History Main / OldSOldier

* Carter in ''DeusEx''.

* Nestor from TheIliad.

* The Regretful Soldier form ''EchoBazaar'' fits quite well. [[ShellShockedVeteran He's always drunk and frequently weeping]], but he's still one of the best brawlers there are.

* ''{{Halo}}'': Avery Johnson is in his 50s in the main trilogy. He's also a BadassNormal who can't be infected by the Flood because he's TooSpicyForYogSothoth but that got retconned when the writers didn't like that idea, so then he turned out to be a [[SuperSoldier Spartan-1]]. That retcon itself didn't last so now it is because he is [[Badass just that good]]. Why he isn't way higher on the totem pole is beyond me.

* ''{{Halo}}'': Avery Johnson is in his 50s in the main trilogy. He's also a BadassNormal who can't be infected by the Flood because he's [[TooSpicyForYogSothoth]] but that got retconned when the writers didn't like that idea, so then he turned out to be a [[SuperSoldier Spartan-1]]. That retcon itself didn't last so now it is because he is [[Badass just that good]]. Why he isn't way higher on the totem pole is beyond me.

* ''{{Halo}}'': Avery Johnson is in his 50s in the main trilogy. [[spoiler: He dies in the third game.]] He's also a BadassNormal who can't be infected by the Flood because he's a Spartan-1. So, really, he's a BadassAbnormal. Why he isn't way higher on the totem pole is beyond me.

* ''WeWereSoldiers'': Sergeant Major Plumley.

* In ''Diablo3'' the male barbarian is the same BarbarianHero from the second game in the series, albeit 20 years older and sporting a gray beard.

The OldSoldier is the grizzled veteran who has been through and seen everything in war. He would more than qualify for being a ShellShockedSenior, both in age and experience, but he's still going into battle and odds are that he's the backbone of whatever unit he (or more rarely) she is in. This character type is almost never an officer or a commander, and is instead usually a SergeantRock. Generally you can expect them to be tough, to have a few [[GoodScarsEvilScars badass scars]], and to be eternally pissed off at (or at least exasperated by) the younger troops around him. Despite that, he may still turn out to be one of the best sources of mentoring or seasoning a young soldier can get.

[[AC:Comics]]
* In one of the StarWarsExpandedUniverse "Empire" comic lines, [[LaResistance The Rebellion]] finds [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Able Able]], an old clone trooper who has been [[TheRemnant living in the wilderness]] since the Clone Wars. Able [[http://thefannish.org/images/scansdaily/swempire26/blz15.jpg suits up]] and at first he assumes correctly that the Imperials are what the Republic had become, and they were chasing what used to be Seperatists, so he [[http://thefannish.org/images/scansdaily/swempire26/blz17.jpg reports to them]], but the Imperials [[http://thefannish.org/images/scansdaily/swempire26/blz18.jpg shoot at him]], so he demands answers from the Rebels. Luke and a Rebel officer [[http://thefannish.org/images/scansdaily/swempire27/blz05.jpg explain]] in [[http://thefannish.org/images/scansdaily/swempire27/blz07%20-%2008b.jpg brief]] what happened in the last twenty years, show him that [[http://thefannish.org/images/scansdaily/swempire27/blz09.jpg Luke is a Jedi]], and lie to the trooper, saying that Luke is [[http://thefannish.org/images/scansdaily/swempire27/blz10.jpg one of their most important generals]]. Able decides to work with them and joins the Rebellion, not being all that irritated when he finds that Luke's not really a general. He gets incorporated in Luke's unit and proves to be the best, if most cynical, soldier there and looks out for Luke until [[ShaggyDogStory the whole unit gets wiped out]] by TheVirus.
[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* Sergeant Major Plumley from ''WeWereSoldiers''.
* Gunnery Sergeant Highway from ''HeartbreakRidge''. Being played by ClintEastwood helps.
* Warren Oates as Sergeant Hulka in ''{{Stripes}}''.
* NickNolte as Lieutenant Colonel Tall in ''TheThinRedLine''. They don't come much more grizzled.

[[AC:Literature]]

* Broxigar "The Red Axe" of {{Warcraft}} definitely qualifies. As an orc who lived through [[{{Badass}} the wars of all three games]], he was greatly respected by Thrall and revered by the soldiers. Despite his age and maturity, he gets a good amount of CharacterDevelopment through his SurvivorGuilt.

* Sergeant Zim from ''StarshipTroopers'' and a few other veterans like Jelal probably qualify.

