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* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: Invoked when Lt. Herrick hands over his rifle to [=Mcqueen=]... and is immediately (and correctly) chewed out for not opening the breech and checking the chamber first.
* EnsignNewbie: The entire 58th squadron during the pilot, as it shows them going through basic and flight training and culminates in their first battle with the Chigs.
** Later on, fresh-from-training Lt. Herrick shows up with a squad of [[NewMeat equally raw]] Marines.
** Later on, fresh-from-training Lt. Herrick shows up with a squad of [[NewMeat equally raw]] Marines.
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* NicknamingTheEnemy: The term "Chigs" is used to refer to their alien enemies, apparently because they look like chiggers.
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* NewMeat: The fresh-from-training 5th Force Recon in the appropriately named episode "Toy Soldiers".
* NicknamingTheEnemy: The term "Chigs" is used to refer to their alien enemies, apparently because they look likechiggers. chiggers.
** The enemy pilot flying the distinctive AceCustom in later episodes quickly earns the nickname, "Chiggy Von Richtofen". [[spoiler: he's even deadlier than his namesake.]]
* NicknamingTheEnemy: The term "Chigs" is used to refer to their alien enemies, apparently because they look like
** The enemy pilot flying the distinctive AceCustom in later episodes quickly earns the nickname, "Chiggy Von Richtofen". [[spoiler: he's even deadlier than his namesake.]]
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** Lt. Herrick tries to be this with his unit,[[note]]lampshaded by Wang, who says he's "seen to many war movies."[[/note]] but [=McQueen=] steps in and does the same thing ''to him''.
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** Colonel [=McQueen=] frequently tells his Marines, "Hear this, C.F.B.!" C.F.B. refers to "Clear as a ****ing Bell."
* GloryHound: Lt. Herrick to the core - he's obsessed with wanting to see action and prove himself to the veterans around him, even if it means [[spoiler: disobeying orders. His unit is wiped out when he leads them on an ill-advised attack.]]
* GloryHound: Lt. Herrick to the core - he's obsessed with wanting to see action and prove himself to the veterans around him, even if it means [[spoiler: disobeying orders. His unit is wiped out when he leads them on an ill-advised attack.]]
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* RecycledInSpace: The show draws heavily from WorldWarII, including elements of both the Pacific and European Theaters of Operations. Often lampshaded with the officers explicitely drawing inspiration from their own homeworld's military history, or making historical allusions while discussing the strategic situation. The show's setting of 2061 is also meant to draw a paralell to the CivilRightsMovement and the SpaceRace of the 1960s.
** In particular, "Stardust" referernces Operation Mincemeat, a British misinformation ploy against the Germans, and the series two part finale reveals that Operation Roundhammer to be an obvious nod to [[spoiler: Operation Downfall, the planned Allied invasion of the Japanese home islands.]]
** In particular, "Stardust" referernces Operation Mincemeat, a British misinformation ploy against the Germans, and the series two part finale reveals that Operation Roundhammer to be an obvious nod to [[spoiler: Operation Downfall, the planned Allied invasion of the Japanese home islands.]]
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** Primarily, it was small details that fell into this trope, such as haircuts and the like.
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* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Vansen goes on one when she learns why the Silicates killed her parents: [[spoiler: they flipped a coin, as Silicates view betting as a semi-religious experience]]. She starts her rampage off by [[spoiler: beating a Silicate to death with her bare hands]].
* RobotWar: The Silicate War, shown in flashbacks and alluded to often. Literally an OriginStory for Lt. Hawkes and Lt. Colonel [=McQueen=].
* RobotWar: The Silicate War, shown in flashbacks and alluded to often. Literally an OriginStory for Lt. Hawkes and Lt. Colonel [=McQueen=].
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* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Vansen goes on one when she learns why the Silicates killed her parents: [[spoiler: they flipped a coin, coin,[[note[[Heads, they kill Vansen's family. Tails, the family across the street[[/note]] as Silicates view betting as a semi-religious experience]]. She starts her rampage off by [[spoiler: beating a Silicate to death with her bare hands]].
* RobotWar: The Silicate War, shown in flashbacks and alluded to often. Literally an OriginStory for Lt. Hawkes and Lt. Colonel[=McQueen=].[=McQueen=].
* RomanticFalseLead: At several times in the series, Vansen and West appeared to be getting set up as a couple. The Finale sank this ship by having [[spoiler:West rescue Kylen and Vansen getting stranded behind enemy lines]].
* RobotWar: The Silicate War, shown in flashbacks and alluded to often. Literally an OriginStory for Lt. Hawkes and Lt. Colonel
* RomanticFalseLead: At several times in the series, Vansen and West appeared to be getting set up as a couple. The Finale sank this ship by having [[spoiler:West rescue Kylen and Vansen getting stranded behind enemy lines]].
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* FantasticDrug: "Green meanies", a painkiller in the form of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin green pills]] that In Vitros find highly addictive. [[spoiler: Hawkes is prescribed them by an unthinking doctor and spends the rest of the episode either addicted or detoxing; when he offers to help get him clean, Col. [=McQueen=] mentions he also had gotten addicted during the AI Wars.]]
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* MauveShirt: Kate Winslow, a minor character that remained in the squadron for several episodes and even had a minor arc in which she coaxes out a more sentimental side of McQueen. [[spoiler:She gets killed in that same episode.]]
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* MauveShirt: Kate Winslow, a minor character that remained in the squadron for several episodes and even had a minor arc in which she coaxes out a more sentimental side of McQueen.[=McQueen=]. [[spoiler:She gets killed in that same episode.]]
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** In an interesting twist, [[spoiler:Nathan's brother Neil]] dies in the episode where he gives [[spoiler:Nathan]] a photo of himself in his Marine dress uniform.
* MauveShirt: Kate Winslow, a minor character that remained in the squadron for several episodes and even had a minor arc in which she coaxes out a more sentimental side of McQueen. [[spoiler:She gets killed in that same episode.]]
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* MistakenForRacist: [=InVitros=] are pejoratively called [[TestTubeHuman Tanks]]. A Tank is also a type of armored ground combat vehicle. ''Pearly'' is ''[[BerserkButton not]]'' an Armored Personnel Carrier. Sgt. Fox is initially misunderstood when he tries to clarify this.
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* MistakenForRacist: [=InVitros=] are pejoratively called [[TestTubeHuman Tanks]]. A Tank is also a type of armored ground combat vehicle. ''Pearly'' is ''[[BerserkButton not]]'' an Armored Personnel Carrier. Sgt. Fox is initially misunderstood when he tries to clarify this. [[note]]Hawkes kept calling Pearly an APC, leading to the vitriol-filled correction from Fox[[/note]]
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*** Lampshaded in the finale, where Damphousse points out that the only reason the 58th has remained as a unit the way they are is that because of attrition the Marines lack the manpower to split them up properly.
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** Before that, the Silicates were created for use as laborers and servants to humans, but rebellled thanks to the insertion of [[ArcWords "Take a chance"]] into their programming. Ironically, the [=InVitros=] were created to fight the Silicates, but also rebelled.
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* RedShirt: Any members of the 58th that aren't part of the main cast will die most of the time when appearing in an episode.
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* PaintballEpisode: When Lt. Col. Butts (briefly) takes command of the 58th, one of his first actions is to put the squadron through a training exercise with paintball pistols.
