We Have Reserves: Difference between revisions

{{quote|'''Longshanks:''' Archers.

'''English Commander:''' I beg your pardon sire, but... won't we hit our own troops?

 

There are a lot of ways to have a character [[Kick the Dog]]. In a war movie or battle sequence, if you want to show that a general, king, or [[Armchair Military|commander]] is evil (really evil, not a [[Punch Clock Villain]] and way beyond a [[Designated Villain]]), all you have to do is show his casual and/or utter disregard for the lives of his own troops by [[Suicide Mission|either knowingly ordering them into certain slaughter or giving an order that ensures their slaughter]]. Retreat is, of course, forbidden; he expects [[Attack! Attack! Attack!]] without a second thought, and a [[Last Stand]] before retreat. (And he usually does it from perfect safety.) [[General Failure]] will often upgrade this from a last resort to his preferred tactic.

 

Compare [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness]] and [[You Have Failed Me...]] for similar moments from a [[Bad Boss]]. [[Shoot the Messenger]] and [[Even Mooks Have Loved Ones]] also rely on the [[Big Bad]] feeling that his mooks are completely expendable. Also compare [[The Neidermeyer]] and [[Zerg Rush]]. [[A Father to His Men]] is the opposite character type. Contrast [[Expendable Clone]], where a character is ''his own reserves.''

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'''s Gendo Ikari.