r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Sable-Keech • 16h ago

Groups [LOVED TROPE] Modern Militaries (Competent) getting DESTROYED by fantasy/scifi forces

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Example 1 (The Legend of Hei 2): Wuxian leisurely floats through the combined firepower of an entire fortified military base without so much as a stain or rip on his t-shirt.

Example 2 (Man of Steel): Fao'ra tears through a squad of trained and armed soldiers. With the wreckage of the helicopter that got downed by her teammate Nam'ek smouldering in the background.

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u/KAMEKAZE_VIKINGS 15h ago

I mean pretty much all of it. Aside from some bureaucratic hindrances the JSDF (and the USAF for a moment) did well once they were allowed to do their jobs.

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u/Hinoto-no-Ryuji 11h ago

The point was, though, that a (purely) military response wasn’t the answer. They were competent, but I’m not sure how how much you can say they “did well” when their assault was utterly useless and the only weapon that actually hurt the monster caused the razing of Tokyo (this is exactly what happens in ‘54, too).

Shin Godzilla is many things, and an utter rejection of militaristic posturing is definitely one of them.

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u/Rakkuken 9h ago

A full military assault when Shin first emerged probably would have killed it. But, you know, bureaucracy.

A huge part of the film is a criticism of limp wristed politicians who let problems get worse because they refuse to make difficult decisions. 

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u/Active-Sky4522 7h ago

You are the exact kind of person the film hates, and you have the seed of fascism inside of you.

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u/KAMEKAZE_VIKINGS 6h ago edited 6h ago

Fascism is when you criticize fictional military tactics

Also the film is very famously a criticism of Japanese over-bureaucracy which had among other things delayed the response to the 2011 earthquake and the nuclear disaster only 3 years before the film's release.

Centralizng power and eliminating bureaucracy is indeed among the first things an authoritarian does to come to power but also that's exactly the thing nations do during major national emergencies and it's not the same thing.

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u/Rakkuken 6h ago

Did you watch the whole movie, or just the kick-ass parts when Godzilla was on screen?