History Awesome / HoratioHornblower

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/inspira2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Now even the biggest landlubbers are inspired to set sail. Ahoy there!]]

!!''Hornblower'' TV series

* In "The Even Chance", Horatio, in charge of a captured French ship, rescues the ''Indefatigable'' from three French corvettes by not running down the French colors.[[note]]ArtisicLicenseMilitary means he doesn't get into trouble for doing this.[[/note]] And then one of his shots hits a corvette's powder magazine. Pellew actually ''feels sorry for the enemy''.

* In "The Even Chance", Horatio, in charge of a captured French ship, rescues the ''Indefatigable'' from three French corvettes by not running down the French colors. And then one of his shots hits a corvette's powder magazine. Pellew actually ''feels sorry for the enemy''. Slightly diminished in that what Hornblower did was a flagrant war crime, [[WhatTheHellHero which he is later called out on.]]

* The Tear Jerking moment when Archie sacrifices everything, mainly his good name and honour, to save Horatio from being executed.
* Captain Sawyer and the boy who he had repeatedly beaten near to death stand united at last and make one final stand.
* Captain Pellew shooting Jack Simpson, who, apparently not satisfied at having cheated during his duel with Hornblower, was attempting to stab the latter in the back. Pellew's coolness as he fires, and Horatio's stunned and impressed expression make it that much more awesome.

* In "Even Chance", Horatio, in charge of a captured French ship, rescues the ''Indefatigable'' from three French corvettes by not running down the French colors. And then one of his shots hits a corvette's powder magazine. Pellew actually ''feels sorry for the enemy''. Slightly diminished in that what Hornblower did was a flagrant war crime, [[WhatTheHellHero which he is later called out on.]]
-->'''Pellew:''' My god! Poor devils.
* In "The Duel/The Even Chance", Horatio tossing the compass over the side of the jollyboat after the Marie Galante has sunk, the jollyboat taken by the French, and a gun pointed at him by their captain. It's treated as an in-universe one by the sailors once they get back to the Indy and immediately start recounting the moment.
-->'''Horatio''': Fish for it.
* Archie defending Wellard after Randall mocks his authority, reminding everyone firstly that Wellard is in fact an officer and also that Archie will not let him get mistreated if he can possibly help it.
* Hornblower's examination for lieutenant in "The Fire Ships" starting from the time the examining board takes note of the cannon shot. Climbing on a wooden ship ''full of fire'' and steering it away from his home ship more than makes up for his utter failure at the hypothetical problem posed to him in the ''actual'' exam.
* Hornblower, who is afraid of heights, runs out along a yardarm ''forty feet above the deck'' to loose a sail. Bush, who can't swim, calmly hangs onto the ship's anchor as the rowboat sinks under him (and eventually with him). An officer in HMR Navy has a duty and phobias and survival instincts can all go to hell, thankyouverymuch.

* Simply the character of MajorlyAwesome Major "My lord" Edrington, who, as one reviewer/snarky commentator put it, starts off an uptight aristocrat who thinks very little of Horatio and Archie and ends up an uptight aristocrat who thinks quite a lot of Horatio and Archie.
* From "The Duchess and the Devil": Horatio's honest answer to Kitty Cobham that he wouldn't have entrusted her with his dispatches had he known she was no duchess, but that now when he got to know her, he trusts her completely.
* The introduction of the British Army in "The Frogs and the Lobsters." The French soldiers arrive at the dock, looking all disheveled and demoralized. Then the redcoats arrive, looking every bit the professional soldiers that they are. "Look out for the lobsters!" indeed. The song the redcoats are marching to is "The Girl I Left Behind Me," which becomes their leitmotif for the episode.
* The wonderfully inspiring final shot of Horatio and Archie and others on top of the mast as they sail off from France in "The Frogs and the Lobsters".

** Hornblower and the rest of the men under his command are recaptured by the French after the ship they've commandeered sinks. The ''Indefatigable'' is sighted on the horizon, but the French ship is much faster. So what does Hornblower do? He [[spoiler:''lights the ship on fire'']]. And then [[spoiler:refuses to take credit for it as a self-inflicted punishment for losing the French ship]].
** Volunteering to help Spaniards save their men, [[spoiler:then not going back with the British. To make up for it, he is set free by an order personally signed by ''the Prime Minister of Spain'']].

* ''Ship of the Line'': [[spoiler:Hornblower's HeroicSacrifice of his ship. He manages to cripple three out of the four French ships before he had to surrender (and the fourth ship had to keeps its pumps running round the clock following the battle).]]

* ''Flying Colours'': Hornblower, Brown, and Bush's escape from the French. In the snow. At night. And Bush is an invalid at the time. [[spoiler:Later they sneak out of France by recapturing a British ship from the French]].
* Hornblower's trial. Under the Articles of War, a captain who lost his ship was automatically to be tried for not having done his utmost best to prevent her loss, and Hornblower had [[spoiler: lost the seventy-four gun ship of the line HMS ''Sutherland'' in ''Ship of the Line'']]. Between the circumstances of the loss and him returning with [[spoiler: a recaptured prize]] and a group of sailor to be pressed into service, the trial is just an excuse to make him a war hero and have him honourably aquitted.

