History Literature / GenerationKill

* ElitesAreMoreGlamorous: Subverted. First Recon is one of the elite units for the Marine Corps, but the missions they were performing here by tooling around Iraq in Humvees were basic. In the book, it's explained that this was a decision by higher-ups to "confuse" the enemy. The Marines complain about this constantly. Near the end of the series you see what Recon Marines are ''actually'' capable of, when they raid an Iraqi office under protection of other Marines for shits and giggles.

* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Quite a few straight male characters comment on how hot Fruity Rudy is. Which he seems to revel in, even though he has a wife back home. It gets lampshaded at one point when the Marines try to invert it by telling the reporter, "It doesn't make you gay if you think Rudy's hot. We all think he's hot. Jesus, you're beautiful." (He says this because he notices the reporter staring at Rudy, clearly captivated.)

* FacialDialogue: Fick and Colbert in "Cradle of Civilization." Colbert had just keyed his mic to reply to Encino Man's radio announcement that they were lost because Colbert took a wrong turn (Encino Man had ordered the turn despite Fick and Colbert's protests). Fick [[HeldGaze makes eye contact]] with Colbert and shakes his head silently, and Colbert released the mic without comment.

* BayonetYa: Captain America loves his bayonet, looking for an opportunity to use it and constantly attaching it even when it would serve ''no useful purpose''. He finally gets to use it. On a restrained detainee. Who he doesn't even wound. He can't even commit war crimes properly.

* CasualDangerDialog: Played absolutely straight and taken directly from the actual accounts of the Marines under fire. At one point, Person climbs out of his Humvee, calmly walks into enemy fire, and yells for the rest of the convoy to back up while bullets whiz over his head ("Would you please back the fuck up?!"). Fick does this soon after when he dives out of his Humvee to run between them all and personally give them directions on how to fix the traffic jam, once it becomes apparent that radio communication is just causing confusion. Listen closely and you'll even hear Gunny Wynn express surprise.
* CatchPhrase: "StayFrosty" for Colbert (albeit only in the show; Evan Wright mentions that all in all, he heard the real Colbert utter this maybe twice). "Screwby" for Stafford. Fick is assured that he does not have a CatchPhrase. [[VerbalTic He is assured of this]]. And what does [[ThirdPersonPerson Godfather]] think?

** [[EvenTheGuysWantHim Fruity Rudy]], as a spotter, is one half of Pappy's ColdSniper. Seeing the two of them do their jobs in the second episode is serious MoodWhiplash from how they've been established as characters so far. Rudy definitely qualifies for this trope, for the spotter in a sniper team is actually the better shot.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Colbert sarcastically points out he was unfortunate enough to be adopted by an upper-middle class family with a millenarian, [[InformedJudaism Talmudic]], rich, cultural tradition, as opposed to Person, raised in a white trash environment and fathered by a random passing trucker. Person's retort? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSLAIKjT7y8 "At least my mom took me to NASCAR!"]]. Furthermore Trombley takes the father jab at face value and asks ''Your dad's a truck driver?''

* {{Cunning Linguist}}: Meesh is an overweight, nineteen-year old Kuwaiti who wears a Grateful Dead shirt underneath his chemical-and-biological-weapons protection, is a serious dope smoker (even lamenting that he had to leave his weed supply behind before setting off), and happens to be the entire Battalion's translator.
* {{A Date With Rosie Palms}}:

* ElitesAreMoreGlamorous: Subverted. First Recon is one of the elite units for the Marine Corps, but the missions they were performing here by tooling around Iraq in Humvees were basic. In the book, it's explained that this was a decision by higher-ups to "confuse" the enemy. The Marines complain about this constantly. Near the end of the series you see what Recon Marines are ''actually'' capable of, when they raid an Iraqi office under protection of other Marines for shits and giggles

* GallowsHumor The Marines use morbid jokes to relieve the stress caused by dealing with death and killing on a daily basis.

* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex : In the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeUYE1XNO5E opinion of Marine Person]], good sex makes people good. [[note]]'''Cpl. Ray Person''': Look at this shit, how come we can't ever invade a cool country, with like chicks in bikinis, you know. How come countries like that don't ever need Marines, I'll tell you why, it's lack of pussy that fucks countries up, lack of pussy is the root fucking cause of all global instability, if more hajis were getting quality pussy, there'd be no reason for us to come over and fuck em up like this, cause a nutbusting haji, is a happy haji. [...] Yeah, you should definitely quote me. This whole thing comes down to pussy! You take the Republican Guard and comp their asses for a week in Vegas. No fucking war! [...] No, in the opinion of this Marine, its about pussy. [not oil, WMD or Saddam] Saddam is just part of the problem, if Saddam invested more in the pussy infrastructure of Iraq than he did in his fucking gay ass army, then this country would be no more fucked up than say, Mexico.[[/note]]

* InterserviceRivalry: Or, rather, intraservice rivalry between the frontline combat personnel and the rear echelon personnel ([=POGs=]). Subverted in the case of Cpl. Carasalez, who while being a rear-echelon mechanic, is well liked by the men in Bravo Company, not the least because he is willing to stick his neck out for his friend Sgt. Kocher--so much so that he volunteered to drive his team's Humvee after the previous driver, Cpl. Darnold, was wounded and had to be casevac-ed out.

See also: Michael Herr's book, ''Dispatches'', also by a ''Rolling Stone'' contributor about UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar for a similar POV.

* AttackItsWeakPoint: In the book only, when the Marines encounter a Iraqi tank near Baqubah and bring out an anti-tank missile to disable it (given the lack of available artillery and air support). The "best-case scenario" envisioned before the attack is that the missile, being incapable of penetrating most of the T-72 tank's armor, would be used to attack its treads and stop it from moving. Corporal Burris, assigned to launch the missile, discovers an auxiliary fuel pod on the back of the tank upon getting closer to fire, and aims at it instead, blowing the tank to kingdom come.

* AuthorTract: Averted. It's doesn't seem like Wright is trying to be specifically apolitical but that the soldiers he's writing about are all very self-aware and won't let him use their actions to push an angle.
* AutobiographicalRole: Rudy Reyes

* SpiritualSuccessor: While it's the [[Series/BandOfBrothers second HBO miniseries about the real exploits of a US military company]], it's more closely a successor of ''Series/TheWire''. Both feature David Simon and Ed Burns as main writers and explore the same theme of systems breaking down due to the incompetence and ambition of their leaders.

In 2003, ''Rolling Stone'' reporter Evan Wright was embedded in the US Marine Corps' First Recon, for the onset of the War in Iraq. Over the next two months, he would have a firsthand view into the lives of some of the toughest men on the planet, TheWarOnTerror, --er-- Saddam Hussein, and the command decisions that put them where they are. Wright compiled these articles into ''Generation Kill'', which was later made into a seven-part miniseries by Creator/DavidSimon on {{Creator/HBO}}.

* TheWarOnTerror: Alert Level Red; the book and show are set during the invasion of Iraq, about military personnel at the war front.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Colbert sarcastically points out he was unfortunate enough to be adopted by an upper-middle class family with a millenarian, [[YouHaveToHaveJews Talmudic]], rich, cultural tradition, as opposed to Person, raised in a white trash environment and fathered by a random passing trucker. Person's retort? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSLAIKjT7y8 "At least my mom took me to NASCAR!"]]. Furthermore Trombley takes the father jab at face value and asks ''Your dad's a truck driver?''

See also: Michael Herr's book, "Dispatches", also by a Rolling Stone contributor about UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar for a similar POV.

'''Tropes the series provides examples of:'''

See also: Michael Herr's book, "Dispatches", also by a Rolling Stone contributor about the UsefulNotes/VietnamWar for a similar POV.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/GenerationKill_1743.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Get some!]]

* LargeHam: Sergeant Major Sixta, who deliberately crafts a combination of this and a JerkassFacade to give the Marines someone to direct their anger and frustration toward, in order to keep morale up.

** The "Combat Jack".

* TheMedic: Navy Hospitalman Second Class Robert Timothy "Doc" Bryan.

* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Quite a few straight male characters comment on how hot Fruity Rudy is. Which he seems to revel in, even though he has a steady girlfriend back home. It gets lampshaded at one point when the Marines try to invert it by telling the reporter, "It doesn't make you gay if you think Rudy's hot. We all think he's hot. Jesus, you're beautiful." (He says this because he notices the reporter staring at Rudy, clearly captivated.)

* ShoutOut: Brad Colbert shares his Iceman nickname with the equally cool-headed, blond and sarcastic pilot Tom Kazansky from Film/TopGun. For bonus points, the real Colbert admitted in an interview that he joined the Marines because he dreamed of being a pilot, and has a lifelong passion for flying.

