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[[quoteright:330:[[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/captainamerica29_330_8376.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:330:And he's a One Man ''[[CaptainPatriotic U.S. Army]]''.]]

->'''Loki:''' I have an army.\\
'''[[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]]:''' [[ComicBook/TheAvengers We]] have a [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]].
-->-- ''Film/TheAvengers2012''

Sometimes TheHero (or TheBigGuy in their [[TheTeam team]]) will face a large horde of Mooks and tell their [[BigBad leader]] they're going down. The leader will often say, "YouAndWhatArmy", then discover that the hero doesn't ''need'' one. This one person ''is'' the army and can go around killing ''thousands'' of enemies.

The One-Man Army does far more than pull their own weight. Villains tend to underestimate this person at first, considering him JustOneMan. They are quickly proven wrong. This is often {{justified|Trope}} by making the character a SuperSoldier against mundanes, possessing far superior weaponry, or otherwise tremendously advantaged.

[[ThereAreNoTherapists The damage to the psychological state]] of someone like this is not always considered. It is usually affected by [[ItGetsEasier taking so many lives]] away. The impact of this is lessened if the character is explicitly a LivingWeapon and/or if the enemies are FacelessGoons or [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman don't register as human beings]] and therefore exist solely to provide a MookHorrorShow. Alternatively, the character may inflict [[NonLethalKO Non-Lethal KOs]] instead.

In a series aimed at younger audiences, they may [[NonLethalKO simply defeat]] large masses of people rather than outright kill them. In playing this trope, it is useful to have the [[ArmiesAreEvil Evil Army]] try to ZergRush said character in TheWarSequence. This trope caters to everyone's inner {{Munchkin}}; 99% of {{First Person Shooter}}s ever made fall under this.

Often goes hand-in-hand with ItsUpToYou and WalkingArmory. When the One-Man Army is intentionally sent out to take care of the problem by himself, it's a case of OneRiotOneRanger. Compare and contrast PersonOfMassDestruction, who's symbolically treated like a weapon by the setting, and OmnicidalManiac, who is all too willing to push themselves into this territory. In the latter case, the OmnicidalManiac often gains their kill-count through using [[WeaponOfMassDestruction WMDs]] on hapless civilians rather than personally fighting enemy combatants. Villains who are like this aren't bothered by MookDepletion.

Being one of these qualifies you as a CrewOfOne (though not for a BigBadassBattleSequence). However, [[DudeWheresMyRespect very few people will respect your ability]], or worse, seek to abuse it because "WeDoTheImpossible" is in effect. Contrast with the BadassArmy where each individual could be considered this but are part of said army, as well as the EasilyConqueredWorld where it's the severely, severely outnumbered enemies who are kicking ass and taking names. If one man ''makes'' the army, then you have TheMinionMaster. Likewise, if one man ''becomes'' the army, it's MesACrowd. May be a case of TheDreaded, where the hero is more of a TerrorHero and is single-handedly the most dangerous entity on the battlefield to the point where the enemy may begin focusing on him/her out of knowledge that if they can't defeat the hero, [[CurbStompBattle they're going to lose hard]].

Compare ShowyInvincibleHero and TheAce. See also ConservationOfNinjitsu, which postulates that being outnumbered ''is'' what gives the character the advantage. Compare GideonPloy for a more literal one-man army. A subtrope of QualityOverQuantity.

While RealLife examples do exist, this is generally not a good idea in RealLife.

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!!Examples:

[[index]]
* OneManArmy/AnimeAndManga
* OneManArmy/ComicBooks
* OneManArmy/FanWorks
* OneManArmy/{{Film}}
* OneManArmy/{{Literature}}
* OneManArmy/LiveActionTV
* OneManArmy/MythologyAndReligion
* OneManArmy/ProfessionalWrestling
* OneManArmy/TabletopGames
* OneManArmy/VideoGames
* OneManArmy/WebComics
* OneManArmy/WesternAnimation
* OneManArmy/RealLife
[[/index]]

