self-abnegation
He charms as the self-abnegating narrator who can't resist inserting himself into the action.
The popular image of the secret agent is one of laconic, unflappable, and self-abnegating cool.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Refusing & rejecting
abjuration
abjure
abnegate
abnegation
bar
bat something/someone away
decline
disavow
gainsay
oppositional
opt
opt out
pass on
pass something up
punt on something
rebel
refuse
sb wouldn't touch something/someone with a bargepole/barge poleidiom
tear
would not do something for all the tea in Chinaidiom