Tropes Media Browse Indexes Forums Videos Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Tools
Cut List New Edits Edit Reasons Launches Images List Crowner Activity Un-typed Pages Recent Page Type Changes Changelog
Tips
Creating New Redirects Cross Wicking Tips for Editing Text Formatting Rules Glossary Edit Reasons Handling Spoilers Word Cruft Administrivia FAQ
Tropes HQ
About Us Contact Us Advertise DMCA Notice Privacy Policy Report Bug
Go Ad-Free Changelog
  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Highlight Links
 

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Battle Cry

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/for_pony3.jpg
Ponies need heroes, too.

"Today Is a Good Day for Someone Else to Die!"
— Traditional Dwarf battle cry, Feet of Clay

It's time for the hero to go to battle, to take action, to strive. Surely such a moment is worthy of an exclamation. If the hero (and it's almost always a hero) is up to it, he might produce a one-off Pre-Asskicking One-Liner suitable for the occasion. It's not rare, though, to instead utter an appropriate catchphrase: the hero's trademarked Battle Cry.

A Battle Cry is usually written in title caps, and ends with an exclamation point or three.

This is more frequently a convention of comics, animation and video games than of live action, for some reason.

They have also appeared historically in Real Life. Helps with Friend or Foe? situations.

A common variation is calling out "Geronimo!" while leaping from a great height (usually when parachuting out of a plane). This is derived from the 1939 film Geronimo.

Compare Rousing Speech. Screaming Warrior is sometimes an instance of this trope. Might also manifest as the dreaded Funny Bruce Lee Noises.

Contrast In the Name of the Moon, which is a longer speech and happens before the fight really starts.

The video game with the same name can be found here.

Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Anime & Manga 
  • In Angel Densetsu, both Kitano's "KIIIEEEEEEEE!", and his father's "GUOOOOOOH" are taken as such by (and scare the crap out of) everyone else.
  • Code Geass
    • The Britannian military: "All hail Britannia!!!" When Lelouch takes over Britannia, the knights and soldiers shout "All hail Lelouch!!!"
    • The Black Knights/Japan Liberation Front: NIPPON BANZAI!!! (Long live Japan!)
  • Eyeshield 21:
    • The Devil Bat's, "WE'RE GONNA KILL 'EM! YA-HA!"
    • In fact, every opposing thematic teams have their own themed Battle Cry (such as the Ojou White Knight's "Glory on the Kingdom !" or the Seibu Wild Gunmen's "Gun Gun Go!").
  • In End of Evangelion, Asuka commences her counterattack against the JSDF by tossing a battleship while screaming "SCHWEINHUND!!!"
  • Based off the onomatopoeia of the manga, the My Hero Academia anime has several of these:
    • All Might/Deku vocally shout SMAAASH!! when performing an attack.
    • Bakugou frequently shouts DIEEEEE!! (死ね, SHINEEEE!!), even when not in battle.
    • Mirio/"Lemillion" has POWWWERRRRR!
  • GUN×SWORD: Van and his cries of chesuto!
  • Gundam:
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
    • Unlike the Memetic Mutation would have you believe, Dio Brando uses this not only after having finished off an opponent, but also during doing so. It's evidently genetic since his son Giorno also uses the same screech.
    • There's also Jotaro Kujo's (and practically every Jojo after him) famous " ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!!"
      • In order:
      Jotaro, Jolyne, Johnny: ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORAAAA!!!
      Dio and Giorno: MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDAAAA!!! (USELESS!!!) and WRYYYYYYYYY!!!
      Polnareff: HORA! HORA! Roughly
      Josuke: DORA RA RA RA RA RA DORAAAA!!!
      "Jo2uke/Gappy"note : ORA ORA ORA ARA ORA ORA ORAAA!!!
      Bucciarati: ARI ARI ARI ARI ARI ARI ARRIVEDERCI!!! Translation
      Narancia: VOLA VOLA VOLA VOLA VOLA VOLA VOLARE VIA!!! Translation
      Trish Una and Spice Girl: WANNABEEE~
      Tusk (Johnny's stand): Chumimi~in!!!
  • In K, the Red Clan, HOMRA, tends to shout "No Blood! No Bone! No Ash!" right before fighting.
  • Reborn! (2004):
    • Squalo's: "VOIIIIIII!!!"
    • Ryouhei's: "TO THE EXTREME!!"
    • And Tsuna's: "___ AS IF I WERE TO DIE!"
  • Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! has "Reality, be rent! Synapse, break! Banishment, this world!", universally used by those having their teen delusion of grandeur (chuunibyou) to commence a delusion battle.
  • Pokémon: The Series:
    • "[Pokémon name] I CHOOSE YOU!" or "GO [Pokémon name]!" kind of serves as a battle cry many times. So does Team Rocket's motto, which ends with "Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
    • Pyramid King Brandon always says "[Pokémon], I need your assistance!" as a battle cry.
    • Ash's Sinnoh region rival, Paul, has the battle cry "[Pokémon], Stand by for battle!"
    • When Dawn send out her Pokémon for a contest, her cry is "[Pokémon], Spotlight!"
  • The anime of Sengoku Basara gave its two main characters battle cries.
    Date Masamune: Big Boss of Oshu, Date Masamune! Full speed ahead!
    Sanada Yukimura: Perfect! Spear! Of conquest! Sanada Yukimura is here!
  • Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann:
  • In Urusei Yatsura, Shinobu always evokes her super strength by getting worked up about boys. "MEN BE DAMNED!"
  • Yu-Gi-Oh!: "IT'S TIME TO D-D-D-D-D-DUEL!"

