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| 6 | %% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks! |
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| 13 | [[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/PunchOut https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/PO_Soda01--article_image.jpg]]]] |
| 14 | [[caption-width-right:350:One has to wonder if Mother Russia really is the reason why he isn't [[CatchYourDeathOfCold catching a cold]].]] |
| 15 | |
| 16 | ->''"The physical and mental attributes of the Russian soldier are such as to make them the best people of all for war. They are long-enduring, tough, and insensitive and they find it easy to withstand the hardships of campaigning. They devour great quantities of raw and uncooked food, and their physical constitution is so hard that they bathe in rivers in the coldest weather."'' |
| 17 | -->-- Quoted from a contemporary source in ''The Military Experience in the Age of Reason'' by Christopher Duffy |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Most Russian characters in media, at least since the UsefulNotes/ColdWar started, are depicted as hard fightin', [[VodkaDrunkenski heavy-drinkin']], manly, boorish creatures. Even their females border on being TheBaroness or the FemmeFatale (or alternatively, BrawnHilda). The only [[SensualSlavs soft and sophisticated Russian]] is most definitely TheSociopath. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | And before the Cold War it was the Wild Communist, and even before, in the [[UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia 19th century]], it was a hard-fighting, heavy drinkin', boorish guy in furs, with a wild beard and a pet bear. So this trope [[OlderThanTelevision predates television by some 150 years]] (it goes all the way back to 1813, in fact). And it would probably be even older if people outside the country itself before 1813 had registered Russia's existence. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | One wonders about the reason for this trope: is it the cold winters of Russia, or their being raised on unsophisticated food, or something completely different? But that's rarely answered. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | SubTrope of HadToBeSharp and GrimUpNorth. Often overlaps with, if not providing an outright {{Justifi|edtrope}}cation for, HuskyRusskie. Somewhat related, also, to RussianGuySuffersMost. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | ----- |
| 28 | !!Examples: |
| 29 | |
| 30 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 31 | |
| 32 | [[folder:Advertising]] |
| 33 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtqlwf3izE0 One commercial]] for Halls decongestants features a man popping one of the candies into his mouth and suddenly imagining that he's sitting in a sauna between two huge hairy Russian men, who are slapping him on the back and urging him to "Breathe, my pasty friend! Hahahah!" |
| 34 | [[/folder]] |
| 35 | |
| 36 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 37 | * TheMafiya in ''Manga/BlackLagoon''. Especially Balalaika. Especially if the omakes are to be believed. Balalaika's sergeant Boris was once a scrawny prettyboy but Mother Russia's military training turned him into a HuskyRusskie. |
| 38 | * [[TwoferTokenMinority Simon Brezhnev]], the kind and thoughtful but also [[ScaryBlackMan very intimidating]] sushi hawker in ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'' |
| 39 | ** Subverted in that he's actually of ''African-American'' descent, it's just that his parents emigrated to the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]] during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname Slon]], a huge and somewhat psychotic assassin introduced later, would've fit the bill better, had he been [[DumbMuscle a bit]] [[CloudCuckoolander smarter]]. His partner [[DarkActionGirl Vorona]], on the other hand, [[BrainsAndBrawn is much brainier]], though ''[[CloudCuckoolander even more]]'' [[TheSociopath crazy]]. |
| 40 | ** Their [[TheRival rival]], Egor, would be the most straightforward example in the series, being TheStoic MadeOfIron DeadpanSnarker and JackOfAllTrades, helping the heroes quite often in surprisingly diverse set of problems. |
| 41 | ** Dennis, the chef and owner of the ''Russian Sushi'' and thus the Simon's employer, is an another example. They both formerly were Drakon's men, and there is a reference of all of them being the FormerRegimePersonnel. |
| 42 | * Team Russia from ''Manga/Eyeshield21'' is led by the world's strongest lifter. [[TheWorfEffect He gets beaten by a middle schooler just a few chapters later.]] |
| 43 | * In ''Manga/FairyTail'', though not Russian per se, the name "Makarov Dreyar" itself really sounds it, and is an in-universe MemeticBadass. |
| 44 | ** His old comrade Polyushka has a name that is most likely Russian or at least Eastern Slavic, and she is perhaps the only BadassNormal in the series. Bonus points for obviously being based on [[Literature/BabaYaga Slavic witches]]. |
| 45 | * Briggs from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''; the Easterners they keep the border on also seem to fit this, as their soldiers seem tougher than the Amestrians. |
| 46 | ** Even moreso because Drachma (the alluded-to eastern nation) is pretty plainly a FantasyCounterpartCulture to Russia. |
| 47 | * ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'' introduces Pravda High School, a Hokkaido-based school whose students (all Japanese) emulate Russian stereotypes, including a logo featuring a pair of scissors and a set of rulers [[HammerAndSickleRemovedForYourProtection suspiciously arranged like the Soviet emblem]]. Pravda is also the defending champion from last year's National High School Tankery Tournament (ending a nine-year streak by the German-themed Kuromorimine Women's College from Kumamoto) and the semifinals opponent of Ooarai (whose leader, Miho Nishizumi, was, coincidentally, the flag tank operator of Kuromorimine from last year). |
| 48 | * Russia from ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers''. |
| 49 | --> "Everyone will become one with Russia!" |
| 50 | * ''Manga/SilverSpoon'': Alexandra, Hachiken's Russian sister-in-law. A head taller than everyone else, part-Cossack, great horsewoman, thinks -20 Celsius is "a bit warm", immediately assumes the titular spoon is a warning against poisoning, can stomach Shingo's cooking. |
| 51 | [[/folder]] |
| 52 | |