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* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The end of the finale briefly features a farewell in the form of the military phonetic Alpha Mike Foxtrot. This is something of an UnusualEuphamism for Adios Mutha' F*****.
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* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The end of the finale briefly features a farewell in the form of the military phonetic Alpha Mike Foxtrot. This is something of an UnusualEuphamism UnusualEuphemism for Adios Mutha' F*****.
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* HandicappedBadass: Lieutenant Colonel T.C. [=McQueen=], callsign "Queen Six". He suffered a crippling injury to his inner ear during a [[CurbStompBattle battle with the Chigs]] in the first episode, being the only survivor from his squadron. He has an artificial implant which allows him to not suffer crippling nausea, but high-g maneuvers (such as those experienced during SpaceFighter combat) would cause it to [[YourHeadASplode explode]]. In the second episode featuring Chiggy Von Richthofen, [[spoiler: he has the implant removed, trains himself to be able to stand upright and function ''without a working inner ear'', and proceeds to defeat Chiggy Von Richthofen in one-on-one combat while presumably suffering the kind of nausea that would leave most badasses vomiting and sobbing inside their space helmets.]]
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* HandicappedBadass: Lieutenant Colonel T.C. [=McQueen=], callsign call-sign "Queen Six". He suffered a crippling injury to his inner ear during a [[CurbStompBattle battle with the Chigs]] in the first episode, being the only survivor from his squadron. He has an artificial implant which allows him to not suffer crippling nausea, but high-g maneuvers (such as those experienced during SpaceFighter combat) would cause it to [[YourHeadASplode explode]]. In the second episode featuring Chiggy Von Richthofen, [[spoiler: he has the implant removed, trains himself to be able to stand upright and function ''without a working inner ear'', and proceeds to defeat Chiggy Von Richthofen in one-on-one combat while presumably suffering the kind of nausea that would leave most badasses vomiting and sobbing inside their space helmets.]]
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S: SemperFi!
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S: SemperFi!SemperFi!
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The end of the finale briefly features a farewell in the form of the military phonetic Alpha Mike Foxtrot. This is something of an UnusualEuphamism for Adios Mutha' F*****.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The end of the finale briefly features a farewell in the form of the military phonetic Alpha Mike Foxtrot. This is something of an UnusualEuphamism for Adios Mutha' F*****.
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''Space: Above and Beyond'' (1995-1996) was a show on Fox that only lasted one season. Set in space around the middle of the 21st century, it focused on a group of young, ragtag Marines living aboard the carrier ''U.S.S. Saratoga.'' Humanity was embroiled in a war with an alien race known as "chigs." The central cast were Marine pilots in the 58th flying squadron, or the Wildcards. The show often focused on current issues and introduced moral dilemmas ''without'' being pathetically obvious.
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''Space: Above and Beyond'' (1995-1996) was a show on Fox that only lasted one season. Set in space around the middle of the 21st century, it focused on a group of young, ragtag Marines living aboard the carrier ''U.S.S. Saratoga.'' Humanity was embroiled in a war with an alien race known as "chigs." The central cast were Marine pilots in the 58th flying squadron, Fighter Squadron, or the Wildcards. The show often focused on current issues and introduced moral dilemmas ''without'' being pathetically obvious.
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* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: The Silicates launched a brutal RobotWar against humanity. The [=InVitros=] were a more minor example, created by humanity to fight the Silicates, but turned out to make poor soldiers as they had no stake in the fight and gained little motivation from being used as easily-replaced CannonFodder. Rather than actually turn against their creators, they mostly just refused to fight for them with a few exceptions.
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* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: The Silicates launched a brutal RobotWar against humanity.humanity, and would later sign on with the Chigs when their war with humanity broke out. The [=InVitros=] were a more minor example, created by humanity to fight the Silicates, but turned out to make poor soldiers as they had no stake in the fight and gained little motivation from being used as easily-replaced CannonFodder. Rather than actually turn against their creators, they mostly just refused to fight for them with a few exceptions.
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* TheNeidermeyer: Ray Butts
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* TheNeidermeyer: Ray Butts Butts, due to a combination of HeWhoFightsMonsters and PoorCommunicationKills, is generally despised by the 58th.
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%%* SpaceFighter
%%* SpacePlane
%%* SpacePlane
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%%* SpacePlane
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%%* TheSquad
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%%* StiffUpperLip: Major McKendrick
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* TokenMinority: PlayedWith, given the setting. The squad includes several women, at least two African Americans, and an Asian guy. The only ''minorities'' in the squad, however, are caucasian Hawkes and [=McQueen=], the only [=InVitros=] in the squad, and amongst the few in military service.
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%%* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: The Silicates and [=InVitros=].
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%%* ActionGirl: Many of the female Marines, but particularly Vansen.
%%* AIIsACrapshoot: The Silicates.
%%* AllPlanetsAreEarthLike: both averted and played straight in different episodes.
%%* AIIsACrapshoot: The Silicates.
%%* AllPlanetsAreEarthLike: both averted and played straight in different episodes.
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%%*
* AIIsACrapshoot: The
%%*
* AllPlanetsAreEarthLike: both averted and played straight in different
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%%* BugWar
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%%** Lieutenant Colonel Raymond T. Butts, USMC, says hello.
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%%* GovernmentConspiracy: Oddly, for the human race's own good.
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%%* HumanoidAliens
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%%* ManchurianAgent: "Eyes"
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%%* MegaCorp: Aerotech.
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%%* MinovskyPhysics: "Sewel Fuel"
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%%* TheNeidermeyer: Ray Butts
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%%* RidiculouslyHumanRobots
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* TradingBarsForStripes: Hawkes. Unusually, his deal included becoming an officer and a fighter pilot, rather than being pressed into duty as an enlisted soldier.
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%%* AceCustom: Chiggy Von Richthofen's fighter.
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%%** The [=InVitro=] "Tanks", who are also victims of FantasticRacism.
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%%* BabyFactory: Where the [=InVitros=] come from.
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** Technically not "baby" factories, as they are decanted at 18.
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** It doesn't help that while the Chigs have very limited communication with the humans, they ''do'' appear to be working with the Silicates, who ''hate'' the humans, and are rather bastards themselves.
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** It doesn't help that while the Chigs have very limited communication with the humans, they ''do'' appear to be working with the Silicates, who ''hate'' the humans, and are rather bastards themselves. themselves.
* INeverToldYouMyName: Invoked by Nathan in "Choice or Chance", when [[spoiler: "Kylen"]] calls for two of Nathan's squadmates to follow, he [[spoiler: coldly shoots her.]]
-->I never told [[spoiler:her]] who you were.
* INeverToldYouMyName: Invoked by Nathan in "Choice or Chance", when [[spoiler: "Kylen"]] calls for two of Nathan's squadmates to follow, he [[spoiler: coldly shoots her.]]
-->I never told [[spoiler:her]] who you were.
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%%* LandMineGoesClick
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* VehicularTurnabout: The Earth military captured an alien Bomber. They had to spend some time learning how to operate it before they could use it against the Chigs, though.
