History Main / PraetorianGuard

* In Gundam UC (aka Gundam Unicorn) you can measure eliteness by the elaborataness of the mecha sleeves. Sinanju has goldplated sleeves and Frontal's royal guard have the same decorations but in white. Sure they also have spike should armor upgrades. Normal cannon fodder only have stripes

* In [[CoDominium Falkenberg's Legion]], Vice President Bradford attempts this by having Falkenberg organize a brigade composed of trusted party members, and officers loyal to Bradford. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for Bradford, Falkenberg is a little GenreSavvy ]].

* While never seen, there are several mentions of a Lombax elite guard called the Lombax Praetorian Guard in [[RatchetandClank]]A Crack In Time

* [[MetalGearSolid Metal Gear Solid 3]] has the Ocelot Unit, special Spetsnaz troops with distinguishing red berets that are only seen accompanying Ocelot.

<<|{{Ensembles}}|>>

** The [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny People's Republic of Haven]] uses [[RecycledINSPACE Space Swiss]] mercenaries -- they certainly wouldn't trust their ''own'' people.

* ''DawnOfWar'' has the Honor Guard units in the campaign. They are earned by conquering certain territories and are essentially a beefed-up version of regular units or sometimes (in case of unique and vehicle units) a regular unit that doesn't count into the ArbitraryHeadcountLimit.

* ''{{Quake}} II'' has the Tank Commanders, which guard the Makron's palace.

* FalloutNewVegas gives [[BigBad Caesar]] several praetorians gaurds, armed with ''shotgun fists''. Subverted in that the Gaurds aren't the best soldiers available, they are just extremely devoted to Caesar and his ideals.

* The Royal Guard in the ''StarWars'' films. Adorned in their blood red robes, and armed with lethal "force pikes", the Imperial Guard live to protect the Emperor at all costs. Hand-picked from an elite group of stormtroopers who have stood out in combat, they receive the best training and equipment in the Empire. They are conditioned to obey the Emperor's will and protect him with their very lives. Their one action in any of the films is to be humorously smacked by Yoda.

* The actual Praetorian Guard unsurprisingly play a fairly major role in ''IClaudius'', notably in placing Claudius on the imperial throne almost against his wishes.

* ''IClaudius''. After Caligua is assasinated (while being protected by German mercenaries, who presumably would be less open to conspiracy than Roman guards) drunken Pretorians annoyed at the imminent demise of their jobs find Claudius hiding behind a curtain and declare him Emperor. Which is what happened in real life, though whether the real Claudius was as reluctant as his TV version is another question.

* The Imperial Sardaukar in FrankHerbert's novel ''{{Dune}}''.
** Later, the Fedaykin for Paul. Later still, the Fish Speakers for the God-Emperor Leto II.

** If you visit the Vatican, you will see them. Their uniforms look like a cross between Stuart doublets and hose and stripy red, blue and orange pyjamas. They are everywhere!! However - they are armed, and not only with sabres at their hips. They are also very devoted, very religious, and do not suffer fools, especially people who laugh at their uniforms. I found the best way to photograph them was to approach and ask, ''very'' respectfully.

* ''[=~Assassin's Creed~=]: Brotherhood'', since it allows you to go to the Vatican, naturally has Papal Guards. They are dressed largely in black, have {{Badass Cape}}s and use a SwordAndGun.

* ''OpenBlue'' has a PraetorianGuard for each of its [[TheEmpire empires]]. Avelion's Royal Black guard also double as special forces. Seran has the Honor Guard, who, similar to the Galactic Empire, are promoted from the ranks of its EliteMooks. Lastly, [[{{Precursors}} Jormuna]] had the [[ChurchMilitant Order of Imperial Templar]], who were armed with [[ReligionIsMagic weapons enchanted by their priests]].

Interestingly, the BigBad is ''much'' more likely to have a dedicated group of elite bodyguards than the story's equivalent-ranking good guy. Possibly because the good guy leader often has a [[TheKirk Kirk-like]] tendency to lead his soldiers into battle, even if logically it seems like a bad idea to have your leader be the first person you send into every potentially dangerous situation. Then again AuthorityEqualsAsskicking. The occasional exceptions form the HeroSecretService. Another notable exception is any fictional representation of the real-life Secret Service (typically American, but also occasionally Her Majesty's).

