...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Burning the Ships
- 316 statements
- 60 feature instances
- 49 referencing feature instances
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| Burning the Ships | comment |
"Burning the/your ships/boats" means doing something that makes it impossible for yourself to turn back, especially if it is done willfully and without necessity. The figure of speech derives from legends about conquerors who supposedly, upon landing their army in enemy country, ordered the invasion fleet to be burnt. Most people today have heard this tale about Hernán Cortés doing it during the Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire, but it is in fact centuries older than him. The assumed benefit of such an act is that everyone on the team — whether it be an actual army intent on conquest, or any party pursuing a risky undertaking — will show maximum commitment if they know that retreat is impossible. There isn't any use in holding back or playing it safe when there is no exit option to fall back on. Desertion or mutiny is futile if there is no hope of escape. Dissenters are silenced when there are no choices left to argue over, and everyone's best hope of survival lies in cooperating for the common success. Once the Ships are Burnt, it's do or die for everyone — succeed, or face death or captivity. Or that is the theory. While tales of this type are a favorite of motivational trainers, who always focus on how "cutting off your retreat" will set free unknown potentials, there are only few historical examples of things like this actually happening, and then usually not for the exact same reasons. Also contrary to what motivational trainers like to suggest, it is not actually a guarantee of success. Depending on the situation and the kind of enterprise at hand, there are many ways of Burning the Ships: Throwing away vital supplies, like food or fuel. Destroying irreplacable equipment needed for the return journey. Intentionally leading your troops into a tight spot from which there is no way of escape without fighting. Giving your position or your plans away to the enemy, so they will block your exits. Destroying the radio or other means of communication needed to call for help. A group of people that intends to commit treason of some sort may send a message confessing their defection to the betrayed faction, making it impossible for anyone who gets cold feet to turn back to their old master and evade punishment. If actual ships are destroyed, burning is the preferred method. Obviously there are other ways to wreck ships, but burning is the most picturesque. An act like this can be unilaterally ordered by a leader, or agreed on as a collective decision. But it always hints at internal conflicts within the party that is thus committed to a common goal: Usually it is done precisely because the initiatiors of a Ship Burning do not trust in the loyalty or the morale of the rest of the group in the face of danger. Objecting to a Ship Burning is hard, as it may lead to being branded a coward or even traitor. Burning the Ships may be nothing less than a stratagem to coerce the group into a course of action they would not have chosen from their free will. Characters who order or initiate a Ship Burning are always reckless and uncompromising, and often morally ambivalent: Shining heroes do not need to force their followers to fight, or put the lives of their companions at unnecessary risks; on the other hand, even bad guys can earn some respect from the audience if they show they have no backup plan in the case of defeat. Characters who Burn the Ships are often Anti-Heroes, Anti-Villains, or Villain Protagonists. This trope often leads up to a Big Badass Battle Sequence, which will more than likely end in a Last Stand. Compare Cornered Rattlesnake, which is non-voluntary. Contrast Let the Past Burn, which is mostly a symbolic action on an individual scale. An employee quitting a job in a way that makes sure they can't ever go back again is Take This Job and Shove It. Throw the Sheath Away and The Gloves Come Off are distant relatives. Not to be confused with Sink the Lifeboats (that is, Burning Their Ships), which is about preventing your enemies from escaping so you can exterminate every last one of them. If you were thinking about burning pairings, see Ship Sinking. It is also certainly not the same as a Viking Funeral, although they do both involve burning a boat. |
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| Burning the Ships / int_121022b1 | type |
Burning the Ships | |
| Burning the Ships / int_121022b1 | comment |
The Grace of Kings: Mata burns his ships at Wolf's Paw and tells his men that the only way to get off is to defeat the enemies and take their ships. It works. | |
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| Burning the Ships / int_19a23a42 | comment |
At the end of The Bounty, Fletcher Christian has HMS Bounty burned, to make sure the mutineers are committed to living on Pitcairn Island and to prevent anyone from trying to get back to Tahiti or England. (Real Life demonstrated how this tactic can backfire. When an American whaling ship stumbled on the island 19 years later and solved the mystery of the lost HMS Bounty, only one mutineer was left alive, along with several women and children. The other mutineers and the Tahitian men who went with them had all killed each other off.) | |
