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Web Video / The War Hawks

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"Join The War Hawks Army"
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/war_hawks_logo_4.jpg
We Are The War Hawks.

What is up War Hawks Army and welcome to the official TV Tropes page of the War Hawks!. Originally formed in 2005 by the troper known as red.ranger.elliot and his best friend. The group was originally envisioned as a Power Stable to use in WWE. Originally consisting of 10 members, when Elliot, the leader, moved to Idaho to be with his then girlfriend she introduced him to the world of Let's Plays and Youtube creation in general. After deciding this was what he wanted to do Elliot started using the War Hawks name and brand for everything involved in the project. Thus the reason for this page was born!

The group mainly does video games but can and has branched off into over the things such as challenges, reaction videos. As well as non-video games such as Pokemon Monopoly, Cards Against Humanity, and other such things.

While no one has left the group in the 11 years since its formation they have had one member lose contact with them so they were forced to move him to intermediate status which you can find futher down the page, as well as a list of all current members.

Instead of having one Youtube channel to cover all their various exploits they currently only have their individual channels, though Elliot is considering making one for their combined endeavors. Individual members' Youtube/Twitch channels will be found on the character page. Elliot currently has 31 subscribers on Youtube, and 508 (and counting!) followers on Twitter, as well as 151 followers on Twitch. The other various members have varying numbers of followers/subscribers across social media. They also have their own wiki.

Apart from Let's Plays The War Hawks also do other things. Examples include:

  • War Hawks OOC: The War Hawks gather to take some time away from video games to do other things. Such as Cards Against Humanity and Never Have I Ever.
    • War Hawks Game Night: After spending every day for nearly a month over at Beth's house culminating in a 24 hour live stream. They agreed on only coming over on weekends unless it was a special occasion or were invited. This was the result.
  • War Hawks/Ironman Reviews: Elliot and or one of the other War Hawks review a movie/video game that has come out recently, and give their thoughts on it.
  • War Hawks Discussion: The War Hawks take a subject going on in the world currently and give their unfiltered thoughts on it.
  • War Hawks WWE Pay Per View Predictions: Elliot, Steph, TJ, and occasionally some of the other members gather together to give their predictions for an upcoming WWE pay per view. With the winner (read: person with the most correct predictions) becoming The War Hawks Heavyweight Champion and the loser (read: the person with the least correct predictions) having to do a loser challenge.

You can find Elliot's Youtube Channel here and his Twitch channel here they also have Twitter account for the group which can be found here

    open/close all folders 

    Current Members (Northwest Division) 
  • Elliot (founder)
  • TJ (founder)
  • Stephanie (founder)
  • Beth
  • Chris
  • Amber
  • Lily
  • Brittany
  • Caveman
  • Hannah
  • Nick
  • Zoe
  • Caffeniated
  • Elli
  • Rinji

     Guest Members 
  • Matt note 

    Current Members (Everywhere Else) 
  • Will (founder)
  • Heath (founder)
  • Devin (founder)
  • Josh
  • Micah
  • Robert
  • Matthew
  • Mikie
  • Desi
  • Stacy
  • Lindsie
  • V
  • Ray
  • Master Mewtwo
  • Shock factor
  • Conker Bunker
  • Dark Dragon X (DDX for short)
  • Ryan
  • Nic (not that one)
  • Steven
  • Edward note 
  • Decim
  • Chelsey
  • Matt
  • Dogder
  • Stephen
  • Elva
  • Mar
  • Reaper
  • Banshee
  • Salem
  • Ashly
  • Becki
  • Jay
  • Dante
  • Smokey
  • Sinful
  • And Many More

