| abstract
| - The lieutenant and Foil for The Hero. The Lancer is usually easier to intuit in older works, but in a more complex Five-Man Band Lancer's three main traits, (being Number Two to The Leader, Foil to The Hero or Foil to the Team) may be divided amongst several members instead of combined into one character. For example, in the event that The Lancer is a foil:
* If The Hero is an idiot, the Lancer will be The Spock, The Stoic, or The Quiet One.
* If the hero is a carefree, irresponsible type, the Lancer is probably The Reliable One.
* If The Hero is chaste or celibate, The Lancer will be a Handsome Lech, Casanova, Fille or Femme Fatale (depending on gender).
* The Ideal Hero or The Messiah will have a Lancer who is an Anti-Hero, Ineffectual Loner, The Cowl, or even a Sociopathic Hero.
* If The Hero has No Social Skills, his Lancer is likely to be more levelheaded and a social person, or even the Morality Pet in extreme cases.
* Red Oni, Blue Oni are also a popular combination. They know each others' tactics, they know when something is wrong, and they know when the other is Not Himself or saying Something They Would Never Say.
* If The Hero works more from a state of passion when resolving problems, or is inspiring to his team, his Lancer tends to work harder, and in some but not all cases tends to be less popular. The Lancer in this context tends to think his way through challenges and through diligence eventually earns his team's respect for his obvious talents and successes.
* Sometimes a Lancer will be the executive officer of a starship captain, especially in SF that follow the Trek formula by having captains doing risky exciting action stuff that they really aren't supposed to be doing as captains. In this case, the XO may be a little older, wiser, and stuck doing all the boring stuff that most real captains do.
* If the hero is Surrounded by Idiots, then The Lancer will be Number Two for Brains
* Lancer-in-Chief, when he or she is actually more iconic than the Big Good. This is the member of the Five-Man Band who is most likely to not be a team player. He's the one who sneaks off on his own to advance the team's goals independently. He might be jealous of the leader, with an attitude of "Why can't I be the Leader?" When he does finally get his chance though, to his chagrin he may well find himself asking himself, "Now what would The Hero do?" If The Complainer Is Always Wrong and there's a chronic complainer to act as the show's Butt Monkey, it's likely this guy. He's also the one most likely on the team to go Turncoat, and the last one The Hero will suspect. Conversely, if the rest of the Band members turn their backs on The Hero for some reason, the Lancer may be the only one who sticks by his side. The Hero and The Lancer may also be rivals for a love interest, or one of them will have a cute sister whom the other crushes on, only to have the brother say "My Sister Is Off-Limits!" In the event that The Hero of the team is unable to lead, or the team temporarily has no Hero, The Lancer steps in. Sometimes, he's forced to take the position against his will. Either way, this plot is used to contrast the hero's leadership style against what the lancer's would be. A frequent ending for this plot is for The Lancer to gladly give up the reins of power while The Hero notes, with all other band members present, that the team will be in excellent hands the next time he is absent. Powers and skills common to The Lancer include:
* Just as Heroes Prefer Swords, The Lancer is often The Archer, The Gunslinger, or a literal Lancer, relying on firepower and distance. If everyone is a ranged fighter then expect The Lancer to explicitly be the best shot, or an Ace Pilot.
* If The Hero and The Lancer have Elemental Powers, they will be complementary. If The Hero uses flames, The Lancer will probably use ice, electricity or water.
* Since he's the hero's counterpoint, he may be the one who is willing to do dirty tricks or enter moral gray areas. If there's only one Con Man on a team full of strait-laced heroes, it's usually this guy.
* Similarly, if there's only one stealthy guy on the team, The Lancer is typically that guy. Sneaky Lancers may fill the Fragile Speedster (or, if lucky, Lightning Bruiser) role, relying on agility and guile rather than brute force.
* The Lancer may be a Badass Normal in a superpowered Band. On the other hand, if most of the team is more specialised or noncombatant, The Lancer will often be the most skilled and dangerous fighter on the team. (not necessarily the strongest, that's reserved for The Big Guy)
* Conversely, The Lancer on a less-than-scrupulous or less-than-intelligent team may be its Only Sane Man, trying (often futilely) to keep the chaos under control. This Lancer may resemble a more traditional Hero (or the Team Mom version of The Chick, if acting as a moral compass).
* Has a very high likelihood to become the Ensemble Darkhorse, or if Badass enough, a Draco in Leather Pants, especially when The Hero is the clean-cut type. When worst comes to worst, The Lancer is the one person on the team who is likely to die for the cause. He's also the most likely member of the team to pull a Face Heel Turn and get turned to The Dark Side (though this usually doesn't last), or end up Brainwashed and Crazy by the Big Bad or the Evil Genius (and if this happens, either The Chick or The Hero will talk him out of it). It's becoming more and more common for this character to be female, either merged with, or contrasted with, The Chick. Having The Lancer be the other side to The Hero's coin is also fairly common. Having the character who is both most like and most unlike The Hero also being the strongest woman can create UST. If not multi-classed with The Chick, she may be in a Love Triangle, acting as the Veronica to The Chick's Betty in pursuit of the object of her secret desire, The Hero. A female Lancer and The Chick may develop into an Odd Couple, and even begin to work as a sub-team. A former Dark Magical Girl often becomes The Lancer after her Heel Face Turn. In the Five-Bad Band, his counterpart would be The Dragon. This Trope is named for the man-at-arms of The Middle Ages, the term for a professional soldier. While the term also encompasses the members of the knightly class, a man-at-arms was not necessarily a knight. They were also men of lesser financial and social status than knights, but were equally trained and equipped to fight on horseback in full armour and with sword and lance, just like their social superiors. In this regard, he is most recognizable as King Arthur's right-hand man, Lancelot (portrayed as a better fighter than even the king in most versions of the myth). Examples of The Lancer include:
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)