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Nibelungenlied (adventure 25): After ferrying the entire Burgundian army across the Danube, Hagen hacks the boat to pieces and casts the pieces into the river. Asked why he did that, he replies they will not need the boat again and that he wishes that any deserters who might turn back should drown in the river. A little later he reveals that three river-women have already predicted that they will all die in Hunland. | |
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The Silmarillion: After the Noldorin Elves led by Fëanor have crossed over from Aman to Middle-earth on the ships they stole from the Telerin Elves, Fëanor orders them to burn all the ships. He does this to prevent any of his followers from returning to Aman, but also to make sure they cannot help the rest of the Noldor who follow Fëanor's brother Fingolfin get to Middle-earth. | |
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The Thing (1982): One of the many possible interpretations of Blair destroying the base's radios and transports during his Freak Out is him trying to prevent anyone coming in or out of the base and thus potentially letting the Thing infect the rest of the world. | |
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Redwall: When Cluny the Scourge arrives in Mossflower, he press-gangs a large number of the local vermin into his cause and orders his rats to smash the new conscripts' houses, so they will have nothing to return to if they desert him. | |
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The Belgariad: In Belgarath the Sorceror, Riva orders the ships that carried the settlers to the Isle of the Winds burned. He knows it will take a lot of hard work to build the fortress-city, and he doesn't want anyone deciding it's too much work and leaving. | |
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Honor Harrington: The original colonists to Grayson wrecked their starship's cryonics equipment, ensuring that it would be impossible to return to the "sinful" Earth. They didn't wreck the whole thing, though, which is fortunate because it turned out that the planet was basically one huge Superfund site and there's no way they would have survived without the ship's resources. | |
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The Simpsons: In "And Maggie Makes Three", it's shown that when Homer quit his job at the nuclear plant to pursue his dream job at the bowling alley, he burned his bridges both metaphorically (by mocking Mr. Burns and literally playing his head like a bongo drumnote "Oh, I should be resisting this, but I'm paralyzed with rage! ...And island rhythms!") and literally. Naturally, by the end of the episode he's forced to get his old job back and has to come groveling to Burns. | |
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Anabasis: Xenophon describes how at one point, while leading the Greek retreat from Persia, he positioned his army in front of a chasm, precisely so that both his own soldiers and the pursuing Persians would know that retreat was impossible. The Persians withdrew and allowed the Greeks to retreat. Only a partial example, however, because Xenophon's purpose was to retreat, not to force a confrontation. | |
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A less extreme example, but when they arrive on the island in Surf Ninjas, Zatch puts a hole in their boat and sends it out with the tide so it will sink to the bottom of the ocean. As he puts it, they shall either be victorious, or in their graves. | |
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Commentaries on the Gallic War: When the Celtic tribal confederation known as the Helvetii migrate from their homeland with the plan to conquer better and greater lands for themselves, they set fire to their old homes (according to Caesar: twelve towns, four hundred villages, and separate dwellings besides), and burn all the corn they do not carry with them. This is done so that "after destroying the hope of a return home, they might be the more ready for undergoing all dangers." They also persuade three minor neighbouring tribes to join them, and they too burn their own settlements. Later in the same year, the Helvetii and their allies are defeated by the Romans at Bibracte, and the survivors are forced to return to their old territory and rebuild their homes. Archaelogy has never found evidence for the mass-burning of Helvetian settlements, meaning Julius Caesar probably made this story up. | |
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Fullmetal Alchemist: When setting out on their journey, the Elric brothers Ed and Al burn down their childhood home so there will be no turning back. Explored and discussed later on. Winry understands why they did this and why Ed put the date on his watch, but calls him out by thinking they don't have a home anymore, causing the brothers to realize they still have people waiting for them when they complete their journey. Another if not darker extent is when Ed sees his father Van Hoenheim at the place. Hoenheim actually points out that Ed did not burn the house because of this, but because of their failure at bringing back their mother, with Hoenheim even comparing it to a child wetting the bed and hiding the sheets. Ed's horrified looks imply that Hoenheim is not entirely wrong in this. | |
