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The Heart

Go To
♪ You might even like being together
and if you don't it won't be forever... ♫
Green Arrow: I still don't think I belong [with the Justice League].
Batman: That's the point. Someone like you will keep us honest.

The Heart is a personality aspect that comes up in just about any ensemble. They're the caretaker, the peacekeeper, or just generally the bringer of goodwill. The barometer of the team's emotional wellness. Their role is based on getting the others to recognize that there are more important things than personal grievances, especially if The Team isn't getting along among themselves, or becoming a group of Knights Templar and Well Intentioned Extremists. This is the person who will argue and fight against the justification of "I Did What I Had to Do". Quite often The Heart character will also be an All-Loving Hero, where they go out of their way to help all of the little people.

Like The Hero and The Leader, they aren't one and the same, but they often overlap since they are a good fit. The Heart often has a higher emotional intelligence than other teammates and may go out of their way to make sure everyone is taken care of.

Alternatively, The Heart can also be The Hero (in the case of the Magnetic Hero) or The Leader, often when Putting the Band Back Together, as their leadership skills keep the team from falling apart. Characters like the Plucky Comic Relief, the Tag Along Kid, and the Gentle Giant are also prime candidates for The Heart since they're often just as lovable to the characters as they are to the audience. This also means their death or loss is most likely to trigger Losing the Team Spirit for dramatic effect or in the case of a family for said family to break apart.

Compare The Face who does the talking on The Team. See also Restored My Faith in Humanity and Morality Chain. Compare The Conscience, Token Good Teammate. Not to be confused with What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?, Heart Is an Awesome Power, or (if Elemental Powers are a factor) a Heart Beat-Down, though they often overlap. Contrast with Lack of Empathy.

Example subpages:

Other examples:

