So Proud Of You / Literature

So Proud of You in Literature.

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• In Abigail and the Balance Beam, a book that accompanies a Hallmark toy of the same character (a plush rabbit that responds when she "hears" certain phrases from the books in the series), Abigail's mother tells her this after Abigail's gymnastics performance.
• In Animorphs, Marco's mother has said this to Marco about his heroic activities in fighting the Yeerk presence on Earth. It means a lot coming from her: She forms a lot of his motivation for fighting, for she has been abducted away from Earth and seldom has an opportunity to say anything to anyone.
• Between Heaven and Earth: DJ states that, after he, Sarah, and Doris reach the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, they run into Mr. Odogo, who states that he's too proud of his daughter (Sarah) to be mad at her for disobeying his order not to ascend the mountain. Doesn't stop him from punishing them for disobeying by making them march down the mountain with no rest, though.
• Beware of Chicken: At a village festival, Jin's father-in-law hears about Jin's recent work on the farm, smiles at him, and tells him, "I'm glad you came north, my son." Jin already knew Hong Xian liked him, but he's still very moved to hear this.
• In James Swallow's Blood Angels novel Deus Sanguinius, a woman is mortally wounded striving to be one of Arkio's chosen soldiers. Sachiel assures her that her children are proud of her, mercy-kills her with a weapon meant for Space Marines, and closes her eyes when she dies.
• In John C. Wright's Chronicles of Chaos novel The Orphans of Chaos, after Quentin stands off the Lamia, Boggins tells him how proud he is and what a pity it is that Quentin will not remember.
• Invoked in Sandy Mitchell's Ciaphas Cain novel The Traitor's Hand. Cain engaged in a conflict with Chaos forces that were chasing a praetor; the praetor filled him on the danger and was injured. Later, he met a PDF general, his father, and praised his son's courage to him, manifestly inspiring paternal pride. He heard afterwards that the general had objected to his son's going into the praetors, and the incident brought about a reconciliation.
• In Jeramey Kraatz's The Cloak Society,
  • Alex remembers his mother telling him when he was initiated in the Cloak Society.
  • When Lone Star realizes that Amp is not captive, as he is, but came to rescue him, he's obviously proud of him, despite the recklessness involved.
  • When they find that Amp's parents are in the Gloom, though drained to husks of themselves, Lone Star can tell him that they are proud of him.
  • At the end, Volt looks proud of Alex, though he says nothing.
• In The Dark Elf Trilogy, Zaknafein prepares himself to kill Drizzt since he believes that Drizzt, after he reportedly murdered an elven child during a surface raid, has become just another murderous drow. Drizzt prepares himself to kill Zaknafein since the tales he's heard of Zaknafein's eagerness to kill other drow have convinced him that his former mentor is a crazed murderer (Zaknafein actually does it due to his sheer rage and hatred of the evil he sees everyday in drow society). During their fateful duel, Drizzt reveals that he had faked the elven child's death to save her from the other raiders. Zaknafein immediately stops fighting and tearfully embraces Drizzt, overjoyed that Drizzt did not let the cruelty of Menzoberranzan destroy his inherent good nature. This is the moment Zaknafein finally reveals to Drizzt that they are father and son.
• DFZ: Opal is a completely useless mage even though her parents genetically engineered her to be the greatest mage alive. While her father always said he loved her anyway, he also made it clear that this was despite her being an abject failure, which she didn't appreciate. When she figures out the problem with her magic (her absurd power was too much for any traditional spellwork to handle, and teachers aren't used to having to teach children how to turn down their power) and she finally starts using magic for real, her father looks like he's just seen the dawn for the first time.
  Yong: That was incredible, Opal.
• In Jim Butcher's Dresden Files novel Proven Guilty, at the end Ebenezer to Harry.
• In Gene Stratton-Porter's Freckles, Freckles gets it second-hand from his Parental Substitute; Angel tells him of it.
  "Well, Mr. McLean said we'd probably find his son here"
  "His son!" cried Freckles.
  "That's what he said. And that you would do anything you could for us; and that we could trust you with our lives. But I would have trusted you anyway, if I hadn't known a thing about you. Say, your father is rampaging proud of you, isn't he?"
