History Main / WeHaveReserves

* ''Series/DontHugMeImScared'': {{Implied|Trope}} with [[spoiler:[[FalseGod Lesley]], the woman in the attic]]. When Yellow Guy accidentally destroys their figurine of Duck Guy, they opens up a cabinet containing a bunch of copy figurines of the characters and quickly switch him out. Considering that [[spoiler:they can seemingly control where the characters go through the figurines, and one version of Duck Guy had been killed in Episode 2]], this seems to indicate that [[spoiler:they can easily switch the characters out for duplicates when the situation calls for it]].

--->'''Aukon:''' I have need of them. The guards must hold the Tower to the last man.
--->'''Habris:''' We are outnumbered. Unless you aid us, we shall all be killed.
--->'''Aukon:''' ''(Aukon looks straight into Habris's eyes)'' Then die. That is the purpose of guards. Go!

** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E22Chosen Chosen]]", [[UltimateEvil the First Evil]] isn't too concerned when Buffy kills Caleb, its [[TheDragon Dragon]], for this reason.

->'''King T'challa/Black Panther:''' You are in Wakanda now. Thanos will have nothing but dust and blood.\\

-->--''Film/{{Avengers Infinity War}}''

'''Proxima Midnight:''' We have blood to spare.\\
''Film/{{Avengers Infinity War}}''

-->--''Film/{{Avengers Infinity War}}''

-->-- ''Film/{{Avengers Infinity War}}''

-->-- ''Film/{{Avengers: Infinity War}}''

-->-- ''Film/{{Avengers; Infinity War}}''

-->--''Film/{{Avengers; Infinity War}}''

->''Film/{{Avengers; Infinity War}}''

''Film/{{Avengers; Infinity War}}''

-->-- ''Film/{{AvengersInfinityWar}}''

->'''King Edward Longshanks:''' Archers.\\
'''English Commander:''' I beg your pardon, sire, but won't we hit our own troops?\\
'''Longshanks:''' ''Yes''. But we'll hit theirs as well. We have reserves. Attack.
-->-- ''Film/{{Braveheart}}''

** Responding to a group of his ogres demanding to be paid by killing them and turning them into zombies.
** [[TheDragon Dragon]] Redcloak (a goblin) orders a group of hobgoblin ([[FantasticRacism whom he despises]]) {{mooks}} up [[https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0190.html a dangerous trail]] so they would cause an avalanche and ensure the safety of the others. Later he sends in more troops armed only with [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0192.html garnish clubs and cracker shields]] against a guard monster, so it will fall asleep after eating them, and orders a human-wave style attack against a fortified city. After one of them [[https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0451.html dies saving his life]], he realizes what he's doing and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone reacts with horror at what he is becoming]] and promptly stops the wasteful spending of lives.
-->'''Xykon:''' [[LampshadeHanging "Sacrificing minions -- is there any problem it]] ''[[LampshadeHanging can't]]'' [[LampshadeHanging solve?"]]

** In a bonus strip from ''No Cure For the Paladin Blues'', Xykon kills a mook who has succeeded in slaying a dragon, because the XP he gained from this elevates him beyond a simple mook now--and also makes it possible for him, as a high-level caster, to get a bit of XP that he wouldn't get for killing an unleveled mook.

** [[TheDragon Dragon]] Redcloak (a goblin) orders a group of hobgoblin ([[FantasticRacism whom he despises]]) {{mooks}} up a dangerous trail so they would cause an avalanche and ensure the safety of the others. Later he sends in unarmed troops against a guard monster, so it will fall asleep after eating them, and orders a human-wave style attack against a fortified city. After one of them dies saving his life, he realizes what he's doing and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone reacts with horror at what he is becoming]] and promptly stops the wasteful spending of lives. They weren't unarmed. [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0192.html They were given garnish clubs and cracker shields]]!
** [[LampshadeHanging "Sacrificing minions -- is there any problem it]] ''[[LampshadeHanging can't]]'' [[LampshadeHanging solve?"]]

There are a lot of ways to have a character KickTheDog or cross the MoralEventHorizon. In a war movie or battle sequence, if you want to show that a general, king, or [[ArmchairMilitary commander]] is evil (really evil, not a PunchClockVillain and way beyond a DesignatedVillain), all you have to do is show his casual--if not ''complete''--disregard for the lives of his own troops by [[SuicideMission either knowingly ordering them into certain slaughter or giving an order that directly results in their deaths]]. Retreat is, of course, forbidden; he expects AttackAttackAttack without a second thought, and a LastStand before retreat. (And he usually does it from perfect safety.) GeneralFailure will often upgrade this from a last resort to his preferred tactic.

After a moment like this, the character might as well have '''''asshole''''' printed on his forehead. Bonus points if he refers to his troops as being trash or [[{{Dehumanization}} somehow subhuman]], or if he does it not because [[IDidWhatIHadToDo he sincerely believes that doing this is necessary to win]], but [[GloryHound in pursuit of his own glory/making a name for himself]]. A We Have Reserves commander is very much a BadBoss, and a reason why there is such a high mortality rate among [[RedshirtArmy Redshirt Armies]], FacelessGoons, {{Mooks}}, and the like.

Note that this does ''not'' have to be done strictly in a war setting, and works just fine if, say, the BigBad or TheDragon decides to sacrifice someone in a QuirkyMiniBossSquad, or a small band of {{mooks}}. Employing this under such circumstances when he probably does ''not'', in fact, have reserves, is a form of the VillainBall.

Callousness is necessary for it to be a suitable KickTheDog moment. A general who throws troops into a battle [[ColdEquation knowing they will all die but also knowing a victory here will save more lives]] can be pardoned for it [[TrialByFriendlyFire if he shows that he is aware of the cost]] (DrowningMySorrows and PastExperienceNightmare are popular tropes for demonstrating that awareness). After all, one cannot get through a real war with zero casualties, and some number of losses must be accepted. The same thing applies for a commander of a stricken vessel who sometimes must seal off sections of a ship and doom the crew inside lest the entire ship is lost. An [[EnsignNewbie inexperienced officer]] who inadvertently does this may only be a moron or having a moment of panic while in command for the first time, and might still be redeemable if he shows CharacterDevelopment because of it or improves his tactics.

Compare ZergRush (where the opponent throws everything at you, disregarding any other battle plan), CannonFodder (a low-skill enemy with little planning that dies easily), RedshirtArmy (when the ''good'' side employs this), ExpendableClone (where a character is ''his own reserves''), and both HammerspacePoliceForce and IFoughtTheLawAndTheLawWon (where law enforcement is the "reserves" in question). Also compare ThePawnsGoFirst (when the formidable BigBad sends out Mooks rather than engage in the fight himself). See also YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness and YouHaveFailedMe for similar moments from a BadBoss, and GideonPloy. ShootTheMessenger also relies on the BigBad feeling that his mooks are completely expendable. Contrast CantKillYouStillNeedYou and MookDepletion. TheNeidermeyer is the most likely type of officer or leader particularly to use this tactic; SergeantRock and AFatherToHisMen (who may invoke TheMenFirst) are at the opposite end of this scale. Subtrope of QuantityVsQuality.

The likelihood that the troops of a commander who does this trope regularly [[LosingTheTeamSpirit would probably fold like wet paper on the battlefield]] (few are willing to get themselves almost certainly killed just because someone said so) should logically be an issue, though the likes of fighters being organisms led by a HiveMind, cultures relying on sheer zealotry, or other rationales may address this.

** Almost exactly like the TropeNamer, Ramsay Bolton ([[ArcVillain the main human villain of seasons 5 and 6]]) orders his archers to fire volleys into the battlefield where his cavalry are engaging Jon Snow's smaller, ragtag army. This serves two purposes: first, as Jon's army is half the size of Ramsay's, Jon's side can't suffer the losses while he can. Second, the dead from both sides also form a wall of corpses, which is then used to box Jon's army in and leave them with no escape when Ramsay sends in a second wave, this time made up of heavy infantry, which comes very close to completely wiping out Jon's army. However, the use of this trope ultimately dooms him, since his volleys wipe out his cavalry, leaving his infantry helpless when [[TheCavalry mounted reinforcements]] sent by the Vale arrive to aid the good guys.

** Even if they aren't necessarily the villains, some of the Marines show this behaviour too, as the doctrine of "Absolute Justice" implies that any evil should be eradicated at any cost. This is shown during the Buster Call in Enies Lobby, when one warship was destroyed (along with one thousand marines) by the others in order to kill only one criminal; one of the captains even shot a marine who hesitated in following the order. Taken UpToEleven during the Marineford arc. Akainu is seen dousing one of his own men in lava because that soldier wisely knew he didn't have a chance of inflicting any damage on the pirate army they were facing, and ''begged'' to be taken off the front lines so he could live another day to support his wife and family. Akainu then tries to do the same to Coby because Coby dared to point out that marines were dying because they were being neglected treatment while the other marines were off chasing pirates that were trying to either withdraw or surrender, having lost all reason to fight. Never mind that Akainu completely ignores Blackbeard, who not only betrayed his own commander, Whitebeard, and murdered his comrades, but betrayed the Marines too, and made himself a very real threat by stealing, and using Whitebeard's "Quake Quake" fruit.

* As mentioned above, LetsPlay/SpoilerWarning found it amusing that this is a common way to deal with Combine tripmines in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', and started quoting the examples from ''Shrek'', ''Cheat Commandos'', and ''Futurama''.

** The Draconis Combine and the Lyran Commonwealth suffer from this trope in the classic timeline. The Combine combines a strong HonorBeforeReason warrior culture with favouring quick, aggressive assaults with fast and light 'mechs and as such can occasionally throw away men and resources on attacks that fail to obtain their objective and being too proud to retreat when things go south. The Lyrans, by contrast, are extremely wealthy, populous and led by [[GeneralFailure Social Generals]]: They ''always'' have enough men and materiel to throw away on strategic offensives and have a tolerance for losses that gives even the Combine pause. The two factions are also neighbours and major rivals; Combine/Lyran wars tend to be extremely bloody affairs.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Birdman}}'' episode "Meets Birdgirl". While Birdman is fighting Birdgirl, her boss Doctor Mentaur orders his minion to fire hydrogen "shells" (bombs) at them, even after being warned that the bombs will hit Birdgirl too.

Compare ZergRush (where the opponent throws everything at you, disregarding any other battle plan), CannonFodder (a low-skill enemy with little planning that dies easily), RedshirtArmy (when the ''good'' side employs this), ExpendableClone (where a character is ''his own reserves''), and both HammerspacePoliceForce and IFoughtTheLawAndTheLawWon (where law enforcement is the "reserves" in question). Also compare ThePawnsGoFirst (when the formidable BigBad sends out Mooks rather than engage in the fight himself). See also YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness and YouHaveFailedMe for similar moments from a BadBoss. ShootTheMessenger also relies on the BigBad feeling that his mooks are completely expendable. Contrast CantKillYouStillNeedYou and MookDepletion. TheNeidermeyer is the most likely type of officer or leader particularly to use this tactic; SergeantRock and AFatherToHisMen (who may invoke TheMenFirst) are at the opposite end of this scale. Subtrope of QuantityVsQuality.

* MadScientist Mayuri Kurotsuchi of ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' is a particularly horrific example. He turns a number of subordinates into living bombs without them knowing it, and tells them to simply convince two protagonists to come with them. Instead, he detonates them while they're standing around the protagonists, including one who survives his comrades exploding because "A bomb isn't supposed to come back after being used".
** Aizen considers every minion and teammate expendable.
** The Vandenreich Emperor tore apart murdered two of his Arrancar minions with paper-thin justification. When pointed out that Arrancar were a valuable resource, he simply replied [[spoiler:that having captured Hueco Mundo, they could make them at will.]]

*** [[GalacticConquerer Frieza]] has absolutely no concern for the lives of his men, to the point that he takes virtually any excuse he can to kill them himself. A big part of the Namek Saga consists of him sending wave after wave of his mooks after the Z-Fighters until there's literally ''no one'' left.