Church Militant: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|''"I kick arse for the Lord!"''|'''Father MacGruder''', ''[[Braindead]]''}}

 

 

 

Usually justified by the actual existence of [[Witch Species|witches]], [[Our Vampires Are Different|vampires]] or [[The Legions of Hell]]; nevertheless the Church Militant often struggles with [[Knight Templar|going too far]]. Don't expect heavy consistency with real world religious teachings, writers will make it up as they go along (c.f. [[The Lowest Cosmic Denominator]]). [[Anime]] will just substitute in that [[Nuns Are Mikos]].

 

 

If a Church Militant exists as a [[Organization Index|subdivision]] of a larger, [[Actual Pacifist|predominantly pacifist]] Church, expect it to be called "The Inquisition" regardless of the fact that [[Real Life]] inquisition was more like a detective and judicial branch of the Catholic Church (see also [[The Spanish Inquisition]]) than its military arm. See also [[Kung Fu Jesus]].

 

 

 

 

 

Not to be confused with [[Church Militant/Trivia|the Roman Catholic Church's meaning of "Church Militant".]]

* ''[[Blue Exorcist]]'' have the True Cross Order, a [[Badass Army]] of Exorcists from multiple religions confronting demons and such.

* ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'' features a religious order whose role is to serve as the Church Militant. As one might expect, the main character is a member of said order. The Order tolerate Rosette's [[Deal with the Devil]] on the grounds that 1) he's a sweetheart, okay? 2) the girl has a mission and she can't get out of it now, anyway, and 3) [[Combat Pragmatist|look, demon kill demon, we happy]], ''okay''? Until Remington is forced to {{spoiler|stage [[Noble Demon|Chrono]]'s death}} in the manga. Her ''immediate'' superiors don't object, but the higher-ups have gotten twitchy. Good times had by all as the good Father more or less pounds Chrono in the head with the situation after cool hints don't work.

* Nicholas D. Wolfwood, and specifically the Eye of Michael group from ''[[Trigun]]''. The latter are plant worshippers, which explains why they're willing to work for Knives. The representatives we see don't appear to worship anything except [[Gorn]] and [[More Dakka]]. And posibly [[For Science!]] in the case of Original Chapel. Makes you kind of relieved that Wolfwood is so laid-back about his faith.

* The organization "Solomon" from ''[[Witch Hunter Robin]]''.

* By episode five of ''[[Mnemosyne]]'', {{spoiler|Mimi}} has retired to a solitary life of a Buddhist nun. Of course, thanks to [[Everything Trying to Kill You|various problems that an immortal faces]], her temple is outfitted with a [[Frickin' Laser Beams|laser]] [[Laser Hallway|cage]], and other immortal nuns who happen to know how to use [[Handguns|guns]] and [[Katanas Are Just Better|katanas]].

* ''[[Black Lagoon]]'' has the "Church of Violence''. While it's unclear whether its members are actually religious or are just using the Church as a front for weapons smuggling, it still doesn't stop its members from toting a [[Refuge in Audacity|ridiculously massive arsenal of weapons]] such as M60 machine guns and a gold plated Desert Eagle (wielded by a 70 something nun with one hand).

** Church Militant still holds. As {{spoiler|his twin brother}} Weather Report (yes, that's his name) said, Enrico Pucci is not aware that he is evil. Which makes him creepier because he believes he's doing all these {{spoiler|beating up prisoners, pitting them against each other, siccing a gang on Weather Report to prevent his incestuous relationship with their little sister (both Weather and his sister were unaware of this incest), collecting Dio's sons, trying to revive the world without the Joestars...}} for the good of mankind.

* Sonia from ''[[Hayate the Combat Butler]]''.

** {{spoiler|Recent events reveal that Justin has apparently turned his allegiance to the other side. Oh, and his new boss has kidnapped the Jesus of his religion.}}

* ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'': Prussia's origins as the Monastic State of [[The Teutonic Knights]] are acknowledged in his bio and some strips. Though God doesn't really seem to like him.

* Meg from ''[[Tetragrammaton Labyrinth]]'' is a nun who fights against demons with guns both [[Small Girl, Big Gun|big]] and small.

