History Main / SociopathicSoldier

**** The Waffen SS ''were'' military, just a seperate branch from the Wehrmacht. They were just the military wing of the SS.

** Rico from the same series takes it up a step further, and apparently is a good guy. His questionable tactics include wielding a heavy machine gun during a hostage situation and not settling for stealth when Helghast can be killed. It gets bad in [[{{Killzone}} Killzone 2]] when Templar decides in some strange fashion that he is worthy of not only heading up Alpha, but also getting the charge to capture Visari. [[spoiler:Guess how it ends.]] In the manual for the first game, it's stated he was a Rhino Squad member, who were known for being unnessecerily violent.

* The sample group, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Bad Company]]" from ''TheWorldOfDarkness'' sourcebook, ''Dogs Of War", are a bunch of ShellShockedVeterans deployed to Afghanistan, led by [[ColonelKilgore Colonel Kane]]. Having had his heart cut out by a Taliban sorcerer, Kane has thrown the rulebook away in the interest of tracking down the sorcerer...and, incidentally, killing every Afghani who gets in his way. Several other examples are given (especially that one Chechen resistance group), but Bad Company are the standouts. If you're playing a military setting and don't alter your [[KarmaMeter Morality]] accordingly, it's very easy for any Soldier character to fall into this.

* Deconstructed in the ''TwoFistedTales'' short story "Kill!", set in the Korean War. On the American side we have have Abner, who continously sharpens his knife and can't wait to gut some chinese, while in the Chinese camp we meet Li, who obessively polishes his submachine and compares it to a beautiful woman. [[spoiler:In the end, they meet in the field, mortally wound each other and both die uncerimoniously]].

** [[ShownTheirWork Justified in that]] the series takes place in a medieval period. There are no conscripts or discipline; the only difference between a French or British invasion from a viking raid was the scale and technology. In fact, a viking raid would often be cleaner, as they would be operating on their own schedules and thus be better fed and less desperate than any soldier. ''[[AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle Ahem--]]''sorry.

A main source of StandardRedshirtProcedure. Contrast OfficerAndAGentleman and CulturedWarrior. Compare with the more mercenary PsychoForHire.

* Many examples, Type 1 and 2, from Argentina's Dirty War, which took place from 1976-83. Under [[GeneralRipper the junta]], torture, kidnappings, and mass murder were institutionalised, and carried out by members of the Argentine armed forces. Some, such as [[ShellShockedVeteran Adolfo]] [[TheAtoner Scilingo]] have repented, and asked to be imprisoned. Others, like [[TortureTechnician Julian the Turk]] have not, and indeed seem very proud of their achievements. At least 30 000 people were killed, by leaders who claimed to be protecting them from the RedMenace.

*** --> "Look your victims in the eye. And never, forget them. They certainly won't forget you."

* From the third verse of JohnDenver's ''Stonehaven Sunset'': --> Stonehaven sunset, the city's on fire. The soldiers just [[SlasherSmile smile]] and say, "[[PsychoForHire this gun's for hire]]". Give into the beast, boy, give into the thrill, [[HumansAreBastards it's just human nature]], to hunt and to kill...

** --> General Iberico St. Jean, governor of Buenos Aires: “First we will kill all the subversives; then we will kill all their collaborators; then their sympathisers; then those who remained indifferent; and finally, we’ll kill the undecided.”

The grunt version of ColonelKilgore. Often people below the rank of Sergeant are all around [[JerkAss assholes]] who plunder, rape, and massacre civilians, or brutally torture and murder the hero's comrades, making killing them less guilt-causing.

A main source of StandardRedshirtProcedure. Contrast OfficerAndAGentleman and CulturedWarrior. Compare with the similar (but not identical) PsychoForHire.

* They don't get any more sociopathic than Zolf J. Kimblee from ''FullmetalAlchemist''. He's essentially LackOfEmpathy in a uniform (and later, a NiceHat and [[DressedToKill suit]]). He sees killing as part of his job...and Kimblee loves a job well done. His [[Anime/FullMetalAlchemist anime]] counterpart [[CharacterExaggeration exaggerates]] this to the point where he's less this trope, and more of a ChaoticEvil ForTheEvulz PsychoForHire.
** This trope is also [[ConversationalTroping conversed]] in the anime when [[SerialKiller Barry]] starts giving a HannibalLecture basically stating the reason for this entire trope is that [[HumansAreBastards people naturally want to kill each other but can't bring themselves to do so until they're given permission from their society.]]

