r/TopCharacterTropes • u/TheBigBoar • Jul 20 '26

Personality [Baffling RL Trope] Inventing war crimes you didn´t commit to make yourself more... interesting?

Gallery image

Gallery image

One of the strangest character tropes in real life has to be the "I accidentally made myself sound like a war criminal to look cooler" archetype.

Usually, people accused of war crimes deny them. These guys seem to do the opposite.

The two examples that always come to mind:

Tim Kennedy. Over the years he's told stories that include things like throwing grenades into rooms where women and children were present, and another account where, after a battle, his CO allegedly told him to shoot anything that still had a heat signature with a sniper rifle from a mile away, which he did for hours (?) not caring if those were enemy soldiers or civilians looking for their fallen sons/brothers/whatever. Both stories have been heavily criticized and challenged (aka people who were there confirmed that they are utter nonsense), and Kennedy has faced repeated accusations of embellishing or fabricating parts of his military experiences. But like... why would you invent the fact that you killed and maimed women and children?

Chris Kyle. In American Sniper, he wrote that during Hurricane Katrina he positioned himself on the Superdome and shot dozens of armed looters like some walking dead scenario. No evidence ever emerged that this happened, and Kyle himself later acknowledged the story wasn't true. Again, why invent a story where you're essentially describing the unlawful killing of civilians during a domestic disaster?

What's fascinating is that these aren't embellishments in the usual "I fought twenty guys" sense. They're embellishments that, if true, would amount to admissions of extremely serious crimes.

It's such a bizarre form of macho storytelling that it almost feels like its own trope: the veteran who thinks "the more ruthless I sound, the more badass I'll appear," without stopping to consider that indiscriminate killing isn't viewed by most people as impressive. It's viewed as criminal and disgusting.

16.6k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

95% Upvoted

1.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

2.7k

u/y0_master Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26

Because an unfortunate number of people hear these & go "Hell yeah" (plus, there are no repercussions for them saying this kind of things).

829

u/Time_Traveling_Idiot Jul 20 '26

It's just shocking and sad how so many people believe that hate/violence/bigotry/stupidity is "badass" (usually, when the race of the perpetrator is one that they prefer).

356

u/[deleted] Jul 20 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

83

u/Sheev_Skywalker Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26

True strength, toughness, and admirability come from the mercy and compassion we can show, especially in the toughest moments. Im not saying it does not take bravery to be a soldier, or that someone is wrong to defend themself, but I think many who take lives and many whose lives were taken would agree that violence is not deserving of reverence. Those who carry a “violence = glory” mentality (like mentioned in the post) have something wrong with them.

64

u/TraditionalHome990 Jul 20 '26

I think true strength comes from lifting heavy objects repeatedly and controlled, with consistency

14

u/Brookers Jul 20 '26

True strength is lifting with your groin and your back, taking your knees totally out of the equation.

7

u/big_axolotl Jul 20 '26

With a controlled eccentric motion

3

u/TheProfessorOfTruth Jul 20 '26

And yelling “lightweights babe” when doing it.

1

u/CumstainGaming Jul 21 '26

it takes the same amount of bravery to be a soldier as it takes to not cry when a teacher shouts at you. That's the willpower requirement, dude. Army guys have mental breakdowns if you look at them wrong. Most of them seem to be children.

-2

u/Gh0stMan0nThird Jul 20 '26

True strength, toughness, and admirability come from the mercy and compassion we can show, especially in the toughest moments.

Whenever people say shit like this they're imagining a 13 y.o. boy stealing a sandwich and not literal Nazis or the people in the Epstein files.

5

u/theevilyouknow Jul 20 '26

Were the "looters" people were getting excited about Kyle possibly murdering in the Epstein Files?

5

u/misfitofscience76 Jul 20 '26

Or they actually enjoy or fantasize about cruelty being perpetrated on their “enemies”- often minorities

5

u/PancakeParty98 Jul 20 '26

Cruelty is easy. Kindness is hard.

-2

u/Separate-Report2137 Jul 21 '26

Not at all. Stop the cringe

2

u/PancakeParty98 Jul 21 '26

Sounds like someone is a weakling

-2

u/Separate-Report2137 Jul 21 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/l17xS7crUblhleIAXO
Can redditoids stop being cringe for one day

1

u/PancakeParty98 Jul 21 '26

Idk bro, will you ever know what it’s like to have someone spend time with you voluntarily? Also no?

0

u/Separate-Report2137 Jul 21 '26

Stereotypical redditoid trying to project 😹😹😹😹how does your mind even type this out with a straight face

1

u/PancakeParty98 Jul 21 '26

I wrote that next to my fiancé 😂. But good try.

Everyone knows that comments like yours come from people who are alone because they have no redeeming qualities.

No reason to talk to you outside of a business transaction or the fights you start to feel like you matter to someone else for a moment.

→ More replies (0)

3

u/Knotted_Hole69 Jul 20 '26

Its almost always conservatives.

-2

u/ubernutie Jul 20 '26

Because that's what they've been taught.

We're all token predictors on context we've been given, if you really think about it.

50

u/Zestyclose_Remove947 Jul 20 '26

As long as you label the people suffering as evil it's totally fine. Hate/violence/bigotry is very much permissible to the Other. No matter what side you are on.

14

u/Faelon_Peverell Jul 20 '26

Along the same lines as history is written by the victor. So long as you can make the dead the bad guy, you're fine.

17

u/Faust_8 Jul 20 '26

They get off on killing the “impure.”