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* BitterSweetEnding: [[spoiler: One of the Wildcards almost certainly dies in a firefight while two others are falling in an escape pod into enemy territory, [=McQueen=] is severely injured in an explosion; the war, once within sight of peace, now rages as intense as ever and the human forces have lost the initiative, making Operation Roundhammer irrelevant. On the other hand, the colonists held captive since the series pilot, including West's girlfriend, have been successfully rescued. All in all, it would have been a very interesting second season.]]
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* BitterSweetEnding: [[spoiler: One of the Wildcards almost certainly dies in a firefight while two others are falling in an escape pod into enemy territory, territory; [=McQueen=] is severely injured in an explosion; explosion that kills a handful of important human officials; the war, once within sight of peace, now rages as intense as ever and the human forces have lost the initiative, making Operation Roundhammer irrelevant. On the other hand, the colonists held captive since the series pilot, including West's girlfriend, have been successfully rescued. We also learn that the alien aggression might not have been as unwarranted as we've been told. All in all, it would have been a very interesting second season.]]
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* BitterSweetEnding: [[spoiler: Most of the Wildcards are dead or missing, [=McQueen=] is severely injured in an explosion, the war, once within sight of peace, now rages as intense as ever, the human forces have lost the initiative, making Operation Roundhammer irrelevant. On the other hand, the colonists held captive since the series pilot, including West's girlfriend, have been successfully rescued.]]
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* BitterSweetEnding: [[spoiler: Most One of the Wildcards almost certainly dies in a firefight while two others are dead or missing, falling in an escape pod into enemy territory, [=McQueen=] is severely injured in an explosion, explosion; the war, once within sight of peace, now rages as intense as ever, ever and the human forces have lost the initiative, making Operation Roundhammer irrelevant. On the other hand, the colonists held captive since the series pilot, including West's girlfriend, have been successfully rescued. All in all, it would have been a very interesting second season.]]
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---> '''Interrogator:''' Is your full name Colonel Tyrus Cassius [=McQueen=]?
--->'''[=McQueen=]:''' I always thought T.C. stood for "Top Cat".
--->'''[=McQueen=]:''' I always thought T.C. stood for "Top Cat".
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---> '''Interrogator:''' Is your full name Colonel Tyrus Cassius [=McQueen=]?
--->'''[=McQueen=]:''' I always thought T.C. stood for "Top Cat".
--->'''[=McQueen=]:''' I always thought T.C. stood for "Top Cat".
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* CasandraTruth: In "Stay with the Dead", West is believed to be the only survivor of the 58th after a disastrous mission. When he tries to tell his superiors the rest of the Wildcards are still alive, they think he's suffering from [=PTSD=]. Eventually, Col. [=McQueen=] believes him.
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* CasandraTruth: CassandraTruth: In "Stay with the Dead", West is believed to be the only survivor of the 58th after a disastrous mission. When he tries to tell his superiors the rest of the Wildcards are still alive, they think he's suffering from [=PTSD=]. Eventually, he manages to convince Col. [=McQueen=] believes him.[=McQueen=], and the squadron is rescued.
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* CasandraTruth: In "Stay with the Dead", West is believed to be the only survivor of the 58th after a disastrous mission. When he tries to tell his superiors the rest of the Wildcards are still alive, they think he's suffering from [=PTSD=]. Eventually, Col. [=McQueen=] believes him.
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''Space: Above And Beyond'' (1995-1996) was a show on Fox that only lasted one season. Set in space around the middle of the 21st century, it focused on a group of young, ragtag Marines living aboard the carrier ''U.S.S. Saratoga.'' Humanity was embroiled in a war with an alien race known as "chigs." The central cast were Marine pilots in the 58th flying squadron, or the Wildcards. The show often focused on current issues and introduced moral dilemmas ''without'' being pathetically obvious.
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Wildcards_5889.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The Wildcards' squadron patch.]]
''Space: AboveAnd and Beyond'' (1995-1996) was a show on Fox that only lasted one season. Set in space around the middle of the 21st century, it focused on a group of young, ragtag Marines living aboard the carrier ''U.S.S. Saratoga.'' Humanity was embroiled in a war with an alien race known as "chigs." The central cast were Marine pilots in the 58th flying squadron, or the Wildcards. The show often focused on current issues and introduced moral dilemmas ''without'' being pathetically obvious.
[[caption-width-right:350:The Wildcards' squadron patch.]]
''Space: Above
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* OldSchoolDogfighting: Played with a little. The Human SA-43 "Hammerhead" fighters have guns in front and behind so they can shoot at targets that aren't in fount of them.
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* OldSchoolDogfighting: OldSchoolDogfight: Played with a little. The Human SA-43 "Hammerhead" fighters have guns in front and behind so they can shoot at targets that aren't in fount of them.
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* LeftHanging: Like many other Fox shows, due to premature cancellation.
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* LeftHanging: Like many, many, many other Fox shows, due to premature cancellation.
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* AFatherToHisMen: Lt. Col. [=McQueen=], even if it's often the stern-father archetype. As the series goes on it becomes increasingly clear that the Wildcards are incredibly important to [=McQueen=], and whenever it appears they are dead or lost his distress is obvious. This all counts double for Hawkes, given that both are InVitros and [=McQueen=] begins to serve as a ParentalSubstitute to him.
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* AFatherToHisMen: Lt. Col. [=McQueen=], even if it's often the stern-father archetype. As the series goes on it becomes increasingly clear that the Wildcards are incredibly important to [=McQueen=], and whenever it appears they are dead or lost his distress is obvious. This all counts double for Hawkes, given that both are InVitros [=InVitros=] and [=McQueen=] begins to serve as a ParentalSubstitute to him.
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* ServantRace: The [=InVitros=] a.k.a. "Tanks," are basically created as slaves to the "normal" humans: serving as expendable soldiers, miners, etcetera, and even once they're "freed" from indentured servitude (which is "banned" but still practiced) they still are always assigned the "dirty jobs."
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** [[OperationBlank Operation Roundhammer]]: [[spoiler: The planned Terran invasion of the Chig Homeworld.]]
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namespace move, cleanup, and Trivia bump
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''Space: Above And Beyond'' (1995-1996) was a show on Fox that only lasted one season. Set in space around the middle of the 21st century, it focused on a group of young, ragtag Marines living aboard the carrier ''U.S.S. Saratoga.'' Humanity was embroiled in a war with an alien race known as "chigs." The central cast were Marine pilots in the 58th flying squadron, or the Wildcards. The show often focused on current issues and introduced moral dilemmas ''without'' being pathetically obvious.
An example of this would be the several plotlines revolving around "[=InVitros=]," humans who had been [[UterineReplicator created in laboratories]] (it's not exactly [[CloningBlues cloning]]: each [=InVitro=] embryo is made from chromosomes mixed and matched from hundreds of separate donors for optimal results, so their "parents" never existed as two living, breathing human beings) and were trained from [[strike:birth]] decanting to be killers. They also performed the drudge work of society and did not have equal rights under the law when they were first created. As an [=InVitro=], Lieutenant Cooper Hawkes of the 58th constantly dealt with racism, enduring terms like "nipple-neck" ([=InVitro=] umbilical cords stem from the neck and leave a puckered scar after removal) and "tank." He was physically a grown man, but had been "alive" for only six years -- a socially awkward, dangerous killer.
Fox, [[ScrewedByTheNetwork being Fox]], dumped the show after one full season. The show ended with one character presumed dead, another two falling in an escape pod into enemy territory, one reunited with his prisoner-of-war lover, and the others in general limbo.