| 53 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 54 | * ''ComicBook/AssassinsCreedTheFall'' reveals the Russian tsars run on RankScalesWithAsskicking, as shown when Alexander III takes down an Assassin unarmed, after walking off his train crashing, and handing over his piece of Eden just so the fight would be fair. |
| 55 | * A one-shot parody of the ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' comics called ''The Man of Rust'' has the Lex Luthor {{expy}} summon all the Men of Rust from all the alternate Earths. One of these is from Soviet Earth. When all the Men of Rust start fighting each other, and one of them uses his Freeze Breath on the Soviet Man of Rust, he just shrugs it off and says, "Bah! Your freeze breath is nothing compared to Siberian winters!" |
| 56 | * ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': The Abomination plays this straight. |
| 57 | * This is true to an extent in ''ComicBook/NikolaiDante'', even though most of the characters are Russian. Dante himself was introduced as an aggressive, drunken lout, though he has since [[CharacterDevelopment matured]] into a heroic, badass [[LaResistance freedom fighter]]. Katarina's {{pirate}}s have a reasonable chance of beating the navy in a sea battle and then celebrating with several bottles of cognac, [[TheEmperor Vladimir Makarov]] is closely based on Ivan the Terrible, and most of the Romanov men fit the trope to some extent. And then there's [[TheVamp Lulu]]. |
| 58 | * Bizarre example (from a bizarre character) in ''ComicBook/{{Nova}}''. Richard ends up on a space station called Knowhere and ends up teaming up with Cosmo, a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot telepathic Russian Cosmonaut dog]], against a ZombieApocalypse. When Cosmo is fighting the zombies, he says: |
| 59 | --> "Come on then, ugly zombies, if you think you can bite harder than Russian dog." |
| 60 | * ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'': Villain General Nikolai Alexandrovich Zakharo A.K.A ''The Man Of Stone'', exemplifies this trope. In fact, at one point he refers to Frank as a Russian who just happened to be born American. |
| 61 | * ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' villain Kraven the Hunter was a big game hunter in Africa before he moved to New York to harass the web-slinger. |
| 62 | * ''ComicBook/XMen'': |
| 63 | ** Colossus, though deep down he's a sensitive soul with a talent for drawing. |
| 64 | ** Omega Red plays it straight. |
| 65 | ** Also, Mikhail Rasputin (Colossus' evil brother). |
| 66 | [[/folder]] |
| 67 | |
| 68 | [[folder:Fairy Tales]] |
| 69 | * In Creator/AlexanderAfanasyev's Russian tale "Literature/TheSoldierAndDeath", the titular soldier intends to spend the night in a palace overrun with demons. When the tsar tries to dissuade him, the soldier replies that a Russian will not be frightened by torture or punishment. |
| 70 | -->"Your Majesty," says he, "will you give me leave to spend one night in your empty palace?"\ |
| 71 | "God bless you," says the Tsar, "but you don't know what you are asking. Foolhardy folk enough have tried to spend a night in that palace. They went in merry and boasting, but not one of them came walking out alive in the morning."\ |
| 72 | "What of that?" says the soldier. "Water won't drown a Russian soldier, and fire won't burn him. I have served God and the Tsar for twenty-five years and am not dead. A single night in that palace won't be the end of me." |
| 73 | [[/folder]] |
| 74 | |
| 75 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 76 | * In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' of Creator/AAPessimal, Far Überwald (A canonical region populated by people with a rather Russian aura to them) is a place of freezing cold winters, parchingly hot summers, endless Steppe, a city called Blondograd that endured a long terrible siege, and of course [[VodkaDrunkenski vodka]]. When witches start to come out of Far Überwald in significant numbers to train in Lancre, they demonstrate traditional dances at the Witch Trials. This includes long sharp sabres, intricate dance moves, and an element of DualWielding verging on {{Flynning}}. Lancre's Morris Dancers are suitably impressed. |
| 77 | --> Bert, that's only a ladies' team! Imagine if we ever have to play an international against the ''men''? |
| 78 | ** The Rodinian-led Air Watch are discussed in more depth in ''Fanfic/ThePriceOfFlight''. |
| 79 | * ''Fanfic/ScarTissue'': [[OriginalCharacter Dmitri]] is a Russian {{Child Soldier|s}} that is portrayed like a tough, extremely competent SuperSoldier and a rude smartass. Reinforced trope, since the author chose making him a Russian because he could not think of something more badass-sounding than a [[HumongousMecha giant robot]] Russian pilot. |
| 80 | * In ''LetsPlay/AScotsmanInEgypt'', the Highlanders under Angus the Mauler who invade Novgorod, find to their horror that no matter how much they cut or dismember their Russian attackers, [[{{Determinator}} they just keep coming]]. One Russian soldier gets the top of his skull smashed off, exposing his brain, and he ''still'' has the energy to swing a cudgel at the Highlander responsible. [[spoiler:Too bad Angus was even tougher... [[ManBitesMan and even crazier]].]] |
| 81 | [[/folder]] |
| 82 | |
| 83 | [[folder:Films -- Animated]] |
| 84 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'': Invoked by FunnyForeigner neighbour Mr. Bobinski: |
| 85 | -->Here. Have beet. Make you strong. |
| 86 | * Vitaly in ''WesternAnimation/Madagascar3EuropesMostWanted.'' |
| 87 | [[/folder]] |
| 88 | |
| 89 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 90 | * From ''Film/Armageddon1998'', Lev Andropov of the space station. So tough, he was on the ''outside'' of an "asteroid rover" when it jumped a chasm, and fixes the space shuttle's navigation system by [[PercussiveMaintenance assaulting it]], because "[[PunctuatedPounding This! Is how we fix things! On Russian! Space! Station!]]" |
| 91 | * ''Film/DaylightsEnd'': Former Russian commando Vlad is good with a gun and is also one of the few people willing and able to take on zombies up close with a knife. |
| 92 | * In ''Film/{{Downfall}}'', Adolf Hitler believes in his dying testimony that the hardy, determined Russians are the stronger and more deserving race [[YouHaveFailedMe than the Germans]], and that their victory will then [[{{Foreshadowing}} put them into conflict against the decadent democracies of the west]] where they will prevail as well. |