    Audio Plays 

    Card Games 

    Comic Books 
  • The Tick:
  • Fantastic Four:
    • Ben Grimm: "It's Clobberin' Time!"
    • Mark Waid once said that the Avengers' battle cry is "Avengers Assemble", and the Fantastic Four's is "Johnny, wait, don't!"
    • Johnny Storm also has "Flame on!", which he says whenever he bursts into flames to attack an enemy. He doesn't have to say it (as evidenced by all the casual setting-himself-on-fire he does when not fighting), but he almost always does.
    • On the other hand, Johnny usually use the "Flame on!" phrase when he is flaming on his entire body as oppose to just lighting up a hand or finger.
    • In the Ultimate universe, Johnny did have to say "Flame on!" whenever he wanted to use his powers, before he became more competent with his powers. Conversely, he also originally had to say "Flame off!" when he wanted to return to normal.
  • Captain America:
    • "Avengers Assemble!" The phrase can and is said by any Avenger, but Cap seems to say it the most. Sometimes, for added pathos, "Avengers" is drawn out or has its own exclamation point, and back in the '80s the team sometimes used "Avengers! Attack!"
    • Lampshaded in JLA/Avengers during the final battle, where they are technically fighting under the Avengers name (since Captain America is in charge). Everyone screams "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!", and then the Wasp adds in for the benefit of their friends from The DCU: "And Justice Leaguers, uh— LAMBASTE!"
    • Inverted in the Civil War arc series, in which the Registration detractors under Captain America shout "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!" and Bishop replies "What's he talking about? I thought our side was the Avengers?"
  • The X-Men have "To me, my X-Men!", originally used by either Professor X or Cyclops. Kitty Pryde recently used the line when she first led her team into the fray.
    Old Man Logan: Always wanted to say it, didn't you?
    Kitty: Like you have no idea.
  • The Teen Titans have "Titans Together!" In the animated series, it was just "Teen Titans, Go!" or "Titans! Go!"
  • The Thunderbolts (infrequently) used to have "Justice like Lightning! Thunderbolts!"
  • Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos: "WA-HOO!"
  • Usagi Yojimbo: "RYAAAAAAAAAAA—"
  • Blackhawk: "Hawkaaa!"
    Lady Blackhawk: Do not mock my special yell thing.
  • The Incredible Hulk: "HULK SMASH!"
  • Possibly parodied by Birds of Prey's Misfit with "DAAAARKK VENGEEAAANCCE!" (She's a Batgirl wannabe, you see.)
  • In Battleground: Tattooine, some Imperial troopers abandoned into slavery on Ryloth are scooped up by the Rebels and allowed to go after their old commander.◊ "SEMMM-TIINNNN!"
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:
    • The Turtles: "COWABUNGA!"
    • Casey Jones in the Mirage Comics had the phrase, "GOONGALA!" It's seldom remembered in other works.
    • In the eighties series the turtles would often enter battle with, "Turtles fight with honor!" Though it was sometimes said by just Leonardo. In one episode, however, the Shredder retorts as follows:
      The Turtles: Turtles fight with honor!
      Shredder: (pulls out pair of laser guns) But I fight dirty.
  • In an all-Wolverine edition (it's complicated) of the Sliders-esque Exiles comic, Elsie Dee asks "Anyone have a battle cwy?" Zombie Wolverine responds with "Lunchtime!"
  • In one battle, Loki actually wound up on the same side as Thor and Odin while all of their allies were elsewhere. As the three launched themselves at their giant foe, Odin shouted, "For Asgard!" Since Earth was also endangered, Thor yelled, "For Midgard!" And Loki? Loki proclaimed, "For Myself!"
  • Sub-Mariner: Namor has "Imperius Rex" which translates out as something like "Power of the King", or to put it more simply, "You're about to get your backside handed to you cause I'm Namor, bitch!"
  • The Wreckers from Transformers have one: "WRECK AND RULE!"
  • ElfQuest: "AAAYOOAHH!"
  • American Vampire: "Semper Fi, motherfuckers!"
  • Rahan will proudly yell "RAAAHAAAAAAAAAA!!!", though he uses it more often as a victory cry than a battle cry.
  • Ogú from Mampato: "AKARRÚUUUUUU!!!!!"
  • Lampshaded by The Runaways, who do not have a Battle Cry, but do have the following exchange:
    Victor: You guys have some kind of rallying cry? You know, Avengers Assemble? It's clobberin' time? Hulk smash?
    Nico: Try Not to Die.
  • Shakara: The killer robot protagonist only shouts "Shakara!" as he destroys his enemies. This turns out to be the name of his dead species (as well as his own, sort of), who used it in an identical manner.
  • Wonder Woman Vol 1: Hippolyta shouts "Venus Nobiscum!" as she leads the Amazons in battle against the Uranians.
  • "Long live the Legion!"
  • ORPHANIMO!!: The title of the series is in fact a battlecry frequently used by the orphans. It's an portmanteau of "Geronimo!" and "Orphan".

    Fan Works 
  • Hetalia: Axis Powers fanfic Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità: Germany and Japan had some...interesting...battle cries as they fought each other.
    Germany: UMKOMMEN!
    Japan: SHEE-NEI!
  • In Ace Combat: The Equestrian War, Cloud Kicker comes up with a battle cry for the Mirage squadron: "May the sun and moon shine upon us!"
  • The Gunslinger Hero: Flintlock:
  • The Immortal Game: Rainbow Dash coins one for the pegasi Loyalists. Twilight borrows it when she fights alongside them during the Battle of the Everfree.
    Rainbow Dash: Thunder and lightning!
    Troops: Wings and steel!
  • In the Dashverse story Hot Heads, Cold Hearts, and Nerves of Steel, we have this exchange when the group is going to enter Sombra's palace, and Applejack asks if anyone has anything to say for inspiration.
    Zecora: There is a seapony battle cry of which I am aware. Cry halibut and let slip the cods of war!
    [beat of silence as everyone else stares]
    Zecora: ...I said it was a battle cry. I never said it was good, by the by.
  • In addition to their motto — "Always angry! All the time!" — the fan-made Warhammer 40,000 faction named the Angry Marines has an Atomic F-Bomb as theirs; most of the time they let the U roll for long periods of time.
  • In In Éirinn McGonagall shouts "For our future!" right before the final battle.
  • And the Giant Awoke: Tyrion gives one during the showdown with the White Walkers that perfectly fits his character.
    "For tits and for wine!"
  • Bait and Switch (STO) and The War of the Masters: The Bajoran Militia uses "Balus kren!" although it's usually heard in non-combat situations. It means "Never again!" in Bajoran, referring to the Occupation.
  • Discworld fic Strandpiel:
    • It sees political refugees from Howondaland being exiled to the Central Continent with their families.note . The kingdom of Lancre, at Queen Magrat's prompting, takes in a couple of extended refugee families, adding an exotic dimension to Lancre life. One day, a visiting party from the Assassins' Guild School visits. This includes several White Howondalandians. A replay of the battle of Lawkes Drain begins in a farmyard in Lancre, and Famke Smith-Rhodes-Stibbons gets a rush of ancestral blood to the head, charging several assegai-holding Zulu boys and screaming a war cry that roughly translates as "Come and get it, you bastards!" While Lancre Witches prevent any actual bloodshed, watching Nac Mac Feegle are so taken with Famke that they adopt a heavily accented version of Ons vir jou, jou bliksems! for themselves.
    • The same author's The Price of Flight follows the City Watch Air Police into battle as a combat air force. During the war with invading Elves note  half a dozen Witches on combat brooms end up realising the main Elven invasion force is massing in front of them. Hundreds of airborne Elves. A Fourecksian witch laconically says "It was nice knowing you bunch of bastards", and the flight commander leads her aviators into action with "It's up to you if you want to follow me". (Previously against lesser odds, this witch has shouted battle cries like "On your feet! Or on your knees!")
  • In The Night Unfurls, this trope is practically a prerequisite at the beginning of any battlefield sequence, where armies of both sides charge into battle. The war cries can last quite a long time.
  • In With Strings Attached, the Hunter yells the name of his BFS during battles: “Blackfire! Blackfire!”

