Perilous Old Fool: Difference between revisions

He's an [[Old Soldier]], all right-- — a ''very'' old soldier who is adamant he's [[Made of Iron]] and good for another battle, even though it's woefully clear that said [[Dented Iron|iron is showing a lot of wear and tear]] and his fighting days are behind him.

To fit this trope, the subject must be far too old and feeble to do battle anymore, or perhaps [[Sorry, Billy, But You Just Don't Have Legs|seriously disabled]] (either from [[Dented Iron|previous battles]] or illness), or both. The subject must also be in denial and insist they're good for another round. Remember: [['''Perilous Old ''Fool|Perilous Old]] ''[[Perilous Old Fool|Fool]]'''.

Quite often, did have a well-earned [[Badass]] reputation way back when, but has suffered some very literal [[Badass Decay]]. Very often ends up with a bad case of dead, and [[Curb Stomp Battle|Curb Stomp Battles]]s are pretty much the norm.

If the soldier is willing to sacrifice himself ''because'' he's old and infirm and the others have their lives ahead of them, or knows he's too old for a fight but wants to go out in a blaze of glory, that's [[Death Seeker]], not this trope. If someone's old as dirt but still has the chops, that's [[Badass Grandpa]] (or [[Never Mess Withwith Granny]] if it's a woman) and should only be listed here as a subversion if they're ''believed'' to be this.

* One ''[[Archie Comics|Archie]]'' comic showed several veterans chasing a thief--butthief—but they no longer had their youthful stamina. The thief even said "This is where I lose the geezer brigade".

* Bluddbeak, the redkite from ''[[Redwall|Triss]]'', is one of the [[Trope Namer|Trope Namers]]s. He has rheumatism. He's ''blind''. And he's adamant that he's still the great adder-killer he once was and can take on a trio of the snakes. [[Curb Stomp Battle|Oh, is he wrong.]] The other "fool" Skipper is referring to in the quote is Ovus the owl, who feels the need to help Bluddbeak out despite his own great age and rheumatism. He fares better only in that ''he'' gets a decent burial, while [[Not Enough to Bury|all that's left of Bluddbeak are scattered feathers.]]

* Cohen the Barbarian of ''[[Discworld]]'' is edging close to this by his first appearance in ''[[Discworld (Literature)/The Light Fantastic|The Light Fantastic]],'' with his bad back and lack of teeth, but once he gets his back straightened out and a pair of (diamond!) dentures, he returns to being a full-time [[Badass]].

== [[Live -Action TV]] ==

* Corporal Jones in ''[[DadsDad's Army]]'', a veteran of wars going right back to 1886, who saw fighting in The Sudan (1886), South Africa (1899-1902), a bit of [[WW 1]] (1914-1918)... and who in 1940, aged 80, wants to come back for his fourth...

* ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'': The Doctor ''thinks'' Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart is one of these in "Battlefield", if his line over the Brig's unconscious (assumed dead) body is any indication.

* ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'' does the classic subversion - Snake keeps insisting he's able to fight, partly because he's a [[Death Seeker]] and partly because he is still able to fight out of sheer Determinator factor. However, he limps around in cutscenes, is missing half his face and has developed some form of lung disease from what had been badass smoking when he was younger.

* Several veterans of the Boer War wanted to fight in [[World War II]], being turned away because they were too old. There was one case where the man in question dyed his hair-- — but the heat made the dye run, revealing his gray hair and thus his age.