    open/close all folders 
    Comic Books 
  • Batman:
    • Dick Grayson, a.k.a. the first Robin and later Nightwing, is sometimes believed to be The Heart of The DCU. While he's a Batman-trained Badass Normal as is, it's frequently stated that his real superpower is his ability to make friends, with the sheer amount of allies he's made over the years (even out of former enemies) solidifying him as one of the most compassionate and charismatic individuals in the universe. He was originally planned to be killed off during Infinite Crisis because his death combined with his reputation would send shockwaves throughout the DCU, but they changed their mind because his death would be far too devastating for the DCU.
    • While Dick is unquestionably the heart of the Batfamily, it's Tim Drake from Robin (1993) who fills this role for the outliers Bruce doesn't accept like Helena and Jason (before he snapped) whose extreme methods make them outcasts left out by the rest of the family. He's also the first person to give Stephanie any training or support in her efforts as a hero and encouraged her to preserve life and never kill as she was not originally a firm believer in the sanctity of criminal lives.
  • Captain America: Captain America is not only The Leader of The Avengers, he's also The Heart, seeing as the Mighty Avengers without him seemed more like a military institute (which is somewhat Fridge Logic, considering that Captain America is a Military Superhero), and he's the one that most people rally behind when someone cries Avengers Assemble!
  • The Flash: Especially in modern times, it's (one of) the Flash(es) that do this. As seen in the Justice League TV series, but prior to that, it was the Flash, due to being a poster boy for Nice Guy and keeping a smile on his face.
    • In the Justice League: Year One series, it's Barry Allen, the Silver Age Flash, who suggests forming the group, who arranges for everything to be set up, who goes out of his way to approach potential candidates such as Superman, and when trust issues begin to tear them apart, he's the one to pull them back together by revealing his identity to the group. Though Hal Jordan initially tries to act as the leader, he is fully willing to cede the position to Barry, realising he is considerably better at it. In Crisis on Infinite Earths, it's his death that signifies that The DCU is on the cusp of changing. His successor, Wally West, eventually grows into this but has to deal with some issues first.
    • Wally West is an interesting case. After receiving a lot of Character Development, he was certainly up to the role, but it wasn't until his erasure that it was understood just how vital he was to the overall tone of the DCU. His return in DC Rebirth is cited as the return of "love, hope and legacy" and comic books following after make a huge emphasis on Wally being the heart of the Flash Family and beyond. Writer Geoff Johns admits that's why he chose Wally as the lead character of the DC Rebirth one-shot.
      Geoff Johns: There's no single character in the DC universe that represents legacy, hope, and optimism as well as Wally West does. He's been my favorite character since I was a kid. I grew up reading Wally West and the Flash, and the whole reason that change comes in the DC universe is always led by a Flash story. Showcase #4, Crisis on Infinite Earths when Barry died, Flashpoint when Barry was back and the universe changed again. It just felt ... Everything fell into place very quickly, he was the representative of everything I thought was missing, and again, you need a Flash on the forefront, it just feels natural to have a Flash on the forefront of change in the DC universe.
  • Incandescence: Mari, the muscle of Complex B, keeps the team together with her naivete and kind manner.
  • Justice Society of America: Stargirl is the heart for the JSA (it helps that she's the youngest hero with continuous membership on the team).
  • The Martian Manhunter is known to share this role with Flash for the Justice League of America, often being titled its "heart and soul". Being The Empath is one of his many powers, and he was the one to talk down Green Lantern John Stewart after he was Driven to Suicide by his My Greatest Failure.
  • Runaways:
    • Karolina is pretty much the glue that keeps the oft-dysfunctional Runaways together, and her willingness to put herself on the line to bring peace has twice extended to offering herself up to potentially hostile aliens in order to end conflicts that her parents started. After her return from a brief bus trip, Chase makes it clear he doesn't think things would have gone quite as bad as they did if she'd still been there.
    • The 2017 reboot shifts this over to Gert as the team actually fell apart in between her death and her resurrection. It's lampshaded as she can't believe it happened because of her, claiming she was the "appendix" of the group. Both Nico and Chase claim that she wasn't the appendix — Chase was.
  • In Scott Pilgrim, Scott Pilgrim is more or less this in his group of friends. While he isn't perfect, prone to making dumb decisions, and being insensitive, he still means well and is learning to be a better person. Furthermore, from an initial glance, he's the most open and friendly out of his group of friends, especially when compared to the stoic Stephen Stills, the moody Kim Pine, and the quiet Neil Young among others. He's also the glue that holds the circle of friends together (since they all met each other through Scott).
  • Spider-Man (Peter Parker): Marvel's flagship hero is also the core personification of what it means to be truly kind and honest, the height of idealism and great responsibility for heroes and occasionally anti-heroes everywhere. It's precisely because of this that he's often used as a Sacrificial Lion in horror spinoffs, and in Ultimate Invasion it's shown that The Maker considered him the number-one threat to the Villain World he created.
  • Deconstructed/subverted in The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye. Getaway seems like this at first, being a voice of reason who helps direct the others and gives them encouragement. However, it's eventually revealed that he's actually a Manipulative Bastard who's exploiting this trope to seemingly sabotage the crew, starting with demolishing Cyclonus and Tailgate's friendship.
  • X-Men:
    • Nightcrawler often ended up in the position of being the one to call the other X-Men on it when the team was going too far. Shadowcat and Beast also fit the role when Kurt isn't around.
    • As well as them, there's Jean Grey. Having been the only one who could call both Wolverine and Cyclops into line and mitigate all their issues, she was the one who kept the team honest, which might explain why they became so much Darker and Edgier after her death.
    • Oddly enough, Deadpool (Wade Wilson) served this role in Uncanny X-Force. It says a lot about a team when the person who has to remind everyone of the moral implications of their actions is a notoriously amoral degenerate mercenary.
    • Another shocking example would be Sabretooth, after his inversion during AXIS. He does what he can to atone for his past, but nobody trusts him. He finally joins Magneto's X-Men in Uncanny X-Men (2016), and Bunn says that Creed was this for the team — if they wanted to kill someone, Creed would be trying to convince them otherwise. We see a glimpse in the first chapter when the team fights guards to get to their fellow mutants. Everyone is perfectly at home using lethal force. Creed just settles for scaring the guards and eventually warning them to play dead if they want to get out alive.
    Fan Works 
  • Kurama in Blackkat's Reverse reminded the jinchurikis they were people and could have a family in each other. The jinchurikis return the favor by being ready to stand against their own villages for his sake.
  • Dreaming of Sunshine: Shikako is the emotional and moral center of Team Seven, and on a larger scale, of the Konoha Twelve. Hinata and Ino are as well, in different ways. Hinata because she is a rallying point for the others, someone they gather around to support. Ino, because she is someone who supports everyone else.
  • Everything Turns to Gold: Jimmy is a lot less skilled in combat than his fellow rulers, but what he lacks in combat prowess, he makes up for in emotional intelligence. Pix lampshades this in Chapter 22, telling Jimmy outright that they need his "heart and intuition" in the war against Xornoth.
  • This is Jaune's role in Forged Destiny along with The Hero and The Leader. He is often the first one to act when there are lives to save and the most likely to call the others out for their actions. His consideration of others and ability to unite such a diverse group is the primary reason The Hunters guild was formed.
  • Girl Adventurer: Sarah always does her best to help others whenever possible and is the one who always does her best to ensure that Team Venture acts like a family.
  • Horseshoes and Hand Grenades has Jun Shigeno. In A Month of Sundays, she's the one comforting others. Her role is crucial in stopping the conflict between Damballa and Quetzie and making them allies against Ophiuchus.
  • Tenko Chabashira fills this role in I'd Trade My Life For Yours, being Kaede's emotional anchor after Shuichi died and would often back her up in trials. While she still Does Not Like Men, it doesn't stop her from tending Kaito and Ryoma's injuries and she mourns the boys as much as the girls when they die in the Killing Game. After the fourth trial, Kaede and Ryoma agree that because Tenko has a good heart, she deserves to be one of the two survivors, but Tenko instead gets upset for hearing her friends talk so lowly about themselves and doesn't want to live if it means having people she cares about sacrifice themselves for her sake.