----
!!This show provides examples of:
%%Zero Context Example Entries are not allowed on the wiki. All such entries have been commented out. Add context before uncommenting them.
%%* AceCustom: Chiggy Von Richthofen's fighter.
%%* ActionGirl: Many of the female Marines, but particularly Vansen.
%%* AIIsACrapshoot: The Silicates.
%%* AllPlanetsAreEarthLike: both averted and played straight in different episodes.
* ArcWords:
** "Abandon all hope," a ShoutOut to the ''Literature/TheDivineComedy''.
** "I believe in you," a hasty message recorded in an audio picture frame by Lt. West's girlfriend; it is his [[TheQuest reason to stay in the fight]], the hope that [[IWillFindYou he will find her]] and rescue her after her colony was attacked by the Chigs. [[spoiler: At the end of the series, she changes the message to say "[[MeaningfulEcho I believe in]] ''[[MeaningfulEcho all]]'' [[MeaningfulEcho of you]],", addressed to the entire squadron after they saved her.]]
** "Take a chance," the message that leads to the Silicate rebellion.
* ArtificialHuman:
%%** The [=InVitro=] "Tanks", who are also victims of FantasticRacism.
** As well as the Silicates, the original race of android servants created by humanity who TurnedAgainstTheirMasters. The [=InVitros=] were created to fight them.
* AsianAndNerdy: Wang is an interesting take on this trope, as he's a ''sports'' nerd (his parents send him sod from Wrigley Field, and he claims he can figure out where exactly in the field it's from from its smell)
* AwesomeMcCoolName: Colonel Tyrus Cassius [=McQueen=].
%%* BabyFactory: Where the [=InVitros=] come from.
* BattleCry: [[SemperFi The United States Marine Corps]] Battlecry. Turns out to be a MeaningfulEcho, being prominently featured in the very first episode and at the climax of the very last episode of the series.
* BattleDiscretionShot: The fight between a Chig force and the USS ''Hornet'' is only seen by means of a reporter broadcasting from aboard the ship (where we can't see anything except the ship shaking, things breaking, smoke, etc.), and the view from Earth as the entire battle is seen only as a series of flashing lights in the sky.
* TheBattlestar: Though primarily used as a spacecraft carrier, the USS ''Saratoga'' is shown from time to time to engage in ship-to-ship combat against enemy capital ships. Presumably her sister ships (including the USS ''Eisenhower'' and presumably the [[BattleDiscretionShot USS]] ''[[BattleDiscretionShot Hornet]]'')
* BellyButtonless: The [=InVitros=] lack standard belly-buttons. Instead, they have nipple-like bumps on the back of their necks from there the artificial placentas attached to them in the womb-tanks.
* BitterSweetEnding: [[spoiler: Most of the Wildcards are dead or missing, [=McQueen=] is severely injured in an explosion, the war, once within sight of peace, now rages as intense as ever, the human forces have lost the initiative, making Operation Roundhammer irrelevant. On the other hand, the colonists held captive since the series pilot, including West's girlfriend, have been successfully rescued.]]
* BizarreAlienBiology: In the pilot, Damphousse decides to give the Chig POW some water, to show that [[HumansAreBastards humans]] ''[[AvertedTrope are not]]'' [[HumansAreBastards bastards.]] [[spoiler:Unfortunately, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Chigs are deathly allergic to water]].]]
** [[spoiler: In the next to last episode, an armourless Chig runs around a wet swamp without problems. It's more likely that that first one committed suicide.]]
** Later the Chig are show to be grown in bee hive like domes and when ready are planned under ground, making them part bee part plant.
* BrickJoke: "You will be issued one urine and fecal collection device. [[BringMyBrownPants A yellow flashing light on the flight suit indicates full capacity]]."
* TheBrigadier: Commodore Ross. His rank is even the naval equivalent of brigadier.
%%* BugWar
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Major McKendrick, a slightly crazy British guy who got stuck on a planet with nothing to do but listen to Chig transmissions on a broken radio all day, who has managed to at least start to understand the Chig language. [[spoiler: he refuses to be evacuated in order for him to finish the job]]
* TheCastShowoff: Tucker Smallwood as Commodore Ross played blues guitar as often as possible.
* CasualInterstellarTravel: Averted. Naturally occurring wormholes are used opportunistically to supplement the rarely mentioned "Hawking Drive" (a form of artificial FTL); presumably the wormholes have some unspecified advantage over the Hawking Drive.
* ChristmasEpisode: "The River of Stars".
* ColonelBadass: T.C. [=McQueen=] repeatedly was shown to be the only guy who knew what the Hell he was doing - [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome especially when he fought Chiggy Von Richthofen).]]
%%** Lieutenant Colonel Raymond T. Butts, USMC, says hello.
* ColonelKilgore: Herrick is only a lieutenant, but otherwise fits this trope rather well, being overly eager to fight the Chigs and gain prestige and honor--even when he's commanding the reserve in a recon mission and has been specifically ordered not to engage the enemy. He disobeys a direct order from Vansen (a superior officer) and decides on his own initiative to attack a Chig satellite tower. [[spoiler: he ends up getting his entire squad killed, including Nathan's younger brother, as the tower was a decoy and a trap]]
* ColdBloodedTorture:
** The Silicates use torture for various reasons. [=McQueen=] recounts his own experiences during the [[RobotWar Silicate War]] and how, even with an [=InVitro=]'s enhanced pain resistance, he was still [[TortureAlwaysWorks forced to divulge everything he knew]].
* CoolHelmet: The Wild Cards all have custom artwork on their flight helmets, including their (poker card) themed callsigns.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Aero-Tech.
* CustomUniform: The 127th Attack Wing, AKA the "Angry Angels". Black uniforms with leather jackets and black berets is probably not a standard Marine Corps uniform, given that we never see anybody outside of that unit wear them. (And we never see most of the Angry Angels wear them after the pilot episode. See TheWorfEffect.)
* CurbStompBattle:
** Several, including the early fight in the pilot between the Chigs and the USS ''Hornet'' and the Angry Angels, and several engagements against Chiggy Von Richtofen.
** In one battle, they sent ''[[NoKillLikeOverkill fifteen]]'' squadrons out specifically to hunt down and destroy Chiggy Von Richtofen and his AceCustom. Not only did they fail to destroy him, but of the three squadrons that found and engaged him, only one survived. To clarify, the humans engaged Chiggy with ''thirty to one odds'' and barely came away with a stalemate.
* DangerousDeserter: Major [=McKendrick=] is a subversion of sorts. In fact, when [=McQueen=] points out his refusal to be rescued and evacuated is technically desertion, he gets extremely offended, as he considers his current work [[spoiler: decoding the Chig language]] to be much more important than the pencil pushing the British Army would undoubtedly reassign him to. This doesn't stop the Wildcards from suspecting him first when a power cell goes missing. [[spoiler: it was actually Wang who stole the power cell]]
* DeadlineNews: A reporter is broadcasting from aboard the USS ''Saratoga'' in the pilot, as the humans are about to fight their first major battle against the Chigs. From what we can see of the broadcast and the aftermath, it didn't go well. (Fridge Logic: One wonders if the reporter's live feed from aboard the flagship might have made it easier for the Chigs to defeat the human force with such uncharacteristic ease, compared to later in the series.)
