History Literature / StarshipTroopers

* AuthorityGrantsAsskicking: Everyone drops, with generals and other officers first on the ground, and command suits have the speed of scout suits while still packing weapons for self-defense.[[note]]Unlike the movie, where the Sky Marshall was relieved after the Klendathu disaster, in the book he died while holding off bugs so the rescue shuttles could get clear.[[/note]]

* GuiltFreeExterminationWar: The war between the Terran Federation and the Bugs (Arachnids).

** The exact chain of events which led to the Terran Federation are unknown, even to in-universe historians, presumably because so many records were destroyed or lost at the time. The best they can do is tell where it ''probably'' started and why. It's mentioned, however, that most national governments collapsed in the wake of the "Disorders" triggered by World War III at the end of the 20th century (fought, as mentioned above, between an alliance of the US/UK/Russia and China). First in Glasgow, Scotland, and then spreading across the world, returning veterans stepped into the void to restore functioning government and the rule of law, only trusting other veterans to do likewise. This led to the current system, where democracy exists, but only those who have served federally (whether in military or civil - and as noted elsewhere, most "Federal Service" posts are what used to be called the civil service) are allowed to participate. How the collapse of governmental authority came about isn't specified, but there's a good chance, this having been World War III after all, that limited nuclear exchanges were involved, as well as economic disruptions caused by breakdowns in world trade.

* CorporalPunishment: Discussed at length. In the Mobile Infantry, any and all corporal punishment -- from a DopeSlap to a ''summary execution'' is legal... as long as the punisher can demonstrate that it was necessary and reasonable. Nor is it restricted to the military -- it's a civilian criminal sentence as well, and even ''public schools'' are mentioned to (rarely) use it on students.

** The Federation forces have "thirty-one ways to crash land", that is, thirty-one military capital felonies, including assault on an officer during emergency or wartime.
** Ted Hendrick is sentenced to [[ATasteOfTheLAsh flogging]] before getting a dishonourable discharge for assaulting Sergeant Zim during training (and saying so before an officer in the presence of witnesses: Captain Frankel had realized what happened upon seeing Zim's black eye and was trying to ''avoid'' a court martial, but when Hendrick admitted it...). Zim and Frankel actually go out of their way to save Hendrick's life by arranging a summary court martial, not a general one, because the latter would have resulted in a death sentence. Zim blames himself for letting Hendrick hit him to begin with (and Frankel privately chews him out afterwards).
** The hero, Juan Rico, is sentenced to five lashes for raising his visor and using his naked eyes to check no ones behind him to get hit by backblast when using his dummy launcher instead of his radar. Contrary to Hendrick's case, though, he is deemed 'salvageable' and flogged as an administrative punishment, designed to disappear from his record upon graduation. It helped that Rico kept his mouth shut and didn't ask for a court martial (in fact, when offered, [[OhCrap he refused as he realized just how much he had fucked up]], and the battalion commander was visibly happy he did so).
** Another trainee who deserted is later hanged in front of the regiment for kidnapping and then murdering a little girl. Kidnapping and desertion are also capital crimes, the book specifically notes, even without the murder, though most deserters are just flogged and dishonorably discharged instead (with executions only occuring for desertion in combat or other genuinely heinous examples).

* {{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 (unless they're facing military discipline). The justification for this is that people who are forced into military service against their will make poor soldiers. This was one of Heinlein's few TakeThat moments at the American military, which in 1959 was still built around the idea of a ZergRush of draftees. After signing up, recruits have a 48 hour "cooling off" period before reporting for duty; if they don't report, there are no consequences. Similarly, anyone can resign during training, again without consequence. This is to ensure that nobody's there who doesn't want to be there.

* BuryYourDisabled: a downplayed example, but the book has a message that the criminally insane who commit capital crimes should be executed since they prove a threat to society because they're incurable madmen, and even if they could be cured it's better to kill them anyway because they could never live with the guilt of having committed heinous crimes while sick so trying to cure them is a waste of resources; better to execute them from the start and save everyone the trouble.

* BizarreAlienBiology: The Bugs.

''Starship Troopers'' is notable for early use of the concept of {{Powered Armor}} and being an early example of the {{Space Marine}} trope. It was also the first science fiction book to appear on the U.S. military's recommended reading lists. It is also 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. It should be noted that this service is ''not'' necessarily military/combat and in fact usually isn't, although you have no choice where they send you and non-military service is only mentioned in a few brief sentences and never shown. Needless to say this alone tends to provoke accusations ranging from "jingoistic" up to "fascist propaganda."

