Determinator/Western Animation: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

 

'''Robin:''' Fight anyway! }}

** This goes double for anything involving Slade.

* Prince Zuko from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''. Even before he knows that the Avatar is alive, he sails around the entire world looking for him. He then chases him from the South Pole to the North, surviving at least one assassination attempt as well as several duels, infiltrates two heavily-protected fortresses on the way, defeats a master firebender and battles with a master waterbender, and is only defeated when a blizzard prevents him from moving too quickly. He gets into about two dozen fights during that time... and that's just the first season. Sokka's opinion is that "if we know one thing, it's that Zuko never, ever gives up," but Zuko's statement is rather more poetic.

** To a slightly lesser extent, Katara. Want to learn waterbending? Just a quick trip to the other side of the world. Your new friend's in prison? Okay, get yourself arrested and break him out. The local waterbending master won't teach girls? It's cool, just practice in secret, challenge him to a fight, and proceed to master the element faster than the Avatar. Want to help that repressed village? No problem, just disguise yourself as a minor deity and destroy a polluting factory. Oh, and about those guys who killed your mom... Not to mention several times she is all that's holding the team together, most notably in "The Desert". In her own words:

** Fire Lord Ozai also has shades of this. It does not matter how freakishly powerful the Avatar is, the man simply will not admit defeat. {{spoiler|Even when Aang actually took away his firebending and Ozai could barely move, he still conjured the effort to insist on his title as Phoenix King. Getting thrown in jail at least managed to humble him a bit.}}

* Optimus Prime of [[Transformers]] ''is'' this trope, with Megatron coming in a close second.

** In ''[[Transformers Cybertron|Cybertron]],'' Starscream was ''so'' much of a Determinator that he managed to use [[Heroic Resolve]] in a way that's usually reserved for... well, the heroic. At one point, he took on the combined might of the entire Autobot team to get the [[MacGuffin]], {{spoiler|dragging himself onward no matter how much damage he took, and taking the victory in the end with one well-timed dirty trick (hey, he ''is'' Starscream.)}}

** In ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' Starscream kept trying to kill Megatron {{spoiler|after dying normally, becoming effectively immortal, dying many times, becoming a head, and then being killed ''again''.}}

* Riley from ''[[The Boondocks]]''. He's not a very good fighter, but he's able to take a lot of punishment before going down.

* In the [[Season Finale]] of ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'', with no time to come up with a better plan, ''Batman'' keeps on coming after ''{{spoiler|[[Physical God|Brainiac-Darkseid]]}}'' with nothing more than his fists, feet, and utility belt, relentless even though the other tosses him away casually. After the last such attempt, irritation is evident.

'''[[Superman]]:''' * gives him a flying punch, then a right hook, and pins {{spoiler|Brainiac-Darkseid}} against the wall by the throat, one-handed* That man won't quit as long as he can still draw breath. None of my teammates will. }}

** Batman also provided a page quote for the main [[Determinator]] article:

'''Batman''': Oh, I have one, Johnny. I never give up. }}

** Just ... Batman. Period.

** Earlier in the series was another example. Shining Knight, an embodiment of the [[Knight in Shining Armor]] trope, was fighting {{spoiler|a mutated and transformed General Eiling}} and refused to give in no matter how badly he was beaten.

'''Shining Knight''': [[Badass Creed|I'll die as befits a knight: Defending the weak!]] }}

** Then there's Wonder Woman in the adaption of ''[[For the Man Who Has Everything]]''. She absolutely gets the shit beat out of her by Mongul for almost the entire episode and refuses to stay down even though each hit she takes brings her closer and closer to death. She shows that you CAN be on the receiving end of a total [[Curb Stomp Battle]] and still look [[Badass]].

'''Superman:'''(dodges his attacks and punches Captain Atom into the wall) }}

* Considering the fact he stayed locked up in prison for twenty years and, upon escaping, was just as intent on becoming the Dragon Warrior as ever, I'd say [[Badass|Tai Lung]] from ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'' qualifies. As does Po himself. Even when Shifu does his best to make Po quit, Po never does. While Po is in the middle of [[Punched Across the Room|rolling down the mountain due to a kick from Shifu]], the other student have the following conversation about it.

'''Viper:''' He's not going to quit, is he? }}

Is goin' to drag me down!"'' }}

** Well, he ''was'' a robot.

* The eponymous character of ''[[Kiwi]]''.

* "The Busasaurus" episode of ''[[The Magic School Bus]]'' showed Arnold's Determinator side.

'''Arnold:''' But it's Dr. Skeledon's egg. And it's up to ''me'' to get it back to her! }}

** This episode also ended with Arnold fighting off a ''T.Rex'' to protect the class ''and'' get the egg back.

* Parodied, like many other things, in an episode of ''[[Family Guy]]''.

'''Peter:''' Clear. * poomp* }}

** Another example comes from Carol Channing, of all people. During her celebrity boxing match with Mike Tyson, she just WOULD NOT go down.

* [[Courage the Cowardly Dog]] will brave any danger and take any punishment to save Muriel. His best example of sheer determination didn't even involve saving her. After getting beaten to a ridiculous pulp by Mecha-courage repeatedly, he just keeps getting up, eventually shorting out the robots batteries through sheer persistence.

** When Bart was playing hooky, he destroyed a wooden bridge to stop Principal Skinner from following him. Skinner simply walks into the river, momentarily emerging at the other side.

* Wile E. Coyote, Sylvester, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, and Marvin The Martian of [[Looney Tunes]].

** No mention of Daffy? He'll do whatever it takes to upstage his rival.

** Spongebob may be a pushover most of the time, but nothing will stop him doing his duty for the Krusty Krab, whether it's delivering a pizza or saving his boss from execution.

* Russel of the [[Gorillaz]] is ''swimming'' to [[Island Base|Plastic Beach]], and he doesn't look happy. Not to mention [[Little Miss Badass|Noodle]] who, [[Unreliable Narrator|depending on which story is true,]] may have just {{spoiler|clawed her way out of hell.}}

* [[Phineas and Ferb]] never give up on their attempts to do the impossible. Also, Candace, Isabella and Doofenshmirz qualify

* ''[[Finding Nemo]]:'' "I didn't come this far to be breakfast!"

** "Ramlak Rising" introduces [[Fish People|fishman]] Captain Tunar, who persues his [[Planimal]] [[Animal Nemesis|Nemesis]] the Ramlak with the zeal that comes from putting [[Revenge Before Reason]].

** Series' [[The Hero|Hero]] Lion-O also has this quality, though to a more benificent end. In "The Duelist and the Drifter," after suffering defeat in a duel with a predatory [[Master Swordsman]], Lion-O heads to a forge and stubbornly insists that he'll ''make'' a sword that can withstand a rematch, no matter how many attempts it takes, despite having no training in swordsmithery. A [[Retired Badass|retired]] swordmaker is so amused by Lion-O's determination that he [[Lampshade Hanging|hangs a lampshade]] on it, and offers to lend a hand.

** Even the ''villains'' notice it:

** The Cutie Mark Crusaders. Sweet Celestia and Luna both, the Cutie Mark Crusaders. ''"[[Ear Worm|And we will never stop the journey, not until we have our Cutie Marks]]."''

 

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[[Category:Western Animation]]