* DeathNotification: After the death of [[spoiler: Nathan West's younger brother Neil]], Nathan is shocked to discover that the notification letter was sent to the ''wrong address''. He ends up writing a letter of his own home to inform [[spoiler: their mother]] himself. It is implied that rather than being hand-delivered, the notices are sent in the mail in "ugly yellow envelopes".
* DrillSergeantNasty:
** [[FullMetalJacket Gunnery Sergeant Hartmann]] reappears, only this time he insists his name is Bogess... and he has toned it down to PG-13 dialogue.
** Colonel [=McQueen=] has shades of this too. He generally cares for the pilots under his command, but will come down harshly on anyone who doesn't measure up to his exacting standards or doesn't show him proper respect.
* DorkKnight: Once his harsh exterior wears down Hawkes begins to show signs of this trope, being BookDumb, a tad naive, and incredibly appreciative whenever someone else on the squad is nice to him.
* DuringTheWar: T.C. [=McQueen=] recounts some stories about the [[RobotWar Silicate War]] where his kind were discriminated against. Likewise, the leader of the squadron has flashbacks to her childhood.
* FacelessGoons: The enemy was almost always shown wearing their environmental suits. They have a suicide pill that turns them into goo if someone tries to force their helmets off [[spoiler: but you see what they look like near the end.]]
* FantasticRacism: There are three or four intelligent races in this show's setting, depending on if you count the [[ArtificialHuman InVitros]] as a separate race from humanity: Humans, [=InVitros=], Silicates, and Chigs. Racism back and forth between the different groups varies from implied to outright expressed.
* FatalFamilyPhoto: {{Averted}}. The photo of his girlfriend is [[TheQuest specifically]] [[IWillFindYou what keeps West going.]]
* AFatherToHisMen: Lt. Col. [=McQueen=], even if it's often the stern-father archetype. As the series goes on it becomes increasingly clear that the Wildcards are incredibly important to [=McQueen=], and whenever it appears they are dead or lost his distress is obvious. This all counts double for Hawkes, given that both are InVitros and [=McQueen=] begins to serve as a ParentalSubstitute to him.
* FunWithAcronyms: This M.A.R.I.N.E.S. chant.
-->M: Mean as Hell!\\
A: All the Time!\\
R: Rough and Tough!\\
I: In the Mud!\\
N: Never Quits!\\
E: Every Day!\\
S: SemperFi!
%%* GovernmentConspiracy: Oddly, for the human race's own good.
* HandicappedBadass: Lieutenant Colonel T.C. [=McQueen=], callsign "Queen Six". He suffered a crippling injury to his inner ear during a [[CurbStompBattle battle with the Chigs]] in the first episode, being the only survivor from his squadron. He has an artificial implant which allows him to not suffer crippling nausea, but high-g maneuvers (such as those experienced during SpaceFighter combat) would cause it to [[YourHeadASplode explode]]. In the second episode featuring Chiggy Von Richthofen, [[spoiler: he has the implant removed, trains himself to be able to stand upright and function ''without a working inner ear'', and proceeds to defeat Chiggy Von Richthofen in one-on-one combat while presumably suffering the kind of nausea that would leave most badasses vomiting and sobbing inside their space helmets.]]
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Col. Ray Butts has been a Marine for so long and in so many stressful situations that it has seriously compromised his inter-personal skills--all of the 58ths and [=McQueen=] absolutely loathe him within a few minutes of meeting him thanks to his JerkAss personality, rude sense of superiority, and refusal to explain any of his mission objectives even when it's necessary to understand the mission. When you make the dour, humorless [=McQueen=] seem friendly and approachable, you're obviously doing something wrong.
* HollywoodAtheist: Wang, who stopped believing in religion after seeing the horrors of war, although he still has a tendency to cross himself before battle and when he thinks he's going to die. When Damphousse (a devout Christian) calls him on it, he claims it's just superstition and habit.
* HollywoodLaw: [[ArtificialHuman Cooper Hawkes]] ends up getting arrested due to a combination of FantasticRacism and a misunderstanding with the police after a group of thugs try to hang him in an alleyway. The judge sentences him to serve his debt to society via military service... by putting him through a commissioning program to become a space fighter pilot in the Marine Corps. The DrillSergeantNasty even goes so far as to describe the entire situation as a cruel prank played at his (the drill sergeant's) expense.
%%* HumanoidAliens
* KickTheDog: Chigs have a habit of chopping up any human they find, dead or alive.
** This gets subverted later in the series when they explain just ''why'' the Chigs do this. A running theme in the show is that the Chigs aren't pure evil per se, just very "alien" from humans. It is eventually learned that the Chigs have no concept of an afterlife, and misinterpret human references to such as being a human ability to [[DeathIsCheap come back from the dead]]. So they are trying to counter that presumed advantage of the humans.
** It doesn't help that while the Chigs have very limited communication with the humans, they ''do'' appear to be working with the Silicates, who ''hate'' the humans, and are rather bastards themselves.
* InsectoidAliens: the Chigs are so named because their environmental suits make them resemble chiggers, although Wang points out they look more like praying mantises or walking sticks to him.
* InSpaceEveryoneCanSeeYourFace: Those lighted helmets must make good aiming points for Chig soldiers in the dark.
%%* ISOStandardHumanSpaceship
* IWillFindYou: West spends the entire series searching for his girlfriend, whose colony ship was attacked by the Chigs shortly after he was pulled off the colony mission. [[spoiler: He and his squadron rescue her and the other surviving colonists in the series finale.]]
* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: [=McQueen=] torturing a captured Silicate saboteur to death to find out where Chiggy Von Richthofen is.
%%* LandMineGoesClick
* LeftHanging: Like many other Fox shows, due to premature cancellation.
* LivingShip: the Chigs spacecraft were at least partly biological and may or may not have been [[SapientShip sentient]].
* ManChild: Cooper Hawkes, {{Justified|Trope}} since he is not only [[PeopleJars just a few years old]], but also very poorly socialized due to being a runaway. He [[CharacterDevelopment improves over time]] as he fights and serves alongside the other Wild Cards.
* MacrossMissileMassacre [[spoiler: [=McQueen=] kills Chiggy von Richthofen with one.]]
%%* ManchurianAgent: "Eyes"
* MeaningfulEcho:
** "I Believe In You," by the end of the show, it becomes [[spoiler: "I believe... in]] ''[[spoiler:all]]'' [[spoiler:of you."]]
** Not to mention the [[SemperFi UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS]] [[BattleCry BATTLECRY]]: [[spoiler: In the pilot, Wang is incapable of producing a convincing battlecry without the help of two [[DrillSergeantNasty Drill Sergeant Nasties]] demonstrating one for him at point blank range. In the series finale, he produces a fine battlecry while making his [[HeroicSacrifice Heroic]] [[LastStand sacrifice]]. To top it off, he even throws in a ToAbsentFriends by screaming the names of every Wildcard RedShirt and MauveShirt who died on the show as part of his battlecry.]]
%%* MegaCorp: Aerotech.
* MildlyMilitary: {{Averted}}; The show went out of its way to show a rigid military command structure with a lot of division between ranks.