  • While Ringo was this in Real Life for the four, in The Keys Stand Alone he's so fucked up that he doesn't serve this function as much as he should (though he does at least once). It ends up falling to Paul, who is also fucked up but dealing with it better, to keep them focused and at least marginally hopeful when everything looks blackest. It helps that Paul has a built-in calm-down factor in his "background noise."
  • Kyon in Kyon: Big Damn Hero. His name also served as the one thing stopping Haruhi from killing several people for shooting him.
  • Nala in The Lion King Adventures. She is kind, beautiful, and holds the trio together.
  • Nicktoons! Or how the Multiverse got shredded by four kids: SpongeBob SquarePants became the glue that holds this team together while Timmy and Jimmy are arguing with each other and Danny is struggling to work with the two of them. SpongeBob is working to get the three of them to work together as both team and friends. So far, SpongeBob has gotten them to work through their differences with his kindness and optimism to the point where even though he’s immature, he’s been acknowledged as the smartest member of the team that makes the most sense.
  • The Pieces Lie Where They Fell: As Kindness, Page Turner acts as the moral guidance of the six Element-Bearers.
  • Alice Denham is generally the most calm and level headed member of the rescue team, as well as the one most likely to provide emotional and moral support and serve as peacemaker between some of the more hotheaded and volatile members of the team in Prehistoric Earth and its Continuity Reboot Prehistoric Park: Reimagined.
  • Elissa is this for her companions in Shadow and Rose. Regardless of how the rest of the group feel about each other, they all care about her, and are willing to tolerate one another for her sake. It becomes especially evident when she's taken prisoner in Denerim.
  • After joining the Team in A Subtle Knife, Edge quickly makes them more than teammates, he makes them friends. It helps that one application of his power is being The Social Expert, so he always knows what to say no matter the situation. Politeness Judo for the win!
  • In Thieves Can Be Heroes! Izuku is this, The Hero, and The Leader at the same time. His own desire to do good no matter what happens to him in the end is what brings the Phantom Thieves together, and his heroic sensibilities like Thou Shalt Not Kill and Comes Great Responsibility keeps the Thieves honest and prevents them from going overboard on their heists, as best seen when he's begging Ann not to kill Kamoshida's Shadow.
  • "This is Where You Fall Apart, This is Where You Break👁 Image
    " essentially makes Rumi (KPop Demon Hunters) this for the Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe) after she meets the team post-Snap (Avengers: Infinity War); she had been defending her home as "the Angel of Korea" after Mira, Zoey and Celine were all killed in the Snap, but after Rumi meets Clint during a confrontation with the Yakuza, he is inspired to introduce her to the rest of the team to get some actual training in how to fight compared to her current approach, which helps the rest of the surviving Avengers come back together to better learn how to work together again.
  • Three's A Crowd (Naruto) provides a Subversion and Deconstruction. Kakashi fully expects Sakura to fill this role in Team Seven, teaching her teammates Sasuke and Uo how to cooperate and work together. Unfortunately, he's a Sink-or-Swim Mentor who makes very little effort to impress those values upon the boys himself, leaving her to pick up his slack... despite being fully aware that neither one respects Sakura. This leaves the whole team floundering, with Sakura entreating their sensei to do his job rather than dumping the workload on her shoulders.
  • Steven in A Triangle in the Stars works like this, much like his canon counterpart. Even in spirit, he provides emotional motivation for the Crystal Gems to return to him safely and as quickly as they can. And, most importantly, he consistently provides Bill with warmth and kindness and support. It eventually leads to Bill unwittingly regrowing his own heart. He also settles Connie's quiet hostility and distrust towards Bill down in Chapter Forty-Six, and is overall relatively quick to resolve conflicts in the first place.
  • While her counterpart Mahanon is more of a Magnetic Hero, Victoria holds this position in the Inquisition in the Twice Upon an Age series. It's remarked upon by more than one character.
  • Lots of characters fill this role in Twilight Pretty Cure on occasion, but the one who fills this role the most is Anzu, who is the most down to earth and understanding of the cures, trying to make sure nobody gets into any fights before or after a battle.
  • Discussed in World of Ponycraft, when Pinkie Pie describes her role as a shaman in relation to the elements... and makes a brief Captain Planet spoof.
    Films — Animated 
  • Frozen (2013): Anna is the emotional centrepiece of the story and she is the one who brings everyone together for a common goal. She's also an All-Loving Hero who uses The Power of Love to find a way to save both Elsa and the kingdom of Arendelle when at first it looks like only one can be.
  • Roshan from Ice Age. Roshan is the Peace Child👁 Image
    whose love for the animals brings them together in an unlikely herd and leads Manny on a journey of forgiveness to let go of his anger against Roshan's tribe.
  • The Echidna from Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole calls Mrs. Plithiver The Heart of the band.
  • Sheriff Woody in Toy Story is definitely The Heart and soul of Andy's toys, acting as the one who keeps the band together and solving whatever issues arise between any given members of the crew. This aspect becomes all the more apparent in Toy Story 3, as he puts himself in dangerous situation after dangerous situation for the sake of his friends.
  • Trolls:
    • Poppy is the one who holds the Troll village together. So when she temporarily loses all hope of escaping the Bergens, every Trolls does so. At the same time, when her optimism is reignited, so is theirs.
    • Floyd is the glue that holds all his brothers together. In the prologue, he tries to help John Dory with his stress about the band's first tour concert and approaches Branch to calm him down from his nervousness from his first live show. When his older brothers separate on bad terms after the failed concert, Floyd is the one who tries to prevent them from leaving, he worries about Grandma's well-being and bids a proper farewell to Branch. Currently the whole reason that the brother's are willing to go a mission to reform the band and put aside their differences is because Floyd is the one in danger of having his talent stolen. Additionally, Floyd manages to appeal to Veneer's better nature by speaking to his abuse under Velvet.
    • Viva is the heart of the Putt-Putt Trolls, as Clay tells three of his brothers that she puts her heart and soul to the group.
  • In Turning Red, Miriam is the heart of Mei's friend group being the voice of reason, and most empathetic of the trio of Mei's friends between the hyperactive Abby and the stoic Priya.
    Films — Live-Action 
  • Amazing from Amazing Grace and Chuck. Normally in a story like this, you'd expect the kid (Chuck) to fill this role and the adult (Amazing) to act as the real leader. But in this case, it's reversed, with Amazing serving to remind people why the fight is worth fighting and inspiring them to keep going, and Chuck making the actual decisions and leading the protest movement. The dynamic becomes clear when Amazing dies and the movement takes on a notably more somber tone but nobody questions whether Chuck is still the one to decide whether it continues and what they will do next.
  • The Big Chill: Sarah serves as both this and the Team Mom of the group: she and Harold are the ones who let Alex and Chloe stay in their basement free of charge, she's the one who organizes Alex's funeral and the following reception, keeps her friends from falling apart and getting into too much conflict with each other, and tries to help Meg find a suitable companion to conceive a child with.
  • Towards the end of Ghostbusters (1984), Venkman proudly declares Ray to be "The Heart of the Ghostbusters".
  • In The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Bilbo is the one who comes closest to breaking Thorin out of his gold sickness and without any threat of violence or war. When Bilbo shows Thorin the acorn he got from Beorn's home, he says he intends to plant it once he returns home to the Shire and watch it grow and remember his amazing journey every time he looks at it. There is a brief moment when Thorin returns to his old self. And later on, Bilbo's voice and words are the last hallucinations Thorin sees and hears before he finally shakes off the gold sickness.
  • Cambridge from The Hurt Locker attempts to be this. He fails.
  • Juice: It's clear that Raheem is the level-headed leader who holds the group together. After his death, the tensions between the group escalate.
  • In Kayfabe: A Fake Real Movie About A Fake Real Sport, heel Randy Tyler is this behind the scenes. When the promoter, Al, suddenly disappears, Randy is the one who steps up and ensures that the matches get booked. He also changes the ending of the final match so that Justice can go out with the belt because he realizes that it's what the fans want and what Justice needs.
  • Marvel Cinematic Universe:
    • Agent Coulson in The Avengers, and to a lesser extent in previous Marvel Cinematic Universe films. He helps to bring the team together and eventually performs a Heroic Sacrifice which is used by Nick Fury to make the team overcome their differences and work together for the final battle.
    • In the sequel, Clint (Hawkeye) fulfills this role as the only emotionally stable member of the group. He even admits to his wife that the others may be the most powerful collection of beings in the world, and he's just a guy with a bow and arrows, but they still need him.