** The Anglican Church, with Necessarius.

** The Roman Catholic Church, with Agnese Forces and God's Right Seat.

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* The ''[[Evangeline]]'' comics.

* Marvel's ''2099'' line of comics included the Sisters Of The Howling Commandments, an order of nuns who modeled themselves after (and possibly worshiped) [[Nick Fury]] and The Howling Commandos.

* [[Azrael]] from [[The DCU]], combined with [[You Fail Religious Studies Forever]], and [[Up to Eleven|even more so]] in the [[Darker and Edgier|second series]].

* [[Magdalena]] (originally from ''[[The Darkness]]''), somewhat similarly, is a name passed on from generation to generation of nuns in a certain order that claims to have begun with Mary Magdalene herself.

** There's also a Sister Twister who was in the latest incarnation of the [[Suicide Squad]]. A woman with distorted features and the power to painfully contort other peoples' bodies, she found God and became a nun. However, her supervillain sadism is still not fully dulled; when asked if the old axiom of "it's better to give than to receive" also applies to ''pain'', she responds that while she hadn't thought of it that way she's ''very'' interested in applying it.

* ''[[Comicbook/Canon Fodder|Canon Fodder]]'' takes place in a future where the church and police forces have been consolidated into one, and follows a single very devout, not entirely sane priest as he attempts to destroy evil wherever he finds it.

* Parodied in ''[[Grindhouse]]'' with a shotgun-toting, [[Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner|one-liner spewing]] [[Badass Preacher|priest]] played by Cheech Marin.

** When they actually made ''[[Machete]]'', the character was revealed to be a [[Retired Badass]] who was only a small amount of motivation away from returning to full [[Badass Preacher]] status.

* In ''[[Johnny Mnemonic]]'', Dolph Lundgren plays a cybernetically-enhanced assassin who poses as a [[Warrior Monk]] and rants about religion while he beats on his marks.

* The vampire hunting teams from ''[[John Carpenters Vampires]]'' were sponsored by the Catholic Church.

* The ''[[Boondock Saints]]'' are a variant of this trope. They don't fight the legions of hell (or at least not in any demonic implication), but they do themselves state religion as their reasoning (the 'inspirational' speech from the priest at the beginning) and go so far as to say their family prayer over their victims. It's also strongly implied they that they believe they are administering God's justice to evildoers.

* ''[[Freejack]]'' features a shotgun-toting, profanity-spewing nun who helps the protagonist. Some fans refer to her as [[Fan Nickname|Sister Mary Shotgun]].

* Something of an example occurs in two of the ''Trinity'' Spaghetti Western films.

** In the second movie, Trinity and Bambino wind up in a monastery where several criminals are hiding and pretending to be monks. When Bambino asks the true monks to raise their hands, everyone raises their hands. Trinity responds by saying, "Every monk who is a monk, hit a monk that ain't a monk."

* The organization [[Van Helsing]] works for, comprised of the Vatican and representatives of other religions from around the world: one of their blacksmiths was noted saying "what in the name of ''Allah''"

 

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* The two ''[[Endymion]]'' books by [[Dan Simmons]] feature a rabid Vatican that exploits the resurrecting power of alien cruciforms to grant believers immortality. The Pope heads an aggressive crusade against "heretics" with interstellar warships, manned by Swiss Guard special forces.

* In Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Stories, there is a certain Father Pyrlig, who relies on people assuming fat men can't fight. Usually by the time they realise that they can, they're dead. There is also a [[One-Scene Wonder]] Abbot, an ex soldier who the main character notices is carry a BFA (Like BFS but with an axe), a heavily used one with notches. When the narrator enquires after it, he is cheerfully told, "It is sent many a pagan to Hell, Lord." Since the Abbot has a large scar on his face, you believe it.

* The Catholic organization Opus Dei as seen through the filter of ''[[The Da Vinci Code]]''. Various [[Real Life]] [[Conspiracy Theory|conspiracy theories]] place Opus Dei as in league with the Mafia, usually as money-launderers.

* Brothers Benedict and Tobias of ''[[Revelations]]'' hail from such a group, which amazingly avoids being a gathering of [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|Well Intentioned Extremists]], though more because all the "heroes" of Revelations do nasty things from time to time than from their own moderation.