* Most of the characters [[AnyoneCanDie who survive]] until the third book of ''TheWarlordChronicles'' are this. Sagramor, who has been a soldier nearly his entire life and main character Derfel are major examples, but one of the coolest examples is Culhwch. There's a bit very close to the end of the series where he walks out in the space between two opposing armies and dares someone from the other side to try to become famous by killing him in single combat. When no one comes out, Culhwch [[BoisterousBruiser taunts the entire army]] about their cowardice and reluctance to take on a bald old man. When Culhwch turns his back to return to his own side, one of the enemy {{Mooks}} does in fact try to [[InTheBack backstab him]], but Culhwch effortlessly guts the poor bastard. He then waits for a minute to see if anyone else is going to come forward before really returning to his place in the shield wall.
* Sergeant Jean in ''Seven Men of Gascony'' by R. F. Delderfield.
** Nicholette is this in a sense and is an interesting enough character to deserve mention. She is a camp-follower selling refreshments to Napolean's army, not a soldier per se(that is she doesn't carry a musket). However she grew up in her circumstances and was an Old LadyOfWar at age sixteen. She knew the tricks of surviving including those specific to her circumstances such as avoiding giving away more of [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean those kind]] of refreshments than she was willing to give by the adroit use of a DeathGlare, and by a non-canonical(presided over by the sergeant not a priest that is) but faithfully kept marriage to each of the members of TheSquad until they [[AnyoneCanDie were killed]]. I know {{Squick}} y but ItMakesSenseInContext. She is one of the most interesting characters of the book.
* {{Bolo}}s can spend years or decades on the front lines. Of course, they're self-aware tanks armed with a WaveMotionGun and [[MoreDakka whatever else the designers could bolt on]], so they tend to fight on a larger scale than most examples here.

* Valentinian is the best example in the BelisariusSeries. There are others who have seen quite a bit of war, but these are often ProudWarriorRaceGuy s whereas Valentinian is closer to the classic model of this trope, having a cynical, practical and plebian outlook on war.
** [[PublicDomainCharacter Flavius Belisarius]] himself, both in the series and in the real life. He was a Syrian Greek of peasant stock, a bunch that was noted for their practical outlook, and it was repeatedly said that he viewed the war not as [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy an honor]] or [[BloodKnight a joy]], but as [[HumansAreWarriors a work that has to be done]], which is why he was so good at it.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* Colonel Sherman Potter in ''[[MASHTheSeries M*A*S*H]]''. He was a cavalry soldier in WWI.
* Sergeant Elmo "Gunny" Haney of the USMC in ThePacific. One of the leads, Eugene Sledge, wrote a book entitled, ''With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa''. Gunny '''*was*''' the old breed, having been in the service since [[WorldWarI the Great War]].
** Victor Davis Hanson noted that he even had a name that sounded like a Marine's name.

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* "Old" Snake by the time of ''MetalGearSolid 4'', although he had everything but the physical age by the time of the first MetalGearSolid.
** Old Snake is ''[[YoungerThanTheyLook 42]]'' in [=MGS4=].
* Sten from ''DragonAge: Origins'' acts like this although you never get a grasp of how old he actually is.
* [[{{Halo}} Avery Johnson]] is in his 50s in the main trilogy. [[spoiler: He dies in the third game.]] He's also a BadassNormal who can't be infected by the Flood because he's a Spartan-1. So, really, he's a BadassAbnormal. Why he isn't way higher on the totem pole is beyond me.
* Roofus Hound in ''FurFighters'' fits the bill. He has since retired along with the rest of his squad but this WWII veteran is still out kicking ass with the best of them when Viggo pops up.
* Jolee in KnightsOfTheOldRepublic acts like this sometimes.

* The page image is Huang Zhong from ''DynastyWarriors.'' Most of his lines invoke his experience and age.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* Ratchet in TransformersAnimated. He doesn't like to talk about it.

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->''Any of you sons a bitches calls me grandpa... I'll kill ya.''
-->-- '''Sergeant Major Basil Plumley''', ''We Were Soldiers''

[[DynastyWarriors http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dw5-shu-huang-zhong1_694.jpg]]

* [[{{Halo}} Avery Johnson]] is in his 50s in the main trilogy. [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready He dies in the third game.]] He's also a BadassNormal who can't be infected by the Flood because he's a Spartan-1. So, really, he's a BadassAbnormal. Why he isn't way higher on the totem pole is beyond me.