History Main / OldSoldier

* ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' has a superhero called the Old Soldier, who seems to turn up whenever America needs him most. He was seen in combat in 1812, 1862, 1915, and 1942. However he stood against American soldiers in Vietnam, which was a massive propaganda loss for Richard Nixon and was seen as a general sign that times were getting worse.

* ComicBook/ThePunisher was often portrayed as this during the mid-late aughts, back when it was still ''feasible'' for him to be a Vietnam veteran who manages to carry out his lifestyle. ''MAX'' in particular seems to depict him as at least in his mid-50s. Later comics tend to quietly ignore or retcon the Vietnam thing to justify drawing him as a man of forty at most. As of 2022, Marvel has introduced a new, entirely fictional war that's always 15 years in the past - the Siancong War - and the Punisher is a veteran of that conflict.
* Wallace from ''ComicBook/SinCity'' utilizes this trope, although he's a bit more laid back than most versions. Most people don't realize that he is a retired Navy Seal until he [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown has to prove it to them.]]
* In one of the ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' "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. He eventually 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.

* ''ComicBook/WhateverHappenedToTheCapedCrusader'' has Batman coming face to face with a vision of his mother (whether it's a DyingDream, regular dream, Fear Gas trip, genuine psychic vision, etc., is never revealed) that basically pegs him as this. She says that none of the various Batman versions in the multiverse ever give up. They keep fighting until they drop, whether it's saving the world or a single person, whether on his first time out or his thousandth. Also, she states that [[spoiler:he never goes to Heaven or Hell, instead his afterlife reward is to be Batman. The same soul is continually reincarnated into every universe to keep up the fight, making Batman older than every single superhero in DC and Marvel combined seeing as at one point there were infinite universes. Whether or not this is true is up for debate, though the ending seems to show him being reborn as a baby.]]
* ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} is sometimes written this way. You could especially see it in the late '80s, when he was ComicBook/{{Storm}}'s second-in-command in the ComicBook/XMen.
* The ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|2011}}'' (New 52) version of Ares is an old grizzled and cynical soldier.