"It is well that war is so terrible — lest we should grow too fond of it."
This index lists tropes that revolve around warfare, military personnel, or even the civilians who get caught up in it. Contrast with Peace Tropes.
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General tropes
Media indexes:
Trope indexes:
- Airstrike Impossible
- Armchair Military
- Armed Farces
- Arms Fair
- Artistic License – Military
- Assassination Attempt
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership
- Awesome Personnel Carrier
- Battle Epic
- Battle Trophy
- Blinded by the Light
- Boarding Pod
- Body-Count Competition
- Bomb Disposal
- Booby Trap
- "Bringer of War" Music
- Burning the Ships
- Chest of Medals
- Citadel City
- Civilians Are Irrelevant
- Collateral Damage
- Coming in Hot
- Corporal Punishment
- Conscription
- Court-martialed
- Curb-Stomp Battle
- Dawn Attack
- "Dear John" Letter
- Death from Above
- Death March
- Death Notification
- DEFCON Five
- Defensive Feint Trap
- Delaying Action
- Disobeyed Orders, Not Punished
- Diversionary Foreign Policy
- Do a Barrel Roll
- Doomsday Device
- Dress-Coded for Your Convenience
- Drop Pod
- Epic Ship-on-Ship Action
- Epic Tank-on-Tank Action
- External Combustion
- False Flag Operation
- Fantastic Ship Prefix
- Fast-Roping
- Feed the Mole
- Field Promotion
- Fighting for a Homeland
- Flesh and Bombs
- Friend or Foe?
- Gender Is No Object
- Geo Effects
- Going Down with the Ship
- Got Volunteered
- Government in Exile
- Grand Theft Prototype
- The Great Wall
- Greater Need Than Mine
- Gunboat Diplomacy
- Hello, Sailor!
- Helmet-Mounted Sight
- Highly-Conspicuous Uniform
- Hollywood Tactics
- Horny Sailors
- Hot Sub-on-Sub Action
- How to Survive a War Movie
- Hyperspace Arsenal
- I Am Not a Gun
- Impressed by the Civilian
- Improbable Cover
- Inappropriately Close Comrades
- In Its Hour of Need
- Insert Grenade Here
- Interservice Rivalry
- Irrevocable Order
- I Surrender, Suckers
- It's Raining Men
- "Join the Army," They Said
- Keeping the Enemy Close
- Kill Sat
- Kill the Lights
- Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better
- Last-Second Term of Respect
- Last Stand
- Last Villain Stand
- Leave No Survivors
- Macross Missile Massacre
- Medals for Everyone
- Mildly Military
- Militaries Are Useless
- Military Academy
- Military Mashup Machine
- Military School
- Misfit Mobilization Moment
- Misguided Missile
- Missing Man Formation
- More Dakka
- Mounted Combat
- The Mutiny
- Nicknaming the Enemy
- No Blood for Phlebotinum
- Nom de Guerre
- Non-Lethal Warfare
- Non-Promotion
- Nose Art
- A Nuclear Error
- One Riot, One Ranger
- Onrushing Army
- Opposing Combat Philosophies
- Orchestral Bombing
- Peeling Potatoes
- Pendulum War
- Permission to Speak Freely
- Pin-Pulling Teeth
- Pinned Down
- Piggybacking on Hitler
- Plunder
- Prisoner Exchange
- Punishment Detail
- Rank Scales with Asskicking
- Rank Up
- Rape, Pillage, and Burn
- Reassigned to Antarctica
- Recruiters Always Lie
- Red Alert
- Remilitarized Zone
- Repeat to Confirm
- Rogue Soldier
- Secret War
- Sensor Suspense
- The Siege
- Sitting Duck
- Sniper Duel
- Squad Nickname
- Standard Hollywood Strafing Procedure
- Stand Your Ground
- Still Wearing the Old Colors
- Storming the Castle
- Suicide Attack
- Suicide Mission
- Superweapon Suspense Subversion
- Surprisingly Elite Cannon Fodder
- Tactical Withdrawal
- Tanks, but No Tanks
- Tank Goodness
- Tanks for Nothing
- Technically a Transport
- That's an Order!
