Motivation Index

Motivations are the reasons characters do anything. It brings them to action and directs their choices. These are not WHAT characters do, such as Saving the World or Take Over the World, but WHY they do it, such as For Great Justice or For the Evulz. See the Goals and Objectives Index for what characters are trying to accomplish.


 * Abstract Apotheosis: Characters become their motivation in a metaphorical sense through purity of action
 * Because Destiny Says So: Characters want to fulfill a prophecy.
 * Because You Were Nice to Me: One character is loyal to another due to a single kind act.
 * Career-Building Blunder: When an early mistake provides the motivation for a character
 * Chronic Hero Syndrome: Character is compelled to help everyone, all the time.
 * Concepts Are Cheap: Characters have vague one word motivations that could really mean anything.
 * Debt Detester: Character repays debts as soon as possible so as to not owe others.
 * Desperately Looking for a Purpose In Life: A character on a journey to find a meaningful place in the world.
 * Despotism Justifies the Means: Bad guys who want only power and will do anything to achieve it
 * Dismotivation: Characters try hard to achieve nothing.
 * Driven by Envy: A character is motivated by envy.
 * Dystopia Justifies the Means: Bad guys whose goal is to create a nightmarish Crapsack World.
 * Failure Knight: A character failed to protect someone once, and is determined not to fail again.
 * Family Honor: A character wants to live up to their family name, and bring credit to their family.
 * Food as Bribe: Some people will do anything for food.
 * For Great Justice: Good guys fight so that Justice Will Prevail.
 * For Happiness: A character wants to spread joy and cheer.
 * For Science!: A character wants to make scientific discoveries with no real practical purposes.
 * For the Evulz: Bad guys do evil because they love evil.
 * For the Funnyz: A character makes a joke, usually against their own self-interest, because they love jokes.
 * The Four Loves: A character searches for love, in any form.
 * Freudian Excuse: Something in a villain's past causes them to act the way they do, often parental abuse.
 * Goal in Life: A character's main motivation through life.
 * Hidden Agenda Villain: They have a motive, but we're not sure what it is.
 * Home, Sweet Home: A character is just trying to settle things so they can stay home.
 * Honor Before Reason: A character only wants to do the right thing above all else.
 * Humble Goal: A character wants to do or have something that happens to be simple.
 * I Just Want to Be Badass: A character wants to be strong.
 * I Just Want to Be Beautiful: A character wants to remain or become beautiful.
 * I Just Want to Be Free: A character wants freedom from some sort of bondage.
 * I Just Want to Be Normal: A character living an abnormal life wants to live a life without excitement.
 * I Just Want to Be Special: A character living a mundane life wants to be more exciting.
 * I Just Want to Be You: A character wants to be literally the person they envy.
 * I Just Want to Have Friends: A character or a person who wants friends.
 * In Harm's Way: Characters want excitement and danger in their lives.
 * I Owe You My Life: A character feels indebted to someone who saved their life.
 * It Amused Me: A character who acts purely for their own entertainment.
 * It Is Beyond Saving: A character or group of characters wants a society destroyed and/or abandoned under the impression that it is beyond saving.
 * It's Personal: A character does something for a personal reason.
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: A character wants the person they love to be happy, even at the risk of their own happiness.
 * I Want to Be a Real Man: A character wants to be masculine or prove his masculinity.
 * I Will Find You: A character wants to find a lost or kidnapped loved one, whatever the cost.
 * I Will Protect Her: A person has their entire motivation built around protecting a vulnerable person (usually a girl).
 * MacGuffin: It doesn't matter what it does, but all the characters want it.
 * Motive Decay: A character has a great motivation, but forgets it eventually.
 * The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: A character who uses evil means to accomplish a good goal loses sight of the goal over time.
 * Never Be Hurt Again: A character seeks to ensure that no one will ever hurt or take advantage of them again, usually by becoming a Badass.
 * New Years Resolution: A character tries to use the promise of a New Year to create motivation.
 * Only in It For the Money: A character does something heroic only for the money.
 * Pinocchio Syndrome: A character wants to be a real human.
 * Revenge: A character wants another character to pay for what he's done.
 * Rich Boredom: A character wants to need to do something.
 * Screw Destiny: Characters want to go against a prophecy and prove it wrong.
 * Seven Deadly Sins
 * Greed: Characters just want more.
 * Lust: Characters just want sex.
 * Envy: Characters want what other people have.
 * Pride: Characters want other characters to recognize how great they are.
 * Seven Heavenly Virtues: A character wants to do good.
 * Theres No Place Like Home: A character wants to go home again.
 * To Create a Playground For Evil: A character wants to make the world a more evil place.
 * They Called Me Mad: A character is motivated by the mockery he's received in the past.
 * Undying Loyalty : A character is motivated by desire to help someone or something they care about.
 * Utopia Justifies the Means: Characters, usually bad guys, who wish to create a better world but will go to extreme lengths to achieve it.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: A character with noble goals but goes about achieving them ruthlessly.