Because Destiny Says So:Characters want to fullfill 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.
Community-Threatening Construction: When a planned construction site motivates residents to defend their home which is subject for demolition.
Concepts Are Cheap: Characters have vague one word motivations that could really mean anything.
Darwinist Desire: A character wants to reproduce with the fittest mate possible.
Debt Detester: Character repays debts as soon as possible so as to not owe others.
Declaration of Protection: A person has their entire motivation built around protecting a vulnerable person. (usually a girl).
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 will do anything to acheive it.
Dismotivation: Characters try hard to achieve nothing.
Driven by Envy: A character wants something someone else has, and resents them for it.
Dystopia Justifies the Means: Bad guys whose goal is to create a nightmarish crapsack world.
Embodiment of Virtue: A character is driven by the desire to achieve perfection in a certain moral virtue.
Enemies Equals Greatness: Opposition or mistreatment from others is what gets a character highly motivated to do great things.
Everyone's Baby Sister: Threats on a character that everyone cares about gets characters to act against the threat.
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.
Fighting for a Homeland:
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.
Glory Seeker: A character wants other people to consider him/her to be a Badass.
Goal in Life: A character's main motivation through life.
Gotta Catch Them All: A character wants to pursue a collection.
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.
Inspirational Insult
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'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" Song: Exposition of a character's motivation in the form of a song at the beginning of the story.
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.
Loves Only Gold: A character is obsessed with a particular form of wealth and will do anything to obtain it.
MacGuffin: It doesn't matter what it does, but all the characters want it.
Motivated By Fear: Fear is a powerful motivator.
Motivation on a Stick
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.
Not in This for your Revolution: A character is involved in an admirable pursuit for un-heroic reasons. Not necessarily evil, just not heroic.
- Only in it for the Money: A Sub-Trope of the above, in which the un-heroic motivation is specifically wealth.
Pinocchico Syndrome: A character wants to be human, or to regain their humanity.
The Power of Friendship: A character is motivated by his friends.
The Power of Hate: A character desires what's worst for others.
The Power of Love: A character desires good.
Pursue the Dream Job: A character desires a specific job and follows his heart.
Rage Against the Heavens: A character wants the gods to pay for what they've done.
Revenge: A character wants another character to pay for what he's done.
Restart the World: A character wants to destroy the world and start over.
Rich Boredom: A character wants to need to do something.
Screw Destiny: Characters want to go against a prophecy and prove it wrong.
Seeks Anothers Resurrection: One character seeks to resurrect another character who has died.
Seven Deadly Sins
- Greed: Characters just want more.
- Lust: Characters just want sex.
- Envy: Characters want what other people have.
- Pride: Characters value themselves and want to feel as if they're worth something.
- Sloth: Characters just want to do nothing.
- Wrath: Characters just want you to suffer.
- Gluttony: Characters just want to consume.
Survivors Guilt: A character doesn't want anyone else to die in their stead.
There's 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.
Tragic Dream: The character is motivated by the desire for something they can never have.
Trapped in Villainy: A villain only performs villainous acts because, if they don't, they'll die.
Undying Loyalty: A character is motivated by desire to help someone or something they care about.
Utopia Justifies the Mean: Characters, usually bad guys, who wish to create a better world but will go to extreme lengths to achieve it.
"Well Done, Son!" Guy/"Well Done, Dad" Guy: A character wants someone to acknowledge them.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: A character has noble goals, but goes about achieving them ruthlessly.
Working for a Body Upgrade: Characters want their boss to repair or improve their physique/looks/abilities.
Found on: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MotivationIndex