What Measure Is a Mook?: Difference between revisions

== Anime and Manga ==

* Lampshaded in the ''[[Mazinger Z]]'' manga. After some Iron Cross soldiers are fatally injured breaking into Kouji's house to try and kidnap him, he states he wants to try and save them so he won't be a murderer (and he was very hesitant about killing them even if he was defending himself. And after getting forced to kill one, [[Heroic BSOD|he was shaking, shell-shocked]]). A policeman who helped protect them points out that self defense isn't a crime, and that Kouji's using the "justification of a manga protagonist".

*** To elaborate on it: they are {{spoiler|cyborgs made from corpses, reanimated with a mechanized brain, programmed to obey faithfully Hell and his [[Co-Dragons]].}} [[Empty Shell]] not even begins to describe it.

* Averted in ''[[Trigun]]'' by Vash the Stampede who refuses to take a human life, sometimes using his [[Improbable Aiming Skills]] to shoot other people's bullets out of the air. When he gets caught flat-footed by a couple of [[Mooks]] in one episode and accidentally shoots them seriously in self-defense, he's overcome with panic for their welfare, desperately trying to bandage them up first even though he was shot as well. On the [[Crapsack World]] he lives, even young teens consider this behavior immature.

** It gets far worse in ''Brisingr''. When Eragon is undercover in the Empire with Arya, they get into a fight with a group of soldiers and kill them all with no weapons. One almost escapes, and as Eragon catches up with him, [[Villains Want Mercy|starts begging for his life]], repeating (truthfully) that he was dragged against his will into the war, that his parents will miss him, that he has yet to get married and live a life, and so on. Eragon rationalizes him as a threat, and breaks his neck with his bare hands. Now, to be fair, you can argue [[Internet Backdraft|(and people have. Extensively.)]] about whether any of the other options available to Eragon (memory-wiping, invisibility, knocking the man out and leaving too quickly for an alarm he raises to make a difference, or trying to recruit him to [[La Résistance]] and sending him elsewhere) are really viable here, but the real point is that Paolini ''doesn't''. No indication is given that avowed vegetarians Eragon and Aya think twice before slaughtering effectively defenseless [[Punch Clock Villain]]s, even when they're surrendering.

** Subverted with Eragon's cousin [[Badass Normal|Roran]] who, by contrast, is uncomfortably aware of the humanity of the soldiers he kills and often has to [[Dirty Business|remind himself]] [[I Did What I Had to Do|where his priorities are.]] Well, apart from the scene in ''Brisingr'' where he offs 297 [[Mooks]] (this is after we find out that most of them are conscripts), and his only regret is that there wasn't enough for a round 300.

{{quote|Yes, a good swipe at head height would kill...

''...some mother's son, some sister's brother, some lad who'd followed the drum for a shilling and his first new suit. If only she'd been trained, if only she'd had a few weeks stabbing straw men until she could believe that all men were made of straw...'' }}

{{quote|Whatever their name is, their purpose in any work of heroic fantasy is identical: it is, round about Chapter Three (or ten minutes into the film) to rush into the room, [[Mook Chivalry|attack the hero one at a time]], and be slaughtered. No-one ever asks them if they wanted to.}}

* The [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] novel ''[[Death Star]]'' features the personal lives of many mooks. For example, one of the guys seen at the fire control station of the laser is there, as is the Stormtrooper who leads the chase against Han. Due to an influx of guilt and a bit of Force sensitivity, many mooks form an escape plan just to get out of the damned place. This even leads to a combination [[Redemption Equals Death]] and [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]]: When the Death Star gunner, suffering from textbook [[Being Evil Sucks]], gets the order to fire on Yavin IV and wipe out the Rebel leadership, he stalls, praying for the rebels to come kill him. They did.

* ''[[Star Trek: Lower Decks]]'' is an animated series that seems devoted to the Deconstruction of this Trope, showing the ''[[Star Trek]]'' mythos from the point of view of four Ensigns, showing how horrifying it can be for a potential [[Red Shirt]]. Of course, on the other hand the show is also a [[Deconstructive Parody]] and the four named characters seem mostly unfazed by the violence and - for now - manage to survive.

 

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Morality Tropes]]

[[Category:Mooks]]

[[Category:Villains]]

[[Category:What Measure Is an Index?]]

[[Category:This Index Asked You a Question]]