* Both played straight and subverted in ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' with the three Knights of the Cross aka Knights of the Sword. Michael, the most prominently featured Knight, is a devout Catholic who fights demons, fallen angels, ghosts, vampires, dragons and evil sorcerers with a divinely powered sword and improbable luck courtesy of divine intervention. However, the other two Knights are a) a self-proclaimed agnostic who fights evil purely for the sake of serving the common good, and b) a Japanese man who was only baptized by accident (but tries to be a good Christian anyway now that he is one). Averting the usual [[Knight Templar]] tendencies of Church Militants, all these Knights are practically [[The Messiah]] and try to save even the most twisted and corrupted of humans even if it means risking their lives for it. [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?|But only]] [[Moral Dissonance|humans.]]

** This even extends to naming their children things like "Visit-The-Infidel-With-Explanatory-Pamphlets and "Smite-The-Unbeliever-With-Cunning-Arguments".

* Mike Carey's ''[[Felix Castor]]'' novels has the [[Knights Templar|Anathemata Curialis]], a militant and officially excommunicated group fighting the return of the undead, partly by using the undead themselves, or any other means available.

* ''Cestus Dei,'' by John Maddox Roberts, set in a far future when a heavily reformed Catholic Church is a major spacefaring military power.

* The short story "The Way of Cross and Dragon" by George R.R. Martin. The protagonist is a Catholic Inquisitor traveling among (mostly) human colony-worlds to put down heresy.

* [[David Weber]] uses this trope a lot in his various stories. In his novel "Crusade" in the Starfire series, an alien race believes that Earth is their heaven and that humans have poisoned it so they go out to [[Kill'Em All|take care of things]]. In his Safehold series the main villains are the corrupt heads of the Church of God Awaiting, who have deified the very person to have orbitally bombarded the planet and sent them back into medievalism centuries earlier. The [[Honor Harrington|Honorverse]] has the Masadan's as the dark side of this trope.

* In John Barnes' ''Sin of Origin'' the Christian Commonwealth has a renewed Knights Templar as it's military wing. They're actually the good guys, [[Grey and Gray Morality|more or less]].

* A character in [[Tamora Pierce|Tamora Pierce's]] Beka Cooper series mentions "warrior [women] with sickles" from a temple who punish violations of the "Goddess' Law concerning women." Given that said priestesses are mentioned in reference to a [[Dirty Old Man|man notorious for roving hands]], it's not hard to imagine the gist of the Law.

* J.H. Brennan's books "Barmy Jeffers and the Quasimodo Walk" and the sequel "Return of Barmy Jeffers and the Quasimodo Walk" are in a [[Fantasy World]] where there is a literal Church Militant. Motto: Bless 'em. Bash 'em. Hack 'em. Slash 'em

* ''[[Special Circumstances]]'': While the members of the titular organization do "kick ass for the Lord" (or whatever deity[ies] they may worship), it's not done specifically in service to their religion.

* Vlad Tepes in ''[[Count and Countess]]''. Just as in real life.

* One episode of ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' featured the Covenant Lutheran Militia who patrolled with a fire-truck filled with holy water.

* The ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "The Time of Angels": "Father Octavian, Sir. Bishop, 2nd class. Twenty clerics at my command. The troops are already in the [[Drop Ship]] and landing shortly." According to the Doctor, "It's the 51st Century. The Church has moved on."

 

 

** Not to mention Comstar and its offshoot, the Word of Blake, who elevated the preservation of knowledge to a religion -- then started nuking people. Comstar's own army, hilariously enough, were composed of people that were Mechwarriors first and lacked the fanaticism found in other Comstar branches, as well as seeing machines less as objects of reverence and more as tools they're quite fond of. When the zealots broke off and formed the Word, the Com Guards had the smallest losses of personnel.

** Of smaller scope is the Brotherhood of Randis, a small and exclusive order of philosophical and devout Christians. Originally little more than a mercenary unit with high ideals and really bad management, since the 3050s they've become known throughout the Periphery for performing works of charity, setting up missions and schools, and dispensing brutal asskickings to pirates.

