War Is Glorious: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"[[War Is Hell|It is well that war is so terrible]], otherwise we should grow too fond of it."''
|'''General Robert E. Lee'''}}
War is exciting. War makes you a stronger, better person. War breeds [[Badass
Common features:
* The [[Do Not Do This Cool Thing|Truffaut Effect]]: [[In Harm's Way|the colour and excitement of war. The adrenalin overload of peak performance with death on the line]]. Note most of the examples below have a [[Spectacle|visual]] [[Rule of Cool|component.]]
* Military experience brings discipline, strength, manliness, enfranchisement in society and [[Fire-Forged Friends|bonding with comrades]], and [[Call to Adventure|inspires the soldiers' lives with purpose]]. [[Straw Civilian|Those who won't fight]] are shamed and lacking in the military virtues.
* Soldiers get to trade on [[Good
* The
A
This is not to say all
When war is part of the [[Backstory]], former soldiers may invoke this trope by remembering the [[Fire-Forged Friends|camaraderie]], [[In Harm's Way|excitement]], and purpose of their [[Glory Days]], the war, as opposed to the [[Greed]] and selfishness of subsequent civilian life, which leave them [[Desperately Looking for
It should be noted that sometimes this is not the work's theme, but the mentality of the [[General Ripper]] inside the work, serving as the [[Foil]] to the heroes' belief that [[War Is Hell]].
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{{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.
* ''[[Hellsing]]'' - Have you heard yet that the Major loves war? [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUB9QGKCNmI Because he does.] Ultimately [[Deconstructed Trope|deconstructed]] by Integra; according to her, war is only glorious to creatures who can't stand life, and the Major's love of war ultimately amounts to a sixty year long suicide attempt.
* 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 ==
▲* ''[[Three Hundred|300]]''
* 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 ==
* ''[[Starship Troopers (
* ''[[
* ''The Green Berets'', ''Sergent York'', ''Glory'', ''Patton'', ''Sands of Iwo Jima'': Many [[World War II]] movies, especially older ones.
* The film adaptations of ''[[Henry V]]'' (see Theater below) can't help but use this trope to some extent, [[Laurence Olivier]]'s more enthusiastically than [[Kenneth Branagh]]'s.
* ''[[The Longest Day]]'', though, according to producer Zanuck, [[Misaimed Fandom|unintentionally.]]
* ''[[Apocalypse Now]]:'' [[Colonel Kilgore]] wholeheartedly enjoys the war: he does not flinch at bombs and bullets, and is shown heading a helicopter attack to the ''Ride of the Valkyries''. The film itself though, is anti-war.
* ''[[Inglourious Basterds]]'' <ref>
* ''[[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
* The infamous ''[[Mortal Kombat: Annihilation]]'' has [[Evil Overlord|Shao Khan]] saying, "Earth is under attack, and [[
* Discussed in Buffalo Soldiers, war my be hell, but waiting around as a US soldier on a military base in East Germany with nothing to do is nearly as bad. When one of the soldiers is beaten up for walking on the wrong part of the base he points out how his fathers war friends are the best of friends, how they still meet up every year, even 45 years later (the films is
* ''[[Casablanca]]'': Being [[Up to Eleven|on the run from Nazis]] with your home conquered and a price on your head sounds like a [[Screw the War, We're Partying|a non-stop party]].
**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.
* ''[[We Were Soldiers]]'' is a weird one, being about the [[Vietnam War]], which few movie-makers think was glorious. It was gruesome and the battlefield violence was not toned down, nor was the effect on soldiers' loved ones. But it was ''battlefield'' violence. It was about [[A Real Man Is a Killer|manly men]] blowing each other up in an [[Let's Fight Like Gentlemen|honourable way]] rather than corruption, atrocity, or terrorism.