* China's Imperial Guard existed in various forms over the ages, and was noted for recruiting foreigners, including Russians captured in illegal settlements along the frontier. It was briefly featured in ''ShanghaiNoon''.

* MarvelComics' Black Panther has the Dora Milaje, an AmazonBrigade who have even managed to take down the Black Widow ([[MarySuetopia don't ask]]). In previous generations, they were also the king's wives, but T'Challa broke this tradition and freed the women from obligating themselves beyond protection. However, he wasn't expecting them to ''want'' to be his wives, and they're not thrilled about having Storm around.

* In ''Forbidden City Cop'', each member of the Chinese emperor's personal guard is an master of a different martial arts technique, except for Ling Ling Fat ("008"), played by Stephen Chow, who earned a spot through a family legacy. [[spoiler: He's also the only one who lives to the end of the movie]].

* The Deathwatch Guards from Seanchan in TheWheelOfTime. Lesser examples found in what non-Borderland countries have for standing armies, in contrast to the levies and lords' hirelings raised for large wars. Then there's the the Dragon Reborn's personal [[AmazonBrigade Maidens of the Spear]], who have a "complex" relationship with Rand.

* A number of the Primarchs in the HorusHeresy series have {{Praetorian Guard}}s of one stripe or another - Fulgrim's Phoenix Guard, Ferrus Manus's Morlocks, Mortarion's Deathshroud, Sanguinius's Sanguinary Guard (not yet appearing on the page, but the recent re-release of the Blood Angels codex includes them). There are probably others, whose primarchs have not had their day in the limelight yet. Some definitely don't these, though, in particular thus far, Horus, Russ and Magnus. The Emperor's are the most badass of all though - the Adeptus Custodes. And that ignores all the army commanders who have their own, including the infamous Lucifer Blacks in ''Legion'' whose leader is possibly the single most BadassNormal in the entire setting, after fencing a primarch to a standstill with an unpowered sabre, and wounding him.

* The High Elf White Lions of {{Warhammer}} act as bodyguards to the Phoenix King and the [[AmazonBrigade Maiden Guard]] for the Everqueen. The Reiksguard of the Empire serve as the Emperor's bodyguard. The Temple Guard of the Slann Mage-Lords for the Lizardmen. The Black Guard for the Dark Elf king. Hammerer for the Dwarfs. [[TheLongList Stormvermin for the Skaven]]. Tomb Guard for the Tomb Kings...

* In WorldOfWarcraft, the most famous royal guards in the game are Warchief Thrall's Kor'Kron Elite. Most other racial leaders just use regular city guards.

* Likewise, the SuperpoweredMooks nano-augmented Elite Guard in ''Project Snowblind'' are General Yan Lo's personal bodyguards, and only encountered in the General's bunker.

* DwarfFortress activates the Royal Guard when the appropriate noble arrives at your fortress. However, they do nothing aside from sparring since their role is only to [[FalseReassurance reassure]] the nobility that they are [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential in no danger whatsoever]].

* The Shredder from the 2003 onwards TMNT series had the Foot, and then the Elite Foot who appeared from behind him, all the time, with massive straw hats. And big weapons.

[[AC:WebOriginal]]
* ''OpenBlue'' has a PraetorianGuard for each of its [[TheEmpire empires]]. Avelion's Royal Black guard also double as special forces. Seran has the Honor Guard, who, similar to the Galactic Empire, are promoted from the ranks of its EliteMooks. Lastly, [[{{Precursors}} Jormuna]] had the [[ChurchMilitant Order of Imperial Templar]], who were armed with [[ReligionIsMagic weapons enchanted by their priests]].

In RealLife, the [[ Praetorian Guard]] was a special force of guards used by [[TheRomanEmpire Roman Emperors]]. Before being appropriated for the use of the Emperors' personal guards, the title was used for the guards of Roman generals. '''Nine''' separate emperors were killed by the guard, and many others were deserted or otherwise messed over by them.

