History Main / BlingOfWar

** [[AxeCrazy Taur]] [[TheBrute Urgas]], [[TheCaligula King of Cthol Murgos]], dips his (steel) chainmail in molten gold. Since Angarak gold is blood red in colour, this actually serves to make him look [[TheBerserker even more frightening]] rather than pretty.
* Also deconstructed in ''Literature/TheElenium'' by the same author. Martel, who has been TheDragon for the entire trilogy, gets a fancy suit of gold-embossed armor in the third book. In the penultimate battle, the weight of the armor slows him down, which gets him killed. (Although it isn't the gold particularly; that particular style of armor was established as ''always'' being much heavier than most countries' plate mail, and among the best protection in the world. You still need to spend years building muscle to move in it properly.)

** Also worth noting is that their uniforms are armor effective against just about anything they'd face short of their own weapons (steel plates and chain mail will stop most bladed weapons that resisting peasants will have). When they first came to Earth in the pilot, small arms fire just bounced off -- one Jaffa ''was'' killed, but that was after a considerable amount of gunfire. (Though those were Serpent Guards; those guys are elite troops and thus get the best armor.) It isn't until the SGC became a recognized defensive asset that needed better weapons and got them that the armor becomes obsolete.

* Goldar and Scorpina of ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' wear gold-coloured plate mail.

* The Imperial Generals of ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' wear them in combat; gold trim, cords, epaulettes and an ocean of gold buttons abound. Gallia's military officers wear a much more modest (if not less elaborate) uniform. Imperial Prince Maximilian, while not wearing a uniform, wears an entire suit of elaborately decorative silver plate mail with gold accents, including a golden laurel crown, as part of his garb of station, even when just sitting around.

* Sebastian Vael, from ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'''s "''[[ExactlyWhatitSaysontheTin The Exiled Prince]]''" DownloadableContent, is [[PrinceCharming a Pri]][[WarriorPrince nce]] who wears bright white chain-mail with lots of gold. It was custom made for him when [[TheResenter he was shipped off]] to join [[BadassPreacher the clergy]], both [[FormerTeenRebel for being a troublemaker]], and being SpareToTheThrone. His codpiece is a golden emblem of Andraste's face (think Jesus [[JeannedArchetype crossed with Joan of Arc]]).

* The ''Literature/{{SPQR}}'' novel ''Nobody Loves a Centurian'' gives an avid CostumePorn description of the protagonist Decius putting on his Roman officer's uniform, complete with an anatomically correct breastplate and a push-broom helmet. After he finishes, another officer arrives with the message that their commanding officer wants everyone to wear their combat uniforms to the meeting instead. There's no time to change, and everyone has a good laugh at Decius's expense.

** Out of all the service branches, the most impressive dress uniforms in terms of bling were those of the ''Kriegsmarine'', due to them sticking to the tradition of the Imperial Navy. A naval officer had at least two service dresses (blues/whites), a [[http://uboat.net/media/men/uniforms/daoff.jpg full dress]], a [[http://uboat.net/media/men/uniforms/kzsgrda.jpg parade dress]] (frilliest of them all), a walking-out dress for city wear and an [[https://web.archive.org/web/20161204023014/http://www.hermann-historica.de/auktion/hhm64.pl?f=NR_LOT&c=7178&t=temartic_R_D&db=kat64_3R.txt evening dress uniform]] (which could also have a lot of decorations and a ceremonial dagger for even more formal events). They subverted the trope by wearing mostly the service dress or civilian jumpers and leather coats aboard ship.

* The BritishRoyalGuards are a relatively subdued example, but there's a ''reason'' we stopped making our squaddies wear bright red jackets for anything but peacetime ceremonial duties.

* ''ComicBook/ThePhantom'': The oneshot villain Goldhand wore a hand prosthetic made of solid gold - as an intimidation method, way to show off his wealth, and as a very deadly bludgeon. Getting karate chopped by sixteen pounds of lucre packs a very deadly panache.

* Also subverted in Robert Heinlein's ''Literature/SpaceCadet''. Both cadets and officers in the Patrol wear extremely plain uniforms. Heinlein briefly discusses the psychology behind plain and jazzy uniforms.

* Leonid Brezhnev was so fond of the Bling of War that he awarded himself loads of improbable awards, including UsefulNotes/WorldWarII awards as late as the 1970s -- including the Order of Victory, a diamond-and-ruby affair awarded to a few (as in less than 20) top commanders, which Brezhnev could hardly count himself among (the other members included the likes of Stalin, Marshal Zhukov, and Marshal Rokossovsky among the Soviets, and Bernard Montgomery and frickin' UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower among the Western Allies). He also awarded himself the coveted Hero of the Soviet Union and Hero of Socialist Labour awards for such [[SarcasmMode momentous achievements]] as his birthday (Brezhnev was one of only two individuals -- the other being Marshal Zhukov, the conqueror of Berlin -- to receive ''four'' Hero of the Soviet Union medals). This eventually got to the point where a [[RussianHumor a common Soviet joke of the era]] was about Brezhnev needing chest expansion surgery to accommodate an ever-increasing number of medals. After his death, a number of award regulations were [[ObviousRulePatch changed to specifically exclude the awards being granted for things such as birthdays]], and his Order of Victory was outright revoked.