  • Some People's real names not used by their request

    Intermediate Members 
  • Anthony

    Games Played 

     On Going Let's Plays 

The War Hawks Provide Examples Of

  • 0% Approval Rating: Played with and played for laughs. While Elliot is the leader, NO ONE respects him. Yet they listen to him anyway. At the same time, it's also clear that all the flack they give him is just good natured teasing.
  • 10-Minute Retirement: Elliot "retired" in 2009 after WrestleMania 25 where he won the World Heavyweight Championship. He returned at SummerSlam to challenge Mark Henry for his Money In The Bank briefcase because he "got bored".
  • A-Cup Angst: While none of the women CURRENTLY suffer from this, Beth USED to by her own admission.
    Beth (speaking to Elliot): A couple of years ago boobs were not a thing
  • Aborted Arc: Elliot's attempt to play Godzilla ended when he Rage Quit due to not being able to beat one of the monsters. Sadly, with the fact that he seems to have lost his copy in the most recent move, it seems this arc will never be resolved as an English version of the game is no longer available ANYWHERE. A Japanese version of the game is available, but it's ridiculously expensive.
  • Accidental Misnaming: When they first meet him, (and even then a few times after) no one can seem to pronounce Elliot's last name right.
  • Acquired Situational Narcissism: A big part of the problem with Elliot, he'll get a big head if he's doing good, which promptly costs him.
  • Action Girl: The whole idea behind the formation of the Lady Hawks Division The whole team is full of them.
  • The Alcoholic: Their second video involved them playing Never Have I Ever, and proceeding to get shitfaced to the point Beth had to be stopped.
  • Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: They all suffer from this, especially Beth, who will fall into uncontrollable fits of giggles if she drinks enough.
  • Alliterative Name: Brittany Boyd, Hannah Herrington.Averted in the case of Britt, as while this is the case with her maiden name, her married name has a different first letter.
  • Ambiguously Bi: Elliot and a few of the others make you wonder at times exactly which team they're batting for Not That There's Anything Wrong with That
  • Animal Motif: Hawks obviously Their logo includes a hawks holding a bomb in its talons.
  • Angrish: All of them can slip into this if they're getting frustrated with a particular game. Elliot pretty much spoke nothing BUT this in his Give Up playthrough.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: While complaining about his most recent experience with Whataburger to Steph, Elliot mentioned that they: Took an hour to get the food to him (the resturaunt is 5 minutes from Becki's house). Sent him the wrong order, and they forgot to not put ice in his Dr. Pepper!
  • Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Their in universe reason for taking over the WWE in their Universe Modes. They kicked so much ass that The Authority made them General Managers just to keep them out of the ring.
  • Back-to-Back Badasses: Several examples, each ending in the opposing force being decimated:
  • Badass Armfold: Seems to be Elliot's default pose. It's even Chris' character image.
  • Badass Army: What they refer to their fans as, and it shows when the fans stick up for them against the trolls.
  • Badass Boast: The group is known to give these off from time to time.
    Elliot: -upon beating Resident Evil 5 with TJ- YES! THAT is why we are the greatest 2 man team on the face of the planet!
    • His claim of having beaten every Resident Evil game on consoles could count as this and (mostly) Off Screen Moment Of Awesome since we've only ever seen him beat the ones he has on his PS4. That said, beating said games is no small feat in and of itself.
  • Bandof Brothers: Let's see, fiercely loyal, value friendship, family, and loyalty, and (for the most part) always having each other's back? Yeah, they qualify.
  • Battle Couple: Elliot and Steph, Beth and Chris, Amber and Lily, TJ and Brittany, Hannah and Caveman. They play games together, among other things.
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: On an episode of LWL Gunther comes out bragging about how he's beaten practically everyone on the roster and demands more competition. cue Xerios... note 
  • Being Evil Sucks: Steph REALLY doesn't like playing the evil route in Dayshift at Freddy's
  • Berserk Button: Making fun of one of them is an easy way to get your ass verbally handed to you. Rape/Incest for Beth. Making fun of Stephanie's weight and Parental Abandonment for Elliot. Just for a few examples.
  • Bilingual Bonus: The thumbnail for this video has some Japanese text in red with Ironman Plays under it. What does the Japanese text say when translated? "Ironman Plays"
