Jump to content

Military Maverick: Difference between revisions

Military Maverick (view source)

Revision as of 04:15, 8 April 2014

276 bytes removed ,  10 years ago
m
Mass update links
VisualWikitext
(→‎Video Games: clean up)
m (Mass update links)
Line 7:
Consider them the armed-forces cousins of the [[Cowboy Cop]].
 
Military personnel who break all [[Big Book of War|the rules,]] annoy their superiors, but generally win because they break the rules. Existing largely because of the [[Rule of Cool|Rule Of Cool]], as in real life, the military needs people they can be certain will ''stop'' fighting when ordered just as much as they need people who will ''start''. The primary purpose of discipline is to learn self-restraint, after all. (They will occasionally face [[Reassigned to Antarctica]], because the writers know that's where the next trouble will break out.)
 
However, apparently it ''is'' [[Truth in Television]] to some extent. When Richard Dean Anderson asked General Michael E. Ryan (the Air Force Chief of Staff, who once appeared on ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' playing himself) whether there were really colonels like Jack O'Neill, Ryan replied, "yes, and worse." Note that the higher your rank, the more likely you are to get away with it. There are no privates like Jack O'Neill. Or at least, if there are right now, give it a few days.
Line 37:
* {{spoiler|Colonel}} [[Temeraire]] turned into one of these, quickly, much to Laurence's dismay. It resulted in {{spoiler|a couple cases of treason and eventually being banished to Australia. Of course, if Temeraire wasn't such a maverick Laurence would probably be dead.}}
* [[Derek Robinson]]'s character of [[CH 3]], in ''A Piece of Cake''. An American pilot and soldier of fortune who for political reasons is posted to Hornet Squadron in time for the Battle of Britain, he becomes unpopular not just for having more combat experience than all the British pilots put together, he is highly critical of the British command an tactical philosophy. It doesn't help that experience proves him right, although not before several pilots are killed in action.
* Mackenzie "Mac" Calhoun, of [[Star Trek: New Frontier]], was specifically picked to command the ''Excalibur'', the [[One Riot, One Ranger|only ship in the sector]], because he was basically the [[Cowboy Cop]] of Starfleet.
 
== Live Action TV ==
Line 45:
** Subverted with Pegasus Commander Barry Garner, who once made the typical Maverick "Screw the orders, I'm saving my men" decision, complete with his crew backing him against the outsider observer (aka Lee Adama) - only to notice that ''yes'', it ''was'' a trap, it very nearly cost the human race its most powerful battleship and it gained them nothing.
* Jack O'Neill from ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''.
** John Sheppard from ''[[Stargate Atlantis (TV)|Stargate Atlantis]]'', though to a lesser extent.
 
== Other ==
Line 53:
* 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 warrior--which makes some sense, given their vocation. Hence the old saying: what's the difference between God and an Air Force pilot? God doesn't think he's a pilot.
* '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.
Line 59:
 
== Video Games ==
* Maniac, from ''[[Wing Commander (Videovideo Gamegame)|Wing Commander]]'', is generally agreed to have earned his [[Code Name|callsign]]. At times, the protagonist, Christopher "Maverick" Blair, has as well. Some say he's a subversion.
 
 
== Army ==
== Anime and Manga ==
* In [[Fullmetal Alchemist (Mangamanga)|Edward Elric's]] early years as a State Alchemist, Roy Mustang made good use of his sense of honor and knack for trouble-making by sending him in the general direction of cowboy-prone situations with rumors of the Philosopher's Stone surrounding them.
* Mr. Bushido (AKA {{spoiler|Graham Akre}} in a [[Paper-Thin Disguise]]) from the second season of ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'' refuses to do '''anything''' except engage the 00 Gundam in battle, and won't even launch for combat unless the 00 is present as well. He gets away with it because 1) he is quite literally Just That Good, and 2) the 00 is Celestial Being's strongest weapon, and keeping it tied up is extremely helpful to the A-Laws.
** And he's the [[Heterosexual Life Partner]] of the A-Laws commander's nephew. Billy apparently pulled some strings.
* In ''[[Maiden Rose]]'', both Klaus and Taki are mavericks at times. And it gets them both in trouble.
Line 73:
* ''[[The Dirty Dozen]]'''s Major Reisman. All of the Dozen are actually mavericks (or much worse) but they ''definitely'' face consequences for it.
* Sgt. William James of ''[[The Hurt Locker]]'' is a deconstruction. Sure, he manages to defuse many bombs in his time at war, but he winds up alienating pretty much everyone in his unit due to his antics.
* The entire plot of ''[[KellysKelly's Heroes]]''.
* Mel Gibson's character from ''[[Lethal Weapon (Film)|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|Boxed Crooks]] turned into an experimental strike force by an eccentric colonel. Unsurprisingly, their tactics tend to be...nonstandard.
 