* CatchPhrase: "StayFrosty" for Colbert. "Screwby" for Stafford. Fick is assured that he does not have a CatchPhrase. [[VerbalTic He is assured of this]]. And what does [[ThirdPersonPerson Godfather]] think?

* StayFrosty: Colbert's catch phrase, used to remind people to stay attentive. Kocher quotes him once for the same purpose.

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: "Danger close," meaning a fire mission (artillery or air strike) called in ''[[CaptainObvious dangerously close]]'' to friendly units. Somehow [[TooDumbToLive this was lost on Encino Man and Casey Kasem.]] Fortunately, when they attempted to call in the fire mission, they used the wrong authorization and grid square coordinates.

* BoisterousBruiser: Cpl. Josh Ray Person

-->Well sir, it's just that you're incompetent sir.\\

** Another notable example of excluding something on account of RealityIsUnrealistic; when [[spoiler:Pappy was shot in the foot]] and reported it by first referring to himself in the third person with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek, Doc Bryan started laughing because it meant he was okay. The laughter part isn't in the mini-series, because Wright was worried the audience wouldn't quite understand why someone would laugh, given the situation.

** Turns out that Person was on Ripped Fuel (heavily laced with stimulants and technically banned in the Marine Corps) for the entire invasion, making him [[AlcoholInducedIdiocy a weeeeee bit crazy]]. When they eventually settle in Baghdad and Person crashes from going cold turkey, Wright specifically points out that he's a completely different person, and even ''more'' competent.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: If one is already aware of [=SgtMaj=]. Sixta's GenghisGambit, much of his rants and chewing-out of the battalion can seem to be laced with a very subtle hint of trolling. When he lays into Garza for losing his helmet, however, he seems genuinely angry. Given that gear accountability is SeriousBusiness in the military, he would have been totally justified had he [=NJP'd=] Garza.

* {{Sergeant Rock}}: Too many to count. Obvious choices are Sgt. Brad "Iceman" Colbert, Sgt. Eric Kocher and Sgt. Antonio "Poke" Espera.

* {{Hollywood Tactics}}: Completely averted.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdaQHTWT_ZI "Always run in a serpentine fashion!"]]

* ImprobableAimingSkills: Everyone in the platoon feel sore at Trombley for an incident where he shot a pair of civilians [[spoiler:who turned out to be unarmed children.]] At the same time, they respect Trombley's skill because he only fired a few shots but still managed to hit both of his targets multiple times center mass at over 200 meters ''from a moving vehicle.'' In the book, Wright relates his mixed feeling about the shooting; he's dismayed by the child's injury, but admits that when Trombley was on the gun, he couldn't help feeling a little safer.

* AttackAttackAttack: Captain America.
-->Engage those buildings... [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhGIFLWadEU Move into position!]] '''Engage ENGAGE!!! [[LeeroyJenkins FOLLOW MY TRACERS!]]'''\\

** "Encino Man", whose claim to fame includes attempting to order an artillery fire mission in which his men were right in the way (called "Danger Close"), but failing to do so because he didn't have the right protocols, and generally being distressed whenever anyone questions his orders. He actually tries to court-martial a few subordinates after they demanded that he not call in the artillery strike. The book doesn't specifically mention what happened as a result, but Encino Man was eventually removed from duty for another unrelated incident. Lieutenant Fick made Captain at some point between OIF-1 and leaving the Corps, so it's likely that no one took Encino Man or Casey Kasem very seriously in the long run.

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: "Danger close," meaning a fire mission (artillery or air strike) called in ''[[CaptainObvious dangerously close]]'' to friendly units. Somehow [[TooDumbToLive this was lost on Encino Man and Casey Kasem.]] Fortunately, when they attempted to call in the fire mission, [[WhatAnIdiot they used the wrong authorization and grid square coordinates.]]

-->'''Lt. Fick:''' We don't have anything to worry about. [Encino Man] is using the [[WhatAnIdiot wrong authorization codes and the wrong grid coordinates.]]

** Sort of happens to Encino Man and Captain America, the resident [[TheNeidermeyer Neidermeyers]]. They get removed from frontline duty and placed into desk jobs so that the Marines can get competent officers who are actually damn good at commanding troops in battle.

** Encino Man and Captain America were ORIGINALLY intelligence officers assigned to Combat leadership positions. For all intents and purposes, they were put back in their original duties.