  • Black Comedy: They have a dark, twisted sense of humor. There are exceptions though.
  • Blatant Lies: Several examples, but Elliot's claim that Lady Dimitrescu didn't scare him while clearly having a deer in the headlights look following her display of strength is a pretty good one.
  • Bullying a Dragon: Really, Elliot? Was it really a good idea to walk into a house in Phasmophobia and say "Ay yo David (Ghost's name, saying the ghost's name is a Berserk Button) You ain't nothin' but a BITCH!"? Predictably, it doesn't go well for him.
  • Butt-Monkey: Elliot gets no respect from ANY of his team mates despite being the leader.
  • Cartwright Curse: During the early days of the group a lot of the members went through so many girlfriends they share a lot of former girlfriends as a result. If we tried to list every example it'd take up the whole page.
  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Back when he incorporated storylines into his WWE games before Universe Mode was introduced, you could expect Elliot to turn on one of the other members at least every few months. This was taken up to eleven in 2011 when he did it to TJ and took half the team with him.
  • Civil War: Whenever one member of the team turns on another. Specific examples include:
    • Elliot turning on Will and challenging him for the World Heavyweight Championship.
    • Elliot turning on Heath and cashing in Money In The Bank on him to win the WWE Championship.
    • Elliot turning on TJ and taking half the team with him. Starting the biggest example of this trope with them.
  • Cluster F-Bomb: They're very fond of these. Mostly when they run into problems during let's plays.
  • Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Not done intentionally, but during their first playthrough of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers Mega Battle, Elliot, who was playing Jason was wearing a red sweater. While Britt, who was playing Kimberly was wearing a shirt that had a large amount of pink on it. The color bars for their controllers when playing the game even changed to match the characters they were playing.
  • Combat Pragmatist: They use everything they can get their hands on in games to fight. Also hinted at that they would do this in real life if given the chance.
  • Cool People Rebel Against Authority: Their issues with authority figures is well documented. Which is one of the reasons given for them taking over WWE in universe. They figured they could run things better.
  • Crossover: Played with. While the members of Watch Girls Play never actually appear in person per se. They've appeared in the chat are on the WHEI note  roster. Having won several championships.
  • Cuteness Proximity: None of the members can stay angry for long once Beth, Lilly, Steph, or all 3 of them turn on the cuteness.
  • Deadpan Snarker: EVERY DAMN ONE OF THEM! when they're not quipping at each other or you, they're displaying their dry humor.
  • Delayed Reaction: They can do this at times when something unexpected happens. Such as a death, or Jump Scare.
    Elliot: -Just survived Night 1 Of Five Nights at Freddy's and hears Foxy's death scream right as it ticks over- what the hell was that?
  • Department of Redundancy Department: Elliot often makes remarks like this.
  • The Determinator: It takes a LOT to get Elliot to give up on a game. Even internet problems cutting the stream short won't stop him.
  • Did Not See That Coming: Elliot and Steph's truly epic reaction to the twist in A Way Out
  • Do Not Call Me "Paul": Don't call Elliot William, he hates it.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness:
    • Elliot was a lot more nervous and less sure of himself in his early videos.
    • For those lucky enough to see his first channel before his own screw up forced him to delete it, his early videos mostly featured only him and he didn't know Beth and her family yet.
  • Easily Forgiven: Averted HARD. TJ was put through hell to rejoin the group. With Elliot refusing to budge on his ruling for almost a year. It took a request from Britt herself to even get a vote going with regards to allowing him back in. Even then, he almost considered requiring a unanimous vote, before finding it too harsh knowing it wouldn't happen.
  • Establishing Character Moment: When Elliot won back his title from Shock, he opened the video with AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW WAR HAWKS ARMY! DON'T YOU DARE! BE SOUR! CLAP FOR YOUR WORLD FAMOUS 2 TIME CHAMP AND FEEL! THE POWA! signaling that he wasn't playing nice anymore.
  • Everyone Has Standards: They may be a group of Jerkasses but they take things like autism, sexism, and rape very seriously.
  • Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The guy whose nickname is Canadian is from Canada.
  • The Face: Elliot, he may have Asperger's but Social Skills are one of his specialties, as evidenced by the fact some of his strongest bonds are with the anti-social/loner members of the group (ex. Beth, Amber, Nick) Beth even lampshades this by stating she was "adopted kicking and screaming" by him.
  • Failed a Spot Check: Elliot will occasionally miss something in one of his gameplay videos that he'll comment on in the next one and make sure not to.
  • Failure Is the Only Option: Elliot's playthrough of Give Up ended, as the name suggests, with him hitting the big blue button.
  • Family of Choice: Well, the choice part depends on who you ask, seeing as how most of them were "adopted kicking and screaming". However, it's clear that they love each other despite the shit they give each other on a near constant basis. Lord help you if you're not in the group and start doing it thought.
  • Fighting the Lancer: While the storyline involved the entire team at that point (10 guys and 10 girls, 5 on each team) the main conflict of the War Hawks Civil War was between Elliot and TJ.
  • Finishing Move: Elliot's F-6 (A modified F-5 from the Torture Rack Position) and a Shooting Star Press. TJ's Superman Punch, a Spear and a Burning Hammer and on occasion a Swanton Bomb. Will's Last Will (Rock Bottom) and a Diving Spear. Heath has a move he calls Chaos Theory (best described as a modified Flapjack from off the shoulders) and a Diving Cross Body. Devin has the D-Stroyer (the Train Wreck move used by Matt Bloom during his A-Train days) and a Super Fall Away Slam. If we tried to list every member's finisher we'd be here all day.
  • Foil: Elliot and TJ to each other both in terms of their streaming and leadership style. When streaming, TJ is more laid back, basically letting his chat say or do whatever they want. While Elliot doesn't allow trolls in his chat and tries to keep people from saying anything offensive. In terms of leadership style, TJ gives out orders and works on his own to accomplish the same goal. While Elliot is more of a leadership by example kind of guy.
    • This also extends to the way they fight. With TJ being a bigger more physically imposing opponent. As his nickname would suggest. He once relayed a story where he got into a fight with a group of about 5 people and won handily. Where as Elliot is more psychological. Wanting to get into the head of his opponent and either Break Them by Talking (helped by the fact he never shuts up). Or attempt to turn them to his side. To put it simply: They have a Brains and Brawn dynamic.
  • Funny Moments:
    Elliot: Why am I not surprised?
    Steph: I was wondering when you were gonna show up.
  • Genre Savvy: Elliot is smart enough to know that in video games, headshots, while not necessarily an instant kill like in zombie games. Will most certainly stun an enemy. Hence why he says he has the advantage in shooting games because "I always aim for the head".
  • Glass Jaw Referee: Lampshaded to the point that it's a command in Elliot's chat. The referee gets knocked down at least once a show in their universe mode.
    Nightbot: Well, there goes another referee. Ya know, Ironman should really hire tougher referee.
  • Happily Married: Elliot and Stephanie, Beth and Chris, Amber and Lilly, and Britt and TJ are all married in real life.
  • Heartwarming Moments: Elliot's reaction to achieving affiliate status on Twitch after nearly 4 years of grinding. It almost sounds like he's about to cry (later confirmed by Word of God to have actually been the case) as he thanks everyone who helped him get to that point from the bottom of his heart.
  • Hypocritical Humor: While playing The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit.
    Charles: That's the fucking spirit!
    Elliot: Hey! Watch your fucking mouth!
  • I Call It "Vera": They have a habit of naming their weapons. Elliot calls his "trusty sledgehammer" Sledgy. TJ calls the Ithaca shot gun from Resident Evil 5 "Big Bertha". Beth, of course, takes this up to eleven by naming MONSTERS things like "Squishy".
  • I Have No Idea What I'm Doing: Elliot says this often, usually when he is lost or is stuck on a part. If he's playing a game for the first time, he'll say "If it looks like I don't know what I'm doing, it's because I don't". If the game is old enough that he should have played/watched someone play it by now, he'll invite the chat to "Backseat Game" (tell the streamer what to do next) to help him if he's stuck.
  • Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Individual gameplay videos are labeled "Insert Member Name Here Plays" where as Group playthroughs are labeled "War Hawks (insert variation name here) Play"
