Military Maverick: Difference between revisions
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* A possible real-life example (it's disputed how true this is) would be many of the Polish pilots in the Battle of Britain. Prone to recklessness and spamming the radio with discussions in Polish on the parentage of their German opponents (who they, for obvious reasons, loathed), they were responsible for 12% of the Luftwaffe kills in that battle, despite being only 5% of the pilots.
** That being said, the RAF handbook was often ignored even by British pilots. For example, the rules stated that machine guns' should be zeroed (that is, the bullets would cross the path of the guns from the other wing) at 600m to allow newbie pilots to attack from a safe distance. But to be most effective, it needed to be at 200m, so many pilots from different nations changed them.
* A documented real-life ''subversion'' (not merely aversion) was going on with test pilots, at least back in the early '70s. [[Hunter S. Thompson]] wrote an article depicting the Air Force's test pilots as almost frighteningly sane, rational, by-the-book, methodical fliers who were as much scientist as
* 'Bud' Holland, the pilot of the B-52 that crashed at Fairchild Air Force Base, who had a reputation for aggressive flying and violating safety regulations. One of his superiors was later court-martialed for ''failing to take action'' over his behaviour. That's like being so high your ''friend'' hallucinates.
* John McCain, who was more than happy to point this out.
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* The entire plot of ''[[Kelly's Heroes]]''.
* Mel Gibson's character from ''[[Lethal Weapon]]'' 1-4 (though most prominently in the first 2 installments) is an extremely reckless cop and ex-army special forces. He routinely [[Death Seeker|places himself in great danger as part of a suicidal deathwish]], yet his [[One-Man Army|skills are so great]] that he continues to live through his adventures.
* The protagonists in ''Play Dirty'', although the only one of them who is officially in the military is the Michael Caine character, and his commission was ''supposed'' to be purely honorary. The rest are a bunch of [[Boxed Crook
== Literature ==
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* ''[[Firefly]]'''s Malcolm Reynolds, in his time as an Independent sergeant, made something of a reputation for himself for unconventional tactics, a distinct willingness to defy the odds, and an absolute refusal to quit...even when, it might be said, he should have. He was an irregular in a nonprofessional insurgent army, so not unexpected.
* Hawkeye Pierce and, for that matter, about half the cast of ''[[MASH]]''. The only reason Hawkeye is rarely, if ever, [[Ultimate Job Security|charged for being such a loose cannon]] is because they need as many medical personnel as possible and [[Bunny Ears Lawyer|can't afford to lose him as Chief Surgeon]].
** There's also that as doctors directly commissioned (and apparently conscripted) from civilian practice, most of the cast of ''M*A*S*H'' can ''afford'' to be utterly indifferent about damage to their military
** [[Truth in Television]] to a large degree, even today; the US armed services have enough of a need for medical personnel that they are given more leeway about their (lack of) military bearing than would be tolerated in combat soldiers/sailors/airmen. Crystallized in a saying going back to Korea if not earlier: "There is nobody as un-military as a military doctor."
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== Literature ==
* Ender Wiggin from [[Ender's Game]] was a ''deliberate''
* Inverted in [[Jack Campbell]]'s ''[[The Lost Fleet]]''. Captain Geary is thought of as crazy ''because'' he uses reasonable and not particularly noteworthy tactics. Which baffles his fleet, who are used to simply rushing into the enemy and counting how many ships are left over to determine a victory.
* Willard Phule of ''[[Phule's Company]]''. He gets ''promoted'' as a result of accidentally strafing a peace conference after the war had already ended. It [[Blessed with Suck|wasn't a reward]]. He was only not fired because the Space Legion never fires anyone, wasn't demoted only because of politics, and winds up in command of an "Omega Company", a [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits|dumping ground for troublemakers too stubborn to quit]].
* In a rare example of someone at the top flouting convention, though actually very [[Affably Evil|cultured and refined]] in a way most Imperial fleet officers only hope to be, [[The Thrawn Trilogy|Grand Admiral Thrawn]] spits in the face of conventional strategic and tactical wisdom. He is confident to the point where he bases entire planetary assaults around esoteric uses of obscure or rare technology and other ''extremely'' unusual
** Similarly, General Garm Bel Iblis is a ''slightly'' more conventional commander, but despite his cunning and ability to make do with less is often politically ostracized. He even resisted an upgrade to his aging flagship's comm center so that secure messages would remain more secure. This has more to do with his time as an independent rebel, as opposed to capital-R Rebel, than his behavior, but he seems quite content to let matters remain as they are.
** Thrawn's old student and second-in-command [[Hand of Thrawn|Pellaeon]], having picked up a bit of that genius and becoming Supreme Commander in time, also manages to utterly frustrate [[Commander Contrarian|his poor captain]] with tactics that seem counterintuitive at best and stupid at worst.
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*** Emperor's Hammer, for those who never read the book, was employed against the Yuzhaan Vong, an alien race that only briefly skirmished with the Empire. Therefore they were not aware that one of the primary uses of a Star Destroyer was orbital bombardment...and with something like sixty times the guns, a Super Star Destroyer is even better at it.