* MilitaryScienceFiction
%%* MinovskyPhysics: "Sewel Fuel"
* MistakenForRacist: [=InVitros=] are pejoratively called [[TestTubeHuman Tanks]]. A Tank is also a type of armored ground combat vehicle. ''Pearly'' is ''[[BerserkButton not]]'' an Armored Personnel Carrier. Sgt. Fox is initially misunderstood when he tries to clarify this.
%%* MixAndMatchMan: Implied to be used to make the Tanks.
* MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness: Like ''Series/BabylonFive,'' ''SAAB'' was surprisingly "hard" sci-fi for a television show (excluding the artificial gravity, humanoid robots and aliens): FTL travel was accomplished by use of naturally occurring wormholes, kinetic weapons are used by Earth's ground forces, and translating an alien language proves extremely difficult (see below).
* MustHaveCaffeine: Sgt. Fox takes his morning coffee by swallowing a mouthful of coffee grounds washed down with canteen water.
%%* TheNeidermeyer: Ray Butts
* NicknamingTheEnemy: The term "Chigs" is used to refer to their alien enemies, apparently because they look like chiggers.
* NoseArt: Chiggy Von Richtofen's AceCustom has a human skull painted on the nose, and the words "Abandon All Hope".
* OldSchoolDogfighting: Played with a little. The Human SA-43 "Hammerhead" fighters have guns in front and behind so they can shoot at targets that aren't in fount of them.
* OperationBlank: Several examples, most notably the much-foreshadowed "Operation Roundhammer", [[spoiler: the all-out invasion of the Chig homeworld.]]
* OutrankingYourJob:
** As the 58th is composed entirely of officers, each member should be ''leading'' ground units of enlisted soldiers (or at least be attached individually to such a unit as forward air controllers), not acting as cannon fodder. This is particularly egregious when the unit is depicted fighting alongside a conventional infantry unit, commanded by a lieutenant - he is outranked by ALL members of the 58th.
** In "Who Monitors the Birds", the sniper team sent to assassinate a Chig officer consists of Major Colquitt and Lieutenant Hawkes.
* PeopleJars: [=InVitro=] growth tanks.
* PhysicalFitnessPunishment: Sergeant Major Bougus has several officer recruits drop and start doing pushups: One for mouthing off to him, and another for smirking at the first one doing pushups.
* PsychicPowers: Left ambiguous, if not outright [[SubvertedTrope subverted]]: an entire episode is devoted to how the military (specifically, one officer who [[IJustWantToBeSpecial really wants to "see what you see"]]) turns what is likely common intuition into a deal that endangers the whole of the squadron.
* PunyEarthlings: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. Chigs die as easily as humans, and the Silicates, not having been built for fighting, can be beaten by humans in hand to hand combat. In fact, [=McQueen=] and Hawkes are able to break into a Silicate-run prison and liberate the others (who had been captured) pretty much entirely on their own. Three of the few enemies not killed by [=McQueen=], Hawkes, or someone they freed are the two Silicates and the Chig that Vansen and Damphousse manage to kill ''from their prison cell''.
* RedHerring:
** [[spoiler: In the episode "Eyes", one of the candidates for UN Secretary-General is the "far right wing" [[CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys Nicholas Chaput]]. He's set up to look like the bad guy via the [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything swastika-like emblem]] of his political party, his [[FantasticRacism distrust of [=InVitros=]]], and his penchant for polygraph loyalty tests (but only from [=InVitros=]). He then reveals that his [[ThereAreNoGoodExecutives opponent's corporation]] provoked the chig attacks in the first place, and said exec (who winds up getting elected as world leader) tries to have Chaput assassinated.]]
** The same episode also had [[spoiler: A group of [[AIIsACrapShoot Silicates that had been invited to the gathering for some reason. They don't cause any problems for the entire time they are there.]]]]
%%* RidiculouslyHumanRobots
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Vansen goes on one when she learns why the Silicates killed her parents: [[spoiler: they flipped a coin, as Silicates view betting as a semi-religious experience]]. She starts her rampage off by [[spoiler: beating a Silicate to death with her bare hands]].
* RobotWar: The Silicate War, shown in flashbacks and alluded to often. Literally an OriginStory for Lt. Hawkes and Lt. Colonel [=McQueen=].
%%* ShootTheDog: The entire show is implied to be a series of these moments.
* ShoutOut: ''[[{{Film/Alien}} In Space, no one can hear you scream]]... [[SemperFi Unless it's a UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS BATTLECRY!!!]]''
* ShownTheirWork:
** The show is of course known for averting MildlyMilitary, but they even go so far as to include little touches like having the deployed servicemen read [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stars_and_Stripes_(newspaper) The Stars and Stripes]].
** The song that that 7th Cav Sergeant sings at the beginning of ''Pearly''? That's not a random tune, that's Garry Owen, the 7th's regimental song.
%%* SpaceFighter
%%* SpacePlane
* SpaceIsAnOcean: References are made to "dropping anchor", "setting sail" and "burial at space" (and yes, it's ''at'' space, not ''in'' space).
* SpaceMarine: Notably US Marines, but since it's the future their role has been extended to space.
%%* TheSquad
%%* TheSquadette: Vansen. Damphousse was female but not a Squadette.
* StarfishLanguage: Communicating with the Chigs proves extremely difficult.
* SexBot: The original programming for some of the Silicates, notably Felicity OH.
%%* StiffUpperLip: Major McKendrick
* TankGoodness and TanksButNoTanks: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] [[StealthPun in]] ''Pearly''. The Wildcards end up taking refuge inside an armored vehicle on the battlefield. They keep referring to it as an [[AwesomePersonnelCarrier Armored Personnel Carrier]], much to the driver's annoyance. Finally he screams "'''''[[MistakenForRacist TANK!]]'''''". Turns out that ''Pearly'' is a Tank, not an [=APC=]
* TechnologyMarchesOn: CRT Monitors and CD-ROMs are used aboard the ''Saratoga''.
* ThemeNaming: The TrueCompanions' squadron is called The Wildcards. Their callsigns are all based on poker cards.
* TripleNipple: Lt. Hawkes is an [[UterineReplicator InVitro]], meaning he spent his embryonic period in a tank. The mark where the feeding tube was connected at his neck resembles a nipple, though he insists it's more like a "belly button".
%%* TortureTechnician: Elroy EL.
%%* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: The Silicates and [=InVitros=].
* TwoPlusTortureMakesFive: [[spoiler: Wang]] confesses under torture to war crimes [[spoiler: he]] didn't commit.
* UnitedNationsIsASuperpower: Very much in effect, though countries like the UK and the USA are shown to still exist, the UN will have a lot more political authority in the mid-21st century, according to this show.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In the episode "Choice or Chance" he Wildcards are captured and thrown into a Silicate prison where they discover what looks like the missing Tellas colonists imprisoned, including West's girlfriend Cailen, mining fuels for the Silicates. At the end of the episode, it's revealed that [[spoiler: "Cailen" was some sort of shapeshifter]], but what about the rest of the prisoners?
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman:
** Most of the problems that the humans have with the Silicates and the Tanks are because the humans keep treating their creations like slave labor or cannon fodder. A decade or more after the Silicate War, racism against the Tanks is rampant because they are perceived as cowards at best, or freaks at worst.