  • Implied Death Threat: One of the many t-shirt design ideas Elliot came up with (incorporated into games and soon real life) involves a hawk skull and crossbones surrounded by the old Latin saying "Si vis pacem para bellum" which translates to "If you want peace, prepare for war." if the skull and cross bones didn't give this away, there's a ? after the first half of the saying which makes it seem less like a cautionary statement and more of an overt threat.
  • Informed Attribute: At one point Elliot looked at a chart that listed what weight is considered "healthy" for certain heights. Elliot is 5'5/5'6 (hasn't really measured himself but Britt is 5'5 and he's at least an inch or two taller than her) and at least over 200 pounds. According to the chart he's obese, apart from having a slight beer gut, you'd be hard pressed to find evidence of this. It helps that most of it is muscle.
  • In-Series Nickname: Each member has one
    • Elliot -> The Ironman
    • Will -> The Sickness
    • Heath -> The Superman
    • Devin -> DJ/ The Fury
    • Josh -> The Specialist
    • Micah -> The Hero
    • Robert -> The Prototype
    • Matthew -> The Machine
    • Mikie -> The Terror
    • Anthony -> Thunder
    • Beth -> Nightingale
    • Chris -> Dark Raven
    • Amber -> Chaos
    • Lilly -> Kitty Kat
    • Stephen -> Shay
    • Brittany -> Guardian
    • Hannah -> Boogsley
    • Caveman
    • Ryan -> Canadian
    • Amanda -> Morphine
    • Nic -> White Chedda
      • Taking inspiration from Xavier Woods' Youtube channel UpUpDownDown Elliot has made it a point to give everyone who appears in streams/videos one of these. In case, like Caveman, they prefer not to have their real names in the video/stream. As well as at the suggestion of his wife.
  • Insult Backfire: Calling them assholes, or crazy, will get you a "Thanks!" from them.
  • It Makes Sense in Context: People referring to Stephanie as Shenron, see Throw It In! below.
  • Jerkass: By their own admission, the entire group are horrible people
  • Loophole Abuse: During his online roleplay wrestling days, Elliot took part in the Money In The Bank Laddder Match at the inaugural pay per view of the same name. Now the gimmick of the match is that the winner gets a briefcase that contains a contract stating they can challenge for a World Championship anytime over the next year. The very next match was meant to be for the World Heavyweight Championship. However, the champion no showed and the General Manager held up the title stating that the first two people to speak up would be placed in a match for it. Elliot asked if he would have to cash in his briefcase to be in the match. The GM said no, so Elliot spoke up. Figuring even if he lost he could cash in immediately after and get it anyway. He won the match, and later that same night, proving how much of a Magnificent Bastard he is, realized there was no rule saying he couldn't cash in on the other world champion. So after the champion had gone through a Hell In A Cell Match, he came out to cash in. One slip up by the WWE Champion later and Elliot walked out with both World Titles.
    • Did it again later that same year when, after losing both his titles, he won back the WWE Championship via contractual rematch and earned the number 1 contendership for the World Heavyweight Championship. Once again however, the champion didn't show up. So Elliot came out, cut a promo about how this situation was familiar. Then declared himself the new World Heavyweight Champion by forfeit. No one came out to dispute this claim. Making him not only a 2 time WWE and World Heavyweight Champion. But also a 2 time Undisputed WWE World Heavyweight Champion simultaneously.
  • Meaningful Name: Will's Finishing Move he dubbed the Last Will which was originally a split second counter to an RKO, was named such because the first victim said he saw his life flash before his eyes when he hit the ground. Thus making it short for Last Will and Testament. The first victim? TJ
    • Also their Show Within a Show WHEI is short for War Hawks Entertainment Inc., the reason for the War Hawks in the name being obvious.
  • Mood Whiplash: Elliot, Beth, and Brittany singing love songs in the background while TJ murders people and talks shit in GTAV during a livestream (that has been lost to time).
  • Ms. Fanservice: Beth loves showing off her assets for the camera. Such as when she walks by the camera and says "dat ass tho"
  • Multinational Team: Most of the ones we see are multiracial Americans. However, we hear members from Australia, Britain, and UAE. We also know they have at least one member from Russia, a more recent addition named Sasha.