== Literature ==
* The ''[[Belisarius Series]]'': [[Zig-Zagging Trope|Zig-zagged]]. The main protagonists are Romans and thus [[Consummate Professional|pragmatic]] about the whole thing. And the wars they fight are as dirty as one might expect with atrocity and starvation accompanying it even though the hero naturally keeps his men under control, if necessary by sheer terror. However there are larger then life characters and cinematic scenes and a villain so conveniently evil as to make almost anything better then losing.
* Tennyson's ''The Charge Of The Light Brigade''. Like many works it's not a simple glorification of war. Tennyson notes horrible and worthless war can be, while simultaneously praising the soldiers. He certainly draws attention to the casualties suffered. Compared to his ''The Charge Of The Heavy Brigade'' (about another action in the same battle), ''Light Brigade'' is downright bitter. Nevertheless Kipling was moved to deconstruct the work in his sequel, ''The Last of the Light Brigade''. ▼
**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.
▲* Tennyson's
* ''Lays Of Ancient Rome'' By Sir Thomas Macaulay. For instance:
{{quote|
''Roman the sword is thine
''The even trench, the bristling mound
''The legion's ordered line }}
* 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 ''[[
* [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] Inverted, subverted, deconstructed, and then played this trope straight. He was critical of war in one sense, and especially for how it was used and abused by the state for petty reasons, but he regards conflict (in a general sense) as the great mover of history and ideas, and the fount of creativity. He also saw war as a way that a broken society might find renewed purpose, though he notes that a healthy society has no need for war. He admires numerous men who were soldiers and conquerors like [[Julius Caesar]], Caesre Borgia, [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] and Alexander the Great, and frequently invoked war imagery in his writings especially when he was attacking someone (ie. more often than not). He is strongly opposed to pacifism and in ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra'' seemed to change his mind about war and praise it, or at least praise warriors. In his insane period he declared that Germany would fall shortly due to its war-making; he was dead on right. In other words- inconclusive.
* Parodied in the third chapter of Voltaire's ''[[Candide]]'':
{{quote|
* ''[[Starship Troopers (
* ''[[Honor Harrington]]''. War is also hell a lot of times. But come on hundreds of[[Cool Starship|giant starships]] firing tons of missiles at each other. How cool can that be?
== [[Live Action Television]] ==
* Pretty much every one-off bad guy ever ( and most of the recurring ones) on ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'', and Xena herself before her redemption.
* 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
* In the ''[[
== Music ==
* Every other song by [[Manowar]] (just look at the band's name). Look at "Call to Arms":
{{quote|
''Armed with a heart of steel
''I swear by the brothers who stand before me
''To no man shall I kneel
''Their blood is upon my steel }}
* Every other song by [[Bal-Sagoth]]. Look at "The Splendour of a Thousand Swords Gleaming Beneath the Blazon of the Hyperborean Empire":
{{quote|
''now the call to arms is upon us all.
''The glory of battle is nigh at last.
''Our banner shall fly this day in victory!
''My warriors, a legacy shall this day be wrought by our blades.
''Decreed by the gods, blessed by the blood of vanquished foes.
''Our destiny beckons... }}
* Many songs by Rhapsody.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCrnF844_ww "The March of Cambeadth"] by [[Heather Alexander]] is probably one of the most jovial sounding. (On the album, it's bracketed by a sad ballad about leaving your sweetheart for battle and a lament of [[Pyrrhic Victory]], but as "Cambreadth" is by far Alexander's most famous work, this escapes most people's notice.)
* 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...
{{quote|
''A hammerheart, his gallantry to last
''Rhythm of sirens, enemies take heed
''For in this war, laws are in silent sleep''<ref>"Nightquest"</ref> }}
** ... and [[War Is Hell|inverts]] it:
{{quote|
''Nothing noble in dying for your religion
''For your country
''For ideology, for faith
''For another man?
''Yes.
''...
''I see all those [[Infant Immortality|empty]] [[Averted Trope|cradles]]
''and wonder if mankind will ever change.''<ref>"Song
* "Invincible" by [[
{{quote|
''Stand up and face the enemy
''It's a do or die situation
''We will be invincible }}
* "Indestructible" by the band [[
{{quote|
''That their opponent had to be invincible
''Take a last look around while you're alive
''I'm an indestructible master of war }}
* 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.
