History Main / StrawCivilian

It's not just the [[ObstructiveBureaucrat bureaucrats who are obstructive]] -- it's the entire non-military world. All politicians, regardless of affiliation, are dedicated to blocking, budget-cutting, and otherwise screwing over the military for the sake of short term political gain. (And the criticism isn't just of [[PacifismBackfire pacifists]] - ''all'' politics is [[DemocracyIsBad portrayed as inherently ignoble]]. If it's only politicians of a certain type who get this treatment, it might be a case of [[StrawCharacter Strawman Political]] instead.) Courts and lawyers tie the military up with silly regulations which stop them doing their jobs. The news media never understand the realities of war, and reporters are critical of everything the military does. Businessmen [[ThereAreNoGoodExecutives just want to profit]] from the war, and don't care if their products are defective and get soldiers killed. The general public are ungrateful for the sacrifices made by the military. Even non-combat military personnel can be part of it, if they're fastidious about rules or are ArmchairMilitary. Any character who isn't a soldier, really, has no plot purpose except to get in the way of the brave, noble, and self-sacrificing characters who are.

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': Ashley has this view about civilians. Her above quote is repeated when talking with different party members, each of whom will have a different response; Garrus (who is from a culture of ProudWarriorRaceGuys) will reply that such thinking is to be expected, while Tali (who comes from a highly communal culture of space nomads) will say that the civilians' work is necessary and Liara (who is an anthropologist and historian from a society of libertarian semi-pacifists) finds the fact that people can enjoy everyday routines to be comforting.
** The series as a whole gives off a strong "Military good; politicians bad" theme with Shepard themselves being a military veteran, Shepard's closest confidants all being military, and the only civilian politicians you deal with on a regular basis (Udina and the Council) being a bunch of cowardly, self-serving bureaucrats.

* ''Webcomic/TerminalLance'' and ''ComicBook/TheWhiteDonkey'', being written and drawn by a [[SemperFi Marine Corps infantry veteran]] take this position from time to time, though the author sometimes take the point of view of civilians and criticize the military and service members as well.

* Civilians of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse seemed constantly primed and ready to turn against their superheroes at the drop of a hat; From J.Jonah Jameson tracing everything wrong with the world back to Spider-Man, Miriam Sharpe callously and insensitively stating Goliath deserved to die, Sally Floyd saying CAPTAIN FRICKIN AMERICA doesn’t reflect American values because he doesn’t watch NASCAR or have a [=MySpace=] account, to the general prejudice that the X-Men feel everyday from regular joes despite them risking (and sometimes losing) their lives for them, it’s astounding that no matter how many times the world is saved from supervillains and alien invasions, that the civilians of the Marvel Universe continue to be dicks to their heroes.

* Civilians of the MarvelUniverse seemed constantly primed and ready to turn against their superheroes at the drop of a hat; From J.Jonah Jameson tracing everything wrong with the world back to Spider-Man, Miriam Sharpe callously and insensitively stating Goliath deserved to die, Sally Floyd saying CAPTAIN FRICKIN AMERICA doesn’t reflect American values because he doesn’t watch NASCAR or have a MySpace account, to the general prejudice that the X-Men feel everyday from regular joes despite them risking (and sometimes losing) their lives for them, it’s astounding that no matter how many times the world is saved from supervillains and alien invasions, that the civilians of the Marvel Universe continue to be dicks to their heroes.

* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': In book #47, the Animorphs approach a group of human campers who happen to be in between the Yeerks and the free Hork-Bajir valley to get them to evacuate. Jake is forced to morph to Hork-Bajir to get them to listen, and the respond by treating the plot like a episode of ''Series/StarTrek''. Most of them don't even realize that they're risking death by staying until the Yeerks are imminent.

* Civilians of the MarvelUniverse seemed constantly primed and ready to turn against their superheroes at the drop of a hat; From J.Jonah Jameson tracing everything wrong with the world back to Spider-Man, Miriam Sharpe Callously and insensitively stating Goliath deserved to die, Sally Floyd saying CAPTAIN FRICKIN AMERICA doesn’t reflect American values because he doesn’t watch NASCAR or have a MySpace account, to the general prejudice that the X-Men feel everyday from regular joes despite them risking (and sometimes losing) their lives for them, it’s astounding that no matter how many times the world is saved from supervillains and alien invasions, that the civilians of the Marvel Universe continue to be dicks to their heroes.

* ''VideoGame/NintendoWars'': While civilians are largely non-existent in the series, the village of Freehaven -- or rather, its mayor -- plays this role in ''VideoGame/AdvanceWarsDaysOfRuin''. The Mayor seems to believe the only reason the military exists is to show up, deal with anything that threatens his safety and security, and then go away so he doesn't have to look at them. When Freehaven falls and its citizens have to join the heroes, the people split into two factions -- one that actively works and tries to help their protectors, and one that refuses to do anything and demands the soldiers attend to the civilians's needs instead of their own. Guess who leads the latter faction.

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': The Drankam PrivateMilitaryCompany is full of partisan strife between two factions: OldSoldier veterans who make most of the group's income, and young hunters who get lavished with equipment and praise. The latter group is backed by civilian bureaucrats like Mizuha who want to make the young hunters into a PropagandaHero cadre and thus act as a SpannerInTheWorks and alienate many veterans into quitting, leading to RightHandVersusLeftHand incidents. It's the coddling of the rookies that does the most damage, as this turns them into BoisterousWeakling and LeeroyJenkins hunters who serve as a RedShirtArmy.

* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': Many civilians look down on the Survey Corps as lunatics and a waste of their taxes.

* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'' can wander this way. Given most of the characters are military figures or those who associate with them regularly, and that the Colonial Military of Galactica represents the only functioning organization they have left (such that fleet wide control, government and supply -including basics such as providing water - are impossible without them) this is hardly surprising. People who, often for good reasons, try to change things have to look bad to keep things steady, and it can veer too far on occasion. However, this is actually an improvement on ''Series/BattlestarGalactica1978'', which Ronald D. Moore viewed as a beneficent military dictatorship where the black-shirted guards were power-drunk {{Mooks}} and the surviving civilian leadership was either greedy or treasonous.