    Films — Animation 
  • Kung Fu Panda:
    Po: GET READY TO FEEL THE THUNDER!!
  • Toy Story, Buzz Lightyear: "To Infinity and Beyond!"
  • Parodied in Aladdin and the King of Thieves when four Genies parachute out of an airplane.
    Genie #1: GERONIMO!!!
    Genie #2: ARAPAHOE!!!
    Genie #3: NAVAJO!!!
    Genie #4: Pocahontas.
  • Big Hero 6 Go Go Tomago: "WOMAN UP!"
  • The title character of Beowulf uses his own name as a battle cry. Parodied by Rifftrax:
    Mike Nelson: Guys, I promise you, if I ever burst through the eye of a giant sea creature, I'll have a better line than "MIIIIKE!"
  • In Yellow Submarine prior to their incursion on the Blue Meanies after the Beatles rescue Sgt. Pepper's Band, Paul calls out "BEATLES TO BATTLE!!"

    Films — Live-Action 

    Gamebooks 
  • Lone Wolf:
    • Kai Warriors: "For Sommerlund and the Kai!"
    • Drakkarim: "Shaag Drakkarim!"*
    • Giaks: "SHEGGA-ASH-TAAG!"*
    • Skyrider Dwarven crew: "Blood for Blood!"

    Literature 
  • Longfellow's Excelsior is an ironic commentary on this trope. James Thurber's illustrations are even more so.
  • Redwall: Various groups of critters over the course of the series have had their own battle cries.
    • "Redwaaaaaaaaaall!" for residents of the Abbey.
    • "Mossfloweeeeeeeer!" was common prior to the construction of the Abbey, and afterwards for residents of the area not associate with Redwall.
    • Also "Logalogalogalogaloga...!", the battle cry of the Guosim shrew tribes.
    • The hares of the Long Patrol and the Badger Lords of Salamandastron have their traditional battle cry, "Eulaliaaaaaaaaaa!"
    • Vermin often use the name of their leader.
  • The Warrior's Apprentice: Subverted. While boarding an enemy ship, one of Miles' people enters a room with a "Whoop!" looking for someone to shoot. Miles points out that "You know, it might be better if we don't yell, going in. It's startling. It's bound to be a lot easier to hit people if they're not jumping around and ducking behind things."
  • Tolkien's Legendarium:
    • The Lord of the Rings has a lot of battle-crying.
      • Frodo yells "The Shire!" when he stabs the cave troll's foot in Moria.
      • Éomer and Aragorn say "Gúthwinë for the Mark!" and "Andúril for the Dúnedain!" when they draw swords together at the Battle of Helm's Deep.
      • The Rohirrim have a more blood-chilling battlecry later, at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. One word: DEATH!
      • Gimli shouts, "Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!" during the Battle of Helm's Deep. Professor Tolkien helpfully adds a translation of this traditional dwarvish battle-cry: "Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!", which is a helpful warning that a lot of hairy kneecappers are about to run up one side of you and down the other.
      • Aragorn also often cries out the name of his ancestor Elendil.
      • Even the hobbits of the Shire get one: the Horn-call of Buckland.
      Awake! Awake! Fear! Fire! Foes!
      Awake! Fire! Foes!! Awake!!
    • The Silmarillion: At the end of the Battle of Unnumbered Tears: the Elves and their human allies have finally marched against Morgoth, they are losing and will never recover from this defeat. Húrin, a human warrior, is alone and about to be captured by trolls, but he is still fighting and all the while he keeps shouting: "Aurë entuluva !" — "Day shall come again !" — since he's fighting to allow the army of Gondolin to withdraw. This serves as an Ironic Echo of the Elves' battlecry at the opening of the battle: Utulie'n aurë! ("The day has come!)"
  • Discworld:
    • Discworld's Dwarfs yell "Today is a good day for someone else to die!" (cf. Star Trek, obviously.)
    • Sourcery: Nijel the Destroyer has "Erm, excuse me..."
    • The Nac Mac Feegle like their battle cries. But because they're all stubborn individualists (despite having a hive structure), when a swarm of Feegles attack you, every one of them will be shouting something different. The only battle cry they ALL share is "WE WILLNAE BE FOOLED AGAIN!"
    • "Remember Koom Valley" is another one, used by both Dwarves and Trolls. This may fall into disuse after the events of Thud!
    • Commander Vimes's terrifying war cry as he enters a berserker rage, also found in Thud!: "THAT IS NOT MY COW!!!!"
  • In the fifth Percy Jackson and the Olympians book, Tyson and his fellow Cyclopes are eating peanut butter lunch when they are attacked by a swarm of monsters. Tyson tries to shout, "For Poseidon!", but since his mouth is full of peanut butter, it comes across as mangled. The other Cyclopes take up the cry, yelling, "PEANUT BUTTER!!!"
  • In H. Beam Piper's Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, Kalvan sets up a battle cry for Friend or Foe?, but adds "Down Styphon!" to make the issues clear. Later, a captured enemy complains of having been attacked by his own side when screaming his battle cry.
  • The Draka: The Draka are fond of "BuLala" which they picked up from their first enemies (and first conquests), the Bantu peoples of Southern Africa.
    "BuLala! BuLala!" The battle cry roared out, as old as the Draka, in a language of the Bantu extinct for more than a century: "Kill! Kill!"
  • The Dresden Files:
    • In the book Summer Knight, Harry has "I don't believe in faeries!" before charging into battle between the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. Who are, of course, faeries. (In Peter Pan, it's claimed that whenever someone says "I don't believe in fairies!" it causes a fairy to drop dead — worth a try, in the circumstances.)
    • In the same battle Harry recruits several faeries (of the several inch tall variety) by buying them pizza. Their battle cry? "For the pizza lord!"
    • In Ghost Story, Harry gets himself an army of ghosts. His battle cry for them? "BOO!"
    • Michael Carpenter typically shouts Latin phrases when he wields his holy blade Amoracchius. His most common one is "Lava quod est sordium! In nomine Dei, sana quod est saucium!"Latin translation Notably, it is implied that this is not so much Michael's battle cry, as the battle cry of the angels that back him up.
    • Mortician Waldo Butters uses "Polka will never die!" as his battle cry.
  • Dune. The Fremen under Paul Atreides had two battle cries: "Muad'Dib!" (Paul's public Fremen name) used by all Fremen and "Ya Hya Chouhada" ("Long live the fighters!"), used by his Fedaykin death commandos.
  • In P.C. Hodgell's Chronicles of the Kencyrath series, every Kencyr House has its own battle-cry. That of the heroine's House is the scream of a rathorn, a terrifying carnivorous unicorn-like beast.
  • Henry V: "Follow your spirit, and upon this charge, / Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!' "
  • The Elric Saga: "Blood! Blood and souls for my lord Arioch!"
  • In the last Fablehaven book, Newel and Doren, junk-food-and-TV-loving satyrs, shout "Frito-Lay!" before battle.
  • Animorphs:
    • Rachel's cry of "Let's do it!" becomes a custom at the start of every battle. In the later books, none of them feel right going into battle without it. It's also exclusively hers, and no one else is allowed to use it.
    • Also the free Hork-Bajir battle cry: "FREE OR DIE!"
  • Inverted by the legions of Glen Cook's Dread Empire: "The soldiers of Shinsan fought, and died, without a word or cry. Their silence had unnerved men more experienced than Torfin." They're not under any kind of enchantment, or with tongues cut out; they're just that disciplined.
  • Tar Gibbons, the Master of Martial Arts from Rod Allbright Alien Adventures yells out "Hee-yah! Frizzim Spezzack!" before attacking. Strangely, despite the Tar having Translator Microbes, this phrase is never translated.
  • Mat Cauthon from The Wheel of Time seems to be fond of these.
    • A notable example is "Carai an Caldazar! Carai an Ellisande! Al Ellisande!" ("For the honor of the Red Eagle! For the Honor of the Rose of the Sun! The Rose of the Sun!") from the first book.
    • Subverted and made more realistic later on, when his battle cry is "Blood and bloody ashes!"
    • When fighting the Gholam in Towers of Midnight: "Al dival, al kiserai, al mashi!" (For light, glory and love!) "Carai an manshimaya Tylin. Carai an manshimaya Nalsean. Carai an manshimaya ayend'an!" (Honor of my blade for Tylin. Honor of my blade for Nalsean. Honor of my blade for the fallen!)
  • The title family of the Deathstalker series has maintained the battle cry of "SHANDRAKOR!" for centuries, in memory of said Death World.
  • A Song of Ice and Fire:
    • Most of the battle-cries are the name of either their family or their city.
      • This gets Arya in trouble at one point when she's supposed to be in disguise, then shouts the name of her home castle, "Winterfell!" during a battle. Fortunately, her friend Gendry manages to convince everyone that they misheard, and that her battle cry is actually, "Go to Hell!"
    • Discussed briefly by Tyrion in his Rousing Speech during the defence of King's Landing. He specifically declares that he is not going to shout the name of the king or his own city, and instead reminds his troops that King's Landing is their city, and that is his warcry when he leads the charge. Tyrion's nickname of "Halfman" becomes the Battle Cry of the city's defenders.
    • The untrained and cowardly baker's boy known as Hot Pie shouts his own name when he is forced into combat, much to Arya's amusement.
  • The clans have them in Warrior Cats. The Dark Forest also has, "Kill the clans!"
  • There are lots of them in Greek Ninja. The weirdest one by far is brought to us by Eleonora.
    With this many trees around... you could have written on a tree!! (ruin as many trees as you wish, as long as the rock is okay.)
  • Star Wars Legends:
  • The battle cry of the various legions in Codex Alera is "X for Alera!", with X being the name of the city the specific legion is based in. The exception to this is the First Aleran, which is made from legionaries from every part of the nation. Their battle cry is simply "Alera!".
  • The Song of Roland: "Monjoie!"
  • The Dinosaur Lords: Shiraa the allosaurus is known for shrieking her name when charging into battle.
  • The Icemark Chronicles: The Icemark soldiers will often yell, "Blood, Blast, and Fire!" or "OUT, OUT, OUT!" in the middle of combat.
  • King Solomon's Mines: The Kukuana have "Kili!" ("Smite!" in English), usually paired with the name of their leader.
    Twala! Twala! Kili! Kili!
    Ignosi! Ignosi! Kili! Kili!
  • Eurico the Presbyter: "Covadonga and Pelagius!" referring to the decisive Battle of Covadonga and the Christian rebel leader during the Umayyad occupation.
  • The titular heroes of The Mouse Watch yell "For the Watch!".

