An electrifying tale!
"Witness the destructive power of the defibrillator!"
— YouTube Description
Shock Troopers is a short, live-action web video created by the special effects team at Corridor Digital. Originally posted to YouTube in 2011, the video depicts a trio of soldiers who must hold and defend their position against a small army. Separated from the third member of their party and out of ammo for their firearms, two soldiers must clear a trench using a rather unconventional weapon: a defibrillator.
Can be watched in its entirety here
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Shock Troopers contains examples of:
- Badass Bandolier: Matt wears a bandolier of machine gun ammunition.
- Blown Across the Room: Played straight, played with, and invoked, all in that order:
- Played Straight when the defibrillator launches the first enemy to get shocked into a camera, then again when another enemy soldier is launched at least two stories into the air (with no recoil, either!).
- Played With when the protagonists take on two enemies at once. The closer enemy gets blasted backwards into the air by the force of the defibrillator - right into the further enemy, who has sustained multiple bullet wounds but hasn't so much as been knocked off his feet.
- Invoked when the protagonists combine the power of two defibrillators to boost one of their number over a small hill.
- Camera Abuse: The first enemy shocked with the defibrillator gets blasted into a camera.
- Combat Medic: As marked by their red cross patches. Why else would someone have a defibrillator on the battlefield?
- Death from Above: What happens to the mook on the receiving end of the above-mentioned boost. He winds up fried by a flying combat medic wielding a weaponized defibrillator.
- The Enemy Weapons Are Better: Averted — after running out of ammunition for their own weapons, the soldiers mow down half a dozen well-armed enemy combatants. They ignore their rifles and knives in favor of using defibrillators.
- Faceless Goons: Most of the enemy soldiers wear head scarves, dark ski goggles, sunglasses, balaclavas, or a combination of face-obscuring accessories. The three guys the audience is supposed to root for? Clear safety glasses and a clear pair of ski goggles, as seen in the page image.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: The opposing force manages to miss almost all the shots they take at the protagonists.
- Improbable Weapon User: Using a defibrillator for offense. The defibrillators prove so effective that both soldiers ditch their guns (granted they've run out of ammunition) and ignore the weapons dropped by the enemy combatants.
- It's Raining Men: One of the protagonists gets boosted over a small hill by his comrade in order to surprise an enemy soldier.
- Leap and Fire: The soldier down to his last few bullets leaps from behind his defibrillator-wielding friend to take out one of the enemy mooks.
- Magical Defibrillator: And how! The video takes this premise and runs with it. Out of bullets and need to take down an enemy combatant? Defibrillator. Need to blast an opponent two stories into the air? Defibrillator. Need to set a knife wielding mook on fire? Defibrillator. Need to revive a comrade with about a dozen bullet holes in his chest? Defibrillator.
- Man on Fire: Gasoline + defibrillator = one mook, extra crispy. It takes a few tries to get a spark, though.
- Multiple Gunshot Death: What happens to Matt, the soldier holding position on the hill. It doesn't stick.
- Never Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight: More like never bring a knife to a defibrillator fight. At least two enemy soldiers attempt to take out the protagonists with knives, but neither succeed.
- P.O.V. Cam: As one soldier gets boosted over a small hill by his friend, the camera briefly cuts to his point of view as the defibrillators make contact with the enemy target.
- Rescue Equipment Attack: The soldiers find that their defibrillator is equally good at reviving fallen comrades and clearing the trenches of enemy combatants.
- Shouting Shooter: Plenty of this.
- Spent Shells Shower: Whenever Matt (the soldier guarding the hilltop) fires his gun, a stream of empty casings are ejected from the weapon.
