Bling of War/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: Combat troops wear impractically dressy uniforms.

  • Straight: General Lareneg's combat uniform is outfitted with shiny gold trim.
  • Exaggerated: Lareneg's uniform is outfitted with so much gold and jewels it's almost too shiny to look at.
  • Justified:
    • Lareneg plans to undermine the enemy's confidence by showing them that his country is so rich they can afford to bling out their army that way.
    • Or, the uniform is magical, and magic = shiny.
    • Lareneg is superstitious and thinks his uniform is magic.
    • Or, he is trying to blind the enemy with his shiny uniform.
    • Or all the jewels he carries with him were taken from a warrior he slew.
    • Lareneg is a space captain. There is no reason not to dress up as his clothes will not be harmed unless his starship is, in which case he has other things to worry about.
  • Inverted: Lareneg's uniform consists of ragged, poor man's clothes.
  • Subverted: Lareneg exits the changing tent wearing gold and jewels. He subsequently realizes that he mistakenly put on a special outfit reserved for ceremonies, and rushes back in to change into his field uniform.
  • Double Subverted: ...which is even more decorative.
  • Parodied:
    • Lareneg wears gold, jewels, necklaces, bracelets, diamond rings, and even neon lights.
    • Lareng's medals keep falling off, forcing him to stop whatever he's doing to pin them back on.
  • Deconstructed: The flashiness of Lareneg's uniform make it impossible for him to sneak up on the enemy, and he and his men are gunned down in a heartbeat.
  • Reconstructed:
  • Zig Zagged: Lareneg's uniform is showy, meaning he can be used to distact the enemy, but he puts his own life in danger by doing this, so sometimes he swaps out his showy and distracing uniform for something more practical. But then when the time calls for a distraction he has all his jewlery ready.
  • Averted: Lareneg wears a relatively normal uniform.
  • Enforced: The two sides need to be Dress-Coded for Your Convenience; The Empire gets fancy, fascist-looking uniforms, to better contrast them with The Federation's practical ones.
  • Lampshaded: "Yo, Lareneg, are you going to war or to a fancy dress ball?"
  • Invoked: Lareneg is vain, and has a Custom Uniform that's far more impressive than what a general would usually wear.
  • Defied: Lareneg has a Custom Uniform that has all the markings to confirm he is, in fact, a general, but it's less gaudy than a general's usual outfit, so he's not as obvious a target.
  • Discussed: "Aren't we sitting ducks for snipers wearing all this gilded crap?"
  • Conversed: "With what those guys are dressed in, I'm guessing the opposing army wears sequins."

Back to Bling of War, sir, and permission to speak freely? The live birds may be a bit much, sir.

Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Bling_of_War/Playing_With?oldid=1561976"