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Dawn Attack
- 163 statements
- 30 feature instances
- 22 referencing feature instances
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Dawn attacks are particularly popular in Real Life as well as fiction. It is generally assumed that surprise attacks are most likely to take place at dawn. This allows the attackers to move into place during the cover of the night, while using the first light of the morning to see well enough for the actual attack. There is also the hope that an attack just before or just at dawn will catch the enemy while most of them are still sleeping or just waking up, and are therefore not fully alert. Also, as dawn is a time of transition between dark and light, the theory is that attacking at dawn allows you to catch the enemy while their eyes have not yet fully adjusted to the morning light. For an extra bonus, you can attack from an direction that will result in the enemies being blinded by the glare of the rising sun. Finally, attacking at dawn means that you have the full day of light to press the attack, an important consideration before the modern age of night-vision and electric lights. Of course, the irony of this tactic is that it has been so heavily used that most military forces now use the practice called "Stand-To-Arms", where the entire defending force wakes up sometime before dawn and goes to a full defensive alert, with every soldier in their battle positions. In WWI, this resulted in the rather surreal situation where an army would mobilize each morning to prepare for an attack that can't possibly come—as the enemy was also busy standing-to-arms. For fictional purposes, the Dawn Attack adds extra drama to a scene, symbolizes transitions and new beginnings, and (in visual mediums) allows for just enough light to be able to clearly portray the action. Compare Shot at Dawn. Examples |
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| Dawn Attack / int_27aeb99d | type |
Dawn Attack | |
| Dawn Attack / int_27aeb99d | comment |
At the start of Master and Commander, the French frigate Acheron ambushes the Surprise at six bells, when most of the crew would have been asleep if someone hadn't caught a glimpse of the enemy vessel in the fog bank. Because the sun hasn't burnt the fog away yet the Acheron is able to stealthily approach within cannon range, but the Surprise is also able to slip away using the same fog. However they're not fully confident of having evaded their pursuer until nightfall. | |
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| Dawn Attack / int_2d1084bc | type |
Dawn Attack | |
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A fantasy sequence in Beavis And Butthead has Beavis as a commander in the military. He tells his troops that they're going to strike at dawn "'Cuz um, they'll still be in bed with morning wood". | |
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The Villain: Indians never attack at night, because they're too busy pounding on THOSE DAMNED DRUMS! | |
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| Dawn Attack / int_468bebb0 | type |
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Discworld: In Jingo, a conversation between Captain Carrot and Jabbar, wise man of the D'regs, while surrounded by Klatchian soldiers: | |
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| Dawn Attack / int_48ed41c8 | type |
Dawn Attack | |
| Dawn Attack / int_48ed41c8 | comment |
In Disney's Pocahontas, Chief Powhatan is livid at the news of John Smith's part in Kocoum's death, and announces that at sunrise, Smith will be the first of the Jamestown settlers to be killed. In turn, Governor Ratcliffe, who is already convinced that the Powhatan tribe has a hidden cache of gold, becomes fed up when he learns that they've seized John Smith, and declares that he will lead his men in a dawn attack on them. |
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| Dawn Attack / int_4b8c82ff | type |
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In The Winter War by Antti Tuuri, the Red Army does this about every day, as if coming to work. | |
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| Dawn Attack / int_52dc156a | type |
Dawn Attack | |
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The War of the Worlds. During the night before the big Marines vs. Martian battle, General Mann says "They'll probably move at dawn." He turns out to be correct: the Martian war machines start to move out as the light of dawn appears in the east. | |
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| Dawn Attack / int_5589ebc1 | type |
Dawn Attack | |
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Deathlands. In "Ice and Fire", while hiding out in a rocky canyon at night, J.B. tosses a rock into the air to establish when the false dawn is about to become actual dawn (when they can see the white-colored rock in midair, reflecting the sun's rays from over the horizon) so they can prepare for an attack. | |
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| Dawn Attack / int_5d354f8 | type |
Dawn Attack | |
| Dawn Attack / int_5d354f8 | comment |
In one episode of Red Dwarf Rimmer appoints himself the General of a band of Wax Droids based on historical figures. He orders a dawn assault across a minefield on the grounds that it's the last thing his opponents will expect. While this is probably technically true the problem with the plan should be obvious. | |
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| Dawn Attack / int_79ab0b3c | type |
Dawn Attack | |
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Tortall Universe: In Trickster's Queen, Ulasim takes advantage of this when he realizes that the war for Rajmuat "has begun ahead of schedule." | |
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| Dawn Attack / int_7a12fa31 | type |
Dawn Attack | |
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The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!: In "The Koopas Are Coming! The Koopas Are Coming!", everyone expects Redcoat Koopa's army to attack at dawn and prepares accordingly. At one point, Koopa gets impatient and decides to catch them off guard by attacking in the middle of the night, but gives up on it because it is too dark to see. | |
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| Dawn Attack / int_7fc78282 | type |
Dawn Attack | |
| Dawn Attack / int_7fc78282 | comment |
In The Lord of the Rings, the Rohirrim like to do this when they're playing The Cavalry. Both Erkenbrand's charge to break the siege on Helm's Deep and Théoden's attack at the Battle of Pelennor Fields happen at dawn. | |
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| The Lord of the Rings | hasFeature |
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| Dawn Attack / int_82a6f3fe | type |
Dawn Attack | |
| Dawn Attack / int_82a6f3fe | comment |