| 93 | * The colossal blonde hitman known simply as "The Russian" from ''Film/ThePunisher2004'' (who is almost impervious to pain). And he was actually ''toned down'' from his appearance in [[ComicBook/ThePunisher the original comics]], which detailed his rather... extensive backstory as a mercenary, assassin and sometime spree killer who went freelance after being deemed too AxeCrazy for ''Spetznas'', which takes some doing. |
| 94 | * In ''Film/IronMan2'' Ivan Vanko seems to be MadeOfIron thanks to having survived a lot of adversity in a Siberian prison. Technically, Natasha Romanoff also--she claims in ''Avengers'' that she "used to be" Russian. |
| 95 | * ''Film/KickAss2'': Katryna Dubrovsky a.k.a. Mother Russia is easily the phsyically strongest and most powerfull member of Chris D'Amico's supervillain team. She's said to be a former KGB agent who spent some years in the gulags. |
| 96 | * In ''Film/TheNorthman'', during the TimeSkip Prince Amleth became a OneManArmy after spending two decades fighting in UsefulNotes/KievanRus as TheBerserker with an ArmyOfThievesAndWhores. |
| 97 | * Aleksis and Sasha Kaidonovsky, the Russian married couple that pilots [[HumongousMecha Cherno Alpha]] in ''Film/PacificRim'', are the only people in the entire Shatterdome that don't run off in a panic when another skyscraper-sized mech accidentally powers up its building-sized PlasmaCannon and points it right at them. They do leave the premises as well, but in a calm and collected manner without any sign of fear. That's the definition of 'stoic' right there. They also go down swinging later in the movie without even considering a retreat, sacrificing their lives for the survival of Hong Kong and possibly humanity at large. |
| 98 | * Seemingly aware of this trope, Rocky takes to training in the frozen Russian wilderness during ''Film/RockyIV'' in order to forge himself into a weapon able to stand against his boxing opponent, Russia's seemingly invincible Ivan Drago. |
| 99 | * ''Film/SherlockHolmesAGameOfShadows'' features a Cossack who simply refuses to give up. |
| 100 | * The MMA fighter Koba from ''Film/{{Warrior}}'' is based on the real MMA fighter Fedor Emelianenko, who was also a stoic, undefeated and greatly feared Russian. He borrows his ''nom de guerre'' from Stalin, who in turn borrowed it from a notorious Georgian outlaw. |
| 101 | [[/folder]] |
| 102 | |
| 103 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 104 | * ''Literature/DirkPittAdventures'': In ''Raise The Titanic,'' when Dana Seagram unhesitatingly complies with the Soviet sailor's demands to remove her clothes, she promptly demonstrates just how much of a strong-willed woman she is by taunting them, and when the Russians are rendered speechless, she adds: "What's the matter, Ivan? Too used to muscle-bound, hod-carrying Russian women?" |
| 105 | * ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Sanya is [[TwoferTokenMinority both]] a HuskyRusskie and a ScaryBlackMan, and one of the biggest, most muscular [[BadassNormal normal humans]] in the series. He is also a genuinely good person, worthy to wield ''Esperacchius'', the Holy Sword of Hope. |
| 106 | * ''Literature/MichaelStrogoff'': The titular character is able to appear stoic during his travel in Siberia and [[spoiler:even to [[ObfuscatingDisability look and act as if he was effectively blinded by the Tartars]]]]. |
| 107 | * In Creator/NealStephenson's ''Literature/{{REAMDE}}'', the Russian mercenary Sokolov tangles with some Islamic terrorists. His stoic, seen-it-all personality stands in contrast to the arrogant and talkative terrorist ringleader. |
| 108 | * Creator/AndreiBelyanin's ''Literature/TsarGorokhsDetectiveAgency'' series has Dmitry "Mit'ka" Lobov, a huge oaf from a village whose brain is inversely proportional to his body. As a rule, the protagonist (a modern day ByTheBookCop stuck in fairy-tale Russia) and Literature/BabaYaga mostly use him for manual labor and to assist in apprehending villains and forbid him from attempting to exercise his brain, as that usually leads to disaster. His enormous strength (it's frequently mentioned that he bends horseshoes with his bare hands for fun) isn't seen as that unusual for a village boy. When the protagonist decides to introduce Medieval Russia to hockey, Mit'ka is made a goalie, as his enormous bulk blocks most of the goal. |
| 109 | * Barrayarans in the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' are in many ways Russia RecycledInSpace. At the beginning of the series they are presented as warlike, ferocious, and superstitious, hard-bitten folk who live on a planet just entering into civilization. |
| 110 | * ''Literature/RedRabbit'': Defied. Jack points out that as much as both the Russians and Americans like to play up this trope with various levels of jokiness, the sad and sorry truth is that the lower standards of nutrition and healthcare in the USSR mean that Ivan Conscriptovich is not going to be as strong or able to withstand adverse conditions as his US counterpart. |
| 111 | [[/folder]] |
| 112 | |
| 113 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 114 | * ''Series/BabylonFive'': Susan Ivanova is a stoic, no-nonsense soldier who even goes down in legend as Ivanova the Strong. |
| 115 | * ''Series/Danger5'': Spoofed with Ilsa, who shrugs off being whipped by Nazi torturers. "This is nothing compared to Siberia." Later when facing {{doppelganger}}s of the team, the fake Claire is exposed by a test that plays on her emotions, but it's noted that the test won't work on Ilsa as "Russians don't have emotions". |
| 116 | * Vladimir and Anatoly Ranskahov in ''Series/Daredevil2015'' do start off as this trope when it comes to dealing with the man in the mask, but they are no match for Wilson Fisk. Lampshaded when James Wesley visits their taxi company's garage on Fisk's behalf to solicit an offer. |
| 117 | -->'''James Wesley:''' ''[motions to a nasty cut on Anatoly's forehead]'' Oof. Those look like they hurt.\ |
| 118 | '''Anatoly Ranskahov:''' I've had worse.\ |
| 119 | '''James Wesley:''' I know how much your people delight in extolling the amount of pain they can endure but, maybe next time you could ''try'' ducking? |
| 120 | * ''Series/DrDeath'' has the American doctors Henderson and Kirby interviewing two Russians who were involved in a company with [[MadDoctor Duntsch]] and mention that so far, everyone's been scared to talk forthcomingly about him. They bluntly reply that they're not scared--they're Russian. |
| 121 | * The ''Series/HogansHeroes'' episode "A Russian Is Coming" featured Igor Piotkin, a downed Russian pilot who was strong but not very intelligent. |
