Military and Warfare Tropes

""It is well that war is so terrible -- lest we should grow too fond of it.""

- Robert E. Lee

"“War is the father of us all, King of all. Some it makes gods, some it makes men, some it makes slaves, some free.”"

- Heraclitus

War stories are not quite as convention-laden as The Western or commedia dell'arte, but it is a near thing. And The Army is frequently featured in such stories for some reason... Here are some things you may rely on.

Settings:
See also:
 * Combat Tropes
 * Espionage Tropes
 * Forces With Firepower
 * Politics Tropes
 * Weapons and Wielding Tropes
 * Military and Warfare Superindex

Historical Wars
 * The Trojan War (approx. 1194-1184 BC)
 * Greco Persian Wars (499-450 BC)
 * Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC)
 * Macedonian Succession Wars (323BC-275BC)
 * Punic Wars (264-146 BC)
 * Maccabean Revolt (166BC-129BC)
 * Jewish Revolts (66-117)
 * The Crusades (1095-1291)
 * Turkish-European Wars (1071-1683)
 * Ottoman Rise(Early Ottoman conquests in late middle ages)
 * Fall of Constantinople(1453)
 * Battle of Lepanto(1571)
 * Siege of Vienna (1683)
 * European Reconquest(Austria&Russia vs Ottomans Seventeenth-Nineteenth centuries)
 * Hundred Years War (1337-1453)
 * Wars of the Roses (1455-1485)
 * Italian Wars (1494-1559)
 * Eighty Years War (1568-1648)
 * Dutch Portuguese War (1602-1640)
 * Thirty Years War (1618-1648)
 * English Civil War (1642-1649), a part of the Three Kingdoms Wars (1639-1653)
 * Hanover Stuart Wars (Seventeenth and Eighteenth century).
 * Anglo Dutch Wars (1652-1781)
 * Great Northern War (1700-1721)
 * War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714)
 * War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748)
 * Seven Years War (1754-1763)
 * The American Revolution (1775-1783)
 * Napoleonic Wars (1789-1815)
 * War of 1812 (1812-1815)
 * War of the Confederation (1836-1839)
 * Mexican-American War (1846-1848)
 * Wars of Italian Independence (1848-1866)
 * Crimean War (1853-56)
 * Sepoy Rebellion (1857)
 * The American Civil War (1861-1865)
 * Chincha Islands War (1864-1866)
 * War of the Triple Alliance (1864-1870)
 * Austro Prussian War (1866)
 * Franco Prussian War (1870-1871)
 * Anglo Zulu War (January-July 1879)
 * War of the Pacific (1879-1883)
 * First Sino Japanese War (1894-1895)
 * The River War (1881-1898)
 * Spanish American War (1898)
 * Second Boer War (1899-1902)
 * Russo Japanese War (1904-1905)
 * Mexican Revolution (1910-1921)
 * World War One (1914-1918)
 * The Poppy
 * Russian Civil War (1917-1922)
 * Polish Soviet War (1919-1921)
 * Irish Revolution (War of Independence 1919-1921, Civil War 1922-1923)
 * Chinese Civil War (Initial campaigns 1927-1936, intermittent fighting 1941-1945, full-scale war 1946-1949.)
 * Chaco War (1932-1935)
 * Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
 * Second Sino-Japanese War (1937 - 1945)
 * World War II (1939-1945)
 * The Cold War: (c.1945-c.1991. Historians disagree on the precise date it started)
 * The Korean War (1950-1953 for the main fighting, although technically still ongoing and best described as a high tension Cold War in East Asia)
 * The Indochina Wars (1946-1975)
 * The Vietnam War (1959-1975)
 * Bay of Pigs Invasion (April 17-April 19 1961)
 * Operation Urgent Fury (October-December 1983)
 * Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan (1979-1989)
 * Arab Israeli Conflict (1948-)
 * Indian Pakistani Wars
 * The Troubles (1968-1998)
 * The Football War (July 1969)
 * Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), also known as the Gulf War.
 * The Falklands War (or Malvinas War, to some) (2 April-20 June 1982)
 * Sri Lankan Civil War (1983-2009)
 * First Gulf War (1990-1991) also known as the Second Gulf War
 * The Yugoslav Wars (1991-2001)
 * Congo Wars (1996-2003)
 * The War On Terror (2001-, includes Afghanistan and Iraq wars)