  • Nerves of Steel: Sure, plenty of people are used to the jumpscares in Five Nights at Freddy's by now. But the fact when Elliot played it on Halloween 2020 and noticed he was dead all he let out was an, admittedly slightly panicked sounding "Shit! Shit! Shit!" before simply pulling the camera up then putting it back down to accept his fate is impressive. Especially given how easy to scare he is.
  • No Indoor Voice: Lapse into this from time to time, Elliot being the worst offender. He's repeatedly told to tone it down because neighbors.
  • No Kill like Overkill: A specialty of the group. If they want you dead they'll make sure you STAY that way.
  • Oh, Crap!: Elliot's reaction to the ending of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. He fights the Second Sister, it seems like she's about to be redeemed. Suddenly, cue Vader Breath.
  • Once an Episode: Elliot starts every video with "What is up War Hawks Army it is the Ironman here and welcome/welcome back to (insert name of game or segment here)" and ends with "We love you guys, peace." usually followed by a chime in by the other members present. Though he will also usually ask them to chime in a goodbye before he ends the stream. Also asking if anyone has anything to plug or say.
  • One-Steve Limit: Not done intentionally but just one look at the members folder tells you that they don't have any repeat names. subverted in that Elliot's first name is William but he hates it and goes by his middle name.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Caveman is only ever referred to as such, at his own request.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Elliot got to Episode 5 of Life Is Strange he spent the opening few minutes with a Death Glare on his face and speaking in a Creepy Monotone. A far cry from his normal way of playing games. Then when he has the option of telling David what happened to Chloe,which results in David killing Mr. Jefferson, he does it. Then he hears David say "I wish I could kill you over and over again". Elliot, normally against this kind of thing, gets a Psychotic Smirk on his face, lets out an Evil Laugh, and proceeds to rewind time. unknowingly (to David) granting David his wish.He rewinds time 4 times before proceeding with the game. When he told Beth this even she was creeped out.
  • Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Elliot getting the platinum trophy (the trophy you get for getting all the trophies on a particular game on Playstation 3 and 4) for Resident Evil 3 (Remake) may not count in and of itself. The fact that he did it less than a week (5 days to be exact) after the game came out on the other hand, definitely does. Most of his friends were even impressed by this. With almost all of them having the reaction "Didn't that game just come out?!"
  • Precision F-Strike: Courtesy of Elliot during the final fight in Resident Evil 3 (Remake) when describing just HOW he intends to put down The Pursuer once and for all.
    Steph: Shoot him again!
    Elliot: Oh I'm gonna shove (the railgun used to kill The Nemesis for good) down his god damn throat." Proceeds to do just that
  • The Psycho Rangers: Elliot actually made 2 of these in games to combat the original 10 members of the War Hawks. The Eternal Masters, a group of real life friends of Elliot's and Xerios who let him make them in game with him explicitly stating this to be the case. And the Horsemen no, not them more like them. There were even originally only 4 members. The two teams eventually merged taking this up to 11. While the War Hawks are True Companions who came together out genuine friendship and a desire to achieve a common goal. The two teams coming together was more an alliance of convenience as they individually were outnumbered 2 to 1, with the Masters eventually pulling a Heel–Face Turn and joining the War Hawks proper. For the individual members:
    • Elliot was originally one of the co-leaders of his group who had a severe case of Chronic Backstabbing Disorder but ultimately remained loyal to them and eventually becoming the sole leader overall. While Xerios was the Leader of the Horsemen upon joining them up until he ultimately decided he didn't need them anymore and forming the Eternal Masters. Only to be Demoted to Dragon upon doing so and being pushed even further down the totem pole when the two groups merged. For bonus points, Elliot and Xerios are often played up as The Rival to one another due to their unique relationship to one another.
    • TJ and Big Evil are both second in commands to their respective leaders. However, while TJ and Elliot don't always see eye to eye and TJ gives him a lot of shit, he's obviously a loyal lancer who would do anything for the rest of the team. Big Evil is a Dragon with an Agenda who usurped Xerios when he left and took over the second in command position upon the groups merging.