| 122 | * Invoked in an early episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' featuring a Russian FemmeFatale (and [[ItMakesSenseInContext sodomy with a banana]]) -- one character actually said that any woman who had survived for any length of time in UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia ''couldn't'' be anything but a self-preserving borderline sociopath. |
| 123 | * Mikhail on ''Series/{{Lost}}'': stoic, evil, gives Sayid a run for his money in combat, and nigh unkillable. He also has Dharma vodka at the Flame (a sentence that allegedly means something). |
| 124 | * Red from ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack'' is one of the most badass inmates and effectively the boss of them in season one. |
| 125 | * ''Series/{{Oz}}'': Asserted by prisoner Nikolai Stanislofsky. After seven years in a Russian gulag, he expects no trouble from Oz. He didn't expect [[MagnificentBastard Ryan O'Reily]]. |
| 126 | * ''Series/TheSopranos'': |
| 127 | ** A one-legged, stoic and hardnosed Svetlana remarks that Americans don't know what a real problem is. They live an easy existence compared to the average miserable life in Russia/USSR and yet they are wimpy complainers. When Janice, a mafia princess, steals her artificial leg and holds it hostage in a dispute over money, Svetlana simply has two Russian toughs beat her up and take the leg back. She gets away with it. |
| 128 | ** Valery from "[[Recap/TheSopranosS3E11PineBarrens Pine Barrens]]" is a Russian ex-Spetnaz who seemingly gets his throat crushed and his head shot, yet still manages to escape into the pine barrens, never to be seen again. |
| 129 | * ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': Averted: Pavel Chekov, albeit a trained Starfleet officer, is young, short, and not remarkably physically or emotionally sturdy, and needs rescuing from time to time. |
| 130 | * ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'''s Worf, while already strong as a Klingon, likely got the strength to [[TheWorfEffect survive the alien of the week]] from his adopted Slavic parents (exact nationality uncertain, may have been Belarusian or Ukrainian based on brief references). He even mentioned that his father took him camping in the Urals during his childhood. |
| 131 | * In ''Series/TheWestWing'' episode Galileo (S2E9) Bartlett berates the Russian Ambassador for being stubborn, and asks where she gets the nerve. Her reply: 'A long harsh winter, mister President'. |
| 132 | * ''Series/TheWire'': Sergei Malatogv claims that American prisons are not real prisons as he has been a "guest" in the actually harsh Ukrainian/Soviet ones. |
| 133 | -->In my country, I was in jail 4 years. In my country... this is not prison. This is ''nothing''. |
| 134 | * On ''Series/SevenDays'', the Americans launch a nation-wide search for a man tough enough to survive the rigors of time travel. When the Russians attempt to build their own time machine they proudly declare "Anyone who can survive a winter here will be fine." |
| 135 | [[/folder]] |
| 136 | |
| 137 | [[folder:Professional Wrestling]] |
| 138 | * A running gag in some [[UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts [=MMA=]]] studios is that any technique can be made to sound more badass by prepending a nationality, usually Russian (but sometimes Brazilian) to it. So a boring old armbar and triangle choke become an ''awesome'' '''Russian armbar''' and '''Brazilian triangle choke'''. |
| 139 | ** Russian ''[[Wrestling/ChrisJericho Arm]]'''''[[MemeticMutation BAR]]'''! ? |
| 140 | * WWE's Wrestling/VladimirKozlov (technically, he's Ukranian, but still.) |
| 141 | * NXT/WWE talent Alexander Rusev ([[FakeNationality who's actually Bulgarian]]). After a few years of waving the Russian flag and dedicating his victories to UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin (in the process creating a {{hatedom}} for himself in his native Bulgaria), Rusev eventually dropped this gimmick and became "Rusev the Bulgarian Brute". |
| 142 | * Years before Kolzov and Rusev were even twinkles in the eyes of their parents, the WWF had a feared Russian wrestler in Nikolai Volkoff, a Croatian, Yugoslavia native who – when he began his most famous gimmick – adopted Moscow, Russia, as his home. During the early years of his gimmick, in the mid-to-late 1970s when he was a top contender for Wrestling/BrunoSammartino's WWF title, he demonstrated his brute strength by crushing apples with his bare hands during television interviews. The strength aspect was de-emphasized during his 1980s run; it was still implied that he was strong and that he gained it while a youth in his "homeland" Soviet Union, but that took a back seat to his outspoken hate for America and his infamous pre-match singing of the Soviet National Anthem. |
| 143 | * Russo-German (born in Russian, but emigrated to Germany as a small child) Ilja Dragunov has a distinctly Soviet theme, and comes out to the ring in a military-style BadassLongcoat to the strains of Soviet-sounding music (''Soviet March'' in wXw, ''Comrades of the Red Army'' in NXT UK), sometimes wears red trunks, and even wears [[RedEyesTakeWarning red contact lenses]]. |
| 144 | [[/folder]] |
| 145 | |
| 146 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 147 | * TabletopGame/{{Chess}}: Between 1948 and mid-2000s, chess world champions represented either the Soviet Union or Russia, with the exception of 1972-75, when Bobby Fischer took the title from Boris Spassky. Even Fischer was called by some "the epitome of Soviet chess school", as he learned Russian specifically to study Soviet chess literature. |
| 148 | * ''TabletopGame/SeventhSea'' has equivalents of 17th century CE European nations. It also has each nation prioritize one of the game's basic stats. Guess what is preferred in Ussura, counterpart to Russia? |
| 149 | * In the ''TabletopGame/StreetFighterTheStorytellingGame'' RPG, Bison was given an origin as a Soviet mercenary whose unique style, Ler Drit, was based on Soviet assassination techniques supplemented with enhanced jumping techniques and PsychicPowers, because it seemed the most believable origin for him. |
| 150 | * In ''Tabletopgame/WarhammerFantasy Battles'', Kislev, the counterpart culture to Russia, Poland, and the rest of the Slavs, is made up of hard-fighting, heavy drinkin', boorish guys in furs, with wild beards and pet bears that they ride into battle. |