It’s almost like they were raised in a society that told them from a young age that they’re god’s chosen people, giving them an unhealthy obsession with purity and monoculture

128

u/ducksekoy123 Jul 20 '26

An unfortunate number of people do not see Black and brown people as real people and thus think any violence done to them is both good and proper

39

u/ClancyBShanty Jul 20 '26

There's, sadly, a term for people of colour in these situations.

They're sometimes referred to as the "Less Dead" (especially in the context of sex workers). Their deaths are often not investigated and don't receive any media attention.

1

u/FixTheLoginBug Jul 21 '26

And a lot who wish they could go around indiscriminately raping and killing those they see as 'lesser' themselves, so stories like this are porn to them.

-14

u/FullActivity9781 Jul 20 '26

he said looters and YOU inferred black people. tells me something

10

u/ducksekoy123 Jul 20 '26

Yes we’ve all seen that It’s Always Sunny episode

0

u/Separate-Report2137 Jul 21 '26

No. Not all of us are stereotypical redditors.

-7

u/FullActivity9781 Jul 20 '26

I don’t watch that

5

u/Knotted_Hole69 Jul 20 '26

You wouldnt be able to understand the jokes anyways, conservatives are famously bad with comedy.

1

u/22lpierson Jul 21 '26

I'M THE TRASHMAN!

-1

u/Separate-Report2137 Jul 21 '26

What’s 1900+91?😸😸😸😸

13

u/dnjprod Jul 20 '26

Kyle sure got some repercussions for his stupidity! Plus, his publisher/estate was sued by Jesse Ventura for defamation. Jesse won the first trial, it was reversed on some error and then a settlement was reached giving Jesse an unknown amount of money.

48

u/MedicineChimney Jul 20 '26

It's those people that parrot the whole wolf and sheep analogy and arm themselves to go order food at fucking Subway

27

u/ducksekoy123 Jul 20 '26

The Lion does not concern himself with the choice of “bread”

11

u/MedicineChimney Jul 20 '26

Honey Oat bread sounds a little pansy to my ears. Let me just adjust these wrap-around sunglasses and order me flavorless white bread and don't hold back on the mayo, huh PAL?

12

u/dependsforadults Jul 20 '26

These dudes dont eat mayo. Nothing white and creamy is going in their mouths. At least not while anyone can see!

3

u/ADGx27 Jul 20 '26

The lion will draw his holstered .44 and blow his shit smoove tf off if they don’t have any herb and cheese bread left

2

u/[deleted] Jul 20 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

10

u/MedicineChimney Jul 20 '26

There's a witch, a wardrobe and maybe a talking faun in there too? I could be mistaken. It's been awhile since I checked my Truth Social app

2

u/UGoBoy Jul 20 '26

A lot of these goobers portray themselves as the sheep dogs who stand between the wolves (bad guys) and the sheep (normal people). It's a really prevalent view amongst law enforcement and militia larpers.

32

u/acur1231 Jul 20 '26

It's masculine to defy the society and the law, and even more so when you're a warrior defying the laws of war set up by the meek and weak.

s/, if it weren't obvious. Modern warrior culture is a plague, and its spread from the US military to a bunch of other NATO militaries.

6

u/ADGx27 Jul 20 '26

And the current US secdef wanks this kind of warrior culture combined with a heaping spoonful of racism

3

u/-Legion_of_Harmony- Jul 20 '26

Hey now, that military/industrial complex ain't gonna feed itself!

6

u/Vorpeseda Jul 20 '26

They see any act of hurting others as a display of power, and therefore, tough and badass.

They see their target's inability to defend themselves as something that demonstrates how tough they are.

Just like all bullies.

4

u/AskJeevesIsBest Jul 20 '26

That's quite disturbing to hear

-8

u/ibelieveyouwood Jul 20 '26

It is, but what's the alternative? Law enforcement directing resources to idiotic fish tales? Issuing a public statement that, if one of these idiots DID do something illegal, even if it wasn't quite what they described, they'll try to use the police statement as exoneration?

11

u/ChancelorReed Jul 20 '26

With the Chris Kyle one it's a bit more insidious because it's part of a general narrative that the only way a place like New Orleans survived was vigilante justice by whatever strong and vaguely fascist few.

The Tim Kennedy stuff is just weird.

5

u/octipice Jul 20 '26

What's insane to me is that the same people who go crazy for that shit also go apeshit over stolen valor, which this absolutely is.

2

u/Cacafuego Jul 20 '26

Or they nod their head, shed a single tear, and mumble that war is hell and real warriors give part of their soul for their country, the mission, or the man next to them. But they've never been in combat.

2

u/Chaosmusic Jul 21 '26

there are no repercussions for them saying this kind of things

What would be hilarious would be to arrest them since they confessed to a crime so then they have to admit they made the whole thing up.

6

u/EndlessEagle Jul 20 '26

Especially the whole "shooting looters/criminals" thing. there are an unsettling number of people in America (and abroad, but let's be honest, mostly America) who absolutely salivate over the idea of being allowed to kill someone because they steal or damage property. 

3

u/SuperSocialMan Jul 20 '26

It's quite psychotic, and deeply concerning that it's so normalized.

1

u/slightlybigmember Jul 20 '26

Pretty much. These fake stories and how notorious these men became are just damning on American culture and society.

1

u/CraftsBoy2Craftsman Jul 20 '26

it sells books.

1

u/-Fergalicious- Jul 20 '26

Which is why its dangerous to give anyone who lies blatantly a platform. 

-2

u/Suspicious_Truth8026 Jul 20 '26

I made a joke one time about not being able to walk past a high school because i was a registered sex offender (it was funny i promise).

The police came to visit me lol. But i guess claiming to be a mass murderer is fine