    • Will and NyteRyder are The Big Guy and The Brute to their respective teams. However while Will is a lovable guy who is close to all his team mates and loyal. NyteRyder, despite being Big Evil's twin brother is loyal to no one and plays more of a Dumb Muscle role.
    • Heath and Devin and Spectre and Skull form the primary tag teams for their respective groups (Heath and Devin filling this role when Elliot and TJ are on singles runs. Otherwise they usually fill the main tag team role). While Heath and DJ have been friends for years and work well as a team, Spectre and Skull obviously have a disdain for each other and only work together when forced to.
    • Josh and Seito are the leaders of the respective "B Teams" of their groups. However, while Josh accepts that he's not the main leader he still has an important role in the group. Seito is portrayed as The Starscream who constantly plots to overthrow the main leader. Having already culled Xerios from his leadership position.
    • Micah and Robert and Ben and Freddie form the secondary tag teams of the groups and have a Those Two Guys dynamic. Both teams are even shown to have been friends before both groups formed. One is just evil and the other isn't.
    • Matthew and Ramseyes are late additions to the their teams who jumped at the idea of joining. However, while Matthew was welcomed into his group without any hesitation. Ramseyes was put through a brutal initiation, being brutally beaten up by the other members. Giving him strong Being Tortured Makes You Evil vibes.
    • Finally, Mikie and James were the supposed final additions to their respective teams. While Mikie was once again treated with the same respect and warmness as the others. James was treated like an outsider and Tag Along Kid who had to scratch and claw his way into the group. With many in the group wondering why they allowed him in pre the Eternal Masters' Heel–Face Turn.
  • Ramming Always Works: One of their favorite things to do is spear anyone who gets in their way.
  • Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: They have people who are from all walks of life. All races, countries, sexualities, really it seems like the only requirement to be a member of the group is being an asshole, being friends with them, kicking one of their asses, being from the south, or some combination there of.
    • When asked by his birth mother if she was a member of the War Hawks, Elliot's reply was "You gave birth to the leader, OF COURSE you are". So we can go ahead and add Nepotism to that list as well.
  • Real Song Themetune: They all use real life songs as their themesong. The song of the group itself is "Southern Takeover" by Chamillionaire.
  • Sdrawkcab Name: Nick's nickname is his full name spelled backwards.
  • Sequel Hook: One of Brittany's Halloween videos ends with an Evil Laugh from just off screen...
    Brittany: well... shit
  • Shaped Like Itself: Ryan chose his nickname as Canadian... Because he's Canadian.
  • Shout-Out: Not enough to fill a whole page but they have quite a few. specific examples include:
  • Shown Their Work: Elliot actually makes a concentrated effort to do this when doing a review. Doing as much extensive research as he can to make sure all information he gives is correct to the best of his knowledge. Such as the reviews of the Resident Evil games he's currently planning. He's finished his script for the first game and is currently working on the script for the second one. Making sure to include bits about the production and games that viewers may not be aware of.
  • Shut Up, Hannibal!: During his playthrough of RE7 Elliot had a habit of shooting the Bakers in the face when they got caught monologuing
  • Sibling Team: Aside from the family dynamic present already Amber and Beth are sisters. There's also Elliot's sister Becki who is on the team.
  • Spell My Name with a "The": They're The War Hawks not just War Hawks
  • Spiritual Antithesis: As a professional wrestling stable, they are one to the nWo. Both are truly MASSIVE Power Stables that grew beyond their original small group idea to include enough people to have their own show. But where as the nWo idea got stale after 3 years due to a mixture of in fighting, egos, and being Boring Invincible Villains. The War Hawks have been going strong for nearly 20 years because for one thing, all of the members are real life friends. And while they may have the occasional Civil War they always circle back to being friends at the end of it and no one has actually been kicked out in storyline except for 2 occasions and one was eventually let back in. The War Hawks also get their asses handed to them all the time. Even their Show Within a Show, which, with the name, could easily devolve into them dominating everything, isn't centered around them, with their only direct involvement being as General Managers. Another contrast is that while the nWo was, with the exception of the Wolfpac, purely a Heel stable. The War Hawks have long since kept up a (nearly constant) Heel–Face Revolving Door dynamic.
