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{{work}}
{{Infobox book
[[File:starship1_1822.png|frame]]▼
| title =
| original title =
| caption =
| author = Robert A. Heinlein
| central theme =
| elevator pitch =
| genre = Military science fiction
| publication date = November 5, 1959
| source page exists =
| wiki URL =
| wiki name =
}}
{{quote|''"Anyone who clings to the historically untrue -- and thoroughly immoral -- doctrine that 'violence never settles anything' I would advise to conjure up the ghosts of [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] and of the Duke of Wellington and let them debate it. The ghost of [[Godwin's Law|Hitler]] could referee..."''|'''Lt. Col. Jean V. DuBois, M.I. (ret.)'''}}
'''''Starship Troopers''''' is a [[Military Science Fiction]] novel written by [[Robert A. Heinlein]] as an argument against a unilateral U.S. ban on nuclear testing, and published in 1959. It waxes [[Anvilicious]] on the merits of soldiers being willing to give their lives for their country and the proper merits of a soldier, an officer, and an army and nation as a whole. Having no combat experience himself Heinlein, an ex-naval officer, interviewed infantry soldiers and officers to get the "flavor" of ground combat for his book. The story traces the evolution of Juan "Johnnie" Rico from feckless civilian into an [[Officer and
''Starship Troopers'' is significant, and controversial, for its description of the Terran Federation's political system. It is a limited democracy, in which only "veterans" of Federal Service are eligible to vote, run for office, hold certain jobs, or even teach some subjects at school. Federal Service must legally accept ''every'' volunteer, provided they are legally adult and mentally capable of understanding the oath they are required to take.
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Long after the novel was published, Heinlein claimed in "Expanded Universe" (1980) that ''Starship Troopers'' "stated flatly and more than once" that 95% of the people who become citizens do so by serving their two years in the Federal civil Service, not in the military. However, a famous [http://www.nitrosyncretic.com/rah/srah-archives-commentary.html essay by James Gifford] argues that the text of ''Starship Troopers'' does not support either this assertion, or the idea of non-military service generally.
A [[Starship Troopers (film)|film of the novel]] was made in 1997, although it's a very loose adaptation that departs significantly from the novel in several places. Most notably, the Mobile Infantry of the film does not wear power armor and instead fights more like modern-day infantry.
{{tropenamer}}
* [[Drop Pod]]: likely also the [[Trope Maker]].
{{tropelist}}
* [[All Asians Know Martial Arts]]: Japanese recruit Shujumi is a black belt, and able to fight [[Drill Sergeant Nasty|Sergeant Zim]] to a draw on his first day of training.
** Possibly subverted in that Shujumi is a black belt because his father is a famous martial arts instructor, not just because he's Japanese.
*** The elder Shujumi was in fact ''Zim's'' first martial arts instructor; Shujumi Jr. and Zim are shown fighting on even terms because they are both students of the same [[Old Master]].
* [[All Planets Are Earthlike]]: Averted. Many planets are inhospitable to humans, who must wear protective armor while on them. Some have different gravity as well.
* [[Amazon Brigade]]: Most of the Navy's pilots are women. The book explicitly states that women (in-universe if not IRL) have faster reflexes, and are better able to withstand "g" forces, which is downright ''crucial'' to the job. Pilots now and (in Heinlein's opinion) [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future]] need a strong kinesthetic sense to aviate. This is a characteristic they share with dancers and gymnasts, hence the implication that Carmencita's competitive diving skill is a manifestation of latent pilot awesomeness.
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* [[Bizarre Alien Biology]]: The Bugs.
* [[Book Dumb]]: Mostly Averted: Johnny thought his education was "well-rounded," even though he's deficient in math and it's revealed he took classes like "Appreciation of Television." One of his squad mates does mention that his education makes him an acceptable candidate for OCS, putting him fairly well ahead of the pack, but he still has a lot of catching up in the hard sciences. Johnny points out even an MI private has to learn so many skills he would easily be a master of many other trades if he trained as hard in them, and officers are forced to read everything from advanced natural sciences, pure mathematics, and political theory to "why Napoleon lost the big one."
