Zerg Rush/Literature

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Examples of Zerg Rush/Literature include:

• Jim Butcher's Codex Alera novels feature the Vord, basically a fantasy Captain Ersatz of the Zerg. Fighting against Roman legionaires with Elemental Powers.
  • However, what makes the Vord absolutely terrifying is that they don't just rely on Hollywood Tactics; Vord Queens are brilliant strategists. For instance, the first time the protagonists went up against a hive, the queen got the steadholders to split their forces in half so she could take over quietly, then when the reinforcements arrived Zerg Rushed them from ambush. After inflicting heavy damage, she had her warriors draw back, knowing that the legionaires would take their wounded inside, where she had Takers waiting to turn sleeping soldiers into drones. She specifically targeted the healers and Knights, crippling their combat force. In other words, one five-minute Zerg Rush = half the army down.
• In Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, this was the purpose of the Spartan-III soldiers, since most of the Spartan-IIs has been killed by that point. It's a slight subversion in that they're physically and mentally tougher than the average shock troop, but they're still treated tactically as an expendable resource.
  • In Halo: Fall of Reach, Spartan-117 along with the rest of his team observe a formation of roughly 1000 Unggoy (grunts) and reminds himself that while they can be cowardly, he is also aware instances where they have attacked in such numbers that even though the Human defenders keep mowing them down wave after wave, eventually they run out of bullets... at which time another wave of grunts steps forward. (which happens to be a main tactic of the Tyranids see below)
• The Lord of the Rings and some of JRR Tolkien's other works feature Zerg Rush tactics, typically by orc or goblin forces.
  • The forces of evil can also be surprisingly clever tacticians, though, as several major defeats for the good guys show. They just almost always have the numerical advantage and decide to make use of it.
• In the Warhammer 40,000 Grey Knights novel, the Allking of Sophano Secundus had an army with horses and spears that just rushed at the Grey Knights, which Alaric actually thought would have killed them because of sheer numbers. They were able to get away though, suffering one casualty and another with an injury while the army of Sophano Secundus lost countless.
• Sheer numbers are the primary thing which made the People's Republic of Haven such a threat to the far more technologically advanced Star Kingdom of Manticore in the Honor Harrington series. In fact, the Battle of Manticore in At All Costs is a classic Zerg Rush strategy, as it's an attempt to claim outright military victory before the Manticorans can get their latest Game Breaker deployed throughout their fleet.
  • Though they aren't willing to admit it, the same is even more true of the Solarian League. Complacent in their superiority, they never upgraded their technology during the 20-plus-year Lensman Arms Race between Haven & Manticore and are largely content to throw men and ships at problems. As the Harrington trope page itself says, even their reserves have reserves.
  • In On Basilisk Station, the drug-crazed Medusan natives try to do this. Given that they have nothing better than breech-loading rifles, they die en masse when the air support covering a bunch of Powered Armor Space Marines appears. Those natives have more luck when they ambush a smaller scouting force, which is overrun even as the last surviving member is desperately unloading a Gatling gun with exploding bullets into them.
• In Andy Hoare's White Scars novel Hunt for Voldorius, Voldorius deploys thousands of cultists and conscripted militia against the Space Marines.
• In Robert E. Howard's "The Slithering Shadow", Conan the Barbarian is nearly overcome by incompetent soldiers who get in each other's way -- there are so many of them, and they do not lack courage.
  • In "The Shadow Kingdom", Kull and Brule face a horde of Snakemen.

"Valka! What a killing!" said Brule, shaking the blood from his eyes. "Kull, had these been warriors who knew how to use the steel, we had died here.
"These serpent priests know naught of swordcraft and die easier than any men I ever slew. Yet had there been a few more, I think the matter had ended otherwise."

• In Henry David Thoreau's Walden, he discusses a war between red and black ants that played out like this.
• In the first of The Dark Tower books, The Gunslinger, the Man In Black sets a trap for Roland by convincing the entire town of Tull to turn on him when he inevitably stops there to rest. Roland coldly guns down every last man, woman and child.
• Variation in the New Jedi Order. The Yuuzhan Vong will commonly open battle with a Zerg Rush composed of their slave-soldiers (mostly Chazrach) in order to test the enemy's strength and weed out the weakest. Then they go in themselves to fight the real battle against the remaining, more worthy, enemies (it's an honor thing) and though the Vong are big on brute force, they can be incredibly clever tacticians when they legitimately want to. They end up stopping Zerg Rushes altogether in the last few books as they don't have the numbers to do it anymore.
• This is the primary use of Trollocs in The Wheel of Time. Though larger and stronger than humans, they're too stupid and undisciplined to be very good tacticians (though having human or Myrddraal officers in charge helps some). There are a lot of them, however, so they're generally sent out in massive waves to do as much damage as they can through sheer strength, bloodthirstiness, and weight of numbers. Averted with individual Fists (groups of a hundred Trollocs with one or two Myrddraal) as the smaller size allows the Myrddraal a greater degree of direct control, and they're actually quite clever.
• Journey to the West - Sun Wukong can generate a near-infinite number of miniature clones of himself. Given that Wukong himself is a Munchkin of the highest order, a Zerg Rush of tiny Wukongs can subdue all but the most powerful opponents. (The owner of a magical fan, for example, dealt with the problem via hurricane-force winds.)
• In the Ranger's Apprentice books, this is the strategy the Temujai use; send waves and waves of soldiers at their enemies to crush them, while employing a few skilled archers specially designed to take out opposing leaders. Massive casualties mean nothing to them, because they have reserves.