Crowning Moments of Awesome

[Blastoise Fortooate]

I was reading TvTropes and I thought:

Hey! I suddenly want to discuss awesome moments in a piece of entertainment alongside my good friends on TCoD'

So here we are, I suppose? Open season on all awesome moments in games, movies, literature, television, etcetera etcetera.

...

I rather like 'I'm sorry, Professor; I must not tell lies.' from the movie version of Order of the Phoenix.

 

[Cap'n Sofa]

This entire battle is pretty much one big CMoA.

Also, final battle of Okami. And the Mt. Doom part of Return of the King.

Also:

The spy has already breached our defenses.
(Red spy shoots engineer)
You've seen what he's done to our colleagues!
(Red spy stabs sniper in back)
And, worst of all...
he could be any one of us.
(Red spy kills medic, transforms into him)

The rest of that was a CMoF, though.

Probably more I can think of when I'm not tired.

 

[RespectTheBlade]

I'm tired, so I can only think of one right now.

In my opinion, the final battle with Cyrus (along with the music) is a CMoA.

 

[nastypass]

Good boy.

 

[Butterfree]

Since TV Tropes recently changed the trope to just Moments of Awesome because the things people added were so nebulously defined and pretty much ended up being "anything vaguely cool", I am going to use a strict definition here. As far as I'm concerned, a Crowning Moment of Awesome is defined first and foremost by being enormously satisfying. You don't just go "Heh, that was pretty awesome"; you go "OH HELL YES" and start to grin involuntarily. This usually happens when the character completely surpasses your expectations, rather than just being generally awesome.

I rather like 'I'm sorry, Professor; I must not tell lies.' from the movie version of Order of the Phoenix.

Speaking of Order of the Phoenix, one of my favorite moments is from the book, when the Ministry wizards come to arrest Dumbledore in his office:

You seem to be labouring under the delusion that I am going to - what's the phrase? - come quietly. I am afraid I am not going to come quietly at all, Cornelius. I have absolutely no intention of being sent to Azkaban. I could break out, of course - but what a waste of time, and frankly I can think of a whole host of things I would rather be doing.

(Followed by Cornelius opening his mouth and closing it like a grounded fish and Dumbledore kicking a lot of ass and disappearing.)

Also, from the same book, Fred and George's escape. One of the most utterly satisfying moments of reading I have ever experienced. God, I love that book. I will never understand how it can be anybody's least favorite Harry Potter book.

As far as Crowning Moments of Awesome go in general, the one near the end of The Shawshank Redemption where you find out how brilliantly Andy escaped is one of the very most illustrative examples, simply because in a film where there are some pretty cool moments, suddenly there's this one montage that just utterly blows everything else away and makes your hair stand on end. It is amazing.

The bit in Avatar: The Last Airbender where Toph manages to bend metal was unbelievably awesome. It's kind of game-breakingly overpowered and you don't give a damn because it is just so utterly satisfying. "I AM THE GREATEST EARTHBENDER IN THE WORLD!" Yes, you are, Toph.

As for Gurren Lagann - there are plenty of pretty awesome moments, but thanks to the inherent over-the-topness of the series, most of them don't quite have that crowning feel - you expect the characters to do something like this the whole time. That said, when Simon starts delivering inspirational speeches, he somehow manages to surpass my expectations anyway. You need a really special kind of awesomenes to stand there after the villains have explained why their position makes perfect sense, make an evolutionobabble speech about why humanity will through sheer force of will just defy the laws of the universe if that's what they have to do, and actually succeed in convincing the viewer that you're right. Especially when that viewer is simultaneously going "aaa evolution does not work that way!" It murders my favorite scientific theory (including but not limited to: treating evolution as a mystical force emerging from the spiral shape of DNA that is completely analogous to the movement of a drill, treating humanity as the pinnacle of evolution, and treating the humanoid shape as being inherently more powerful than any other geometric form) and I don't care because it's just that awesome.

