Redshirt (stock character)
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In fiction, "redshirt" is an informal term for a stock character who is killed off shortly after being introduced. The term often implies that said character was introduced for the sole purpose of bei
Captain Kirk (right) and Mr. Spock (left) discover dead redshirts in the Star Trek episode "Obsession" (1967).
Cannon fodder
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Cannon fodder is an informal, derogatory term for combatants who are regarded or treated by government or military command as expendable in the face of enemy fire. The term is generally used in situat
Redshirt (stock character)
…as an unnamed character who was killed early in the episode. The novel Redshirts by John Scalzi satirizes the trope, as does the video game Redshirt. Cannon fodder Sacrificial lamb…
Chateaubriand, who wrote the first attested use of the expression