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GOT A BREATH MINT?!
The polar opposite of a Screaming Woman. While a Screaming Woman instinctively yells at the top of her lungs at the first sign of terrifying danger, hikes up her skirts, and runs away from it, screaming all the way, a Screaming Warrior yells at the top of their lungs at the first sign of terrifying danger, hikes up his weapon, and then proceeds to charge headfirst into it, screaming all the way. Occasionally, the Screaming Warrior is the terrifying danger, at least to his enemies. Or friends.
Everyone likes a good Battle Cry right before a big fight, but this character just keeps on yelling even while the fight is well underway. Perhaps it's to intimidate their opponent, maybe it's just a habit, maybe it's to follow tradition, or maybe it's just cool to do. For bonus points, once the fight is over, don't be surprised if the character lets out one last cry of victory while standing over the pile of heap that was their opponent.
Not to be confused with Make Me Wanna Shout (where the screaming is an attack in its own right).
Make note that the trope is not limited to simply to screams. Loud, consecutive grunts and various roars very well qualify. A Screaming Warrior is most likely an angsty Badass, Action Girl, Proud Warrior Race Guy, Hot Blooded, a berserker or all of the above.
Compare Calling Your Attacks, Kiai, Leeroy Jenkins, Stab the Sky, Shouting Shooter.
Examples
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Anime & Manga
Comicbooks
- Of the numerous Screamers within comic books, Wolverine is the most well known. The characteristic has since been endowed into just about all of his incarnations.
- Naturally, his clone X-23 also shares the habit.
- The Incredible Hulk ties him with the trope.
- The Tick's battle-cry of "Spoon!" looks like it fits here.
Film
- Rambo loves this. Especially in III, where both he and the Big Bad are Screaming Warriors while playing chicken using a tank and a helicopter.
- For comedic effect, Han Solo can be seen in Star Wars as the Screaming Warrior chasing after a detachment of Stormtroopers, blaster drawn, until
they notice he's only one he runs into their reinforcements, at which point he begins screaming and running away from them.
- One of Bruce Lee's iconic traits.
- Joker has 2-4 guys like this in the '89 Batman film. One of them fights Batman in an alley with dual swords, and the other three fight in succession in the belfry scene at the end. The last guy, a Scary Black Man, provides the only real threat.
- Appears in Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas: after being swallowed and spat out by a sea monster, one of Proteus's soldiers charges screaming at the monster, prompting Sinbad to remark to Proteus, "Give that guy a raise."
- Just about every male character in the film Big Trouble in Little China is one of these.
- Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune), the farmer's son crazy pseudo-samurai in Shichinin no Samurai.
- Even characters who aren't normally warriors can pick up this habit. As Jay and Silent Bob leap in to save Bethany from the Stygian Triplets in Dogma, Jay howls "SNOOTCH TO THE MOTHERFUCKIN' NOOOOOOOOTCH!"
- Darkwolf from Fire And Ice
- Shan-Yu from Disney's Mulan, is the Screaming Warrior after his army is killed by the avalanche created by Fa Mulan (disguised as Ping).
- In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Admiral Kirk is seen as the Screaming Warrior while jumping on Commander Kruge.
- Brendan Frasier's character attempts to scare off a group of warrior mummies in The Mummy. Turns out warrior mummies have a pretty impressive scream of their own.
- Ardeth gets some Screaming Warrior moments too, notably in the sequel before he attacks Lock-Nah.
- CHAAAAARRRRGE! CHARGE THE BLOCKHOUSE!
- Last Action Hero. Jack Slater's daughter is attacked by one of the Big Bad's goons, and starts out a Screaming Woman... then continues to scream while beating the tar out of him (so his buddies will think he's still slapping her around and not interfere).
- Allied troops yell as they charge into the dunes in The Longest Day.
- Chinese armies usually scream SA! as they charge in movies (drawing it out, of course). It means 'Kill.'
- Ace Ventura in the second film, while fighting the Hatutu tribe champion
- See any Reb Brown movie, even though he Screams Like a Little Girl.
- In The Matrix, Morpheus, when he busts out of the wall to take down an Agent to allow the others, including Neo, to escape. His capture sets up the rest of the film.
- Beaten to a gruesome death in John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars. The leader of the zombie-type-things goes through every possible emotive inflection of "RARRrrrrh!" in his first ten minutes onscreen, depending on his apparent mood. Then he gets to deliver them all over again, a few times each. Scarily enough, this makes him one of the best actors in the film.
