History Main / MilitariesAreUseless

** Downplayed when they finally admit that aliens are indeed invading : their only response is to send some Redshirts die to support the main cast, and give them heavy weaponry to toy with.

* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in ''FullMetalAlchemist'' : at the very beginning, [[TheHero Edward Elric]] confronts the Head of the local CorruptChurch without any help of the army. He later explains that, after dealing with the leader, he sent a report to his superiors in the military, who reacted by sending troops to deal with the trouble created by the collapsing of the church. [[spoiler: It's then revealed that those troops were sent to replace those of the General in charge of the region, because they were dealing ''too well'' with the population, while his superiors needed a bloodshed]].

* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in ''FullMetalAlchemist'' : at the very beginning, [[TheHero Edward Elric]], confronts the Head of the local CorruptChurch without any help of the army. He later explains that, after dealing with the leader, he sent a report to his superiors in the military, who reacted by sending troops to deal with the trouble created by the collapsing of the church. [[spoiler: It's then revealed that those troops were sent to replace those of the General in charge of the region, because they were dealing ''too well'' with the population, while his superiors needed a bloodshed]].

* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in ''FullMetalAlchemist'' : in the very beginning, [[TheHero Edward Elric]], confronts the Head of the local CorruptChurch without any help of the army. He later explains that, after dealing with the leader, he sent a report to his superiors in the military, who reacted by sending troops to deal with the trouble created by the collapsing of the church. [[spoiler: It's then revealed that those troops were sent to replace those of the General in charge of the region, because they were dealing ''too well'' with the population, while his superiors needed a bloodshed]].

* This was invoked in ''Film/PacificRim'', since director Creator/GuillermoDelToro is a pacifist and wanted to avoid the military-shilling of the ''{{Film/Transformers}}'' films. Of note is that the conventional military took '''six days''' to defeat the first {{Kaiju}}, and subsequent battles usually ended with nukes after tons of collateral damage. Once [[HumongousMecha the Jaeger Program]] arrived, the world began getting greater victories, but [[UngratefulBastard the governments quickly cut their support for it]] once the Kaiju began matching Jaegers in power. By 2025, the Jaeger Program is a partially autonomous organization but on its last legs as its funding drains.

* This was invoked in ''Film/PacificRim'', since director Creator/GuillermoDelToro is a pacifist and wanted to avoid the military-shilling of the ''{{Film/Transformers}}'' films. Of note is that the conventional military took '''six days''' to defeat the first {{Kaiju}}, and subsequent battles usually ended with nukes after tons of collateral damage. Once [[HumongousMecha the Jaeger Program]] arrived, the world began getting greater victories, but [[DudeWheresMyRespect the governments quickly cut their support for it]] once the Kaiju began matching Jaegers in power. By 2025, the Jaeger Program is a partially autonomous organization but on its last legs as its funding drains.

* This was invoked in ''Film/PacificRim'', since director Creator/GuillermoDelToro is a pacifist and wanted to avoid the military-shilling of the ''{{Film/Transformers}}'' films. Of note is that the conventional military took '''six days''' to defeat the first {{Kaiju}}, and subsequent battles usually ended with nukes after tons of collateral damage. Once [[HumongousMecha the Jaeger Program]] was arrived, the world began getting greater victories, but [[DudeWheresMyRespect the governments quickly cut their support for it]] once the Kaiju began matching Jaegers in power. By 2025, the Jaeger Program is a partially autonomous organization but on its last legs as its funding drains.

* Played straight in most of ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', due to the AdultsAreUseless setting : the military doesn't seem very worried about the Earth being invaded by aliens. [[spoiler:Even after losing an aircraft carrier (and everybody on it), the kid's hometown being quarantined, and the governor of California (no, [[ArnoldSchwarzenegger not this one]]) making an official speech about how the aliens are invading the world,]] [[ExtraStrengthMasquerade they simply consider this as a hoax]] and don't bother investigate.
** Downplayed when they finally admit that aliens are indeed invading : their only response is to send some Redshirts die to support the main cast, and give them heavy weaponry to toy with.

The aim, of course, is to make he Hero the only one who can defeat the bad guys: how can you save your world when it can defend itself with no problem thanks to its competent army? That's why you often find this in {{Superhero}} settings. It's also quite frequent in stories about an AlienInvasion or a ZombieApocalypse, because a war consisting of large open {{CurbStompBattle}}s is a quicker way to show how the enemy won than the long and complex battles that would have occurred had the military been competent. And of course, don't expect anything from them when AdultsAreUseless: since most armies are made of adults, they're unlikely to help.

The aim, of course, is to make the {{Hero}} the only one who can defeat the bad guys: how can you save your world when it can defend itself with no problem thanks to its competent army? That's why you often find this in {{Superhero}} settings. It's also quite frequent in stories about an AlienInvasion or a ZombieApocalypse, because a war consisting of large open {{CurbStompBattle}}s is a quicker way to show how the enemy won than the long and complex battles that would have occurred had the military been competent. And of course, don't expect anything from them when AdultsAreUseless: since most armies are made of adults, they're unlikely to help.

* The aurors in ''Literature/HarryPotter'' may qualify, depending on whether you consider them as an army or not. In the sixth book, they fail to kill or capture any Death Eater, put innocents in jail ([[NiceJobBreakingItHero where they are captured]] and {{Brainwashed}} by said Death Eaters) instead, and do nothing to prevent the ministry from being infiltrated by Voldemort.