    Live-Action TV 
  • Andor: "ONE WAY OUT! ONE WAY OUT! ONE WAY OUT!"
  • Community: "Britta for the Win!"
  • Captain Dashell in Death Valley always ends his briefings with "Let's get out there and kill something!"
  • Various characters and races in Doctor Who have them:
    • Daleks: "EX-TER-MIN-ATE!"
    • New series Cybermen: "Delete! Delete!"
    • Sontarans: "Sontar-HA!" note 
    • Tenth Doctor: "Allons-y!"
    • Eleventh Doctor: "Geronimo!"
    • Jamie McCrimmon: "CREAG AN TUIRC!".
  • Chiana from Farscape has a battle cry that can best be described as "BRRRRRRUUUUGHHHH-YI-YI-YI-YAAAAAAH!"
  • Game of Thrones: Sandor has one that also happens to be a particularly vulgar threat directed at his own men.
    Sandor: Any man dies with a clean sword, I'll rape his fucking corpse!
  • Klaus, The Big Guy in the French series Hero Corp, is fond of "PINAGE !!" (which can be roughly translated by "PWNAGE!!").
  • Highlander: As with the films, "There can be only one!" is very common.
  • Kamen Rider Den-O has Momotaros saying "Go ! Go ! Go !", on top of each Imagin's catchphrase.
  • The Never-Fail clan from Level Up borrowed one from the real-life section, "Tulta munille!" as a battle cry for everything they do that is outside their normal comfort zone.
  • Merlin:
    • Arthur occasionally uses "For the love of Camelot!"
    • "ON ME!" is also popular in Camelot.
  • Every once in a while, on NCIS Gibbs likes to growl "Ooh-rah".
  • Power Rangers:
    • Power Rangers S.P.D. both uses and parodies this at the same time in episode 11, when the Rangers scream "BATTLE CRY!" as they maneuver towards the enemy in their Megazord.
    • Many teams and individuals have these, but it probably falls under the "In the Name of the Moon" category, as they're more than a word or two and involve signature poses.
  • Titus Pullo has "THIRTEEN!" (his old legion) in Rome.
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation:
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:
    • An episode where Jadzia Dax was called upon to help three elderly Klingon warriors she'd known back in her previous host avenge the murder of their firstborn sons, one of whom was then-Curzon Dax's godson also amended the aforementioned battle cry with, "... but a better day to live," after Jadzia persuaded the three old boys that this might be The Last Dance, but it didn't have to be a Suicide Mission because they were going to fight smart.
    • "VICTORY IS LIFE!" A shortened form of the Badass Creed of the Jem'Hadar, a race literally bred for war by the Dominion and who go into battle considering themselves symbolically dead unless they win.
      Gem Horder: Victory is life!
      Chief O'Blimey: To boldly seek out new life and kill it!
    • "FOR CARDASSIA!!!" Said by the Cardassian rebels assaulting the capitol building during the final battle.
  • Whose Line Is It Anyway? occasionally mocks these during skits involving gladiators, Vikings, or other warriors by giving them the the most unintimidating battle cries ever.
    • The most ridiculous one was during a game of "Whose Line" (where the they insert random lines given by the audience into the scene), when Colin was supposed to be a gladiator.
      Colin: Give it a squeeze and check it's working!
    • Another runner-up was their take on the Alamo.
      Colin and Ryan: SHUT UP AND TOUCH THE MONKEYYY!
    • They actually did "World's Worst Battle Cry" once.
      Wayne: [girly voice] ... Hurt you!
      Colin: Give me liberty or a bran muffin! [later] Get my brown pants!
  • Xena: Warrior Princess often utilized a signature war cry, "Alalaes." Her cry was an alternate writing for "Alale" (or "Alala"), who in Greek mythology was the female personification of the war cry.