- Subverted in Young Guns. When the outlaws are seemingly cornered, Chavez appears to launch his horse at a cliff with a battle cry. Inspired by his courage, the other outlaws follow and to everyone's surprise they make it unscathed. When one of the other outlaws tells Chavez that was awesome and asks what the battle cry means in his native language, Chavez gives him a wry look and says, "Stop!"
Literature
- In Larry Niven's Ringworld, a Kzin describes the proper response to a fighting-words insult as "You scream and you leap."
Speaker-to-Animals: "Louis Wu, I found your challenge verbose. When challenging a Kzin, a simple scream of rage will suffice. You scream and you leap."
- Discworld variations:
- Sam Vimes from the City Watch books does this in Thud!!, when he's in a cave full of dwarves, going crazy from a combination of a demon in his head and not being able to read his son his bedtime story. Say it with me: THAT! IS!! NOT!!! MY!!!! COW!!!!!
- The Nac Mac Feegle do this. In abundance. At the same time. With individual yells.
- In Guards! Guards! the dwarfs are described as:
"...by nature dutiful, serious, literate, obedient and thoughtful people whose only minor failing is a tendency, after one drink, to rush at enemies screaming 'Arrrrrrgh!' and axing their legs off at the knee."
- In Interesting Times, Cohen advises Teach (a geography teacher who joined the Silver Horde out of curiosity) to imagine the enemy is everything he hates in order to work up a good beserk:
"Head teachers! Sports masters! Boys who chew gum!"
"Smoke pipes at me, would you? You! That boy there! Answer me back, eh! Take that!"
- In Brian Jacques' Redwall series, the badgers and hares have their famous battle cry, "Eulaliaaaa!". Other characters often yell "Redwall!" or "freedom!".
- Cnaiur urs Skiotha has a combination of this and Badass Boast. During battle, he screams challenges for his enemies to kill him or about how many of their countrymen he has killed. At one point this is intimidating enough that his enemies see him as an avatar of their god of war.
- Sigismundo Celine in Robert Anton Wilson's Historical Illuminatus Chronicles does this in the rare instances he's forced to fight, since his fencing teacher told him it throws the enemy off. When a mild mannered intellectual suddenly screams "DIEEEE!" at the top of his lungs, it certainly seems to work.
- Eidolon in the Horus Heresy novels.
- Subverted in The Warrior's Apprentice after Miles observes his companion's assault on an empty room, complete with a "war whoop":
Miles: You know, it might be better if we don't yell, going in. It's startling. It's bound to be a lot easier to hit people if they're not jumping around and ducking behind things.
- In Wraith Squadron, the pilot Runt has a Mind Hive. His initial pilot mind has a terrible tendency to scream a wordless, wavering warcry and plunge after the closest enemy, heedless of tactics, orders, or the fact that his craft's weapons would probably work better than ramming. His wingmate Kell helps cure him of this, and in time he apparently switches to a pilot mind that's more erudite.
- Warcries abound in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Aragorn and Eomer often use the names of their swords as battle cries, and Aragorn often uses the name of his ancestor, Elendil, as a battle cry as well. The Rohirrim have quite a few warcries, and Gimli has a battle cry in Dwarven.
Live-Action TV
Professional Wrestling
- Former WWF wrestler The Ultimate Warrior built a career out of being a screaming, snarling, grunting, face-painted lunatic.
- Those who are aware of his behavior since his retirement are convinced it's not an act.
- SHIMMER/Ring of Honor wrestler MsChif screams at her opponent all throughout her matches.
- Former WCW and current TNA wrestler Daffney also made her mark on the business by screaming.
- Goldberg used to snarl and scream a lot, also. One memorable instance was at the 2004 Royal Rumble, when he was ambushed in the ring by Brock Lesnar. He snarls "You son of a bitch!" and literally hisses like a cobra. Prime Accidental Nightmare Fuel for a lot of the kids watching, no doubt.
- Melina - though sometimes she's simply throwing a tantrum rather than trying to frighten her opponents, making her a mix of this and Screaming Woman. She does it so much, her screams are referred to as "The Primal Scream". She screams before doing both of her finishers, one of them appropriately titled the Last Call.
- "Native American warrior" wrestlers have also traditionally fallen back on this trope (the most recent being Tatanka).
- Kelly Kelly seems to be trying to out-do Melina in terms of screaming. It's a little unnerving to see the smiley happy Kelly suddenly turn into an aggressive Screaming Warrior whenever one of her matches gets serious.
Tabletop Games
- Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 have the Orcish battle cry, which they are known to scream until such time as they pass out. Say it with me: WAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!!!