[[caption-width:253: The Imperial Royal Guard]]

In RealLife the Praetorian Guard was a special force of guards used by Roman Emperors. Before being appropriated for the use of the Emperors' personal guards, the title was used for the guards of Roman generals. '''Nine''' separate emperors were killed by the guard, and many others were deserted or otherwise messed over by them.

Tend to favour ScaryImpracticalArmour, BlingOfWar and a BladeOnAStick. Despite their elititude, they have an unusual tendency to stand around not doing much fighting - of course, as long as their boss is keeping out of trouble, that's precisely their job.

Sometimes overlaps with EliteMooks, SuperpoweredMooks, and AmazonBrigade when they are BodyGuardBabes. If they never actually go into a fight, then it's just {{Palette Swap}}ped normal infantry. (The real PraetorianGuard ''were'' {{Palette Swap}}ped standard legionaries. They wore nice purple tunics.) May or may not be under the control of StateSec.

* The Guardian Senshi (Sailor Mercury, Sailor Venus, Sailor Mars, and Sailor Jupiter) in ''{{Sailor Moon}}''. Their purpose is to protect the future Neo-Queen Serenity. Also, in the manga, the ''Shitennou'' (Kunzite, Zoisite, Jadeite, and Nephrite), Prince Endymion's former generals; and the Sailor Quartet (Sailor Ceres, Sailor Pallas, Sailor Juno, and Sailor Vesta) Chibiusa's protectors.

** Which is a retcon of mind numbing stupidity. The Dore Milaje have always been in love with Black Panther, that is true, but they also had the good sense to know he did not love them in the same way seeing both of them, (originally there were only two) as younger sisters more then anything else. They have shown acceptance to past lovers of T'Challa and were comfortable enough with his engagement to Monica Lynne, an American jazz singer. The only one that wasn't, went crazy and became a villain. They were also originally his 'betrothed', not his wives. Brides in training, and once he chose which one would become his real wife, that would be that. Hudlin retconned them into a creepy harem.

** The ExpandedUniverse on the other hand have them wiping out small armies ''by themselves''

* In ''Star Wars III: {{Revenge of the Sith}}'' and the ''[[StarWarsCloneWars Clone Wars]]'' animated series, General Grevious has a personal guard of [=MagnaGuard=] droids, who fight with electrostaffs and are skilled enough to fight Jedi in melee combat.
* The Immortals of the Persian army in ''[[ThreeHundred 300]]''.

* The Kingsguard, the Queensguard, and the Rainbow Guard of ''ASongOfIceAndFire''.

* In the ''{{Aliens}}'' expanded universe, Praetorian Guards are larger, stronger, tougher xenomorphs whose purpose is to protect the hive Queen.

* The [[PrinceRoger Empire Of Man Series]] is all about one of these units- with its work seriously cut out for it. Within the first chapter, a plot by enemies of the Empire take out most of the royal family- catapulting the spoilt, nancy third-born prince to first in line, and leaving his Bronze Battalion stranded with him on a serious DeathWorld. ItGotWorse ([[spoiler: and the prince got better]]).

* A number of the Primarchs in the HorusHeresy series have {{Praetorian Guard}}s of one stripe or another - Fulgrim's Phoenix Guard, Ferrus Manus's Morlocks, Mortarion's Deathshroud, Sanguinius's Sanguinary Guard (not yet appearing on the page, but the recent re-release of the Blood Angels codex includes them). There are probably others, whose primarchs have not had their day in the limelight yet. Some definitely don't these, though, in particular thus far, Horus, Russ and Magnus. The Emperor's are the most badass of all though - the Adeptus Custodes. And that ignores all the army commanders who have their own, including the infamous Lucifer Blacks in ''Legion'' whose leader is possibly the single most BadassNormal in the entire setting, after fencing a primarch to a standstill with an unpowered sabre, and wounding him.

* In Sergey Lukyanenko's ''SeekersOfTheSky'' duology, the State (the Europe-spanning empire) had Praetorian Legions as elite troops. Several such legions are mentioned with the Grey Vests being the most BadAss (they all had guns, a rarity in this world). Their counterparts in the Russian Khanate are the Semetskiy Guards. Nothing is known of the counterparts in the third power, China.

