History Main / OneManArmy

Sometimes TheHero (or TheBigGuy in their {{team}}) will face a large horde of Mooks and tell their [[BigBad leader]] he's going down. The leader will often say, "YouAndWhatArmy", then discover that the hero doesn't ''need'' one. This one man ''is'' the army and can go around killing ''thousands'' of enemies.

The One-Man Army does far more than pull his own weight. Villains tend to underestimate this person at first, considering him JustOneMan. They are quickly proven wrong. This is often {{justified|Trope}} by making the character a SuperSoldier against mundanes, possessing far superior weaponry, or otherwise tremendously advantaged.

* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}''

* ''VisualNovel/MajiDeWatashiNiKoiShinasai'' has [[WorldOfBadass many characters]] who can beat up masses of people by themselves. For instance, most of the named characters in the Kawakami War are essentially {{Hero Unit}}s.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': In the "Red" Trailer, Ruby Rose carves through a huge horde of [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demonic]] [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves]] [[CurbStompBattle without taking a single hit]]. In Volume 3, [[spoiler:Neopolitan infiltrates an Atlesian airship and slaughters all the soldiers on board, freeing Roman Torchwick and allowing him to hijack the ship.]]

* ''VisualNovel/GrisaiaSeries'': Though the previous novels in the series handled protagonist Yuuji's capabilities with at least a touch of realism, by the end of ''[[VisualNovel/GrisaiaNoRakuen Rakuen]]'', [[spoiler: when he assaults Oslo's base in the climax, he carves a bloody path through his private army, taking down 40-50 armed mercenaries.]]

* OneManArmy/FanFic

* ''Franchise/GrisaiaSeries'': Though the previous novels in the series handled protagonist Yuuji's capabilities with at least a touch of realism, by the end of ''[[VisualNovel/GrisaiaNoRakuen Rakuen]]'', [[spoiler: when he assaults Oslo's base in the climax, he carves a bloody path through his private army, taking down 40-50 armed mercenaries.]]

Being one of these qualifies you as a CrewOfOne (though not for a BigBadassBattleSequence). However, [[DudeWheresMyRespect very few people will respect your ability]], or worse, seek to abuse it because "WeDoTheImpossible" is in effect. Contrast with the BadassArmy where each individual could be considered this but are part of said army, as well as the EasilyConqueredWorld where it's the severely, severely outnumbered enemies who are kicking ass and taking names. If one man ''makes'' the army, then you have TheMinionMaster. Likewise, if one man ''becomes'' the army, it's MesACrowd.

[[ThereAreNoTherapists The damage to the psychological state]] of someone like this is not always considered. It is usually affected by [[ItGetsEasier taking so many lives]] away. The impact of this is lessened if the character is explictly a LivingWeapon and/or if the enemies are FacelessGoons or [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman don't register as human beings]] and therefore exist solely to provide a MookHorrorShow. Alternatively, the character may inflict [[NonLethalKO Non-Lethal KOs]] instead.

[[ThereAreNoTherapists The damage to the psychological state]] of someone like this is not always considered. It ''certainly'' would be affected by [[ItGetsEasier taking so many lives]] away. The impact of this is lessened if the character is explictly a LivingWeapon and/or if the enemies are FacelessGoons or [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman don't register as human beings]] and therefore exist solely to provide a MookHorrorShow. Alternatively, the character may inflict [[NonLethalKO Non-Lethal KOs]] instead.

* Several characters in ''Webcomic/GodOfHighSchool'' are this, but very few can match Jin Mo Ri's feat of [[spoiler:wiping out over 180,000 angels the size of skyscrapers in ''under thirty seconds'' after unlocking his power as the Monkey King.]]

* Los Hermanos, a member of the [[Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse Global Guardians]], is literally this. He's a super-powered duplicator who can make thousands upon thousands of copies of himself.

* ''[[https://youtu.be/8vYFFx4whoE Knight of Hope]]'' sees a single KnightInShiningArmor take on an entire bandit camp by himself to save a woman they'd been keeping as a SexSlave. While he does come out of it exhausted and injured, he successfully kills them all by himself. Even more to this trope is the bandits do not abide by MookChivalry, he's just that skilled, [[ArmorIsUseless full-plate armor]] is [[SubvertedTrope far more useful than Hollywood would have you believe it is, and it's heavily implied [[DivineIntervention God himself is behind him]]. Notably, this isn't as outlandish as it would seem, as a well trained, fully armored knight would have a serious advantage against unarmored, untrained opponents, especially given few of the bandits have the proper weapons to damage him through his armor.

