Line #45 PlayingWith/AFatherToHisMen


1	'''Basic Trope''': A leader in the military is seen as a fatherly figure by his soldiers.
2
3	* '''Straight''': The soldiers under Captain Alex of Tropeland see him as a father figure.
4	* '''Exaggerated''': Captain Alex's soldiers begin to actually believe that Captain Alex is their dad and even begins to call him as such.
5	* '''Downplayed''': Captain Alex has a mentor relationship with most of his men, and they all look up to him, but it's mostly professional.
6	* '''Justified''':
7	** Captain Alex's soldiers see him as a father figure because they miss their dads back home.
8	** The men see him as a father figure because he is middle aged and he treats the 18 year old soldiers like his sons.
9	** Captain Alex is respected by the soldiers as he understands them; he came UpThroughTheRanks.
10	** BenevolentBoss
11	** ReasonableAuthorityFigure
12	** Captain Alex and his first sergeant work as CaptainSmoothAndSergeantRough
13	* '''Inverted''':
14	** [[TeamDad Captain Alex sees all his soldiers as sons]].
15	** Captain Alex is weak and indecisive. He sees all his (much more competent) sergeants and lieutenants as mentors.
16	** Sergeant Timothy Berius of Wikistan is TheNeidermeyer.
17	** WeHaveReserves
18	** BadBoss
19	* '''Gender Inverted''': Captain Alice's soldiers see her as a motherly figure.
20	* '''Subverted''': [[WeHaveReserves Alex actually sees them as disposable reserves]].
21	* '''Double Subverted''':
22	** Until CharacterDevelopment kicks in, at least.
23	** It's a fakeout.
24	* '''Parodied''':
25	** Captain Alex reads his soldiers a bedtime story every night, complete with milk and cookies.
26	** "Captain Alex is like a father to us!" "Yeah, he's a mean drunk who yells at us, [[HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood just like our real dads back home]]!"
27	* '''Zig Zagged''': Captain Alex is viewed in different ways by different soldiers. Some see him as a father figure while others don't.
28	* '''Averted''':
29	** None of Captain Alex's soldiers like him or respect him.
30	** Captain Alex is an intelligence officer who spends most of his time at a desk and doesn't interact with soldiers in the field.
31	* '''Enforced''': The film is sponsored by the army to be used as a recruiting tool. To persuade young men to join the army, every single officer in the film is portrayed as a supportive leader and father to his men.
32	* '''Lampshaded''': "Lucky you. The captain leading your company is an excellent guy. A father figure of sorts, so to say."
33	* '''Invoked''': Alex behaves like this because he wants his soldiers to support him in his [[AffablyEvil planned coup against his superiors]].
34	* '''Exploited''': Charlie, a homeless runaway looking for a ParentalSubstitute or at least a mentor, joins the army because he hears about the legendary Alex.
35	* '''Implied''': When asked if he has any family, Charlie sits back in his chair and recalls his time serving in the army.
36	* '''Defied''': A few of Captain Alex's soldiers decide that Captain Bob is more of a father figure to them then Captain Alex is.
37	* '''Discussed''':
38	** "Man, Captain Alex's soldiers sure do love him." "Yeah, I think they see him as a father figure or something."
39	* '''Conversed''': "Those soldiers are acting like Captain Alex is their dad!"
40	* '''Deconstructed''':
41	** Captain Alex sacrifices himself to spare his subordinates from having to deal with immoral operations, his death inadvertently started his subordinates' SanitySlippage.
42	** The attachments Captain Alex has to his men mean that TheChainsOfCommanding fall on him all the harder. He is reluctant to send his men into danger after a while.
43	* '''Reconstructed''':
44	** Until his friend Captain Bob takes his place, and everything gradually goes back to normal.
45	* '''Played For Laughs''': Alex’s recruitment process involves his recruits signing adoption papers.
46	* '''Played For Drama''':
47	** Captain Alex is a father figure to his men in the war, while his own little children back at home suffer from ParentalAbandonment and begin to resent him.
48	** Caring so much for his men, Captain Alex gets devastated by each death in his company. His feelings of guilt and his mental state deteriorates rapidly due to his losses, [[TheAlcoholic resorting to drinking,]] [[DrivenToSuicide if not worse.]]
49	** During an ambush, Captain Alex is killed while personally leading his men in a counterattack against the enemy, which devastates his soldiers.
50	* '''Logical Extreme''': Captain Alex’s troops are his literal children.
51	----
52	Back to AFatherToHisMen

Context PlayingWith / AFatherToHisMen