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In the "Greenlandic Lay of Atli" of the Poetic Edda, the Niflungs do not fasten the boat in which they have rowed to Hunland, so it will presumably be driven away by wind and waves. This is a hint that they already expect that they will not return. | |
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Fist of the North Star: While in the process of mourning the fallen Hyui, Shuren, one of the Five Chariot Stars, incinerates his army's fortress as a memorial to his fallen comrade and as a means to force his men to attack the killer, Raoh. Shame that it does very little to help him survive his fight with Raoh. | |
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In 1776, John Adams makes this declaration during the Eleven O'Clock Number, "Is Anybody There." Though despondent over the might of the British army and his Congressional allies giving up in the face of the South's walkout, he declares that he's already passed the point of no return and therefore, cannot stop fighting to realize his dreams of an independent America. | |
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In The Weaver Option Lorgar sacrifices Sicuarus, the homeworld of his forces, and all of the system's infrastructure to the Chaos Gods in exchange for a massive power boost to the Fifth Black Crusade, knowing full well failure would mean his destruction. | |
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This is a Discussed Trope in the last season of The Office (US). Andy Bernard talks about the legend of Cortes sinking his ships. He then insults David Wallace and defecates on his car so that he won't have the option of returning to Dunder-Mifflin if his show business hopes don't work out. | |
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Manowar's "Heart of Steel" features a few lines about just this trope. | |
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| Burning the Ships / int_470d3e8f | type |
Burning the Ships | |
| Burning the Ships / int_470d3e8f | comment |
A variation in Wulfrik, where the titular hero leaves the men their ships, instead removing the way to safely return those ships home. The Norscan fleet sailed through the Warp (towed by the Seafang) to emerge deep in the Empire, and Wulfrik's rival Sveinbjorn intended to cast his enemies adrift on the way back. Wulfrik instead cuts all the ships loose so only his ship goes into the Warp, leaving the Norscans with no option but to fight their way home (and because he was flying Sveinbjorn's flag, they'll think Sveinbjorn ordered it). | |
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One contestant on Chopped reinforced her own commitment to remain a chef, rather than return to corporate life, by having each knuckle tattooed with small pictures of desserts. She knew that having such tats would hinder her chances at potential white-collar job interviews. | |
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Reaper's Gale: Adjunct Tavore Paran orders the Malazan ships to be burned after unloading her punitive army on the shores of Lether. Under a morally ambiguous commander of uncertain motivations, being stranded on foreign shores with no way back home certainly serves to fuel speculation among the Bonehunters. | |
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Gotrek & Felix: Subverted in one case where a Bretonnian pirate hunter burns his ships to encourage his men to fight a Norscan raider's forces to the death on an island. It backfires spectacularly when the Norscan sees the smoke, figures out what's happening, and sails off. The Bretonnian is hanged that very night by his crew. | |
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In The Twilight Zone episode "On Thursday We Leave For Home", Captain Benteen tries in vain to destroy the rescue ships from Earth because he wants to remain in control of the people on the asteroid. | |
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According to The Battle of Magh Tuireadh, the Tuatha Dé Danann "immediately broke and burnt all their ships and boats" upon landing in Ireland to challenge the Fir Bolg for one half of the island. | |
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In Warcraft III, Prince Arthas Menethil impulsively leads his troops to Northrend in pursuit of the Dreadlord Mal'Ganis, while the undead plague is still afflicting his kingdom of Lordaeron. While Arthas is out of his camp, a messenger from King Terenas arrives with orders to recall the prince's forces, who are elated at the thought of leaving the frozen wasteland and returning home. The mission that follows has Arthas and his companion Muradin Bronzebeard fighting across the map, hiring mercenaries for help, all so they can reach and destroy the return ships before his men can finish preparations for leaving. Afterward, Arthas makes scapegoats out of the mercenaries he hired for the act, joins his men in killing them, and declares that they have no choice but to continue the hunt for Mal'Ganis. Muradin chews him out for his actions, and the episode takes Arthas one step further from Anti-Hero to Villain Protagonist. The above episode is recalled in the Expansion Pack Wrath of the Lich King of World of Warcraft, where the player can explore Arthas' past that led him to become the Lich King. |