  • Stock Sound Effects: "Southern Takeover" has a lot of gun, and bomb sound effects.
  • Team Title: The War Hawks refers to the entire team, rather than just one member.
  • Throw It In!: When Steph first appeared in V's live stream, he couldn't pronounce her nickname/Twitch screenname. So he asked if he could just call her Shenron. She said yes and the nickname stuck, to the point they even have commands in Elliot's Twitch channel alluding to it. Ranging from the original Japanese name for the dragon, to the American name, to a name used for a parody.
  • Token Minority: TJ is the only member of the Idaho Division that isn't or doesn't appear to be white.
  • Too Many Belts: At one point in his games Elliot held literally every male Championship the WWE had to offer. When he's not doing it the group themselves do.
  • Tranquil Fury: As noted above in O.O.C. Is Serious Business, this was basically Elliot's reaction to every Dark Room Sequence in Life Is Strange. As the Big Bad proceeds to press almost every Berserk Button he has. What turns this into bullying a dragon is the fact the Player Character is a Time Master that can rewind time at will. Like for instance after a Papa Wolf security guard kills the the villain after learning he killed said security guard's step daughter, and says "I wish I could kill you over and over again..."
  • Visual Pun: When they introduced second mid-card championships for the men into their Show Within a Show (European for Raw and Hardcore for Smackdown) Elliot suggested Steph make hers, since she made her own brand, a World Television Championship ala N.W.A, WCW and ECW. When Steph (rightly) pointed out that it wouldn't make sense as they're not on TV but the internet. She admitted she liked the idea, and decided to name the championship the Global Internet Championship. Complete with logos of websites/apps that they use much like Television Championships would have TV stations on the side plates. Meaning it's a World Television Championship for modern audiences.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: You'd never know it given the LEVEL of vitriol they spew at each other. But then there are times like the TJ situation where they all basically united around Britt and you realize they'll stand up for you if you're one of their own. Even if the offender is one of their own.
  • Wedding Episode: One of the early videos on Elliot's first YouTube channel, which subsequently became the first on his second when he lost the first channel, was his and Steph's wedding.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Elliot's reaction to the sniper taking out Daniel in the opening level of Detroit: Become Human. Made even worse after he looked it up and realized that was the best ending he could get That he got on his first try.
    Elliot: WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! I HAD IT UNDER CONTROL YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!
  • You Fight Like a Cow: These guys will quip at you every chance they get. They make The Dino Charge Rangers look TAME by comparison!
  • You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Elliot frequently gives people speeches like this. Stephen once said to him "You have no idea what I'm capable of." To which he responded "Yes, I do, I saw your potential the first time I met you. Why do you think I befriended you and asked you to join this team in the first place?" He also frequently admonishes his teammates when they talk down about themselves. Is always hyping them up, and tells them things he loves about them. If you needed anymore convincing about his status as The Heart of the team, this is probably it.
  • Zerg Rush: Much like the nWo one of the things about the War Hawks (both in wresting video games and in real life) is that there's just so damn many of them. With 56 people being in the Discord server dedicated to the group alone. And that's not even all of them! Elliot himself put it best: "We're not The Shield. We're not gonna all come at you from one direction. We're gonna come at you from every direction we can. Oh sure you can try to run. You're just not gonna get very far! You can try to fight back, it just won't do you any good!"

"We love you guys. Peace!"

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