Armies Are Evil: Difference between revisions

[[File:Join_the_Alpha_Section_7746Join the Alpha Section 7746.png|link=Beyond Good and& Evil (Videovideo Gamegame)|frame|"We're here for you."]]

{{quote|'''Howl:''' Filthy murderers...<br />

'''Sophie:''' Are they allies? Or enemies?<br />

'''Howl:''' Does it make any difference?|[[Hayao Miyazaki]]'s ''[[Howl's Moving Castle (Anime)|Howl's Moving Castle]]''}}

This trope is a relative of [[Ancient Conspiracy]], [[Government Conspiracy]], and [[Nuke'Em]], and is often the mirror image of [[Science Is Bad]], unless the Science in question was a military research project to begin with. It is often commanded by [[General Ripper]], and formed of [[Sociopathic Soldier|Sociopathic Soldiers]]s. Army will sometimes, in relatively rare circumstances, make use of [[We Have Reserves|Human Wave Tactics]] ... rare because while civilians are cheap and expendable, good soldiers are not. At least, to the Army.

If a [[Real Life]] military is portrayed in this light, expect the film ''not'' to be [[Backed Byby the Pentagon]]. For right or wrong, most institutions generally prefer to not be party to their own disparagement.

An increasingly common variant of this trope draws on [[Democracy Is Bad]]; Soldiers ''try'' to do their job, which most of them view as "[[Occupiers Out of Our Country!|defend my home from threats]]" as opposed to "[[No Kill Like Overkill|smash the enemy at all costs]]". They may have incomplete information or bad judgment, but most of them want to do the Right Thing, and are willing to [[Heroic Sacrifice|sacrifice themselves to that end at the drop of a hat]]. They just run smack dab into [[Sturgeon's Law]] -- for—for every superior that is [[A Father to His Men]], an [[Officer and Aa Gentleman]] or even just a plain old [[Reasonable Authority Figure]], there are dozens if not hundreds of [[General Ripper|General Rippers]]s and/or [[The Neidermeyer|Neidermeyers]] looking to pull a fast one -- [[Just Following Orders|and as soldiers they are supposed to obey all of them.]] This is sometimes called "Hate The War, Love The Soldier".

* Ralph's motivation in ''[[Soukou no Strain]]'' comes from his viewing the Union as an Evil Army. {{spoiler|Of course,[[Powered Byby a Forsaken Child|part of his concern is justified]], but by the time you find that out, you also realize that he doesn't just hate the Union -- he hates [[Misanthrope Supreme|everyone]].}}

* The army of which the protagonists are part of in ''[[Pumpkin Scissors]]'' is this. The war that tore the continent apart has been over for a while, but there's no shortage of corruption and decadence that it's a wonder Alice can still be the [[Wide -Eyed Idealist]] that she is.

* The Red Ribbon Army in ''[[DragonballDragon Ball]]''.

* The American military in [[Blood Plus+|Blood+ ]]

* Many, many [[B -Movie|B-grade monster movies]] from the 1950's and 60's, and many more in the 90's and 2000's.

* Inverted in [[In the Loop]]. The sociopathic Secretary of State is opposed by [[Four -Star Badass]] General "Flintstone" Miller.

{{quote| '''Miller:''' This is the trouble with civilians wanting to go to war - once you've been there, you never want to go again unless you absolutely have to. ([[Beat]]) It's like France.}}

* Parodied in the film ''[[Mars Attacks!]]!'' where General Decker's warmongering instincts ("We have to strike now, sir! Annihilate! Kill! Kill! Kill!") prove to be entirely well founded.

* Played out on a small scale in ''[[It Came Fromfrom Outer Space]]'' (1953) with the sheriff who wants to go in with a posse and the amateur astronomer who's willing to trust that the aliens are telling the truth. It does however subvert this trope in that both aliens and humans are paranoid about the others intentions, yet in reality both are reasonable -- thereasonable—the humans just want their friends (who are being held hostage by the aliens) returned unharmed, while the aliens just want to repair their spaceship so they can leave Earth.

* The notorious [[Irwin Allen (Creator)|Irwin Allen]] disaster flop ''[[The Swarm]]'' (1978) attempts this, with the military wanting to use pesticides that would damage the environment while [[Michael Caine]] keeps suggesting other methods. Unfortunately the threat of the killer bees is so over-hyped (at one stage they cause the [[Failsafe Failure|explosion of a nuclear power plant]]) that Caine's continuing refusal is [[Broken Aesop|hard to justify]].