** Sisters of Battle fit this trope moreso than any other Imperial faction, as their faith manifests as an in-game mechanic, as well as fighting with a ''Living Saint'', the corpse of a martyr apparently ressurected through sheer force of will (or faith).

** There is also an NPC Adept class, which represents something closer to your average non-combatant cleric. It's just that your average PC is most definitely ''not'' a non-combatant.

** And the Cloistered Cleric variant, who gets marginally more weapons and armor training than the average wizard.

*** From the ''[[Greyhawk]]'' campaign setting: Heironeous, whose clerics ''are'' soldiers, making them a literal Church Militant, Saint Cuthbert, whose followers can be ... enthusiastic at times about evangelizing, and who opposed evil with a passion, and Pholtus, whose [[Monty Python's Flying Circus|inquisitions you probably don't expect]], particularly from a non-evil church.

** And the Paladin class, which is far more combat-capable than the Cleric class, and have the signature attack of [[Smite Evil]](And it's partner, [[Detect Evil]]), but are much more limited in spell range and have a much less powerful [[Turn Undead]].

** All clerics in the [[Eberron]] setting are holy knights, most ordinary priests are just adepts or experts. The Church of the Silver Flame are particularly well known for their [[Knight Templar|zealotry]].

** Also in the ''[[Old World of Darkness]]'' there's the Society of Leopold, your basic secret Catholic monster hunters.

** And in the ''[[New World of Darkness]]'', there's the Fire-Touched from [[Werewolf: The Forsaken]], who act like this. One of the Pure Tribes that rejects service to Luna in favor of fighting the Forsaken, they see their undertaking as a holy cause and their tribal totem as a near-divine prophet. They're about equally happy to convert or kill their foes.

* The ''[[Cyber Europe]]'' expansion to Iron Crown's ''[[Cyberspace]]'' RPG introduces some hotshot special forces of the Vatican, such as the ''Apostolic Carabiniers'' SWAT unit and a Mission-Impossible-ish intelligence service, of course managed by Jesuits. And, BTW, these organizations are consistently portrayed as (reasonably) [[Good Guys]], which is surprising since the authors are all Swedes.

* ''[[Exalted]]'''s Immaculate Order is what happens when you take this trope, add [[Warrior Monk]], [[Supernatural Martial Arts]], and [[Elemental Powers]], and stir vigorously.

* The Boros Legion from ''[[Magic: The Gathering|Magic the Gathering]]'''s Ravnica setting.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* Games of the ''[[Castlevania]]'' series set closer to the modern day depict "The Church" this way. Said church is rather open-minded, having "Church Witches" in high ranking positions. Not surprising; [[Dracula]] tended to kill off anyone the Belmonts weren't protecting, and they were fond of white-magic users, especially the Belnades clan. It's been retconned that Sypha Belnades worked for the Church and was on a mission for them when Castlevania III took place.

** The Belmonts themselves are descended from a Crusades veteran.

** Basically, the entire Protoss army. Their footsoldiers are called [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|zealots]]. As in religious fanatics.

* The Ethos organization from ''[[Xenogears]]'' bears certain resemblances to Catholicism, and seems to have at least their fair share of firearms.

** To better understand the Black Hand, just have a look at the weaponry they tend to use: the [[Humongous Mecha|Purifier]], the [[Badass Preacher|Confessor Cabal]], the [[Incendiary Exponent|Black Disciple]] and the [[Impressive Pyrotechnics|Purifying Flame Upgrade]].

* ''[[Bloodline Champions]]'' has the Guardian and Inhibitor bloodlines, which both pretty much are this in job description.

** He doesn't appear in Sengoku Basara 3, but his influence remains in the form of Sorin Otomo, a powerful regional lord and one of Xavi's most faithful disciples.

* The Apostles in ''[[Dreamfall]]'' serve as elite enforcers of the theocratic [[The Empire|Azadi Empire]]. According to one of them (who is also a playable character), they are "missionaries," "the last resort" to "bring the Word of the Goddess to unbelievers."

