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Enter the Awesome Personnel Carrier, the all-around badass vehicle not just meant to be an overpriced and underarmored taxi. In modern warfare settings, expect these to be ripped off from the BMP and M2 Bradley series of vehicles or some of their relations. In sci-fi settings, this might incorporate more elements of the Cool Tank or have an exotic unloading method.
 
Special mention should be given here as to terminology. The term IFV denotes Infantry Fighting Vehicle, as in a vehicle that directly engages and suppresses the enemy while the squad does its thing after exiting the vehicle. An APC, or Armored Personnel Carrier, simply shuttles the squad to and from battle. It might not actually do any fighting whatsoever. But that doesn't mean it can't be [[Rule of Cool|cool]] on its own. APC is commonly used to cover both types of vehicles despite this being incorrect, although the line between armed battle-taxi and light IFV can be quite blurred.
 
Naturally, compare [[Cool Tank]]. [[Israelis With Infrared Missiles|Merkavas]] cheat by being both, and the Russian Mi-24 Hind ups the stakes ''again'' by flying.
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== [[Anime]] & [[Manga]] ==
* The opening scene in one of the ''[[Appleseed]]'' movie has Deunan and her squad being attacked by two ACPs armed with [[Gatling Good|gatling guns]] that effordlessly jump through walls and reduce the battlefield to even finer rubble.
* ''[[Gundam Unicorn]]'' gives us the D50C Loto, a 12 meter high mobile suit that can transform into a tank like vehicle ''and'' carry a squad of special forces troops inside it, doesn't get more awesome than that.
 
== [[Film]] ==
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* ''[[Avatar]]'' features the C-21 Dragon Assault Ship, featuring eight 50MM sentry guns, dozens of missile pods, not one but ''two'' cockpits, and enough cargo space for a squad of [[Mini-Mecha|AMP suits]].
* In ''[[Doomsday]]'', Sinclair's team enter virus-infected Scotland through the rebuilt Hadrian Wall in a pair of sleek-looking APC said to be the last of their types. They look heavy but a crossbow arrow kills one of the drivers - though the action doesn't let audience wonder about armor long enough to suspend suspension of disbelief.
* In ''[[Black Hawk Down]]'', the Pakistani troops display this trope by playing [[The Cavalry]] the smart way: by charging in heavy [[APCs]] that could withstand the withering crossfire that the American Humvees couldn't.
 
== [[Literature]] ==
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*** With the capacity to carry eight guys in power suits originally designed for performing maintenance on active plasma generators from the inside.
** The Sisters of Battle use the Immolator, which is also built on the Rhino chassis and usually features turret-mounted flamers - essentially, a Razorback modded as a chapel. They also field the Reppressor, an even more awesome version of the basic Rhino, with expanded transport capacity, a flamethrower miniturret, and a massive bulldozer blade.
*** Like the Marines, they also have the Exorcist, which mounts a Pipe Organ/Multiple Missile Launcher.
** The Tau have the Devilfish Skimmer, which is also a gunship.
** Orks have Wartrukks and Battlewagons.
** The Eldar have the Wave Serpant grav-tank fitting into the APC role, with an [[Deflector Shields|energy shielded prow]] and a pair of heavy infantry scale weapons mounted on top, while their Falcon grav-tank fits into the IFV role, being able to carry smaller squads than the Wave Serpent but having superior weaponry for suppressing enemy armor and infantry.
** The Imperial Guard have the Stormlord Super Heavy Tank, its basic chassis is shared with that the other Imperial Guard Super Heavies (i.e. [[Bane Blade]] Shadowsword) and it can carry 40 guardsmen and has enough firepower to slaughter any infantry in sight.
** Don't forget the Eldar Storm Serpent in Epic, this thing doesn't carry infantry like a normal APC but has an in built webway gate which can pump out as many reinforcements as you need from half the galaxy away.
* ''[[Rifts]]'' has nearly as many APCs, if not more. Such as the heavily-armed Coalition Mark V, the amphibious Iwo Jima-class hovercraft, or the German Leopard III, which not only carries infantry, but can also lug around a ''small tank''' for extra firepower.
* ''[[BattleTech]]'' also fields a number of APCs and IFVs which include wheeled, tracked, hover, and flying varieties.
 