    • In Thor: The Dark World, Frigga appears to have been this to the Asgardian royal family. With her death, Odin undergoes full-blown Sanity Slippage and Thor and Loki agree to an Enemy Mine and embark on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
    • In Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), on the titular team of thieves, murderers, and mercenaries, friendly tree-man Groot is the most moral and dependable of them all. After he sacrifices himself to protect them all from an impending starship crash, the team is pushed to unite for good in honor of Groot's loss. His growing baby son succeeds him in this role in the sequel, as the team becomes parents to him, and will put aside all to care for him even in the middle of battle.
  • In Metropolis (1927) this is Freder's role. The trope is even referenced by name with the film's classic tag line, "The mediator between head and hands must be the heart."
  • The Muppets (2011) establishes Kermit as the Heart of the Muppets — so much so that, when he becomes depressed, everything just falls apart.
  • This bit of dialogue from Red 2 (2013).
    Marvin: Frank, c'mon. A little trust. She has talents you and I will never have.
    Frank: What talents?
    Marvin: People like her.
  • Heihachi of Seven Samurai was hired to be the moral support of the samurai. However, over the course of the film, Kikuchiyo upstages this role more and more.
  • According to Power Chick, Amok is the heart of The Specials. He "keeps them from resting on their laurels".
  • Transformers: Rise of the Beasts has Airazor, the noble Maximal whose alt mode is that of a hawk. She helps bring the Autobots and the two humans together, accompanies them on their journey to Peru, teaches Prime that Primal isn't a threat and also teaches him the value of humans, Earth and all life on it. And her Killer Bear Hug death by Optimus Primal after she gets corrupted by the Hate Plague by way of Scourge shooting her with a probe full of it is what leads to Noah and Optimus Prime both realizing what they did to each other was wrong, as well as the fact that their self-centered motives have only did more harm, and so they set to resolve their differences and team up with the other Autobots, the Maximals and the human Elena to work together to save the world.
  • Silent Bob is the heart of The View Askewniverse.
  • By the end of The Waterboy, Bobby's team sees him as this. Even the quarterback, who up until that point had been a major Jerkass to Bobby, straight up tells him this as he apologizes for the hard time he gave Bobby the entire season.
  • X-Men Film Series:
    • Professor X is this in X-Men: First Class and in all the other team films to a lesser extent. The X-Men obey him because his warmheartedness is the glue that keeps the team unified even when there are internal disagreements, such as between Beast and Havok or Cyclops and Wolverine.
    • Wolverine in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Ironically, it's his major role in the film, with very few fight scenes. He's more there to galvanise the young Charles Xavier into action.
  • Zack Snyder's Justice League. Cyborg has this role. After he has every reason to be angry & finds out he can cause The End of the World as We Know It, he uses his new powers to give a random woman money.
    Literature 
  • Cassie from the Animorphs is pretty adept at reading people and uses the ability to keep everyone together. One of her main struggles is how she starts to inverse this trope and becomes more callous and, instead of nurturing, manipulative.
  • Bloody Rose: As The Bard of the group and emotional center, Tam constantly is trying to get the group to act more heroic and resolve their interpersonal issues.
  • The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows: Zenos is a Back-Alley Doctor who managed to unite the warring tribes and gangs in the slums thanks to his optimism and empathy. Outsiders from the royal guard and the black guild assume he must be some kind of ruthless mastermind who rules the slums from the shadows, when the truth is far less sinister, and he doesn't even rule the slums in any capacity.
  • Mina in Dracula keeps the men's morale high and reminds them of why they're fighting.
  • Earth Abides: Em is calm, nurturing and holds the new community together. The others nearly always follow her advice.
  • Sephrenia, in the Elenium trilogy by David Eddings, serves this role for literally hundreds of Pandion Knights — and has done so for generations. They don't call her "little mother" for nothing.
  • Harry Potter: Ron Weasley, despite being The Generic Guy on the surface, is the source of the Golden Trio's emotional stability. Notably, his and Harry's two major falling-outs (in Goblet of Fire and Deathly Hallows) strain Harry's morale considerably, and Hermione, no matter how much Harry may value her friendship, can't replace Ron in that regard.
  • The Heroes of Olympus: Percy the hero from the previous series becomes this. Although he's a capable fighter and one of the most powerful demigods in existence, he's picked because of his ability to hold the team of heroes together rather than his physical powers. His girlfriend Annabeth is actually The Leader.
    Hazel: Percy had been their backbone. He'd given them confidence.
  • The Hunger Games: Peeta Mellark. Later used as a weapon against Katniss. The night before the 74th Hunger Games Peeta tells Katniss he doesn't want the games, or by extension anything the Capitol puts him through, to change him. In the third book of the series President Snow, who probably overheard the conversation thanks to the Orvellian nature of Panem's rule, tortures Peeta and hijacks him, brainwashing him into hating Katniss. It's implied that one of the things that pains Katniss the most about seeing him that way is that the sweet boy who once took a beating to give her bread has been completely changed by the Capitol.
  • Reign of the Seven Spellblades:
    • Katie Aalto and Guy Greenwood share the role of mediating between their generally tougher and stronger friends. Katie is sweet, friendly, and more classically feminine than Nanao or Chela, and less naturally inclined to violence than Nanao, Oliver, or Guy. Guy in turn, as the most "normal" one of the group, can mediate between the other Sword Roses in a way the others really can't, especially as regards Oliver's Love Dodecahedron.
    • Rita Appleton slots into this role among the underclassman cast. She often ends up having to referee between the socially stunted Teresa Carste and the bratty Dean Travers, who constantly butt heads, and tries to encourage Teresa to interact with the group more.
    • Flashbacks reveal that Ophelia Salvadori once served as a core member of the Kimberly Campus Watch: her healing magic and personnel management skills proved to be one of the major missing ingredients that allowed them to mature from a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits into an effective campus safety patrol and eventually the incumbent faction on the Absurdly Powerful Student Council. Unfortunately, she herself wasn't around to see the final result, as sexual harassment over her succubus ancestry drove her to villainy.
  • While several characters play this role in various parts of The Silmarillion, the two that stand out the most are Fingolfin and his son Fingon. When the Noldor arrive in Middle Earth, there is dissension among them because of Fëanor being jealous of his half-brothers Fingolfin and Finarfin. Furthermore, when King Thingol learns that they killed Telerin elves in order to acquire the ships they came to Middle Earth in: he pretty much refuses to help the Noldor ever again. This is all playing right into Morgoth's hands. What Morgoth doesn't count on though is that Fingon will go rescue Maedhros — son of Fëanor — from prison anyway, despite Fëanor's actions. This doesn't just return one of the most powerful elves to the fight, it also reminds everyone who the real enemy is. Maedhros abdicates the Kingship, in favor of Fingolfin, who then tries to keep the Noldor focused on Morgoth. His initial attempts don't work well. Fingolfin then decides, "Fine, I'll do it myself." and goes to challenge Morgoth in single combat. He loses but the point gets across. Fingon and Maedhros later gather everyone together to fight Morgoth, including getting Thingol's herald Mablung to help, although Thingol doesn't officially send anyone. They try to storm Angband — Morgoth's fortress — and end the fight forever, and they nearly succeed. Unfortunately, Maedhros' vassal betrays him and this results in Fingon sacrificing himself so that the rest of the Noldor can get off the battlefield.
  • The Sunne in Splendour takes place over decades and through a few generations, so there are several characters who serve as this.
    • The wise-beyond-his-years Edmund, the Earl of Rutledge is this among the York children. His early death casts a shadow over his brothers and Edward IV is tormented by his loss years later.
    • Johnny Neville is this in Warwick's generation, as he is the devoted younger brother to the earl and a Cool Uncle to his brother's children and fosters. Much like Edmund, his death devastates his family.
    • Anne Neville is this to the children raised at Middleham, if not to her own parents. She's kind-hearted but has a spine, and Francis, Edward and even Cecily are all captivated by her. Richard loves her, and they have a Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl romance. When she dies, Richard is absolutely wrecked.
    • Bess is this among Edward's children, and she's the heart the grows up and lives at the end of the book.
  • Trapped on Draconica: This is Ben's functional role in the group: emotional support.
  • Clay from Wings of Fire is this, having hatched first and being the "bigwings" of the group. He's a cheerful guy who keeps the peace between the Dragonets Of Destiny.