[[Film/StarshipTroopers A film]] made in 1997 adopted the BroadStrokes of the novel; however, it subtly satirizes those aspects of the book's ideology that Creator/PaulVerhoeven (who by his own admission ''never finished the book'') considered jingoistic or fascist (which is to say all of it). [[PoesLaw The parody was a bit too subtle for some viewers]], who considered the film (and by extension the book) to be outright fascist propaganda. It also replaced the PowerArmor with conventional infantry armament: you probably care more about that. [[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/starship-troopers-reboot-works-943882 In 2016 a more faithful adaptation was been announced to be in the works]], but for now it's still stuck in DevelopmentHell.

[[Film/StarshipTroopers A film]] made in 1997 adopted the BroadStrokes of the novel; however, it subtly satirizes those aspects of the book's ideology that Creator/PaulVerhoeven (who by his own admission ''never finished the book'') considered jingoistic or fascist (which is to say all of it). [[PoesLaw The parody was a bit too subtle for some viewers]], who considered the film (and by extension the book) to be outright fascist propaganda. It also replaced the PowerArmor with conventional infantry armament: you probably care more about that. [[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/starship-troopers-reboot-works-943882 A reboot of the film is in the works which will be much closer to the books.]]

** The hero, Juan Rico, is sentenced to five lashes for fucking up during training. Contrary to Hendrick's case, though, he is deemed 'salvageable' and flogged as an administrative punishment, designed to disappear from his record upon graduation. It helped that Rico kept his mouth shut and didn't ask for a court martial (in fact, when offered, [[OhCrap he refused as he realized just how much he had fucked up]], and the battalion commander was visibly happy he did so).

** Also the action Rico is on when he uses the above weapon, explicitly called a ''Terror Raid''.
* FakeInTheHole: Played with. In the first chapter, during a raid against a race referred to as the Skinnies, the protagonist finds himself in a building full of them. He throws something at random and it turns out to be a Thirty Second Bomb. When thrown it starts saying "I'm a thirty-second bomb! I'm a thirty-second bomb! Twenty-nine! . . . twenty-eight! . . . twenty-seven! --" The book doesn't say if there is an explosion at the end or not. Given the attack was meant as a show of force with the aim of causing maximum material damage and minimal casualties it is possible that it is a straight example.

* IllPretendIDidntHearThat: During basic training, a recruit strikes a drill instructor outside of approved circumstances.[[note]]Under certain conditions, most notably hand-to-hand combat exercises against said instructor, the recruits are encouraged to try to hit the instructors, and are congratulated if they actually succeed.[[/note]] Though the instructor -- and later the company commander -- do their best to ignore this, the recruit makes it impossible for them to do so (saying point-blank that he did it in front of witnesses). He's instantly court martialed, found guilty, flogged, and dishonorably discharged -- which is actually a 'light' sentence possible only through some deft legal maneuvering on the part of the commander, because striking a superior officer (outside of training, with a superior heading the training and inviting physical competition) is a capital offense in wartime.

** During the opening battle, Rico is issued two with orders to expend all the ammunition he has, but he comes ''very'' close to disobey his orders because he just can't find two targets worthy of being nuked, only the one starship in the local spaceport, and is quite happy when he identifies a large water reclaiming facility, whose destruction would force the Skinnies to abandon the now unlivable city.

** Averted. During training, Rico committed a safety protocol violation that doesn't result in anyone being hurt (and that he committed ''because'' he knew that nobody could possibly get hurt), and is severely punished by having his powered suit deactivated to force him to stay still for ''hours'' (Rico compared it to torture) while Zim explains exactly how stupid he had been, then he's brought before the commander who, after Zim vouches for him, decides to not kick him out of the service, asks him if he prefers to be judged by a martial court, and when Rico doesn't ask for the court martial has him flogged, to drive home the point that you don't violate gun safety protocol ''even when you know it's safe to''. Note that Rico admits he got off easy: had he asked for the martial court he would have been flogged ''and'' drummed out.
** During the raid on the Skinnies, a building explodes right as Johnnie jumps off of the roof. He wonders whether the Skinnies (correctly) decided it was worth destroying one of their own buildings to kill him, or if it was one of his comrades getting a little careless with their munitions.

* ShotInTheAss: In boot camp the recruits practice taking cover while the instructors shoot blanks at them with an occasional real round mixed in, and one recruit gets shot across the buttocks. They joke about it, but the lesson is learned because they all know it could have been one of their heads.

%%* TheSpartanWay

* ATasteOfTheLash: 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 afterwards -- it doesn't even leave scars.

* WalkOfShame: If someone drops out of training, the walk to the exit across the training ground is called the walk of shame. In the movie, the protagonist nearly takes the walk, but then his home city is destroyed in an attack just as he's about to leave.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: A third race referred to as the Skinnies, humanoids with some kind of alliance with the Bugs, are the target of the first raid in the book. Somewhat later in the book Johnnie mentions that the Terrans have managed to break that alliance and turn the Skinnies into Terran allies of sorts (in fact, that's what the raid was about), but their eventual fate is never revealed.