== [[Toys]] ==
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[Act of War]]'' features many [[Real Life]] carriers, including the Stryker and the BTR-80, all of them beautifuly modelled.
* ''[[PlanetSide]]'' has several : The Deliverers (a futuristic looking Hummer) and their faction variants, with their own unique weapons. The Sunderer or "Bang Bus" is an absolutely massive bus covered in guns with the capability of carrying players in MAX armor. The Sunder was removed from the game and replaced with a uniquely armed variant for each faction, though all variants have a cattle catcher, a EMP blast ability, and ball turrets on the sides.
* The Battle Fortress, IFV, Humvee and the many other forms of it in ''[[Command and& Conquer]]''. Some forms, like the Battle Fortress, can crush other vehicles!
** One particularly hilarious example from Red Alert 3 is the Bullfrog, an otherwise-normal APC armed with an anti-air gun. Its only outstanding feature is its method of delivery: instead of unloading the troops, it fires them out of a cannon on its back. So we've got a scenario in which you can parachute [[Everything's Worse with Bears|armored war bears]] onto a group of infantry. [[Video Game Cruelty Potential|And the bears have a stun ability and instant-kill attacks.]]
** Also from ''Red Alert 3'' is the Sudden Transport, a hovering APC that can disguise itself as an enemy vehicle to sneak its troops past enemy lines. Completely unarmed, though.
** The Allied Multigunner IFV, also from Red Alert 3, is billed as an IFV despite only carrying one soldier -- but its weapon changes to match that unit's specialty (i.e., loading a rocket trooper gives it (more) rocket pods, loading a [[An Ice Person|Cryo Legionnaire]] gives it an ice beam) -- it can even gain weapons from [[The Dev Team Thinks of Everything|troops of other factions]].
** The Nod Subterranean APC in ''Tiberian Sun'' combines this with [[Drill Tank]]. Even more awesome still for being able to carry the [[Super Soldier|Cyborg Commando]], the ultimate Nod unit in the game, right into the center of an enemy base.
** The Reckoner from ''Kane's Wrath'' is a bit of an odd-ball. It is completely unarmed and infantry can't fire from within it, until it deploys--at which point it becomes a permanent bunker.
** Humvees in ''Generals'' could be equipped with drones for self repair and scouting. Not only that, but it could also carry up to five infantry that could all fire out of the windows, essentially making the Humvee a mobile bunker. Additionally, Overlords were so damn large that you could ''build a bunker on top of its turret''.
** Honourable mention to Red Alert 1's Phase Transport. It shows up in a single mission in the ''Aftermath'' expansion, and it can only carry one infantry unit... but on the other hand, the machine gun is replaced with high-powered ''missile launchers'', and it cloaks.
* ''[[Borderlands]]'' gives us the Lancer in the Secret Armory of General Knoxx DLC. At 4, it seats double the number of players. All players have some kind of weapon they can use against enemies. It has at least 50% more hitpoints than the next strongest vehicle in the game. Requires doing ajob for scooter to get it, though.
* ''[[Crysis (series)|Crysis]]'': The enemy APC is essentially a Bradley clone, complete with chain gun and missiles.
* The BTR, BMP, M2 Bradley and Humvee in the ''[[Modern Warfare]]'' series take their [[Real Life]] counterparts and thrust them into a fictional war with each other.
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** Finally, there is an M163 around mid-game that can carry as much people as the BMP even though it's technically a [[Gatling Good|self-propelled anti-aircraft gun]]. An APC with a minigun, how cool is that?
* The Armadillo and its [[Weaponized Car|technical version]], the Junker, from ''[[Gears of War]]''. Although driving it [[Scrappy Level|isn't quite so awesome.]]
* ''[[Ground Control]]'' had an APC that could fire at ground or air targets and heal/ repair other units all while carrying a squad of soldiers in [[Power Armor]]. The sequel APC's where considerable less cool but did come with fun tools like flame-throwers and smoke screens. They also had a separate repair vehicle that could carry four soldiers.
* ''[[Valkyria Chronicles II]]'': With the Utility APC frame, the APC is capable of carrying equipment for almost any situation. It can build bridges and ladders to bypass enemy fortifications, equip items that remove status effects around it just for your troops, can break large rocks to create new paths through the maps, and more. While it is somewhat fragile compared to the tanks and can't equip any of the anti-tank turrets, the flamethrower is very good for taking out clusters of enemy soldiers (especially before you can upgrade your shocktroopers to commandos) and its carrying capability lets you stock a lancer or mauler to deal with any tanks it encounters. The tank/APC debate essentially boils down to "One CP light tank vs. Utility APC", with many preferring the APC because of the flexibility it provides. This functionality was carried over to and improved on in ''[[Valkyria Chronicles III]]''.
* The ''Bear'' APC from ''[[Saints Row]]'' 2. It features an independent driver-controlled MG turret, six wheels, heavy armour, seating for 4 or 5 passengers, and can keep up with most four-wheeled vehicles. You can even install a [[Nitro Boost]] in it! It's the closest the game gets to [[Tank Goodness]].
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== [[Western Animation]] ==
* [[The Mighty Ducks (animation)|The Mighty Ducks]] travelled on the ground in the Migrator ([[Incredibly Lame Pun|yes, the puns only get worse from here]]), which had various weapons and features built in. In one episode, it got damaged and they tried using a [[Super Prototype|new model]]... [[Hilarity Ensues|it didn't end well]].
* The police in ''[[The Legend of Korra]]'' have [[Roaring Twenties]]-style [http://avatarthelastairbenderonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Polic-Truck.png armored trucks] for carrying officers into dangerous situations.
* Providence's assault vehicles in ''[[Generator Rex]]'' are built to withstand attacks from E.V.O.s, carry squads of soldiers, and have a machine gun and missile launcher fitted on each side.
 