| 151 | * ''TabletopGame/IronKingdoms'': The people of Khador (the local FantasyCounterpartCulture of Russia) tend to be tough-as-nails hard-fighting bearded men in fur pelts and carrying big axes. |
| 152 | [[/folder]] |
| 153 | |
| 154 | %%[[folder:Theatre]] |
| 155 | %%* JustForFun/ZerothLawOfTropeExamples: ''Theatre/LovesLaboursLost'': Invoked. |
| 156 | %%[[/folder]] |
| 157 | |
| 158 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 159 | * The Omar from ''VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar''. Descended from Russian scientists finding a way to survive the Collapse, they are immune to environmental hazards like fire, toxins, & radiation, although they are rather mediocre combatants. |
| 160 | ** [[spoiler:In an ending where the Dentons, Templars, & Illuminati were destroyed, they inherited the Earth after humanity destroyed themselves in a nuclear war.]] |
| 161 | * Ivan from ''VideoGame/DevilsThird'' is a heavily-tattooed, always-shirtless badass with a thick Russian accent. |
| 162 | * The VideoGame/RussianOverkill plugin for ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' is made of this trope, among many others. |
| 163 | * ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': Russia was the only country to survive in the first [[AlternateHistory Lostbelt]], a world where a meteor strike caused a brutal ice age. The {{Arc Villain}}s of the Lostbelt are Ivan the Terrible, who's become more [[{{Kaiju}} giant mammoth]] than man, and Anastasia, who's Spirit Origin was corrupted in exchange for power. Both of them fall back on Russia's ability to survive brutal winters when it comes to boasting, with Anastasia proclaiming Chaldea's home base of Antartica being nothing compared to Lostbelt Russia. |
| 164 | * ''VideoGame/TheGladiator'', a game set in ''ancient China'', have a Russian ambassador named Oleg (who changed his name to Ko Tien-Lei to blend in) as one of the playable heroes. He's TheBigGuy who's easily the largest character in the game, and a LightningBruiser who fights with his ''fists'' and deals severe damage while unarmed. |
| 165 | * ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'': Dimitri Rascalov seems quite amiable at first. Then, he bitch-slaps you and [[spoiler:starts betraying and backstabbing every single person he comes across.]] Also, Rascalov's apparent calm and impassivity even in the worst circumstances fits the trope of Russian toughness. [[spoiler:It is revealed he's actually a huge thorazine addict.]] |
| 166 | * Vladimir Lem in the Finnish 3rd person shooter ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'' is an example of the [[WickedCultured "cultured but evil"]] variety. |
| 167 | * Rank 3 in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'' is a Soviet cosmonaut who got stuck in space until well after the Soviet Union's fall. He's notable for being the first boss in the game with a OneHitKill. |
| 168 | * A female example is Zarya from ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' (overlapping with BrawnHilda), who was a champion Russian weightlifter before becoming a soldier. Her record for the Snatch and Clean & Jerk is 512kg, which is higher than even the Men's current real-world record. She's so strong that she uses a Particle Cannon, which is normally vehicle-mounted, as a [[HandCannon hand-held weapon]]. Notably has cross-universe dialogue in ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm'' when teamed up with Stukov above. |
| 169 | * ''VideoGame/PunchOut'': Soda Popinski (originally VodkaDrunkenski), the Muscovite boxer, is very strong, considering only Mr. Sandman and presumably Super Macho Man were able to beat him until Little Mac came along. |
| 170 | * ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'': Mikhail Bulgakov is the only Russian kid at camp. He's possibly one of the strongest kids there and he's obsessed with wrestling. He's kind of scrawny (not at all a HuskyRusskie), but he's strong enough to wrestle ''bears''. Almost every single comment he leaves on everyone's {{Character Blog}}s involves him figuring out how he'd defeat them in a wrestling match. |
| 171 | -->'''Mikhail:''' I fight bears because people are too easy to beat. I will wrestle everyone here all at the same time and I will win. I have a crushing move: The Telekiliminator. You do not want to see this move I am warning you. |
| 172 | * In ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'', Female Voice 2 for [[PlayerCharacter the Boss]] is Russian. Some of her idle chatter if the controls are left untouched for a while has her hearken back to her HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood, claiming it made her into who she is today. |
| 173 | * Alexei Stukov from ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' is decidedly from Russia, with the name, accent, and references to his homeland to boot, to the point where his introduction scene mentions his love of [[VodkaDrunkenski vodka]]. He is the ''only'' Terran in the entire franchise who retains his free will after being infested by the Zerg (even Kerrigan had to be freed from the Overmind's influence first) and gained great power in the process, [[spoiler:to the point that he can annihilate a [[PhysicalGod Xel'naga]] with a single blast.]] |
| 174 | * ''Franchise/StreetFighter'': Zangief is one of the most iconic examples of this trope in video games. He is the original MightyGlacier of the series and his playstyle revolves around high-damage throws. |
| 175 | * ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': The Heavy's fists do the same amount of damage as a sword in game. He also carries a gun about as large as himself. He has twice the health of the other tiny baby classes, without wearing any armor. And he can kill you by pointing at you and yelling "Pow!" It's later revealed his family is just as good at it: Even the younger, less corpulent ones can go hunting for large bears for dinner and have done so for years, and the biggest of the lot, Zhanna, regularly kills men and robots with her bare hands once she joins Soldier in it. |
| 176 | * ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammerIII'': While Kislev is a CultureChopSuey of Russia, Poland, and other Slavs, it definitely runs with this. One of their defining mechanics is each unit going on a LastStand for thirty seconds when other factions' units [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere would usually rout]]. Almost all of their foot troops are TheMusketeer and are tough in melee combat, be it an archer or gunner. Furthermore, rather than use the same skeleton that the other human factions (the Empire, Bretonnia, and Grand Cathay) have for their soldiers, the Kislevites instead use the bulkier skeleton that the Warriors of Chaos and Norsca use (with the exception of any female soldiers and the Patriarchs). |
