rdfs:comment
| - So, you're a hero who's a fair way through your quest. You've slain fire-breathing dragons, or assassinated mob bosses, or torn apart an army base filled with hostile aliens. You've cut a swath through the land, slaughtering anything or anyone who gets in your way and spit in the face of impossible odds. You're well on your way to finishing the job, when you need a favor. Anybody who knows who you are should be too grateful or too scared to turn you down, right? Wrong! "Go clean out my stables." "Go throw around some Cuccoos." "Go collect some apples from my garden."
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abstract
| - So, you're a hero who's a fair way through your quest. You've slain fire-breathing dragons, or assassinated mob bosses, or torn apart an army base filled with hostile aliens. You've cut a swath through the land, slaughtering anything or anyone who gets in your way and spit in the face of impossible odds. You're well on your way to finishing the job, when you need a favor. Anybody who knows who you are should be too grateful or too scared to turn you down, right? Wrong! "Go clean out my stables." "Go throw around some Cuccoos." "Go collect some apples from my garden." "Go beat up this guy that's been hassling me." "Don't you know who I am? Where's my respect?" Of course, you've got no choice but to debase yourself and comply with this humiliating request, even though you've probably gone From Nobody to Nightmare and by rights you should just kill them and take what you need. Is a little empathy so hard to muster? An Ideal Hero (or blue boyscout) will fetch cats from trees all day long, but then again they're probably either a Slave to PR or just plain have nothing better to do between beating the tar out of villains. Expect villains, rivals, and some civilians to act like Ungrateful Bastards in part because of this. The Glory Seeker hates this. Can lead to a form of Beware the Nice Ones, especially if the tasks are make-work to avoid handing out the Standard Hero Reward. Particularly nasty ones are Impossible Task. Also, don't expect merchants to give you a discount or something because you're a known hero and benefactor. Hell, some will even try to charge you more because you're famous. Please restrict Real Life examples to people who have been Vindicated by History already. Compare No Fame, No Wealth, No Service, Hero with Bad Publicity. Contrast Famed in Story, Hundred-Percent Heroism Rating, and The Player Is the Most Important Resource. Examples of Dude, Where's My Respect? include:
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