== [[Real Life]] ==
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** The Aussie version, the ASLAV, is even more awesome by having something most military vehicles lack, air conditioning.
*** The American version would be the Stryker, which, like all American vehicles deployed in support of OIF, has at least nominal air conditioning.
*** The Stryker got itself upgraded to an IFF Tank hybrid with the development of the M1128 MGS.
** The LAV-25 is itself a derivative of the [[wikipedia:MOWAG Piranha|MOWAG Piranha I]], while the Stryker is a derivative of the Piranha III, both produced by Switzerland.
* Recently, due to the battlefield saturation with IFVs and antitank weapons, a new class of APCs started to appear -- namely, a ''heavy'' IFV: essentially a full-on [[Tank Goodness|main battle tank]] with all attendant protection, but carrying not a large caliber gun, but a common IFV kit -- [[More Dakka|an autocannon or grenade launcher]] and a squad of infantry. Many are, in fact, conversions of an older MBTs too obsolete for their original role, but still too solid and functional to be worth scrapping.
** Israeli ''Azcharit'' and Russian ''BTR-T'' are both conversions of the venerable, but sadly outdated T-55. On a similar theme, the Israeli ''Puma'' is one of a number of conversions of the Centurion MBT used by IDF Engineers.
** The ''[[Israelis With Infrared Missiles|Merkava]]'' is often affectionately referred to as "heavy APC" as well, despite being a full-on MBT. It has the capacity to carry a squad. but only by ditching most of its main cannon's ammunition. Those big rear doors are intended for rapid reloading, not infantry.
*** As of 2008, Israel started to produce an actual APC based on the Merkava chassis called "Namer", making it a truly [[Awesome Personnel Carrier]].
* The [[wikipedia:M113 armored personnel carrier|M113]] has to rate pretty well. Despite being an ugly, under-armoured box-on-tracks, it has seen more roles, and been used my more countries than probably any other armoured vehicle. It also remains in use in the country of its production, despite being close on 50 years old. It's also the second most numerous armoured vehicle of any time-period, being outdone only by the T-34 tank (84K to ~80K).
* And lets not forget [[wikipedia:Mark IX tank|the granddaddy]] [http://www.landships.freeservers.com/mk9_info.htm of them all], the British Mark IX from the late stages of [[World War One]]...
** Unfortunately these proved to be (as with all the [[WW 1]] tanks) less than successful. The main problems being that WWI tanks struggled to go faster than a brisk walking pace and conditions inside the early tanks being so bad that even if the troops managed to remain conscious they disembarked in no condition to fight. Rather more successful was the series of [[wikipedia:Kangaroo %28armoured personnel carrier%29|Kangaroos]] that appeared late in [[WW 2]].
** The German Sdkfz 251 shows the difficulty in dividing APC from IFV. The basic model had a couple of machine guns but variants had flamethrowers, triple mounted 15mm HMGs, a light PaK gun and the turret from an armoured car.
** The good old British Universal Carrier from [[WW 2]], also known as the Bren Carrier. It was, however, the most famous personal carrier, rather than the most awesome one.
*** Also ''the'' single most produced armoured vehicle in history, with over 100,000 made. Its not exactly fast, well-armoured, nor even particularly attractive, but it got the job done. It's a stellar example of [[Boring but Practical]].
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*** It's still seen as useful enough (especially in extraction, medevac and other SAR missions) that Russian AAF recently ordered a batch of a newly-built Mi-35 (an upgraded and mostly export versions of Hind) ''in addition'' to the dedicated gunships like Mi-28 and Ka-50/52. In certain situations Hind's ability to clear up its own LZ and generally look for itself is invaluable.
*** Having too much ammo to perform a pickup in contact with the enemy is a self-solving problem.
* The German Puma IFV is among the heaviest and best armored [[APCs]] out there, with a maximum weight of 43 tons, still maintaining a high power-to-weight ratio. Using four A-400M transport aircrafts, you could quickly transport three Pumas into the theatre - one of the planes would transport the additional armor (which can be flexibly mounted). The Puma's unmanned turret houses a 30 mm autocannon with airburst ammo, Spike anti-tank missiles with a range of 4,000 meters and a coaxial machine gun. Of course, air conditioning, full NBC protection a very smooth and low-profile hull and an active defense system capable of defeating modern [[ATG Ms]] can also be found aboard it.
** The West German Marder was the second MICV ever developed, and predated the Puma's design. It is still in service in many places.
** Before the Puma the Marder 2 was conceived in the 1980s to replace the Marder 1 to accompany the Leopard 2 tank into battle. Unfortunately it was canceled in 1992 as it was too large, too heavy and too expensive for the post-Cold War era.
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