History Main / Ranger

** Of course, now they are Tier 5 and only see use at all because there aren't any official ranged disciplines and none of the effective melee classes have wilderness skills. Or the rare instances of binkered grognard DMs who see no problem with a party of two Tier 1s, a Tier 4, and a Tier 5.

** This troper plays a Ranger in Fourth Edition. His DM consistently tried to kill the ranger. And fails horribly.

** By extension, people who go to Ranger School are identified as badasses by their Ranger Tab, even though they are not considered to be part of the actual 75th Ranger Regiment.
* Similarly, Irish Army Rangers. (although they are actual special forces aposed to advanced light infantry)

* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'', during ''The Two Towers'' Saruman has a rather visible OhCrap moment when Grima Wormtongue mention that one of the men at Edoras (Aragorn) appeared to be a ''Dunedain Ranger''. Cue an even ''bigger'' OhCrap moment when he mentions that he wore a ring of entwined serpents, causing Saruman to realise ''who he is''.

* In the film version of ''Film/LordOfTheRings'', Saruman has a visible OhCrap moment when Grima Wormtongue mention that one of the men at Edoras (Aragorn) appeared to be a ''Dunedain Ranger''. Cue an even ''bigger'' OhCrap when he mentions that he wore a ring of entwined serpents, causing Saruman to realise ''who he is''.

* In the film version of [[Film/LordOfTheRings]], Saruman has a visible OhCrap moment when Grima Wormtongue mention that one of the men at Edoras (Aragorn) appeared to be a ''Dunedain Ranger''. Cue an even ''bigger'' OhCrap when he mentions that he wore a ring of entwined serpents, causing Saruman to realise ''who he is''.

* The Desert Rangers (the source for Fallout's Desert Rangers) of {{Wasteland}} were (in-universe) inspired by the Texas Rangers, and (once they realized other communities had survived the nuclear war) decided to help rebuild and re-establish human civilization in the wastelands. Your characters belong to the group, and will either die or end up doing many impressive things.

So you have your PrestigeClass, [[EliteMooks Elite Redshirts]], or what-have-you. The point is, they're on the good side, they're a group of (usually) non-heroes, and they are AWESOME.

So... what do you call them?

Easy.

Rangers.

* United States Army Rangers, who are an elite special ops force in the United States Army.
* Similarly, Irish Army Rangers.
** Even more so, the Irish Army Ranger Wing (ARW) are more of a special forces unit as opposed to the US Rangers, who are more akin to elite light infantry. Like the Scout Rangers, they're based on the Army Rangers as some of the founders of the unit were trained in America under the Rangers in the 1960s and 70s due to concerns of terrorism hitting North America and Europe.

* Ranger from ''EightBitTheater'' is a parody, double-classing as Ranger/Ranger to dual-wield his dual-wield. With bows and arrows.

* ''QuentynQuinnSpaceRanger'' features quite the BadassFurry.

* ''DerSchuhDesManitu'': Ranger.

* Ranger from ''EightBitTheater'' is a parody, doubleclassing as Ranger/Ranger to dual-wield his dual-wield. With bows and arrows.
* The Highland Raiders from {{Drowtales}}. The various Sarghress units are mostly among the best in the business in their chosen field. The highland raiders may not excel as a group in any specific field, but they compensate by doing a bit of everything for long periods of time. Including expeditions to the surface, where they will suffer from mana deprivation if they stay too long and are too few.

* The JGSDF has this, but it's more of a soldier's qualification than a unit. It's been coveted since JGSDF soldiers with Ranger training can also apply for the Special Forces Group, the JGSDF's counter-terrorist/elite special forces unit or with the elite paratrooper unit, the 1st Airborne Brigade. JGSDF soldiers with Ranger status are also trained to conduct anti-guerrilla/infiltration operations (alongside other special forces-type training) throughout Japan should there be a future conflict involving commandos/soldiers from intruding nations or terrorists inserted into Japan.

* ''{{Deadlands}}'' Rangers.

** Even more so, the Irish Army Ranger Wing (ARW) are more of a special forces unit as opposed to the US Rangers who are more akin to elite light infantry. like the Scout Rangers, they're based on the Army Rangers as some of the founders of the unit were trained in America.

* Philippine Army Scout Rangers aka the 1st Scout Ranger Regiment. They're a special forces unit, created by Rafael M. Ileto after the Alamo Scouts and the American Rangers.

* The JGSDF has this, but it's more of a soldier's qualification than a unit. It's been coveted since JGSDF soldiers with Ranger training can also apply for the Special Forces Group, the JGSDF's counter-terrorist/elite special forces unit.

* ''AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers''

'Cause that's where the Ranger's gonna be''
-->-- '''ThemeSong''', ''Walker, Texas Ranger''

* ''[=~Pokémon Ranger~=]''.

* Ranger from ''[=~8-Bit Theater~=]'' is a parody, doubleclassing as Ranger/Ranger to dual-wield his dual-wield. With bows and arrows.

* ''{{Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers}}''

** Even more so, the Irish Army Ranger Wing (ARW) are more of a special forces unit as opposed to the US Rangers who are more akin to elite light infantry.

* Philippine Army Scout Rangers aka the 1st Scout Ranger Regiment.
* The JGSDF has this, but it's more of a soldier's qualification than a unit.

* In FinalFantasyTacticsA2, we got the Moogle Rangers, which consist of… well, Moogles. And [[FiveManBand five of them]]. However, they have hundreds of counts of breaking the peace [[MurderArsonAndJaywalking (and one of trespassing)]] and need to be taken down by your clan. [[spoiler: At the end of the battle, for no reason whatsoever, they leave by rising into the sky. [[FlatWhat What.]] ]]

* The Texas Rangers, TroprNamer for OneRiotOneRanger.