*** The exception that proves the rule is Lord Louis Mountbatten (later [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma]]), British naval veteran and uncle to Prince Phillip, the Queen's late husband. A professional naval officer, Mountbatten served in both world wars, the second as an admiral in high strategic commands in India and southeastern Asia. The sheer scope and variety of his assignments and campaigns alone would make him one of the highest decorated members of the British military. But on top of all that, he was a member of the extended British royal family (besides his relation to Prince Phillip, he was a great-grandson of Queen Victoria),[[note]]And had relations among European royalty; he was particularly closely related to the [[UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia Russian royals]], as his great-aunt Marie and his second cousin Alix married Alexander II and Nicholas II, respectively.[[/note]] and that put him front and center of the glittery metal explosion factory that is the British honours system. On top of the aforementioned earldom[[note]]Which was given special dispensation to be inherited through his daughters because by the time he got it (1) he had no sons and (2) his wife had stopped sleeping with him in favour of pretty much anyone else she fancied and everyone in high society--including both her husband and his cousin the King--knew it.[[/note]] and receiving appointments to four separate orders of chivalry, he was also entitled to various royals- or dignitaries-only awards and a smattering of other European chivalry inductions, enough so that by the end, the size, weight, and girth of his medals melted together could form a reasonably effective breastplate. And he ''gloried'' in his achievements, wearing all his awards to any occasion that called for it, even when the size of his medal bar blocked him from moving his left arm or when his ribbon rack rode up so high it extended above his shoulder like an extremely flamboyant hunchback.

* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'' features a character named Domhnall of Zena, a charming trader [[IntrepidMerchant first encountered in the Depths]]. He deals mostly in armors, initially selling a copy of his own formidable set which sports a massive collection of [[ChestOfMedals glittering medals]] which are said to symbolize glory, and a helm with a similarly bright ochre gleam. The game also features silver knights wearing characteristically reflective plate and winged helms, and a character called Lautrec the Embraced, whose bright, golden-hued armor features notable decorative molding on the chest related to his title.

* Just before the Battle of Cowpens in ''Film/ThePatriot'', the French Major Villeneuve puts on his elaborate white, sky blue and gold uniform (which we had never seen before). Benjamin Martin gives him a look, and Major Villeneuve says, "If I die, I will die well-dressed."

** The Free Worlds League has the Distinguished Service Awards, which are actual ''jewelry'' -- a bronze leaf-shaped pin that incorporates either a ruby, emerald, sapphire or diamond depending on the grade of the award. They also have Allison's Chain, another high award composed of a chain made of gold, silver and platinum links, finally they have the Silver Cross, which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin -- a pure silver cross with a diamond set in the center;

* Belamy in ''Literature/SkateTheThief'' received a set of fantastically designed "war robes" as a reward for his military service; he usually keeps the pricey gift locked up with assorted junk in his basement. [[spoiler:It serves as a ChekovsGun, providing him the rubies needed to fire off a [[TimeBomb bunch of fireballs]] all at once near the end of the book.]]

* In ''LightNovel/FateZero'', Archer makes sure that you know he is the King of Heroes and that all the worlds treasures belong to him. He does this by wearing a fancy suit of golden armor that lets him NoSell almost everything, and the weapons he fires from his [[HyperspaceArsenal Gate of Babylon]] are frequently gilded.

* ''Art/TheNightWatch': The higher-ranking militiamen wear helmets (or hats) ornated with engravings and feathers, sashes, and puffy-sleeved upper garments. The captain and his lieutenant have golden embroideries on their clothes and sashes, as well as decorated weapons.

* In ''LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon,'' Argonaut goes out of his way to pilfer a particularly valuable and impressive-looking set of armor from the royal armory before making his debut as a hero. This is because he knows that people will judge books by their covers and he'll be more convincing to the public if he's dressed to look the part. [[spoiler:This proves essential in convincing others that he's the successor of "General Minos", as his armor, the lightning powers granted by Jupiter, and the "general's" bloody helmet sell his story to the citizens.]]

* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'': Haruhi and the SOS-Brigade wore those in the DeepImmersionGaming scenes of "Day Of Sagittarius". Fancy!
** That's relatively tame for the high-ranked naval officers they were played as. On the other hand, it would still be more practical to wear a spacesuit, battle damage and all.

* Averted -- barely -- in ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood'', by virtue of the fact that the members of the AX are not ''technically'' soldiers (although they ''are'' a ''para''military organization. Some of the female members of the team might better qualify as wearing [[ImpracticallyFancyOutfit Impractically Fancy Habits]] (see also NunsAreMikos and GirlsWithGuns).

** The Tattered Prince gets his name from the elaborate cloak he wears. Its pieced together from scraps of the banners of armies he's defeated and surcoats of men he's killed, all of the colors clash and it resemebles a patchowrk quilt. He wears it over plain, but elegant armor and he says his appearance is so plain and forgetabble he's totally anonymous when he's not wearing it.