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Armies Are Evil: Difference between revisions
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'''[[No Real Life Examples Please]].'''
{{examples
== Anime and Manga ==
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== Film ==
* Many, many [[B
** Especially any [[Syfy Original Movie]]. Even if there's no real logical reason the American military would be involved in the slightest, they will ''find'' a way to take an antagonistic role. One had them with a secret base near [[Stone Henge]] just so they could pounce on any poor, innocent unsuspecting scientists who happened to be around when weird stuff started.
* In the [[Made for TV Movie]] ''Locusts'', [[General Ripper]] wants to use VX nerve gas to wipe out the locust swarms, despite their hovering over heavily populated areas.
* Inverted in [[In the Loop]]. The sociopathic Secretary of State is opposed by [[Four Star Badass]] General "Flintstone" Miller.
{{quote| '''Miller:''' This is the trouble with civilians wanting to go to war - once you've been there, you never want to go again unless you absolutely have to. ([[Beat]]) It's like France.}}
* Parodied in the film ''[[Mars Attacks (Film)]]!'' where General Decker's warmongering instincts ("We have to strike now, sir! Annihilate! Kill! Kill! Kill!") prove to be entirely well founded.
* Played out on a small scale in ''[[It Came From Outer Space]]'' (1953) with the sheriff who wants to go in with a posse and the amateur astronomer who's willing to trust that the aliens are telling the truth. It does however subvert this trope in that both aliens and humans are paranoid about the others intentions, yet in reality both are reasonable -- the humans just want their friends (who are being held hostage by the aliens) returned unharmed, while the aliens just want to repair their spaceship so they can leave Earth.
* The notorious [[Irwin Allen (Creator)|Irwin Allen]] disaster flop ''[[The Swarm]]'' (1978) attempts this, with the military wanting to use pesticides that would damage the environment while [[Michael Caine]] keeps suggesting other methods. Unfortunately the threat of the killer bees is so over-hyped (at one stage they cause the [[Failsafe Failure|explosion of a nuclear power plant]]) that Caine's continuing refusal is [[Broken Aesop|hard to justify]].
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== Live-Action TV ==
* Even though it paints the Air Force is a rather better light, there are still times in ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' where, despite General Hammond's best efforts, the SGC receives orders to do some morally lacking tasks, such as [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|mining a rare mineral out from under a group of Native Americans on another planet]]. Usually, these orders come from [[CIA Evil FBI Good|the National Intelligence Department]] {{spoiler|or their [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|bosses]] in the [[Government Conspiracy|Committee]]}}.
** ''[[Stargate Universe (TV)|Stargate Universe]]'' divides the characters into military and civilians, who are constantly at each other's throats. And both of the leaders are [[Jerkass|Jerkasses]].
* ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' under [[Russell T Davies (Creator)|Russell T Davies]], and spinoffs ''[[Torchwood (TV)|Torchwood]]'' and ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures (TV)|The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' (also both under RTD) generally did this. If the British Army aren't [[A Nazi By Any Other Name|rounding up people to be sent to 'camps']], UNIT are probably abusing human rights.
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* In ''[[Prototype (Video Game)|Prototype]]'', the [[Semper Fi|United States Marines]] are presented as [[Punch Clock Villain|Punch Clock Villains]] whose primary goal is to contain the Infection. Meanwhile, the Blackwatch organization controlling the occupation are the ''real'' villains, and have no qualms with massacring civilians and nuking Manhattan. Their [[Badass Creed]] even goes so far as to point out that "nothing is sacred" and "we will burn our own to hold the red line."
** To be fair, despite their gung ho appearances, Blackwatch ''is'' right. Only the random fluke that {{spoiler|a particular strain of the blacklight virus that thinks is Alex Mercer}} is not hellbent on destroying all humans (though it is an unrepentant murderer, it doesn't want to destroy the city) makes them villains. The rest of blacklight is an unstoppable plague hellbent on destroying humanity and Blackwatch are the sole thing that can stop it, as far as they know. What makes Blackwatch monsters is their willingness to experiment on people (which started this whole mess). The marines, while presented as most definitely gung oh, are almost shown sympathetically, being used as meat shields by Blackwatchs ({{spoiler|ultimately left on Manhattan when Blackwatch plans to nuke the island}}, being woefully unprepared and uninformed about what they are facing.
*** In addition, [[Meaningful Name|Blackwatch's]] reason for creating such virus in the first place was [[Politically
*** Of course this attitude doesn't work well when a shapeshifter is your enemy. When impersonating a Blackwatch member Alex can freely kill anyone without suspicion so long as he loudly announces that he thinks it's him in disguise and can call Blackwatch airstrikes on their own men and bases because of this attitude.
* The majority of the antagonists of ''[[Xenogears (Video Game)|Xenogears]]'' are members of the Gebler Special Forces, the state army of the [[The Empire|Sacred Empire of Solaris]]. Some of their highlights include: Staging a suicide attack on the power plant of an enemy capital knowing full well it would kill thousands of innocent civilians. Menacing women and children with 30 foot tall [[Humongous Mecha]]. Attacking a pacifist nation with virtually no standing army of its own. And sicking a gigantic autonomous weapon on the capital of a recently liberated puppet state in order to eradicate it. Interestingly enough, every member of Gebler eventually [[Heel Face Turn|Heel Face Turns]] except for two: {{spoiler|Vanderkaum and Miang. Vanderkaum is an idiot and dies early on in the game, and Miang is actually the [[Big Bad]]}}.
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* [[Dead Rising]], featuring the standard "scary guys with assault rifles and gas masks who try to kill you to cover up everything" depiction of the U.S. Military that appears in countless other works such as [[Prototype (Video Game)|Prototype]], ''[[Half Life]]'', [[The Crazies]], etc.
* The Subspace Army from [[Super Smash Bros]] Brawl.
** [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] with the Ancient Minister and his R.O.B. Squad. While they do side with the Subspace Army initially, it becomes clear as the plot is revealed that {{spoiler|they are being forced into doing so. The villains (Ganondorf, Bowser, and Wario) under the guidance of Tabuu, have essentially enslaved them, and the Ancient Minister joins the heroes as R.O.B. for the rest of the game, essentially making him and his kind Tragic [[Anti
* In ''[[Metal Walker]]'', this happens in the backstory. In contrast to the peaceful Professor Eriko, Professor Xenon wanted to use Cores for military purposes. Cue an explosion and a ruined landscape.
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