    Music 

    Pinballs 

    Pro Wrestling 
  • From wrestling: "Let's Get Ready to Rumble!" is the odd example of a battle cry uttered by a third party. Very odd, as you won't hear it during any Pro Wrestling event held since WCW ended. Michael Buffer, boxing announcer and MC— who occasionally introduced WCW main events — has trademarked the phrase and has been somewhat aggressive against those who use it — not surprising as according to The Other Wiki, he's made $400 million off of those five words alone. (Buffer's introductions are deleted from WWE 24/7.)
  • Delirious adopted "Bah" as his battle cry in Chikara, after he gained the ability to speak coherently when the Eye of Tyr was broken.

    Roleplay 

    Sports 
  • In team sports, a collective battle cry before the match is not uncommon.
  • The All Blacks, New Zealand's national rugby union team, start every game with the Haka, a Maori war chant. Perhaps a bit more organized than the Trope category calls for, but impressive nonetheless. Ironically, haka Ka Mate is not a war haka, and the current haka was written specifically for the All Blacks.
    "Kapa O Pango!"

    Tabletop Games 
  • Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition has a couple of Bard spells using this principle:
    • Casting a war cry before charging boosts the bard's attack and may scare the target if wounded.
    • The battlecry spell improves bardic music and bolsters the resolve of allies; it may even snap them out of fear or charm effects.
  • Exalted: The stats given for warbands include their mottos and warcries, which are usually either pledges of loyalty to their country, god or ruler; threats and promosises of violence to their foe; or both concurrently.
  • Legend of the Five Rings: The Crab Clan usually employ "HIDA!!!" as a battle cry.
  • Warhammer 40,000:
    • Every Space Marine chapter and legion has their own battlecry, though virtually every Imperium force may use "For the Emperor!" and "The Emperor protects!".
    • Space Marines have their own: for the Dark Angels, it's "Repent, for tomorrow you die!"; for the Space Wolves, it's either "For the Russ and the Allfather!"; for the Lamenters, it's "For those we cherish, we die in glory!" and they mean it.
    • The Orks have the ever-recognizable "WAAAAGGGGH!" and "'ERE WE GOOOO!"
    • The Eldar use "For the Craftworld!" in Dawn of War, but background material also includes "KHAINE!" and a wordless scream from the Howling Banshees.
    • Khorne worshippers have "Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!" as a catchphrase. Which characters in the Ciaphas Cain novels very much enjoy mocking them for. See the Quotes tab.
    • There's also a joke warcry for Slaaneshi cultists: "Porn for the Porn God! Smut for the Smut Throne!"
    • 40K also includes a number of memorable subversions: for example, in His Last Command, the Tanith 1st have been merged with the 81st Belladon to become the 81/1st (recon). Their commander muses on the difficulty of merging all the regimental traditions, and notes that a Battle Cry of "Fury of Belladon, for Tanith, for the Emperor, and, by the way, Remember Vervunhive!" gets full marks for effort, but'll leave you dead in a slit trench before you can finish saying it and get on with the fight...
    • This is so ubiquitous that the Tyranids and Necrons are noted as being especially creepy for not using them. Furthermore, the Legion of the Damned are noted for fighting in "disturbing silence".
    • The various Chaos Legions each have their own, ranging from the Iron Warriors' monotone chant of "Iron Within, Iron Without" to the Night Lords' shrieking "We have come for you!" The Alpha Legion even adopt their enemy's battle cries to try and throw them off, and it often works.note 
    • The Dark Eldar, when they use war cries rather than stealth, use "No Death!" However, this is quite terrifying; it doesn't mean they won't kill you. They won't let you die.
  • Warhammer Fantasy:
    • It has the same warcry for orcs and this even has an official spelling (it's always spelled WAAAGH!, though the alternate capitalization Waaagh! can be used when referring to an Ork army instead of the battle cry itself).
    • The Khorne worshippers uses the same as in 40k. The regiments of renown also had a warcry each.
    • Empire units tend to use "SIGMAR!" or "HELDENHAMMER!" in honor of the Empire's first Emperor and prime deity. This pisses off Ulric-worshippers, who consider their god to be the Empire's true god of war, to no end.
    • For the Dwarfs, it's "KHAZUKAN KHAZAKIT-HA!", or "Beware, the Dwarfs are on the warpath!"

    Theatre 

    Video Games 
  • World of Warcraft:
  • Beyond Good & Evil: "CARLSOOOOON AAAAND PPEEETERSSSSS!"
  • Halo:
    • In Halo: Combat Evolved, Elites frequently yell "WORT WORT WORT!" as combat begins, with subsequent games often making reference to it. Interestingly, it was made from taking "Go, go go!", reversing it, and speeding it up.
    • "I am THE ARBITER!"
  • Any depiction of the Marines (Call of Duty, Halo, etc.) will likely feature their trademark "Oorah!"
    • Case in point, Halo 2's own Sergeant Johnson:
      Johnson: [referencing a message to the Prophet of Regret] Dear Humanity: We regret being alien bastards. We regret coming to Earth. AND we most definitely regret that the Corps just blew up OUR RAGGEDY-ASS FLEET!
      Marine Pilots: OO-RAH!      '
  • The units and factions of the Command & Conquer series have various battle cries. For example:
    • Allied GIs in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 use the US Army's "Hoo-ah!" while Navy SEAL's utter the (inaccurate) cry, "Hoo-rah!"
    • The Badass Creeds of the Brotherhood of Nod — "Kane lives!", "Peace through power!", and "One vision, one purpose!" — are often uttered as battle cries (the foremost is especially popular).
  • For some reason, the marines in Haze say "Boosh!"

