History Main / TheSpartanWay

** Averted with the SPARTAN-[=IV=]s, who are adult volunteers from other branches who receive more standard (though still rigorous) training.

** Averted with the SPARTAN-[=IV=]s, they're adult volunteers and use realistic training simulations. As such, they are not as skilled as the [=II=]s or [=III=]

* The Pyrrans in HarryHarrison's ''Literature/{[Deathworld}}'' have to do this just to survive their planet, where EverythingTryingToKillYou is the only constant. The weather, tides, and tectonic activity are unpredictable, radiation is high, and the native lifeforms are even worse. The only thing on their minds (literally) is to kill all humans. The plants and animals are constantly mutating thanks to the radiation and the brutal fight for survival. The human settlers have to constantly look for new ways to protect themselves. Children are taught to fight and survive as soon as they can hold a HandCannon, which is about 6. Thanks to [[HeavyWorlder double gravity]], even a Pyrran child can defeat a non-Pyrran in unarmed combat. All Pyrrans train from childhood to be crack shots. Unlike a typical example of this trope, the Pyrrans themselves don't subject their children to extremely-harsh training. The training is fair for the situation. It's the environment that weeds out those who are unfit. Even adults have to undergo re-training after going off-world for a few days.

* ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'': In boot camp, less than ''10%'' of all recruits get through boot camp and their officers are always soldiers with previous combat experience (you go through boot and go into battle, and if you excel, you may be snapped up for OCS). Somewhat a deconstruction because they constantly suffer manpower problems during the Bug War. It's worth noting that of the 90% that didn't pass boot, less than 1% died, and the training the first weeks is designed to weed out those who don't want the citizenship completed military service grants badly enough.

* In the HalfLife expansion Opposing Force, during part of the training, there's a line of three people on the opposite side of a field firing full-powered maching guns. It's not only possible to die during this part, it's kind of hard NOT to die on the first try. All this just to learn cover.

* Tiger's Cave pupils in ''Manga/TigerMask'' are trained to become highly capable and merciless wrestlers with such exercises as fighting lions, panthers (with only their legs, to learn how to fight with them) and ''gorillas'', jumping from a rotating platform where a single error would mean landing on very deadly hazard including ''molten lead'' (the exercise is supposed to ensure the pupil learns how to decide fast), doing push-ups on the legs with weights attached to the head and a mat with poles under the butt (to strengthen the legs. There's a RealLife exercise that is exactly the same, only without the poles), being attached to a bridge ''head down'' (the series didn't specify the purpose), and being ''set on fire'' (more specifically, they are made wear sweaters drenched in fuel that are set on fire, and then they have to put the fire out by rolling on the ground. The exercise is to develop speed when forced to the ground), with the trainers ready to hit them with bullwhips if they slacked off. Many pupils die in the process, but the survivors can easily kill tigers and put in hospital the average wrestler, and out-foul heel wrestlers: Dick the Bruiser, an infamous RealLife wrestler, faced the protagonist twice, and the first time was downed by a single foul that the referee failed to notice before he could even think a decent foul, while the second time his fouls were neutralized and used on him ''improved'' (he started by throwing fuel and a lit cigar at Tiger Mask. Tiger Mask took the fuel and the cigar on his cloak, applied his training to put the fire down enough to take the cloak off, and [[InfernalRetaliation hit Dick with the burning cloak while fanning the flames at the same time]]. At the end of the match, Dick was half-dead, strangled with the ring's rope).

* The commandos in the film ''{{Soldier}}'' are raised brutally from birth and treated brutally thereafter, only to be replaced by a new generation of genetically engineered soldiers.
* The movie ''Naked Weapon'' features a wide variety of pubescent girls being kidnapped from around the world and sent to a tropical island. After immediately killing anybody who says 'Yes, I wanna go home!', they spend the next six years in a nonstop boot camp teaching the girls everything there is to know about firearms, human anatomy, unarmed combat, and social interaction, honing them into the world's finest assassins. As a penultimate final exam, they are assembled in their barracks and told that they have two minutes to kill half their number or they will all die. In the actual final exam, they are forced to compete in a gladiator-style tournament until only one remains. However, their "performance" is so great that the Madam allows three to survive instead. They get drugged and raped on their graduation, just to drive home that their bodies are not their own.

* In ''DeadlyPrey'', the BigBad's StartOfDarkness was caused in part by a disagreement with his superiors over whether or not to use these methods to train elite soldiers.

* Forces from both the Soviet Union, and its successor, the Russian Federation, are notorious for harshness. The rank and file training for conscripted men not put into anything special such as Naval Infantry, VDV, or Border Guards, was considered tough. The training was tough, long, and continuous. Constant exercises, drills, and repetition characterized it. Russian elite troops such as the aforementioned marines, paratroopers, and guards, have even tougher standards. Of these, the Naval Infantry is considered the toughest. The VDV is open to women. However, no woman has yet managed to meet the physical requirements necesssary to pass for a long time; in 2013 the Ryazan VDV Officer School finally released 14 female VDV lieutenants.

* Forces from both the Soviet Union, and its successor, the Russian Federation, are notorious for harshness. The rank and file training for conscripted men not put into anything special such as Naval Infantry, VDV, or Border Guards, was considered tough. The training was tough, long, and continuous. Constant exercises, drills, and repetition characterized it. Russian elite troops such as the aforementioned marines, paratroopers, and guards, have even tougher standards. Of these, the Naval Infantry is considered the toughest. The VDV is open to women. However, no woman has yet managed to meet the physical requirements necesssary to pass.