{{quote|
''On the land and the sea
''When our army and navy overtakes the enemy }}
* The Civil War song "Battle Cry of Freedom" was created to unite the two anti-Confederate factions. Freedom (and in this context, abolition) is a theme, but there are also lines that say secession, regardless of the motive, is not permissible (The Union Forever, Down with the Traitor and Up with the Star!). Regardless of why you were pro-union, you could enthusiastically sing this song.
== Mythology ==
* [[Norse Mythology]]. Norsemen ''loved'' it [[Bloodier and Gorier]]. So much that what we call [[War Is Hell]] would be considered by them to be
* [[Greek Mythology]].
*[[Humans Are Warriors|Practically everyone's mythology]]
== Theater ==
* William Shakespeare's ''[[Henry V]]'' is this trope in its purest form.
{{quote|
''For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
''Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
''This day shall gentle his condition:
''And gentlemen in England now a-bed
''Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
''And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
''That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day. }}
* In ''[[Pippin]]'', the number "Glory" is entirely about glorifying war. The aftermath proves a bit sobering, however.
== Video Games ==
* 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 [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Mandalorians]] in ''[[Star Wars]]'' view wars this way. The rest of the galaxy would disagree. Ironic, since they were the ones who lost the Mandalorian Wars.
* The Shadow-Mirrors in ''[[Super Robot Wars Advance]]'' and ''[[Original Generation]]'' held this philosophy proudly, as in their world, the lack of war causes humans to become lazy and non-progressive thus they decided to have as much war as possible, because therein lies human evolution and progress.
* The Thraddash in ''[[Star Control|Star Control II]]'' are a parody of this trope ([[Proud Warrior Race Guy|among other things]] ), what with them considering never-ending fighting a viable social scheme and seeing no problem with their species having blasted themselves back to Stone Age several times over.
{{quote|
* 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 general consensus
* 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.
*** Not to mention that hacking about with a sword does sound rather more fun then receiving artillery fire without being able to fire back.
***Though fighting is only part of war. Much of it even in the Middle Ages was marching about with lots of stinky people, bad food, and no women except camp followers who probably hate your guts while they pretend to like you. Tourneys are a nice way to get out for a day and if they are dangerous they are no more so then any extreme sport and you have more armor then you take on campaign.
***[[Plunder]] however is unquestionably glorious-for the plunderer. And war was one of the better paying jobs of the time if you don't count that lords tended to scam their men. But at least war was better then being a peasant. At least if you were not a peasant enduring the [[Rape, Pillage and Burn|stuff that happened]] when armies passed by.
** 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.
* This was one of the key tenets of [https://web.archive.org/web/20200522101112/http://www.italianfuturism.org/manifestos/foundingmanifesto/ the Futurist Movement] of the early 20th century. [[World War
** 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.
{{quote|
* One of the greatest causes of this is the psychological need to be part of something bigger then oneself and to [[Band of Brothers|befriend others]] with the same purpose. War is a superficial short cut to being able to do this as normal society is designed to(and supposed to be designed to) weed out problems on the scale that such desperate and intoxicating effort is required for. While one would hope creating things should give enough of a satisfaction and humans spend enough time creating to say that it is really peace that is glorious, the temptation to use violence as a shortcut is still there.
* Then too, it cannot be denied that it really is true that [[Humans Are Warriors]]. The desire for contest is inherent in humanity, though focused more [[Blood Knight|in some]] then in others. It comes at least in part of our need to hunt, defend against predators, and more to the point compete for territory, status, and mates. Even modern war with it's impersonality has attracted colorful people that we remember as skilled warriors that would grace [[Norse Mythology|Valhalla]] quite well.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Military and Warfare Tropes]]
[[Category:Stock Aesops]]
[[Category:
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