* The Tear Jerking moment when [[spoiler:Archie]] sacrifices everything, mainly his good name and honour, to save Horatio from being executed.
* Captain Sawyer and the boy who he had repeatedly beaten near to death stand united at last and [[spoiler:make one final stand]].
* Captain Pellew shooting [[spoiler: Jack Simpson]], who, apparently not satisfied at having cheated during his duel with Hornblower, was attempting to stab the latter in the back. Pellew's coolness as he fires and Horatio's stunned and impressed expression make it that much more awesome.

* "The Duchess and the Devil": Hornblower and co rescuing the Spanish sailors from a reef. In the middle of a storm--then ''returning to prison'' even after having been rescued, all because Hornblower gave his word to the prison warden. Luckily, Spaniards are so grateful and impressed that they are soon granted freedom.

* Hornblower's examination for lieutenant in "The Fire Ships" starting from the time the examining board takes note of the cannon shot. [[spoiler:Climbing on a wooden ship ''full of fire'' and steering it away from his home ship more than makes up for his utter failure at the hypothetical problem posed to him in the ''actual'' exam.]]

** Earlier, Hornblower having the ''Sutherland'' tow the flagship ''Pluto'' out of danger, in the middle of a storm that had just dismasted the ''Pluto.''

** Also, Hornblower's trial. Under the Articles of War, a captain who lost his ship was automatically to be tried for not having done his utmost best to prevent her loss, and Hornblower had [[spoiler: lost the seventy-four gun ship of the line HMS ''Sutherland'' in ''Ship of the Line'']]. Between the circumstances of the loss and him returning with [[spoiler: a recaptured prize]] and a group of sailor to be pressed into service, the trial is just an excuse to make him a war hero and have him honourably aquitted.
** The book opens with Hornblower being held prisoner in a Spanish port, where he is able to witness English ships launch a daring raid into the harbor, finishing off the ship that Hornblower had previously crippled.
* ''Commodore'' has too many candidates to count, as does ''Beat to Quarters''.

** Later in the same book, Napoleon makes his return to power while Hornblower is in France spending time with the French noble who previously harbored him and the noble's daughter-in-law who Hornblower has taken as his mistress. [[BattleCouple Hornblower and Marie]] become [[LaResistance leaders of a band of guerrilla fighters]], although [[MurderTheHypotenuse Marie dies in battle]] [[RetIrony just before the end of the war.]]

* In "Even Chance", Horatio, in charge of a captured French ship, rescues the ''Indefatigable'' from three French corvettes by not running down the French colors. And then one of his shots hits a corvette's powder magazine. Pellew actually ''feels sorry for the enemy.''

** Slightly diminished in that what Hornblower did was a flagrant war crime, [[WhatTheHellHero which he is later called out on.]]

* The introduction of the British Army in "The Frogs and the Lobsters." The French soldiers arrive at the dock, looking all disheveled and demoralized. Then the redcoats arrive, looking every bit the professional soldiers that they are. "Look out for the lobsters!" indeed.
** The song the redcoats are marching to is "The Girl I Left Behind Me," which becomes their leitmotif for the episode.

* ''Ship of the Line'': [[spoiler:Hornblower's HeroicSacrifice of his ship. He manages to cripple three out of the four French ships before he had to surrender (and the forth ship had to keeps its pumps running round the clock following the battle).]]

* ''Ship of the Line'': [[spoiler:Hornblower's HeroicSacrifice of his ship. He manages to cripple three out of the four French ships before he had to surrender (and the fifth ship had to keeps its pumps running round the clock following the battle).]]

* In "Even Chance", Horatio, in charge of a captured French ship, rescues the ''Indefatigable'' with a ploy so sudden and brutal that Pellew actually ''feels sorry for the enemy.''

* Hornblower's examination for lieutenant in "The Fire Ships" starting from the time the examining board takes note of the cannon shot. [[spoiler:Climbing on a wooden ship ''full of fire'' and steering it away from your home ship more than makes up for his utter failure at the hypothetical problem posed to him in the ''actual'' exam.]]

* Many in ''Lieutenant Hornblower''. Of note are Hornblower's ability to [[GuileHero maneuver]] his superiors into attacking the fort, figuring out how to heat cannonballs, and [[spoiler:leading the [[BigDamnHeroes boarding party]] to recapture the ''Renown'' after it has been taken over by the Spanish]].

** Second time, an open battle, spread over two days, between the 28-gun ''Lydia'' and the 44-gun ''Natividad''. After the first round, both ships, severely damaged, drift apart. Within one day, Hornblower has his ship fit for battle again and by anticipating his opponent's thinking, manages to find the other ship again. Then, as the ''Lydia'' has to be pulled into battle by her boats in a dead calm and under fire, he has his crew dance the hornpipe to keep morale up. Once they are close enough to return fire, [[CurbStompBattle the ''Natividad'' is sunk within an hour]].