* The military branch of the RDA (Resources Development Administration) in James Camerons ''[[Avatar (Filmfilm)|Avatar]]'' ("Give us more time and a peaceful solution is possible." "There is no time!") It was mentioned once in the first part of the movie these guys aren't properly military, more like very well equipped [[Private Military Contractors]] (although they are stated to be ex-Marines in the intro).

* In ''[[Short Circuit (Film)|Short Circuit]]'', NOVA Labs keeps a standing army for any... malfunctions. They're portrayed as dumb and trigger-happy, and the lead NOVA scientist fires the head of the army at the end of the movie.

** On [[Straw Man Has a Point|the other hand]], Number 5 was, as far as anyone knew, a [[AIA.I. Is a Crapshoot|robotic war machine gone rogue]] and potentially hazardous. So one can excuse Captain Skroeder being eager to pull out all the stops to eliminate the potential threat (and PR disaster).

* This is a staple of any movie made by George Romero. One of the best known examples is ''[[The Crazies]]'', where the soldiers are idiotic and trigger-happy (not that the armed civilians resisting them were much better though), threaten a scientist with violence when he asks for better facilities, and apparently don't even know the faces of their own men (a scientist that manages to develop a cure is put in a quarantine area while trying to deliver said cure).

* ''[[Evolution (Filmfilm)|Evolution]]'' features a [[General Ripper]] who wants to [[Kill It Withwith Fire|napalm the aliens]] and gets mad when [[Ignored Expert|scientists]] get in his way.

* [[Zig Zagged]] by Eric Flint. In [[1632]] the Catholic army at the Battle of the Crapper is portrayed as a combination of murderous and violently lecherous criminals, and slave soldiers who defect almost right away. Of course [[Justified Trope|this is the]] [[Thirty Years' War]] so it's understandable. However the Poles in ''The Eastern Front'' are a [[Worthy Opponent]]. Likewise the Malwa army in [[Belisarius Series]] is composed of enslaved peasants herded around by steepe savages. But the Malwa vassels, the Kushans and Rajputs are honorable as well as effective warriors.

* Even though it paints the Air Force is a rather better light, there are still times in ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' where, despite General Hammond's best efforts, the SGC receives orders to do some morally lacking tasks, such as [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|mining a rare mineral out from under a group of Native Americans on another planet]]. Usually, these orders come from [[CIA Evil, FBI Good|the National Intelligence Department]] {{spoiler|or their [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|bosses]] in the [[Government Conspiracy|Committee]]}}.

** ''[[Stargate Universe (TV)|Stargate Universe]]'' divides the characters into military and civilians, who are constantly at each other's throats. And both of the leaders are [[Jerkass|Jerkasses]]es.

* ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' under [[Russell T. Davies (Creator)|Russell T Davies]], and spinoffs ''[[Torchwood (TV)|Torchwood]]'' and ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures (TV)|The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' (also both under RTD) generally did this. If the British Army aren't [[A Nazi Byby Any Other Name|rounding up people to be sent to 'camps']], UNIT are probably abusing human rights.

* Surprisingly enough for the setting, the Imperial Guard of [[Warhammer 4000040,000]] [[Black and Gray Morality|mostly]] ''avert'' this trope (yeah, you heard) because generally speaking your average Imperial Guardsman is just a normal human soldier doing his duty to protect the Imperium. Occasionally the bureaucratic and theocratic elements - civilian rather than military - like [[Obstructive Bureaucrat|the Administratum]] and [[Church Militant|the Ecclesiarchy]] (the organisations that direct the Guard) sometimes fall under tyrannical [[Complete Monster|complete monsterdom]], but even then it's not universal. In other words, the Guard are usually treated as the victims of those running the show.

** As per the [[Tagline]] of ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]'' ("In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war."), military action is standard as opposed to special circumstances where this trope will usually be used. This mostly removes any other options for any side from the [[Cycle of Revenge|vicious cycle the galaxy is in]], leaving combatants relatively grey ''at best''.

* In ''[[Advance Wars]]: Days of Ruin'', the New Rubinelle Army is seen as this. While the ISR Army is [[Send in Thethe Clones|an army of clone soldiers]], there is absolutely [[Complete Monster|no redeemable CO]] nor soldier within the ranks of the NRA. Greyfield's a [[General Ripper|butcher]], Waylon [[Smug Snake|only cares about his own well-being]] and Davis is a [[Dirty Coward|cowardly sycophant]].

** That's due to increasing desperation to cover the events at Black Mesa up. The HECU Marines fail to contain the situation, and so pull out. The Black Ops roll in to wipe out everyone left behind, including HECU stragglers.

* The ur'Guard of ''[[Lusternia]]'', who emphasise discipline, unity and [[My Country, Right or Wrong|absolute obedience]] over piddling matters like "compassion" or "[[Our Liches Are Different|living]]".