* [[The Brigadier]] and [[Officer and
* [[Brits With Battleships]]: Rico goes through a number of different units within the Mobile Infantry, each with their own uniforms and traditions, very similar in flavor to the Regiments in the British Army.
* [[Bug War]]: The Arachnids, also the [[Trope Namer]].
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** The maxim "with great power comes great responsibility" is also used in the military criminal justice system. When an officer commits a crime he receives a punishment ''seven times'' greater than an enlisted man would receive because as an officer he should have a better understanding of his crime. A crime that would result in an enlisted man being flogged might result in a death sentence if an officer does it.
* [[Conscription]]: Averted. Military service in the Terran Federation is ''completely'' voluntary, even during times of war. And even after enlisting the recruit can resign from the military any time they want, even immediately before a battle. The justification for this is that people who are forced into military service against their will make poor soldiers.
* [[Corporal Punishment]]: Discussed at length. In the Mobile Infantry, any and all corporal
** [[A Taste of the Lash]]: A common judicial punishment both in the military and in civilian life. It's mentioned as the sentence for everything from drunk driving to dereliction of duty. One notable scene has Rico watching a whipping being carried out; he passes out just from ''watching'' halfway through. He's later whipped himself (though fewer lashes) and describes it as ''easier'' than watching. In both cases it's explicitly mentioned inflict ''pain'' but not ''harm''. The conditions of the whipping are carefully controlled and the subject receives medical attention immediately
* [[Death From Above]] via [[It's Raining Men]]: Mobile Infantry troopers are dropped from orbit to land in a combat zone. They also have weapons that can "glass" a planet's surface from orbit but are reluctant to destroy the valuable real estate they're fighting over; it's mentioned that later in the war [[Earthshattering Kaboom|planet-buster bombs]] get developed. They are also reluctant to kill sapient beings unnecessarily so they only use the force needed to accomplish their mission.
* [["Dear John" Letter]]: Played with. When at OCS Johnny claims he and Carmen were dating, but she sent him a "Dear John". This is technically true, since he and Carmen went on a few dates, nothing serious, and she always begins her (occasional) letters with "Dear John". Essentially, Johnny is playing up the trope to gain some street cred.
* [[Defector From Decadence]]: Johnnie, who joins the Mobile Infantry to prove himself instead of just climbing the ladder in his father's company.
* [[Desk Jockey]]/[[Soldiers
** And jobs that can't be handled by either (like instructors at Officer Candidate School) are filled by officers who have been crippled, but have refused to be discharged. One notable example is the Dirty Fighting instructor, who was wheelchair bound and wore a neck brace
* [[Drill Sergeant Nasty]]: Zim, although all of Rico's instructors count.
* [[Drop Pod]]: [[Trope Namer]] and likely [[Trope Maker]].
* [[During the War]]: Except for the earliest of the flashbacks, the entire novel is set during the war with the Bugs.
▲* [[During the War]]
* [[Eager Young Space Cadet]]{{context}}▼
* [[Elaborate Underground Base]]: While some of their structures are above ground, the Bugs live almost exclusively underground.
* [[
* [[Evolutionary Levels]]: All over the place; the struggle between humans and Bugs is portrayed as one of biological imperative, not political choice. Rico visits a planet with low radiation and wonders if it will "retard" the development of future inhabitants.
* [[Exactly What It Says
{{quote|
* [[Faster-Than-Light Travel]]: Handwaved with the [[Minovsky Physics|"Cherenkov drive."]] [[Viewers Are Geniuses|Cherenkov radiation is a bluish glow given off when particles exceed the speed of light in the medium they are traveling in, like high energy electrons from a nuclear reactor exceed the speed of light in water.]]
* [[A Father to His Men]]: Every officer and most non-coms
* [[The Federation]]: Terran Federation.