** [=McQueen=] convinces a captured Silicate saboteur to divulge needed information by yanking pieces of his internal circuitry out, despite both the silicate and Lieutenant Wang protesting that Silicates are specifically reserved certain rights as intelligent beings, including protection from torture. After the silicate dies, [=McQueen=] orders that the "pile of scrap" be disposed of.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: [[spoiler: The Chigs' Amygdala weapon turns any mild fear into a crippling phobia]].
* TheWorfEffect: The 127th Attack Wing, AKA the Angry Angels, are hyped up by their fangirl (Vansen) as "The best there is, ever will be." Except for [=McQueen=], they don't survive past the first half of the pilot. Could be {{justified|Trope}} by claiming that the Chigs would try to hit the humans hard in the first attack, and after both sides took severe losses early on, the general intensity of the battle dialed back [[UpToEleven down from eleven]] once it became apparent the war would be on for a while.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: In Vitros are all considerably younger than their physical age, since they're force-grown to eighteen while still in the tank.
----
An example of this would be the several plotlines revolving around "[=InVitros=]," humans who had been [[UterineReplicator created in laboratories]] (it's not exactly [[CloningBlues cloning]]: each [=InVitro=] embryo is made from chromosomes mixed and matched from hundreds of separate donors for optimal results, so their "parents" never existed as two living, breathing human beings) and were trained from [[strike:birth]] decanting to be killers. They also performed the drudge work of society and did not have equal rights under the law when they were first created. As an [=InVitro=], Lieutenant Cooper Hawkes of the 58th constantly dealt with racism, enduring terms like "nipple-neck" ([=InVitro=] umbilical cords stem from the neck and leave a puckered scar after removal) and "tank." He was physically a grown man, but had been "alive" for only six years -- a socially awkward, dangerous killer.
Fox, [[ScrewedByTheNetwork being Fox]], dumped the show after one full season. The show ended with one character presumed dead, another two falling in an escape pod into enemy territory, one reunited with his prisoner-of-war lover, and the others in general limbo.
----
!!This show provides examples of:
%%Zero Context Example Entries are not allowed on the wiki. All such entries have been commented out. Add context before uncommenting them.
%%* AceCustom: Chiggy Von Richthofen's fighter.
%%* ActionGirl: Many of the female Marines, but particularly Vansen.
%%* AIIsACrapshoot: The Silicates.
%%* AllPlanetsAreEarthLike: both averted and played straight in different episodes.
* ArcWords:
** "Abandon all hope," a ShoutOut to the ''Literature/TheDivineComedy''.
** "I believe in you," a hasty message recorded in an audio picture frame by Lt. West's girlfriend; it is his [[TheQuest reason to stay in the fight]], the hope that [[IWillFindYou he will find her]] and rescue her after her colony was attacked by the Chigs. [[spoiler: At the end of the series, she changes the message to say "[[MeaningfulEcho I believe in]] ''[[MeaningfulEcho all]]'' [[MeaningfulEcho of you]],", addressed to the entire squadron after they saved her.]]
** "Take a chance," the message that leads to the Silicate rebellion.
* ArtificialHuman:
%%** The [=InVitro=] "Tanks", who are also victims of FantasticRacism.
** As well as the Silicates, the original race of android servants created by humanity who TurnedAgainstTheirMasters. The [=InVitros=] were created to fight them.
* AsianAndNerdy: Wang is an interesting take on this trope, as he's a ''sports'' nerd (his parents send him sod from Wrigley Field, and he claims he can figure out where exactly in the field it's from from its smell)
* AwesomeMcCoolName: Colonel Tyrus Cassius [=McQueen=].
%%* BabyFactory: Where the [=InVitros=] come from.
* BattleCry: [[SemperFi The United States Marine Corps]] Battlecry. Turns out to be a MeaningfulEcho, being prominently featured in the very first episode and at the climax of the very last episode of the series.
* BattleDiscretionShot: The fight between a Chig force and the USS ''Hornet'' is only seen by means of a reporter broadcasting from aboard the ship (where we can't see anything except the ship shaking, things breaking, smoke, etc.), and the view from Earth as the entire battle is seen only as a series of flashing lights in the sky.
* TheBattlestar: Though primarily used as a spacecraft carrier, the USS ''Saratoga'' is shown from time to time to engage in ship-to-ship combat against enemy capital ships. Presumably her sister ships (including the USS ''Eisenhower'' and presumably the [[BattleDiscretionShot USS]] ''[[BattleDiscretionShot Hornet]]'')
* BellyButtonless: The [=InVitros=] lack standard belly-buttons. Instead, they have nipple-like bumps on the back of their necks from there the artificial placentas attached to them in the womb-tanks.
* BitterSweetEnding: [[spoiler: Most of the Wildcards are dead or missing, [=McQueen=] is severely injured in an explosion, the war, once within sight of peace, now rages as intense as ever, the human forces have lost the initiative, making Operation Roundhammer irrelevant. On the other hand, the colonists held captive since the series pilot, including West's girlfriend, have been successfully rescued.]]
* BizarreAlienBiology: In the pilot, Damphousse decides to give the Chig POW some water, to show that [[HumansAreBastards humans]] ''[[AvertedTrope are not]]'' [[HumansAreBastards bastards.]] [[spoiler:Unfortunately, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Chigs are deathly allergic to water]].]]
** [[spoiler: In the next to last episode, an armourless Chig runs around a wet swamp without problems. It's more likely that that first one committed suicide.]]
** Later the Chig are show to be grown in bee hive like domes and when ready are planned under ground, making them part bee part plant.
* BrickJoke: "You will be issued one urine and fecal collection device. [[BringMyBrownPants A yellow flashing light on the flight suit indicates full capacity]]."
* TheBrigadier: Commodore Ross. His rank is even the naval equivalent of brigadier.
%%* BugWar
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Major McKendrick, a slightly crazy British guy who got stuck on a planet with nothing to do but listen to Chig transmissions on a broken radio all day, who has managed to at least start to understand the Chig language. [[spoiler: he refuses to be evacuated in order for him to finish the job]]
* TheCastShowoff: Tucker Smallwood as Commodore Ross played blues guitar as often as possible.
* CasualInterstellarTravel: Averted. Naturally occurring wormholes are used opportunistically to supplement the rarely mentioned "Hawking Drive" (a form of artificial FTL); presumably the wormholes have some unspecified advantage over the Hawking Drive.
* ChristmasEpisode: "The River of Stars".
* ColonelBadass: T.C. [=McQueen=] repeatedly was shown to be the only guy who knew what the Hell he was doing - [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome especially when he fought Chiggy Von Richthofen).]]
%%** Lieutenant Colonel Raymond T. Butts, USMC, says hello.
* ColonelKilgore: Herrick is only a lieutenant, but otherwise fits this trope rather well, being overly eager to fight the Chigs and gain prestige and honor--even when he's commanding the reserve in a recon mission and has been specifically ordered not to engage the enemy. He disobeys a direct order from Vansen (a superior officer) and decides on his own initiative to attack a Chig satellite tower. [[spoiler: he ends up getting his entire squad killed, including Nathan's younger brother, as the tower was a decoy and a trap]]
* ColdBloodedTorture:
** The Silicates use torture for various reasons. [=McQueen=] recounts his own experiences during the [[RobotWar Silicate War]] and how, even with an [=InVitro=]'s enhanced pain resistance, he was still [[TortureAlwaysWorks forced to divulge everything he knew]].