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!!Other

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Manhua]]
* Several characters in ''Webcomic/TheGodOfHighSchool'' are this, but very few can match Jin Mo Ri's feat of [[spoiler:wiping out over 180,000 angels the size of skyscrapers in ''under thirty seconds'' after unlocking his power as the Monkey King.]]
* Multiple characters in ''Manhua/RavagesOfTime'' are able to hold their own against whole armies, such as Liaoyuan Huo and Zhang Liao. A special notice goes to Lu Bu who, with his daughter strapped to his back, tried to break through the siege of Xiapi; he was severely out-numbered but managed to take out all of Cao Cao's generals and was only defeated when he was absolutely exhausted.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
%%* Diwa de Leon. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNN070zQ-Cw Observe.]]
* The Music/{{Evile}} song "First Blood" [[ShoutOut is based]] [[FilkSong on]] Franchise/{{Rambo}} so it pretty much needs to contain this trope.
%%* Press Play On Tape's song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k41em4dr30g The Man With The Gun]]" is entirely dedicated to this trope.
* "Army of Me" by Music/{{Bjork}}.
%%* The members of Music/{{GWAR}} on occasion.
%%* Music/{{Manowar}} has a few songs about this.
* "One Woman Army" by Porcelain Black, naturally.
* "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes is about one man taking on the titular army.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pinball]]
* The ''Pinball/AirborneAvenger'' is implied to be one.
* The player character "Hitman" is this in ''[[Pinball/F14Tomcat F-14 Tomcat]]'', being a lone fighter pilot against General Yagov and his Russian fighter squadron.
* ''Pinball/{{Raven}}'' is supposed to be one, as a DistaffCounterpart to Franchise/{{Rambo}}.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* ''Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac'': Between Act I and Act II, Cyrano stands against one hundred men and kills [[ButForMeItWasTuesday eight of them]] (as you can see in RealLife, this was TruthInTelevision). Between Act IV and Act V, he manages to survive the LastStand of only one company of [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Gascon]] cadets against ''all'' the Spanish Army.
* Hector in ''Theatre/TroilusandCressida'', according to the Greek general Nestor:
-->There is a thousand Hectors in the field:\\
Now here he fights on Galathe his horse,\\
And there lacks work; anon he's there afoot,\\
And there they fly or die, like scaled sculls\\
Before the belching whale; then is he yonder,\\
And there the strawy Greeks, ripe for his edge,\\
Fall down before him, like the mower's swath:\\
Here, there, and every where, he leaves and takes,\\
Dexterity so obeying appetite\\
That what he will he does, and does so much\\
That proof is call'd impossibility.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Toys]]
* Played oh-so-straight when Wrestling/SgtSlaughter joined the ranks of Franchise/GIJoe. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QN1MP-QFcg The]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUbgVzMboKs&feature=related commercials]] were something else...
* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'':