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Between Three Rogues: Before the final battle, Fina asks Aika to dismantle her Silvite skyship and use the parts to upgrade the Delphinus. When Aika warns her that it'll be impossible to rebuild afterwards, Fina replies that as far as she's concerned, after learning the Awful Truth about the Silvites, there's nothing up there for her anymore. | |
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Codex Alera: In Cursor's Fury, the Canim commander Sarl burns the Canim fleet in order to prevent the warriors under his command who are there under duress from fleeing back home. The invasion was ordered by priests of two castes who dislike each other passionately. | |
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One for All and Eight for the Ninth: When the Tea Spillers discover the motherload of information about the Hero Public Safety Commission's multiple corrupt dealings, they know that the Commission will be going after them even harder. Still, they not only publish all the material they've got over the Internet, they also send copies to every hero school, media, and even the World Heroes Association, even though they know they are possibly signing their own death warrants with the action. | |
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Tears to Tiara: After declaring war on the Empire, Arthur orders his men to burn their hometown down so they will march onward to conquer a new home. | |
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Berserk: In the Battle of Doldrey, Griffith positions himself and the portion of his army that he expects to face the largest part of the enemy force with their backs to a river and no way to retreat. He does this not only to motivate his own men, but also as part of a Batman Gambit: cornered and outnumbered, his force presents a tempting target that succeeds in drawing the enemy forces out of their castle, which is promptly captured in a sneak attack by a small flanking force. | |
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In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: In "Paradise", Sisko and O'Brien come across a group of space Luddites who crash-landed on a planet ten years ago, and since then have thrown away all their electronic technology, thus forsaking any chance to call for help. It turns out the leader of the group and her son had secretly sabotaged the ship so it would crash and are keeping a technology-blocking device going so that nobody on the planet can use any technology even if they wanted to. In "Hippocratic Oath" a Jem'Hadar commander discovers that he has lost his genetic addiction to Ketracel White which his race has been bred to have in order to make them loyal to the Founders. He takes his platoon to an empty planet because he thinks the plants there have cured him, and then destroys both his ship and most of their supply of Ketracel White to get them off the stuff too. But it turns out he's the only one who is affected, and the rest of the crew develops withdrawal symptoms. |
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In Halt and Catch Fire Joe deliberately informs IBM that Joe and Gordon, as Cardiff Electric employees, have reverse engineered the IBM PC BIOS code. IBM sends in an army of lawyers and Nathan Cardiff is left with two choices: fully commit his company to the PC clone project Joe is advocating or get sued into bankruptcy by IBM. Everyone is furious at Joe but in the end he gets his way. This is then subverted when we realize that the project's failure will ruin everyone except Joe. He forced everyone else to take a high personal risk and commit fully to the project, but due to his father's connections he can walk away at any time and resume his old life. | |
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In the history of the Tuala Morn setting of Fantasy Hero, the ancestors of the Tualans were refugees hunting for a new homeland. Once they decided to settle in Tuala Morn, their leader scuttled their ships as a sacrifice to the sea gods, thanking them for their aid. | |
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Neo Yokio: Helena does this when she blows up the Bachelor Ranking Board in an act of terrorism. Law enforcement soon learned Helena is the culprit; forcing her to flee Neo Yokio. | |
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The 1935 version of Mutiny on the Bounty also has Christian burning the ship, as happened in Real Life. The 1962 film puts an odd and fictional twist on it, by having the crew burn the ship after Christian decides to go back to England. | |
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In The Shining, Jack Torrance, slowly being possessed by the evil spirits in the snowed-in Overlook Hotel, disables the ham radio (the family's only means of calling for help) and the snowcat (their only means to leave the hotel). | |