    That would be due to Super Serum-flavoured Government Drug Enforcement.
  • Sudden Strike:
    • The Russian infantry sometimes yell "Oora za Stalina!" ("Horaa! For Stalin!")
    • From the Allies, "Eliminate them!" and from the Germans the equivalent "R?n Sie aus!"
    • The tanks take the cake though, specifically the Russian ones: "Nizu sen!" "Ejevash, voyo!"
  • Bioware loves this trope.
    • From Baldur's Gate we have:
      Dynaheir: For right! And I always am!
      Minsc: GO FOR THE EYES BOO! GO FOR THE EYES! RAAAAARGH!
      Xzar: I AM BECOME DEATH! DESTROYER OF WORLDS!
      Edwina: I feel your stares! DIE! DIE!
      Jan Janssen: Your knees are mine! (and) This isn't boring, I'll give it that!
      Jaheira: FOR THE FALLEN! (and) NATURE! TAKE THE LIFE SHE GAVE! (and there's also) FALL, CREATURE! AND FEED THE EARTH!
      Mazzy: Arvoreen! Guide my blade!
      Viconia: L'il Alurl! FOR SHAR!
      Rasaad: I'll see you in the ground!
      Sarevok: Death Comes for you! FEEL it's Icy breath!
      Xan: Onwards! To futility!
      Flaming Fist Mercenaries: I SERVE THE FLAMING FIST!" (and) I AM THE LAW!
      Irenicus: You will SUFFER! You will ALL Suffer!
      Ogres: Me will CRUSH you! Crush you to GOO!
      Ogrillons: Time for some CARNAGE!
      Bandits: So I kicked him in the head till he was dead! Hahaha!
      A random mage has the memorable "Prepare to be eviscerated! FOOL!"
    • From Knights of the Old Republic:
      Trask: For the Republic!
      Carth: Down you go!
      Bastila: You cannot win. / For the Jedi!
      Mission: Just die already!
      Juhani: For the Order! / For the Republic! / I will be your doom!"
      Canderous: This is what I live for! / This is gonna be fun! / DIE!!
      Jolee: Never too old for this!
      HK-47: (cheerfully) Combat mode ACTIVE!
    • Dragon Age:
      • Dragon Age: Origins has Sten's Qunari one and Alistair's cry of "For Ferelden! FOR THE GREY WARDENS!!!" before the final battle.
      • The sequel has some memorable ones — Merrill's "May the Creators have mercy on you — I certainly won't!", Aveline's "You are not enough!" and Anders: "MY MAGIC WILL DESTROY YOU!" (or just screaming)
    • Mass Effect:
      • Mass Effect 2 has Grunt's "I. AM. KROGAN!" whenever he charges.
      • The Reapers make an extremely loud foghorn like noise, which seems to serve as a battlecry, given the situations in which they use it.
  • Considering their working relationship with Bioware, Obsidian also loves it.
  • Kingdom Hearts has a few.
  • Several champions in Paladins announce their ultimate with a battlecry, par for the course in games with such abilities.
    • One that takes the cake is Drogoz' utter roar of "Behold the Dragon's FURY" before delivering a jet-pack powered one-hit-kill punch.
  • The World Ends with You:
    • When performing a Combination Attack, Neku and his partner each have half of one: "Ready to Die?" "Then die!"/ "Follow my lead!" "Screw that!"/"Pick it up, Phones!" "I'm there!"
    • "Neku, c'mon!" "Right behind you!" / "Work for you?" "What do you think?" / "The Beat is on!" "Bring it!"
    • "Go, Mr. Mew!" "Get 'em, piggy!" / "Another world awaits." "And you're going." / "Let's start it up!" "No, let's end it!"
  • Team Fortress 2 has at least one per class, and complement the initial mad charge when the round starts quite nicely. Though your mercenary of choice can also bellow battle cries at any time via voice commands.
  • Urban Dead has quite a few of these, primarily used by zombie groups speaking zamgrh. The most common and famous is BARHAH!
  • Metal Wolf Chaos: HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW?!
  • The Elder Scrolls:
    • Throughout the series, the Nords get one of these as a racial ability. It temporarily causes weaker opponents to flee battle, useful if you find yourself outnumbered. Additionally, the Nords were the first (mortal) race in Tamriel to master the Thu'um, the language of the Dragons, which takes this trope to its logical conclusion by having the battle cry be capable of directly inflicting harm to opponents.
    • Every NPC opponent in Morrowind has a battle cry they'll shout before attacking. ("Now you die!," "You filthy swit!", etc.)
    • Oblivion:
      • There are also a few gloriously hammy battle cries specific to members of the Mythic Dawn, such as "Lord Dagon will welcome your soul in Oblivion!" and "Be glad you will not live to see the day Dagon walks the earth!"
      • Imperial troops frequently shout "For the Emperor!" as they charge. The Blades add "For the Blades!"
    • Skyrim:
      • Thanks to the Player Character being a legendary Dragonborn, you can now use the aforementioned Thu'um.
      • Both sides of the Civil War conflict get in on this action. Imperial soldiers return with cries like "For the Empire!" and "For the Legion!" Stormcloaks, meanwhile, shout things like "Skyrim is for the Nords!"
  • From Dawn of War II, we have this rather epic rally cry: "Show me what passes for fury amongst your misbegotten kind!", among others "Purge the alien!"
  • Sonic the Hedgehog:
  • The Legend of Zelda: Link's famous screams. "HYAAA! EYAAA! HAAAA!"
  • Tales of Symphonia has a few, from the main characters and from the humanoid enemies. Zelos has "Don't run!", said in a smug, taunting way.
  • From Tales of Destiny 2, there's Barbatos Goetia and his memorable "BURUAAAAAAAA!". Additional Rs are sometimes added (And rolled) to increase how hammy it is.
  • In all the Persona games, the characters will usually yell something whenever they make a move in battle.
    • A few examples in Persona 3 alone: The main character yells the name of whichever Persona he's summoning when he gets a critical. When equipped with a bow, he will also yell "Persona!" or "Come forth!". Others have their own battle cries, such as Aegis's "I need your HELP!" and Junpei's "Mano a mano. Let's do it!". The most traditional Battle Cries come when you do an All-Out Attack, however. Mitsuru's "You'll fall by MY hand!!" is the best example here.
  • The title character of Legacy of Kain is fond of yelling out "Vae Victus!" when fighting.
  • Evil Zone: The de facto main character of the game Danzaiver proclaims and sometimes fervently barks out the excessively dramatic battle cry " The power of a supreme ruler destroys evil! The ultimate hero! DANZAIVER!!! ". A prime example of this is in his final battle.
  • League of Legends: Garen's DEMACIAAAA! has entered memetic status within the community. Lux and Jarvan IV yell out a similar cry of their nation while casting their ultimate abilities.
  • Final Fantasy:
  • Quite a few characters in No More Heroes have one, but a boss from No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, the robotic Doctor Letz Shake takes it the most literally.
    Doctor Letz Shake: Three... Two... One... Battlecry!
  • In Kingdom of Loathing, if you have access to the Distant Past where you take control of Krakrox the Barbarian, you have access to his Mighty Shout ability, wherein his battle cry gives a temporary boost to your muscle and moxie. The description of the boost explains that Krakrox's battle cry was just "Battle cry!", as he discovered it doesn't really matter what you shout, so long as it's extra loud and has a vowel sound at the end.
  • Metal Gear Solid: Solid Snake has possibly the world's quietest Battle Cry: "It's showtime."
  • Practically all fighting games.
  • Pokémon Black 2 and White 2: Hugh's is "I'm about to unleash my rage!"
  • Far Cry 3: Sam, being Germannote , has one:
    Sam: BLITZKRIEG!
    Jason: ...seriously?
  • There's a dedicated button to scream out a war cry in Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. Pressing it while running will make your character yell at the top of their voices, while pressing it while standing still with make them say something vaguely inspirational.
    Agatha Knight: FOR THE GLORY OF AGATHA!!!
    Mason Vanguard: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHH
  • Several units and characters in Battle Realms. Otomo and Greywolf also have a Battle Cry as Battle Gear, boosting the attack of nearby allies.
  • Dark Souls has one:
    Siegmeyer: HUAAAGH!!! HAAAAAGH!!! Over here, fiend! Perish, foul creatures! I am Siegmeyer of Catarina, and you shall feel my WRATH!!!
  • Every squad in Verdun has one, relevant to the faction the squad is from.
  • The Hellion in Darkest Dungeon yells "AAAAHKYLORAAAH!" on dealing critical hits. She also yells it if she's selected to be sacrificed to the Heart of Darkness.
  • Star Wars Battlefront II has the officers give off a battle cry when using their signiture ablilty to increase health, reset cooldowns of abilities, or allowing their fellow soldiers to fire indefinitely for a few seconds
    Clone Officer: We're Clones! We Fight, WE WIN!!
    First Order Officer: The Supreme Leader guides us!!
  • Disco Elysium allows you to choose your own from "Disco Elysium!" or "Disco Infernum!", "You've been policed!", or the racist nationalist slogan "Welcome to Revachol."
  • Hollow Knight:
    • The Dung Defender has one, but the game uses Speaking Simlish. Doesn't stop him.
      "FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRFUNDAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
    • Zote shouts a cry that sounds like "RA MAREVA," first heard before his Zero-Effort Boss fight in the Colosseum of Fools. His significantly harder Grey Prince dream form and the Zoteling mooks shout the same thing as well.

