History Main / ArmyOfTheAges

* Music/{{Sabaton}}'s eighth album, ''The Last Stand'', [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin which is entirely about grand last stands across history]], features this on the [[http://98b7695aa5bb76e7839227ab.skydustproductio.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Artwork.jpg album cover]]; showing a battle containing [[TheSpartanWay ancient Spartans]], [[TheCavalry the Polish Winged Hussar cavalry]], {{Samurai}}, and soldiers from [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI both wo]][[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII rld wars]] fighting side-by-side in Castle Itter, a WWII battleground.[[note]]This is actually showing the subjects of six of the eleven original songs on the album.[[/note]]

%%* Eternity's Rangers from ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}: Time Travel''.

* The basic premise of ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', with you as the summoner. The premise of the game is that you, the player, are taking the role of a Planeswalker, and the cards you play represent actual creatures, spells and locations your are summoning or casting in a duel with another Planeswalker. Depending on which cards from which sets end up used in a given game, the "summoned" beings can very well originate from any of dozens of planes and anywhen from a timeline of four and a half millennia.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Scion}}'', the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einherjar Einherjar]] warriors that show up in modern times come from the 18th century through the mid-1970s, outfitted in whatever gear they had on them when they "died".

* The [=SPI=] board game ''Time Tripper'' allowed you to play a Time Tripper, who went forward and backward in time to recruit soldiers as allies.
* Certainly invoked by ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''. Although not actually historical, most regiments of the Imperial Guard or Space Marine chapters take cues from historical armies.
** With the Imperial Guard, for example you can field Vietnam commando equivalents (Catachan Devils) alongside an Alexander the Great {{Expy}} (Lord Commander Solar Macharius), put the Spanish Inquisition (Imperial Inquisition) in charge of your platoon of red coat pith helmet-wearing Brits (Praetorians).
** Space Marines are even more interesting. You can't ''technically'' field different chapters together, but the Deathwatch is a group made up of different Astartes Chapters working under the Ordo Xenos where you can. An example 10-man kill-team can be made up of a: [[HordesFromTheEast Mongol]][[note]]White Scar[[/note]], [[HornyVikings Viking]][[note]]Space Wolf[[/note]], [[TheSpartanWay Spartan]][[note]]Minotaur or Iron Snake[[/note]], [[BraveScot Scottish Highlander]][[note]]Storm Wardens[[/note]], [[AncientGrome Greco-Roman]][[note]]Ultramarine[[/note]], UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}}n Junker[[note]]Imperial Fist[[/note]], [[UsefulNotes/TheTeutonicKnights Teutonic Knight]][[note]]Black Templar[[/note]], WildSamoan[[note]]Space Shark/Carcharodon[[/note]], [[BadassNative Native American]][[note]]Dark Angel Deathwing Terminator (Yes, specifically just them) or Raven Guard[[/note]] and a [[PuttingOnTheReich Nazi]][[note]]Red Scorpion[[/note]].

* This is the plot of the first-person shooter ''VideoGame/DarkestOfDays''. Well, the organization that recruits you out of the American Civil War apparently isn't ''evil'', and is more of a TimePolice. But they still do most of their recruitment by plucking skilled soldiers out of various wars throughout history, namely people who were considered 'missing in action' anyway.

* The ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' expansion "Mothership Zeta" has you team up with several cryogenically-preserved warriors on the alien spaceship: a military doctor from Operation Anchorage, a contemporary slaver, a wild west cowboy, and a samurai. And a little girl from during the Great War. You also would've had an astronaut, but he didn't survive the thawing process.
* In ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'', fighters on both sides are recruited from notable eras of Hyrule's history, namely [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword the Sky Era]], [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime the Era of the Hero of Time]], and [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess the Era of Twilight]]. ''Hyrule Warriors Legends'' adds heroes from [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker the Era of the Great Sea]]. This last one is notable as it's from a different timeline then the previously established Era of Twilight, happening at roughly the same point in time.