** Played again in ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]'' - again [[Crystal Dragon Jesus]] Church with an army. Given, this time, it isn't just a Church - it's a country, a <s>country ran-by-and-pretty-much-is that church</s> theocracy. The game's [[The Chick]], [[The Scrappy]], and the [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]] / [[Psycho Rangers]], in addition to the [[Big Bad]], as well as several other characters are from this military. And even some of the non-militants, like Ion for example, have kick ass combat abilities.

* In ''[[Xenosaga]]'' - Ormus is a religion with its own full-fledged military industrial complex, including weapons and advanced physics research.

* ''[[La Pucelle]]'' is about a squad of monster hunters belonging to a church whose (sorta secret) purpose is destroying demons.

* The Church of Elemia from ''[[Ar tonelico]]: Melody of Elemia'', as evidenced by Cardinal Radolf's really nice spear. This is because {{spoiler|[[Corrupt Church|Bishop Falss]] formed them with the intent to invade Platina.}}

* ''[[Halo]]'' has the Covenant, a conglomerate of alien species that embark on crusades in the name of their gods, the Forerunners, all in the name walking the path to the Great Journey.

* The priest class of [[Dungeon Fighter Online]] is supposed to be a support class, albeit a support class that's NOT a [[Squishy Wizard|frail caster]] that needs to run away when danger approaches. Those bulging muscles and that oversized weapon he carries on his back isn't just for show.

* ''[[Touhou]]'' features two rival shrines of [[Miko]], both of whom carry out "[[Youkai]] exterminations", and Sanae actually does so under the direct behest of her [[Pals with Jesus|live-in goddesses]]. It is mentioned in ''Unidentified Fantastic Object'' that Byakuren and her brother also performed this function, before the [[Death by Origin Story|latter died]] and the former [[Face Heel Turn|grew to favor youkai over humans]].

** And now we have Toyosatomimi No Miko, another religion-inspired fighter (Taoism) who led a sort of crusade to make Buddhism the state religion in her country while secretly practicing Taoism. This backfired a lot, since when she tried to use Taoism to ressurect later on, Buddhist monks sealed her away.

* ''[[Rosenkreuzstilette]]'' has a variant on this: the titular group was formed after the hero Rosenkreuz and his eight closest disciples won a holy war against the Holy Empire, and became a Magi-specific order of the Orthodox Church's army. Unfortunately, the Church and the RKS seem to have come to blows ''again'' recently...

* The Crusaders in ''[[Final Fantasy X]]''.

* ''[[Twin Blades]]'' has a gun-and-scythe-toting nun as a player character. Said gun can shoot [[Swiss Army Weapon|all kinds of crazy supernatural ammunition]], the better to halt the [[Zombie Apocalypse]] in its tracks.

* Anonym, a revolver-[[Guns Akimbo|dual-wielding]] nun (whose stage is an empty cathedral) in the fighting game ''[[Akatsuki Blitzkampf]]''.

* ''[[Dragon Age]]'' has the Templar order. They exist to carry out the Chantry's (church's) will using military might. They're trained to be skilled at fighting mages, in order to ensure that all mages in the chantry's territory (they intend to become the main religion of the world) are aligned with the chantry. The templars take vows of chastity, not that all of them seem to obey those vows.

* The Church of Zakarum from the ''[[Diablo]]'' series has the paladins, who were founded to protect the monks who were meant to spread the religion. For some reason, the kind, generous, armed knights were more inspiring to the populace than the monks. They faded from view once Zakarum no longer put a lot of effort into converting people, only to make a comeback when the Prime Evils started attacking the mortal world, and Zakarum decided to start converting again. This time, anyone inconvertible was deemed evil and killed. A small band, including any paladin player characters from Diablo II, chose to go rogue, and directly confront the Prime Evils. They later discovered that the church they served was corrupt, and had to face several enemies that were themselves examples of this trope.

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* Sister Mona Theist of ''[[Flaky Pastry]]'', as a member of the Sisters of Holy Retribution, fits to a tee.

* Remember how it's mentioned in ''[[Hellsing]]'' above that Protestants and Catholics each do this when not fighting each other? [[Stephen Colbert]] used to be among the Catholic numbers in ''[[And Shine Heaven Now]]'' (though most of the details are in the pseudo-sequel ''[[The Eagle of Hermes]]''.