    Web Animation 
  • In the short series of animations based on the DS game Spectrobes released online, main character Rallen has "Iku ze!" (yes, in the English dub) as his Battle Cry.

    Webcomics 
  • Digger gives us the memorable "Remember Tunnel Seventeen!"
  • Erfworld:
    • Parson teaches some of his troops a new battle cry. It may be familiar to you: Leeroy Jenkins!!!
    • Bogroll's cry "For my Lord ... Hamstaaaaahrr!"
  • Harry Potter Comics. Rose yells, "Hufflepuff!" as one when she gets frustrated with being looked down on for being in said Hogwarts house.
  • Looking for Group:
    • "For pony!"
    • And Cale's "With me!" too.
    • Cale's "For Gamlon!", which inspires Richard's equine-themed cry, and was itself copied from the last Battle Cry of the King of Gamlon.
  • TwoKinds: "In the name of meaningless battle!"
  • In the The Zombie Hunters, Sammie's is the self-demonstrating "BATTLE CRY!"
  • Blue Crash Kit! sees the debut of one member of the eponymous trio's suggested Battle Cry: "Justice is cute!"
  • Freija Serkana in The Senkari has "Fraenii Invicti!"
  • In El Goonish Shive, when Susan fails to summon a Hyper Space Mallet, Catalina uses a toy Mjolnir on the jerks who were bothering Susan with a cry of "for Asgard!".
  • Muh Phoenix:
    • After Emma Frost promises to Namor to do "butt-stuff" with him if he attacks Wakanda, he charges the place using the term as his battle cry.
    • During the first fight between the Avengers and the X-Men, Cyclops yells "#YOLO!".
  • Scandinavia and the World: One comic comments on two countries' real battle cries, followed by a joke:
    France: Vive la France!!!
    Norway: To Valhal!!!
    America: I'll sue you!!!
  • Girl Genius
    • The Jägers have "Ve hunt!" Given that Jäger translates as "hunter", their choice of battle cry is highly appropriate.
    • The Sparkhounds, modified wolves that Martellus uses as his elite troops, have a... mixed battle cry.
      Alpha Wolf: All right, boys, no witnesses! KILL THEM ALL!
      Other Wolves: KILL! KILL!
      Alpha Wolf: And then... TREATS!
      Wolves: TREEEEEEEATS!
  • In Aisopos, the Battle Cry is, believe it or not, "Wheee!". Yeah, we are not kidding...

    Web Original 
  • The Whateley Universe has a high school team called the Vindicators, who are a parody of the Avengers, so they have a battle cry too. "Vindicators Avaunt!" (Their leader is Belgian.)

    Web Videos 
  • The Spoony Experiment: Spoony would shout out "Wolverines!"
  • Film Brain once used "Symbolism" as a battle cry in Kickassia.
  • The Gamers has Mark The Red's battle cry: "Blood, Death, and VEENNNGGGEEEEAAANNNCCCEEEEE!!!!!!"
  • Flander's Company: Cute Barbarian Bruiser Cindy Trueman loves to shout "BOUCHERIE !" ("SLAUGHTER!") as a battle cry, or just as punctuation. Her father uses it too in season 5, and Cindy is indignant to have her catchphrase stolen.
  • Noob has a fictional MMORPG with three factions (Empire, Coalition and Order) who use "Les ennemis de l'Empire doivent périr !" ("Enemies of the Empire must perish!"), "Coalition! Destruction !" and "L'Ordre dominera Olydri ! L'Ordre est infini !" ("The Order will dominate Olydri!" / "The Order is infinite!") respectively.
  • Eurogamer, while playing Bloodborne, make frequent use of "COME ON YOU SPURS!" delivered in a bad Cockney accent. They also tried this one out while fighting Father Gascoigne:
    DICK KICKENS KICKING DICK ALL DAY!

    Western Animation 

    Real Life 
  • The importance of yelling before committing into a fight is to tense the muscles and get the blood and adrenaline running which makes a person physically and psychologically ready for the upcoming battle. This works more often than not as the last thing a combatant needs to do is to hesitate and run out of energy, especially in close-quarters combat.
  • The Other Wiki has an extensive list of Real Life battle cries, as well as some fictional examples. A particularly notable is the one used by the Japanese in WWII ("Banzai!").
  • Yelling the words "Attack!" or "Charge!" in relevant situations may very well count as a Battle Cry, with good reason, since in those relevant situations it likely also counts as an order or "advice" to the yeller's allies.