== Literature ==
* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s ''[[GauntsGaunt's Ghosts]]'' novels, over and over again; always crowned with success, which may be why they get away with it.
** Dorden in ''Ghostmaker'', refusing to leave a field hospital
** Kolea in the opening of ''Honour Guard'', defying orders to rescue Corbec.
Line 88:
 
== Live Action TV ==
* The entire membership of ''[[The A-Team (TV)|The A-Team]]'', most notably Murdock, who may or may not be certifiably insane.
* ''[[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]].
Line 109:
* Commander Micheal McNiel of ''[[Command and Conquer]]: Tiberian Sun'', who is defined by his headstrong aggressiveness, most notably in the final mission, where he refuses to obey orders to wait for reinforcements before assaulting Kane's headquarters.
** Captain Nick "Havoc" Parker in ''[[Command and Conquer]]: Renegade'' also disobeys orders, but is arrested immediately upon his return from the battlefield. Of course, he doesn't spend more than a few hours in jail, but his boss is explicitly described as unusually tolerant of his quirks, "which makes him the ideal boss for Havoc". Note that while his motives are admirable ("They're torturing civvies, we can't ''wait'' six hours."), he hijacked a hovercraft that couldn't really be spared to go off and assault the enemy base single-handedly immediately after a previous attack had failed, and when there was absolutely no reason to not simply wait a mere six hours for reinforcements to arrive.
* All four of the protagonists (and their pilot) in ''[[Battlefield Bad Company (Video Game)|Battlefield: Bad Company]]''.
 
== Other ==
Line 132:
 
== Live Action TV ==
* [[Twenty Four24|Counter-Terrorist agent Jack Bauer]] is [[Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique|the epitome of this trope.]]
* [[NCIS|Jethro Gibbs]] doesn't cross the line with his agency's directives, unless he has to. Or needs to. Or ''feels like it''. Quite frankly, it's amazing that Gibbs has a ''job'' sometimes.
* [[The X -Files|Special Agent Fox Mulder]] is considered odd by most of the FBI and outright disliked by a few. However, he is also known to be one of the best detectives and crime solvers in the whole Bureau.
 
== Marines ==
Line 141:
 
== Live Action TV ==
* Averted by Greer in ''[[Stargate Universe (TV)|Stargate Universe]]''. There's no doubting he knows his job and is willing to give his life to protect even people he dislikes, but he displayed such a temper that an early [[Fan Nickname]] for him was [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Furious George]]. He also reputedly beat up a superior officer...and so was languishing in the brig waiting to be shipped back to Earth when the attack hit Icarus Base.
 
== Video Games ==
Line 172:
== Anime and Manga ==
* Yang Wen-Li and his group from ''[[Legend of the Galactic Heroes]]''.
* [[The Captain|Murrue Ramius]] in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SeedSEED]]'' is a [[Reasonable Authority Figure]] who repeatedly ignores military regulations and, occasionally, direct orders in order to best serve the [[The McCoy|well-being of the people involved]]. She is contasted by [[Sergeant Rock|Natarle]], whose strict by-the-book adherence to the rules ends up putting her on the wrong side.
 
