Discussion Main / ActionSurvivor

Can we use Gordon Freeman as the page image? Dude is one of the first if not the first FPS protagonist to not be a trained soldier.

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Is it possible to be this trope and a Useless Protagonist at the same time?

The Doctor from Doctor Who is probably not an example given he is not "a normal guy in abnormal circumstances".

Characterising a whole real-world army as an innocent bystander in outrageous circumstances doesn't work at all.

• The Thespian army at Thermopylae was a partial example. Though Action ''Survivor" isn't quite the word, they were just as brave as the Spartans. Even though the Thespians were farmers and craftsmen. And the Spartans were a Proud Warrior Race brought up in their accustomed manner.
  • All Greek Hoplites were citizens, and the great majority of citizens were small freeholders. Their ethos espoused that working the land was a virtue worthy of any citizen-soldier, and their political leaders were all once soldiers and nearly all once farmers. This applied even to the Spartans, though their army was more "professional" than that of other polises who relied on a system of a citizens muster.
    • Spartans were most definitely not farmers after the reforming of their society by Lycurgus. The whole point of their system was to make their slaves  ^*
      ^{ie: everyone who wasn't Spartan and lived in land controlled by Sparta}
      do all the farming, while Sparta maintained a large, professional army to kill any slaves who dared to rebel.

Harry from Harry Potter is probably not a "normal guy in abnormal circumstances". Probably not a strong example.

• Arguably Harry himself, at least in the way he sees himself. Being The Chosen One aside, Harry's greatest attributes are his determination, resourcefulness, and his sense of right and wrong.
  • And his freaking magic powers?
  • Not really, as most of the bad guys are much more skilled at magic than Harry, and the spells Harry uses most are Patronus and Expelliarmus, which are both defensive.
  • On the other hand, he's repeatedly shown or said to be naturally gifted and has become such an expert at self defense by the fifth book that he teaches magical self-defense to a group of students when politics interfere with the official Defense Against the Dark Arts class. He may not kill people with magic, but he's definitely exceptionally skilled.

Edited by Camacan

Does Otacon from Metal Gear Solid qualify?