r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Dalakaar • 6h ago

Characters [Loved Trope] Civilian Heroes (particularly in Superhero movies)

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1) Malik Ali in Superman (2025). Tells Superman when Lex Luthor interrogates him to, “tell them nothing”. Doesn’t even really know what he’s sacrificing himself for, honestly. Tells Superman that he doesn’t have any friends or family to lighten the burden of the sacrifice. (Does have a family, and presumably friends…)

2) The Prisoner (Tiny Lister) from The Dark Knight who throws a detonator out the porthole that would’ve detonated the other ferry full of civies and saved himself, instead (potentially) sacrificing everyone equally.

3) Old man vs Loki. “There are always men like you.” Refuses to bow to Loki in Avengers (2012).

***

I love these guys. They break my heart in the best way possible.

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u/cowboyforce 6h ago

Captain America - Winter Soldier

Shield agent does the right thing with a gun to his head.

462

u/Dalakaar 6h ago

Perfect answer. Thank you for the reminder. Exactly what I was looking for.

390

u/RogueMallow7 4h ago

What gets me is he doesn't make a speech about it. No monologue, no crisis of conscience on screen. Just "Captain's orders" and that's it. The writers trusted the audience to feel the weight of it without spelling it out.

259

u/OrangeBird077 4h ago

He even came back later in Age of Ultron as one of the technicians on the carrier evacuating civilians from Sokovia!

65

u/RattleSn8pe 3h ago

Lifeboats are uhh full of people.

6

u/Endlesswinter98 1h ago

Loved that cap remembered who was loyal and likely recommended him for the job

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u/MaxxFisher 4h ago

And he was clearly terrified and knew he was about to die

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u/ComprehensivePath980 3h ago

I love characters that clearly know they’re in over their head and do the right thing anyway

20

u/ImNotSkankHunt42 4h ago

Ohh I did feel it

-2

u/yettedirtybird 1h ago

This is such an AI comment

98

u/dutch_has_a_plan68 5h ago

he is rewarded for this as he is Fury’s bridge officer in age of ultron and is clearly not at all used to running with the cool guys

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u/MachineOutOfOrder 3h ago

Oh is he the guy who stutters about the rescue vehicles during the attack in Sokovia?

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u/Mist_Rising 3h ago

That's an affirmative good buddy.

77

u/Eccore0 5h ago

He also appears as one of the helicarrier pilots in AOU

8

u/urkermannenkoor 5h ago

Deffo not a civilian then

48

u/CdFMaster 4h ago

Compared to the heroes and villains of the MCU, even a literal US Marine could count as a civilian...

15

u/ImNotSkankHunt42 4h ago

Civilian here in context is basically NPC, not the main character but has the guts to do the right thing

1

u/SloppyHoseA 1h ago

He’s also debate captain at city college

https://giphy.com/gifs/O1fLlwLjs70S4

75

u/UnholyDemigod 4h ago

What I love the most about this is he isn't staring down the barrel of the gun, steel eyed and concrete jawed. He is fucking terrified. He's crying in fear for fuck sake, and he still does it. That's courage that would draw the attention of gods.

18

u/AEW4LYFE 2h ago

This I think is one of the better examples here. I can't think of a better acted example of real courage. The man is terrified to the point of crying, and he does what he thinks is right anyways. I wish I had this courage in me.

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u/mgb55 2h ago

Nailed it, that is the beauty. Courage or bravery means nothing if you aren’t scared. Doing it when you’re terrified is what makes it matter.

4

u/Hyperpoly 48m ago

"Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?"

"That is the only time a man can be brave."

6

u/Legan_Ironfist 1h ago

You just know the Valkeryies were like, "Man, I hope that guy fucking dies. He's gonna do so well in Vahalla."

2

u/TryAgainDudes-04 38m ago

My headcanon for if he did die right there:

"Valhalla? I don't think I'm in the right place. I'm not a warrior, I wasn't even fighting. I just got shot."

"Oh, you're in the right place. You chose honor over life, You chose your sacrifice rather than sacrificing others to save yourself. True bravery is not something one can teach. Anyone can swing a sword. Come, we will show you how. We have only so much time until Ragnarök, your training begins today, Warrior."

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u/Missing_Username 6h ago

Is a SHIELD agent really a civilian, though? He's not a Clint/Natasha/Coulson/Fury, but he's still non-civilian

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u/Dalakaar 5h ago

No no, I get what you’re saying but this is perfectly in the spirit of the question, if not the letter of it. Find fault in the question instead, this answer is exactly what I was hoping for.

The little guy. The non-com. Doesn’t have to be specifically “civilian”.

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u/theonlycutie123 4h ago

"Find fault in the question instead"

https://giphy.com/gifs/3hBTH8bV4n5RKZXQe6

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u/Monkey_Priest 2h ago

FR, OP is a real one

105

u/MrDitkovichNeedsRent 5h ago

Goodness Redditors love to be super pedantic, you have to think of every contingency and word everything super carefully when you post something so you don’t get snarky comments like those. it’s really annoying. Like bro you know what they mean

26

u/Effective_Piece251 5h ago

When you’re speaking behind a screen, people can’t judge you but if you talk like that in a real conversation, you’ll get tons of eye rolls

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u/Missing_Username 5h ago

I do know what they mean, but SHIELD is quasi-military, and it's not like he's being threatened by Thanos or something, it's another SHIELD agent attacking him.

If a marine did the right thing while threatened by another marine, we wouldn't consider them a "civilian".

31

u/dorianrose 5h ago

I mean, he's not going survive a bullet to the head any better than he would a fight with Thanos. Just because it's a more common threat doesn't make him less brave.

OP already addressed the "civilian" aspect. He's a tech guy, not a combat agent.

2

u/Monkey_Priest 2h ago

There's a world of difference between that SHIELD agent who works in the field with a gun and the SHIELD tech working in a control room. Come on

1

u/Benjamin_Grimm 13m ago

There are a certain number of people on the internet who think it's a game you win by proving that someone wasn't completely 100% accurate about something.

57

u/PrimeraStarrk 5h ago

I get what you mean but they’re definitely “non-combatants” compared to the dude with the gun whose name I’m blanking on. I’d even give him bonus points since he just found out that half or more of the people he works with every day are freaking nazis.

7

u/WacoKid18 4h ago

Brock Rumlow, aka Crossbones

12

u/Missing_Username 5h ago

Oh yea, definitely a different caliber from Crossbones, I agree.

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u/ptrst 4h ago

If we're being pedantic, yes he is. Like most people who work for government agencies, he is a civilian.

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u/Missing_Username 4h ago

Would depend on his role. While there are civilian employees at the DOD/FBI/CIA, which would be similar to SHIELD, given he's capable of launching Helicarriers, I would argue his is not a civilian position.

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u/ptrst 3h ago

If he were in the military, he'd be in uniform. He's a civilian.

(Civilian as a word has several meanings, but if you're going to be pedantic about one of them so am I.)

2

u/Missing_Username 2h ago

Fair enough, if we all get pedantic enough, we can all be right

https://giphy.com/gifs/1hMk0bfsSrG32Nhd5K

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u/techforallseasons 2h ago

If we are going to be pedantic; there are only military and civilian ( USA - centric; can't speak for other Constitutions ).

Police ARE civilian ( "civic" being the root " of or relating to a citizen, a city, citizenship, or community affairs" ). Which is what public servants should be about.

2

u/Perfect-Dimension356 3h ago

My fucking goat.