History Main / StrawCivilian

* Anybody who's non-military in the ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' series is shown to be a complete asshole to COG soldiers - and their own. This is, of course, justified, as the COG [[ANaziByAnyOtherName weren't]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist exactly]] [[IDidWhatIHadToDo saints]] before ''or'' after E-Day.
* Ashley of ''Franchise/MassEffect'' has this view about civilians. Her above quote is repeated when talking with different party members, each of whom will have a different response; Garrus (who is from a culture of ProudWarriorRaceGuys) will reply that such thinking is to be expected, while Tali (who comes from a highly communal culture of space nomads) will say that the civilians' work is necessary and Liara (who is an anthropologist and historian from a society of libertarian semi-pacifists) finds the fact that people can enjoy everyday routines to be comforting.
* In ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'', the Civil Emergency and Defense Agecny (CEDA) is shown to be a civilian government organization that is ineffective at dealing with the zombie apocalypse, like providing useless, even dangerous advice to citizens (like telling them to NOT arm themselves.) Eventually, everyone is relieved when the military shuts them down and begins a much more pragmatic (and non-peaceful) approach.
* Subverted in ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs''. The bureaucrats in the U.S. government are removed from power due to their failure to contain the zombie outbreak. The only civilian branch that hasn't been shutdown is the Federal Disaster Response Agency (FEDRA), who assume total governmental control. FEDRA is technically a civilian government agency (like homeland security), but they apparently have the exact same goals as the military. Even 20 years after the outbreak, FEDRA still has control (and the support) of the military; although they're so similar that it's hard to tell them apart.
* While civilians are largely non-existent in the ''VideoGame/NintendoWars'' series, the village of Freehaven - or rather, its mayor - plays this role in ''Days of Ruin''. The Mayor seems to believe the only reason the military exists is to show up, deal with anything that threatens his safety and security, and then go away so he doesn't have to look at them. When Freehaven falls and its citizens have to join the heroes, the people split into two factions - one that actively works and tries to help their protectors, and one that refuses to do anything and demands the soldiers attend to the civilians's needs instead of their own. Guess who leads the latter faction.
* This trope is a plot point in ''VideoGame/RedFactionArmageddon''. The civilians are hostile toward Mason and the military sent to protect them. This isn't entirely unjustified considering the presence of military rations while food and water are otherwise scarce and the sudden appearance of the alien creatures suspiciously at the same time Mason went missing.

* Civilians of the MarvelUniverse seemed constantly primed and ready to turn against their superheroes at the drop of a hat; From J.Jonah Jameson tracing everything wrong with the world back to Spider-Man, Miriam Sharpe Callously and insensitively stating Goliath deserved to die, Sally Floyd saying CAPTAIN FRICKIN AMERICA doesn’t reflect American values because he doesn’t watch NASCAR or have a MySpace account, to the general prejudice that the X-Men feel everyday from regular joes despite them risking (and sometimes losing) their lives for them, it’s astounding that no matter how many times the world is saved from supervillains and alien invasions, that the civilians of the Marvel Universe continue to be ducks to their heroes.

* ''Edge of Apocalypse'' takes this UpToEleven, with the protagonist being a private contractor who designed a missile-defense system that works by reprogramming missiles via a laser to send them back to their point of origin. He consistently refuses to let the American Congress even see the details about the system they're paying for, because he feels only he can be trusted with it. In this story, he's completely right because all the politicians who want information about the system that will essentially nuke any location a missile is fired upon, whether the President or anyone wants to do so or not, are working with foreign conspirators who want to bring the U.S. down into a OneWorldGovernment. Unsurprisingly, it's from one of the co-authors of ''Literature/LeftBehind''.

* While civilians are largely non-existent in the ''VideoGame/NintendoWars'' series, the village of Freehaven - or rather, its mayor - plays this role in ''Days of Ruin''. The Mayor seems to believe the only reason the military exists is to show up, deal with anything that threatens his safety and security, and then go away so he doesn't have to look at them. When Freehaven falls and its citizens have to join the heroes, the people split into two factions - one that actively works and tries to help their protectors, and one that refuses to do anything and demands the soldiers attend to the civilians's needs instead of their own. Guess who leads the latter faction.

* ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' tends to present the military in a more favorable light than civilians, since the majority of the main characters are officers. It helps that the major civilian character outside of Minmay happens to be a gigantic douche. Also, the higher-ups in the UN Spacy (Adm. Hayase, for one) are shown to be a bunch of twits who are more interested in keeping up appearances for political reasons themselves. Really, in this case it's almost a case of [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality Straw Anyone Who Is Not A Macross Crew member.]]

* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': Many civilians look down on the Survey Corps as lunatics and a waste of their taxes.

It's not just the [[ObstructiveBureaucrat bureaucrats who are obstructive]] -- it's the entire non-military world. All politicians, regardless of affiliation, are dedicated to blocking, budget-cutting, and otherwise screwing over the military for the sake of short term political gain. (And the criticism isn't just of pacifists - ''all'' politics is [[DemocracyIsBad portrayed as inherently ignoble]]. If it's only politicians of a certain type who get this treatment, it might be a case of [[StrawCharacter Strawman Political]] instead.) Courts and lawyers tie the military up with silly regulations which stop them doing their jobs. The news media never understand the realities of war, and reporters are critical of everything the military does. Businessmen [[ThereAreNoGoodExecutives just want to profit]] from the war, and don't care if their products are defective and get soldiers killed. The general public are ungrateful for the sacrifices made by the military. Even non-combat military personnel can be part of it, if they're fastidious about rules or are ArmchairMilitary. Any character who isn't a soldier, really, has no plot purpose except to get in the way of the brave, noble, and self-sacrificing characters who are.

Because the author gets to determine how their world works, it's rare that the civilians will actually have a valid point. Even if they do, though, SympatheticPOV means that we may not notice it -- since soldiers are the protagonists, we'll likely side with them without thinking too closely about whether it's really a good thing for the military to hold civilian authorities in contempt. A military protagonist in a YouHaveToBelieveMe situation, say, may well look like a GeneralRipper from the [[PerspectiveFlip point of view of the civilian]], but since the audience knows better, the civilian appears to be unreasonable.

* [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2004-08-05 How Warhawk characterizes Love Dove]] in ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}''

* Military thriller ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'' chronicles a civil war in a dystopian near-future United States, and shows the regime as suffering from this. The Federal Government's military leader, [[NoNonsenseNemesis General Wesley]], is competent enough, but the civilian Secretary of Defense is not, and the cabinet listen much more to her than to him -- at least until the crisis escalates precipitously.

Turns up in a lot of MilitaryScienceFiction, but is also found elsewhere. The (mostly) opposite of ArmiesAreEvil.

* Dr. Franklin fills this role in ''Series/BabylonFive'': He shunned military service (partially because of his [[FreudianExcuse father the general]]. He [[HonorBeforeReason refused to help in creating bioweapons]] to fight the genocidal Minbari. He also constantly criticizes the other, more trigger-happy human protagonists. But then again, as the eponymous station's doctor he's the one who has to clean up after a firefight.

* People in ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' are supposed to look foolish for not joining Richard's empire and disagreeing with his strategy of total war against the Imperial Order. But look at it like this. Richard is descended from the line of the Rahls, notorious for being [[VillainousLineage crazy power hungry bastards.]] He ascended to rule the D'Haran Empire by [[SelfmadeOrphan killing his father.]] He continues to employ the Mord-Sith, whose primary purpose for existing is to torture people. Most of the claims about the Imperial Order's evil initially comes from Richard and his own soldiers. And he's continuing his father's expansionist policies, and also insisting that people perform the devotion, in which they spend a total of four hours every day essentially ''praying'' to Richard. (There's a magical reason why this protects them, but most people don't know about it). He's also fond of making references to how much killing he does. Oh, and he broke a little girl's jaw. Would ''you'' trust this guy? Well you should, because he's right, and if you don't join with him the Order will kill and rape everyone in the country. Although that may happen anyway.

* People in ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' are supposed to look foolish for not joining Richard's empire and disagreeing with his strategy of total war against the Imperial Order. But look at it like this. Richard is descended from the line of the Rahls, notorious for being [[InTheBlood crazy power hungry bastards.]] He ascended to rule the D'Haran Empire by [[SelfmadeOrphan killing his father.]] He continues to employ the Mord-Sith, whose primary purpose for existing is to torture people. Most of the claims about the Imperial Order's evil initially comes from Richard and his own soldiers. And he's continuing his father's expansionist policies, and also insisting that people perform the devotion, in which they spend a total of four hours every day essentially ''praying'' to Richard. (There's a magical reason why this protects them, but most people don't know about it). He's also fond of making references to how much killing he does. Oh, and he broke a little girl's jaw. Would ''you'' trust this guy? Well you should, because he's right, and if you don't join with him the Order will kill and rape everyone in the country. Although that may happen anyway.

* Subverted in ''Manga/AnatoliaStory''. The Hittite military is the focus on quite a few story arcs and most of the leads are a part of it/involved with it, however part of the reason they're shown in such a good light is their willingness to protect and hear out civilians instead of brutally killing them.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''WebComic/TerminalLance'' and ''ComicBook/TheWhiteDonkey'', being written and drawn by a [[SemperFi Marine Corps infantry veteran]] take this position from time to time, though the author sometimes take the point of view of civilians and criticize the military and service members as well.

* ''ComicBook/TheBoys'': Vought-American began as one of these, selling faulty rifles to the military that got hundreds of American soldiers killed in Vietnam, not to mention trying to push for their early superheroes to be used in WW2 20 years before, also a total disaster. They've bribed their way out of trouble time and time again, until present day when they're a bloated corporation that controls most superhumans.

* ''HamburgerHill'' has this as a point of contention, fitting with the anti-war movement. A lot of the soldiers we see are met with nothing but hostility by anti-war Americans, who do things like throw bags of dog shit at them, harass a bartender whose son died in Vietnam, coerce another soldier's girlfriend to stop writing to him because his service is "immoral", and even praising the North Vietnamese Army as "heroic" and calling the US soldiers "Evil." One character even signs up for another tour in Vietnam after coming home to nothing but hostility.

->'''Ashley''': It's strange. The geth are attacking, and everyone around here is still worried about ordinary business.
->'''Garrus''': You're military, Chief Williams. They're civilians. Civilians never believe the enemy is coming until they're at the gates.

* Ashley of ''Franchise/MassEffect'' has this view about civilians. Her above quote is repeated when talking with different party members, each of whom will have a different response; Garrus (who is from a culture of ProudWarriorRaceGuys) will reply that such thinking is to be expected, while Tali (who comes from a highly communal culture of space gypsies) will say that the civilians' work is necessary and Liara (who is an anthropologist and historian from a society of libertarian semi-pacifists) finds the fact that people can enjoy everyday routines to be comforting.

It's not just the [[ObstructiveBureaucrat bureaucrats who are obstructive]] - it's the entire non-military world. All politicians, regardless of affiliation, are dedicated to blocking, budget-cutting, and otherwise screwing over the military for the sake of short term political gain. (And the criticism isn't just of pacifists - ''all'' politics is [[DemocracyIsBad portrayed as inherently ignoble]]. If it's only politicians of a certain type who get this treatment, it might be a case of [[StrawCharacter Strawman Political]] instead.) Courts and lawyers tie the military up with silly regulations which stop them doing their jobs. The news media never understand the realities of war, and reporters are critical of everything the military does. Businessmen [[ThereAreNoGoodExecutives just want to profit]] from the war, and don't care if their products are defective and get soldiers killed. The general public are ungrateful for the sacrifices made by the military. Even non-combat military personnel can be part of it, if they're fastidious about rules or are ArmchairMilitary. Any character who isn't a soldier, really, has no plot purpose except to get in the way of the brave, noble, and self-sacrificing characters who are.

Because the author gets to determine how their world works, it's rare that the civilians will actually have a valid point. Even if they do, though, SympatheticPOV means that we may not notice it - since soldiers are the protagonists, we'll likely side with them without thinking too closely about whether it's really a good thing for the military to hold civilian authorities in contempt. A military protagonist in a YouHaveToBelieveMe situation, say, may well look like a GeneralRipper from the [[PerspectiveFlip point of view of the civilian]], but since the audience knows better, the civilian appears to be unreasonable.

* ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' tends to present the military in a more favorable light than civilians, since the majority of the main characters are officers. It helps that the major civillian character outside of Minmay happens to be a gigantic douche. Also, the higher-ups in the UN Spacy (Adm. Hayase, for one) are shown to be a bunch of twits who are more interested in keeping up appearances for political reasons themselves. Really, in this case it's almost a case of [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality Straw Anyone Who Is Not A Macross Crew member.]]

* ''Series/{{JAG}}'' became more obvious of this trope when the producers were given official approval by the Pentagon. StrawmanNewsMedia characters were a [[http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/television/2002/08/a_few_sanctimonious_men.htmlcommon occurence]]. One of few exceptions to this generalization seems to be the Sudanese "people’s poet" Professor Dobotu in the fourth season episode "Embassy" who is depicted as a Gandhi-like GentlemanSnarker.