Line #9 OneManArmy/MythologyAndReligion


1	* Siegfried of Xanthen (nordic: Sigurd), central figure of the Nibelungenlied. He fought against the combined armies of Saxons and Danes on the burgundian side. Depending on the source, he either killed hundreds of men in battle and then the two respective kings or he just defeated them in a duel.
2	* Dietrich of Bern fought many battles against multiple foes. Especially later in life he helped Atilla the Hun in many battles being, as most heroes of old, like a rock in the waves.
3	* Beowulf. He singlehandedly fought Grendel, a monster fearful enough to chase of a king and his whole retinue. Without any weapons, because that would be unfair. He later killed a dragon.
4	* Roland held, alone with twelve other heroes, the Roncevaux Pass against an army of heathens, dying in the process, but not whitout killing countless foes.
5	* In ''Literature/{{Ramayana}}'', Hanuman killed hundreds of Rakshasas after he has found Sita in Lanka.
6	** Some interpretations say that the army he took with him to Lanka consisted entirely of avatars of a single deity. (This is hard to pin down, and no deity seems to have that many avatars, but there are many deities and many interpretations of each one in Hindu practice.)
7	** One of Rama's greatest feats is his battle against the Rakshasas, Khara and Dushana. In fifteen minutes, he single-handedly massacred over 14,000 Rakshasas. It is said that he shot arrows so fast, he appeared to be standing still while the Rakshasas suddenly began to drop dead.
8	* ''Literature/{{Mahabharata}}'': Almost every notable warrior in the epic counts as this.
9	** Bhishma, the old patriarch of the Kuru royal family (at least 4-5 generations old), resolved to kill at least 10,000 soldiers and a 1000 chariot warriors everyday during the 18-day Kurukshetra war. He fought for 10 days before he fell on a bed of arrows.
10	** Dronacharya, the OldMaster of an entire generation of Kshatriyas, was known to put young warriors to shame with his prowess in archery.
11	* Bhima single-handedly slew all hundred Kaurava brothers during the course of the war.
12	** Abhimanyu, one of the youngest warriors of the Kurukshetra war, is best known for his feats on the 13th day of the war. After an attempt in penetrating the notoriously difficult Chakravyuha (a military formation made up of eight concentric circles), that went wrong, Abhimanyu was trapped alone in the formation. His father, Arjuna, had not taught him how to exit the formation. Nevertheless, Abhimanyu fought on, killing 10,000 enemy troops and defeating formidable warriors like Shalya, Duhshasana, Duryodhana, and even his father's rival, Karna. Eventually, the Kauravas violated the code of honour during war, ganged up on Abhimanyu and killed him.
13	** That night, Abhimanyu's father, Arjuna, was devastated upon his son's death and flew into rage after learning of his unfair death at the hands of the Kauravas. He held Jayadratha responsible for sealing the Chakravyuha that led to his son's death and vowed to kill him before sundown to avenge Abhimanyu's death. The following day, Arjuna embarked on his mission, killing Sudakshina, Shrutayu, Ashrutayu, Niyatayu, Dirghayu, Vinda, Anuvinda, and Shrutayudha as well as massacring hundreds and thousands of enemy troops along the way. As the greatest archer of his time, Arjuna single-handedly confronted an entire lineup of the best warriors, including Karna, Shalya, Kripacharya, Ashwatthama, Duryodhana, Vrishasena, and Bhurishravas. Eventually, with some help from Krishna, Arjuna fulfils his vow by beheading Jayadratha before sunset.
14	* In ''Literature/TheShahnameh'' Rostam singlehandedly conquers the land of Mazandaran where Key Kavous fails to do so with an army and frees the captured king and Persians.
15	* The early Welsh legends about Myth/KingArthur (found in, among others, ''Literature/HistoriaBrittonum'') claim that Arthur personally killed more than 900 Saxons in the Battle of Badon Hill:
16	-->''"(..) there fell in one day 960 men from one charge by Arthur; and no one struck them down except Arthur himself."'' (Section 56)
17	-->''"In this engagement, nine hundred and forty[[note]]Yes, the book is at odds with itself.[[/note]] fell by his hand alone, no one but the Lord affording him assistance."'' (Section 56a)
18	* The "einhärjar" of Myth/NorseMythology are dead warriors brought to Valhalla to fight and feast all day until Ragnarök. Not only does a warrior that endlessly train for years upon years sound nigh-unmatchable, the term "einhärjar" translated from Old Norse means [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "army of one"]].
19	* Myth/IrishMythology:
20	** In the ''Literature/TheCattleRaidOfCooley'', Queen Medb decides to invade Ulster just as all of its men fall ill due to an age-old curse. The only soldier unaffected is the teenage Cu Chulainn. He manages to single-handedly hold off Medb's forces for ''months'' - and this is ''before'' he goes into a [[SuperpoweredEvilSide warp spasm]].
21	** Several figures in the Fenian Cycle, both heroic and villainous, are varitable one-man armies to varying degrees. Which makes sense, considering entry into the Fianna included being able to fight off 9 warriors at once while buried up to your waist, so even The Fianna's lowliest RedShirt is theoretically worth 9 normal warriors in any other army.
22	* [[Myth/AztecMythology Huitzilopochtli]] (as befits a war god, of course). The first thing he did upon being born (fully grown) was kill 400 gods (his sisters, to be exact). The ones that survived he continues to chase to this day, preventing them from eating the world. [[JustSoStory Which is why]] the sun follows the stars through the sky, and why eclipses are ''bad news''.
23	* Literature/TheBible:
24	** Samson is known for slaughtering one-third of a three thousand-strong army before the rest fled, with a jawbone.
25	** The angel that was sent to protect Jerusalem from invasion of Sennacherib's army. It killed ''185,000'' soldiers in one night. By the time Sennacherib woke up, the tents of his army had nothing but corpses.
26	** Nothing above compares to Jesus, though. The Book of Revelation says that when Jesus returns, He's going to one-shot an entire army whose numbers are like "sand in the beach".
27	* As mentioned in ''Literature/TheIliad'' and depicted in ''Literature/TheThebaid'', Tydeus is able to fight off fifty men (including several demigods). He crushes five men by throwing a boulder on them, he skewers a fierce assassin by throwing a lance through his tongue, and continues on like this until he's single-handedly killed forty-nine soldiers who had the element of surprise. He then allows the single survivor to bear the bad news back to his boss in Thebes.

Context OneManArmy / MythologyAndReligion