* [[For Want of a Nail]]: there's a novel called ''Armor'' whose setting is a direct rip-off of ''Starship Troopers'', as admitted by author [[John Steakley]]. However, the plot and themes are quite different. (For one, there's more focus on actual fighting, which Steakley felt Heinlein didn't show enough of.)
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** A bit character near the end mentions that every country has its own version of history. In his, Simon Bolivar built the Pyramids, went to the moon, and married Cleopatra.<ref>This was probably meant as a joke, though.</ref>
** Also in-universe example: Rico tells a story about a Mobile Infantryman who heard that Napoleon was "the great warrior" and immediately asked: "So, where were his drops?" Subverted in that Rico clarifies that this story is most likely just a urban legend.
*** It's an adaptation of an old Airborne joke — mention the name of a legendary conqueror/warrior of history, and the reply is 'So, where did he jump?'
** The exact chain of events which led to the Terran Federation are unknown, even to in-universe historians. The best they can do is tell where it ''probably'' started and why.
*** The scanty evidence available in the book indicates that the Terran Federation had its genesis in a series of actions by veterans returning from a world war between China and an Anglo-American-Russian alliance to restore civil order in areas (the one cited is Aberdeen, Scotland) where normal government had broken down for unexplained reasons (possibly nuclear attack?).
*** This would probably suggest that it's a kind of [[Spiritual Successor]] to the ''[[Sixth Column]]'', where such a war is described in detail. Spiritual because the tech described in the two novels differs greatly and would've led to
* [[Good Old Fisticuffs]]: Even though each trooper carries a couple hundred pounds of ordnance, most of the actual fighting in the novel is hand-to-hand.
* [[Gosh Dang It to Heck]]: See [[Chaste Hero]] - Heinlein skirts the trope occasionally by way of [[Sound Effect Bleep]].
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* [[The Great Politics Mess-Up]]: An "Anglo-American-Russian" alliance is mentioned as part of Earth's history.
* [[Guilt-Free Extermination War]]: The war between the Terran Federation and the Bugs (Arachnids).
* [[Hard
* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: A major theme of the book; Rico's ship, the ''Rodger Young'', is named after a private who did exactly such a thing during the Battle of the Pacific.
* [[Hobbes Was Right]]: The general consensus in the novel is that the great democracies of the 20th Century all inevitably crumbled because most people are too stupid to know how to govern themselves effectively. See also [[Humans Are
* [[Humans Are
* [[Humans Are Special]], [[Humanity Is Superior]]: The latter is explicitly discussed in the book, and dismissed; superiority is not the issue. Rather, as all the characters are humans, they would prefer that humanity be the side that survives an "us-or-them" war.
* [[Humans Are White]]: Completely averted; few characters receive much of a physical description, but last names and speech patterns allow you to read between the lines. Notably, Johnny speaks Tagalog as his native language and reveres [[wikipedia:Ramon Magsaysay|Ramon Magsaysay]], pretty much spelling out a Filipino heritage. Shijumi and Jelal are Japanese and Turkish, respectively, in a book written in 1959. Think about American attitudes towards the Japanese just a few years prior. Adaptations tend to ignore this.
* [[Implacable Man]]: The warrior Bugs are like this.
* [[Info Dump]], especially in the form of classroom verbal tests.
* [[Inhumanable Alien Rights]]: Averted. A number of less combat-oriented species are respected allies of humanity. The Federation is only at war with the Bugs because they are [[Dirty Communist]] [[Explosive Breeder
* [[In Medias Res]]: The book starts with Johnny preparing for and executing a combat drop. The second chapter goes back to before he joined the military. Chronologically, the first chapter actually occurs about halfway through the book.
* [[Insignia Rip Off Ritual]]: Played deadly seriously during the execution of a baby
* [[Insectoid Aliens]]: The Bugs.
* [[Kill It
* [[Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better]]: averted. They are used in training, but rarely (if ever) in actual combat.