| 177 | [[/folder]] |
| 178 | |
| 179 | [[folder:Web Comics]] |
| 180 | * ''Webcomic/Collar6'': [[spoiler:Stella, Claire, and through them Ginger]]. It's also stated that even Russian [[{{Uke}} subs]] tend to have a dominant streak. |
| 181 | * Viktor Vasko from ''Webcomic/{{Lackadaisy}}'': Even though he was born in Austria-Hungary, Viktor Vasko a large, stoic enforcer for a speakeasy who doesn't smile much. |
| 182 | * ''Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks'': [[http://www.sandraontherocks.com/strips-sotr/google_is_for_the_weak Tatiana invokes the trope,]] even extending it to choice of [[spoiler:search engines]]. Sandra's doubts are plausible; Tatiana is in fact hell-bent on breaking Sandra. |
| 183 | [[/folder]] |
| 184 | |
| 185 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 186 | * A common practice is to take a {{Creepypasta}} and rewrite it to take place in Soviet Russia (with FunetikAksent to match). The main joke being that whatever horror is supposed to be menacing the protagonists of the pasta is no big deal if they are Soviet Russians, because [[RussianGuySuffersMost they live through worse on a daily basis]]. |
| 187 | * The basis of ''Creator/FPSRussia'', a Website/YouTube show about trying out various guns and ordnance. |
| 188 | * The [[http://justcapshunz.icanhascheezburger.com/2011/11/22/funny-captions-meanwhile-in-russia/ "Meanwhile, in Russia"]] image. |
| 189 | [[/folder]] |
| 190 | |
| 191 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 192 | * ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': In one episode, Steve befriends an ex-Soviet spy who helps him build a rocket for a competition. To toughen him up, he teaches him to eat Russian turnips, which are so tough Steve's mouth begins to bleed upon biting into one. |
| 193 | * "Iron Joe" (read, Stalin) from a ''WesternAnimation/{{Histeria}}'' sketch with the WWII allies as superheroes. He was modeled after ''[[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk The Hulk]]'' and his favourite tactic was "Wipe out my opposition with famine and secret police!" That despite the fact that Stalin was not Russian. |
| 194 | * Boris from the ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' episode "The Princess and the Bounty Hunters" is the most large and muscular of the bounty hunters. |
| 195 | * ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'': The Russian-accented Decepticon Strika is built like a titanium outhouse and turns into a futuristic tank, making her one of the largest fighters in her faction. |
| 196 | [[/folder]] |
| 197 | |
| 198 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 199 | * Two common subvarieties within Russian culture: |
| 200 | ** Siberians aka "Tough/Rough Siberian guys." They are frequent characters of jokes, in which they receive a new and sophisticated device, submit it to an improbable stress test (like testing a Japanese chainsaw in succession on tough Siberian pine, tough Siberian cedar and tough Siberian rail from a nearby railroad), say their characteristic "Ah-ha!" or "A nuu" and revert to using something much simpler, but robust. Of course, this trope relates to real Siberians as much as the topic trope relates to Russians in general. |
| 201 | ** Nekrasovian women. Named so after a passage describing such a type of women in poem "Grandfather Frost-the Red Nose" by Nikolai Nekrasov. The two-liner that codified a trope goes approximately as follows: "... will stop a charging horse/ And enter a burning house". |
| 202 | *** Which was immediately changed by the people into: "...will stop a charging elephant/ And tear off its trunk". |
| 203 | * It must be noted in Russia that anything within two miles is absolutely considered walking distance, regardless of weather or terrain. |
| 204 | * In Moscow, how do you spot the foreigners in winter? Easy! According to the stereotype, no Russian man, other than a guard or laborer on the job, wears gloves, and nobody ever puts his hands in his pockets except to fish something out. In Real Life, most Russians tend to dress warm in the winter. Popular saying is: "A true Siberian is not the one who endures cold but the one who dresses properly". Also, it must be noted that Russian apartments are really hot in the winter thanks to cheap gas fired heating. A common complaint among Russian immigrants in the Western countries is relative cold in their apartments. |
| 205 | * Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich, Grand Prince of Moscow (1530-1584). He's known as Ivan the Terrible in the English-speaking world, but the title is meant to convey ferocity or frightful majesty. |
| 206 | * UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin is a [[SecretPolice KGB]] [[ColonelBadass Colonel]] who holds a [[RankScalesWithAsskicking 6th dan in judo]] and runs the St. Petersburg dojo. |
| 207 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2cW-aAvACU&feature=player_embedded This video]] depicts a group of Russian guys casually ''driving through a forest fire''. What's even more mind-bendingly insane is that they encounter other vehicles during their death-defying commute. Yes, that's right, only in Russia can you ''get stuck in traffic in the middle of a damned forest fire''. What's even better is that not only do they not seem at all scared, they seem bored or even mildly annoyed. In fact, they are really scared, but [[DullSurprise Russians apparently emote less.]] Moreover, most of the video is accompanied with swearing censored by the TV company. |
| 208 | * The videos coming out from Russia on the 2013 Russian meteor event have reinforced this trope since to non-Russian eyes the Russian [[StiffUpperLip reaction seems remarkably calm and blasé]], leading to jokes about Russians completely unimpressed about the prospect of TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. To Russian ears, however, the videos do show plenty of cries of alarm, but [[TheStoic even these seem really low-key]] to foreign ears. |
| 209 | ** ''Series/TheDailyShow'' even did a segment on the subject with [[http://www.cc.com/video-clips/lstf5e/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-how-i-meteored-your-motherland that exact take.]] |