The aim, of course, is to make the {{Hero}} the only one who can defeat the bad guys: how can you save your world when it can defend itself with no problem thanks to its competent army? That's why you often find this in {{Superhero}} settings. It's also quite frequent in stories about an AlienInvasion or a ZombieApocalypse, because a war consisting of large open [[CurbStompBattle Curb-Stomp Battles]] is a quicker way to show how the enemy won than the long and complex battles that would have occurred had the military been competent. And of course, don't expect anything from them when AdultsAreUseless: since most armies are made of adults, they're unlikely to help.

* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', when the [[spoiler: [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever Giant Omnidroid]] attacks some random cities]], the army's response is basically "send some guys attack it with tanks [[FiveRoundsRapid and submachine-guns]], [[ScrewThisImOutOfHere then run]]!" EMI bombs, anyone?

The aim, of course, is to make the {{Hero}} the only one who can defeat the bag guys : how can you save your world when it can defend itself with no problem thanks to its competent army ? That's why you often find this in {{Superhero}} settings. It's also quite frequent in stories about an AlienInvasion or a ZombieApocalypse, because a war consisting of large open [[CurbStompBattle Curb-Stomp Battles]] is a quicker way to show how the enemy won than the long and complex battles that would have occurred had the military been competent. And of course, don't expect anything from them when AdultsAreUseless : since most armies are made of adults, they're unlikely to help.

Note that this trope isn't about lots of soldiers dying: that's the RedShirtArmy. A military can achieve great victories by [[ZergRush swarming the enemy with disposable soldiers]], or loose everything while keeping a low casulaty record. This trope comes when the military as an institution has no use.

First cause of EasilyConqueredWorld, though some countries in TV Land can have the worst possible army without being conquered. Can include PoliceAreUseless and NoFEMAResponse, where they don't even try to help. Often overlap with ConservationOfNinjutsu. Supertrope of TanksForNothing. Sister trope of ArmiesAreEvil.

* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', when the [[spoiler: [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever Giant Omnidroid]] attacks some random cities]], the army's response is basically "send some guys attack it with tanks [[FiveRoundsRapid and submachine-guns]], then do nothing". EMI bombs, anyone?

* ''{{LuckyLuke}}'' is an AffectionateParody of the Western genre, so of course the cavalry is always either critically late to the action, or completely useless despite anything they might attempt.

* In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', due to the AdultsAreUseless setting, the military doesn't seem very worried about the Earth being invaded by aliens. Even after losing an aircraft carrier (and everybody on it), the kid's hometown being quarantined, and the governor of California (no, [[ArnoldSchwarzenegger not this one]]) making an official speech about how the aliens are invading the world, [[ExtraStrengthMasquerade they simply consider this as a hoax]] and don't bother investigate. When they finally admit that aliens are indeed invading, their only response is to send some Redshirts die to support the main cast.

* In ''Film/TheAvengers'', the army doesn't send any troops to help the titular heroes defending New York against the alien invasion. And of course, they don't think one second about sending a single missile to destroy the one building on which the phlobetonium supporting the invasion stands, or sending some nukes in the two-way portal to take down the exposed enemy spaceship. [[SarcasmMode Nuking the city seems so far more sensible]].
* At the end of ''TheIncredibles'', when the [[spoiler: [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever Giant Omnidroid]] attacks some random cities]], the army's response is basically "send some guys attack it with tanks [[FiveRoundsRapid and submachine-guns]], then do nothing". EMI bombs, anyone?

* The aurors in ''Literature/HarryPotter'' may qualify, depending on whether you consider them as an army or not. In the sixth book, they fail to kill or capture any Death Eater, put innocents in jail ([[NiceJobBreakingItHero where they are captured]] and {{Brainwashed}} by said Death Eaters) instead, and do nothing to prevent the ministry from being infiltrated by Voldemort.

First cause of EasilyConqueredWorld, though some countries in TV Land can have the worst possible army without being conquered. Can include PoliceAreUseless and NoFEMAResponse, where they don't even try to help. Often overlap with ConservationOfNinjutsu. Sister trope of ArmiesAreEvil.

* ''{{Godzilla}}''

Note that this trope isn't about lots of soldiers dying : that's the RedShirtArmy. A military can achieve great victories by [[ZergRush swarming the enemy with disposable soldiers]], or loose everything while keeping a low casulaty record. This trope comes when the military as an institution has no use.

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[[AC: Film]]

[[AC: Literature]]

[[AC: Video Games]]

The aim, of course, is to make the {{Hero}} the only one who can defeat the bag guys : how can you save your world when it can defend itself thanks to its competent army ? That's why you often find this in {{Superhero}} settings. It's also quite frequent in stories about an AlienInvasion or a ZombieApocalypse, because a war consisting of large open [[CurbStompBattle Curb-Stomp Battles]] is a quicker way to show how the enemy won than the long and complex battles that would have occurred had the military been competent. And of course, don't expect anything from them when AdultsAreUseless : since most armies are made of adults, they're unlikely to help.

Previous name : Armies are useless.
Possible other names : No Armed Force reponse, Armies are incompetent.

* In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', due to the AdultsAreUseless setting, the military doesn't seem very worried about the Earth being invaded by aliens. Even after losing an aircraft carrier, the hometown of the animorphs being quarantined, and the governor of California (no, [[ArnoldSchwarzenegger not this one]]) making an official speech about how the aliens are invading the world, they simply consider this as a hoax and don't bother investigate. Obviously, even after admitting that yes, aliens are invading, their only purpose is to send some Redshirts die to support the main cast.

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