* Zaied, of FullMetalPanic is the hero's EvilCounterpart and a grown-up ChildSoldier turned [[HiredGuns mercenary]]. He's also a near [[EmptyShell emotionless]] [[LackOfEmpathy sociopath]], who thinks that [[NotAGame winning is all that matters in war]], and willingly [[{{Turncoat}} betrays his comrades]] in order to be on the winning side, later trying to kill his former friend [[TheHero Sousuke]] on TheBigBad's orders. He never once looks back, bats an eye, or seems to think that he might have done anything wrong.
* Two of Noin's former trainees in an episode of GundamWing go this route, sadistically murdering their opponents and laughing over the wreckage. If they weren't members of the army, the'd be [[PsychoForHire Psychos For Hire]].

* In {{Harry Turtledove}}'s ''The Great War'' trilogy, on of the [[SympatheticPOV POV]] characters is Gordon [=McSweeny=], a charming Corporal who, being staunchly protestant, believes himself to the instrument of God's wrath upon the Confederates, and turned down a command post multiple times. This is because he enjoys personally killing them. ''With his FLAMETHROWER.'' He's only slightly nicer to the men under his command; one time not mourning one's death, because he was Greek Orthodox and therefore a heretic, even if he was a nice guy.

* Many examples from Argentina's Dirty War, which took place from 1976-83. Torture, kidnappings, and mass murder were institutionalised, and carried out by members of the Argentine armed forces. Some, such as [[ShellShockedVeteran Adolfo]] [[TheAtoner Scilingo]] have repented, and asked to be imprisoned. Others, like [[TortureTechnician Julian the Turk]] have not, and indeed seem very proud of their achievements. The leaders in this case were of the GeneralRipper type: out to protect Argentina from the RedMenace no matter how many of their own people they had to kill. In the end, the number appears to have been in the neighbourhood of 30 000 of whom the ''vast'' majority were guilty only of having opinions that Videla, Massera, and the other junta leaders didn't like. It was so bad, that too this day, many Argentines do not trust the armed forces.

If there's a whole bunch of them, expect a ColonelKilgore in charge.

A main source of StandardRedshirtProcedure. Contrast OfficerAndAGentleman and CulturedWarrior.

* Zaied, of FullMetalPanic is the hero's EvilCounterpart and a grown-up ChildSoldier turned mercenary. He's also a near emotionless sociopath, who thinks that winning is all that matters in war, and willingly betrays his comrades in order to be on the winning side, later trying to kill his former friend Sousuke on TheBigBad's orders. He never once looks back, bats an eye, or seemst to think that he might have done anything wrong.

* Andy Serkis plays a terrifying one of these in WorldWarOne horror movie {{Film/Deathwatch}}

* Andy Serkis plays a terrifying one of these in WorldWarOne horror movie ''Film/Deathwatch''

** This trope is also [[ConversationalTroping conversed]] in the anime when [[SerialKiller Barry]] starts giving a HannibalLecture basically stating the reason for this is that [[HumansAreBastards people naturally want to kill each other]].

If there's a whole bunch of them, expect a CompleteMonster in charge.

* ''FullMetalJacket'' has a scene with a particularly sociopath door gunner in a helicopter. He's had 157 confirmed kills, plus 50 water buffaloes -- all implied to be civilians.

* ''FullMetalJacket'':
--> '''Private Joker:''' How can you shoot innocent women and children?

* They don't get any more sociopathic than Zolf J. Kimblee from ''FullmetalAlchemist''. He's almost more of a PsychoForHire.

* Paul Lazzaro in ''Slaughterhouse Five''. This is clearly defined when he recounts the story of killing a dog by putting some clock parts into at steak that he gives to the dog that bit him. Any time someone makes him angry, he threatens that person with violence, then [[spoiler: in the end of the movie, he kills Billy Pilgrim, just as he said he would.]]

The grunt version of GeneralRipper. Often people below the rank of Sergeant are all around [[JerkAss assholes]] who plunder, rape, and massacre civilians, or brutally torture and murder the hero's comrades, making killing them less guilt-causing.

A main source of StandardRedshirtProcedure. Contrast OfficerAndAGentleman and CulturedWarrior. Compare ColonelKilgore.