| 210 | ** Some Russian cultural attitudes have inadvertently reinforced the trope of Russian stoicism. As noted in the the StepfordSmiler page, [[https://web.archive.org/web/20140209114929/http://blog.properrussian.com/2011/05/why-russians-are-not-smiling.html Russians smile mostly around people they know, as doing otherwise is seen as insincere.]] As such, to foreigners visiting Russia, Russians seem to be grim, dour people. |
| 211 | * Spetznaz, the Russian special forces. |
| 212 | * Soviet cosmonauts have a collapsible shotgun included in their equipment. Instead of landing in the ocean they come down in Siberia and one of the early crews was trapped inside their capsule overnight due to being ''surrounded by hungry wolves''. |
| 213 | * [[http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0208/feature6/index.html The idea of actually parachuting into remote forest fires to fight them was a Soviet invention.]] The people who do it are, as one might expect, as tough as nails, and the Russians even more so due to their antiquated equipment and low budget. After finishing fighting the fire they are often then stuck in the woods for up to a week while waiting for the helicopter to come and pick them back up again. |
| 214 | * UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts fighters from Russia in general tend to have this trope played up as part of their image. |
| 215 | ** Fedor Emelianenko, long-reigning [[UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts PRIDE FC]] heavyweight champion and frequent Sambo tournament champion. Having gone undefeated for nearly ten years, he has widely been called the best fighter of all time and was certainly the most dominant fighter of his era. His personality was notably stoic, and his DissonantSerenity in the ring was often called chilling. The Japanese fight scene made a lot out of his Russian heritage. He was given the nickname "the Last Emperor" and walked out to "The Cossack's Parable," often accompanied by graphics of falling snowflakes. |
| 216 | ** Dagestan, home of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Zabit Magomedsharipov and Muslim Salikhov, has become a more localized version of this; the region is home to almost 100 ethnic groups, a hotbed for Islamic insurgency (with heavy participation in UsefulNotes/TheChechnyaWars), and also known for its economically poor population. Combat sports such as wrestling are part of the culture and a way of life; it's telling that about 3/4 of the entries in the Wikipedia page for [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notable_people_from_Dagestan "Notable people from Dagestan"]] are wrestlers, sambists, judokas, kickboxers and MMA fighters. |
| 217 | * In an interview in the February 2012 issue of ''Esquire UK'', Russian [=supermodel=] Creator/IrinaShayk, who was born in Yemanzhelinsk, Russia, USSR, said, "You can't break Russian people. We're made in cold snow. We're very resistant." |
| 218 | * Aleksandr Karelin, known as "The Experiment", grew up in Siberia and began his life skiing and hunting. He started wrestling at age 13 and became the dominant force in Greco-Roman wrestling, winning three Olympic gold medals, nine World Championship gold medals and twelve European Championship gold medals. He won all his matches in the 1990 Olympics in less than three minutes, the shortest in ''26 seconds''. He also at one point carried a refrigerator up eight flights of stairs in one go. He also, as a point of honor, agreed to every test for performance enhancers he was asked to do, and never failed any. It was all Mother Russia. |
| 219 | * The book ''Fighting in Hell'' compiled by the US Army after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII from interviews of [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons German Generals who had served on the Eastern Front]] repeats this theme. Other themes included '[[ZergRush the Soviets only won by sheer numbers]]', 'we were very good at our jobs', 'Hitler was the only reason we lost', 'Hitler and the SS did all the war crimes', 'we didn't do any war crimes', and 'we weren't Nazis'. Of these claims, only the first has even a single grain of truth. |
| 220 | ** Although the Red Army is stereotyped as [[WeHaveReserves carelessly throwing lots of soldiers killing half amount of their casualties]], the greatest Allied [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Kozhedub fighter,]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Sidorenko sniper,]] & [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitry_Lavrinenko tank]] aces came from the USSR. And the top Soviet tank ace of the whole war was killed in late 1941, barely one year into the war. Which isn't to say they ''didn't'' use human-wave attacks, mind you; they were merely a DesperationAttack rather than standard operating procedure, even with the [[RedshirtArmy explicitly expendable]] penal battalions. |
| 221 | ** The idea of Hitler being the reason they lost also has some truth. The Allies actively decided against assassinating Hitler because he was so bad at military strategy. |
| 222 | * Russian military equipment is oftentimes far from the the most comfortable: |
| 223 | ** The buttplate on the Mosin rifle is 100% steel, and even a moderate shooting session can be felt for days afterwards, or if the recoil gets you, seen for more than a week afterwards. Americans, famed riflemen and lovers of 30 cal full size rifles, tend to put softer butt pads on these rifles, standard.[[note]]People who designed them back then weren't uselessly cruel; they expected the thick military uniform and leather gear [[DeceptivelySimpleDemonstration to dampen the recoil]].[[/note]] |
| 224 | ** Russian and Soviet [[BadassLongcoat military longcoats]] called ''shinel''' are made of heavy, rough fabric, and the only party of them that's made soft is part of the internal liner around the upper torso and most of the sleeves up until the cuffs. So your neck? Oww. Your wrists? Oww. Your hands if you tuck them in? Oww. The good news is they're they're warm as hell to the point where Viktor Suvorov wrote that it is indeed possible to sleep in them in the snow, even if it is wet. No, they aren't waterproof; they're just that heavy. How did he know this? [[TheSpartanWay Because the army made everyone do it to prepare them for possible field conditions!]] |