- Though you can't get the full effect of the WAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!!! shout unless it's coming from at least one hundred throats. All of which are attached to berserk, bloodthirsty monstrosities that are fully capable of ripping you apart with their bare hands.
- Also: BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!
- Harriers for the cup!
- Note that Cain himself has charged in battle yelling Waaagh to throw his enemy off: First in the short story Traitor's Gambit, then in The Emperor's Finest.
- As for the Imperium: FOR THE EMPEROR!
- And the Tau: FOR THE GREATER GOOD!
- Particularly notable are the Eldar Howling Banshees, whose shrieking, wordless battlecry is psychically amplified by their helmets to paralyse the enemy.
- The list is fairly long considering the vastness of the universe.
- To the extent were the Necrons and Tyrannids are seen as more terrifying because they fight silently.
- Also the Legion of the Damned are considered scary as hell because they are wholly silent (aside from the sound of their guns)
- Not to mention they appear out of nowhere, wearing black Power Armor decorated with bones and wield heavy weapons, as pictured here◊.
- Dungeons & Dragons has multiple mechanics for this, the simplest being the Kiai Shout feat. All of them allow you to render enemies shaken or panicked by shouting at the beginning of battle.
- Given the Truth in Television entry above, it probably isn't surprising that characters with the appropriate background in Deadlands can actually take a Rebel Yell as an Edge. But wait, weren't Native Americans known for their warcries, too? One thing that virtually any Native American warrior with his salt can do in the setting is a fast Ritual called "War Cry," which tends to earn favor with the War Spirits. Worth mentioning here because the Ritual has a higher chance to succeed if the player yells, too. What's that, you say? Role-playing? In a Tabletop Games? What are the odds?
- Trollkin Fell Callers are born with innate vocal powers which are so strong they can deafen opponents within their immediate vicinity if they yell loud enough.
Videogames
- The character properties screen in City of Heroes includes a field labeled "Battle Cry".
- Serious Sam has a unit called the Kamikaze Bomber. Despite not having a head it screams, continuously, from the moment it's created until it dies. It gets quite unnerving.
- In the Mega Man X games after X7, X himself becomes one of these. Many of his dialogue sequences are also spent screaming at his opponents.
- Grom Hellscream (pictured above), chieftain of the Warsong Clan from Warcraft II and III. In a scene in one of the books, he makes an enemy drop his defences by screaming so loud it physically hurts him.
- One of the reasons he follows Thrall is that Thrall was barely annoyed. His most memorable appearance in the game was doing this to a giant demon, and winning.
- Bloodline Champions has the Vanguard bloodline, in which four of their nine abilities involves yellling.
- Double H from Beyond Good And Evil. He charges into battle with a healthy CARLSON AND PEETERS! whenever he attacks, and he enjoys yelling in general.
- While in Rage mode the Arbiter of Halo Wars will often yell: I AM THE ARBITER!, just in case you forgot.
- Link. After all, if you're going to pay Nobuyuki "Gai" Hiyama to play your Heroic Mime, you've gotta make use of his voice somehow.
- Diablo 2's Barbarian has an entire tree of skills which involve roaring to either buff himself and his allies, or de-buff enemies. One of the highest-level war cries, simply called War Cry, deals direct physical damage.
- World of Warcraft's Warrior Class takes a slice from the Barbarian, with multiple abilities relying on shouting for a similiar range of effects, although he can't directly deal damage with any of them.
- Heroes of Might and Magic 5: Orc Barbarian Heroes have their own brand of magic, called War Cries. One of them deals direct damage by making all his units shout at an enemy.
- Enja.
- Hot Blooded Sanada Yukimura from Sengoku Basara just will not shut up! No wonder we feel sorry for his voice actor...
- Brick from Borderlands, while in berserker mode.
- Scarface: The World is Yours has a lot of screaming. Various gangs scream en masse while charging into Tony's superior firepower. Tony can scream right back whenever the player wills. And of course, during the 'rage/invincibility' attacks the screaming is out of control (and foul).
- Garuda, Garuda, GARUDA. Nine out of ten times, this guy will be belting out warcries at the top of his lungs. When he's not, he's either laughing or speaking in a creepily hushed tone, which might be even more unnerving. (Fun fact: Garuda is voiced by Osamu Hosoi, known for his portrayal of the Hot Blooded Dan Hibiki up until Street Fighter IV.)
Web Animation
Western Animation
- Hawkgirl in Justice League. On average, it was about one yell for every swing of her mace.
