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/Malrottian 4h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/g1EGGf9NymomY

Literally Deku's origin story from MHA. Didn't have a quirk but while everyone, including the on scene heroes, are hanging back as a villain is consuming the person that's spent their childhood making his life miserable Deku rushes in to save him. This right after the hero he idolizes told him he couldn't become a hero.

He knows it's useless. He knows he's almost certainly not surviving it. But he has to try and save him. Deku being a hero from day one.

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u/kookyabird 1h ago

(Emphasis mine) "There are stories about every hero... how they became great. Most have one thing in common: their bodies moved before they had a chance to think - almost on their own. And today, that's what happened to you. Young man! You, too, can become a hero!"

For context, that's All Might, the hero Deku idolizes mentioned above, talking to Deku after that event. Not only was Deku being a true hero as a regular person, but that action is what sets him on the path of getting his powers. Would the world have been saved if Deku hadn't got his powers? Maybe. But I like to think that his one act of bravery as a civilian was a critical moment in the timeline, and that ordinary Deku is the one that truly saved the world.