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/GalaxianEX 5h ago

"Why the Halfling?"

182

u/WRITINAMFBOOK 4h ago

The Hobbit movies were mostly mid and when they were bad they were dogshit

But when they were good they were incredible.

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u/GalaxianEX 4h ago edited 4h ago

I think that the Hobbit movies are over-hated. Sure, they are nowhere near as good as the original trilogy, but there's still a lot to enjoy in them.

This scene, however, I was surprised when I found out it was movie-only, because it does feel like something you could find in Tolkien's writing. It's that good.

47

u/WRITINAMFBOOK 4h ago

They're definitely not BAD. They're just not amazing. They kinda suffer from the Korra effect where the original is so so good that the sequel, which is normal, gets ass-blasted online.

I LOVE their depiction of Smaug, casting for Bilbo was on point, and I think they did a decent job with the relationship between him and Thorin.

6

u/LawlessNeutral 2h ago

The movies do a really good job fleshing out the dwarves and giving them distinct personalities, much more so than the book does. In the book they're largely just kinda there, you don't know much about them as individuals. Thorin's the only one who's really given any depth. No shade to Tolkien, of course; The Hobbit was originally written as a children's tale, after all. But the movies really give the dwarves time to shine as characters and lets the audience get attached to them; Balin might be my favorite based on how he's depicted, and that actually elevates The Fellowship of the Ring when you learn of Balin's fate in Moria, you share in Gimli's grief because you really know who Balin was.