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Old Soldier: Difference between revisions
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The [[Old Soldier]] is the grizzled veteran who has been through and seen everything in war. He would more than qualify for being a [[Shell Shocked Senior]], both in age and experience, but he's still going into battle and odds are that he's the backbone of whatever unit he or (more rarely) she is in. This character type is almost never an officer or a commander, and is instead usually a [[Sergeant Rock]]. Generally you can expect them to be tough, to have a few [[Good Scars, Evil Scars|badass scars]], and to be eternally pissed off at (or at least exasperated by) the younger troops around him. Despite that, he may still turn out to be one of the best sources of mentoring or seasoning a young soldier can get.
Expect the [[Officer and
If the soldier is ''too'' old to fight, but denies that fact, he may be a [[Perilous Old Fool]].
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* 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-Holds-Barred Beatdown|has to prove it to them.]]
* [[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]].
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* 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 ''[[Discworld
** 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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* 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-Star Badass]]}}: especially after {{spoiler|the Old Guard is resurrected from the magical}} imprisonment in {{spoiler|Water Sleeps}}.
* ''[[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 ''[[
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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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