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Author: LordGro

Aug 3rd 2014 at 1:19:48 PM

(Continued. Apparently my post was too huge, I had troubles editing it.)

4. I have excluded some of the examples that have been suggested which seem to describe different tropes which until now we do not have. Namely the following:
* "Shoot the Cowards/the Deserters": A case of tyrannical leadership in which the leader does put himself in danger and still has the option to retreat. Not an irreversible decision (the order, not the shooting).
-->* The Soviet Order No. 227 may not be a literal example of this, but the barrier troops situated behind the assaulting troops were ordered to shoot deserters, leaving no alternative but to push forward or be gunned down by the NKVD.
-->* In ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'', while playing as the [[RedshirtArmy Imperial Guard]], you can pass a decree that retreating from combat will be punished by execution. This improves the morale of all Guardsman squads. You can also have a Commissar shoot a random soldier to restore morale, proving that you weren't kidding.
* [[strike:"Trap Them to Rule Them": Someone destroys the means of interaction/contact with the outside world so they can control an isolated group/community. The intention is different: Burning the Ships commits people to a common goal or project, but here the motive is just to control them.]] Edit: These examples have been added to the list.
-->* In ''Literature/TheShining'', Jack Torrance, who is slowly being possessed by the evil spirits in the Overlook Hotel, disables their ham radio (their only means of calling for help) and disables their snowmobile (their only means for escape). 
-->* In an episode of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' Sisko and Bashir come across a group of [[LuddWasRight space Luddites]] who crash-landed on a planet ten years ago, which destroyed their only means of escape, and have forsaken all modern technology. It turns out the leader of the group and her son had secretly sabotaged the ship so it would crash and are keeping a technology-blocking device going so that nobody on the planet can use any technology.
-->* In ''Series/TheTwilightZone'' episode "On Thursday We Leave For Home", Captain Benteen tries in vain to destroy the rescue ships from Earth because he wants to remain in control of the people on the asteroid.
* [[strike:"Fighting with one's back to a river". This is tricky because apparently this is an idiom in China and Japan, derived from a historical (?) event at the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jingxing Battle of Jingxing]] where one commander deliberately ordered his army into a position where retreat was not possible, so they would fight harder. Which is somehow related, but also kind of different from Burning the Ships. Note that the battle in ''Berserk'' is not won because of the soldiers fighting harder, but because their seeming disadvantage lures the defenders out of the castle, which is then captured by a "small flanking force".]] Edit: Has been added to the list.
-->* Griffith does this in the Battle of Doldrey in ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', positioning the portion of his army that he expects to face the largest part of the enemy force with their backs to a river and no way to retreat. He does this not only to motivate his own men, but also as part of a BatmanGambit. Cornered and outnumbered, his force presents a tempting target that succeeds in drawing the enemy forces out of their castle, which is promptly captured in a sneak attack by a small flanking force.
5. It is still an unsolved issue whether individual acts that do not affect anyone except the Ship Burner are the same trope. However, until now all cases of that kind where about people quitting their job in a spectacular way, which is TakeThisJobAndShoveIt (which is justly a separate trope). So I'm willing to just launch the trope as it is now and keep an eye on the examples that are being added. Maybe they will give us a hint whether this needs further splitting.