History Literature / Sharpe

* BotheringByTheBook: Sharpe when stuck as a Quartermaster, or when he wants to annoy someone. These two things usually coincide.

** In ''Sharpe's Tiger,'' Baird and McCandless both brought their traditional Scottish claymores to India. "Claymore" is an anglicization of the Garlic, ''claidheamh mór'', which literally means, "large sword." The archetypal claymore is roughly 55 inches long and weighs in around 5-1/2 pounds, effectively twice the size and weight of Sharpe's already large sword.

* {{BFS}}: Sharpe's 1796 pattern heavy cavalry sword. Not big by anime standards, but definitely heavier than almost anything anyone would try to fence with. Sharpe prefers the heft of the larger cavalry swords for their ability to power through enemy officers blocks and inflict tremendous wounds on his foes. ([[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1304958034706_3723.jpg Cornwell owns one himself]].) It is worth noting that this pattern sword still only came in at about 2.5 lbs.

** The French are the Horse, relying on crushing numbers of musket-wielding conscripts. They march in columns, which let only the first few ranks fire their weapons, but have a psychological effect on the enemy at seeing the sheer number arrayed against them. Each French soldier has relatively little training, and even their skirmishers use relatively short range, inaccurate muskets instead of rifles (Napoleon dismissed rifles for their much longer reload times, which are exacerbated in cases of volley fire).

* ActionGirl: Teresa is a famous partisan leader called La Aguja - The Needle (because she favors the stiletto and the rapier.) She unwinds by killing Frenchmen.

** Hakeswill's final raging denial: "You can't kill ME!".

* TheRedBaron: All partisans get a nickname, with Teresa being known as 'La Aguja' (the Needle - Sharpe gave her the name). Other notable heroic partisans include 'El Castrador' (exactly what it sounds like), and villainous ones include 'El Catolico' (Teresa's betrothed, so named for his habit of saying the Latin prayer for the dead as he kills his enemies) and 'El Matarife' (the Slaughterman).

** ''Sharpe's Tiger'': During the real Siege of Seringapatam, there was a large explosion in one of the walls that is believed to have been caused by a British cannonball detonating a magazine. It had little effect on the actual siege, but Cornwell writes it as a deliberate booby-trap set for the British troops that Share prematurely detonates.

** Colonel Girdwood has one on his first taste of battle.
*** And another one whenever a dog approaches.

* SuaveSabre: Most officers wear a slender saber as a sign of rank. The titular hero is an officer and entitled to a sword, but he also came up through the ranks, and is not a gentleman, therefore his rough and ready nature favours a heavier blade. His WeaponOfChoice is the straight-bladed sabre of the heavy cavalry, which most men would struggle to use dismounted.

Sergeant Richard Sharpe saves the life of [[UsefulNotes/TheDukeOfWellington Sir Arthur Wellesley]] (from three Frenchmen on TV; from at least half-a-dozen Maratha Indian warriors in the novels) and is rewarded with a FieldPromotion, making him an officer in the British Army. As a gutter-born bastard, Sharpe doesn't play well with regular officers, the [[UpperClassTwit rich gentlemen who bought their commissions]] and resent an [[UpThroughTheRanks upstart from "the ranks"]] being among their number. But Sharpe's field experience, rough nature and ''damn'' good fighting skills give him an advantage when it comes to commanding soldiers. He leads from the front with [[WeaponOfChoice a Baker rifle and massive Heavy Cavalry sword]], and never far from his side is [[HeterosexualLifePartners longtime friend]] [[SergeantRock Sgt. Patrick Harper]] and [[TheSquad a unit of elite riflemen]]. When not fighting [[HistoricalFiction some great bloody battle]], Sharpe and his companions are often sent on missions vital to the war effort by Wellington himself or his intelligence officers. Despite being poor and lacking "gentlemanly conduct", Sharpe achieves further promotions on his merit alone, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel by the Battle of Waterloo.

* WeaponOfChoice: Sharpe uses a Baker Rifle and a 1796 heavy cavalry sabre for fighting in close quarters. He prefers, and is much more skilled with, the rifle. Not only is the pairing very effective in combat as the cavalry sword is able to power through lighter officer swords and the rifle has more range and accuracy than either a musket or a pistol, but they serve as a reminder of the character's humble beginnings and where he is now. Sgt. Harper, Sharpe's second-in-command, uses a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nock_gun Nock gun]], a seven-barrelled musket developed in limited numbers by the Royal Navy; the gun has understandably immense firepower, ''especially'' at close range and with it, ridiculous recoil (in real life the British found the gun was CoolButInefficient as it was very heavy, very slow to reload and it would even often injure the operator by breaking or dislocating their shoulder; Harper never experiences this issue).

