History Main / WarElephants

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-3813 SCP-3813]] is the wreckage of a HumongousMecha (375 meters tall) in the shape of a war elephant, built by Carthage to assault Rome in the Second Punic War.

** ''Series/ShurikenSentaiNinninger'' / ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel'': Paonmaru / Rumble Tusk Zord, yet another MechaExpansionPack that can [[TransformingMecha assume its own humanoid mode]] and arms Shurikenjin with twin [[AnAxeToGrind axes]].

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Chess}}'', the Bishop used to be called the Elephant, and could only move ''exactly'' two diagonal squares. In some languages, they are still called Elephants. Other games of the same family, like ''TabletopGame/{{Xiangqi}}'', ''TabletopGame/{{Janggi}}'', and ''TabletopGame/{{Makruk}}'', still use the old Elephant piece, though, at least in Xiangqi, their offensive use is limited by their not being able to cross the river in the middle of the board. Some editions of chess also design the Rook (castle) unit to be an elephant with a howdah on its back.

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.

* ''LetsPlay/AScotsmanInEgypt'': the final major battle of the fic against the Timurids features their war elephants. Of course, the Timurid hordes didn't feature on being: a) ''outnumbered'' and b) facing [[BraveScot Scotsmen]]. [[TheBerserker Angus the Mauler]] gets a special mention for going batshit insane ([[BloodKnight moreso than usual]]) at the sight of them, not calming down until he's finally killed one. Singlehandedly.

-->-- ''WebAnimation/ExtraCredits'' describing [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Trebia the Battle of the Trebia]] in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf0-Yki5p40&list=PLhyKYa0YJ_5BQmw4cp7mmwtyEc4tBMUhX&index=2 the second part of their series on the Punic Wars]].

* ''WebOriginal/SCPFoundation'': [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-3813 SCP-3813]] is the wreckage of a HumongousMecha (375 meters tall) in the shape of a war elephant, built by Carthage to assault Rome in the Second Punic War.

* OlderThanFeudalism as Hannibal of Carthage actually used war elephants in many campaigns. The page image is a somewhat fanciful depiction of one such battle,[[note]]The armour worn by the legionaries is also 300 years ahead of its time[[/note]] and the ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' entry above is a veiled reference to Hannibal making it to his invasion target (Italy) with only three elephants after losing the rest on the way.

* ''Anime/TheHeroicLegendOfArslan'': A feature of Shindra's army, they can also be drugged into an even more dangerous berserker state (predictably, they up being just as dangerous to Shindran troops).

** ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII'' dials back the elephants, having (riderless) War Elephants as the unique unit of the Persians, but eventually introduced more with ''The Forgotten'''s Indian Elephant Archers and ''Rise of the Rajas'' that gave its four new factions Battle Elephants (and one of them, the Khmer, a Ballista Elephant as their unique unit).

* In ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', the [[SimSimSalabim Kushan Empire]] uses large numbers of war elephants in their invasion of Midland, equipped with armor and carrying platforms for warriors and archers. The exotic animals seem like unstoppable monsters to their enemies, and we are treated to graphic depictions of hapless infantry being trampled beneath their feet, though Rakshas also demonstrates that they can be easily terrified and made to stampede over their own forces. As if the regular elephants weren't enough, Daiba and his sorcerers have also provided the Empire with bipedal elephant-headed monsters armed with equally enormous weapons. Emperor Ganishka certainly prizes elephants as a sign of royal power, since we see him riding to and from Charlotte's prison on an elephant, and he commands the siege of Vritannis from a palace on wheels drawn by no fewer than sixteen elephants and surrounded by an escort of elephant cavalry.

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

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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hannibal_Elephants_copy_6137.jpg]]

* ''VideoGame/RiseOfNations'': War Elephants used by the Persians and Indians are the only unique units that aren't replacements of existing units like other nation-exclusive units. They're effective against crowds of infantry while being vulnerable to anti-cavalry weapons.

* ''VideoGame/RiseOfNations: War Elephants used by the Persians and Indians are the only unique units that aren't replacements of existing units like other nation-exclusive units. They're effective against crowds of infantry while being vulnerable to anti-cavalry weapons.

* The Bruteriders in ''WebOriginal/HamstersParadise'' gain the upper hand in the Second Great Harmster World War with the use of rakatusks: twenty-ton, four-tusked mammoth-like herbivores that, like every other vertebrate on the planet, is [[ItMakesSenseInContext actually a hamster.]] They put them to excellent use a living siege weapons due to them being [[GiantEqualsInvincible damn near unstoppable]] until the Bruteriders encounter the more technologically advanced Rockcookers, who use long-ranged artillery weapons to blow the rakatusk's heads off before they can even get close. This completely pulls the rug out from under the Bruteriders as they weren't able to replace them due to only having a limited number of them and the process of catching and training rakatusks being a long and difficult one.

* The Bruteriders in ''WebOriginal/HamstersParadise'' gain the upper hand in the Second Great Harmster World War with the use of rakatusks: twenty-ton, four-tusked mammoth-like herbivores that, like every other vertebrate on the planet, is [[ItMakesSenseInContext actually a hamster.]]

** King Naresuan, who is still venerated in Thailand, is said to have fought a one-on-one duel with Maha Uparaja of Burma, with both on the backs of elephants wielding halberds. (Naresuan's elephant had gone out of control and taken him too far into the Burmese lines; instead of retreating he challenged the enemy leader to single combat and won.)

* ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'': In the various iterations of the franchise, Mammothmon are usually used in this fashion. The final battle of ''Anime/DigimonXrosWars'', which featured hundreds of the things serving under [=DarknessBagramon=], stands out in this regard.

Trained war elephants have been used by some historical nations, but fairly sporadically and usually by ones fighting against the Roman, European or Chinese cultures that most modern writers are descended from. Thus, war elephants' presence in an army easily establishes it as foreign and unusual. Elephants also have a domineering presence on the battlefield, smashing apart shieldwalls and light fortifications and trampling over regular troops, and their sheer fearsome bulk presents them as an obvious threat that will be very difficult to deal with. These creatures are typically be used by the EvilArmy, but if they're on the heroes' side then they might be used by foreign allies to indicate the army's exoticness.