- Things Get Real
- Three-Volley Flinch
- Time to Step Up, Commander
- Tokyo Rose
- Toothbrush Floor Scrubbing
- Training the Peaceful Villagers
- Trapped Behind Enemy Lines
- 21-Gun Salute
- Two-Keyed Lock
- Unfinished, Untested, Used Anyway
- Unfriendly Fire
- Unusual Weapon Mounting
- Uriah Gambit
- Walkie-Talkie Static
- Walking Armory
- War Arc
- War Comes Home
- War Crime Subverts Heroism
- War Elephants
- War Hero
- War Is Glorious
- War Is Hell
- War Memorial
- The War Room
- Warfare Regression
- Wartime Cartoon
- Wartime Wedding
- Weapon Tombstone
- Weapons Understudies
- We Have Reserves
- Where's the Kaboom?
- With Due Respect
- The Workhorse
- Won the War, Lost the Peace
- Vehicular Turnabout
- You Are in Command Now
- You Shall Not Pass!
- Zerg Rush
Generic settings
Real-life info
- Alien Invasion
- Always on Duty
- Ant War
- Apocalypse Wow
- Archaeological Arms Race
- Back in the Saddle
- Big Badass Battle Sequence
- Bombers on the Screen
- Bomb Whistle
- Boot Camp Episode
- Breaching the Wall
- Bug War
- Buzzing the Deck
- Capital Offensive
- Chevalier vs. Rogue
- Civil War
- Civil War v. Armageddon
- Color-Coded Armies
- Corporate Warfare
- Decisive Battle
- Desert Warfare
- Divine Conflict
- During the War
- Eager Rookie
- Earth Is a Battlefield
- Fantasy Conflict Counterpart
- Forever War
- Friendly War
- Great Offscreen War
- Guilt-Free Extermination War
- Hidden Army Reveal
- Home by Christmas
- Home Field Advantage
- Hopeless War
- Hostile Terraforming
- Human Weapon
- Invaded States of America
- I Will Fight Some More Forever
- Jungle Warfare
- Keystone Army
- Kids Versus Adults when on a larger scale than a Dysfunctional Family or school setting.
- Kill on Sight
- Kill Tally
- Little Hero, Big War
- Lowered Recruiting Standards
- Military Coup
- Mission Creep
- Naval Blockade
- Neutrality Backlash
- No Place for a Warrior
- Orbital Bombardment
- Overnight Conquest
- Possible War
- POW Camp
- Press-Ganged
- Pretext for War
- Prevent the War
- Proxy War
- Punished for Sympathy
- Quarantine with Extreme Prejudice
- Reveille
- Robot War
- Running the Blockade
- Scientist vs. Soldier
- Screw the War, We're Partying
- Shocking Defeat Legacy
- The Short War
- Silly Reason for War
- Soldiers at the Rear
- Soldier vs. Warrior
- Space Cold War
- Spreading Disaster Map Graphic
- Storming the Beaches
- Straight for the Commander
- Strategy Versus Tactics
- Surrender Backfire
- This Means War!
- To Win Without Fighting
- Trading Bars for Stripes
- Urban Warfare
- War Fic
- War for Fun and Profit
- War from Another World
- The War Just Before
- The War of Earthly Aggression
- The War to End All Wars
- War Was Beginning
- Washington D.C. Invasion
- We Have Become Complacent
- Weird Historical War
- Well-Trained, but Inexperienced
- Winter Warfare
- Wooden Ships and Iron Men
Individual characters
Real-life info
Sub-categories
- Bushido Index (samurai)
- Hired Guns (mercenaries)
- Ninja Tropes
- Sir Index of Tropes (knights)
- Sniper Index
- Abandoned War Child
- Ace Pilot
- Ambiguously Trained
- Arms Dealer
- Badges and Dog Tags
- Black Knight
- Blood Knight
- The Brigadier
- Camp Follower
- The Captain
- Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough
- Cavalry Officer
- Child Soldier
- Church Militant
- Cold Sniper
- Colonel Badass
- Colonel Kilgore
- Colonel Kurtz Copy
- Commanding Coolness
- Communications Officer
- Consummate Professional
- Cultured Warrior
- Cunning Linguist
- Dad's Off Fighting in the War
- Dad the Veteran
- Dangerous Deserter
- Danger Deadpan
- Demolitions Expert
- Desk Jockey
- Do-Anything Soldier
- Doctor von Turncoat
- Drill Sergeant Nasty
- Emergency Trainee Battle Deployment
- The Engineer
- Ensign Newbie
- Exalted Torturer
- Father Neptune
- A Father to His Men
- Four-Star Badass
