Being a good and honorable person is anything but easy; it requires personal sacrifice that most "normal" people aren't willing to make, either out of self-interest, self-preservation, selfishness or any other number of reasons. In stories on the idealistic end of the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism, the more the insistence of honorable behavior seems impractical, or even insane, the greater the chance that it becomes the thing that turns a hopeless situation into victory. As a result, the honorable hero is vindicated and the cynics are left completely stunned at what happened.