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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''Old soldiers never die; they just fade away''.
|'''Douglas MacArthur'''}}
The
Expect the [[Officer and
If the soldier is ''too'' old to fight, but denies that fact, he may be a [[Perilous Old Fool]].
{{examples}}
== [[Comic Books]] ==
== Comics ==▼
* In one of the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] "Empire" comic lines, [[La Résistance|The Rebellion]] finds [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Able Able], an old clone trooper who has been [[The Remnant|living in the wilderness]] since the Clone Wars. He eventually gets incorporated in Luke's unit and proves to be the best, if most cynical, soldier there and looks out for Luke until [[Shaggy Dog Story|the whole unit gets wiped out]] by [[The Virus]].
* ''[[Whatever Happened to
* Wallace from ''[[Sin City]]'' has utilizes this trope, although he's a bit more laid back than most versions. Most people don't realize that he is a retired Navy Seal until he [[No
* [[Wolverine]] is sometimes written this way. You could especially see it in the late 80s, when he was [[Storm|Storm's]] second-in-command in the [[X-Men]].
* ''[[We Were Soldiers]]'': Sergeant Major Basil Plumley. Both the real one and the character played by Sam Elliott.
* ''[[Heartbreak Ridge]]'': Gunnery Sergeant Highway. Being played by [[Clint Eastwood]] helps.
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* ''[[The Thin Red Line]]'': Nick Nolte as Lieutenant Colonel Tall. They don't come much more grizzled.
==
* Les Dillon, a Marine sergeant from a [[Harry Turtledove]] pair of novels where in [[World War II]] Japan invaded Hawaii rather than simply bombing it.
* Broxigar "The Red Axe" of ''[[
* Sergeant Jackrum from ''[[
** And though not technically soldiers, the Silver Horde consists of consists of barbarian adventurers who are all at least eighty. The fact that they are all still alive after more than half a century each in a line of work that kills most people that go into it in a year or two means that they are very, ''very'' good at not getting killed.
* Kat from ''[[All Quiet
* ''[[Starship Troopers]]'': Sergeant Zim (no relation), and a few other veterans like Jelal probably qualify.
* Ser Rodrik Cassel from ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]''. A tough, loyal, dependable and sensible knight, who, unfortunately, is very much given the short end of the stick in the series.
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* ''[[Bolo]]'': Bolos can spend years or decades on the front lines. Of course, they're self-aware tanks armed with a [[Wave Motion Gun]] and [[More Dakka|whatever else the designers could bolt on]], so they tend to fight on a larger scale than most examples here.
* In the [[Malazan Book of the Fallen]] Whiskeyjack fits this this trope perfectly. Fiddler takes the role in later books.
* In The [[Black Company]] series, this trope was written for Croaker {{spoiler|and all of the rest of the Company kept in a decades-long magical stasis}} in the later books, where he also {{spoiler|becomes a [[Four
* ''[[Belisarius Series]]'': Valentinian is the best example. There are others who have seen quite a bit of war, but these are often [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]] s whereas Valentinian is closer to the classic model of this trope, having a cynical, practical and plebian outlook on war. [[Public Domain Character|Flavius Belisarius]] himself, both in the series and in the real life. He was a Syrian Greek of peasant stock, a bunch that was noted for their practical outlook, and it was repeatedly said that he viewed the war not as [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|an honor]] or [[Blood Knight|a joy]], but as [[Humans Are Warriors|a work that has to be done]], which is why he was so good at it.
* Nestor from ''[[
* Colonel Sherman Potter in ''[[
▲== Live Action TV ==
▲* Colonel Sherman Potter in ''[[MASH the Series|M*A*S*H]]''. He was a cavalry soldier in WWI.
* ''[[The Pacific]]'': Sergeant Elmo "Gunny" Haney of the USMC. One of the leads, Eugene Sledge, wrote a book entitled, ''With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa''. Gunny '''*was*''' the old breed, having been in the service since [[World War I|the Great War]]. Victor Davis Hanson noted that he even had a name that sounded like a Marine's name.
▲== Video Games ==
* "Old" Snake by the time of ''[[Metal Gear Solid|Metal Gear Solid 4]]'', although he had everything but the physical age by the time of the first [[Metal Gear Solid]]. Old Snake is [[Younger Than They Look|42]].
* Sten from ''[[Dragon Age|Dragon Age: Origins]]'' acts like this although you never get a grasp of how old he actually is.
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* William "Bill" Overbeck from ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'', a former Green Beret and two-tour Vietnam vet who is the oldest of the original Survivors. While he may not be in peak fighting condition, he still fights just as well as his other teammates, and (from in-game dialogue) is considered to be the mentor of the group.
* ''[[Dynasty Warriors]]'': Huang Zhong. Most of his lines invoke his experience and age.
* Carter in ''[[
* In ''[[Diablo]] III'' the male barbarian is the same [[Barbarian Hero]] from the second game in the series, albeit 20 years older and sporting a gray beard.
* Largo from ''[[Valkyria Chronicles]]'' had served in the First Europan War some twenty years before the game's events, and is one of the older members of Squad 7. It came as no surprise when he initially saw Welkin as little more than a young upstart cashing in on fame.
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* James Anderson from ''[[Iron Storm]]''.
▲== Western Animation ==
* Ratchet in ''[[Transformers Animated]]''. He doesn't like to talk about it.
** Not to mention [[Transformers Generation 1|G1's]] Kup. He's [[Seen It All]].
** And Scavenger from ''[[Transformers Armada|Armada]]''. The guy that trained Optimus.
* Even though he's essentially been banished and no longer leads any forces, Iroh from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' still qualifies.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Military and Warfare Tropes]]
[[Category:Elders]]
[[Category:
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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