  • Wraith Squadron has several characters who will say "Screw it, we're having a party" to raise morale when it's low. Wedge himself starts the "Rebellion of Anonymity"note a roughly 36-hour rolling celebration in which off-duty personnel don't acknowledge rank, so even flag officers can be equal to junior crewers to get General Han Solo's spirits back up during the pursuit of Warlord Zsinj.
    Roleplay 
  • Quite a few characters in Dino Attack RPG. Zenna filled this role rather nicely in the RPG's early days, as did Rex at first:
    • Zenna starts as a genuinely kind and compassionate agent who does everything she can for those around her.
    • Also nearly every medic in the RPG (the exception being the Morally Ambiguous Doctorate Deitrich "Medic" Luzweit) would qualify on some level. Pierce and Shaw do somewhat stand out, both being genuinely kind people that put their patients above all else.
  • Project Prometheus: Apiary was heart of the hero team Nu Gen, her death so devastated the team that it disbanded for a year. When the team reunited (under the name Justice Unlimited), they named their new base after her.
    Tabletop Games 
  • Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine: Rinley, who is basically the entire group's goofy younger sister, is explicitly intended to serve this role in the Glass-Maker's Dragon campaign. When she's not breaking into everyone's house at the crack of dawn or meddling with the horror under the Titov shrine, anyway.
  • Dead of Winter: The public speaker Kumar Sen's unique ability lets him roll to No-Sell a Morale loss for the Colony once per round. Since it's the Zombie Apocalypse and the game is lost at zero Morale, this can be a lifesaver.
  • This is the function of the Mundane label in Masks: A New Generation. Characters with a high Mundane label basically function as amateur therapists for their teammates, helping them through insecurity, fear, and doubt to get them back in the game.
  • Interstitial: Our Hearts Intertwined has The Light and The Friend based around this, as they get bonuses for forming strong connections with their friends and protecting them.
  • Magic: The Gathering: Chandra Nalaar was this to the original five members of the Gatewatch; while the various members all had issues trusting or getting along with one another (Nissa had No Social Skills, Gideon and Jace butted heads over leadership, and absolutely no one trusted Lilianna) Chandra was the only member everyone seemed to like, and who seemed to like everyone.
    Video Games 
  • Aino Heart from Arcana Heart. Powered with love at that.
  • In the first three games of the Assassin's Creed series, Lucy Stillman plays this role. In Assassin's Creed I, she works to keep Desmond's morale up against the hopelessness of the situation he finds himself in and helps to protect his sanity (and eventually his life) from Vidic's demands. In Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, she acts as both the leader of the Assassin cell that she takes Desmond to and their moral/emotional compass, helping to keep the team's doubts and fears from overwhelming them. It even seems as if she and Desmond might be developing a romantic relationship. This makes the Wham Episode of her death at the end of Brotherhood and the subsequent revelation in the Assassin's Creed: Revelations "Lost Archive" DLC that she was a Templar mole all along doubly shocking.
  • Bug Fables: Kabbu is a noble soul that adventures to help others, and does his best to respect everyone he comes across. Early on, he even learns a skill to revive his allies in battle by just giving a pep talk.
  • Cyberpunk 2077: Hanako Arasaka is an extremely dark version of this trope. When V meets her in the game, she frames herself as the figure to bring justice and reconciliation to the Arasaka family following her brother Yorinobu's takeover of the corporation. She even refers to herself as "the Heart of the Arasaka family". Her plan for doing so, as it turns out, involves bringing her father Saburo Back from the Dead, convincing Yorinobu to stand down, and then having Saburo perform a Grand Theft Me on Yorinobu, opening the way to Saburo ruling over Arasaka in perpetuity in the dystopia they created. She is the Heart of the Arasaka family.
  • Dragon Age:
    • Leliana fulfills this role best in Dragon Age: Origins, if the Grey Warden isn't doing the job him/herself.
    • Hawke and Aveline Vallen share this role in Dragon Age II, with Aveline trying to keep the party on the (more or less) right side of the law and Hawke being the Magnetic Hero responsible for keeping them all together across all seven years. Sebastian Vael often takes a tertiary role as this, espousing this philosophy due to being a member of the priesthood. However, if Hawke doesn't execute Anders for destroying the Chantry during the endgame, Sebastian ends up Jumping Off the Slippery Slope and turns into a Church Militant.
    • The Inquisitor can become this in Dragon Age: Inquisition, not only for the Inquisition itself but arguably for most of Thedas. It's their cunning, charisma, and/or willpower that unites warring factions under one banner and makes allies from enemies.
  • In Ensemble Stars!, Souma is this for Akatsuki. The unit was originally established solely to carry out Eichi's will and raise the unit fine into the dominant force in school by scapegoating other students. Keito agreed to this out of Undying Loyalty to Eichi, and Kuro due to having the same towards Keito, with neither having any intention of acting as idols themselves. But Souma genuinely believed in Akatsuki, and once he was added, intentionally and unintentionally encouraged Keito and Kuro to take their unit seriously and really work on it. When he found out about Keito's plan (on Eichi's orders) to take down Kanata, he argued with him earnestly, despite heavily admiring and caring about Keito and seeing serving others as his life's duty. Ultimately, Keito and Kuro agree that Souma was the primary reason they were able to grow and become better and that Akatsuki was able to become a highly well-regarded and successful unit, and he remains their Morality Pet.
  • Final Fantasy VII:
  • Rather than any of the girls in the party, Irvine Kinneas occupies this role for Squall's team in Final Fantasy VIII, serving as the group's emotional center from the last stages of Disc 2 onward.
  • Tidus and Rikku share this role in Final Fantasy X. Tidus acts as Yuna's Manic Pixie Dream Guy and emotional support as well as having this effect on the rest of the group. The cynical Lulu eventually softens up through consistent meaningful talks to him. Rikku is the youngest of the team and the most innocent, keeping the team grounded. Tidus and Rikku both believe that Summoners killing themselves to destroy Sin has to be stopped.
  • Fire Emblem: Awakening:
    • Lissa, whose Genki Girl and White Mage traits keep the morale of the Badass Crew up. Lampshaded openly by her brother Chrom and her bodyguard/possible love interest Lon'qu:
      Chrom: You make people happy, Lissa. You motivate and inspire them just by your presence. I might instill confidence, but I don't make them happy. And neither would Emmeryn.
      Lon'qu: Do you truly not see how your presence energizes the others? How your smile and demeanor put everyone at ease?
    • The second generation gives us Cynthia, who cranks the genki up to eleven. While her endless Heroic Wannabe antics "impacted the world of comedy more than the world of legend" as the game itself puts it, everyone from your army to random NPCs love her for the sheer happiness she radiates. Even Gerome, whose goal in life seems to be emulating Batman as much as possible, can't help but smile when thinking about her.
      Gerome: Please don't misunderstand me. I don't dislike you. Your good humor raises people's spirits and dispels the horrors of war. You are a shining beacon of hope, reminding us there can be a better future. You light the fires of optimism and inspire us to keep striving.
  • Fire Emblem Fates has the younger sisters of the Hoshidan and Nohrian royal families, Sakura and Elise (respectively). While their brothers and sisters are itching to go to war and lay low the Player Character out of duty or vengeance, they steadfastly believe the PC is doing the right thing and hope against hope that their families can be made whole once more. In the case of Elise in Birthright, she even takes a mortal blow from her brother Xander to save the PC in the hopes that it will snap him out of his desire to kill her beloved sibling.
  • In Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series, Gamora believes Peter is this, as, without him, the group will fall apart. In a Tear Jerker fashion, she is right. When everyone thought Peter was dying in episode 1, the team almost immediately dissolved into fighting among themselves, blaming each other for Peter's condition.
  • Guilty Gear: Axl Low is such a good-hearted and optimistic Nice Guy that pretty much the entire cast treat him with kindness, if not always with respect. The gruff, anti-social and swear-happy Ineffectual Loner Sol Badguy treats him like a drinking buddy, and they even share music CDs. Even I-no, bitch and proud of it, can spare the odd moment of kindness and compassion for Axl though being a time-displaced Alternate Timeline version of his girlfriend Megumi helps with that.
  • The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-: As the only one of the initial fighters who isn't motivated by bloodlust, Player Character Takumi occupies a valuable middle ground between the team's fighters and noncombatants by being the one to listen to and address the latter's concerns. Even The Leader Hiruko has to listen to him sometimes, if only because everyone else does. After he goes back to Set Right What Once Went Wrong in the second half of the game, his people skills and foreknowledge gets him promoted to The Leader with Hiruko as The Lancer and his Number Two.
  • Kingdom Hearts:
    • Kairi fits the bill. Aside from the personality, she is a Princess of Heart with ties to the heart of all worlds, Kingdom Hearts, and spends much of the first game as a heart, inside of Sora's heart. Yeah, this trope is taken quite literally here.