General
 * Alien Invasion
 * Always On Duty
 * Ant War
 * Anti-Air
 * Anti-Cavalry
 * Apocalypse Wow
 * Back in The Saddle
 * Big Badass Battle Sequence
 * Bombers On the Screen
 * Bomb Whistle
 * Boot Camp Episode
 * Bug War
 * Decisive Battle
 * Draft Dodging
 * During the War - list, comparison, and series
 * Earth Is a Battlefield
 * Easily Thwarted Alien Invasion
 * Feuding Families
 * Forever War
 * Great Offscreen War
 * Guilt-Free Extermination War
 * Hopeless War
 * Home By Christmas
 * Invaded States of America
 * I Will Fight Some More Forever
 * Keystone Army
 * Lowered Recruiting Standards
 * Possible War
 * Pretext for War
 * Robot War
 * Screw the War, We're Partying
 * Shocking Defeat Legacy
 * Soldiers At the Rear
 * To Win Without Fighting
 * Urban Warfare
 * War for Fun And Profit
 * The War of Earthly Aggression
 * The War to End All Wars
 * War Was Beginning
 * Washington DC Invasion
 * Wooden Ships and Iron Men
 * World War III
 * World War Whatever

Individual characters (please, do not put entire military units here):

 * Ace Pilot
 * Arms Dealer
 * Blood Knight
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy
 * The Brigadier
 * Camp Follower
 * The Captain
 * Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough
 * Cavalry Officer
 * Child Soldiers
 * Cold Sniper
 * Colonel Badass
 * Colonel Kilgore
 * Commanding Coolness
 * Communications Officer
 * Consummate Professional
 * Cultured Warrior
 * Cunning Linguist
 * Dad the Veteran
 * Dangerous Deserter
 * Danger Deadpan
 * Desk Jockey
 * Do Anything Soldier
 * Drill Sergeant Nasty
 * The Engineer
 * Ensign Newbie
 * Exalted Torturer
 * Father Neptune
 * A Father to His Men
 * Four-Star Badass
 * Friendly Sniper
 * General Failure
 * General Ripper
 * The Generals Daughter
 * Glamorous Wartime Singer
 * Glory Hound
 * Glory Seeker
 * Good Looking Privates
 * Gung-Holier Than Thou
 * Guy in Back
 * Hero of Another Story
 * Improbable Cover
 * Insane Admiral
 * Keep the Home Fires Burning
 * Majorly Awesome
 * Mary Tzu
 * The Medic
 * Miles Gloriosus
 * Military Brat
 * Military Maverick
 * Military Moonshiner
 * Military Superhero
 * Modern Major General
 * The Musketeer
 * The Neidermeyer
 * New Meat
 * Officer and A Gentleman
 * Old Soldier
 * Perilous Old Fool
 * One Man Army
 * Overranked Soldier
 * Phony Veteran
 * Plucky Middie
 * Privateer
 * Rebel Leader
 * Rebellious Rebel
 * Returning War Vet
 * The Rizzo
 * The Scrounger
 * Sergeant Rock
 * Shell Shocked Veteran
 * Sociopathic Soldier
 * The Squadette
 * Southern Fried Private
 * The Strategist
 * Super Soldier
 * Veteran Instructor
 * War God
 * Warrior Monk
 * Warrior Prince
 * Wing Man

Armies and units:

 * Abwehr
 * Amazon Brigade
 * Armies Are Evil
 * Army of the Ages
 * Army of Thieves and Whores
 * Attack Drone
 * Surveillance Drone
 * Badass Army
 * Battle Couple
 * Cadre of Foreign Bodyguards
 * Call That a Formation?
 * Cannon Fodder
 * Church Militant
 * A Commander Is You
 * Deployable Cover
 * Doom Troops
 * Eagle Squadron
 * Elite Army
 * Elites Are More Glamorous
 * Flaunting Your Fleets
 * The Home Guard
 * Homing Projectile
 * Legion of Lost Souls
 * Lost Roman Legion
 * Million Mook March
 * Men of Sherwood
 * Planet Looters
 * Praetorian Guard
 * Private Military Contractors
 * Proud Warrior Race
 * Redshirt Army
 * The Remnant
 * Semper Fi
 * Space Marine
 * State Sec
 * Suspiciously Small Army
 * The Squad
 * Squad Nickname
 * Weekend Warriors

The Laws and Customs of War:

 * Aggressive Negotiations
 * Attack Pattern Alpha
 * Bling of War
 * Command Roster
 * Common Military Units
 * Common Ranks
 * Fantastic Rank System
 * Custom Uniform
 * Insignia Rip Off Ritual
 * The Men First
 * Military Alphabet
 * Military Salute
 * No One Gets Left Behind
 * Putting On the Reich
 * Radio Silence
 * Rage Helm
 * Reporting Names
 * Sealed Orders
 * Sound Off
 * The Spartan Way
 * Staff of Authority
 * Strange Salute
 * Straw Civilian
 * The Thirty-Six Stratagems
 * This Is Not a Drill
 * Would Not Shoot a Civilian

Tropes:

 * Airstrike Impossible
 * Armchair Military
 * Armed Farces
 * Arms Fair
 * Artistic License Military
 * Authority Equals Asskicking
 * Awesome Personnel Carrier
 * Battle Epic
 * Battle Trophy
 * Blinded By the Light
 * Booby Trap
 * Civil War
 * Coming in Hot
 * Corporal Punishment
 * Conscription
 * Curb Stomp Battle
 * Dawn Attack
 * "Dear John" Letter
 * Death From Above
 * Death Notification
 * Defcon Five
 * Defensive Feint Trap
 * Delaying Action
 * Do a Barrel Roll
 * Doomsday Device
 * Dress Coded for Your Convenience
 * Drop Pod
 * Fast Roping
 * Feed the Mole
 * Field Promotion
 * Fighting For A Homeland
 * Friend or Foe
 * Gender Is No Object
 * Geo Effects
 * Going Down With the Ship
 * Got Volunteered
 * Government in Exile
 * Greater Need Than Mine
 * Gunboat Diplomacy
 * Gundamjack
 * Hello Sailor
 * Helmet Mounted Sight
 * Highly Conspicuous Uniform
 * Hollywood Tactics
 * Hot Sub-On-Sub Action
 * How to Survive A War Movie
 * Hyperspace Arsenal
 * I Am Not a Gun
 * In Its Hour of Need
 * Insert Grenade Here
 * Interservice Rivalry
 * Irrevocable Order
 * I Surrender Suckers
 * It's Raining Men
 * Join the Army They Said
 * Kill Sat
 * Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better
 * Last Stand
 * Last Villain Stand
 * Leave No Survivors
 * Sink the Life Boats
 * Macross Missile Massacre
 * Mildly Military
 * Military Academy
 * Military Mashup Machine
 * The Battlestar
 * Military School
 * Misfit Mobilization Moment
 * Misguided Missile
 * More Dakka
 * Mounted Combat
 * The Mutiny
 * Anti-Mutiny
 * Nicknaming the Enemy
 * No Blood for Phlebotinum
 * Nose Art
 * A Nuclear Error
 * Obligatory War Crime Scene
 * One Riot One Ranger
 * Onrushing Army
 * Opposing Combat Philosophies
 * Orchestral Bombing
 * Peeling Potatoes
 * Pendulum War
 * Permission to Speak Freely
 * Pin Pulling Teeth
 * Piggybacking On Hitler
 * Plunder
 * Punishment Detail
 * Rank Up
 * Reassigned to Antarctica
 * Recruiters Always Lie
 * Remilitarized Zone
 * Sensor Suspense
 * The Siege
 * Siege Engines
 * Battering Ram
 * Sitting Duck
 * Sniper Duel
 * Standard Hollywood Strafing Procedure
 * Stand Your Ground
 * Storming the Castle
 * Suicide Mission
 * Surprisingly Elite Cannon Fodder
 * Tactical Withdrawal
 * Tank Goodness
 * Tanks for Nothing
 * That's an Order
 * Things Get Real
 * Time to Step Up Commander
 * Tokyo Rose
 * Trapped Behind Enemy Lines
 * Two Keyed Lock
 * Unfriendly Fire
 * Unusual Weapon Mounting
 * The Uriah Gambit
 * Walkie-Talkie Static
 * Walking Armory
 * War Arc
 * War Elephants
 * War Is Glorious
 * War Is Hell
 * The War Room
 * Wartime Cartoon
 * Weapon Tombstone
 * We Have Reserves
 * Where's the Kaboom?
 * With Due Respect
 * Won the War, Lost The Peace
 * You Are in Command Now
 * You Shall Not Pass
 * Zerg Rush

Commentators

 * The War Nerd

Other:

 * Modern Battlefield Weapons
 * Naval Gazing
 * Naval Weapons
 * Types of Naval Ships
 * History of Naval Warfare
 * Plane Spotting
 * Air-Launched Weapons
 * Wild Weasel Mission
 * POW Camp
 * PS Magazine