| 225 | ** Russian army footware. Almighty Allah! The old jackboots, ''sapogi'', were heavy, stiff, came up near to the knee, and have a fit best described as 'well, the foot stays in there without too much trouble. Soldiers who wore these didn't even get socks; they got footwraps called ''portyanki''. These are just rough rectangles of cloth about the size of a kitchen towel. They work great, provided you wrap them properly. If not, or if they come loose, or if your feet are just soft, you'll be in blister city in the first ten minutes. ''Kirza'' and ''botinki'', which are less extreme, are generally far from comfortable and thanks to having to be able to accommodate just about anyone of a certain foot size, expect them to still be wide and tall, even if they are in your size lengthwise. Wearing any of these without at least double layer of socks is painful, and the hard soles will batter your feet and the weight will strain your legs. [[DifficultButAwesome But once you're used to them, they make absolutely wonderful, supremely durable marching boots]]. In Russia, you get broken into your boots. |
| 226 | ** Russian army boots (albeit the modern ones, mind you) are surprisingly popular even with the general population (especially with young people), due to the mostly horrendous weather (and road) condition in Russia for roughly 7 months a year. Army boots are durable, less prone to slipping on ice, waterproof, warm and good for kicking ass should such necessity arise. Even women who prefer comfort over fashion wear them. |
| 227 | ** Soviet and Russian tanks are historically infamous for their lack of crew comforts. The legendary T-34 was a notoriously uncomfortable vehicle to drive, with both steering and gear changes taking quite a bit of upper body strength. The transmission was particularly unreliable in early models, and a popular urban legend states that gear shifts were so difficult, a smart driver [[PercussiveMaintenance would keep a mallet handy to help change gears.]] Later Russian tanks would add little in the way of crew comforts, favoring tanks with small, short turrets and low profiles, resulting in cramped crew compartments. Of particular note is the T-72, which between its short, small turret and it's signature auto-loading system, [[https://youtu.be/krp2y88nNCo?t=7m35s results in a turret interior that only barely allows for a commander and gunner.]] Russian design philosophy has long held that small size makes a tank more likely to survive in battle (it's a smaller target, harder to see clearly at a distance and harder to hit) and this is seen as far more important than crew comfort. |
| 228 | *** Throughout Eastern Bloc armies of the 1960-1990 period, a popular joke about [[PintsizedPowerhouse very short and muscular men]] was "they were sent to the tanks during Army service". |
| 229 | ** [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with the [=Su-34=] fighter-bomber. It features a spacious cockpit with plenty of room for two and comes complete with a small galley and toilet. The pressurized cabin means that the pilots can fly at altitudes of up to 10,000 meters before needing to put on oxygen masks, letting the crew comfortably get up and out of their seats. There's even enough space to lie down in between the seats, should you get a little winded whilst defending glorious Mother Russia. The crew comforts were actually designed with long flight times in mind, allowing the pilots to remain fully focused on their mission. Compare this to the [=F-15E=] Strike Eagle, or the [=F/A-18 E/F=] Hornet, where the only crew luxury you get is a working ejector seat. |
| 230 | * Oh, and while we're on the military topics, Russia will still retain {{Conscription}} for the conceivable future, resulting in a considerable portion of the male able-bodied population being ([[RedshirtArmy somewhat]]) trained soldiers.[[note]]According to Russian [=YouTuber=] NFKRZ, the army is so corrupted that conscripts aren't even trained to become soldiers at all. They are instead used as glorified cheap laborers by corrupt Russian officials for the duration of their service.[[/note]] |
| 231 | * Still a military one, from [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Russia]], the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vsevobuch Vsevobuch]] system which had one job : make Soviets strong, comrade. |
| 232 | * Inverted: In the year 988, Vladimir I of Kiev sent an army to his ally, Byzantine emperor Basil II of Constantinople. He took the chance to get rid of his most unruly warriors (vikings), but Basil liked them so much that he ended forming the Varangian Guard and recruiting them on purpose as his personal bodyguards and elite army units. On the other hand, this is more a testament to the toughness of the Scandinavian warriors than a blow to the Russian reputation. That said, Vladimir I was himself of partially viking ancestry, as what would eventually become the royal family of Russia was founded by the viking chieftain Rurik (Vladimir's great-great-uncle). |
| 233 | * Ryszard Kapuściński, a Polish journalist, describes his travels through Soviet Union in its final years in his 1993 book "Imperium" ("The Empire"). Between harsh weather and even harsher rulers before, during and after Soviet times, he argues multiple times that the Russian national character is a mixture of apathy and passivity with the will to endure anything. For example, Kapuściński recalls a conversation with an old lady trying to sweep out mud that keeps flowing in through her front door: |
| 234 | --> "Tough work", I said, just to strike up a conversation. |
| 235 | --> "Ah", she said, shrugging. "Spring is always horrible like this. Everything is flowing." Silence ensued. |
| 236 | --> "How's life?", I asked the most banal and idiotic question, just to keep the conversation alive. |
| 237 | --> The granny stood up straight, leaned on the handle of her broom and looked at me. She smiled at me and said the thing that's the very essence of the Russian philosophy of life. "Kak zhyviom?", she repeated, deep in thought. Then she added, in a voice full of pride, and determination, and suffering, and joy: "Dyshym!" |
| 238 | :: The old lady's response translates roughly as "we're breathing!" (or alternatively, "we're breathing with effort"), but can be taken to mean pretty much "we're [still] alive!". |
| 239 | * The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_of_the_Dead_Men Attack of the Dead Men]] is what you get when you kill Russians with poison gas. They hadn't keeled over yet, so they counter-charged the German lines while coughing up their own lungs and generally looking like zombies. |
| 240 | [[/folder]] |
| 241 |
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