    • Ventus in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep as well. Unlike Aqua and Eraqus, he's willing to give Terra the benefit of the doubt with regards to him potentially falling into darkness. And like Kairi, he has no darkness in his heart (since it was forcibly extracted to make Vanitas). Further, by the end of the game, he also ends up as a heart, inside of Sora's heart. There's more than a few reasons to think that Ven's role more closely resembles Kairi's than Sora's.
  • Shingo Yabuki has this role in The King of Fighters XI, keeping Kyo and Iori from pretty much killing each other when Chizuru, the original Heart of the Power Trio, is gravely injured by Ash Crimson.
  • Mission from the first Knights of the Old Republic. She's higher on the Karma Meter than the party's Jedi, is first to defend your PC after The Reveal, and quick to point out Good Feels Good or call What the Hell, Hero? if you're exploiting Video Game Cruelty Potential. It's no surprise that you have to kill her in the Dark Side ending, symbolically killing the last bit of good in yourself.
  • Aisha Blanchette from Macross 30: The Voice that Connects the Galaxy. She's extremely friendly and caring, especially to Leon and especially to Mina.
  • In the Mass Effect series:
    • This is the job of Shepard, resident hero(ine). Unsurprising, given the Dysfunction Junction nature of the crew and Shepard's status as an extreme Magnetic Hero. Shepard's status as this is lampshaded heavily in the Citadel DLC for Mass Effect 3, highlighting the sheer amount of True Companions they've gained and turned into Fire-Forged Friends across the entire series. Paragon Shepard fits this role to the “t”, especially acting to reign in the bloodthirsty tendencies of people like Garrus, Zaeed and Jack. Renegade Shepard on the other hand is more of a Sergeant Rock '90s Anti-Hero.
    • Liam Kosta and Lexi T’Perro both fill this role in Mass Effect: Andromeda. Lexi as the ship’s doctor does this in a more detached clinical manner, while Liam always keeps trying to cheer you up and inspire you in his emails, arranges social gatherings, makes an effort to form social bonds with the Angaara species, but also criticizes you if you place operational security above building relationships if you detain one of his contacts.
  • Would you believe a pompous egotist can be this? In the world of Mortal Kombat, it turns out that Johnny Cage of all people has an unusually strong sense of morals, especially by the time of Mortal Kombat 9 and Mortal Kombat X. He dislikes killing (at least in the storyline canon) to the point that he has to stop Sonya from nearly strangling Kano to death, because he knows that it's not the right thing to do and that he knew she would regret it once she wasn't blinded by her Mama Bear tendencies.
  • Alonai from Nexus Clash is The Heart to the greater angelic alliance, keeping their technocratic and Knight Templar tendencies in check by constantly reminding them of what they're fighting to protect.
  • Emil from NieR does what he can to keep an upbeat attitude and help his friends get along.
  • Overwatch: Reinhardt was the original strike team's most optimistic and idealistic member, upholding the organization's values of peace and justice. After being forced into retirement, Overwatch began to collapse under the weight of its internal corruption.
  • Stocke, the protagonist of Radiant Historia starts off as The Stoic, but also starts off with a growing circle of friends who he cares about dearly. He helps his party members through a variety of internal and external conflicts and is always sensitive to their issues. And at one point, he helps his best friend Roche and an NPC with relationship advice.
  • Amy Rose from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. In Sonic Adventure, she almost single-handedly convinces Gamma to undergo a Heel–Face Turn. In Sonic Adventure 2, her conversation with Shadow is what convinces him to help stop the ARK from plummeting into the Earth. In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), her companionship with Silver, and her subsequent What the Hell, Hero? speech upon discovering that he was trying to kill Sonic, causes Silver to start rethinking that strategy.
  • The Heavy from Team Fortress 2 is the core of his team. He's certainly big and boisterious enough to be the natural center of attention, and he brings along a strong sense of being "credit to team" as well as a freshly-made Sandvich for teammates who demonstrate the same.
  • There's two layers in Tears to Tiara 2. Hamil and Tart are The Heart to their people, the Canaanites, while Charis is The Heart of The Team.
  • Princess Peach from the Super Mario Bros. and Super Smash Bros. games. In The Subspace Emissary she makes herself useful by breaking up fights and turning potential enemies into friends. Case in point: She stopped Fox and Sheik from attacking each other by offering them tea!
  • Clementine is easily this in The Walking Dead (Telltale), with the highlight being her insistence that, when a vote on leaving him behind comes up, she argues that Ben is a nice guy and her friend, and friends don't leave each other behind. This gets another group member to change their vote against him to instead abstain.
    Visual Novels 
  • In Double Homework, Johanna is this out of her her siblings (the protagonist and Tamara). They are all better people due to her influence, and the protagonist calls her the only functional one of the three.
  • In The Fruit of Grisaia Michiru quietly made herself into the heart of the group without anyone noticing by supporting Sachi so she wouldn't collapse from exhaustion and acting as a mediator between Yumiko and Makina. Without her assistance, the group tends to fall apart into bickering. However, in The Eden of Grisaia she's demoted to comic relief and Amane takes her position by acting more as an anchor of stability while the rest of the girls all run around.
  • Galaxy Angel: Depending on the route, whoever Tact chooses as his romantic partner will become this for the whole Angel Wing during Moonlit Lovers and Eternal Lovers. Particularly in the latter, when Tact is forced to shoot her down after her Emblem Frame goes out of control, the morale of the whole team plummets, and they realize how much they've come to rely on her.
  • The Many Deaths of Lily Kosen: The protagonist can potentially become this depending upon the player's choices, talking to their friends and helping them deal with their own issues.
  • In Umineko: When They Cry, Battler unexpectedly plays this role for the people trapped on the island, at least in the early arcs. Although he seems certain that the deaths are normal crimes and not the work of magic, he also does not want to think that there is a murderer in the family. On several occasions, when his older relatives are accusing each other of being the culprit, he suggests a scenario that exonerates them.
  • in Doki Doki Literature Club!, Sayori is shown to be this, which is why she is the Vice President of the club. She keeps the club together in the event things get heated, as demonstrated when she manages to defuse an argument between Natsuki and Yuri about their poetic styles. This is more apparent when Sayori is absent and when Natsuki and Yuri argue again. Monika admits to the player that she may look like a good leader, but she is not good with people and has trouble breaking up the arguments, especially when they become more vitriolic and frequent down the line. Should the player eventually delete Monika, Sayori becomes the President of the club, and Natsuki and Yuri get along very well, without any major fights between them.
  • Magical Warrior Diamond Heart: Valerie takes on this role as she's the one person in the group that everyone respects and gets along with. Clover even outright describes her as such in episode 11.
    Web Animation 
  • Dreamscape: Ahjeen makes sure everyone feels special and in good spirits, especially his friends.
  • In Grej, Communalism, the Token Good Teammate who is a case of Stupid Good, is nice, kind, and caring, and believes in elevating the needs of the group… up until Communalism morphs into Cult Communalism and becomes convinced of the evils of humanity.
  • Alador from Wolf Song: The Movie serves this role for the heroes. He volunteers to fight on the behalf of his whole pack, puts his life on the line to save his opponent (which causes the enemy squad to switch sides as a result), encourages the pack to forgive and trust and is overall a nice guy to be around. it is for these reasons as to why his tragic death affects the heroes. Not only did they know him personally, but he was held to high regard. His death still serves as motivation for them to be just a bit more proactive with their approach
    Webcomics 
  • Mina, from Aecast. Always goes out of her way to make sure her fellow squadmates are taken care of one way or another. When Paige was injured by the Shenmal in Chapter 3, Mina was the first person to rush immediately to her side.
  • Dave, in College Roomies from Hell!!!. Lampshaded when the others vote Dave out of NOES. Marsha says "I can't believe how MEAN you guys are being. Dave is our moral compass. We NEED him." To turn him into The Zeppo, The author, Maritza Campos, decided to Nerf his power but leave him as the most earnest, conscience-stricken, and foolishly brave character. It's somewhat self-referential, as she killed off Dave but brought him back because her readers said that for all his flaws he was the "heart" of the series.
  • El Goonish Shive: Grace, our all-loving Wide-Eyed Idealist squirrel girl.
  • In Homestuck:
    • Dirk characterizes Roxy as the heart of the alpha kid team, saying that her efforts to keep the group together despite the teen relationship drama that threatened to tear them apart made her the true leader of the alpha session.