** Toa usually work in teams, but there are occasions where they manage to demolish small armies. One particular example that stands out is Kopaka defeating three dozen Zyglak offscreen. What makes this even more impressive is that Zyglak are almost immune to [[ElementalPowers Elemental Powers]] which Toa usually use as their primary attack.
** Axonn and Brutaka are each worth a team of Toa by themselves, and together they handle an army of Skakdi warriors[[note]] A Skadi is usually about as physically strong as a Toa[[/note]], only handicapped by the fact they're there to broker an alliance and thus not (intentionally) trying to kill any of them.
** The Makuta take the cake thanks to their ComboPlatterPowers and the fact they can literally spawn their own personal army of kraata and Rahkshi. [[BigBad Teridax]] once [[HoldTheLine held his own]] and survived fighting odds of ''100,000'' to 1, albeit with his robot vessel beaten to a barely-functioning pulp by the end of it.
* ''Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse'': He-Man, the Most Powerful Man in the Universe. Of course, he doesn't always fight the forces of evil by himself...
* ''Franchise/TransformersGeneration1'': Sixshot is dubbed a "One-Robot Army”, having tremendous amounts of power and versatility due to his rare ability of being able to [[TransformingMecha transform]] into six different modes. His official designation is S.T.A.G.-Solo Transformer Assault Group.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* ''VisualNovel/CiconiaWhenTheyCry'' revolves around a new invention, the Gauntlet, that allows its wearer to [[{{Flight}} fly]], [[BarrierWarrior project protective barriers]], and [[BagOfHolding carry tons of weaponry]]. The Gauntlets can only be used by a small group of soldiers who [[ChildSoldiers have been trained since infancy and are still quite young]], meaning that all the military power in the world has suddenly been put in the hands of idealistic youths. The story {{deconstruct|edTrope}}s the idea of these kids being given so much power: Miyao, the protagonist, is an idealist who formulates a plan for world peace and decides now's the only time it could work, before the Gauntlet Knights get older and become corrupt adults, and convinces several elite Gauntlet Knights from other nations' armies to go along with him, but ultimately, they are still dependent on adults to refuel their Gauntlets, so going against their military interests ends up having unexpected consequences.
* In ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', [[spoiler:Peko Pekoyama becomes one in her execution (which is even called "One-Woman Army" in English), taking down numerous Monokuma attackers armed solely with her sword. In the process, she accidentally slashes out Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu's eye, at which point she gives up and allows herself to be killed.]]
* ''VisualNovel/GrisaiaSeries'': Though the previous novels in the series handled protagonist Yuuji's capabilities with at least a touch of realism, by the end of ''[[VisualNovel/TheEdenOfGrisaia Eden]]'', [[spoiler: when he assaults Oslo's base in the climax, he carves a bloody path through his private army, taking down 40-50 armed mercenaries.]]
* ''VisualNovel/MajikoiLoveMeSeriously'' has [[WorldOfBadass many characters]] who can beat up masses of people by themselves. For instance, most of the named characters in the Kawakami War are essentially {{Hero Unit}}s.
* Abraham Van Helsing is the single toughest fighter the protagonists of ''VisualNovel/CodeRealize'' have on their side. So much so that when they're attacked by multiple enemy airships in the anime, their solution is load Van into cannon and shoot ''him'' at the enemy. Van then proceeds to move from airship to airship, taking them out one after the other.
[[/folder]]