* The soldiers from ''Manga/AttackOnTitan''. Their 3-year program is completely optional and people are allowed to drop out, or may be kicked out......but it is also noted that serious accidents or deaths are perfectly normal. The general attitude seems to be that anyone killed during training wouldn't have survived battling the [[HumanoidAbomination Titans]] anyway. The instructors are shown to force people to run until they collapse unconscious and during the induction ceremony, several recruits are struck for giving a wrong answer or not saluting properly. Oh, and the minimum age for enlisting is ''[[ChildSoldiers 12]]''.

* China's People's Liberation Army & People's Armed Police, with more young men wishing to join than they have room for, selects only the most physically fit without any physical "defects". Things like nearsightedness, tattoos, being over the age of 21, and inadequate education are amongst many disqualfiers. Once they do get accepted, the average infantry undergoes brutal training where they are expected to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=29JgSjKdIUU#t=138s "hold bricks on their heads while others smash it to bits with a sledge hammer"]], or play [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=gA5WDVhttu4#t=85s "hot potato with explosives."]] This is only the regular forces, but there is a reason why their special forces won 8 1st places in the 2009 international military competitions in Slovakia, first place in the 2011 Sniper World Cup, and best overall performance at the fifth Warrior Competition organised by the Jordan Armed Forces at the King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Centre.

* The People's Liberation Army & People's Armed Police, with more young men wishing to join than they have room for, selects only the most physically fit without any physical "defects". Things like nearsightedness, tattoos, being over the age of 21, and inadequate education are amongst many disqualfiers. Once they do get accepted, the average infantry undergoes brutal training where they are expected to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=29JgSjKdIUU#t=138s "hold bricks on their heads while others smash it to bits with a sledge hammer"]], or play [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=gA5WDVhttu4#t=85s "hot potato with explosives."]] This is only the regular forces, but there is a reason why their special forces won 8 1st places in the 2009 international military competitions in Slovakia, first place in the 2011 Sniper World Cup, and best overall performance at the fifth Warrior Competition organised by the Jordan Armed Forces at the King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Centre.

* The soldiers from ''ShingekiNoKyojin''. Their 3-year program is completely optional and people are allowed to drop out, or may be kicked out......but it is also noted that serious accidents or deaths are perfectly normal. The general attitude seems to be that anyone killed during training wouldn't have survived battling the [[HumanoidAbomination Titans]] anyway. The instructors are shown to force people to run until they collapse unconscious and during the induction ceremony, several recruits are struck for giving a wrong answer or not saluting properly. Oh, and the minimum age for enlisting is ''[[ChildSoldiers 12]]''.

*** In addition to not being able to spare some, the Japanese outright did not have a system for the veterans to train the newbies. The Americans did it on a systematic level while the Japanese Aces did it on a personal level if at all. The famous Zero fighter being a FragileSpeedster that is prone to ''[[OneHitPointWonder burst in flames after being hit once]]'' doesn't help either.

* The soldiers from ''ShingekiNoKyojin''. Their 3-year program is completely optional and people are allowed to drop out, or may be kicked out......but it is also noted that serious accidents or deaths are a perfectly normal. The general attitude seems to be that anyone killed during training wouldn't have survived battling the [[HumanoidAbomination Titans]] anyway. Oh, and the minimum age for enlisting is ''[[ChildSoldiers 12]]''.

* DarkSun, a setting for DungeonsAndDragons, is so ridiculously harsh that simply living there has effectively indoctrinated every living creature on the planet, sentient and otherwise, in TheSpartanWay. Drained of life by the native version of magic, something like 90% of the planet is desert- even the seas have been boiled dry and their beds filled with silt, and a given locale is lucky to see a meagre shower of rain once a year. Metal is so rare that bone, rock and chitin are the accepted standard for weapons and armor. The temperature is extreme, going from 110 degrees in the morning to 150 degrees by late afternoon. Just about everything smarter than a rock has some degree of psychic power, and every plant and animal, even the ones that don't eat flesh, is capable of killing you. An army of Githyanki, {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s basically defined as xenophobic, militaristic, egotistical, psychic martial artists who routinely cross blades with demons, elementals, and every other monster that the multiverse has to offer, tried to invade Athas... and promptly ran away with their tails between their legs, sealed up the portal and told their entire race to stay the ''hell'' away from this crazy place.

* The war camp run by the Bloodletter in BlackDaggerBrotherhood qualifies for this trope. And unlike the real Spartans, who started training at age seven, his trainees started at age three. Made worse by the fact that winners of sparring bouts were encouraged to rape the losers. Alumni of this camp include Darius and Vishous.

* The literally-named SPARTAN-[=II=]s from the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' franchise were all kidnapped by the military at the age of six to be put through incredibly harsh training, complemented by high-level education. By the time the trainees turned 14, they all had the physiques of 18-year old Olympic athletes and, with nothing but dart guns and stun grenades, were fully capable of outfighting adult Marines armed with live ammunition. And that's all ''before'' they received their [[PoweredArmor armor]] and [[BioAugmentation augmentations]].
** The training of the young orphans who were to become the SPARTAN-[=III=]s was arguably even harsher, considering that most of them were expected to see [[SuicideMission action]] by the time they turned ''10-12 years old''.
** Averted with the SPARTAN-[=IV=]s, they're adult volunteers and use realistic training simulations.