    • Bizarrely, Vriska, despite having spent most of her life as a free-roaming disaster looking for people to happen to, ends up being this to the meteor trolls in the version of the timeline where John alters canon to save her life. As the main extrovert on a voyage laden with introverts of various stripes, she prevented them from splitting off into small groups on a large asteroid and kept them interacting with each other.
  • Any, from M9 Girls!, is setting herself to be the heart of the group, trying to get Professor T.X. to come out of his isolation, even after sensing he has a darker nature.
  • Bina from Monster Pulse keeps her group together. Her drive is so strong that when one of them is dragged into a flashbacky dreamscape, she subconsciously joins him and drags the rest of the group with her. Also, her monster is her heart, now a rhinoceros-sized quadruped.
  • Several female characters in Nixvir embody this trope, since they are portrayed as compassionate and gentle, key cases being Oriel, the Princess Aubrea and Lady Kori (the queen of the dead). Princess Aubrea in particular functions as a Morality Pet for her father, who is the evil tyrant of World Vardethn, due to the fact that she is not as ruthless as he is.
  • No Heroes: Halen, the third person to join the two main characters a bit later in the comic embodies this trope. He tries to befriend everyone he meets, comforts both Katharina and Shara multiple times and always tries to plead for civility and communication, even when things in the city start to get heated up.
  • Phantomarine: the young and adorable Pavel is a ray of light.
  • Elan, from The Order of the Stick. Clueless, but concerned for the rest of the group, and skilled in Trope-Fu. Idealistic to a fault, occasionally The Load and a Spoony Bard to top it off, but he's a genuinely nice guy. Heck, you could make a case that he's the one person that everyone else on the team likes. Haley sums it up very well in a later arc.
    Haley: ...But he's...I don't know. Pure. Honest. Better than I am, that's for sure. He makes me a better person just by being around, and I like feeling that way.
  • Julie, the protagonist from Our Little Adventure... up to the end of book 2. The role of The Heart seems to have been passed to Jordie, the group's Cleric.
  • Stand Still, Stay Silent: Tuuri is the Cunning Linguist in a team where the Language Barrier means everyone else has at least one other person with whom they're unable to converse. She also frequently uses Tactful Translation to keep things harmonious in the crew, to the point that it frequently falls into Translation with an Agenda. Furthermore, since she isn't The Immune, and most of the other people on the crew are, she holds a downplayed Protectorate status.
  • In Weak Hero, Eugene's non-confrontational but courageous personality lends itself well to the main group, and he's surprisingly good at pulling the others together after they get out of a tough spot. He's the reason that Teddy ends up becoming a friend after previously being a bully, and later on Alex feels comfortable enough with Eugene to confess his insecurities to him. After the harrowing battle between Jake and Ben, the group spend a panel all praising Eugene for always knowing how to make them feel better.
    Web Original 
  • In his analysis of Homestuck and Steven Universe, the blogger Bladekind explores this trope👁 Image
    :
    Many carve their wills into reality by helping others find strength, and in the process finding strength through others. There was an entire episode, "Coach Steven", devoted to the concept of being "strong in the real way", showing that Steven’s true strength wasn’t the muscle he hoped to earn, but his skill at motivating and strengthening others. He works to help others live up to what he believes they can be as well, working to help the alien gems act more human and relate to humanity because that’s what he personally sees in them.
  • Whateley Universe: Generator, the least powerful member of Team Kimba, has been known to use Big Sad Puppy-Dog eyes to get her way. She is this trope so much that she is Team Kimba's Plan A to deal with Tennyo if she goes world-endingly evil.
    Web Videos 
    Western Animation 
  • Katara of Avatar: The Last Airbender, a medic with Healing Hands and Love Interest of The Hero, begins as this. Her natural tendency is to help people ("Imprisoned", "The Painted Lady", "Crossroads Of Destiny"), but just like her role as an All-Loving Hero, the role is debatably given to Aang by the end of the series. In one of the final episodes, "The Southern Raiders", Katara is hellbent on finding her mother's killer and killing him in revenge, and Aang is the one who tells her it's not worth it. Katara spares the man because she sees that he's not a dangerous monster, just a pathetic "empty" person who, while not deserving of forgiveness, isn't worth the moral cost to herself of taking a life for revenge. She leaves him personally disgraced and emotionally broken, but takes the lesson from Aang and forgives Zuko after truly seeing how he has changed and sought to make up for his past.
  • The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes: Wasp and Captain America tend to share this role. This is most apparent when they are the only two team members who go to save Hulk during the Red-Hulk-joining-the-Avengers incident.
  • Ed Otter and Lola Boa from Brandy & Mr. Whiskers usually act as the moral center for the show.
  • The Cuphead Show! has a rare villainous example in King Dice, who's the only demon of Hell with a sense of style and suave showmanship. After he's failed The Devil one too many times and exiled, Hell immediately becomes far more boring with Devil and Henchman lamenting that Hell used to have razzle dazzle while sitting through a downright miserable briefing from Stickler. In the end, Devil actually forgives King Dice and invites him back in spite of his repeated failures, because if nothing else he makes Hell far more entertaining for them.
    Devil: Look, you failed me. But you've got something that's been sorely lacking from the organization for too long! I need your glitz! Your pizzazz! I need your razzle-dazzle!
  • Lambie the Lamb from Disney's Doc McStuffins is affectionate, sweet, and loves giving hugs. She also really loves taking care of injured or sick toys. She also loves taking care of babies, and runs a nursery for baby toys inside Toy Hospital.👁 Image
  • Philip J. Fry in Futurama; he might be an idiot, but whenever he leaves the crew, such as when he moved on to join the police, the rest of Planet Express swiftly realize that the office isn't as pleasant a working environment without him, ranging from the professor no longer saying "Good news, everyone!" and Bender and Leela having nothing to talk about while out on deliveries without Fry as a buffer and the rest of the employees finding the ordinary business meetings Hermes gives very dull. Although they aren't clear what it is Fry actually does at work, they know they desperately need it.
  • The title character of Hey Arnold!. It's been shown on more than one occasion that everything in Hillwood would fall apart if not for him.
  • Justice League:
    • In an Alternate Universe shown in "A Better World", the Flash's execution at the command of President Lex Luthor pushes Superman over the edge, and the rest of the League follow suit to become the Justice Lords. In the main universe, his presence is implied to be the major factor keeping the rest of the original seven from Jumping Off the Slippery Slope; even the creators admitted Flash's death in the Alternate Universe was, in part, due to not seeing the character become a Well-Intentioned Extremist. After a fair bit of Foreshadowing in the fourth series, many fans got the gist and were pretty much expecting him to be killed.
    • In "Initiation", Green Arrow is forcefully recruited to the League against his will because Batman wants someone who can look at the League critically — in his own words, someone to "Keep us honest." This pays off later in "Divided We Fall" when the League tries to disband after current events demoralize everyone. He gets in their faces and forces them to remain dedicated to the ideal.
    • Notably, when Superman is primed to take the fight to Cadmus, Green Arrow and Flash are two of the characters who talk him down from it.
      Green Arrow: Batman said I was supposed to keep you guys honest.
      Superman: Do I look like Batman to you?
      Flash: Actually, you kinda do. Especially when you're all scowly like that.
  • Toki Wartooth from Metalocalypse. When he's not going psycho and painting the walls with blood, anyway. The rest of the band is so brutal that he's almost The Heart by default. It's made more clear twice, however:
    • When Toki and Murderface are kicked out thanks to Murderface not doing anything, the others realize the band is made of their talent, Murderface's negativity, And Toki.
    • In "Church of the Black Klok", when Toki gets abducted, his contribution to the overall story is realized as being essential.
  • Molly of Denali: The titular character is a 10-year-old girl who has an uncanny ability to bring her entire community together and acts as an inspiration for everyone around her. She also takes an active role in helping her friends and family heal from past trauma, going literal miles out of her way to find whatever they may need to soothe their wounds. Her ideas have even been literal life savers for other characters.
  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
    • Fluttershy is a Friend to All Living Things and represents the Element of Kindness. For example in the episode Bats! she is the one arguing that the vampire fruit bats are important to the orchard and should be moved to a sanctuary. She'll also put her foot down and be resolute if she thinks it'll be important in the long run, such as with her brother and The Breezies.
    • When Twilight Sparkle becomes the Princess of Friendship, she and the Mane Six become the Heart for all of Equestria.