    "Fire!" may also count.
  • "OORAH" was used by Russian warriors long time before US Marines started to use it. Popularised during WW2 by Soviet infantry "OORAH!!!"-charges, which were strongly intimidating to Wehrmacht troops.
  • The Russian "oorah!" was very similar to the Prussian army's "Hurraaaah!" A Prussian surprise attack on the village of Athies in the middle of the night of 9th/10th March 1814 won the battle of Laon against Napoleon and is still remembered in France as Le Hurrah d'Athies.
  • The English and later the British army also use "Huzzah!" when they charge after firing their volleys.
  • Teddy Roosevelt ordered his Rough Riders at the battle of San Juan Hill not to "Charge" but to "Follow me!" Which happens to be the motto of the Infantry Officer's School.
  • Medieval French knights shouted the cry "Montjoie Saint Denis!" when they charged. English knights and soldiers shouted "St. George!" instead. As popularized by Shakesphere's Henry V, the English in the Battle of Agincourt cried "God for Harry! England! And St. George!"
  • The Scots Covenanters' battle cry (from the English Civil War, which spilled over into Scotland) was "Christ and No Quarter!" Short, terrifying, and internally inconsistent.
  • HAKKAA PÄÄLLE! Literally translates as "Hack them down!" or "Keep on hacking!". War cry of the Finnish auxiliary cavalry. Also short, to the point and completely pants-shittingly terrifying.
  • Another Finnish battle shout from the Winter War, popularized by The Unknown Soldier, was "Tulta munille!", which roughly translates to "Fire at their balls!", as according to The Other Wiki.
  • "Jai Mahakali! Aayo Gurkhali! ("Glory to Great Kali, the Gurkhas are coming!")
  • The Sikhs have this: "Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal!" ("Victory belongs to those who recite the name of God with a true heart!")
  • While the US Marine Corps is known for saying "Semper Fi", they are just as likely to issue forth a loud, guttural OORAH.
  • The Crusades had DEUS VULT! ("God wills it!")
  • Muslim soldiers and jihadists have ALLAHU AKBAR! ("God is the greatest")
  • Noble families or clans that fought in the Crusades were awarded a Coat of Arms, and these would have the clan's battle cry on a banner above the helm. The clan motto is always placed below the shield. The pattern on the shield and the battle cry were critical devices for determining true allies from imposters.
  • During The American Civil War, Confederate soldiers had a distinctive, blood-curdling "Rebel Yell" that was terrifying to Union soldiers. Sadly, nobody today knows what it actually sounded like on the battlefield, given that audio recording technology had yet to be invented. This clip from the 1930s is of some of the last survivors of the war giving it their best for what was probably the last time.
  • The Union soldiers preferred a deeper "hurrah". In at least two battles they used the name of a battle they lost previously as a battle cry: At Gettysburg the troops who repulsed Pickett's Charge shouted "Fredericksburg" (the situation was very similar, only with roles reversed), and at Chattanooga the victorious soldiers of the Army of the Tennessee shouted: "Chickamauga!"
  • "¡Desperta Ferro!" (literally, "Awake iron!"), the most characteristic battle cry of Iberian Almogavar warriors. Which they accompanied by hitting their swords with rocks to make sparks fly.
  • Allied fighter pilots in World War II used "Tally-ho", while the Germans used "Horrido". Both of these, naturally enough, were originally hunting calls. "Tally-ho" meant that a pilot had sighted an enemy plane — it was originally from foxhunting, and it meant that you had spotted a fox — and is still in use.
  • The Indonesians in their war of independence: "MERDEKAAA!" ("INDEPENDENCE!" or "FREEDOM!")
  • The Portuguese Paratroopers have as a Battle Cry "Que nunca por vencidos se conheçam!" ("Let yourselves be never known as beaten.")
  • The small, but carefully selected and well-trained Swedish army of the late 17th and early 18th centuries relied on strict personal discipline and courage of the individual soldier to defeat numerically superior enemy forces. They would usually approach and charge without any battle cry, which in itself unnerved the enemy to the point that they broke and ran.
  • "Remember Pearl Harbor," while not nearly as popular in the field as the Marines' Semper fi!, it was popular enough for a Take That! so subtle that the victim didn't even know about it: While in US custody after the war, General Tojo Hideki was provided with a set of dentures. The US Navy dentist who built them engraved 'Remember Pearl Harbor' in Morse code across the lower teeth, taking care to position the message so that tip of Tojo's tongue would always rest against those words.
  • The Irish Gaelic word for "battle cry" lives on as a loan-word in English: slogan. Or a convenient hook to summarise your ideals as something to fight for.
  • Several Irish regiments in the British Army use Faugh A Ballaghnote , which was adopted from one Sergeant Patrick Masterson, who shouted it during the Battle of Barossa while he captured the first French Eagle to ever be captured by the British. note 
  • As Vietnamese history is made of invasions and the occasional civil war with little bits of peacetime, they've accrued several.
    • The most common and modern ones are "Xung phong!" ("Charge!", a literal alternative translation would be "Volunteer!") and "Tiến lên!" ("Forward!")
    • Trần dynasty soldiers tattooed "Sát Thát" ("Kill the Mongolians") in black on themselves during Mongol invasions of Vietnam.
    • "Quyết tử cho Tổ quốc quyết sinh" ("Determined to die so that the Motherland will live") was a rallying cry that grew out of the 1946 Battle of Hanoi.
    • Anecdotally but perhaps practically, many soldiers simply charged screaming profanities: Cluster F-Bomb, Atomic F-Bomb, or I Banged Your Mom (which is a common Vietnamese swear).
  • The Roman Army had Signa inferre (Forward with the flag). Variants of this remained in use among the Italians until World War II, when the royalist battlecry replaced the flag with "Savoia", the name of the royal house, and the Communist partisans would simply use Avanti (Forward).
  • Another Italian battlecry, first used during World War I, had the commander ask "A chi la vittoria?" and his soldiers reply "A noi!". Translated, the question is "To whom will victory go?", and the answer is "To us!".
  • In light of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have made it a national salute and a greeting to go "Slava Ukraini!" In English: "Glory to Ukraine!" Often followed up by "Heroyam Slava!", "Glory to the Heroes!"

 
Feedback

Video Example(s):

Krabs

Krabs has this reputation based on the remarks of the attendees.

Example of:
The Dreaded

The Ride of the...

Previous

Index

Next

  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Wide Load

Important Links

Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Go Ad Free!
Crucial Browsing
Resources
Top

Krabs

Krabs has this reputation based on the remarks of the attendees.

How well does it match the trope?

4.77 (26 votes)

Example of:

Main / TheDreaded

Media sources:

Report

Krabs

The Ride of the...