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Removed the Example as a Thesis from the description.
- Sir Tropesalot is a Knight in Medieval Europe. One day, he hears of the beautiful princess Dulcinea who has been kidnapped and imprisoned. Swearing to rescue her at any cost, he suits up in his shiniest armor and rides off. He storms the castle, kills the Evil Overlord in honorable combat, and rescues the princess.
As Sir Tropesalot escorts the princess home, he passes by a village with several buildings on fire. Dulcinea explains that a dragon lives in the woods nearby, and has been attacking the village every fortnight. Vowing to save the village from this terrible curse, Tropesalot rides into the forest and slays the vile creature.
As they continue on their way, they pass through a town where several merchants entreat Sir Tropesalot's help. A group of bandits have taken to watching the roads around the village, robbing or killing everyone coming to or from the town. Swearing to inflict justice, Tropesalot rides out and attacks the bandits, killing most of them and scattering the rest.
As it turns out, the bandits have connections, and Sir Tropesalot finds himself pursued by the local officials. While on the run from the law, he sees an old man being mugged within clear sight of the wall the city guards are watching for him from, but that doesn't stop him. Fortunately, the particular guards in question are chafing against their corrupt boss and let him go.
Further along, within sight of the princess' home, they come across a hovel in the woods. An old lady asks if Sir Tropesalot would be so kind as to help her; her cat climbed up a tree and now he won't come down...
Congratulations, Sir Tropesalot. You have Chronic Hero Syndrome.
We're not just men of science, we're men of TROPE!
knight-errant-compulsive-disorder
Does this trope cover gender specific rescues? Kyon from Suzumiya Haruhi will jump to save any of the girls in his club, but doesn't give a damn for the problems that the other boy on the series suffers from.
"Show us the Galaxy Warp."
This isn't the trope — someone with Chronic Hero Syndrome wants to be the guy to help. They don't want to let someone else do it, they are driven to be the hero themselves. "The guy" here is a hero, but not the kind we're troping here.
- John McClane from Die Hard. This is even lampshaded in the fourth movie:
- John McClane: If there was someone else to do it, I'd let them do it, but there ain't, so I got to do it.
Matt Farrell: That's what makes you that guy.
Please provide details when giving an example, or a subexample. See How To Write An Example.
- Frozone's hilarious argument with his wife during Syndrome's attack on the city.
Linking to a past Trope Repair Shop thread that dealt with this page: Merge or fix? Chronic Hero Syndrome vs. Samaritan Syndrome
, started by rjung on Dec 9th 2010 at 7:56:21 PM
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman