| 1 | %% |
| 2 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: |
| 3 | %% Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread. |
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| 5 | [[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/FreedomFighters2018 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/unclesamff2018.png]]]] |
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| 7 | [[caption-width-right:350:He wants YOU, Americans, to kick bad guys in the face!]] |
| 8 | %% |
| 9 | %% Caption selected per above IP thread. Please do not replace or remove without discussion in the Caption Repair thread: |
| 10 | %% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1404492079030138900 |
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| 12 | |
| 13 | ->''"America, fuck yeah! Coming again to save the motherfuckin' day, yeah!"'' |
| 14 | -->-- ''Film/TeamAmericaWorldPolice'' |
| 15 | %% |
| 16 | %% One quote. Extras go on the quotes tab. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Aliens have come from outer space. They've landed in the outback of Australia. They proceed to destroy all of the Southeastern Asian region and begin marching through Europe and Africa, but the combined military might of these continents is unable to defeat them. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Guess it's all up to the good ol' US of A. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | This trope describes any instance where, because the story was made for American audiences, the writers create a world-wide problem to be solved by Americans (and typically Americans alone). The reason for this is simple. The movies are made for Americans and most Americans want to see other Americans as the heroes; also, most of the available actors are American. Whether or not the problem actually starts in the USA doesn't matter. Americans always save the day when this trope is invoked. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | This often happens because the US military '''[[BackedByThePentagon pays]]''' films to do so. If you show them in a very positive light, they'll let you borrow top notch military planes, ships, and tanks to film, which would normally cost you millions to get access to. So long as you make sure that evil military general is French, and the army that stops him isn't, you go a long way towards making your film within your budget. Not that this is an uncommon practice or restricted to America. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | Worth noting that, in 2023, [[https://metro.co.uk/2024/01/26/us-officially-unable-defend-alien-invasion-20177819/ an official report]] by the [=DoD=] found that the US was woefully unprepared to defend ''itself'' against an alien invasion, let alone all of humanity. Fortunately, of course, the need to do so hasn't arisen. Yet. |
| 28 | |
| 29 | A SuperTrope to AmericaWonWorldWarII (intersecting this with UsefulNotes/WorldWarII). Compare MightyWhitey, CreatorProvincialism, and HomegrownHero. |
| 30 | |
| 31 | [[noreallife]] |
| 32 | ---- |
| 33 | !!Examples: |
| 34 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 35 | |
| 36 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 37 | * America attempts to do this at the end of the ''Manga/{{Akira}}'' manga but are promptly chased away by the Neo-Tokyoites, who declare the ravaged town to be a new country. |
| 38 | * A recurring theme of ''Manga/BioMeatNectar'', starting with Part II. Subverted or truly the case, sticking mostly to either extreme. Couples with AdultsAreUseless. |
| 39 | * Used and tweaked around in ''Manga/DeathNote''. Most of this Japanese series features a handful of Japanese police working with L to find Kira, though justified by the fact that Kira is in Japan, which L quickly deduces. At the same time, the America-specific version of this trope is invoked by several prominent appearances of American [=FBI=] and [=CIA=] agents, particularly Raye Penber and Near's [=SPK=] task force, who work independently of Japan. Light proves to be aware of this trope as well, as he considers it a crowning victory when the American president finally announces that his country will no longer try to oppose Kira. |
| 40 | * Mercilessly {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' as [[http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y41/raito_light/hetalia/chapter2/APH_Chp2_p3.jpg seen here.]] |
| 41 | * Subverted in ''Anime/ReadOrDie''. At the end of the anime movie the US military shows up to save the day, only to be easily defeated when the villain's naval fortress annihilates their entire force with one shot. The (British) main characters then go on to save the day themselves. Nonetheless, the real rulers of the world (the British Library) seem to assume that America is the World Policeman. |
| 42 | * Invoked in ''Manga/SazanEyes'': when the "Tokyo Monster" (the Lokapala) manifests in Japan, throwing the country in disarray and finally getting the attention of foreign nations, Ed Green, the president of the U.S.A., starts the reunion by pointing out how his country should be in charge of the operations, much to the other world leader's ire. |
| 43 | * When All for One and Tomura Shigaraki's forces grow exponentially more powerful in ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia's'' final arc, the United States decides to bring in their current no.1 Hero, Star and Stripe, to put a stop to Shigaraki (and they are the only country noted to do so). Subverted in that while she ''is'' immensely powerful and likely would have won since she ordered Shigaraki's heart to stop, it only ends in her disintegration and the situation getting worse. It’s something of a zigzag because while she does die, she manages to get out a final order to make her quirk rebel against other quirks as All for One steals it. This annhilates a lot of All For One’s accumulated stolen quirks before he can get rid of it and likely makes it that much easier for his opponents in the final battle, [[spoiler: Armored All Might and Bakugo]] |
| 44 | [[/folder]] |
| 45 | |
| 46 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 47 | * Subverted in Mark Waid's ''ComicBook/{{Empire}},'' where the villain Golgoth begins his world conquest in Australia and continues until only the U.S. remains as a beacon of hope. Then America falls too and everyone is screwed. Justified in that if you're doing world conquest and starting from nothing, it makes sense to build up a powerbase somewhere else first and save the toughest target for last, after you've assimilated everyone else into your forces. |
| 48 | * Played out rather jarring in the ''ComicBook/SquadronSupreme'' limited series. The Earth is on the brink of total collapse, but the Squadron is composed entirely of either Americans or otherworldly beings. CreatorProvincialism also results in all of the story's events taking place in the United States, with problems elsewhere barely mentioned at all. |
| 49 | * In the ''ComicBook/StrontiumDog'' "Max Bubba" story, while Johnny and his Vikings are pursuing Bubba's gang, an American military helicopter from UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar suddenly appears through a temporal rift. When Johnny explains the situation, the crew decide to help, reasoning that they're Americans, so they have to save the day. |
| 50 | * Though ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'' was a Belgian comic, it had already become considerably popular in America by the time ''The Red Sea Sharks'' was written. This has been offered as an explanation for why the plot culminates with the USS Los Angeles coming in to rescue the heroes from submarine attack. |
| 51 | ** As a reversal of their being the bad guys of ''The Shooting Star'', perhaps... later editions replace the stars and stripes of the rival ship with an anonymous white star on black. The villain is still a gangster stereotype with unfortunate implications given later world events (fat, balding, black suit, little glasses, big nose and lips), but now is not explicitly identified as American. |
| 52 | * Discussed in ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'' by the Colonel after his defeat, as he sarcastically asks Cap if he's going to drop any John Wayne quips on him, maybe finish him with a witty barb. Cap's response is to silently stab him through the heart. |
| 53 | [[/folder]] |
| 54 | |
| 55 | [[folder:Fanfic]] |
| 56 | * Downplayed in the BadFuture depicted in ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheNightmaresOfFuturesPast''; the US Army is able to put Voldemort at a standstill and even contain him, but by then most of Western Europe has been devastated. Also thanks to Voldemort's [[SoulJar horcruxes]] none of them are able to stop him, Harry has to finish Voldemort in person. |
| 57 | * Deconstructed in ''Fanfic/TruthAndRevelations'' when the Chinese ambassador for the IOA contemplates arranging for the program to be transferred to another nation, such as China. Daniel Jackson points out that the various planets SG-1 has already made alliances with are used to dealing with the U.S. government and military. Thus, another nation will be wasting precious time reestablishing ties to worlds who would be suspicious of them (the fact many of these worlds have only one central government and thus confused why Earth would have another nation-state taking this program over complicates matters). |
| 58 | [[/folder]] |
| 59 | |
| 60 | [[folder:Film — Live-Action]] |
| 61 | * ''Film/TwoThousandTwelve'' is a subversion of this trope. It is clearly shown that the U.S. cannot prevent the apocalypse single-handedly, and global cooperation is a major, [[{{Anvilicious}} if not very subtle]], theme of the movie. The scientists who first discover the coming apocalypse are Indian, and [[spoiler:the Arks that allow some of humanity to survive and so rebuild are built by the Chinese]]. Presidential adviser Carl Anhauser declares that only the Chinese could have got the project built in time. |
| 62 | * Painfully subverted in ''Film/TwentyEightWeeksLater'' in which US troops help reinhabit a small portion of London amidst a previously rage infested United Kingdom. Things go south quickly when [[spoiler:an asymptomatic carrier of the infection inadvertently infects her husband, resulting in a mass reintroduction of rage to the ''barricaded'' refugee population.]] |
| 63 | * The trope's presence in ''Film/Armageddon1998'' is sensible (but also ''heavily'' {{Lampshaded}}). As one of the few space faring nations, only America has the necessary technology and infrastructure to build the equipment necessary to destroy the asteroid. The Russians do provide support in the form of a refueling station. The team NASA sends is purely American, except for the Russian cosmonaut from the station. |
| 64 | * Parodied in ''A World Gone Mad''. After the American military suffers almost total defeat at the hands of an {{alien invasion}}, the entire crisis is resolved off-screen, with the solution only being mentioned in a brief newscast as having been "A clever scheme by the Australians involving their local frog population". |
| 65 | * ''Film/BadBlack'': Ssali, the only American in the film, is the one who captures Black and hands her over to the police. |
| 66 | -->'''Ssali:''' [[PrecisionFStrike Don't fuck with Americans]]. |
| 67 | * ''Film/BattleLosAngeles'' has American troops discovering the aliens' vulnerability, and transmitting that information to the rest of the world. |
| 68 | * ''Film/BlackHawkDown'': {{Inverted|Trope}}. The Americans are only able to get their besieged men out of the city [[TheCavalry with the help of mechanised units from the Malaysian and Pakistani army]]. [[DoubleSubvertedTrope Of course]], the Malaysian units never make an appearance, and the Pakistani unit is shown to be as useless as possible (which going by the accounts of the people there is TruthInTelevision -- they conducted themselves very poorly). |
| 69 | * Justified in ''Film/{{Contact}}'' by showing some of the background politicking and controversy over the US dominating the construction of the FasterThanLightTravel machine. In an attempt to alleviate this an international committee is used to select Earth's ambassador, but it's mentioned that the Japanese (who are also contributing significantly to the trillion dollar project) are bought off from insisting on their own candidate by promising them a significant percentage of the technological spin-offs from FirstContact. Presumably other behind-the-scenes deals were made to ensure an American candidate was sent. |
| 70 | * ''Armageddon'''s {{Dueling Movie|s}} ''Film/DeepImpact'' also had an all-American crew of astronauts heading out to destroy the world-ending comet, notwithstanding the token Russian cosmonaut. Worse, the smaller comet landed in the Atlantic; that this also affected Europe, Africa, South America and the Caribbean was passed over in ''one line'' of a speech. |
| 71 | * In the 1962 film version of ''Film/TheDayOfTheTriffids'', it's an American scientist (who didn't exist in the original novel) who figures out how to defeat the triffids. |
| 72 | * ''Film/IndependenceDay'': Everyone who takes part in devising the plan to save the world is American. There is no international committee or involvement of the global scientific community. The capper comes at the end of the movie when the Americans discover how to destroy the alien ships and send the message out to everyone else in the world. When a British officer is informed that the Americans have devised a solution, he snaps, "It's about bloody time!" Many audience members interpret that to mean that the world was just sitting around waiting for America to solve things. |
| 73 | * ''Film/InvisibleInvaders'': It is mentioned early that it's a world-wide initiative by scientists to try to discover the titular invaders' weakness, but the ones who discover it are the protagonists, who are Americans. |
| 74 | * In ''Film/ManOfSteel'', the Kryptonians are clearly a global-level threat, but you wouldn't get the impression that any armed forces exist outside of American ones. No other country's military gets involved at all. This is almost plausible since most of the conflict takes place on American soil, but at one point, a World Engine is deployed on the other side of the globe, and not one non-American military force even investigates it. |
| 75 | * Parodied in ''Film/MarsAttacks'' with the two affable yokel members of the cast, who live in America's FlyoverCountry, chancing upon the Martians' weakness when all seems lost: [[WeaksauceWeakness yodeling]]. |
| 76 | * Inverted in ''Film/TheMartian'': the life-or-death rocket resupply rocket [[spoiler:from NASA explodes, and a secret Chinese rocket]] saves the day instead. |
| 77 | * ''Film/TransformersFilmSeries'': The Autobots work together with the American military during several of the battles, so human soldiers are shown helping to take down several Decepticons. While the first two films require the military to use heavy duty weaponry (6000-degree magnesium burns from sabot rounds in the first film to take down Blackout and weaken others, a railgun to the head to knock Devastator off of a pyramid with the ensuing tumble finishing him off), they gain smaller weapons specifically designed to kill Transformers by the time of the third film to increase their effectiveness in dealing with their alien invaders. |
| 78 | * ''Film/StargateContinuum'': Subverted. The American heroes need help from the Russians to reverse the Goa'uld invasion of Earth. President Henry Hayes also notes to Ba'al that the U.S. is just one of many sovereign nations when the latter essentially treats him as humanity's representative. |
| 79 | * ''Film/TeamAmericaWorldPolice'': This trope is mercilessly lampooned as a satire on America's interventionist foreign policy during the 2000s. American forces are shown meddling in foreign affairs, causing in huge amounts of carnage, and then joyously declaring victory while ignoring the wreckage they leave behind. |
| 80 | --> '''America, ''fuck yeah!'' '''\ |
| 81 | '''Coming again to save the motherfucking day, yeah!''' |
| 82 | * ''Film/{{U571}}'' is [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory vaguely based on]] events that really happened. The USN did indeed capture a Kriegsmarine Enigma code machine and books from a U-Boat in 1944. They did deliver it and the resulting intelligence did aid the Allied cause materially. However, the movie was based on real life incidents where the British Royal Navy had captured Kriegsmarine Enigma code machines and books in 1941 and 1942, enabling the more efficient decoding of enemy transmissions to begin, and the code had already been cracked by Bletchley Park building off of Polish prewar work. |
| 83 | * In ''Film/PacificRim'', although it's shown that there are Jaegers and Jaeger pilots from all over the world, the one to defeat the final enemy and close the Rift is the American Jaeger ''Gipsy Danger''. Downplayed, in that while one of the pilots, Raleigh, is American, his co-pilot Mako is Japanese, and their commander Marshal Stacker Pentecost is British [[spoiler:and dies in a HeroicSacrifice alongside Australian pilot Chuck Hansen]]. |
| 84 | * The comet in ''Film/DontLookUp'' is a threat to the whole Earth, and yet America is the only country able to do anything. It takes months after Isherwell's plan is revealed for any other country to even consider doing anything themselves, and even then it takes Russia, China and India combined to replicate America's original plan (something that they had needed basically zero preparation to do). [[spoiler:And while the American attempt was shown to be going remarkably well, with the implication it would have worked if it wasn't called back, their attempt fails. And they are unable to attempt it a second time, and no other country can. Even worse when you consider that Isherwell's plan, a complete disaster, is still more successful than that by virtue of at least making it to space).]] |
| 85 | [[/folder]] |
| 86 | |
| 87 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 88 | * Subverted in John Wyndham's CosyCatastrophe novels ''Literature/TheDayOfTheTriffids'' and ''Literature/TheKrakenWakes'' in which blaming Russia for the disaster and waiting for America to save the day when you could be planning survival strategies is a '''bad''' idea. |
| 89 | * Creator/TomClancy, being a fan of {{Eagleland}}, loves this trope. |
| 90 | ** Fully half of the novels in his [[Literature/JackRyan Ryanverse]] feature American firepower saving the day. In the other half, it's American know-how, American hard work, or American honesty, as long as they aren't sabotaged by [[StrawmanPolitical Strawman Liberals]]. Sometimes a combination of these is thrown in for the sake of variety, and in fairness, other countries do get to help out from time to time. |
| 91 | ** In ''The Bear and the Dragon'', the US sends an armored division and a fighter wing to help Russia hold off an invasion from China. It's made plain that the Russians wouldn't have won without US aid. |
| 92 | ** ''Literature/RainbowSix'' actually subverts this; the guy who ends up saving the day is a ''Russian'' who eventually alerts the Rainbow agents of the plot to [[spoiler:spread viral agents at the Olympics.]] |
| 93 | ** Also subverted in ''Literature/RedStormRising'' when the ''USS Chicago'' is saved from a Soviet attack submarine by the British submarine ''HMS Torbay''. |
| 94 | * Zigzagged in Creator/MatthewReilly's novels, where the most common plot thread is probably "good America saves the day from evil America". In no novels are Americans solely good, while ''Seven Ancient Wonders'' is the only one where they're solely bad. |
| 95 | * Discussed in Antti Tuuri's ''Literature/TheWinterWar'', when the war breaks out. There's a rumor that America is coming to Finland's help since they will not have small, free nations attacked like this. |
| 96 | * Inverted in Christopher Ruocchio's ''Literature/TheSunEater'' sci-fi (sci-fantasy?) series. The Americans (as well as any other Earth-based) nation no longer exist in the far future, because the Americans accidentally unleashed an A.I. takeover that reduced humanity almost to ashes (only far-flung human colonies weren't annihilated by the machines). The American space empire was by far the largest in human history, but there's such a dim view of them that the name American is forgotten, instead the memory was bastardized and they're known as the Mericanii (and Mericanii colonies have long since been divvied up by the human survivors). It was Great Britain (or rather one of their space colonies) that saved the day with their Windsor royal-in-exile who became the GodEmperor of humanity. |
| 97 | * Averted in Harry Turtledove's ''Literature/WorldWar'' series. After an alien invasion fleet lands all over Earth in 1942, the unoccupied parts of America are barely able to keep their own war effort going, let alone provide more than token aid to other nations. When the alien Fleetlord is finally forced to the peace table, the US can only secure their own sovereignty and Canada's and can do nothing for humans left under alien rule (or Nazi and Communist tyranny either). |
| 98 | [[/folder]] |
| 99 | |
| 100 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 101 | * ''Series/TwentyFour'' employs this trope in the sixth season, where the American CTU not only has to save America from terrorists, but also has to [[spoiler:recover a device stolen from the Russians by the Chinese, to stop World War III from happening. Yes, really.]] |
| 102 | %%* Subverted in this ''[[http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=91998&title=billions-and-billions Daily Show]]'' segment. |
| 103 | * Discussed in the ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode "G.I. Jeff". Jeff dreams that he and the study group are members of Franchise/GIJoe. While they're defending the Taj Mahal from an attack by Cobra, Annie (under the code name Tight Ship) asks why an American unit is defending an Indian landmark. Her question is brushed aside by Flint. |
| 104 | * {{Subverted}} in the Spetsnaz vs. Green Beret episode of ''Series/DeadliestWarrior'', but played straight in every other encounter. |
| 105 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 106 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E10TheDoctorDances "The Doctor Dances"]]: Despite the episode being set in 1941, mere months before the Americans officially joined the Allies and came to Britain's direct aid, the most obvious use of the trope is never discussed. On the other hand, Rose is confident enough that the swaggering ([[FakeAmerican fake]]) American (from the distant future) will come through that she insists on the Doctor taking a break for a bit so they can dance. |
| 107 | ** Subverted in [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion "The Christmas Invasion"]]. When Major Blake informs Prime Minister Harriet Jones that the US President wants to take control of the possible invasion, Jones answers, "You can tell the President — and please use these exact words — he's not my boss and he's certainly not turning this into a war." |
| 108 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E11TurnLeft "Turn Left"]] subverts it again: After Britain is devastated by the crash of the starship ''[[Recap/DoctorWho2007CSVoyageOfTheDamned Titanic]]'', America promises a large amount of aid money to help. But then 60 million Americans are [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E1PartnersInCrime turned into Adipose]], so they have to focus on recovering from that disaster instead. |
| 109 | * In ''Series/{{Helix}}'', this is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by Dr. Sarah Jordan when she points out to their army liaison that neither the CDC nor USAMRIID should have jurisdiction over an outbreak at an Arctic Biosystems research facility, as it's in international territory. Major Balleseros {{handwave}}s this away, noting they've been allowed temporary access as the first to receive a distress call. |
| 110 | * A piece of animation on ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' starts with a secretary at her typewriter and is overcome by a sea of Communist Chinese nationals. This leads to a segment that is a commercial by Uncle Sam for American defense which uses an x-ray of a decayed tooth as a metaphor for a small country overrun by Communism (and the ensuing Domino Effect it has on the others) and how American defense fights the decay and protects the tooth. (Which leads to a Crelm toothpaste commercial using two cars which leads to a Shrill petrol commercial...) |
| 111 | * ''Series/SpaceAboveAndBeyond'': The war with the Chigs is a UsefulNotes/UnitedNations operation, and the [[UsefulNotes/ChineseWithChopperSupport People's Liberation Army]], [[UsefulNotes/BritsWithBattleships Coldstream Guards]], and [[UsefulNotes/FinnsWithFearsomeForests Finnish Air Force]] all make appearances. However, the US Navy and Marine Corps forces are both the focus of the series and consistently the most successful combatants. |
| 112 | * Generally played straight with the ''Franchise/{{Stargate|Verse}}'' franchise, with the US Air Force gathering alien technology and allies to fight in defense of the Earth. At the same time, it justifies this by acknowledging the mistrust, politicking, and power struggles that would occur if other nations learned about it... which is exactly what happens when the Russians start running their own program, and together they let other major world powers in on the secret. Eventually the Stargate program goes international, but it's still supervised by the US, and most of the characters are Americans. Specifically, going from [[http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Main_characters the Stargate Wiki's list of main characters]]: |
| 113 | ** In ''Series/StargateSG1'', six main characters were Americans and three were aliens. |
| 114 | ** In ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', six main characters were Americans, one was Canadian, one was Scottish, two were aliens, and a major recurring character was Czech. |
| 115 | ** In ''Series/StargateUniverse'', six main characters are Americans and one is Scottish. |
| 116 | *** The Battle of Antarctica in the TV movie/two-parter "Lost City" is all about America [[BigDamnHeroes coming to save the day]], as ''Prometheus'' and its squadron of F-302s fight the first (and only) straight-up battle against the Goa'uld on Earth. |
| 117 | * Besides hating the ThemeSong, another issue some fans had with the opening credits of ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' was that, in its attempt to highlight human enterprise and vessels similarly named "Enterprise", it seemed to only detail American achievements in naval, aerial, and space exploration (excepting the H.M.S. ''Enterprise''). No mention of Sputnik, or even a glimpse of Yuri Gagarin. |
| 118 | * [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in ''Series/{{Chernobyl}}'': While brainstorming possible ways to source a robot to clear the most radioactive section of the reactor building roof[[note]]A West German police bot used earlier was fried in seconds thanks to the Soviet government massively understating the radiation levels it would be exposed to[[/note]], Shcherbina suggests asking the Americans as a last resort. General Tarakanov shoots the idea down, pointing out that even if the Americans had the technology and were willing to lend it, the Central Committee [[SlaveToPr would never stoop so low as to ask their enemy for help]]. |
| 119 | [[/folder]] |
| 120 | |
| 121 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 122 | * In ''TabletopGame/{{Pandemic}}'', the object of the game is to save humanity from various diseases that have sprung up worldwide. The players start in Atlanta, headquarters of the US Center For Disease Control, implying that they are part of that organization, rather than, say, the World Health Organization. |
| 123 | [[/folder]] |
| 124 | |
| 125 | [[folder:Toys]] |
| 126 | * The story for ''[=ZombieLab=]'' is set in a quarantined Hong Kong, yet a civil combat group comes all the way from (the also-endangered) America to help. |
| 127 | [[/folder]] |
| 128 | |
| 129 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 130 | * Played so straight in ''VideoGame/AmericasArmy'', to the point that players always see themselves as U.S. Army infantry, while the opposing team appears as terrorists. This isn't surprising given that it's openly a propaganda tool authorized and funded by the United States Army. |
| 131 | * Taken to the extreme in ''VideoGame/{{Broforce}}'': Every single character is a LawyerFriendlyCameo of action movie characters, all of them turned into gun-toting, freedom loving murder machines who proudly display the American flag everywhere, up to and including [[Film/{{Braveheart}} Bro Heart]], who is based on a real-life Scottish historical figure and [[Franchise/{{Predator}} Brodator]], who is an alien. Of course, since this is a parody of action movies where the enemies are a bunch of terrorists, aliens and [[spoiler:Satan himself]], their crazy antics are completely justified. |
| 132 | * ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyWorldAtWar'' also subverts this, with the final mission of the Americans being more of a portrayal of the rest of the Marines being fortunate enough to survive and go home after a final massive assault against the Imperial Japanese Army under General Ushijima at Shuri Castle; whilst they spend their missions clearly struggling and being ground down by the resilient and fanatical Japanese defenders clinging to their Bushido code of HonorBeforeReason. The final mission of the game which better evokes a feeling of victory is won by the Russians taking the Reichstag in Germany. [[AnachronicOrder To be technical though, the American Marines chronologically finish the war.]] On the other hand, the Russians' missions themselves make their [[WarIsHell front seem pointlessly brutal]]. |
| 133 | * In ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerGenerals'', the US military succeeds where the Chinese military failed and successfully invades the GLA's capital, with a dramatic ending (presumably in Hong Kong) depicting the unnamed President doing a speech with Marines by his side during a press release, being cheered by onlooking civilians with an airshow of Air Force and Army aircraft flying overhead. Subverted in the ExpansionPack ''Zero Hour'' -- although America (in the first campaign) '''virtually''' defeats the GLA and saves the world during the US campaign, the GLA makes a comeback and drives the US out of Europe during '''their''' campaign, and China (in the final campaign) comes in to save the day during '''their''' campaign. That's right, America is handed its own ass and Communist China are the big heroes. All that and it still wasn't enough to keep it from getting banned in China. |
| 134 | * The universe of ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' plays with this trope like a cat's cradle. The times when Snake (any of them) is acting as an American agent, the trope is played straight; when Snake is a free agent as part of Philanthropy, the American military is sometimes portrayed as not helping with or '''contributing''' to a problem (like the tanker incident in ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty MGS2]]''), and sometimes as coming to Snake's aid (like the U.S.S. Missouri's [[BigDamnHeroes Big Damn Battleship]] moment in ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots MGS4]]''). In the end, the United States is just as much at the mercy of the machinations going on behind the scenes as the rest of the world. What it really boils down to: [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots Snake Saves the Day from the Metal Gear Solid 3 Cast]]]]. |
| 135 | * ''Heavily'' subverted in the ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' series of games: |
| 136 | ** In ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty4ModernWarfare'', it's the [[spoiler:Americans who get screwed over by their "no man left behind" policy. Your character's chopper is turned around to rescue a fellow pilot, which means that your squadron isn't out the blast range when a nuclear bomb goes off. There's also the fact that the entire sequence is played up to show how bull-headed and belligerent the US is compared to the methodical British SAS. It's the British SAS who save the day, though the American military does help some near the end -- a joint Marines/SAS mission to avoid nuclear strikes on both Moscow and Washington D.C. The Brits still fire the final shot of the conflict though. There's also cooperation from the Russian Federation's government itself, which aids the SAS in its ongoing Civil War]]. The Spectre gunship is not normally available to the British armed forces. Fortunately we have allies with a big stick, and leaders who know a good weapon when they borrow one. |