** "Captain America" whose activities include hoarding Iraqi fallen goods, spazzing out on comms about being attacked by every little thing, abusing prisoners, demanding the Marines shoot something or someone at random, shooting at random people when in the convoy, ordering his soldiers to mark a minefield at night, and freaking out at the slightest problem.
** "Encino Man" whose claim to fame includes attempting to order an artillery fire mission in which his men were right in the way (called "Danger Close"), but failing to do so because he didn't have the right protocols, and generally being distressed whenever anyone questions his orders. He actually tries to court-martial a few subordinates after they demanded that he not call in the artillery strike. The book doesn't specifically mention what happened as a result, but Encino Man was eventually removed from duty for another unrelated incident. Lieutenant Fick made Captain at some point between OIF-1 and leaving the Corps, so it's likely that no one took Encino Man or Casey Kasem very seriously in the long run.

--> "Engage those buildings... [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhGIFLWadEU Move into position!]] '''Engage ENGAGE!!! [[LeeroyJenkins FOLLOW MY TRACERS!]]'''"
--> "He's shooting at scraps of metal."\\

--> "Dear Frederick, thank you for your nice letter. But I'm actually a US Marine who was born to kill, where you have clearly mistaken me for some sort of wine-sipping communist dick-suck. And although peace probably appeals to tree-loving bisexuals like you and your parents, I happen to be a death-dealing, blood-crazed warrior who wakes up everyday just hoping for the chance to dismember my enemies and defile their civilizations. Peace sucks a hairy asshole, Freddie. War is the motherfucking answer."

-->''"Well sir, it's just that you're incompetent sir."''\\
''"I'm doing my best."''\\
''"Sir, it's just not good enough."''

-->'''Colbert:''' Need I remind you that he is the best damn RTO in the business, as long as you keep him away from your uglier daughters and your smaller livestock.

--> A few hours before the invasion, Encino Man had covered over the side windows of his command vehicle with duct tape. He believed this would mask light seeping out from a computer screen in his vehicle, making it "extratactical"--harder to spot by enemy forces. Unfortunately, the covered windows seem to have diminished his already feeble navigation abilities.

--> ''Sgt. Rudy Reyes, 31, from Kansas City, Missouri, has stripped off his shirt and is washing his chest with baby wipes, every muscle gleaming in the flickering light of a nearby oil fire. Reyes doesn't quite fit the image of the macho brute. He reads Oprah's magazine and waxes his legs and chest. Other members of the unit call him "fruity Rudy" because he is so beautiful. "It doesn't mean you're gay if you think Rudy's hot. He's just so beautiful," Person tells me. "We all think he's hot."''

-->'''Fick''': "Get ''the fuck'' out of here. And do not ever again mess with my platoon. (...) Fuck that. You can fuck with me all you want, but do not, I repeat, '''do not''' fuck with my men."

--> '''Person:''' "Goddammit Baptista! How would he like it if I joined the ''Brazilian'' Marines and only spoke English?"

** Brad again, along with Poke, when [[spoiler: a badly targeted airstrike annihilates a hamlet.]]
** Brad yet again when Walt [[spoiler: accidentally kills a civilian,]] and Walt immediately after.

--->'''Trombley:''' [[SociopathicHero "I got one. I got one! Saw his fuckin' knee explode!"]]
** In the book only: at the roadblock outside Al Hayy, where the Marines open fire at a car after it fails to stop at the warning shots, two Marines--Sgt. Graves and Cpl. Jeschke--approach the car after it becomes clear it was a civilian vehicle. They find a little girl in the back seat. [[spoiler: As Graves reaches out to her, thinking she is merely injured, the top of the girl's head falls off and her brains fall out. Graves, stepping back, almost slips in her brains. He cannot speak for a full minute, and cannot coherently describe the scene afterwards.]] The show presented this scene in condensed form with less gore, with no one shown going full [=BSOD=].

--> '''Lt. Fick''': We don't have anything to worry about. [Encino Man] is using the [[WhatAnIdiot wrong authorization codes and the wrong grid coordinates.]]

-->'''Colbert''': Walt, fuck! That wasn't even a warning shot! That was a wounding shot, motherfucker! ...you okay?

--->'''Cpl. Michael Stinetorf:''' "It was weird. In OIF-One I hated him. But as soon as he became our platoon sergeant, it was clear that tactically he knew his shit, he trained us really well, and he was definitely not afraid to fight. I really like the guy."