[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''Website/CollegeHumor'' video "Video Game Boss Lament" has villains expressing shock to their minions at how a protagonist is able to get through them.
* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': Implied with Melinda, considering it took the ''entire population of her MirrorUniverse'' to weaken her enough to seal her away, as seen in the flashback in "The Mystery of Melinda".
* Millie from ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'' is a FragileSpeedster variation of the trope: If she gets hit even once, odds are she's down for the count. But as long as she's not getting hit, she's one of the deadliest [[PintsizedPowerhouse imps]] in all of Hell. She has single-handedly taken down a {{Kaiju}} with nothing but a knife, made mince out of a [[TheMenInBlack demon-hunting government organization]] with a battleaxe, and turned a demonic [[SharkMan Loan Shark]] mob family into sushi mostly using [[GrievousHarmWithABody whatever she could rip out of their own bodies]].
* Hank from ''WebAnimation/MadnessCombat'' is perhaps the universal embodiment of this trope. In the flashes, he could kill ''a hundred guys in five minutes''.
** Jebus also qualifies. As well as all of the fan-characters.
* In Episode 67 of ''WebAnimation/TheMostPopularGirlsInSchool'', Brittnay [[spoiler: kills all four of ''Film/TheExpendables'', in self-defense.]]
* ''Every. Single. Freelancer. Ever.'' from ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue''. Season 9 makes this ''very'' apparent.
** When sufficiently angered, Caboose can smash his way through dozens of soldiers. Problem is, he's [[TheDitz Caboose]], so he forgets how to get angry fairly often.
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': The Vacuo Campaign was the decisive battle of the Great War after the King of Vale took to the front lines to defend Vacuo from Mantle and Mistral. Wreaking such devastation that both his enemies and ally surrendered, he refused their offer to rule the world in favour of brokering world peace by restructuring governments, stepping down as king and creating the Huntsmen Academies. Eighty years later, historians may believe his exploits were hyperbole, but Vacuo still hasn't recovered. [[spoiler:He's also [[ResurrectiveImmortality heavily implied]] to be the deceptively passive [[BigGood Professor Ozpin]].]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'':
** Technoblade, with virtue of being played by [[WebVideo/{{Technoblade}} the content creator of the same name]], is proficient in combat to the point of being able to equally match three people in a fight with a [[PowerfulPick pickaxe]]. Quackity even identifies him as "the next best thing" to an army during the Red Banquet.
** This is also implied to be the case for Purpled. While he rarely displays his combat prowess on the SMP due to his [[TeamSwitzerland lack of involvement]] in most of the server's events, Quackity hires him to [[BigDamnHeroes take on the Eggpire with him]], calling him the best [[HiredGuns mercenary]] he could find across the land and one of the best fighters on the server. Considering that out-of-universe, Purpled is renowned for playing Bedwars, a combat-intensive minigame, to the point that he is nicknamed "[[TheMagnificent Purpled Bedwars]]", this reputation is very justified.
* LetsPlay/{{Galm}} comments on this when he plays ''VideoGame/SniperElite III'': "I am the most interesting man in this world. We need like fifty of me."
* In the pilot of ''WebVideo/HoganVsFlair'', the card features the "Wrestling/KevinNash Burial Gauntlet Match". It's pretty much Nash just destroying one guy after another after another with his [[FinishingMove Jackknife Powerbomb]], parodying the way the RealLife Nash would always insist on winning (and get his way most of the time.)
* ''[[https://youtu.be/8vYFFx4whoE Knight of Hope]]'' sees a single KnightInShiningArmor take on an entire bandit camp by himself to save a woman they'd been keeping as a SexSlave. While he does come out of it exhausted and injured, he successfully kills them all by himself. Even more to this trope is the bandits do not abide by MookChivalry, he's just that skilled, [[ArmorIsUseless full-plate armor]] is [[SubvertedTrope far more useful]] than Hollywood would have you believe it is, and it's heavily implied [[DivineIntervention God himself is behind him]]. Notably, this isn't as outlandish as it would seem, as a well trained, fully armored knight would have a serious advantage against unarmored, untrained opponents, especially given few of the bandits have the proper weapons to damage him through his armor.
* The [[BadassArmy Kriegan Army]] from ''Literature/{{Lambda}}''. Each soldier is trained to take down dozens of enemies by themselves. Higher up, their elite Knights of Grabacr are up there at PersonOfMassDestruction.
* ''WebVideo/PiratesSMP'':
** {{Implied|Trope}} with Acho. Although star never gets to fight any large groups on-screen, after [[spoiler:stars brother, Scott, gets kidnapped]] on Day 75, Acho has declared starself to be willing to take on 20 Hooded Figures at a time [[spoiler:if it means getting Scott back]], has successfully pulled off an AssassinOutclassin against Bek, a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy member of the Kite faction]], and tends to win if anyone tries to pick a fight with star.
** In the finale, the "insane Cultist" [[spoiler:assigned to capture the pirates and take them to [[BigBad Iris]]]], Ohca, is able to go up against about ''sixteen'' different pirates and lasts a substantial amount of time before being taken down, even [[spoiler:killing five people]] and ''water-bucket clutching'' in the fight.[[note]]They're [[ActingForTwo also]] played by [[TheDanza Acho]] the content creator, for the record, which only suggests character-Acho is capable of pulling off the same feats.[[/note]]
%%* [[Website/SCPFoundation SCP]]-[[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-076 076-2]]
* ''WebVideo/SMPLive'': Sneeg [[spoiler:takes out 5 people in a short amount of time in "INSANE MINECRAFT 1v5"]].
* As a result of the Mob's total inability to switch out Pokemon, some Mons in ''WebVideo/TwitchPlaysPokemon'' tend to fall into this category. Pidgeot ("Bird Jesus") from the first run is the primary example, but Feraligatr ("LazorGator") and Azumarill ("M4 Moe") also have this status.
* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' has quite a few, but the standout example is Contessa, who has singlehandedly delivered a CurbStompBattle to a large group of people in every fight she's been in.
[[/folder]]

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