* The Veiled in ''[[Digger]]'', a military organization devoted to defending [[All Myths Are True|all gods]]. Murai puts it nicely:

{{quote|'''Murai:''' Our specialties are hand-to-hand combat and comparative theology.}}

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* ''[[Open Blue]]'' features the Order of Saint Lennox, which is more or less the Avelian Church's Inquisition. Suffice to say, even after the inquisition, they teach their preists (and maybe even nuns) to use a sword or [[Dual-Wielding|two... or three... or six...]] This is likely due to the fact that the Order sends many of its priests off as chaplains on Avelian warships, and in a time of [[Pirates]], you can never be too careful. The Order of Saint Clara trains [[Nuns Are Mikos|nuns]] to fight against black magic and [[The Legions of Hell]].

* In the [[Whateley Universe]], Petra and the entire Order of the Rose and Thorn, who end up fighting a host of necromancers who are trying to raise an [[Eldritch Abomination]]. Things escalate, and we find out just how well armed they really are.

 

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* In ''[[Family Guy]]'', the [[Show Within a Show|fake movie]] ''The Passion Of The Christ 2: Crucify This'' .

 

 

* The Bishop of Durham fought in the Battle of Cressy with an enormous spiky mace. He, along with the [[Badass|Black]] [[Royals Who Actually Do Something|Prince]] actually broke the French line.

* Another example is Odo, half-brother of William the Conqueror and bishop of Bayeux (he might have commissioned that famous Tapestry), who was present at Hastings and had a number of other military adventures. He died during the First Crusade.

* Many modern militias in the Islamic world, for example Hezbollah, combine civil defense with religious education. Secretary-General Hasan Nasrallah was trained in Iran as a religious scholar. However, at least in Hezbollah's case the religious element takes a backseat to civil defense, and many Maronite Christians and Druze are members or supporters of Hezbollah. The Mujahideen and Taliban soldiers also ooze this trope, as do Al-Qaeda, Hamas, etc.

** On that note, some people accuse Islam to be a religion spread "by a sword in the left hand, and a Qur'an in the right hand". [[Flanderization|While it's not entirely true]], they had reasons for this; their power and fervor is such that they were able to take out the Persians completely and fight toe-to-toe against the Eastern Roman Empire.

* The Jesuits (the Society of Jesus), one of the many orders of priests in the Catholic Church, were founded in 1534 by a Spanish ex-soldier named Ignatius of Loyola. Ignatius had been wounded in battle, and spent the next few years wandering around Spain as an ascetic. Ignatius then decided that he should go become a priest. While studying in Paris, he and six of his militant student-priest friends got together, called themselves the "Company of Jesus" (as in an infantry company), went to Rome, pledged their absolute loyalty to the Pope, and basically said "let us form an order of priests, and we'll do whatever you want." The title of the papal order that established the Jesuits? ''Regimini militantis Ecclesiae'' -- "To the Government of the [[Title Drop|Church Militant]]." Even today, Jesuit priests take a "Fourth Vow" - in addition to the usual vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience that all Catholic priests make - to do whatever and go wherever the Pope commands them. (Ignatius wrote that he wanted the Jesuits to be "well-disciplined, like a corpse." He wasn't kidding.)

** The more modern lay confraternity, Miles Jesu, actually means "Soldiers of Christ". The Jesuits have been noted to not appreciate the competition, and innumerable conspiracy theories involving the recent Papal investigations into the activities of Miles Jesu have been floated.

* New England Puritans actually ''stored gunpowder'' in their churches. This made wintertime rather difficult as they could not light a furnace.

* One British regiment traditionally takes its arms to church with them and posts guards during service. This dates from the time when their regiment was in the service of Scottish Covenanters.

** According to Bryan Farwell, Highland regiments had a notable level of piety, especially as compared to other British regiments.

* The Salvation Army is commonly seen as a general Protestant charity. However, they are this trope: a church organized along military lines, although the denomination isn't devoted to warfare, but rather aggressively trying to end poverty and help their fellow man.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Knight in Shining Tropes]]

[[Category:Religion Tropes]]

[[Category:Stock Characters]]

[[Category:Military and Warfare Tropes]]

[[Category:The Utterly and Completely Definitive Guide to Cool]]