-->'''Col. Dowdy''': With the resistance we're seeing, I'm concerned that initiating movement too hastily-
-->'''General Mattis''': The question is why the fuck am I standing here looking at a fucking bridge that doesn't have my Marines rolling across it.
-->'''Dowdy''': Sir, we're 30 mikes from initiating the armored assault to engage the enemy along the [=MSR=] through the city. Our problem has been refueling the tanks.
-->'''Mattis''': Not only "no", Colonel, but "fuck no". Okay? I don't give a rat's ass about the resistance in this city. Your mission is to punch through this city, put [=RCT=] One north of it where our objectives are. This is just a fucking sideshow. You have 7,000 Marine riflemen who have been ready to go for the past 24 hours, and you're standing here with your foot on your dick. No, check that, not your dick, my dick.

-->"Yo President! Is watchin'! Amerikee! Is watchin'! But more important! ''Godfather!'' Is watchin'. Make no mistake! THERE! WILL! BE! NO! FUCK! UPS!"

-->"It was the enemy who stole your food from you, and you should be really, really mad at them. Before we step off on this next mission, I'm reminding you of who your enemy is. The enemy."

-->"You know that picture of Rolling Stone's girlfriend?"\\
"I think it's safe to say we all know her ''intimately'' at this point."

-->'''Person:''' I hate that cheesy moto bullshit.\\

-->'''Person:''' "That's 'cause he's a psycho. But at least he's our psycho."

-->'''Cpl. Josh Ray Person''' "Hey, reporter! If you lay with your cock against the ground when a tank goes by, it feels fuckin' great!"

-->'''Reyes''': It all feels so random, what we're doing. Running here, shooting. Running there, bombing. [[AmbiguousSituation That might be a legit target burning over there, but it might be a school, Pap]]. I hope it's legit. I hope this is good karma.

* TheWatson: Wright. ''"What's a POG?"[[note]]'''P'''eople '''O'''ther than '''G'''runts, i.e. non-combat Marines, and viewed with complete disdain by all combat Marines[[/note]]; "Why is [[SpeechImpediment your voice]] [[Film/TheGodfather like that?]]''"

-->'''Espera''': ''(gestures to dead RPG soldier still holding his weapon)'' "Motherfucker died trying to get a round off. Combat ''discipline''."

-->'''Sgt. Eric Kocher''': [[IfIDoNotReturn If something happens to me]], I want my wife to know the truth. If they say we fought valiantly here, I want her to know we fought retarded."

** Person is the Superego, and [[SubvertedTrope this is where it gets weird]]: Instead of being concerned with acting according to social norms and expectations, he makes it a point to highlight where failing to properly develop and apply these norms and expectations has lead to all of the problems they are dealing with on a personal or national level.

* RousingSpeech: Subverted.

* SemperFi: Subverted to some degree.
** Although there is an amount of "moto" chest thumping, the series does subvert parts of the Marine Corps myth. Examples: "Captain America," "Encino Man," "Casey Kasem," and who could forget the genius idea of re-purposing a reconnaissance unit as a light assault unit in light armored Humvees?

* SociopathicSoldier: Lance Corporal Harold Trombley, once again. He's explicitly stated to be type II and even provides the page quote for the trope. Also a subversion, as while his fellow marines are disgusted by him shooting children during an assault, they are also impressed by the accuracy it required and eventually jokingly nickname him ''Whopper Jr''.

* SouthernFriedPrivate: Played straight with Lance Cpl. Harold James Trombley. Subverted in Cpl. Josh Ray Person; he seems this way at first due to a big mouth and a Missouri accent, but he only fires his weapon once on-screen and not at anything specific, even going so far as to hand his weapon to the reporter. Somewhat justified in that he's 2-1's driver and thus has his hands literally full ''most'' of the time, but is still unarmed when he otherwise should be. He's also the most talented radio technician in all of Bravo Company; see ObfuscatingStupidity above.

* TrueCompanions: The men of First Recon seem to be this, even accepting the reporter as part of their team. The reporter is a subversion; this type of character is usually the {{Butt Monkey}} to the far more badass troops he's around. This is how it ''starts,'' but it quickly switches around when he mentions having written for ''Hustler'', and his status in the close-knit group is further cemented when he stays after his first time being shot at instead of leaving immediately thereafter. In the book, Wright notes that he thought everyone hated him as early as Camp Matilda when Marines would start ambushing him around corners and poking him in the side with their knives; when he saw them doing it to each other as a way of passing the time, he realized it meant they were actually starting to like him.

* FakeAmerican: As the show was filmed in South Africa, many of the Americans are played by South African actors.