* When the eponymous Chitra of ''Webcomic/{{Chitra}}'' completes the quests assigned to her by the Gods of the RPGMechanicsVerse she's been [[{{Isekai}} isekai'd]] into, she is rewarded with handsome male supporters randomly dispensed from a [[LootBox divine gacha system]]. The high level drops grant her [[ArchivedArmy world-renowned warriors, mages, or strategists]] from history, and the average drops result in average soldiers and tradespeople from the past. But "the past" was a time when magic was better understood and more commonly deployed in all facets of life, not just warfare. The "average" archer or architect or farmer from the past was augmented with enhanced speed, stamina, and minor magical abilities that allowed them to heal more quickly from injuries, build faster, or produce more crops.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' special ''Ego Trip'', Dexter teams up with three of [[FutureLoser his]] [[MiniatureSeniorCitizens future]] [[FutureBadass selves]] to fight a future version of Mandark, who in turn summons the appropriate analogues of himself (including the BrainInAJar from the oldest Dexter's time).
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', Timmy Turner assembles an army of [[ShowWithinAShow Crimson Chins]], each with their own EraSpecificPersonality.
* In one of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''' "Treehouse of Horror" episodes, Bart uses a [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture DeLorean]] time machine and changes history so Marge married Artie instead of Homer, and they're rich. Homer tries to counter it with an army of Homers across history. They all get easily beaten up by Bart and Artie.
* When Jack Spicer got his hands on the time-travel Shen Gong Wu Sands of Time in ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'', his plan was to assemble a team of history's villains; Genghis Khan, Blackbeard, Billy the Kid, [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers his first grade teacher Mrs. Cornhaven]], and his future self- from the very distant future. It ultimately fails when Omi uses the Sands of Time to bring his own future self to the present.

** Taken UpToEleven in the sequel, as Stiller leads an army consisting of Amelia Earhart, General Custer (and most of his army), and several returning characters from the first film against Kahmunrah (who claimed to be Akmenrah's older brother) and his own Army Of the ages led by [[HistorysCrimeWave Al Capone, Napoleon, and Ivan the Terrible]].
* The title characters do this to battle [[SatanicArchetype Evil]] in ''Film/TimeBandits''.

* ''Film/BedknobsAndBroomsticks'' has an AnimatedArmor take on this. In order to fight off a German force that secretly landed in England (the story being set in 1940), witch-in-training Eglantine Price uses a magic formula to animate objects in a museum that's somehow filled with war outfits from 11th century Norman mail armors to 18th century red coats, with medieval plate armors in-between. Said animated outfits seem to be inhabited by the spirits of those who once wore them.

* ''Film/BedknobsAndBroomsticks'' has a variant of this. In order to fight off a German force that secretly landed in England (the story being set in 1940), witch-in-training Eglantine Price uses a magic formula to animate objects in a museum that's somehow filled with war outfits from 11th century Norman mail armors to 18th century red coats, with medieval plate armors in-between. Said animated outfits seem to be inhabited by the spirits of those who once wore them.

* The title characters do this to battle {{Satan}} in ''Film/TimeBandits''.

%% Image removed per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1452695302003323800
%% Please start a new thread if you'd like to suggest a new image.

* Reinhold Borsten did this in the ''Hex'' comic book series. This is how gunslinger ComicBook/JonahHex got transported to 2050. One clear example was the group that Jonah Hex once joined (against his will) called Five Warriors From Forever. The team was created by a time-based villain called Lord of Time and consisted of heroes from different historical periods, such as the Viking Prince (who is [[UsefulNotes/TheVikingAge a viking]]), Black Pirate (who is, off course, [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfPiracy a pirate]]), Miss Liberty (a vigilante from [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution the American Revolution]]), and Enemy Ace (a [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne WWI]] German pilot), and were gifted with various powers that allowed them to beat both the ComicBook/JusticeLeague and the Justice Society
* The 2008 Creator/DCComics mini-series ''ComicBook/TheWarThatTimeForgot'' centered on this, with various characters from DC's war books, including ComicBook/EnemyAce and ComicBook/{{Tomahawk}}, dragged through time and dropped on [[LostWorld Dinosaur Island]]. (The series is in fact named after one of the features from one of those comics that took place on Dinosaur Island.)
* Inverted in ''ComicBook/XMen'', where Fitzroy tries to conquer the present (his past) with future sentinel technology. It finally backfires spectacularly when he opens a portal to a prison riot in the future, bringing in a horde of mutant inmates — Bishop follows.
* ComicBook/TheAvengers:

[[folder:Film]]
* The title characters do this to battle {{Satan}} in ''Film/TimeBandits''.

** Taken UpToEleven in the sequel, as Stiller leads an army consisting of Amelia Earhart, General Custer (and most of his army), and several returning characters from the first film against Kahmunrah (who claimed to be Akmenrah's older brother) and his own Army Of the ages led by Al Capone, Napoleon, and Ivan the Terrible.
* ''Film/BedknobsAndBroomsticks'' has a variant of this. In order to fight off a German force that secretely landed in England (the story being set in 1940), witch-in-training Eglantine Price uses a magic formula to animate objects in a museum that's somehow filled with war outfits from 11th century Norman mail armors to 18th century red coats, with medieval plate armors in-between. Said animated outfits seem to be inhabited by the spirits of those who once wore them.