** ArtisticLicenseMartialArts: Heinlein, lacking the Internet, seemed to assume a "black belt" meant absolute mastery, where in judo and karate it's merely the first rank in which one is allowed to teach others.

* StrawmanPolitical: The Arachnids as DirtyCommunists. Heinlein even [[LampshadeHanging 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 -- Heinlein felt they were less concerned with individual lives than even the Soviet Union.

** Lt. Col. Dubois. He lost his arm and both legs in combat, got medical retirement and went to teach History and Moral Philosophy for Johnnie's high school. Johnnie doesn't even learn he is a veteran until he is almost ready to graduate from Basic, whereupon Dubois informs him that he himself was an M.I. trooper. And a lieutenant colonel, which is no mean feat. Even Sergeant Zim idolizes the man.

* DisasterDemocracy: How the Terran Federation came into existence; apparently, national governments largely collapsed during the "Disorders" at the end of the 20th century, following World War III (fought, as mentioned above, between an alliance of the US/UK/Russia and China). Groups of veterans stepped in to fill the void and restore order, only trusting other veterans. This led to the current system, where democracy exists, but only those who have served federally are allowed to participate. How most national governments came to collapse isn't specified, but there's a good chance, this having been World War III after all, that limited nuclear exchanges were involved, as well as economic disruptions caused by breakdowns in world trade.

** 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.

* BugWar: The Arachnids, also the TropeNamer.

* EarthIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse: Justified in that there are stated to be very few habitable planets with resources, as well as very few species capable of interstellar travel, so it stands to reason that the bugs would be interested in earth both for the resources, and to wipe out a competing species.

* DisasterDemocracy: How the Terran Federation came into existence; apparently, national governments largely collapsed during the "Disorders" at the end of the 20th century. Groups of veterans stepped in to fill the void and restore order, only trusting other veterans. This led to the current system, where democracy exists, but only those who have served federally are allowed to participate.

* DemocracyIsFlawed: According to the {{backstory}}, the United Citizens' Federation was established after combat veterans overthrew Earth governments for being sent to fight in pointless wars the politicians themselves purportedly had no stake in due to not having served themselves. Consequently the UCF denies voting rights to anybody who has not done "federal service"--either a military enlistment or certain specified civilian-side government jobs.

* SafelySecludedScienceCenter: The Terran Federation maintains laboratories on Uranus and Pluto.

* IllPretendIDidntHearThat: During basic training, a recruit strikes a drill instructor outside of approved circumstances.[[note]]Under certain conditions, most notably hand-to-hand combat exercises against said instructor, the recruits are encouraged to try to hit the instructors, and are congratulated if they actually succeed.[[/note]] Though the instructor — and later the company commander — do their best to ignore this, the recruit makes it impossible for them to do so (saying point-blank that he did it in front of witnesses). He's instantly court martialed, found guilty, flogged, and dishonorably discharged — which is actually a 'light' sentence possible only through some deft legal maneuvering on the part of the commander, because striking a superior officer(outside of training, with a superior heading the training and inviting physical competition) is a capital offense in wartime.

* {{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 (unless they're facing military discipline). The justification for this is that people who are forced into military service against their will make poor soldiers. This was one of Heinlein's few TakeThat moments at the American military, which in 1959 was still built around the idea of a ZergRush of draftees. After signing up, recruits have a 48 hour "cooling off" period before reporting for duty; if they don't report, there are no consequences. Similarly, anyone can resign during training, again without consequence. This is to ensure that nobody's is there who doesn't want to be there.

** ArtisticLicenseMartialArts: Heinlein, like many Westerners, seemed to assume a "black belt" meant absolute mastery, where in judo and karate it's merely the first rank in which one is allowed to teach others.

** Not just officers. Sargent Migliaccio leads a section with the Roughnecks during drops. He is also the platoon armorer maintaining and repairing the power armor. Finally, he is also the platoon Padre looking after the men's spiritual needs.

* UniversalChaplain: Sargent and Padre Migliaccio offers a short prayer service before a jump, and troopers of a number of different religions take part in it.

[[FIlm/StarshipTroopers A film]] made in 1997 adopted the BroadStrokes of the novel; however, it subtly satirizes those aspects of the book's ideology that Creator/PaulVerhoeven (who by his own admission ''never finished the book'') considered jingoistic or fascist (which is to say all of it). [[PoesLaw The parody was a bit too subtle for some viewers]], who considered the film (and by extension the book) to be outright fascist propaganda. It also replaced the PowerArmor with conventional infantry armament: you probably care more about that. [[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/starship-troopers-reboot-works-943882 A reboot of the film is in the works which will be much closer to the books.]]