History Main / WarElephants

* ''Fanfic/AnEmpireOfIceAndFire': The Golden Company makes use of them, as per canon. During the Battle of Winterfell, they supplement their regular elephants with mammoths from North of the Wall.

* ''Fanfic/IAmSkantarios': The Byzantines fights these in their wars, and eventually gets a herd of their own.

* ''Film/ThreeHundred'': Xerxes' army uses elephants against the Spartans, but they fall to their deaths off a cliff. Keeping in line with the "exotic nature" of this trope, the Persians also have a [[RhinoRampage war rhinoceros]].

** The sellsword army the Golden Company, first mentioned in Season 7, is stated to have elephants in their army. However, when they arrive in Westeros in Season 8, RealityEnsues as they found it too difficult to ship them across the Narrow Sea and had to leave them in Essos.

* ''Film/{{Alexander}}'': Alexander's army faces "elephant monsters" at the Battle of Hydaspes.

[[DomesticatedDinosaurs War Mammoths]] work too, especially when used by armies coming from the endless cold of [[GrimUpNorth the northlands]] or in [[MammothsMeanIceAge the distant past]]. [[CallARabbitASmeerp Fantasy elephant equivalents]] can also serve this purpose, in order to further emphasize the exoticness of the army or world in question. In all of these cases, the elephants' size tends to be super-sized to the point where they almost qualify as war-barges with tusks. They may also be accompanied by other safari animals like rhinos or leopards.

Unlike most elephants in general, these elephants cannot be [[ElephantsAreScaredOfMice stunned by rodents]], be it RodentsOfUnusualSize or SwarmOfRats. These rodents will run away from warring elephants instead, or the elephants will [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomp them]].

* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', the Draenei utilize elekks (elephant-like creatures brought over from their homeworld) as their racial mount. Mammoths are also available to players in the northern region. Neither of these are specifically used in combat very much, though.

** In ''Civ III'' they're the Indians' special unit, replacing Knights but requiring no special resources.
** In ''Civ IV'' all factions can build them so long as they have a source of ivory, and though slower than horse units they have a combat bonus against them. The Khmer from the ''Beyond the Sword'' expansion have Ballista Elephants as a unique unit, which specifically target enemy cavalry when attacking a stack.
** In ''Civ V'' India, Carthage, and Siam get elephants as special units, replacing Chariot Archers, Horsemen, and Knights respectively.
** In ''Civ VI'' India once again gets an elephant-mounted unit, now known as the Varu. When the expansion packs brought back the Khmer, they had their own elephant unit as well, called a Domrey (which is the Khmer word for "elephant").

* ''VideoGame/{{Rimworld}}'': Skilled trainers can use trained elephants as attack animals. They can't ride on them, though.

** The Ogre Kingdoms also have the vaguely mammoth-like Thundertusks, so enormous that they can carry two ogres at a time.

* In the WesternAnimation/BugsBunny cartoon "Prince Violent" [[HornyVikings Viking]] Yosemite Sam uses an elephant to assault Bugs' fortress. After the "stupid packy-derm" does Sam more harm than good, Sam chases him off..only for the elephant to [[HeelFaceTurn wind up helping Bugs.]]

* ''VideoGame/FarCry'':

** Spandam tries to invoke this through Funkfreed, his Devil Fruit-powered sword, which can turn into an elephant [[CoolMeetsAwesome with a blade for a trunk]]. Unfortunately, it's not really combat-trained, and was easily intimidated just by Franky pointing a gun in its face; most of the time it serves as more of a RightHandCat for Spandam, giving him someone to monologue to.

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* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': The Haradrim ride to battle on "Oliphaunts" (as the hobbits call them) or ''mûmakil'' (as they're referred to by the Men of Gondor). They are described as being far larger than modern elephants, and are nearly impervious to arrows (unless they get hit in the {{eye|Scream}}). Sam is an awe-struck witness when a strikeforce of Gondorian Rangers ambushs a Haradrim force its way to join Sauron's armies, causing one of these animals to go mad and trample Rangers and Haradrim alike as it rampages. Others are seen in the siege proper, first hauling SiegeEngines and towers and then being used to sow destruction among the Gondorian ranks.

