Child Soldiers: Difference between revisions

Line 135:

* In ''Century Rain'' by Alastair Reynolds, one of the two major human factions in the setting, the Polity, used genetically engineered, nanotechnology enhanced child-soldiers against the other major faction, the United States of Near Earth, in a war some time before the beginning of the novel. They later show up in the course of the novel, as part of a rogue Polity group which is attempting to destroy the book's [[MacGuffin]]. They are described as being particularly hard to fight because of human instincts and their own extreme skill and small size.

* Massively subverted in [[John Scalzi]]'s ''[[Old Man's War]]'' series - While normally only Earth's elderly are recruited into the Colonial Defence Forces (their bodies get replaced), Special Forces soldiers are created from the DNA of recruits who die before they can be transferred to a new body. As a result they are fully mature adults who are emotionally and socially retarded, which helps them perform their jobs. In ''The Ghost Brigades'' one SF soldier notes that a dead child they encounter on a wildcat colony is twice as old as two of them put together, leading him to conclude that "it's a fucked up universe".

* In [[~~Robert Heinlein|~~Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[~~Eager~~ ~~Young~~ Space Cadet]]'' the Commander of the Academy talks briefly of taking these young men and changing them forever. Even those who eventually drop out will find civilian life foreign to them. Robert A. Heinlein graduated from the US Naval Academy at Annapolis at the age of 22. He may know what he's talking about.

* In [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[Space Cadet (novel)|Space Cadet]]'' the Commander of the Academy talks briefly of taking these young men and changing them forever. Even those who eventually drop out will find civilian life foreign to them. Robert A. Heinlein graduated from the US Naval Academy at Annapolis at the age of 22. He may know what he's talking about.

* In the Seafort Saga the radiation associated with FTL travel means you must join the Navy as a child so your body acclimatises to it as you grow up otherwise you risk cancer. The protagonist finds himself commanding a ship starting at the age of 17 for several year. Later he is Commander of the Naval Academy and must send the academy cadets on suicide missions to defend Earth.

* In the ''[[Seafort Saga]]'' the radiation associated with FTL travel means you must join the Navy as a child so your body acclimatises to it as you grow up otherwise you risk cancer. The protagonist finds himself commanding a ship starting at the age of 17 for several year. Later he is Commander of the Naval Academy and must send the academy cadets on suicide missions to defend Earth.

* In the short story ~~by [[Harry Harrison]],~~ ''[[Robot War|War With The Robots]]'', the command staff are all teenagers as anyone older lacks the reflexes and flexibility of mind needed to fight the war. They retire after four or five years.

* In the short story ''[[Robot War|War With The Robots]]'' by [[Harry Harrison]], the command staff are all teenagers as anyone older lacks the reflexes and flexibility of mind needed to fight the war. They retire after four or five years.

* In the [[Posleen War Series]] novel ''Yellow Eyes'' Panama is forced to recruit children as soldiers to defend itself from the Posleen. It avoids becoming a [[Moral Event Horizon]] because it is clearly portrayed as a desperation move against the Posleen, [[Horde of Alien Locusts|who would have killed and eaten the children anyway if they weren't stopped]]. Also, the children are rarely used as front-line soldiers, instead they are used primarily for supply and logistics work in order to free up adults to fight in the front lines.

* Most of [[Redwall]]'s main heroes are the rodentine equivalent of about twelve to fifteen years old.

Line 146:

* ''[[Bitter Seeds]]'' has a team of Nazi child psychic soldiers.

* The entire main cast of ''[[Animorphs]]''.

* David Westheimer's alternate history novel about a 1945 invasion of Japan features a Japanese schoolteacher leading his his malnourished class against American tanks. Tragically, it's ~~impled~~ that the teacher is so fanatical that he ignores his charges' youthful status; at one point the night before the attack, he hears children sobbing and debates whether or not to order his 'troops' to look for them. When they do rush the American tanks with inadequate satchel charges, the US tankers are briefly surprised, thinking they are being attacked by midgets, then open fire and kill them all.

* David Westheimer's alternate history novel about a 1945 invasion of Japan features a Japanese schoolteacher leading his his malnourished class against American tanks. Tragically, it's implied that the teacher is so fanatical that he ignores his charges' youthful status; at one point the night before the attack, he hears children sobbing and debates whether or not to order his 'troops' to look for them. When they do rush the American tanks with inadequate satchel charges, the US tankers are briefly surprised, thinking they are being attacked by midgets, then open fire and kill them all.

* Rana Sanga's son Rajiv in [[Belisarius Series]] was being groomed to be a quite formidable [[Warrior Prince]] while still a teenager. However his father certainly intended that he be allowed to grow up before seeing actual combat and he only participates in war in the series because of an attempt to murder his family while his father is away on campaign.

* In ''[[Who Fears Death]]'' this is part of Mwita's background.

=== Tabletop Games ===