  "I don't know," answered the dazed Freckles.
  "Well, call on me if you want reliable information. He's so proud of you he is all swelled up like the toad in Aesop's Fables. If you have ever had an arm hurt like this, and can do anything, why, for pity sake, do it!"
• In the flashback at the end of Dan Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts novel, First & Only, Gaunt's mentor Oktar tells him, "Your father would be proud of you," after his first military victory. Gaunt tells him that he is sure his (dead) father is.
• At the end of The Graveyard Book, Bod thinks he hears his mother's voice telling him she's proud of him.
• In Halo: Contact Harvest, Maccabeus mentions that he became chieftain by challenging and killing the previous one in ritual combat. In this case, the previous chieftain was his father, who looked proud to have been killed and succeeded by his son.
• The Hardy Boys: In the Casefiles book Wrong Side of the Law, community center martial arts teacher Lisa respectfully bows to Frank after he defeats the Big Bad using skills that Lisa taught him. This also counts as a Graceful Loser moment, considering that Lisa is The Dragon (albeit one who the Big Bad betrayed when it was time to split the loot) and is about to be arrested as well.
• Harry Potter:
  • In Goblet of Fire, when Amos and Cedric Diggory travel with the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione, by the same Portakey, and Amos brags of how Cedric had beat Harry at Quidditch. Unusually, despite his obvious pride in his son, it's an embarrassing moment because it's in front of Harry and neglects the dumb luck element (Namely, a thunderstorm giving the heavier Cedric an advantage over Harry, followed by Dementors invading the Quidditch Pitch and causing Harry to pass out in midair. Yet, Amos calls Cedric the better flyer for this). His observation that Cedric can tell his grandchildren about having done it becomes Harsher in Hindsight by the end of the book.
  • In Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore discusses why he failed to give Harry vital information. He recalls that after Harry confronted Voldemort again in his very first year, "I was...prouder of you than I can say." The fact that he effectively saw Harry as a grandson made him all the more reluctant to share a certain Awful Truth.
  • Unsurprisingly, this happens a lot in the final book. Near the climax, Harry is psyching himself up for what he fully expects to be a suicide mission. He uses the Resurrection Stone to summon the spirits of James, Lily, Sirius and Remus, all of whom pretty much radiate this.
  • Also in the final book, when Neville Longbottom gets a letter from his Grandmother, telling him that she's on the run for her life because of his actions, and she is so proud of him.
  • Another, unspoken, one from Deathly Hallows, when Harry enters Dumbledore's office after the Final Battle:
    But Harry had eyes only for the man who stood in the largest portrait directly behind the headmaster's chair. Tears were sliding down from behind the half-moon spectacles into the long silver beard, and the pride and gratitude emanating from him filled Harry with the same balm as phoenix song.
• In Hollow Places, Cindy has this reaction upon learning that Austin has discovered an anomaly and is using it to help others.
• Villainous example in the Honor Harrington novels: Albrecht Detweiler says this in a speech he gives to the Mesan Alignment Navy after their successful completion of Operation Oyster Bay.
• In Edgar Rice Burroughs's John Carter of Mars novel The Gods of Mars, John Carter, prisoner, meets another prisoner, a young man who recounts how he fought valiantly with his father's sword before his capture, and has the consolation that his Disappeared Dad would have been proud of him, if he had known.
  • Later, speaking of his fights within the Gladiator Games he says his mother would be proud to see "how well I have maintained the traditions of my father's prowess"
    • The reader, who is hopefully not quite as thick as Captain Carter, probably figures out well before it's stated that the young man, Carthoris, is his own son.
• In The Licanius Trilogy, due to time travelling, Niha had the opportunity to meet her fully-grown son before ever giving birth to him. Once she realized who her child was, she tearfully says this to him before entrusting his safety to her friend Tal.
• The phrase shows up in at least two different picture book based on the children's show Little Einsteins — Quincy's Dream and Annie's Solo Mission. It may appear in the episodes they're based on as well.
• In John Hemry's The Lost Fleet book Dreadnaught, Captain Desjani smiles as she watches Geary watch the fleet go into formation, and explains that he's obviously so proud of them.
• Black Jack Geary says this a lot to his sailors and officers and means it sincerely despite the problems they've given him.