** Crossing this trope with HorseOfADifferentColor, the giants who live north of the Wall ride woolly mammoths into war like men ride horses. Several mammoth-mounted giants are seen within Mance Rayder's wilding army.

** The wildling army led by Mance Rayder use the mammoth variant in the season 4 episode "The Watchers on the Wall".

[[caption-width-right:350: How do you stop an elephant from charging? ''You don't.'' Not even WickedWasps can stop it.]]

Unlike most elephants in general, these elephants cannot be [[ElephantsAreScaredOfMice stunned by rodents]], be it RodentsOfUnusualSize or SwarmOfRats. These rodents will run away from warring elephants instead.

[[caption-width-right:350: How do you stop an elephant from charging? ''You don't.'']]

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': The Haradrim ride to battle on "Oliphaunts" (as the hobbits call them) or ''mûmakil'' (as they're referred to by the Men of Gondor). Sam is very excited when he gets to see one at a distance. They are described as being far larger than modern elephants, and are nearly impervious to arrows (unless they get hit in the {{eye|Scream}}). One is ambushed by the Rangers on its way to Minas Tirith, is maddened with pain and tramples Rangers and Haradrim as it flees. Others are seen in the siege proper, first hauling SiegeEngines and towers and then being used to sow destruction among the Gondorian ranks.

If you want to make an army look exotic and threatening, give them War Elephants. [[DomesticatedDinosaurs War Mammoths]] work too, or whatever the [[CallARabbitASmeerp fantasy equivalent]] might be, especially when used by armies coming from the endless cold of [[GrimUpNorth the northlands]] or in [[MammothsMeanIceAge the distant past]]. In any case, they tend to be super-sized to the point where they almost qualify as war-barges with tusks.

These creatures can be used by the EvilArmy of inflicting massive damage. If not then they might be used by foreign allies, and usually used to indicate the army's exotic-ness. May also be accompanied by other safari animals like rhinos or leopards.

This trope is TruthInTelevision: kingdoms in North Africa, the Middle East, and southeastern Asia have weaponized pachyderms at various points in history. Elephants are huge, strong, tough, terrifying, and highly trainable animals capable of carrying multiple riders on their backs, whether they be officers wanting a better view of the battlefield, archers, or even artillerymen firing a ballista or cannon from a howdah. Horses were also generally ''terrified'' of them and wouldn't go near them, so a few elephants in front of your army could make enemy cavalry charges useless. However, [[AwesomeButImpractical they could easily panic in battle]], [[HoistByHisOwnPetard trampling friend or foe]], and their sensitive hearing made them even more prone to panic when loud firearms became widespread.

* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': Elephants -- a creature type that also includes mastodons, mammoths and fictional proboscideans -- feature as a recurring creature type. In addition to the assumed implication that cards represent creatures the player has summoned to fight for them, some are explicitly trained for this role in-universe -- [[https://scryfall.com/card/tpr/200/trained-armodon Trained Armodon]] is one such examples, while the Abzan Houses of Tarkir include [[https://scryfall.com/card/ktk/179/ivorytusk-fortress elephants]] and [[https://scryfall.com/card/m20/312/siege-mastodon mastodons]] among the giant creatures they use as beasts of battle and to pull their moving fortresses. In addition to the non-sapient kinds, there are the humanoid Loxodons, introduced in Mirodin. (''Loxodonta africana'' is the scientific name of the African Elephant).

* Parodied in ''ComicBook/AlanFord'' when "His Excellency" the Number One tells the story of Pyrrhus and his war against the Romans. The infamous victory is attributed to the fact that while the elephants proved decisive to win the battle, they still trampled 3000 roman soldiers and ''18000'' of Pyrrhus' own forces.

