Comic Book / Sargento Kirk

"Sargento Kirk" ("Sergeant Kirk") was an Argentine comic book by Héctor Germán Oesteheld and Hugo Pratt. It is set in The Western, with titular Sergeant Kirk being a veteran of The American Civil War. Troubled by the mass killings of Indians, Kirk deserts from the army to live on his own, and eventually joins the Tchatoga tribe. This left him in an uneasy situation, as the military and the Tchatogas still waged war from time to time, and he did not want to kill his former companions either.

Of course, not to be confused with the character from Star Trek: The Original Series (who in any case, is usually Captain, Admiral, Lieutenant, etc; but not Sergeant).

Tropes

• Going Native: Kirk left the military and joined the Tchatogas.
• The Kirk: The American soldiers have little concern over killing indians, as they consider them just a lot of savages. The Tchatogas, on the other hand, are all warriors ready to jump at the option to increase their renown by killing white people. Kirk always has to find a way to avoid the killing or at least keep it minimal.^note Please note that the trope is not named after this Kirk, even if it is an example and predates the Star Trek Kirk. It's simply a coincidence.
• Mighty Whitey: The Tchatogas' attack style was a purely Leeroy Jenkins one: raise your tomahawks high, run to the enemy amid screams, and hope for the best. Kirk teached some other things he learned in the military, such as the advantage of stealth and taking the enemy by surprise.
• The Savage Indian: Although the trope is not taken to the extremes of classic western, the Tchatogas are still shown as a tribe of the Proud Warrior Race Guy (specially Maha, Kirk's friend), with little hesitation to kill enemies and beasts. Kirk, however, notes that once you live with them you understand that there's more to them than just that. Played straight with rival tribes to the Tchatogas, such as the Pawnees and the Comanches.
• War Is Hell: Kirk does not like killing Indians, to the point that he deserted from the army to just live on the wild. Same goes for the elder Tchatoga chief: although he rules a tribe of warriors, he forbade to wage war against the white man, as that decimated the once proud Tchatogas in the past. Other tribes, however, are fair game.
• The Western: All the story is set in the United States' Wild West. However, it predates the "revisionist" Western for a pair of decades, classic Western was still the mainstream focus at the time.