* [[Never Found the Body]]: What happens to most men who enter Bug tunnels
* [[Nicknaming the Enemy]]: Humanity's main opponent was officially known as the Arachnids (or Pseudo Arachnids), but the MI called them the Bugs.
* [[No One Gets Left Behind]]: "Men are not potatoes."
* [[No Ending]]:
**
***
* [[The Not Love Interest]]: Carmen. Although she and Rico have gone on a few dates, and he's very obviously infatuated with her at the beginning of the story, nothing ever really comes of it.
* [[Nuke'Em]]: Among their other armaments, the powered armors can be supplied with tactical nukes.
* [[Obfuscating Disability]]: The recruiter deliberately left his prosthetics off when working to scare away gutless applicants.
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* [[Old Soldier]]: Zim and numerous other veterans.
* [[One Sided Battle]]: Inverted; the Bugs initially get the drop on the humans.
* [[One World Order]]: Earth has a single government because it's worked so far.
* [[Planet Looters]], [[Horde of Alien Locusts]]; Expansive (and exclusive) colonization is explicitly the goal of both the humans and Bugs.
** A brief, offhand mention is made of the possibility of reaching a peaceful solution with the Bugs, but the general opinion is that they're too alien to communicate with.
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* [[Planetville]]
** Justified, as Sanctuary is pretty much just one city, which serves as both a spot for R&R, and a secondary base in case the Bugs conquer/destroy Earth.
* [[Politically-Motivated Teacher]]: A [[Justified Trope|justified]] example. The History and Moral Philosophy class exists to implant pro-military beliefs and encourage joining the Federal Service, so the teachers naturally push these political and philosophical values on their students. At least, that's the theory. Rico's dad thinks that they're using it to, through reverse psychology, ''dissuade'' students from signing up. Rico's own teacher, meanwhile, seems to be trying to separate the wheat from the chaff, encouraging morally able students who want to defend humanity, while discouraging crazies, glory hounds and would-be [[Sociopathic Soldier
* [[Powered Armor]]: [[Trope Codifier]] for Western culture.
* [[Psychic Powers]]: Not focused upon, but present; one "sensitive" is brought in to draw a map of a tunnel network near the end. It's the real deal, but Rico himself is skeptical. Rico also refers in passing to the "talents" assigned to Logistics & Communications (including "telepaths", "sensers", and "lucky men").
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* [[Selective Obliviousness]]: Johnnie is able repeatedly to read the signs when the M.I. is grooming another cap trooper for advancement. He never seems to realize they're grooming ''him'' as well.
* [[Sergeant Rock]]: every non-commissioned officer, especially Jelly and Zim.
* [[Space Marine]]: One of the [[Trope Codifier|early defining examples]] of the trope, although the Mobile Infantry are ''never once'' referred to as marines, and might just as well be based on army paratroopers, except that [[Space Is an Ocean]].
▲* [[Space Cadet]]
* [[The Spartan Way]]: Serving in the Mobile Infantry is not a picnic.
▲* [[Space Marine]]: One of the [[Trope Codifier|early defining examples]] of the trope, although the Mobile Infantry are ''never once'' referred to as marines, and might just as well be based on army paratroopers, except that [[Space Is an Ocean]].
* [[Staff of Authority]]: Drill sergeants carry swagger sticks that they use to hit the recruits. This is seen as more dignified than laying hands on them.
** It also serves the purpose of ensuring that any frustrated recruit who appears likely to lash out against a sergeant is unable to get close enough to do so. One recruit ends up striking his instructor, and is given [[Corporal Punishment]] for it. The instructor is then harshly berated for ''letting'' the recruit be in a position to get in trouble because he hesitated to strike the recruit first.
* [[Strawman Political]]: The Arachnids as Communists. Heinlein even [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] this himself by saying that communism is okay for the bugs since they're evolved for it, but humans are different. More specifically, the Arachnids are the Chinese Communists
* [[Stay in
* [[Tanks for Nothing]]: Tanks are explicitly stated to be useless against Mobile Infantry.