== Literature ==
* Ender Wiggin from ~Ender's Game~ was a ''deliberate'' [[Military Maverick]] - he thought he was being a rebel, but they figured he was [[Child Prodigy|smart enough]] to know better than the rule-makers, and actually intended him to break the rules.
* 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 ''[[Phules Company]]''. He gets ''promoted'' as a result of accidentally strafing a peace conference after the war had already ended. It [[Blessed Withwith 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 ideas--ideas that are so odd that he and the captain of his flagship once had a barely-civilized argument over his use of a particular tactic. That particular tactic was in fact outright reasonable (and became ''routine'') compared to some of his more inventive concepts. Then again, Thrawn is only one step down in the chain of command from the Emperor: so long as he remains loyal to the Empire and continues to succeed in his assigned objectives, he has the authority to do whatever he damn well feels like. Thrawn was a military maverick among his own people, too. In ''[[Outbound Flight]]'', he was the one making preemptive strikes, to the consternation of, well, just about everyone. He actually got exiled for that.
** 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.
Line 191:
 
== Live Action TV ==
* John Sheridan of ''[[Babylon Five|Babylon 5]]'' was such a maverick that {{spoiler|he participated in a conspiracy against the (increasingly dictatorial) civilian [[Earth Gov]] and finally decided to turn his command into an independent country}}. He also was not a fan of standard military tactics.
** Averted when, during the pilot episode remake/movie, he refused promotion to be second-in-command of the first ship being sent out to investigate Minbari space. He did so because he knew the CO was known to be overaggressive during tense diplomatic situations and he did not want to be in a position where he'd have to stand up to him for the ship's own good. The ship instead left for Minbari space with a much more jellyfish-spined XO, the captain got into a tense diplomatic situation where he became overaggressive, and we all know what happened after that.
* In the classic (if short) German SF series ''[[Raumpatrouille (TV)|Raumpatrouille]]'', Commander McLane and the crew of the ''Orion'' are this to the extent that the series ''starts'' with their being reassigned to 'boring' patrol duty for a couple of years and saddled with a security officer who's supposed to ensure they tread the straight and narrow from now on. Needless to say, that's not quite how it works out.
* 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.
Line 205:
 
== Web Comics ==
* While Tagon's Toughs were under Breya's employ in ''[[Schlock Mercenary (Webcomic)|Schlock Mercenary]]'' the entire crew from Tagon and downwards (i.e. everyone ''except'' Breya) arguably qualified. While the Toughs are still as maverick as they used to be, they now work under Tagon, who ''encourages'' this behavior. Besides, they're mercenaries and not a military unit, which justifies it. Schlock is special forces ''in'' the mercenary company and is arguably twice as much maverick as everyone else.
* In ''[[Far From Home (Webcomic)|Far From Home]]'', [http://mightymartianstudios.com/2011/05/03/ffh-sci-fi-webcomic-bubble/ the lieutenant made a paper airplane out of a briefing]. Hence, [[Reassigned to Antarctica|the scouting mission]].
 
 
== Special Forces (all branches) ==
== Anime and Manga ==
* Teana Lanster at the start of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Strikers|Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS]]''. Unlike most examples, the series went for a far less positive potrayal of this type of character. Teana's Maverick nature almost caused a friendly fire incident during their second mission and her adamant refusal to listen to the advice and orders of her superiors [[Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!|required several officers to beat the idea into her head]] that being reckless just for the sake of personal pride is a quick way to get you and your comrades crippled or killed. It was only when Teana toned down the Maverick nature of hers did she [[Took a Level In Badass|begin to be truly efficient in battle]].
 
== Comic Books ==
Line 217:
 
== Literature ==
* Holly Short from ''[[Artemis Fowl (Literature)|Artemis Fowl]]'' is like this.
 
== Real Life ==
Line 230:
* 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 Onon 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|Bunny Ears Lawyering]] and maverickiness between the Council {{spoiler|and [[Magnificent Bastard|The Illusive Man]]}}.
** 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: (VideoNo Game)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.
 
{{reflist}}
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/881899"
Cookies help us deliver our services. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies.
More information