LogFAQs > #925442768

Today's trope is Knight in Sour Armor. Here is the link: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KnightInSourArmor

The world is filled with Wide Eyed Idealists who believe in truth and justice and devote their lives to fighting for it. And then the dark, cruel and brutal world keeps letting them down. For them, Being Good Sucks. But rather than giving up on their goals, they choose to fight not because they believe they will truly make a difference, but because it's the right thing to do.

More often than not these characters are in settings that feature Black and Gray Morality. They're usually survivors who have largely given up on believing in Honor Before Reason, but still strive to be Lawful Good or as close to it as reality allows them to be. They are willing to bend the rules to save them. In Lighter and Softer settings, these characters are Grumpy Bears and are often mocked by the other characters for being so sour all the time.

The presence of cynicism usually makes the idealistic behavior even more noteworthy: it's easy to love everyone when Rousseau Was Right, but you really have to be a good guy to believe that Humans Are Bastards and care about them anyway. Such characters can also be The Fettered; their cynical outlook tells them they could probably get away with all kinds of things that they don't do because that would be wrong, and just because the world sucks doesn't mean you need to make it worse. Then again, this kind of character goes great with a world where you Earn Your Happy Ending after much strife.

Generally, these characters fit one of two personality types. Members of the first type are former Wide Eyed Idealists who have come to accept that their world is on the low end of the Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism, but who still find something beautiful in their former ideals that they want to hold on to. Those of the second type are born cynics, who would make natural Jerkass antiheroes, but who nevertheless have devoted themselves to a code of honor or fair play. In either case, these people tend to have gone through (often painful) Character Development in their past, meaning that they are normally older than the average hero.

TL,DR: Characters who choose to do good because it's the right thing to do, even though they suffer for it, and they feel nothing they do will make a difference.

Nominations:
Solid Snake (Metal Gear Solid)
Cody (Final Fight / Street Fighter)
Daredevil