| 137 | ** In ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2'', it's the [[spoiler:British again, this time working on taking down a '''rogue American general''' who was in command of the troops that got nuked from the first game. That's right, not only is it American Doesn't Save The Day, it's The British Save The Day From America. Granted, General Shepherd's plan has more-or-less succeeded, and the open war between the US and Russia that he wanted is pretty much a guarantee, but still...]] |
| 138 | ** In ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare3'', it's played [[spoiler:more straight, with the Americans doing the bulk of the fighting throughout World War III, sending large numbers of US troops over to Europe to help fight against a Russian Invasion, which to be fair, would be TruthInTelevision in reality. However, the main focus of the plot is once again on the British (assisted by a couple of Russians no less) trying to capture and stop Ultranationalist terrorist Makarov who played a role in the previous games, although the Americans do help on multiple occassions, including rescuing the Russian President. Ironically, the final act of the game, and the trilogy, focuses on a British soldier (Price) fighting alongside one of the before mentioned Russians to finish Makarov off once and for all]]. |
| 139 | ** Again happens in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2019'', as [[spoiler:the US is playing a more underhanded role alongside the UK in Urzikistan in assisting a resistance group called the ULF against both a terrorist faction and a rogue Russian Force, both to help in freeing the country and the recovery/destruction of a chemical weapon. Towards the end of the story, officially at least, the US brands the ULF as a terrorist group, leaving British SAS operatives and a few Americans to unofficially assist the ULF in the finale. Yes. It's a Resistance group, branded ''terrorists by the US'', that saves the day, albeit with unofficial assistance. Of course given the nature of this particular game, it's hard to say if it's really 'saving the day' due to the more underhanded nature of it]]. |
| 140 | ** The inversion is even more pronounced in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfareII'', as [[spoiler:you don't even play as a member of US military for the entirety of the campaign (save for few contractors of the unsanctioned Shadow Company PMC), instead the two primary playable characters, and their squadmates are British SAS operators in Task Force 141, with help from Mexican Special Forces and token American goodie Laswell. Considering the mess they are cleaning up is Iranian terrorists attacking the US thanks to a US Army General who screws up his illegal dealings and ordering the assassination of their General, this is a scenario where foreigners literally have to save the US from the consequences of their leaders' actions. To drive point home of the inversion, the game even depicted the American mercenaries in Las Almas carrying out the same atrocities as their Russian counterparts did in Urzikstan.]] |
| 141 | * Saddler hangs a lampshade on this trope in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'', but it's hardly a subversion since [[spoiler:Leon, an American agent, promptly kicks his ass and saves the day]]. This is even more notable because it a game released by a Japanese company... although Americans were the primary intended audience. |
| 142 | ** What he actually ''says'' is mocking Leon's belief that he's going to rescue Ada and escape the island like a bad Hollywood movie, and he will awaken Leon from his world of cliches, then he goes OneWingedAngel in true ''Resi'' baddie fashion. Even more hilarious, the rest of the game from this comment plays out like a Hollywood movie: [[LoveInterestTraitor Ada betrays Leon at the last minute to swipe the sample from him]], [[CollapsingLair then the island explodes]], [[OutrunTheFireball forcing him and Ashley to escape on a jetski]], and finishes up with [[RidingIntoTheSunset Ashley flirting with Leon as the two head off into the sunset.]] |
| 143 | ** Made perhaps more egregious by the fact that Leon's '''not even there''' to stop Saddler. He's there to [[SaveThePrincess save the president's daughter]]. Though he's also a highly skilled former policeman (who managed to survive and play a major role in stopping a massive biohazard on his first and only day on the job) turned special agent who stopped ANOTHER potential viral superweapon in South America. Leon's just that damn good (who happens to be American). |
| 144 | * ''VideoGame/{{Resistance}}: Fall of Man'', an AlternateHistory game based on UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, with TheVirus in place of Nazis and a different timeline. |
| 145 | ** Initially, in the game, the US was an almost totally ineffectual faction whose involvement was restricted to providing supplies due to strong isolationist tendencies. At the last minute, the Americans finally get seriously involved, and have a major role in finally winning things. |
| 146 | ** ''Resistance 2'' goes all out with this trope, though; even the main character's superhuman abilities are quickly revealed to be due to experimentation by the U.S. Army, rather than the random fluke they appeared to be in the original game. [[spoiler:Although, it's ultimately subverted, as they end up messing up badly]]. Not to mention they get steamrolled, like everyone else. |