* This is the setting for Creator/FritzLeiber's ''Literature/ChangeWar'' stories, featuring a war fought by soldiers recruited from thoughout history, but the stories are all told by grunts who have no understanding of the big picture.
* The Horn of Valere in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' summons the spirits of ancient heroes bound to the Horn when blown.

* ''Literature/TheTamuli'' has the bad guys doing this. But it's less effective than most examples as the Army of the Ages are usually bronze age soldiers who are up against knights in full plate; the characters lampshade this, noting how much military technology, tactics, and techniques have improved and how ineffective this makes the ancient armies. Their other disadvantage is that [[KeystoneArmy they're connected to their leader]] and [[NoOntologicalInertia vanish]] if he's taken out.

* Nearly any military force in the ''Literature/{{Riverworld}}'' books is this trope, by nature of the series.

* In Jeff [=VanderMeer=]'s novel ''Finch'', the surviving rebels have scattered throughout time and space and were rebuilding their armies with whatever local material is available. When the fungal men Grey Caps finally reveal their purpose in being on Earth, the rebel armies unleash a horde consisting of warriors from the past, present and future.

* In ''The Hoplite'', a short story by Creator/RobertReed, a "quantum dilator" is used to implant the consciousness of long-dead warriors into newly cloned bodies. The warriors are given a suit of PoweredArmor and [[DoomTroops no oversight when executing missions]]. The protagonist was a hoplite from Alexander the Great's army and works alongside an SS stormtrooper, a Crusader, a Aztek warrior, and a legionnaire. However, a civilian casts doubt on them being actual warriors from the past, claiming the "quantum dilator" [[QuantumMechanicsCanDoAnything is a buzzword]] and that they're just brainwashed.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': In ''Ghost Story'', Harry leads an army of ghostly warriors through the Nevernever to fight a spirit enemy. One memorable scene shows the enemy having set up pillboxes and other defenses. An 18th century grenadier produces a number of black-powder grenades, and then asks a 1920's mobster if he can borrow his Zippo for a bit.

* ''Series/RedDwarf'' has a non-time-travel related example in [[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIVMeltdown "Meltdown"]], featuring two opposing armies of sentient waxworks including Caligula, Mussolini, Hitler, Gandhi and Lincoln.

* The [=SPI=] board game ''Time Tripper'' allowed you to play a Time Tripper, who went forward and backward in time to recruit soldiers as allies.

* ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'': La Capitan's crew of temporal buccaneers, brought together aboard her timeship from across time and space, includes a {{Ronin}}, a [[HornyVikings Viking]], a French Musketeer, an acrobat, a UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne Flying Ace, a Spanish cavalryman, and a Mongolian archer, all of them wielding an EnhancedArchaicWeapon.

* ''VideoGame/Caveman2Cosmos'', a total overhaul mod for ''VideoGame/CivilizationIV'', eventually ends up with very sci-fi future technology, including time travel. One of the best recruitment policies that can be set up is about plucking from throughout time and space specimens, warriors and soldiers who would otherwise die in combat, uplift them to current technological level and use them for your army. Each unit constructed under this policy starts with absolutely ludicrous amount of experience, allowing it to instantly pick a dozen or so upgrades, regardless of any other factors.

* Common in many Creator/HannaBarbera cartoons. Standard villainous armies tend to include Goths, Mongols, Vandals, and the like.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' special ''Ego Trip'', Dexter teams up with three of [[FutureLoser his]] [[MiniatureSeniorCitizens future]] [[FutureBadass selves]] to fight a future version of Mandark, who in turn summons the appropriate analogues of himself (including the BrainInAJar from the oldest Dexter's time).

* In ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', [[spoiler:the Lifemaker summons all previous generations of Cosmo Entelechia upon his/her resurrection.]]

* Inverted in ''Comicbook/XMen'', where Fitzroy tries to conquer the present (his past) with future sentinel technology. It finally backfires spectacularly when he opens a portal to a prison riot in the future, bringing in a horde of mutant inmates — Bishop follows.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

** A notable example is during ''ComicBook/AvengersForever'' where Kang allies with the Avengers to fight a ArmyOfTheAges sent by his older self Immortus.

** Taken UpToEleven in the sequel, as Stiller leads an army consisting of Amelia Earhart, General Custer (and most of his army), and several returning characters from the first film against Kahmunrah (who claimed to be Akmenrah's older brother) and his own ArmyOfTheAges led by Al Capone, Napoleon, and Ivan the Terrible.