• MonsterVerse movie novelizations:
  • Two in the Godzilla (2014) novelization:
    • Ford feels a swell of pride in his son for the latter's strength of character when Sam understands the situation and keeps it together after Sam and Elle have been separated.
    • Dr. Serizawa tells Ford Brody before the latter departs with the HALO team to San Francisco to try and disarm the nuke stolen by the MUTOs that his recently-deceased father would be proud of him.
  • In the Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) novelization, both the Russell parents have moments where they inward feeling proud of one-another or their daughter, even if they never say it aloud to them and even if that pride is also mixed with terror for their lives.
    • Mark can't help feeling proud of Emma perfecting the ORCA, even if he seethes at the fact the new version is expressly being used on Titans, and he also feels pride in Emma when watching her sacrificing herself at the end. When Madison uses the ORCA to disorient Ghidorah at great mortal risk to herself in Antarctica, Mark is both proud and fearing for her.
    • Emma likewise can't help feeling pride in her daughter's mettle and fear for her life, after she's realized that Madison has taken the ORCA out from under her eco-terrorist captors' noses, escaped on foot to Fenway Park, and used the device to spontaneously paralyze most of the Titans worldwide.
• In the My Teacher Is an Alien series, Peter spends most of the series believing that his emotionally distant father doesn't care about him and won't even think twice about him being willingly abducted by aliens. Then in the final book, he talks with his father while in disguise and hears him speak about how proud he is that his son chose to go with the aliens himself and how he wishes that he could be able to tell Peter these words.
• In Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind, Kvothe's mother gets him to study formal etiquette by asking him if he wants her to be proud of him.
• In Seanan McGuire's October Daye novels
  • Late Eclipses, the Queen says her mother would have been so proud of her after appointing her Countess. Later Toby, musing, thinks that her father would have been proud of her heroics.
  • Ashes Of Honor, Toby talks of how proud his parents must be after Quentin breaks them into a place. Quentin only grins.
• In Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians books, Poseidon tells Percy that he is his favorite son. At the end of the series, several gods show extreme pleasure with their demi-god children, as with Ares slapping Clarisse on the back and telling her "That's my girl."
  • Early in Percy Jackson, Percy's mother tells him that his father would be proud of him. Understandably, Percy is angry because at this point he doesn't know who his father is, and he's furious that his father never came to see him or his mom. But after finally meeting him face to face at the end of the first book, while not exactly saying the words, Poseidon tells Percy that he did well on his quest with his eyes gleaming with pride.
• In the Protector of the Small quartet, at her knighting ceremony, Keladry points out to her mother Ilane that she'll lose face for crying. Ilane's response is, "I don't care. I am so proud of you, Lady Knight." Shortly after, Alanna, the first female knight, visits Kel and tells her that she is proud, especially as Kel's example has inspired other girls to take up the fighting arts (since Kel doesn't have the magical Gift the way Alanna does and so proves that ordinary girls without magic can succeed at becoming a knight).
• In Ranger's Apprentice, Halt is the Parental Substitute for Will, but is The Stoic and doesn't usually say this. But there are several times when he does something simple like nod in approval, and Will knows that it means the equivalent of three hearty cheers from Halt.
• In Chris Roberson's novel Sons of Dorn, Captain Taelos tells the Scouts and sergeant that he is proud to have served as their commander when facing a Last Stand. Afterward, he tells the newly minted Imperial Fists that he summoned them to commend them — and expresses it in concrete form, restoring to them the swords that had been taken from them when they were chosen as aspirants, after having them adapted to be suited for a Space Marine to fight with.
• In Andre Norton's Storm Over Warlock, Ragnar, thinking he is talking to Garth, tells him how glad he is that he made despite the black marks on his record, and how their father would have been so proud of him. (Shann, who was the butt of Garth's relentless bullying, and is the one actually listening, finds it rather hard.)
• In Patricia C. Wrede's Thirteenth Child, after Lan deduced that there was something about the Rationalist settlement, his father spent the next weeks oscillating between bursting with pride over Lan and frustration with Obstructive Bureaucrats preventing them from doing anything about it.
• In Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next novel Lost In A Good Book, when Landen is eradicated, Thursday assures his parents that they would have been proud of him.
