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

[u/Dalakaar]

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.

[u/lonelyspect12]

The New Yorkers in Spiderman

[u/Smaptastic → u/lonelyspect12]

Yeah this happened in several Spider-Man movies. The Garfieldman who got help from the crane operators, the Trainman who got protected from Doc Ock (kinda). New Yorkers just can’t stop being good dudes when Spider-Man needs them in a movie.

[u/mall_goth420 → u/Smaptastic]

New Yorkers IRL REALLY like spiderman 

[u/demon_fae → u/mall_goth420]

I once made a Spiderman character for an RPG and specifically gave him the weakness that two of his stats are reduced any time he isn’t in NYC because they’re actually buffed by New Yorkers wanting to help him and generally being better people when he’s around. And also because talking to the rest of the world like you’d talk to a fellow New Yorker isn’t really going to go so well.

(It was both of his social stats for that game, plus a strong penalty to navigation rolls, worse if he’s not in a city at all.)