- Friendly Sniper
- From Camouflage to Criminal
- Frontline General
- General Failure
- General Ripper
- The General's Daughter
- Gentlemen Rankers
- Glamorous Wartime Singer
- Glory Hound
- Glory Seeker
- Good-Looking Privates
- Gung Holier Than Thou
- Guy in Back
- Inexperienced Killer
- The Inquisitor General
- Insane Admiral
- Keep the Home Fires Burning
- Knight Errant
- Knight in Shining Armor
- Majorly Awesome
- Major Coward
- Mary Tzu
- The Medic
- Miles Gloriosus
- Military Brat
- Military Mage
- Military Maverick
- Military Moonshiner
- Modern Major General
- Magic Knight
- Monster Knight
- The Musketeer
- The Neidermeyer
- New Meat
- Ninja
- Noble Confederate Soldier
- Officer and a Gentleman
- Old Soldier
- One-Man Army
- Oppressed Minority Veteran
- Overranked Soldier
- Outranking Your Job
- The Paladin
- Phony Veteran
- Plucky Middie
- The Political Officer
- Pre-War Civilian Career
- Privateer
- Professional Killer
- Rebel Leader
- Rebellious Rebel
- Red-plica Baron
- Returning War Vet
- Robot Soldier
- Samurai
- The Scrounger
- Sergeant Rock
- Shell-Shocked Veteran
- Sociopathic Soldier
- The Soft-Hearted Warrior
- Southern-Fried Private
- Straw Civilian
- The Squadette
- The Squire
- The Strategist
- Super Soldier
- Sweet Polly Oliver
- Target Spotter
- Undying Warrior
- Universal Chaplain
- Up Through the Ranks
- Veteran Instructor
- The Vietnam Vet
- Voice of the Resistance
- War God
- War Hawk
- The Warlord
- War Refugees
- Warring Natures
- Warrior Prince
- Warrior Undead
- Wingman
Military groups and units
- African Terrorists
- Airborne Artillery
- Amazon Brigade
- Anti-Air
- Anti-Armor
- Anti-Cavalry
- Anti-Infantry
- Anti-Structure
- Anti-Vehicle
- Armies Are Evil
- The Armies of Heaven
- Army of The Ages
- Army of Thieves and Whores
- Attack Drone
- Badass Army
- Balkan Bastard
- Battle Thralls
- British Royal Guards
- Cadre of Foreign Bodyguards
- Call That a Formation?
- Cannon Fodder
- Cavalry of the Dead
- City Guards
- Clone Army
- A Commander Is You
- Creature-Hunter Organization
- Dirty Communists
- Doom Troops
- Eagle Squadron
- Elite Army
- Elites Are More Glamorous
- Far-East Asian Terrorists
- Fantastic Terrorists
- Flaunting Your Fleets
- Former Regime Personnel
- Ghost Invasion
- Home Guard
- Instant Militia
- Invading Refugees
- The Legions of Hell
- Legion of Lost Souls
- Lost Roman Legion
- Men of Sherwood
- Mercenary Units
- Middle Eastern Terrorists
- Million Mook March
- Planet Looters
- Praetorian Guard
- Private Military Contractors
- Proud Warrior Race
- Redshirt Army
- The Remnant
- La Résistance
- Semper Fi
- South Asian Terrorists
- Space Marines
- Standard Sci-Fi Army
- Standard Sci-Fi Fleet
- State Sec
- Stranded Invader
- Suspiciously Small Army
- Tactical Superweapon Unit
- Terrorists Without a Cause
- Those Wacky Nazis
- Western Terrorists
- Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters
Military structure and practices
Real-life info:
- Aggressive Negotiations
- Allowed Internal War
- Attack Pattern Alpha
- Bling of War
- The Chain of Command
- Classified Information
- Command Roster
- Custom Uniform
- Deathbed Promotion
- Drums of War
- Earned Stripes
- En Route Sum-Up: Sensitive orders are relayed during mobilization.
- Fantastic Rank System
- Fictional Geneva Conventions
- Genghis Gambit
- Gideon Ploy
- Hollywood Military Uniform
- Insignia Rip-Off Ritual
- The Men First
- Military Alphabet
- Military Salute
- Non-Uniform Uniform
- No One Gets Left Behind
- Putting on the Reich
- Radio Silence
- Rage Helm
- Reporting Names
- Sealed Orders: Sensitive orders aren't relayed until the last moment to prevent intel leaks.
- Sound Off
- The Spartan Way
- Staff of Authority
- Strange Salute
- Taps
- This Is Not a Drill
- Would Not Shoot a Civilian
Miscellaneous topics
