Military man

The military man is a stock character who is symbolic, for better or for worse, of the military. The military man is typically career military, although there are retired variations, and he is most often an officer, or at least a sergeant. The military man's life is centered around discipline and can be frequently indifferent to human suffering and human emotion, save anger. This causes him to be viewed as a harsh and unforgiving authoritarian and this treatment usually associates the character with the negative aspects of the military. To the military man, the military is his life. Although he may not be on the front lines, he is a fierce and aggressive warrior, sometimes with a personal code of honor.

The stereotypical military man often pursues victory at any cost. Occasionally, this will place him at odds with civilian leadership, whether it be military budgets, conduct, or limits on military adventurism. Other motivations are typically machismic strength, vanity, and valor. With few exceptions, the military man is rarely the hero. The military man is often an antagonistic foil to the main character if not the villain, although some depictions treat the military man as a patriarch or mentor character, helping the protagonist conquer his obstacles with copious applications of tough love, or sometimes comic relief, epitomizing a bumbling bureaucracy, out-of-touch commanders, or self-serving attitudes of the brass.

Another variant on the stock character, usually played for comic effect, is the retired officer, often British, who keeps an eccentric preoccupation with military matters. This stock character can be a teller of tall tales, like Baron Munchhausen or the cartoon character Commander McBragg. His military eccentricities may include constant reminiscing about his military career, or a disconcerting preoccupation with exotic or powerful weapons, such as urban artillery, as was exhibited by Admiral Boom in the Mary Poppins books and film. This officer may retain military dress well into his retirement. If he is given a military rank, that rank is often colonel (or major): both the rank and the costume distinguish Colonel Mustard in the game of Clue or Cluedo.

Although the character can be traced back to its origins in the Miles Gloriosus in classical drama, George C. Scott's depiction of General George S. Patton in the biographical film Patton is considered the benchmark of the military man. It should be noted that image of Patton in the movie was unlike the real-life George S. Patton, who spoke in a soft, high pitched voice, unlike the booming, gravelly voice of George C. Scott. Another of George C. Scott's roles, that of General "Buck" Turgidson in Dr. Strangelove, is also an excellent example of the military man, a manic and almost sex-crazed general who adovcates a preemptive nuclear first strike and is seemingly unconcerned with such an action causing millions of civilian casualties.

The military service of the character can also be a factor. The US Army, Navy and Air Force may be easygoing in some instances. Only the Marine Corps tends to be the tough guy and more in the military man's stereotype. The toughness can be said for the British Army and its "stiff upper lip" and spit and polish attitude.

The word may also refer to those who follow a military-like code of honor and rules outside the military, and attempt to impose it on others.

Other examples are R. Lee Ermey's Gunnery Sergeant Hartman from Full Metal Jacket, and Louis Gossett, Jr.'s Sergeant Emil Foley in An Officer and A Gentleman. Animated examples include James Garner's reading of Commander Rourke in Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Mr. Buzzcut from Beavis and Butt-head, and the character of the Colonel from the anime film Akira.

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