 

[opaltiger]

It could just be me, but "I did it thirty-five minutes ago" has always been one of my favourites.

 

[Blaziking the God General]

Very small one, I suppose, but season 4 of 24 when Chloe O'Brian kills the dude attempting to kill her? That right there was definitely a crowning moment of awesome. Especially since it's her only kill in the entire show. Also, from the same show, the end of season 7 when Kim retrieves a laptop from a burning car definitely pinned her has being more useful than in past seasons, and I thought it was a CMoA.

Another CMoA that I'm fond of, check out 1:45. Final Fantasy IX is one of my favorite games ever, and Vivi is one of my favorite characters ever, and when he sends that guy flying with a Fire spell, I just love it.

 

[IcySapphire]

This memorable moment from Chrono Trigger

 

[Thorne]

The absolutely best moment of One Piece, namely in Usopp and Chopper versus Mr. 4 and Mrs. Merry Christmas.

Usopp, who is pretty much the closest the series have to a normal person, being dragged at 30 miles an hour, is hit by a four-ton metal bat to the face. He was hurt plenty right before, and we get an x-ray picture of how the blow breaks his entire skull. However, despite all this, he gets up. Battered, bleeding, exhausted, nothing keeps him going except sheer determination. And Usopp has no extreme physical power like most of his crew, in fact he is pitiably weak. Yet, despite all of this, despite essentially being physically dead, he stands up, and drops his single most badass lines in the series to date.

There...
...comes a time...
when a man must stand and fight.

That time is when...
...his friend's dreams are laughed at!

Luffy won't die...
I KNOW he will be the pirate king one day...

...AND I WON'T LET YOU LAUGH AT THAT!!

Trust me when I say that no text is sufficient to explain to sheer amount of amazing in this scene. It really needs to be seen.

 

[Anomaly 54]

Pretty much the whole conversation between Cortana, Chief and the Moniter at Pillar of Autumn's bridge.

Master Chief: "How much firepower would you need to crack one of the engine's shields?"
Cortana: "Not much. A well-placed grenade perhaps, but why-"
*Master Chief is bouncing a Frag grenade in the palm of his hand.
Cortana: (nods) "Okay, I'm coming with you."

 

[Anomaly 54]

The whole conversation between Cortana and Master Chief in the bridge and 343 Guilty Spark in Engineering is definatly CMoF in my books. CMoA is this part in particular.

Master Chief: "How much firepower would you need to crack one of the engine's shields?"
Cortana: "Not much. A well-placed grenade perhaps, but why-"
*Master Chief is bouncing a Frag grenade in the palm of his hand*
Cortana: (nods) "Okay, I'm coming with you."

 

[IcySapphire]

The final faceoff vs. Ganon in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

 

[opaltiger]

Speaking of Order of the Phoenix, one of my favorite moments is from the book, when the Ministry wizards come to arrest Dumbledore in his office:

Shacklebolt deserves credit for that one too, I think. Also I actually prefer McGonagall's put-down of Umbridge. I was so annoyed they took that out of the film :(

EDIT: Oh, sticking to graphic novels (and adaptations thereof), the Houses of Parliament blowing up in (the film) V for Vendetta surely qualifies.

 

[Risingbadge]

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin. Just... The entire thing. I know you're not supposed to do that, but Christ. The one that takes the cake is when Greyfield corners the rebelling Rubinelle forces after Brenner dies. Will goes apeshit on him with his theme blaring loud and proud. Easily one of the best moments in my gaming history.

Also, from the Firefly movie Serenity:
"Do you know what your sin is, Mal?"
"Ah, hell... I'm a fan of all seven."

 

[Yarnchu]

Well, I'm gonna bring up one of my favorite GBA Games here: Metroid Zero Mission. The final part of the game, after the tedious section in the Zero Suit and when you get your fully upgraded Power suit is satisfying as hell. The awesome remix of the Brinstar theme that plays and that you just tear through the Space Pirates that you earlier had little power against gives this overall sense of triumph that definitely was worth the earlier trouble you went through.

