Is the cavalry an inversion of Red Shirts?
"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence" Hide / Show Replies
It's more akin to Big Damn Heroes. Yes, it does subvert (sometimes double subvert) Red Shirt by default, but it involves rescuing the heroes.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Does it count as the Cavalry if its just one person? I'm thinking of those apparently hopeless situations that get turned around by the timely arrival of someone with the perfect skill set.
What would it be called if the Cavelry swoops in, allied with the bad guys? Not a Cavalry betrayal as the cavalry is clearly on the side of the bad guys from the start. Or is that just an inversion of this base trope?
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An evil cavalry aiding the bad guys? I think it's simply the same trope, just from the other side's perspective
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The image used in this page is a drawing by a modern artist, and should be given proper credit. Seeking permission to use it would be a good idea as well.
I don't think the image used here is really the best for representing the trope. Yes, it depicts actual cavalry, but (to quote the trope page itself): "This and other related tropes are named for the classic Western trope of the US cavalry charging over the brow of the hill just in time to save the beleaguered settlers from the Indians in far too many Westerns to count." So really, the image should something along those lines, of cavalry obviously bringing reinforcements to a besieged or an outnumbered group. If we want to stay away from cowboys and indians, I would suggest perhaps the charge of the Rohirrim at Helm's Deep from The Two Towers.
Edit: just noticed that the image is a drawing of that battle. I guess it's just not a great one then, since it didn't immediately invoke the trope in my mind. Maybe there's a better depiction?
Edited by TheAntiTed