* [[Team Dad]]: Rico describes both Jelly and Lt. Razchak as this.
** Later,
* [[Theme Naming]]: Terran troop transport ships are named after either famous battlegrounds (large ships like the ''Valley Forge'') or heroic individual soldiers (smaller vessels like the ''Rodger Young''). This mirrors the [[Theme Naming]] practices of most real-world navies.
* [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill]]: Denounced through the mouth of Sergeant Zim. See that article's quotes page.
* [[The Reveal]]: The identify of Rico's [[
** A minor one, but it does happen at the end of the book. Johnny's race or nationality are never mentioned, and his father's Harvard accent might lead one to think they're American, possibly of Latino extraction. Then at the end he mentions that his native tongue is Tagalog, implying that he's Filipino.
* [[Training
* [[Un Paused]]: When Johnny Rico is put to sleep via post-hypnotic suggestion and then woken up again, he doesn't realize he's been asleep for more than an hour. He continues talking to the commanding officer who put him to sleep as if it hadn't happened.
** The topic of discussion? [[Irony|Rico refusing to go to sleep.]]
* [[Unbuilt Trope]]: The novel created many concepts common to the [[Standard Sci-Fi Setting]] in later SF like [[Drop Pod]], [[Powered Armor]], [[Space Is an Ocean]] and [[Space Marine]], but it is no showcase of [[Technology Porn]] or cover-to-cover action in which gratuitously manly [[Super Soldier]]s slaughter unthinking hordes ''en masse''. Instead, much of the book is spent philosophising on sociopolitics and one's duty and responsibility to society. The [[Bug War]] is not against [[Dumb Muscle]] that only knows how to [[Zerg Rush]]; while they are still unafraid to spend lives like water, they are intelligent enough to use technology and have allies, more like the real Warsaw Pact forces than the post-Cold War stereotype many in the West have, the kinds of aliens that actually could [[Starship Troopers (film)|drop a meteor on Buenos Aires]]. Futuristic equipment is contrasted with the continued need for infantry at the front; one trooper asks why they are still needed in an age of H-bombs and is told clearly that there can be situations where nuking a city can be as inappropriate as spanking a baby with an ax. At another point, an in-universe warning is given against overloading with tech to the point that one gets distracted into suffering from [[Rock Beats Laser]]. [[Rule of Cool]] [[Hollywood Tactics]] like [[See the Whites of Their Eyes]] are also avoided. If it had come out today, it would have appeared to be a rebuke to later works with such tendencies like [[Iron Man|''Iron Man'']] or [[Warhammer 40,000|''Warhammer 40,000'']].
*
** "Buying the farm" has long been a euphemism for dying. However, the soldiers often talk around this, for example calling it a "real-estate deal".
*** Most commonly, it's referred to simply as "buying it."
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* [["Well Done, Son" Guy]]: Johnnie is deeply moved when he learns that his father was proud enough that he decided to join the Mobile Infantry himself.
** Not just his father, but also his former high school teacher, whose letter saying how happy and proud he was that his former student had joined his his mobile infantry helped him through a significant psychological barrier. The same instructor later indicated how proud he was that Johnny was becoming an officer by asking that Johnny receive his own officer's "pips" as part of his final test. Johnny's disappointment that they're unavailable ([[Unusual Euphemism|real-estate deal]]) is profound.
* [[What Happened to
* [[World War Three]]: The war between the Anglo-American-Russian alliance and China.
* [[Writer
* [[You Are in Command Now]]: Discussed multiple times; happens to Johnnie during Operation Royalty.
* [[Zerg Rush]], subverted: the rush was mostly composed of non-combatant bugs and was meant as a decoy. Played straight later when the Cap Troops actually get rushed by warriors when moving in to rescue
{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:Science Fiction Literature]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Military and Warfare Literature]]
[[Category:Military Science Fiction]]
[[Category:Political fiction]]
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