  • The Owl House: Luz Noceda becomes this in the Owl House and for her friends, especially when she is compared to the cynical Eda, the egotistical King, the self-confidence–lacking Willow and Gus, or the cold and callous Amity. Luz is so cheery about her new circumstances that she brings out the best in her teachers and peers, gradually making them more cheery, compassionate, and optimistic as well.
  • Private is explicitly this for The Penguins of Madagascar. Being the newest member of the team he also stands Closer to Earth and is less prone to Jumping Off the Slippery Slope due to paranoia, often serving as a voice of reason.
  • Ready Jet Go!: Sydney is the peacekeeper of the team, who acts as a moral compass for her friends and is equal parts Cool Big Sis and Team Mom.
  • Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles: When Rico is temporarily out of commission, members of the team begin to act irritable, and snipe at each other. T'Phai explicitly says that Rico is the heart of the squad, "the glue that binds all together."
  • Graveheart from Shadow Raiders is The Hero but also acts as a stabiliser for the many cultural, personality and agenda clashes within his shaky team.
  • Bow in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is the most dependable, empathetic, and friendly person in the cast. He was the first friend Glimmer had, and the first non-Horde person to reach out to Adora during the early stages of her Heel–Face Turn. For bonus points, his character design features a red heart shape as, essentially, a Chest Insignia.
  • Spyro is this to his team in Skylanders Academy, despite his ego that makes him The Friend Nobody Likes. Whenever teammates or other heroes feel down or fight each other because of personal problems, Spyro is the one who encourages the others to either support each other or tries to stop the fighting by trying to make the others understand one another. It probably helps that his ego mellows out as the show goes on and he becomes more and more supportive of everyone.
  • It may be hard to believe given the setting and his role, but Kenny McCormick serves this role to the rest of the main group in South Park. When their group's friendships are crumbling in South ParQ Vaccination Special, they try to make arrangements that will keep Kenny happy, and yes, that does include Cartman.
  • In Steven Universe, Steven Quartz Universe himself plays this role. While Garnet can keep Amethyst and Pearl away from each other's throats, it takes Steven to make them actually get along. It appears that he inherited this from his mother. Fittingly, his unique powers are all defensive in nature — healing spit, force bubbles, and a summoned shield. Steven Universe: Future deconstructs this trope with Steven, however, as everyone treating him as a dumping ground for their emotions has left him deeply emotionally messed up himself — something he himself doesn't know how to work through, as he only has experience with helping others work through their emotions.
  • For most animated iterations of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles you can usually rely on Michelangelo to fill the role. Typically the youngest of the four he is also the most fun-loving and laid back member, which keeps the others in check (particularly Raphael and Leonardo, who frequently butt heads as contrasting personalities).
    • In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003), Donatello also shares the role. In the episode “Same As It Never Was,” Donatello travels through time (or to another dimension) to a Bad Future in which his disappearance has caused his brothers to become estranged from each other for almost thirty years and the Shredder to take over the world. Donatello reunites his family for one last go at the Shredder.
  • Starfire from Teen Titans (2003), when she's not kicking ass. The episode "How Long is Forever?" is dedicated to this: upon being flung through time and disappearing, she ends up in a Bad Future where the Titans have split specifically because she wasn't there to keep their spirits high enough.
  • Optimus Prime generally fills this role in Transformers: Prime. In fact, at the start of Season 2, it's painfully clear that the Autobots are barely managing to keep it together without him.
  • Nitz in Undergrads learns he is this in Identity Crisis, when his friends struggle to describe him and he comes to believe there's nothing interesting about him. He ends up leaving the group to try and discover himself, ends up refusing to leave his room, and the group swiftly falls apart without him: Rocko begins doing increasingly more stupid stuff (even by his standards} because Nitz isn't there to stop him, Cal becomes a copy of Rocko and is miserable because women don't like him anymore, and Gimpy becomes obsessed with getting Nitz to leave his room out of jealousy. In the end, when Nitz pulls himself out of his funk, he whips the group back into shape in seconds.
  • Work It Out Wombats!: Zeke, being The Baby of the Bunch, has an infectious need for love that brings the group together.
  • Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum: Yadina serves as the middle point between Xavier and Brad, balancing them out, and she has a strong sense of justice and compassion.
  • Young Justice (2010):
    • Superboy may try to cover it up, but he's easily the most empathetic of the team. In the past, he's tried to reason with an insane clone trying to kill him, called What the Hell, Hero? on M'gann leaving an enemy in a catatonic state, even if the information was necessary, adopted both an alien sphere and a genetically enhanced wolf, and even talked a rampaging alien golem out of suicide in one episode.
    • In a slightly more conventional example, Virgil is this to the runaways. Unlike his more Heroic Neutral companions, he genuinely wants to be a hero, enjoys having his powers, and is the first to go into danger to protect someone else.
    Real Life 
  • Ringo Starr was considered the least talented/helpful member of The Beatles by many, often to memetic levels. The band itself recognized him as the guy who helped them stick together even at the worst moments. They even put more focus on Ringo in the movies!
  • George Lucas in early years had his first wife Marcia playing this role. On top of being a terrific film editor, as her Academy Award attests, she was a positive influence for him with the emotional side of his films. After their bitter divorce, George's films never had that same resonance.
  • Similar to Ringo Starr, The Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, despite not having the sort of larger-than-life persona that bandmates Mick Jagger and Keith Richards have, was widely seen as the heart of the Stones. The time the Stones came closest to splitting up was in the 1980s when Watts struggled with drug addiction.
  • Frank Wells👁 Image
    was the president of The Walt Disney Company from 1984 to 1994, and he was (one of, if not) the reason(s) why the Disney Renaissance happened and that the early films of said era (especially the run from The Little Mermaid (1989) to The Lion King (1994)) were critically and financially successful. He balanced out both of Jeffery Katzenberg's and Michael Eisner's egos perfectly, was a trailblazer in the years leading up to the company's renaissance period, and also helped to grow the company's theme park division, to say a few. Then, in April of 1994, he perished in a helicopter crash, and ultimately, it led to Eisner and Katzenberg's senses of their own worth spiraling out of control, which led to the former devolving into a penny-pinching president, and the latter leaping ship from the Mouse House to start DreamWorks SKG, and also contributed to, although still being one of (if not), the most successful eras of Walt Disney Animation Studios itself, a slow decline for the Renaissance era of the studio's history. Peter Schneider said it best about why Wells was the personified form of this trope for Disney in the quote below.
    Peter Schneider: (on discussing about Katzenberg and Eisner) “Frank was the peacemaker amongst all these tremendous egos, and when Frank died, there was no one to talk to.”
  • Walter Harper was this to the Stuck-Karstens Expedition👁 Image
    , the first expedition to reach the summit of North America's highest mountain. All three of the other climbers attested to this. Hudson Stuck had lung disease from years of smoking, and his personality clashed horribly with that of climbing leader Harry Karstens, who felt like he was doing most of the work while receiving little of the credit. And the camp cook, Robert Tatum, had an anxiety disorder that made his climb difficult. It was Harper's quiet strength and tenacity, as well as his good humor and peacekeeping abilities, that kept Stuck and Karstens from calling it quits over both their differences and Stuck's health. Harper's role as the Heart was so important that it was a major deciding factor in putting him, not Karstens, at the head of the team for the last 2,000 feet to the summit, thereby assuring that Harper, an Alaska Native, became the first man to stand atop Denali.
If you're looking for that fleshy bag of muscles, the Other Wiki is more comfortable with talking about messy stuff like that.👁 Image
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Video Example(s):

"You have a good heart..."

Rayla compliments Ezran's good hearted nature when he suggests that the creepy sounds nearby might mean someone is in need of help, before then saying how annoying it is, as she goes to investigate.

Example of:
Bait-and-Switch Comment

★★★★★ 5 (14 votes)

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Rayla compliments Ezran's good hearted nature when he suggests that the creepy sounds nearby might mean someone is in need of help, before then saying how annoying it is, as she goes to investigate.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (14 votes)

Example of:

Main / BaitAndSwitchComment

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