About: Would Not Shoot a Civilian   Sponge Permalink

An Entity of Type : owl:Thing, within Data Space : 134.155.108.49:8890 associated with source dataset(s)

A military Sub-Trope of Never Hurt an Innocent: only soldiers in uniform are proper targets -- which does not include The Medic, or The Chaplain. May encompass Wouldn't Hit a Girl when women are not in the armed forces and usually does include Wouldn't Hurt a Child. Those who violate this are generally portrayed as not good soldiers. Indeed, good soldiers will try to minimize even accidental civilian deaths. The Anti-Hero soldier, however, may not care; considerable conflict can arise from these clashing moralities. Sink the Life Boats is particularly vicious for civilian ships.

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  • Would Not Shoot a Civilian
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  • A military Sub-Trope of Never Hurt an Innocent: only soldiers in uniform are proper targets -- which does not include The Medic, or The Chaplain. May encompass Wouldn't Hit a Girl when women are not in the armed forces and usually does include Wouldn't Hurt a Child. Those who violate this are generally portrayed as not good soldiers. Indeed, good soldiers will try to minimize even accidental civilian deaths. The Anti-Hero soldier, however, may not care; considerable conflict can arise from these clashing moralities. Sink the Life Boats is particularly vicious for civilian ships.
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abstract
  • A military Sub-Trope of Never Hurt an Innocent: only soldiers in uniform are proper targets -- which does not include The Medic, or The Chaplain. May encompass Wouldn't Hit a Girl when women are not in the armed forces and usually does include Wouldn't Hurt a Child. Those who violate this are generally portrayed as not good soldiers. Indeed, good soldiers will try to minimize even accidental civilian deaths. The Anti-Hero soldier, however, may not care; considerable conflict can arise from these clashing moralities. Sink the Life Boats is particularly vicious for civilian ships. Proud Warrior Race Guy or Blood Knight may get at this trope in a sideways manner, rejecting civilians as unworthy opponents because they are weak and cowardly, unworthy of fighting. Truth in Television, at least in theory. Under The Laws and Customs of War, targeting civilians is a war crime -- a principle that goes back as far as the Knight in Shining Armor and chivalry. On the other, to encourage soldiers to comply, civilians must also not attack soldiers lest they be labeled as the enemy, and soldiers must not dress as civilians; both are war crimes for which the offenders can be shot if caught and convicted. In addition, if civilians are accidentally killed in the process of attacking a legitimate military target, it's (usually) not considered an offense. Obligatory War Crime Scene exploits this trope for its punch. More cynical works may display characters (good or bad, depending on just how cynical the work gets) taking advantage of this rule, either by taking human shields or attacking out of uniform. Alternatively, there is nothing stopping the good guys from accidentally killing civilians due to anything from incompetence to misinformation, the latter of which might even have been a setup. Can also apply to other situations where there is a stark division with Guys With Guns and Guys Without Guns. See Would Not Shoot a Good Guy for when characters do not shoot back at (some) of those actually shooting at them. Examples of Would Not Shoot a Civilian include:
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