| 147 | * Subverted in the original ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'': the US Army occupies Japan because it's been invaded by demons. In the end, [[spoiler:the US ends up nuking Japan, and you play through the rest of the game in the aftermath of the nukes.]] |
| 148 | * Subverted and attacked in ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine''. Both Konrad (leading the 33rd) and [[spoiler:Walker]] continually disobey their orders in an attempt to help the people of Dubai after a sandstorm strikes the city, but their efforts are driven more by a PowerFantasy of becoming a hero than by any genuine sense of altruism, and [[spoiler:ultimately they only succeed in making an already bad situation even worse]]. Meanwhile, the CIA also has a plan to "save the day" in Dubai: [[spoiler:namely, [[SinisterSpyAgency killing every survivor of the sandstorm]] so that the truth of the atrocities the 33rd has committed in Dubai in the name of maintaining order [[LeaveNoWitnesses will never get out]], for fear of this causing a war between the US and the Middle East.]] |
| 149 | * Subverted in ''VideoGame/XCom'', where the manual to the game specifically notes that several national governments attempted to confront the alien threat individually and were ineffective; the X-Com project controlled by the player is therefore, at least initially, an international organization funded and supported by every nation on Earth (and keeping their support is a major part of the game.) The United States does realistically (or at least, realistically in terms of what would likely be possible in such a scenario) contribute more money than any other nation, though. |
| 150 | ** Given the similarity of ''X-Com'' to Gerry Anderson's ''UFO'', it's not surprising the accents are American. |
| 151 | ** Also in the novelization ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-COM_:_UFO_Defense_-_A_Novel yes, there is one]]) one of the main X-Com bases is in Morocco. |
| 152 | ** The logic behind this trope -- and the downfall of thinking like that -- is demonstrated in the backstory. The whole in-universe idea of X-COM originally came from a Japanese unit called the Kiryu-Kai, who were disbanded after five months with no success in intercepting [=UFOs=] precisely because the aliens are a '''worldwide''' threat that '''everyone''' needs to contribute to solving, thus leading to the formation of the multinational X-COM after Kiryu-Kai's disbandment. |
| 153 | * Subverted in ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder''. The United States held out the longest out of the Allies in the [[HopelessWar Hopeless]] [[CurbStompBattle Curbstomp War]] that World War II became, but [[{{Irony}} once the Nazis dropped a nuclear weapon on New York, the American government realized they could not compete with the massive technological advantages of Nazi Germany, and surrendered]]. |
| 154 | [[/folder]] |
| 155 | |
| 156 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 157 | * Subverted like crazy in ''[[http://www.drunkduck.com/PiLLI__ADVENTURE/ PiLLI ADVENTURE]]'', where more often than not the Americans (usually two NASA agents) show up just as the day is about to be saved and completely and totally screw things up. They also cause the problem on occasion. |
| 158 | [[/folder]] |
| 159 | |
| 160 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 161 | * Sardonically referenced in dark comedy podcast ''Podcast/FatFrenchAndFabulous''. Janel, one of the hosts, is particularly skeptical of American military adveturism, as she herself works with veterans. |
| 162 | -->'''Janel:''' We have orange juice and tomato juice... and we also have intercontinental death and destruction. Would you like cookies or pretzels? Or a forever war against terrorism? |
| 163 | -->'''Jessica:''' Forever war? Okay, well, I'm going to give you another napkin. That could get messy. |
| 164 | * This is, depending on who you ask, either harshly subverted or simply averted in ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest''. Averted because, well, the marines haven't come storming onto the islands to rescue the children at any juncture in any of the three games. However, a subversion could be argued in that, on a number of occasions, a [[HopeSpot rescue has been teased or hinted at]], only for it to prove to be a hallucination or dream. |
| 165 | ** [[spoiler:Finally played straight in v4.]] |
| 166 | [[/folder]] |
| 167 | |
| 168 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 169 | * Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Tearjerker" where Stan tries to fulfill this trope, even shouting "America to the rescue!" as he does it, but instead ends up crushing the Film/JamesBond-style British agent with a snowmobile: |
| 170 | -->'''British dude:''' Smith! I don't need your help!\ |
| 171 | '''Stan:''' Nobody needs America's help! Until they need it! |
| 172 | * ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': In "Scrap Happy Daffy," the spirits of Daffy's ancestors appear to galvanize Daffy into defeating the Nazis--notably the goat that bested him at his scrap pile drive. Daffy turns into "Super American!" |
| 173 | [[/folder]] |
| 174 | |
| 175 | %%% |
| 176 | %% No real life, please |
| 177 | %%% |
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