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Author: AgProv

Aug 15th 2013 at 12:34:28 AM

@AnimeGIF:

"Would a "haunted tank" be in the same trope?"

I'll leave that for others to decide, but it sounds like a valid fantasy counterpart.

Here are some thoughts; your DC Comics example is very internally plausible, as the American army adopted the British naming convention for American tanks: in British service, the prosaically named M3, M4, M5, et c, became the Stuart, Lee, Grant, Sherman: named after Civil War generals. The US Army liked this naming convention so much they have kept it up since, with tanks like the Sheridan, Patton, et c, right down to today's Abrams.   So what if, after naming a created thing and giving it life, it becomes animated with the spirit of the person who conferred it a name?

Horror fiction writer Graham Masterton has used this trope with a novel in which a demon-possessed tank is deliberately used by the Allies to spread a particular sort of fear and loathing among the Germans.  The only problem is, after the war is over the tank is left behind in France, lurking like an undetected landmine... (''The Devils Of D-Day''). Hack fiction, very {{Ghostapo}}, only Ghostapo on the allied side...