The Eternal Churchill: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

The human race is under attack or otherwise being menaced by alien or supernatural forces. We're outnumbered, outgunned and seemingly completely screwed. But we still refuse to surrender, and so fight back. The trope doesn't necessarily have to involve violence; any sufficiently bad threat to our survival will do, but war seems to be the norm. Almost like a species-wide [[Last Stand]], and thus often requires a species-wide [[Rousing Speech]].

 

 

A subtrope of [[Emergency Presidential Address]]. Compare [[The Remnant]]. See also [[Patrick Stewart Speech]].

 

== [[Film]] ==

* ''[[Independence Day]]'' is a big one. In fact, this trope seemed to be largely the premise of the entire film.

{{quote|"We will not go quietly into the night...we will not vanish without a fight! We are going to live on! We are going to survive! Today, we celebrate our Independence Day!"}}

* Not sure if this is playing it straight or not, (a [[Double Subversion]] possibly) but in ''[[Robin Hood: Men in Tights]]'', Robin tries to rally the peasants against King John and the Sheriff of Rottingham with Churchill's actual speech. This just makes the peasants bored. However black merry man Achoo manages to get the peasants to join Robin with a Malcolm X speech. (Or a version thereof)

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* [[Fred Saberhagen]]'s "Berserker" universe - "When they came, you [humans] were waiting and dug in on a hundred worlds. Because you were, some of you and some of us are now alive." The alien narrator also comments on his race's perception that humanity had suffered war for its entire history, against the day when nothing less would serve for the survival of all life.

** Granted, the aliens got their advanced technology from plans left behind by the [[Precursors]], and therefore weren't even close to psychologically prepared to deal with other civilizations' paradigms. As proven by their decision that establishing dominance with an orbital bombardment is a good way to say "hello".

** Those countries aren't entirely random, incidentally. Within recent memory, the Finns had held off the full might of the Soviet Union in 1939-40, while the Turkish contingent in Korea had fought bravely and won unit citations in 1951. The Chinese of course were also involved in Korea, on the other side, while Bolivia had recently undergone a revolution and deposed a dictator in favour of democracy...

** Indeed, even the aliens acknowledge this: one major difference between Yeerks and humans is that Yeerks will give up if they know they're going to lose, while humans won't. Some, like the Yeerk that controlled Jake or Visser Three, think this is basically pointless, but Visser One was smart enough to realize this would make conquering humans a harder task to accomplish.

** Stated almost flat-out by one of Visser One's hosts:

** From Ax's "Earth Diary": "''Give me liberty, or give me death.'' A human named Patrick Henry said that. I wonder if, when the Yeerks invaded, they knew humans said things like that. I wonder if they truly knew what they were getting into."

* E.E. Knight's ''[[The Vampire Earth]]'' series has a heavy dose of this, at least when it comes to the humans that aren't [[The Quisling|Quislings]].

* In [[Lois McMaster Bujold]]'s ''[[Vorkosigan Saga|Memory]]'', Miles repeats a joke about his ancestors (which I'm sure is based on a real joke with the ethnicities switched): that when they were invaded, they tried to surrender, but were so backwards they couldn't find anyone who could read the terms of the treaty, so they kept fighting and eventually won. This also sparks an epiphany as to which of his dual identities is the true him; because Admiral Naismith strove for victory, but Lord Vorkosigan could not surrender, so in the end Lord Vorkosigan was the persona he chose.

* Princess Leia gets a speech like this in ''[[New Jedi Order|Star by Star]]'', though admittedly its an entire ''galaxy'' she's encouraging to fight back against the evil invaders and not "just" the human race.

* In ''[[Alex Benedict|The Devil's Eye]]'' by Jack McDevitt, the president of a planet that has just discovered a possible world ending catastrophe is approaching, gives a speech about perseverance that ends with "And if our world should endure for a hundred million years, it will always be known that this was our finest hour." Alex Benedict is an archeologist/treasure hunter and is the only member of the cast familiar enough with history to realize that he is cribbing, and who from.

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

** Especially on the planet of Armageddon (the name wasn't chosen at random). The text makes you want to eat rats and roaches, crawl half naked through ventilation shafts and weld yourself into a crane to attack gargants.

** Armageddon's got it rough, but for the king of kings of this trope we turn to noble Cadia. The Cadian Gate is, literally, the front door to the Eye of Terror; a.k.a. where ''virtually all the forces of Chaos come from.'' They have held the line for over ten millennia. They have turned back mad warbands, rogue cults and entire Dark Crusades. Military service isn't required or expected, it's ''just how life goes'' there. And rather than be the most morbid bunch in the universe, they're not only the shining example of the Imperial Guard, they consider being born on any other world (and not becoming a [[Space Marine]]) a mark of ''shame''. For the Emperor, indeed.

** The Ur-Quan specifically chose to use planetary shields to [[Averted Trope|avert]] [[Genre Savvy|this trope]]. Any race too courageous to agree to serve them would end up trapped in an [[Sealed Good in a Can|impenetrable force field]]. This allows the Ur-Quan to win against enemies who were too dumb to [[The Determinator|know when they're beaten]], without having to [[Kill'Em All]].

** If you talk to Commander Hayes, he reveals that Earth kept the war going right up to the point where Ur-Quan ships were positioned in orbit, ready to glass the entire planet.

{{quote|'''Emperor Arcturus Mengsk ([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}w8mmX9IjkhI Inauguration Speech])''': ''And to all the enemies of humanity, seek not to bar our way, for we shall win through - no matter the cost!''}}

** However, Mengsk is one of the less evil villains, and his only goal is more and more power.

* In ''[[Deadlock]]'', the human faction is mainly known for its prowess in the [[Humans Are Diplomats|realms of trade and diplomacy]] - greatly suited for winning the game in peaceful ways. But if they're forced into a fight, they have a special weapon too - all Human Infantry can use the 'Berserk' command in battle, injecting themselves with [[Super Serum]] that [[The Berserker|whips them into a frenzy, granting them the incredible strength and durability they need to take on vastly more powerful alien foes]]. Unfortunately, any survivors will either be killed or crippled for life by the drug's body altering effects. Even the '''[[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Tarth]]''' find this fanatical dedication to be downright disturbing.

* [[Halo]]: The UNSC also runs off this trope, to the point where the human population at war's end was reduced from 39 billion to about ''16'' billion.

* The villain equivilant of this is The Helghast from ''[[Killzone]]''. They know to a man they cannot win, but they keep fighting for their home.

 

[[Category:Narrative Devices]]

[[Category:Heroic Spirit]]