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Over Jon of Many A True Nerd's playthrough of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, he develops a fantastically unhealthy relationship with one of the game's companions, namely by using them as a Dead Thrall, trapping them in an unlife of endless servitude. When he finally decides to let them go, he kills his companion, then makes a point of reviving them with the Dread Zombie spell, because unlike Dead Thrall, when that spell expires the corpse is reduced to a pile of ashes that cannot be revived again. | |
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A Song of Ice and Fire: One of the important historical characters is the Princess Nymeria, who led a fleet of Rhoynish refugees away from their Valyrian conquerors. After ending up in Dorne and allying with the then-minor House Martell, she burned the rest of the fleet so that the Rhoynish would never leave their new home. This is the reason for the differences between Dornish culture and the other kingdoms'. After sitting out most of Robert's Rebellion, after the death of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen at the Battle of the Trident made a rebel victory a Foregone Conclusion, Tywin Lannister knew he had to prove he'd turned his back on House Targaryen in such a fashion that the rebels under Robert Baratheon were under no illusions whose side he was on, so Tywin marched to King's Landing with his army, pledging to defend it from the rebels. Once King Aerys II opened the city gates to Tywin, his army brutally sacked the capital city and slaughtered the royal family to show the rebels that House Lannister wouldn't turn back to the Targaryens even if they wanted to. |
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In Yellowjackets the titular soccer team takes a plane that crashes and leaves them stranded in the Ontario wilderness. Equipment manager Misty overhears two teammates talking about being surprised by the way she's taken control of the situation (giving first aid, among other things). She's so elated to be admired for the first time that she destroys the emergency sign transmitter/flight recorder to keep them stranded. It works so well that they are not rescued until 19 months later. | |
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During the third act of the Wano Country Arc in One Piece, Kin'emon cuts down the ships the alliance used to arrive at Kaido's headquarters, stating there is no turning back in their fight to save Wano. Franky yells at him not to do the same to the Thousand Sunny, which is hidden away instead | |
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In Episode 4 of Life Is Strange Max burns the photograph she had used to change history in the previous episode, making sure she isn't tempted to do it again. The game potentially ends with her tearing up the butterfly photo that started it all rather than use it to go back and sacrifice Chloe. | |
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In the film of The Hunt for Red October, Marko Ramius, captain of a submarine carrying nuclear missiles, sends a letter to the CO of the Soviet Navy stating that he and his command staff are defecting. When his staff officers ask him why he did it, he cites the example of Cortes' destruction of his ships. | |
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Malazan Book of the Fallen: The Bridgeburners' name invokes this. They are an elite company, the Emperor's favourite one, of which every member has "burned the bridge" to his or hers past. Even their company emblem consists of a silver brooch with ruby flames. Midnight Tides: The Tiste Edur, upon setting out to conquer the Kingdom of Lether, allow their home villages to be bombarded and utterly destroyed by magic, so as to not have anything possible dissenters could return to. |
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Invoked in Gattaca: The movie features two brothers, Anton (born with genetic enhancements) and Vincent (without). Both brothers throughout their childhood competed in a game of "chicken" where they would swim out as far out to sea as possible with the loser being the one who turns back first. Anton would always beat Vincent due to his enhancements except for the last time they played, where Vincent won. Shortly after, Vincent leaves home and disappears, assuming a new identity in order to chase his impossible (for a non-enhanced person) dream of becoming an astronaut. When both are adults, fate brings them together and it appears Anton has been holding a grudge over being beaten by his inferior brother ("you didn't beat me that day, I beat myself!"). They repeat the game, and when Vincent wins again he reveals his secret to Anton: he never saved any energy for the swim back ("the other side is closer"). This parallels Vincent's quest to become an astronaut despite his genetics and thus society standing in his way via sheer determination and audacity. He never had an escape plan or expected to even make it back from a trip to space. | |
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The Finest Hours: After the SS Pendleton splits in two, the ship's engineer, Mr. Sybert, cuts the sole lifeboat down, which is then splintered by the waves, leaving the men no other choice but to help him keep them afloat awhile longer. | |
