're concerned, she'll surely squander whatever good will she has scraped together sooner or later.
- Parodied: "She saved the town!" "Meh. She's still a bitch."
- Zig Zagged: The poor people of Windvale, and those who knew her personally, cheer Dash as a hero, but the wealthy and powerful still despise her because of her background. Even then, however, the Baron's wife and son, who knew better, did not hesitate to give Dash a personal visit and tribute.
- Averted:
- Dash is just another nameless face everywhere she goes.
- Dash is recognized and renowned both in Windvale and abroad.
- Enforced: The game designer is still bitter about her treatment growing up in Nowheresville, so takes out her resentment by having Dash be unappreciated in her home town, and getting to rub their noses in it during the finale.
- Lampshaded: "I'm not too popular back home..."
- Invoked: Baron Blowaard deliberately pulls strings to frame and discredit Dash in order to undercut any ideas she might get about 'liberating' Windvale from his control.
- Exploited:
- Emperor Evulz sets a trap for Dash in Windvale, knowing that she can't count on the locals' support.
- Once Evulz is defeated, Dash becomes immensely popular out of her home town... And since she is fairly shy this is more overwhelming than exciting to her. So she moves to a small house outside Windvale to be left alone, confident that nobody in Windvale would care enough to tell the international press where she lives.
- (From Inverted) Finley uses his practically unknown status to outright wipe the fucking floor spotless with anyone who crosses his path, be it a villain or an arrogant hero.
- Defied: An influential town elder convinces the Windvale citizens to forgive Dash's past and respect her for her hero she's become.
- Discussed: "Dash, why does everyone in Windvale hate you so much? You're a hero everywhere else!"
- Conversed: "Sheesh, poor Dash. Even with all of these great feats, she's never really accepted in Windvale."
- Deconstructed: Despite being hailed as a hero elsewhere, the utter lack of respect or positive recognition from her home and the people she grew up with starts wearing on Dash. Frustrated, she starts questioning if it's even worth fighting for them, especially when Windvale is directly threatened.
- Reconstructed: Though she's annoyed by their continued disrespect, Dash decides that it's ultimately their loss, not hers.
- Played For Drama: Albert and his friends must pass through Windvale again in order to retrieve the Invisibility Cloak rumored to be hidden there. Dash's familiarity with her hometown and talents as a thief will come in handy; however, being recognized will cause problems, and any efforts she makes to improve her standing just seem to backfire...
- Implied: Dash never actually goes back to Windvale, and whenever anyone suggests it, she gets very cagey.
- Untwisted: Windvale seems to accept Dash, except she points that what she and Albert are visiting is a Theme Park Version of Windvale, where the people assume Dash is popular with.
Back to Never Accepted in His Hometown
