Previous Trope Repair Shop thread: Misused
, started by SantosLHalper on Mar 1st 2016 at 4:00:35 AM
Can you imagine a Police State where the leader was a General Ripper -type?
Not sure the Col. Kurtz example from Apocalypse Now fits this trope. While the character is insane, he doesn't seem to have the single minded focus on enemy X that this trope describes. (This may be the case with the literature example from Heart of Darkness, too, I haven't read the book.)
Can we drop the President Evil mention please?
The current campaign is getting a little too close to that.
"Show us the Galaxy Warp."
Deleted the following from Live-Action TV as it doesn't appear to have anything to do with the trope as written.
- In the new Outer Limits episode "Deja Vu", a scientist's teleporation experiment goes awry, causing a fatal explosion and time loop. The experiment is eventually revealed to have been sabotaged by one of the military men observing the experiment, who hoped to turn it into a weapon. This being The Outer Limits, karma comes back to bite him hard.
Despoilered the Star Trek The Original Series episode "The Doomsday Machine" example, as it came out in 1967, and therefore falls under the statute of limitations in Handling Spoilers.
Edited by Arivne
Does anybody think this would be a valid addition to "General Ripper?"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods
"Operation Northwoods, or Northwoods, was a false-flag operation plan that originated within the United States government in 1962. The plan called for Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or other operatives to commit genuine acts of terrorism in U.S. cities and elsewhere. These acts of terrorism were to be blamed on Cuba in order to create public support for a war against that nation, which had recently become communist under Fidel Castro. One part of the Operation Northwoods plan was to "develop a Communist Cuban terror campaign in the Miami area, in other Florida cities and even in Washington."
"The plan was drafted by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, signed by Chairman Lyman Lemnitzer and sent to the Secretary of Defense."
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The General Ripper is a character. Was the authorisation of Northwoods part of a consistent pattern of behaviour by a single individual? If so, who was this individual?
It might work better on He Who Fights Monsters.
Edited by Iaculus What's precedent ever done for us?
General W.R. Monger is discussed in both the Film and Western Animation sections, and is presented at opposite ends of the spectrum. I'm cutting all of it and posting it here, because quite honestly I'm not sure how to clean it up.
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Film:
- Toyed with in Monsters Vs Aliens with General W. R. Monger. Yes, he did have an innocent woman drugged and kidnapped on her wedding day and probably fully intended to hold her prisoner for the rest of her life along with several other odd individuals, but when he and the president decided to unleash his menagerie against an Alien Invasion he kept his agreement to free them all in both the letter and spirit.
"Ginormica, I called your parents to let them know you were coming home. And I also called the Modesto P.D., told them not to shoot at ya!"
- To be fair, she was 49 1/2 foot tall at the time and (unintentionally) terrifying people. And considering the strength and durability she displayed, it was a safety measure than anything else. Besides which, a true General Ripper would've destroyed her, even if it meant the deaths of the other people at the wedding.
Western Animation:
- General W.R. Monger in Monsters Vs Aliens is a subversion his plan to pit Monsters against Aliens works, he helps Dr. Cockroach, the Missing Link, and B.O.B. board the alien cruiser to rescue Ginormica, salutes them on their way out the plane, and then flies in on a giant moth to save them.
I'm cutting this example:
- There was an incident during the Vietnam war, though not done by a general. The commanding officer of a unit searching a village was looking for Vietcong. Frustrated after not finding any, he promptly gathered all of the villagers into the square and ordered his men to shoot them.
Is it possible for a General Ripper to also be A Father to his men? Can these 2 tropes overlap?