* In ''[[Prototype (Videovideo Gamegame)|Prototype]]'', the [[Semper Fi|United States Marines]] are presented as [[Punch Clock Villain|Punch Clock Villains]]s whose primary goal is to contain the Infection. Meanwhile, the Blackwatch organization controlling the occupation are the ''real'' villains, and have no qualms with massacring civilians and nuking Manhattan. Their [[Badass Creed]] even goes so far as to point out that "nothing is sacred" and "we will burn our own to hold the red line."

** To be fair, despite their gung ho appearances, Blackwatch ''is'' right. Only the random fluke that {{spoiler|a particular strain of the blacklight virus that thinks is Alex Mercer}} is not hellbent on destroying all humans (though it is an unrepentant murderer, it doesn't want to destroy the city) makes them villains. The rest of blacklight is an unstoppable plague hellbent on destroying humanity and Blackwatch are the sole thing that can stop it, as far as they know. What makes Blackwatch monsters is their willingness to experiment on people (which started this whole mess). The marines, while presented as most definitely gung oh, are almost shown sympathetically, being used as meat shields by Blackwatchs ({{spoiler|ultimately left on Manhattan when Blackwatch plans to nuke the island}}, being woefully unprepared and uninformed about what they are facing.

*** In addition, [[Meaningful Name|Blackwatch's]] reason for creating such virus in the first place was [[Politically -Incorrect Villain|to make biological weapons capable of targeting specific minorities]]. Once that caused the Hope incident, Blackwatch switched over to their current practice of shooting first, performing autopsies, and never asking questions.

* The majority of the antagonists of ''[[Xenogears (Video Game)|Xenogears]]'' are members of the Gebler Special Forces, the state army of the [[The Empire|Sacred Empire of Solaris]]. Some of their highlights include: Staging a suicide attack on the power plant of an enemy capital knowing full well it would kill thousands of innocent civilians. Menacing women and children with 30 foot tall [[Humongous Mecha]]. Attacking a pacifist nation with virtually no standing army of its own. And sicking a gigantic autonomous weapon on the capital of a recently liberated puppet state in order to eradicate it. Interestingly enough, every member of Gebler eventually [[Heel Face Turn|Heel Face Turns]]s except for two: {{spoiler|Vanderkaum and Miang. Vanderkaum is an idiot and dies early on in the game, and Miang is actually the [[Big Bad]]}}.

* In ''[[Beyond Good and& Evil (Videovideo Gamegame)|Beyond Good and Evil]]'' you have the Alpha Section, a shady group who always seems to [[The Cavalry Arrives Late|arrive too late]] to be any good to anyone. And for some reason they've set up barriers all around Hillys. And they don't seem to be doing anything to stop all the recent [[Government Conspiracy|abductions]]...

* ''[[Assassin's Creed II (Video Game)|Assassin's Creed II]]'' and ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Video Game)|Brotherhood]]'', provide us with the Borgia army which happens to be the ''official'' army. The good guys Ezio can ally with are the ''Condottieri'' and ''Merccenari''.

** ''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations (Video Game)|Revelations]]'' semi-subverts this with the Ottoman Army - whilst they will still kill you and bully the citizens of Konstantiniyye, they are serving the lawful authority and hate the Templars. {{spoiler|After you kill their commander, it is revealed that he was good all along}}. Played straight with the Byzantine Army.

* [[Dead Rising]], featuring the standard "scary guys with assault rifles and gas masks who try to kill you to cover up everything" depiction of the U.S. Military that appears in countless other works such as [[Prototype (Videovideo Gamegame)|Prototype]], ''[[Half Life]]'', [[The Crazies]], etc.

* The Subspace Army from [[Super Smash Bros.]] Brawl.

** [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] with the Ancient Minister and his R.O.B. Squad. While they do side with the Subspace Army initially, it becomes clear as the plot is revealed that {{spoiler|they are being forced into doing so. The villains (Ganondorf, Bowser, and Wario) under the guidance of Tabuu, have essentially enslaved them, and the Ancient Minister joins the heroes as R.O.B. for the rest of the game, essentially making him and his kind Tragic [[Anti -Villain|Anti Villains]].}}

{{quote| '''General:''' There are basically two divisions in the collective we call "The Military." There is the heroic military, as represented in most of your early war movies, and the conspiratorial military (filled with subterfuge and deception), as represented in bad sci-fi films and ''[[The X -Files]]''.<br />

'''Zoe:''' And you would be from ...<br />

[[Category:TropeNo Real Life Examples, Please]]