And from Avatar...just the entirety of Sozin's Comet. Seeing Aang fight the Fire Lord, the Order of the White Lotus reconquer Ba Sing Se, Sokka, Suki, and Toph take down the airship fleet, and Zuko and Azula's Agni Kai, plus Katara's subsequent battle with her...it's just great.

 

[Cap'n Sofa]

I found another one.

(PORTAL SPOILERS)
Good news. I figured out what that thing you just incinerated did. It was a morality core they installed after I flooded the Enrichment Center with a deadly neurotoxin to make me stop flooding the Enrichment Center with a deadly neurotoxin. So get comfortable while I warm up the neurotoxin emitters...

Then this starts playing. It's amazing.

 

[Exo-Raikou]

I point you, fellow tCoDers, to the two greatest moments in the entire history of Western animation:

A Night on Bald Mountain and Ave Maria

And then there's the 19th episode of Red vs. Blue: Revelation, which features a battle between three of the most badass soldiers in the entire series

Spoiler

I didn't even expect the most villainous of those three soldiers to end up winning the fight, mind you

. This is shortly followed by An impressive Big Damn Heroes moment by the Reds, Tucker, and Caboose, followed by the most stunning Revelation in the entire series regarding one of the super soldiers

Also, the end of Order of the Stick's Start of Darkness, wherein the main villain gives this speech:

"Hey you know what really gets under my skin? Proverbially, of course? A century of wizards looking down their damn noses at me. I know people think I'm stupid. Because I'm not a wizard. Because I get bored easily. Because I have no interest in strategy or tactics or contingency planning. But see, I've learned a lot over the years since I died. A lot more than I learned during my life. And now I see planning doesn't matter. Strategy doesn't matter. Only two things matter: Force in as great a concentration as you can manage, and style. And in a pinch, style can slide. In any battle, there's always a level of force against which no tactics can succeed. For example, all I need to do is keep smacking you with Energy Drains, and eventually you won't be able to cast any of your fancy spells at all. Because yes, I am a sorcerer — and this magic is in my bones, not cribbed-off "Magic for Dummies". And I can keep casting the same friggin' spell at you until you roll over and die. You can have your finely-tuned watch -- give me the sledgehammer to the face any day."

Oh, and the entire last chapter of FMA. Words cannot describe it.

 

[Dannichu]

The series 2 finale of The West Wing. So much. It didn't make me smile, per se; I think my jaw was actually slack from how utterly awesome (and I use that word in the proper, I-have-just-seen-the-face-of-God sense) it was. The review on the back of the DVD box said "sometimes the dialogue reaches such levels of perfection I could weep" - it sounds ridiculous, but this is so, so true. Actual tears in my eyes and shivers down my spine every time.

The final episode of series 5 of Buffy springs to mind also. They just pile Crowning Moment onto Crowning Moment; "She's with me." ""The glorified bricklayer picks up a spare!" "She's a hero, you see. She's not like us." Yes. (the series 7 finale deserves an honourable mention, as does the Walk Through the Fire bit of OMWF)

I think all the final cases in the Ace Attorney games are this to varying degrees, but 2 and 3 are the most epic. The whole of Defying Gravity from Wicked. The finale of series 5 of 24 is absolutely fantastic as well; I'm a sucker for everyone pulling together and saving the day XD

And that scene in The Great Game in Sherlock. It took me a few hours to stop talking in verbal capslock after that. Possibly more of a "HELLS NO" than "HELLS YES" moment, but oh-so-awesome nonetheless, and flawlessly executed. Blinking S.O.S. indeed.

 

[IcySapphire]

Don't know if this would be Awesome or Funny, but this one needs no introduction--the Lion King's hula scene

 

[Phantom]

Gandolf.... "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"