Tropes where people are religious fighters

How to differentiate Warrior Monk, Church Militant, Religious Bruiser and Badass Preacher?

Church Militant is not a character trope. That one's easy.

The other three are definitely trickier. My initial gut feeling is that Religious Bruiser should be the supertrope, and that Badass Preacher is one that should be sent to the "Badass" cleanup thread to see if it's even worth keeping, and if so, how it should be distinguished from the other two, which seem fairly clear.

Church Militant is the organization itself, not a an individual.

Badass Preacher is a priestly type who on occasion finds himself in a situation where they need to fight, and when they do are pretty good at it. They will not, however, be a part of a Church Militant - the fighting is more of a forced by circumstances or protect the innocent situation. An example is a Catholic priest who goes out hunting a vampire who has been preying on his congregation, but is otherwise a pacifist.

A Religious Bruiser is primarily a fighting type who happens to be highly religious. The Bruiser aspect is primary, and they just happen to also be religious. While they may in some cases be a priest, that is secondary to their characterizaion/role in the story. An example would be a Boxer who is later revealed to be a priest of some sort who uses his prize money to help the poor.

For a Warrior Monk, both the religious and fighting aspects are in the forefront of their personality/role. For this, look towards Knight Templars (the actual ones, not the trope) and Shaolin Monks. When one shows up in a story you know immediately that both religion and martial prowess are likely to be important.

so if I get you correctly:

• Badass Preacher = religious (especially preaching) first, asskicking second
• Religious Bruiser = asskicking first, religious second
• Warrior Monk = Obviously dedicated fighter, obvious position in their faith
• Church Militant = group that houses Warrior Monk and the occasional Badass Preacher

Pretty much. I would also point out one of the things that separates the Religious Bruiser from the Badass Preacher and the Warrior Monk is that they don't have to be a member of the clergy (or some equivalent organisation) where as the others are defined as belonging to part of the church's organisation.

Take our hypothetical boxer from Zyffyr's example. He doesn't have to be a priest to count as an example of a Religious Bruiser. He could just be very devout, insists on attending church every Sunday, attends regular bible studies, prays before each bout, but not a priest and he can still count as a Religious Bruiser, especially if such activities stand in contrast to his peers.

The tropes aren't mutually exclusive either. Going back to Zyffyr's boxer (because it's a useful example) but staying a priest this time. If the narrative focuses on the boxing side of things, then he remains a Religious Bruiser. However if the narrative instead focuses on his role as priest, then his a Badass Preacher compared his fellow members of the clergy.

We've also got Real Men Love Jesus in there, too.

Some of the entries on the Church Militant page are for individual characters. Maybe a rename to "Militant Church" would make it more clear that it's a trope about religious orders and not characters?

Actually, that whole page is kind of a mess - natter, ZC Es, and potential flame bait in the real life section. Going to bring this up on the NRLEP thread.

edited 30th Jan '17 6:20:08 AM by PegasusKnightmare