  • In The Woman Who Died a Lot, Thursday tells Friday she's proud of him having found his purpose for even a moment (he will forget because he's changing timelines) before urging him to think of a different way to achieve it.
• In the Warcraft novel Lord of the Clans, after Thrall mortally wounds him Blackmoore tells Thrall that he is everything he wanted Thrall to become and that he is proud of him. Thrall is understandably upset since Blackmoore made his youth a living hell and had just murdered his beloved foster sister Taretha. Hearing the bastard approve of Thrall denied him any satisfaction from killing him.
• In William King's Warhammer 40,000 Space Wolf novel Grey Hunters, after Ragnar's Field Promotion, the gravely wounded Hakon gives him some warnings about tendencies which might undermine him, and then
  Despite what I just said, I wanted to tell you that I was proud of you. You were the best batch of aspirants I ever trained at Russvik. Maybe the best I ever saw. See to it that you live up to that.
• In Graham McNeill's Warhammer 40,000 Ultramarines novel Warriors of Ultramar, after their first battle, Learchus praises the soldiers he had put through Training from Hell: "I am so proud of you." When one says it was his training, he sloughs off the credit, declaring the greatness had been in them, he had merely brought it out. "You are warriors of Ultramar, and I am proud to call you brothers." (He had, in fact, planned on doing this, for morale: when a captain had complaining that the men thought he was showing off in training, he explained that he had been, so they would know what a great warrior he was, and when it came time for him to praise them, it would mean much to them.)
  • In Dead Sky Black Sun, after the climactic battle, the Lord of the Unfleshed solicits praise from Uriel: "Emperor happy?" Uriel looks at the damage and assures them that they made the Emperor very happy with their work.
    • Earlier, Uriel had seen a once-possible future that involved a fine son whom he would have been proud of; he regrets it, but does not let that stop him.
• In Graham McNeill's Warhammer 40,000 novel Storm of Iron, Leonid speaks to praise the troops and encourage them. One assures him they won't let him down, and Leonid says that he knows it, and he's damned proud of them.
• In Graham McNeill's Warhammer 40,000 (again) Horus Heresy novel False Gods, when Horus sees how Maggard fought against the walking corpses, he admires his Kirlian blade but his skill as well, telling him that he should feel proud of himself. Overwhelmed, Maggard sinks to his knees before him, and when Horus tells him that that is inappropriate for so great a warrior, he has Maggard's complete loyalty. (Somewhat assisted by how House Carpinus treated him — taking out his vocal cords so he can not speak inappropriately in his mistress's presence.)
  • In Matt Farrer's "After Desh'ea" (in Tales of Heresy), Kharne tells Angron of how the Emperor named them the War Hounds and that they were proud of it and hoped that he would be proud of that, too.
• The Warlord Chronicles has an unusual variant. After a great victory, Derfel is praised by his dying father — the defeated commander of the opposing side.
  He leaned his weight on my shoulders and I could hear the breath scraping in his throat. "I think," he said in my ear, "that you are the best of my sons. Now give me a gift. Give me a good death, Derfel, for I would like to go to the feasting hall of true warriors."
• In the Warrior Cats book Moth Flight's Vision, Moth Flight's father Gorse Fur tells her he's proud of her after she speaks up to the five Clans and announces that each Clan must have a medicine cat.
• In Lois McMaster Bujold's The Warrior's Apprentice, Miles says he wants to make his life "an offering fit to lay at my father's feet":
  Aral Vorkosigan: Clay, boy. Only clay. Not fit to receive so golden a sacrifice.
• In The Wheel of Time series, the tearful reunion between Rand al'Thor and his adoptive father in Towers of Midnight certainly invokes this trope. Especially since the aloof, all-powerful Dragon Reborn ends up weeping in his father's arms. Quite unashamedly too. And in front of a crowd.
  Rand: I've done so much that is terrible.
  Tam: Nobody walks a difficult path without stumbling now and again. It didn't break you when you fell. That's the important part.
• There are a few times in the X-Wing Series where Mirax Terrick, who grew up like a sister to Wedge Antilles, tells him that his parents would be proud of him. Her father basically helped raise him after Jagged and Zena Antilles were killed.

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