* In ''Film/BedknobsAndBroomsticks'', Miss Price assembles one to ward off the Nazi invasion, although they are really living suits of armour, not actual people.

* In ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', [[spoiler:Lifemaker summons all previous generations of Cosmo Entelechia upon his/her resurrection.]]

* ''VideoGame/CavemanToCosmos'', a total overhaul mod for ''[[VideoGame/{{Civilization}} Civilization IV]]'', eventually ends up with very sci-fi future technology, including time travel. One of the best recruitment policies that can be set up is about plucking from throughout time and space specimens, warriors and soldiers who would otherwise die in combat, uplift them to current technological level and use them for your army. Each unit constructed under this policy starts with absolutely ludicrous amount of experience, allowing it to instantly pick a dozen or so upgrades, regardless of any other factors.

%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.

* The 2008 Creator/DCComics mini-series ''ComicBookTheWarThatTimeForgot'' centered on this, with various characters from DC's war books, including ComicBook/EnemyAce and ComicBook/{{Tomahawk}}, dragged through time and dropped on [[LostWorld Dinosaur Island]]. (The series is in fact named after one of the features from one of those comics that took place on Dinosaur Island.)

* The 2008 Creator/DCComics mini-series ''TheWarThatTimeForgot'' centered on this, with various characters from DC's war books, including ComicBook/EnemyAce and ComicBook/{{Tomahawk}}, dragged through time and dropped on [[LostWorld Dinosaur Island]]. (The series is in fact named after one of the features from one of those comics that took place on Dinosaur Island.)

* This is the setting for Creator/FritzLeiber's ''Change War'' stories, but the stories are all told by grunts who have no understanding of the big picture.

* The armies of Shadow London in the ''Literature/DiogenesClub'' story "Sorcerer, Conjurer, Wizard, Witch". The Great Enchanter has all the mythical Barbarians at the Gate: "Vikings, French infantry, Roman legionnaires, ragged cavaliers, fire-spreaders, shaggy Anglo-Saxons, Martian squid-vampires, rowdies from the country and Prussian Uhlans". The good guys have "redcoats with muskets, knights in armour, tommies in tin hats, roundheads and cavaliers shoulder to shoulder, bloods and blades, pearly kings and queens, costers, tarts, loafers, brawlers, football fanatics with scarves and rattles, the ''haut ton'' and the ''demi-monde'', air-raid wardens, firemen, peelers, bobbies, Bow Street Runners, Chelsea pensioners, dandies, strollers and -- yes! -- Dick Whittington's Cat."

* When Jack Spicer got his hands on the time-travel Shen Gong Wu Sands of Time in ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'', his plan was to assemble a team of history's villains; Genghis Khan, Blackbeard, Billy the Kid, [[OneOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers his first grade teacher Mrs. Cornhaven]], and his future self- from the very distant future. It ultimately fails when Omi uses the Sands of Time to bring his own future self to the present.

* ''Cavemen 2 Cosmos'', a total overhaul mod for ''[[VideoGame/{{Civilization}} Civilization IV]]'', eventually ends up with very sci-fi future technology, including time travel. One of the best recruitment policies that can be set up is about plucking from throughout time and space specimens, warriors and soldiers who would otherwise die in combat, uplift them to current technological level and use them for your army. Each unit constructed under this policy starts with absolutely ludicrous amount of experience, allowing it to instantly pick a dozen or so upgrades, regardless of any other factors.

* In ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'', fighters on both sides are recruited from notable eras of Hyrule's history, namely [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword the Sky Era]], [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime the Era of the Hero of Time]], and [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess the Era of Twilight]]. The upcoming ''Hyrule Warriors Legends'' adds heroes from [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker the Era of the Great Sea]]. This last one is notable as it's from a different timeline then the previously established Era of Twilight, happening at roughly the same point in time.

* Reinhold Borsten did this in the ''Hex'' comic book series. This is how gunslinger ComicBook/JonahHex got transported to 2050. One clear example was the group that Jonah Hex once joined (against his will) called Five Warriors From Forever. The team was created by a time-based villain called Lord of Time and consisted of heroes from different historical periods, such as the Viking Prince (who is a viking), Black Pirate (who is, off course, a pirate), Miss Liberty (a vigilante from the American Revolution), and Enemy Ace (a WWI German pilot), and were gifted with various powers that allowed them to beat both the ComicBook/JusticeLeague and the Justice Society