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In the first Jaws, Quint destroys the radio when Brodie tries to call for help, and later appears to deliberately burn out his engine so they can't escape their final confrontation with the shark. | |
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SpongeBob SquarePants: In "Clams", Mr. Krabs enlists SpongeBob and Squidward to help him to get his millionth dollar back from the clam that ate it. To force them to catch the clam (and in an allusion to Moby-Dick), Mr. Krabs nails a sandwich to the flagpole before throwing the boat's fridge overboard, so that no one will eat until the clam is captured. | |
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For His Own Sake: Throughout out this story, the Hinata girls' flaws cause them to destroy their bonds with their love ones. The ones that learn their lesson and were able to take responsibility for their actions were able repair their relationships with their loved ones. The ones that did not permanently destroyed their relationships with their loved ones with the latter wanting nothing to do with the former. | |
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Empire Earth: Late in the Russian campaign of the first game, Grigor II does this, partly to teach Molotov not to question him. He explicitly mentions Cortéz as his inspiration. | |
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Julian did this believing that his victory was assured by the gods. He was wrong. One character described it as the beginning of the end: "Nothing went right again." | |
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The Hunt for Red October: Marko Ramius, captain of a submarine carrying nuclear missiles, sends a letter to the CO of the Soviet Navy stating that he and his command staff are defecting. When his staff officers ask him why he did it, he says the knowledge that there is no turning back will strengthen their motivation and commitment. | |
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The King Nobody Wanted: Tywin does this to himself by accident (or rather, without realizing exactly how morally inflexible of a leader he’s committing himself to) when he sacks King’s Landing and kills Elia Martell and her children. The depravity of his actions ensures that the Targaryen loyalists will kill him if they win and he has to keep supporting Stannis for as long as the war goes on, despite the growing antagonism between them. | |
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Peter and the Starcatchers: In the first act of the first book, the pirate Black Stache dumps most of his water overboard so that the only way his men can avoid dying of thirst is by fully committing themselves to chasing and catching the ship Stache is after and taking its water. Reaper's Gale: Adjunct Tavore Paran orders the Malazan ships to be burned after unloading her punitive army on the shores of Lether. Under a morally ambiguous commander of uncertain motivations, being stranded on foreign shores with no way back home certainly serves to fuel speculation among the Bonehunters. |
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Midnight Tides: The Tiste Edur, upon setting out to conquer the Kingdom of Lether, allow their home villages to be bombarded and utterly destroyed by magic, so as to not have anything possible dissenters could return to. | |
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In the finale of Battlestar Galactica (2003) the survivors of the Twelve Colonies have no choice but to commit themselves to a primitive life on prehistoric Earth when the decision is made to literally burn the ships that brought them there - they are flown into the Sun on autopilot. | |
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The Book of Boba Fett. Before sneaking into Jabba's palace to steal back his spacecraft, Boba sets free his bantha that he's been using to ride across the Dune Sea. When Fennec Shand questions the wisdom of this, Boba says he's going to succeed or die in the attempt. Fortunately his spacecraft has been kept in a flyable condition. | |
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From Aguirre, the Wrath of God: After promoting Don Fernando de Guzmán to 'Emperor of El Dorado', Aguirre makes Carvajal write a letter to King Philipp of Spain which declares not only their defection from Spain, but also the "overthrow" of the House of Habsburg and the "dethronement" of Philipp. The letter is kept by Aguirre, who in this way makes sure that Guzmán and the rest cannot bail out of their rebellion, as the letter is incriminating proof of their complicity. | |
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The Art Of War: Sun Tzu advises this as one of his stratagems to motivate your troops, but for the same reason warns against forcing an enemy into a situation where it appears his only option is to fight to the death. Instead, he advises leaving an apparent escape route to encourage flight. A fleeing enemy is easier to kill, after all. | |
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Styrbjorn in "The Tale of Styrbjorn" has his fleet burnt after sailing up the Fyris River to Uppsala to challenge his uncle Erik for the kingship. | |
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