* WeaponOfChoice: Sharpe uses a Baker Rifle and a 1796 heavy cavalry sabre for fighting in close quarters. He prefers, and is much more skilled with, the rifle. Not only is the pairing very effective in combat as the cavalry sword is able to power through lighter officer swords and the rifle has more range and accuracy than either a musket or a pistol, but they serve as a reminder of the character's humble beginnings and where he is now. Sgt. Harper, Sharpe's second-in-command, uses a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nock_gun Nock gun]], [[RareGuns a seven-barrelled musket developed in limited numbers by the Royal Navy]]; the gun has understandably immense firepower, ''especially'' at close range and with it, ridiculous recoil (in real life the British found the gun was CoolButInefficient as it was very heavy, very slow to reload and it would even often injure the operator by breaking or dislocating their shoulder; Harper never experiences this issue).

* WeaponOfChoice: Sharpe uses a Baker Rifle and a 1796 heavy cavalry sabre for fighting in close quarters. He prefers, and is much more skilled with, the rifle. Not only is the pairing very effective in combat as the cavalry sword is able to power through lighter officer swords and the rifle has more range and accuracy than either a musket or a pistol, but they serve as a reminder of the character's humble beginnings and where he is now. Sgt. Harper, Sharpe's second-in-command, uses a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nock_gun Nock gun]], [[RareGuns a seven-barrelled rifle developed in limited numbers by the Royal Navy]]; the gun has understandably immense firepower, ''especially'' at close range and with it, ridiculous recoil (in real life the British found the gun was CoolButInefficient as it was very heavy, very slow to reload and it would even often injure the operator by breaking or dislocating their shoulder; Harper never experiences this issue).

In publication since 1981, the series of novels chronicle Sharpe's adventures in India, Portugal, Spain and beyond, from the beginning of his career to the very end. Though a fictional character, he's portrayed as being in the thick of real battles that occurred during the Napoleonic Wars, from the Siege of Seringapatam to the Battle of Waterloo; the novels are as much about the Duke of Wellington's campaigns shown from a new perspective as he fights the armies of UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte. Cornwell has been writing and publishing the novels out of chronological order: ''Sharpe's Eagle'', published in 1981, is 8th in the series; ''Sharpe's Devil'', chronologically the last in the series, was published in 1992, and ''Sharpe's Assassin'', the most recent novel published, is 21th in the series.

* MilitaryMaverick: Sharpe is described by Cornwell himself as being a loose cannon, and his proud, vengeful nature often gets him in trouble with his superiors and the upper-classes. Fortunately, there's usually a big battle around where he can redeem his honour or settle a score.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Each novel has this, not to mention the staggering amount of characters who recur from one novel to the next. There are many characters in total by the time of the last book.

* SpotOfTea: This being the British Army, tea is never far away. At one point, when Harper is absent, Sharpe complains about the other Chosen Men's inability to make a decent cup of tea.
** Sometimes, even Harper can't make a decent cuppa:
-->''[After the battle of Quatre Bras, Sharpe and Harper used a discarded French cavalry breastplate to cook their dinner in. The next morning, Harry Price found them loitering on the edge of the battlefield, and shared a drink with them]''\\
"That was a bloody horrible mug of tea."\\
"It had a bit of dead horse in it," Harper explained helpfully.

In publication since 1981, the series of novels chronicle Sharpe's adventures in India, Portugal, Spain and beyond, from the beginning of his career to the very end. Though a fictional character, he's portrayed as being in the thick of real battles that occurred during the Napoleonic Wars, from the Siege of Seringapatam to the Battle of Waterloo; the novels are as much about the Duke of Wellington's campaigns shown from a new perspective as he fights the armies of UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte. Cornwell has been writing and publishing the novels out of chronological order: ''Sharpe's Eagle'', published in 1981, is 8th in the series; ''Sharpe's Devil'', chronologically the last in the series, was published in 1992, and ''Sharpe's Fury'', the most recent novel published, is 11th in the series.