** Vader is definitely a maverick within the Empire's military (proper court-martial? what's that?), but he's ''Vader'' and more or less an extension of the actual Emperor. His lieutenants can't complain (literally). Then again, he and not the Emperor held the rank of Supreme Commander of the Imperial Forces...
** In the [[X Wing Series|Wrath Squadron trilogy]], General Han Solo, commanding the anti-Zsinj task force, discovers one downside to being a
{{quote|'''Han''': With my history, I'd be the laughingstock of the New Republic if I ever brought one of ''my'' officers up on charges of insubordination.
'''Wedge''': Yes, sir, I was sort of counting on that. }}
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* Most of the captains from [[Star Trek]] seem to fit this mold. Even Picard was credited with violating the [[Alien Non-Interference Clause|Prime Directive]] about eight or nine times, and that's in the middle of the series run.
** This would have some meaning if the [[Alien Non-Interference Clause|Prime Directive]] wasn't redefined nearly every episode.
** Often, the Federation seems to survive more on supreme acts of heroism than any actual organised strategy. Against technically superior forces like the Borg or the Dominion (early on, before the Federation learned to counter the latter's advantages), this approaches [[Conservation of Ninjitsu]]; elsewhere, it's more a case of [[One Riot, One Ranger]], with single ships scattered through the galaxy. Said ships usually prevail by some fantastically risky tactic, as often as not a brazen bluff or [[Indy Ploy|Making]] [[Applied Phlebotinum|Shit]] [[Indy Ploy|Up On The Spot]], many times [[It Only Works Once|never to be]] [[Forgotten Phlebotinum|done again]]. The lack of effective fleet-level planning may derive from Gene Roddenberry's reported dislike for making Starfleet "[[Mildly Military|too military]]"
== Video Games ==
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== Comic Books ==
* Snake-Eyes, ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' (Reloaded continuity), is pretty much
== Literature ==
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== Real Life ==
* [[Truth in Television]]: Special Forces units ''do'' tend to be more lax on the rules. Partly because [[Bunny Ears Lawyer|as elite units their superiors let them get by with more]]
** Mark Bowden's book ''Black Hawk Down'' goes into detail about how this could cause friction with more conventional units. The Army Rangers at Mogadishu in 1993 practically idolized the Delta unit (reputed for extraordinary autonomy and flexibility) as the top rung of the special forces ladder, but company commander Captain Steele was concerned that Delta's "cowboy" ways would rub off too much onto the younger Rangers (not to mention that he thought that "they could be comically arrogant") who needed discipline, while a Delta sergeant first class had an even lower opinion of the Rangers' basic competence, and of Steele in particular. The movie would allude to the tensions with the "this is ''my'' safety sir" scene and then the Delta SFC's [[Expy]] arguing with Captain Steele on the battlefield nearby other Rangers. (The movie version left out that the real Delta who inspired the "safety" scene defied Captain Steele ''in full view of other Rangers'', without the immediate urgency of combat as an excuse.)
*** According to the book [[It Got Worse|it was worse than that]]; both Captain Steele and the Delta SFC generalized the Rangers as having been young and inexperienced and seemed to see the Rangers as not adopting the deeper understandings or self-discipline. Egregious examples would include Rangers unknowingly firing on Delta positions at least twice without checking first, and a trio of Rangers attempting to imitate ''how'' he was taking cover, apparently not understanding that he was doing so ''only because'' he'd [[Gun Kata|found a spot where the cover let him fire with impunity]]. Unfortunately one of those Rangers would be mortally wounded while in this position due to being exposed.
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* Though the players only see the units after they go rogue, [[Metal Gear Solid|FOX, FOXHOUND and Dead Cell]] are considered maverick units.
** Illustrated [http://gigaville.com/comic.php?id=244 repeatedly] in ''[[The Last Days of Foxhound]]''.
* In [[Mass Effect]], the Spectres are considered above all authority but that of the Council, and Shepard ''still'' manages to be a Military Maverick. Hell, one of the two alignments is ''called'' [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Renegade]]. And even playing the Paragon side of things, you end up {{spoiler|defying the Council and conspiring to get your ship back so you can save the day.}} And that's just the first game. In the second one, you can get in double the [[Bunny Ears Lawyer
** Jacob Taylor, one of your squadmates in ''2'', is a former Alliance soldier who's only working for Cerberus because the Alliance refuses to get involved in the colony attacks due to red tape. Despite Cerberus being [[Mildly Military]] at best, and Shepard's squad in particular being an extreme [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]], he acts the same way he would have at the Alliance, and is the only squadmate who makes it a practice to salute.
* A minor example only: in ''[[Crusader: No Remorse|Crusader]]'', aside from their armor, Silencers are given free rein to use whatever equipment they deem necessary for an upcoming mission. As they are ''[[Super Soldier|Silencers]]'', their judgement on what they need is generally considered unimpeachable.
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