There is a thousand Hectors in the field:
Now here he fights on Galathe his horse,
And there lacks work; anon he's there afoot,
And there they fly or die, like scaled sculls
Before the belching whale; then is he yonder,
And there the strawy Greeks, ripe for his edge,
Fall down before him, like the mower's swath:
Here, there, and every where, he leaves and takes,
Dexterity so obeying appetite
That what he will he does, and does so much
That proof is call'd impossibility.

[[ThereAreNoTherapists The damage to the psychological state]] of someone like this is not always considered. It ''certainly'' would be affected by [[ItGetsEasier taking so many lives]] away. The impact of this is lessened if the character is explictly a LivingWeapon and/or if the enemies are FacelessGoons or [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman don't register as human beings]] and therefore exist solely to provide a MookHorrorShow.

The One Man Army does far more than pull his own weight. Villains tend to underestimate this person at first, considering him JustOneMan. They are quickly proven wrong. This is often {{justified|Trope}} by making the character a SuperSoldier against mundanes, possessing far superior weaponry, or otherwise tremendously advantaged.

Often goes hand-in-hand with ItsUpToYou and WalkingArmory. When the One Man Army is intentionally sent out to take care of the problem by himself, it's a case of OneRiotOneRanger. Compare and contrast PersonOfMassDestruction, who's symbolically treated like a weapon by the setting, and OmnicidalManiac, who is all too willing to push themselves into this territory. In the latter case, the OmnicidalManiac often gains their kill-count through using [[WeaponOfMassDestruction WMDs]] on hapless civilians rather than personally fighting enemy combatants. Villains who are like this aren't bothered by MookDepletion.

Sometimes TheHero (or TheBigGuy in their {{team}}) will face a large horde of Mooks and tell their [[BigBad leader]] he's going down. The leader will often say, "YouAndWhatArmy", then discover that the hero doesn't ''need'' one. This one man can go around and kill ''thousands'' of enemies.

* In ''[[VisualNovel/Danganronpa2]]'',[[spoiler: Peko Pekoyama becomes one in her execution, taking down numerous monokuma attackers armed soley with her sword. In the process, she accidentally slashes out Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu's eye.]]

In ''[[VisualNovel/Danganronpa2]]'',[[spoiler: Peko Pekoyama becomes one in her execution, taking down numerous monokuma attackers armed soley with her sword. In the process, she accidentally slashes out Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu's eye.]]

* As a result of the Mob's total inability to switch out Pokemon, some Mons in [[TwitchPlaysPokemon Twitch Plays Pokemon]] tend to fall into this category. Pidgeot ("Bird Jesus") from the first run is the primary example, but Feraligatr ("LazorGator") and Azumarill ("M4 Moe") also have this status.

Sometimes TheHero (or TheBigGuy in his {{team}}) will face a large horde of Mooks and tell their [[BigBad leader]] he's going down. The leader will often say, "YouAndWhatArmy", then discover that the hero doesn't ''need'' one. This one man can go around and kill ''thousands'' of enemies.

Often goes hand-in-hand with ItsUpToYou and WalkingArmory. When the One Man Army is intentionally sent out to take care of the problem by himself, it's a case of OneRiotOneRanger. Compare and contrast PersonOfMassDestruction, who's symbolically treated like a weapon by the setting, and OmnicidalManiac, who is all too willing to push him- or herself into this territory. In the latter case, the OmnicidalManiac often gains his/her/its kill-count through using [[WeaponOfMassDestruction WMDs]] on hapless civilians rather than personally fighting enemy combatants. Villains who are like this aren't bothered by MookDepletion.

->'''ComicBook/{{Loki}}:''' I have an army.\\
'''[[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]]:''' We have a [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]].

The One Man Army does far more than pull his own weight. Villains tend to underestimate this person at first, considering him JustOneMan. They are quickly proven wrong. This is often [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by making the character a SuperSoldier against mundanes, possessing far superior weaponry, or otherwise tremendously advantaged.

* OneManArmy/{{Mythology and Religion}}

* OneManArmy/{{Webcomics}}

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[[folder: Visual Novels ]]

* ''Franchise/{{Grisaia Series}}'': Though the previous novels in the series handled protagonist Yuuji's capabilities with at least a touch of realism, by the end of ''[[VisualNovel/GrisaiaNoRakuen Rakuen]]'', [[spoiler: when he assaults Oslo's base in the climax, he carves a bloody path through his private army, taking down 40-50 armed mercenaries.]]

[[folder: Web Animation ]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

* In Toys/{{Bionicle}}, Toa usually work in teams, but there are occasions where they manage to demolish small armies. One particular example that stands out is Kopaka defeating three dozen Zyglak offscreen. What makes this even more impressive is that Zyglak are almost immune to [[ElementalPowers Elemental Powers]] which Toa usually use as their primary attack.