War Is Glorious: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

War is exciting. War makes you a stronger, better person. War breeds [[Badass]]es. [[Pippin|War is finer than Spring.]] The sacrifices may be extreme, but are extremely noble, maybe even saintly. In many ways the opposite of [[War Is Hell]]. [[In Harm's Way|Some people deeply enjoy waging war]], rather than just endure it.

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* [[Boisterous Bruiser|Thorkell]] from ''[[Vinland Saga]]'' ''loves'' war. A lot. So much so that he ''[[Heel Face Revolving Door|switches sides twice]]'' in order to prolong the enjoyment of battle. He ''is'' a Viking, after all.

* Dorothy Catalonia and Treize Khushreneda claim to believe this in ''[[Gundam Wing]]'', but it may have been an act.

* ''[[Dog Days]]'' [[Lighter and Softer|take this trope to]] [[Beyond the Impossible]] levels.

 

== Comic Books ==

* Private [[Meaningful Name|Siegfried Von Nibelungen]] from ''[[Sturmtruppen]]'' is a clear parody of this trope: all he want is an heroic death on a battlefield facing the sun and giving his life for the home country. He ends up exploding on a friendly mine and being horribly mutilated.

* Ares from [[Marvel]] believes he should have a better reputation among mortals because of the positive things war brings with it.

 

== Film ==

* ''[[Black Hawk Down]]'': Generally discussed as a anti-war film, there is a strong positive side. Both the book and film depict the horror of the mission but also the extraordinary success and tenacity of the Americans in completing the raid: less than two hundred men engage in a firefight with several thousand Somalis kill 1,000 of them, even with serious problems in command and control hindering the raid.

* The ''[[Star Wars]]'' films. It's right there in the title. The enemies are dehumanized (faceless stormtroopers or mindless droids) and portrayed as evil.<ref>though with the prequels it's not as clear what makes the Separatists the bad guys</ref> The Rebels are ragtag bunch of heroes and the Empire as an evil oppressive regime. In any case, all battle scenes in the series are played for action and excitement.

**Victor Lazlo looks ridiculously handsome-after escaping a concentration camp. Sure he had time to clean up but [[Cold Blooded Torture|some things]] don't look so good in real life.

 

== Literature ==

**One of the best scenes, the single combat between Valentinian and Rana Sanga really is glorious in away because two strong men have an honorable fight both of which-somehow-survive, as a break from the normal aspect of war which is so often taking turns bullying helpless people for having been subjects of the rival state.

* ''Lays Of Ancient Rome'' By Sir Thomas Macaulay. For instance:

* This is a very common trope in older American war stories. It lasted about through 1900 and ''The Four Feathers'', before ''The Red Badge of Courage'' became the [[Trope Codifier]] for [[War Is Hell]].

* [[Dichter Und Denker|German philosopher]] Oswald Spengler claimed this in his (non-fiction) book ''[[The Decline of the West]]''.

* Parodied in the third chapter of Voltaire's ''[[Candide]]'':

{{quote|Nothing could have been more splendid, brilliant, smart or orderly than the two armies. The trumpets, fifes, oboes, drums and cannons produced a harmony whose equal was never heard in hell. First the cannons laid low about six thousand men on each side, then rifle fire removed from the best of worlds about nine or ten thousand scoundrels who had been infesting its surface. The bayonet was also the sufficient reason for the death of several thousand men. The total may well have risen to thirty thousand souls. Candide, trembling like a philosopher, hid himself as best he could during this heroic carnage.}}

 

== [[Live Action Television]] ==

* The Shadows from ''[[Babylon 5]]'' believe this is true as part of their philosophy that growth is driven by conflict. They use agents like Morden to tempt people into making [[Deal with the Devil|deals]] after asking them [[Armor-Piercing Question|"What do you want?"]] that ultimately lead to war.

* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "The Family of Blood", one of the Family mocks the headmaster for instilling patriotic fervor in his students, knowing that a terrible war will occur in the near future. He asks the headmaster whether his students will be grateful to him for teaching them that War Is Glorious while they are dying in the mud. The headmaster angrily retorts that he knows [[War Is Hell]], being a veteran himself, but he's still willing to fight for King and Country.

 

== Music ==

* Every other song by [[Manowar]] (just look at the band's name). Look at "Call to Arms":

* Every other song by [[Bal-Sagoth]]. Look at "The Splendour of a Thousand Swords Gleaming Beneath the Blazon of the Hyperborean Empire":

* Many songs by Rhapsody.

* Satirically invoked and played for all the laughs the trope is worth by [[Tom Lehrer]] whenever deemed in/appropriate.

** ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrbv40ENU_o I'm off to drop the bomb]'' is prehaps his most triumphant example.

* [[Nightwish]] plays it straight...

** ... and [[War Is Hell|inverts]] it:

* "Indestructible" by the band [[Disturbed]] from the album of the same name.

* The controversial "Smoke On The Water" by country pioneer [[Red Foley]], at the top of the folk record charts for 13 weeks in 1944 with a very cheerful tune about turning Japan into a graveyard.

 

== Mythology ==

== Theater ==

* William Shakespeare's ''[[Henry V]]'' is this trope in its purest form.

* In ''[[Pippin]]'', the number "Glory" is entirely about glorifying war. The aftermath proves a bit sobering, however.

 

* Many games, especially those in the [[First-Person Shooter]] genre, are included in this trope.

* The ''[[Metal Gear]]'' series is notable in that while its creators clearly do not have this outlook, many of its characters do.

* The traditionalist [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|krogan]] in ''[[Mass Effect]]'' hold this belief, though there are plenty of krogan either [[War Is Hell|disillusioned]] or at least [[My Species Doth Protest Too Much|far-sighted enough]] to know that war is idiotic while still [[Depopulation Bomb|limited by the genophage.]] Some Krogan did feel that the Genophage had reduced some Krogans to [[Death Seeker]] types.

* In ''[[Dragon Age]]'' most sensible characters view [[War Is Hell|war very negatively]], however King Cailan is eager to fight the Darkspawn because he's heard all the stories of the Grey Wardens' glorious victories.{{spoiler|.. he dies fairly ignobly in the first few hours of the game, himself and his entire army betrayed by his own general Loghain.}}

 

== Real Life ==

* The entire nation of North Korea has been so focused preparing for an invasion against South Korea that it's hard to imagine if the nation can survive peacefully.

* The dominating belief in Europe throughout the Middle Ages, probably because war was a near-constant occurrence. If a warrior ever found himself in a time of peace it was common for them to still fight in tournaments, which were often as bloody as a real battle, just to give them the illusion of fighting a war.

** Most surviving records aren't those of the experience of your average soldier (whom couldn't read and write), but of the likes of noblemen, which enjoyed significantly improved battlefield conditions. In addition, once you got back home, its a lot more fun and respectable to start bragging then it is to admit that you were cold, wet, miserable, scared half to death and suffering from digestive difficulties the entire time. In short, a historian's view can easily get distorted.

** Also routinely subverted. Most if not all historians of the age are monks who like to condemn war every now and then and especially take note (and condemn) particular bloody battles. Even more so when its nobility who does a lot of the dying like Agincourt or the Battle of Worringen, where the male line of the Duchy of Luxembourg was nearly extinct.

* Some may argue that the purpose of physical sports (Gladiator fights, races, jousts, football, you name it) is to simulate the glory of war without all the horror.

** For a good number of them, it cured them of the notion in much the same way that a guillotine cures a sinus infection.

* During the [[World War II]], [[Winston Churchill]] attempted to stir a similar sentiment with his speeches, particularly before and during the Battle of Britain when the [[United Kingdom]] stood well and truly alone against [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler's]] Nazi Germany. He was well aware that [[War Is Hell]], but war was the only way to bring on a glorious dawn and awaken the world from the Axis nightmare.