Invoked in Peter Pan: In Neverland, all attacks take place at dawn. Captain Hook is considered a vile scoundrel when he has his pirates attack before dawn, when nobody's ready. | |
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| Dawn Attack / int_90c73dda | type |
Dawn Attack | |
| Dawn Attack / int_90c73dda | comment |
The Animorphs invoke this trope during In The Time of the Dinosaurs, choosing to attack an alien base at first light to smash-and-grab the nuke they need to get back to their own time. They explain that no, there really isn't a practical reason (the aliens used automated towers for most of their defenses, which obviously don't sleep). It's just traditional. | |
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Dawn Attack | |
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Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time: | |
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Dawn Attack | |
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Stick War: Inverted. The Hold the Line missions are "Dusk Attacks". | |
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| Dawn Attack / int_9e2f90f4 | type |
Dawn Attack | |
| Dawn Attack / int_9e2f90f4 | comment |
In One Piece the Black Cat Pirates do this. They spend the night sailing from one coast on the island to another and then go ashore exactly at sunrise. While the exact dawn attack strategy doesn't help them (because they blurted it out to Luffy and Usopp who they thought were too weak to fight them), they initially gain an advantage because they go ashore at another coast than our heroes expected them to. | |
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| Dawn Attack / int_a54e58d1 | type |
Dawn Attack | |
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Ice Age: | |
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| Dawn Attack / int_a8150af4 | type |
Dawn Attack | |
| Dawn Attack / int_a8150af4 | comment |
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: After a long night the Southlanders hopelessly fighting the Orcs, the Numenorian cavalry arrives early in the morning in the Southlands and defeats Adar's horde of Orcs. | |
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| Dawn Attack / int_a92653e1 | type |
Dawn Attack | |
| Dawn Attack / int_a92653e1 | comment |
The Executioner. A Discussed Trope in "Caribbean Kill" between Mack Bolan and Jack Grimaldi as they wait for dawn to infiltrate an enemy stronghold. Mack claims that its effectiveness is both psychological and biological, with people who have been awake at night instinctively relaxing as they're no longer in danger from night predators. | |
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| The Executioner | hasFeature |
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| Dawn Attack / int_ba43d97 | type |
Dawn Attack | |
| Dawn Attack / int_ba43d97 | comment |
The Dawn Patrol (1930) is about RAF pilots that often have to do this, to support British troops or blunt German offensives during World War I. | |
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| Dawn Attack / int_bd3b42ed | type |
Dawn Attack | |
| Dawn Attack / int_bd3b42ed | comment |
The Wizard of Id: The army of ID has a Master Computer which tells them to attack at 3am instead of the traditional dawn attack. One of Rodney's men asks; what if the enemy has a more advanced computer? | |
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| Dawn Attack / int_c68cd10e | type |
Dawn Attack | |
| Dawn Attack / int_c68cd10e | comment |
Watership Down (2018). Hazel notes that General Woundwort planned to attack at dawn when the rabbits came out for morning silflay (he's given away by a change in wind direction, revealing the scent of his force). This is the opposite of the novel where Woundwort planned to wait until dusk and the rabbits had gone inside before launching his surprise attack. Once he'd taken the warren, he could shelter his forces there overnight (when most rabbit predators are on the prowl) and then return to Efrafa the next day. Waiting till dawn would have only exposed them to unnecessary danger (Woundwort may be insane but he's not stupid) so the line was apparently put in there because the audience is so used to the trope. | |
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| Dawn Attack / int_c6f7e804 | type |
Dawn Attack | |
| Dawn Attack / int_c6f7e804 | comment |
Blake's 7. In "Rumours of Death", Avon is determined to teleport down for a Suicide Mission to attack President Servalan's palace. Master Computer Orac advises against it, but recommends that he should at least wait till dusk. | |
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| Dawn Attack / int_ce4d28 | type |
Dawn Attack | |
| Dawn Attack / int_ce4d28 | comment |
In Masked Rider, Dregon declares "We shall attack at dawn!" The Monster of the Week of the two-part premiere (Monster of the Fortnight?) appears late at night as a small sphere, assembles a freaky cyborg insect body from random junk in an awesome scene, and calmly stands in that spot to await daylight. Then, he strolls through town causing Stuff Blowing Up with his customary Tranquil Fury. (Don't expect the show to be this cool very often, alas.) | |
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Dawn Attack | |
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Hercules: The Legendary Journeys episode "Hercules and the Lost Kingdom": | |
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Dawn Attack | |
| Dawn Attack / int_e6267766 | comment |
Star Wars Legends: In Starfighters of Adumar, the united Adumari force decide to attack at dawn for reasons outlined above. Cartann pilots, who have taken Proud Warrior Race to the logical and crippling extent of making nonlethal practice dishonorable, tend to party hard at night and not get in the air until noon. | |
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Dawn Attack | |
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Family Guy: one of Peter's inventions flings Stewie into a tree, where he sees the Keebler elves plotting to "attack the Rice Krispies guys at dawn". Later, at The Drunken Clam, Crackle and Pop are seen speaking of the attack and mourning the death of Snap. | |
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Dawn Attack | |
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In Merlin (2008), Morgana takes over Camelot and sends Arthur and his allies running for their lives. Arthur gathers together his forces, prepares them throughout the night, and then takes back the city at dawn. | |
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Dawn Attack | |
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This is the order given to the Persian army in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time . However Dastan goes against orders and sneaks into Alamut just before dawn to get the city gates open. | |
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