Russian Guy Suffers Most: Difference between revisions
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In a given work of fiction featuring one or two token Russians, the Russians tend to get the short end of the stick. Whenever there's suffering to be had, they take the larger ration. Quite often, this isn't played [[Butt Monkey|too seriously]], but sometimes [[The Woobie|it can be]]. They also have a tendency to be [[The Eeyore]], especially in combination with these other elements.
The reasons for this trope may originate from what most Westerners assume actual Russians have been through, having lived under an [[Evil Empire]];<ref>which is in practice at least two [[Evil Empire
It doesn't matter if the given Russian is a hero or a villain - if the plot causes them to suffer more often than not, they are an example. Russian characteristics, if not an explicit Russian background, can also merit inclusion in this trope.
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== Anime & Manga ==
* Dhomochevsky from ''[[Blame]]!'', while not ''actually'' Russian, his obviously Eastern European based name coupled with the fact that he suffers... quite a bit during his arc certainly qualifies him.
* ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]''
** Anything about his childhood ascends (descends?) into [[The Woobie|straight-up Woobiedom]].
* ''[[Digimon Savers]]'' has a [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]] made up of a [[Blood Knight]] who wants to kill [[The Hero]], an [[Elegant Gothic Lolita]] [[Teen Genius|teen super-genius]] who wants to rule the universe with [[The Lancer]], and a [[Punch Clock Villain]] who subjected himself to medical experiments and commits daily genocide to support his dozen siblings, and a never-gonna-be-reciprocated-in-snowy-hell crush on the [[Team Mom]] of the group, Yoshino. The last guy's name? Ivan.
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* Zangief in ''[[Street Fighter (film)|Street Fighter]]'' works hard and enthusiastically {{spoiler|and he doesn't even get paid!}}
* In ''[[2012]]'' there are several Russian characters. Let's just say the trope is played straight here.
* Boris in ''[[Balto]]'' as the [[Butt Monkey|long-suffering sidekick]] to the eponymous wolf-dog. [[Lampshade
{{quote|'''Boris''': Spending days in bitter cold, facing wild animals, risking death from exposure...is like holiday in [[The Old Country|old country]].}}
* Russian dancing instructor Kolenkhov in ''[[You Can't Take It With You]]'' when asked about what's going on back home, says "No one writes to me. They're all dead."
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** That does apply for Valhalla in general, although in another way in general, since these tactics are the ones favored by Commander Chenkov of the Tundra Wolves regiment, who is notorious for these tactics. This trope in general more applies to Valhallans when on the defense (which they specialize in, pretty much), due to their unwavering stoicism and the fact that they can take even the most traumatizing losses without breaking. Indeed, they rarely ever surrender a position, and it is noted in the Imperial Guard codex that the enemy often has to wipe out the defending Valhallan forces completely in order to assure victory.
** This reputation is lifted straight from the [[Real Life]] (and not exactly justified) reputation of the Red Army in the WWII. [[Ciaphas Cain|Valhallan 597'th]] made a lot to [[Badass Army|change it]], though.
** Other Russian-based regiments, such as Vostroyan Firstborn, show different approacher to the army's character, but no one ever loses its main
== Videogames ==
* ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'': Everybody's first instinct is to shoot at the Heavy... [[Mighty Glacier|but he can take it.]] [[Shoot the Medic First]], [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/9/21/ you idiots]!
** Every [[Valve]] 'Meet The Team' video except his own includes poor Heavy [[The Worf Effect|getting it from the featured class]]. [[Boom! Headshot!|Headshots]], facestabs, Sticky-bombs, sentry guns, mugged for his lunch... The BLU Heavy, anyway. When the RED Heavy takes center stage<ref>
** Heck, there's even an achievement for getting hurt a whole lot in one life as a Heavy (and using medkits to heal), and [[Rasputinian Death|one for being hurt in almost every way it is ''possible'' to be hurt in one life.]]
** [[Poker Night At the Inventory|'Beat me once, shame on me. Beat me twice, also shame on me. Beat me three times? I am sent to my death.']]
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== Web Originals ==
* Russia's fate in far too many [[Alternate History]] scenarios is even worse than in [[Real Life]].<ref>Especially if the writer has a bone to pick and wants to "punish" it for whatever ([[Author Tract|usually political]]) reason</ref>
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* [[Truth in Television]]: As noted above, Russia itself. [[WW 2]], [[WW 1]], Crimean War, [[Napoleonic Wars]]...
** And the Ögodei Khan's conquest of Europe as well.
** For Russians themselves, there's the [[Dirty Commies|communist]] [[Cold War|years]]
** Many historians have argued that Russian culture and mentality were irreparably damaged (in a [[He Who Fights Monsters]] sort of way) during the oppressive rule of Mongol conquerors in [[The High Middle Ages]], when Russians lived in a constantly violent and wary symbiosis with them. The post-Genghis Khan "Golden Horde" empire turned Russians from conquered territories into bullied subjects, while the few Russian principalities that managed to hold on to independence became locked in a never-ending [[Cycle of Revenge]] with the empire. After the [[wikipedia:Battle of Kulikovo|Battle of Kulikovo Field]] in the late 14. century, the Russians finally managed to liberate their territories and kicked out the remaining Mongol overlords. This eventually paved the road to the [[It Got Worse|bloody unification of the principalities]] into a single tsardom and the [[Start of Darkness|highly expansionist nature]] of the future [[Tsarist Russia|Russian empire]].
** Their suffering continues to the present day. Right now, there's about a ''12 year'' difference in the life expectancy of male and female Russians, largely because the Russian male response to the country's sorry state of affairs is to drink copious amounts of anything alcoholic as a socially acceptable way of suicide.
*** What's interesting, during the Soviet times, especially in [[The Seventies]] and part of [[The Eighties]], when the economic situation was ''much'' better that in [[The Nineties]], and political oppression almost disappeared, the median life expectancy for males ''never'' exceeded 65 years, which is, in a curious coincidence, a pension age for the non-privileged professions. Some [[Conspiracy Theorist
** When the [[It Got Worse]] page has an entry under [[Real Life]] that says the history of Russia can be summed up as "Somehow, things got worse.", you know luck isn't on their side.
* A [[Russian Humor|Russian joke]] involves a Brit, a Frenchman, and a Russian debating the definition of happiness. The Russian says true happiness is when the KGB kicks down the door of your shabby apartment ... and it turns out they're after somebody else.
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