Top Five Big Damn Hero Moments: Rory Williams (Doctor Who)

Picking out Big Damn Hero moments can be tough with this era of the show, because I’m mainly concerned with our characters as they are, not “alternate” versions of the characters.  That means episodes like “The Pandorica Opens” / “The Big Bang,” “Amy’s Choice,” and “The Wedding River Song” are out of the running.  Let’s see what else there is (spoilers ahead.)

Recognizing the Mystery (“The Eleventh Hour” – Series 5, Episode 1)

Rory won’t become a companion until later in this season, but he still shows off his companion potential here.  He’s the only one to notice that the hospital’s coma patients are wandering about the village.  Plus, he not only sees the pattern, he keeps record of it (pictures) and tries to tell someone in authority, even though he knows it sounds crazy.  Really, he does more companion stuff in this episode than Amy, and she’s the one who gets a TARDIS invite at the end.

Standing Up to the Doctor (“The Vampires of Venice” – Series 5, Episode 6)

Rory’s first adventure puts him in an uncertain position.  He’s just found out his fiancée “ran off” with a time traveler on the night before their wedding, and when he, Amy, and the Doctor arrive in 16^th-century Venice, he struggles to keep up with the other two, who are far more accustomed to TARDIS life.  Still, when Amy is in trouble, he brings the Doctor to a halt and takes him task for the way the people are so eager to “impress” him that they put themselves in danger.

Rescuing Melody (“A Good Man Goes to War” – Series 6, Episode 7)

“A Good Man Goes to War” is an obvious Big Damn Hero episode for Rory, what with the sword/gun, centurion getup, and BAMF Cybermen ultimatum.  It’s sort of too obvious for me, more an action figure of Rory than the real thing.  So, if I’m gonna single out a moment, it’s one that feels like Rory:  coming for Amy after he’s recovered Melody, lamenting that he’d planned to “be cool” as he’s overcome and starts to tear up.  Badass, but very human – that’s my Rory.

Reaching Amy (“The Girl Who Waited” – Series 6, Episode 10)

The main Amy here is an alternate, but Rory’s himself (and wonderful,) so I gladly count it.  Sent in to get Amy out of Two Streams, with the Doctor on comms but stuck in the TARDIS, Rory is devastated to realize how long Amy has been alone.  However, he never lets her think he loves her any less for being older, his only regret being that they weren’t together.  When she refuses to help rescue younger Amy, he finds a way to get through to her, and after he’s reunited with younger Amy, he still looks out for the older one and doesn’t view her as any less “real.”

Creating the Paradox (“The Angels Take Manhattan” – Series 7, Episode 5)

Maybe dubious, since this brave action banks on rewriting time, but even if Rory’s “come back” from the dead before, he still can’t know for sure.  The gallows humor asking “who else” could die twice on the same night is so Rory, and I like that, even as he’s decided that jumping off the building is the only way to create the Angels-destroying paradox, he’s still terrified to do it.