* While they don't fully count as Praetorian Guards, Admiral Adama in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica is occasionally followed by a group of Colonial Marine bodyguards. They don't become particularly noticable until the second half of Season 4 though, when the Fleet is breaking apart and the Adama/Roslin leadership is barely keeping order. A rare case when a "good" character has Praetorian Guards following him and a pretty good way (at least in This Troper's opinion) of emphasizing the {{Black and Grey Morality}} and the {{Crapsack World}} status of the universe.

*** A major argument against Adama's Marines and Roslin's Bodyguards being Praetorian Guards would be that they tend to have some {{Redshirt}} and {{Face Heel Turn}} tendencies.

*** Although, given that Terra is a functioning hive world (which are notorious for their near constant levels of gang violence, civil unrest, and rioting) as well as the fact that even Terra is probably not above infiltration by heretics, traitors, mutants and those possessed by Chaos (not only is it the hub of the entire Imperial bueaucracy and infrastructure, meaning that it likely sees a high turnover of military and administrative personnel from across the galaxy, but also accomodates ''millions'' of pilgrims a day, some of whom have been travelling for generations), [[FanWank it could be]] that the Custodes ''do'' find themselves having to fight to protect the Emperor, at least some of the time. [[BadAss Of course, they certainly have never failed yet.]]

** The Tyranids have Tyrant Guards, a type of tyranid creature that exist to protect a Hive Tyrant from attacks, often sacrifing their own lives by placing themselves in front of incoming projectile. How exactly do they do this when the Tyrant is twice as tall as them [[FridgeLogic is anybody's guess]].

* The Blades of TheElderScrolls, who also operate as the Emperor's spies.

** In ''Halo 3'', the Brute Chieftain enemies are usually protected by a few Brute Bodyguards, who have slightly diferent-looking armor from the regular Brute soldiers.

* [[NeverwinterNights The Valsharess' precious]] [[AmazonBrigade Red Sisters.]]

* Azula of ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'' was introduced with the red-clad royal guard. However, they're not much more useful than [[{{Mooks}} usual]], and Azula gets rid of them once her lieutenant [[SurroundedByIdiots screws up her plans]].

* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varangian Varangian Guard]] of the Eastern Roman Empire were Vikings employed by the Emperor as his personal bodyguard.
* Napoleon's Imperial Guard, which was also used as a reserve in some battles. It got pretty big though, by the invasion of Russia it had around 100,000 troops. Above-average height was a prerequisite for membership, which is why Napoleon is stereotyped as [[TheNapoleon being so short]].

* Mexico has the Presidential State Major. You see them, and you could swear you're looking at a detachment of American [=SOCOMs=].
* Swiss Guards is the name that has been given to Swiss mercenary soldiers who have served as bodyguards, ceremonial guards, and palace guards at foreign European courts from the late 15th century until the present day. They are now represented in some sense by the Papal Swiss Guard, which is the only Swiss Guard that still exists (they guard the Pope).

* The Janissary Guard of the Ottoman Empire gets a special mention for the inflation it suffered. Originally it only consisted of a few hundred slave-soldiers who [[{{TheSpartanWay}} had been taught to fight from childhood]]. Over time their numbers increased until practically the entire army was Janissaries, they recruited openly from the free population, [[{{BadassDecay}} most of them didn't do any fighting or have skills for that matter]] and they killed several sultans for thinking it was time to put the guard down.

* The Royal Guard in the ''StarWars'' films. Adorned in their blood red robes, and armed with lethal "force pikes", the Imperial Guard live to protect the Emperor at all costs. Hand-picked from an elite group of stormtroopers who have stood out in combat, they receive the best training and equipment in the Empire. They are conditioned to obey the Emperor's will and protect him with their very lives.
** And their one action in any of the films is to be humorously smacked by Yoda...SoYeah.

*** Yoda can defeat ''big'' armies by himself, so at least it is consistent.

* The Palace Guard in early ''{{Discworld}}'' books, most notably ''Discworld/GuardsGuards''. In later books, Vetinari doesn't bother with guards, relying instead on the VetinariParadox (and, if ''entirely'' necessary, his own assassin skills) to keep him alive.