** The prehistoric ''ComicBook/GhostRider'' is a caveman who rides a woolly mammoth '''on fire'''. Way cooler than the normal bike or horse.
*** Additionally, Indian Ghost Rider Shoba Mirza rides a flaming skeletal Asian elephant. Coupled with her four arms in Rider form, she ends up resembling a raging Hindu god.

* In ''WesternAnimation/EarlyMan'', Lord Nooth uses armored wooly mammoths as ''construction equipment''.

* In ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBaronMunchausen'' the Grand Turk uses elephants to propel his War Machines. The Baron gets them to back off with the strategic use of [[EekAMouse mice]].

* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'': The Oliphants, as in the books. (see Literature) Portrayed as fantastical [[DireBeast dire elephants,]] they have ''eight'' tusks (four of them are small), and are even bigger than in the books, being roughly fifty to sixty feet at the shoulder. There are also some unnamed rhino-like creatures pulling the siege engines that the orcs bring to the Battle of Minas Tirith.

* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', the Southrons ride to battle on "Oliphaunts" (as the hobbits call them) or ''mûmakil'' (as they're referred to by the Men of Gondor). Sam is very excited when he gets to see one at a distance. They are described as being far larger than modern elephants, and are nearly impervious to arrows (unless they get hit in the [[EyeScream eye]]).

** In addition, the finest and most disciplined sellsword army in the series, the Golden Company, has a unit of elephants, though [[spoiler:in the voyage to Westeros to support the claim of the apparently-still-alive Aegon Targaryen, most of them are lost or late making landfall; only three are mentioned to be present at Griffin's Roost]]. Their captain frequently laments not having them available.

* ''Literature/TheWindupGirl''. War megodonts (genetically-engineered giant elephants) have carbon fibre armour, [[WeaponizedAnimal blades attached to their tusks and machine-gun cages]] on their backs.

Unlike most elephants in general, these elephants cannot be [[ElephantsAreScaredOfMice stunned by rodents]], either RodentsOfUnusualSize or SwarmOfRats. These rodents will run away from warring elephants instead.

Unlike most elephants, these elephants cannot be [[ElephantsAreScaredOfMice stunned by rodents]], either RodentsOfUnusualSize or SwarmOfRats. These rodents will run away from warring elephants instead.

** ''ComicBook/{{Avengers}}'': In Kurt Busiek and George Perez' run, Red Sonja's nemesis Kulan Gath transmutes a couple of tanks into war elephants that nearly trample IronMan before he is saved by team mate Triathlon. ComicBook/SheHulk tells them "Back off, Jumbo" and flattens one with a punch while swinging the other one through the air by its trunk. Even war elephants don't stand a chance against the Emerald Amazon.

* ''VideoGame/FarCry4'': The [[LaResistance Golden Path]] uses war elephants as weapons against [[TheCaligula Pagan Min]]. They're unbelievably destructive when used against soldiers and vehicles, and being hit by one when driving a car results in a OneHitKill. [[CuckoolanderCommentator Rabi Ray Rana]] and [[DeepSouth Hurk]] certainly love them.

** In ''Civ VI'' India once again gets an elephant-mounted unit, now known as the Varu. When the expansion packs brought back the Khmer, they had their own elephant unit as well, called a Domrey.

* ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'': Camp Jupiter has a resident war elephant named Hannibal.

* ''VideoGame/RyseSonOfRoe'' features UsefulNotes/{{Boudica}}, of all people, [[ArtisticLicenseHistory invading Rome with a bunch of elephants]] to take revenge on UsefulNotes/{{Nero}} and [[RelatedInTheAdaptation his son Commodus]], [[spoiler:the latter of whom [[YouKilledMyFather killed her father]].]] They're pretty resilient, unless you have a siege crossbow, or are [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority Commander Vitallion]] with his ''[[JavelinThrower pilum]]''.