- Tell me that a woman with huge wings flying/charging at you with an indestructible mace of Nth metal isn't scary. I dare you.
- Prince Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Sokka initially tries to be this in the second episode, but gives up on it once he realizes he's no match for Zuko. After some training, he's shown to indulge in it from time to time. He also tried to do a sneak attack on Aang from behind...whilst screeching "SNEAK ATTAAACK!!!" at the top of his lungs. He is forcefully reminded of the negatives of this trope.
- Sokka's attempt in the second episode turns a comical few moments into something less funny when one considers how much he's trying to emulate the warriors who left home, i.e his dad Hakoda.
- We also see the Southern Raiders all letting out a battle cry before attacking the Southern Water Tribe.
- Who reply with ones of their own.
- Shego of Kim Possible
- Don't EVER hurt Nibbles or Jerry will invoke this trope, followed by plenty of pain, suffering, and Laser-Guided Karma.
- Subverted in Invader Zim: Zim, being something of a Proud Warrior Race guy, attempts a badass battle cry but winds up with an irritating, high-pitched "eeeeeeeeeeegh" sound.
- Anyone who saw G.I. Joe: The Movie can guess who goes here. COBRA-la-la-la-la-la-la-la! Hey, it helps them beat the Joes.
- Finn of Adventure Time.
Real Life
- The infamous rolling, yipping "Rebel Yell" employed by Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War (not to be confused with the Texan yokel "Yee-haw!", by the way) was said to have chilled the blood of any Union troops that heard it. Scottish Highlanders and certain Native American tribes were also said to have employed similar-sounding yells in battle (and, since at least some Southerners had both Scottish Highlanders and Cherokees in their family trees, that last counts as a bit of Fridge Brilliance).
- According to Ken Burn's The Civil War, the version we hear today is a pale imitation and can only be truly heard "In the heat of battle."
- This editor has employed the technique in games of flag football.
- "Bannzzaaaiii!" or so the old Japanese war cry goes, not fun for those fighting in the Pacific during WWII, it got called "Hell in the Pacific" for a reason, and the fanatical Japanese soldiers were that reason.
- Also "Totsugeki!!" (which literally just means "charge!")
- Kendo, a Japanese martial swordfighting art, utilizes kiai shouts before and during attacking, with the shouts before attack used to throw your enemy off-guard and help you concentrate yourself and the kiai during the hit to let others know that you are concentrating on your hit and are giving your best to hit it.
- A similar but less formal practice occurs in Western fencing during attacks.
- Any practiser of a hard style martial art (karate do, taek won do or similar) can devolve into this by using too many consecutive kiais. When used correctly, the kiai helps with focusing an attack, making it more powerful and more accurate, and startling the enemy. When used incorrectly, it becomes, well... silly.
- In the "loud consecutive grunts" department, many tennis players are known for this. Especially the female ones.
- This female tennis player realized some time ago that the action is quite involuntary.
- Related is the "boxers' snort," which supposedly adds power to the punch.
- REMEMBER THE ALAMO!!!
- Aiyo Gurkhali ("Blood for the goddess of death. The Gurkhas are coming!")
- Kiyaping is a regular part of most martial arts training, both for intimidation value and because (as mentioned above) breathing out increases the force of a technique.
- And most of the armies would scream while charging, be it something formal, like "banzai", "charge", or Russian "Oo-rah!" (stress on the last syllable), or something individual for each soldier, collapsing into incoherent roar, for exactly same reasons: intimidate and focus one-self for a high-speed dash towards the enemy. Not so common now, of course, since full-scale charge is rarely performed.
- OO-RAH!
- At least according to the Romans the native British would often scream at the top of their lungs when attacking. Combine this with spiked hair, blue warpaint and the fact that they were usually half again as tall as the Romans and you can see why they made them nervous. Not that much use against actual tactics, mind you...
- It's human nature to freeze when scared. The US Army teaches their trainees to use the "battle cry" and scream before making an assault, as this helps to "unfreeze" the soldier in question.
- Taka, during the Let's Plays.
- Traditionally, each Scottish Clan would have their own battle cry, from Clan Cameron's "Chlanna nan con thigibh a so's gheibh sibh feoil!" which translates to "Sons of the dogs, come hither and you shall have flesh," to Clan Gordon's "A Gordon! A Gordon!" You can see why a rather large group of rather large men in kilts wielding broadswords and spiked shields, running towards you, screaming such things at the top of their lungs, might make you just a little less inclined to stand and fight.
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