* CoolHelmet: The Wild Cards all have custom artwork on their flight helmets, including their (poker card) themed callsigns.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Aero-Tech.
* CustomUniform: The 127th Attack Wing, AKA the "Angry Angels". Black uniforms with leather jackets and black berets is probably not a standard Marine Corps uniform, given that we never see anybody outside of that unit wear them. (And we never see most of the Angry Angels wear them after the pilot episode. See TheWorfEffect.)
* CurbStompBattle:
** Several, including the early fight in the pilot between the Chigs and the USS ''Hornet'' and the Angry Angels, and several engagements against Chiggy Von Richtofen.
** In one battle, they sent ''[[NoKillLikeOverkill fifteen]]'' squadrons out specifically to hunt down and destroy Chiggy Von Richtofen and his AceCustom. Not only did they fail to destroy him, but of the three squadrons that found and engaged him, only one survived. To clarify, the humans engaged Chiggy with ''thirty to one odds'' and barely came away with a stalemate.
* DangerousDeserter: Major [=McKendrick=] is a subversion of sorts. In fact, when [=McQueen=] points out his refusal to be rescued and evacuated is technically desertion, he gets extremely offended, as he considers his current work [[spoiler: decoding the Chig language]] to be much more important than the pencil pushing the British Army would undoubtedly reassign him to. This doesn't stop the Wildcards from suspecting him first when a power cell goes missing. [[spoiler: it was actually Wang who stole the power cell]]
* DeadlineNews: A reporter is broadcasting from aboard the USS ''Saratoga'' in the pilot, as the humans are about to fight their first major battle against the Chigs. From what we can see of the broadcast and the aftermath, it didn't go well. (Fridge Logic: One wonders if the reporter's live feed from aboard the flagship might have made it easier for the Chigs to defeat the human force with such uncharacteristic ease, compared to later in the series.)
* DeathNotification: After the death of [[spoiler: Nathan West's younger brother Neil]], Nathan is shocked to discover that the notification letter was sent to the ''wrong address''. He ends up writing a letter of his own home to inform [[spoiler: their mother]] himself. It is implied that rather than being hand-delivered, the notices are sent in the mail in "ugly yellow envelopes".
* DrillSergeantNasty:
** [[FullMetalJacket Gunnery Sergeant Hartmann]] reappears, only this time he insists his name is Bogess... and he has toned it down to PG-13 dialogue.
** Colonel [=McQueen=] has shades of this too. He generally cares for the pilots under his command, but will come down harshly on anyone who doesn't measure up to his exacting standards or doesn't show him proper respect.
* DorkKnight: Once his harsh exterior wears down Hawkes begins to show signs of this trope, being BookDumb, a tad naive, and incredibly appreciative whenever someone else on the squad is nice to him.
* DuringTheWar: T.C. [=McQueen=] recounts some stories about the [[RobotWar Silicate War]] where his kind were discriminated against. Likewise, the leader of the squadron has flashbacks to her childhood.
* FacelessGoons: The enemy was almost always shown wearing their environmental suits. They have a suicide pill that turns them into goo if someone tries to force their helmets off [[spoiler: but you see what they look like near the end.]]
* FantasticRacism: There are three or four intelligent races in this show's setting, depending on if you count the [[ArtificialHuman InVitros]] as a separate race from humanity: Humans, [=InVitros=], Silicates, and Chigs. Racism back and forth between the different groups varies from implied to outright expressed.
* FatalFamilyPhoto: {{Averted}}. The photo of his girlfriend is [[TheQuest specifically]] [[IWillFindYou what keeps West going.]]
* AFatherToHisMen: Lt. Col. [=McQueen=], even if it's often the stern-father archetype. As the series goes on it becomes increasingly clear that the Wildcards are incredibly important to [=McQueen=], and whenever it appears they are dead or lost his distress is obvious. This all counts double for Hawkes, given that both are InVitros and [=McQueen=] begins to serve as a ParentalSubstitute to him.
* FunWithAcronyms: This M.A.R.I.N.E.S. chant.
-->M: Mean as Hell!\\
A: All the Time!\\
R: Rough and Tough!\\
I: In the Mud!\\
N: Never Quits!\\
E: Every Day!\\
S: SemperFi!
%%* GovernmentConspiracy: Oddly, for the human race's own good.
* HandicappedBadass: Lieutenant Colonel T.C. [=McQueen=], callsign "Queen Six". He suffered a crippling injury to his inner ear during a [[CurbStompBattle battle with the Chigs]] in the first episode, being the only survivor from his squadron. He has an artificial implant which allows him to not suffer crippling nausea, but high-g maneuvers (such as those experienced during SpaceFighter combat) would cause it to [[YourHeadASplode explode]]. In the second episode featuring Chiggy Von Richthofen, [[spoiler: he has the implant removed, trains himself to be able to stand upright and function ''without a working inner ear'', and proceeds to defeat Chiggy Von Richthofen in one-on-one combat while presumably suffering the kind of nausea that would leave most badasses vomiting and sobbing inside their space helmets.]]
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Col. Ray Butts has been a Marine for so long and in so many stressful situations that it has seriously compromised his inter-personal skills--all of the 58ths and [=McQueen=] absolutely loathe him within a few minutes of meeting him thanks to his JerkAss personality, rude sense of superiority, and refusal to explain any of his mission objectives even when it's necessary to understand the mission. When you make the dour, humorless [=McQueen=] seem friendly and approachable, you're obviously doing something wrong.
* HollywoodAtheist: Wang, who stopped believing in religion after seeing the horrors of war, although he still has a tendency to cross himself before battle and when he thinks he's going to die. When Damphousse (a devout Christian) calls him on it, he claims it's just superstition and habit.
* HollywoodLaw: [[ArtificialHuman Cooper Hawkes]] ends up getting arrested due to a combination of FantasticRacism and a misunderstanding with the police after a group of thugs try to hang him in an alleyway. The judge sentences him to serve his debt to society via military service... by putting him through a commissioning program to become a space fighter pilot in the Marine Corps. The DrillSergeantNasty even goes so far as to describe the entire situation as a cruel prank played at his (the drill sergeant's) expense.
%%* HumanoidAliens
* KickTheDog: Chigs have a habit of chopping up any human they find, dead or alive.
** This gets subverted later in the series when they explain just ''why'' the Chigs do this. A running theme in the show is that the Chigs aren't pure evil per se, just very "alien" from humans. It is eventually learned that the Chigs have no concept of an afterlife, and misinterpret human references to such as being a human ability to [[DeathIsCheap come back from the dead]]. So they are trying to counter that presumed advantage of the humans.
** It doesn't help that while the Chigs have very limited communication with the humans, they ''do'' appear to be working with the Silicates, who ''hate'' the humans, and are rather bastards themselves.
* InsectoidAliens: the Chigs are so named because their environmental suits make them resemble chiggers, although Wang points out they look more like praying mantises or walking sticks to him.
* InSpaceEveryoneCanSeeYourFace: Those lighted helmets must make good aiming points for Chig soldiers in the dark.
%%* ISOStandardHumanSpaceship
* IWillFindYou: West spends the entire series searching for his girlfriend, whose colony ship was attacked by the Chigs shortly after he was pulled off the colony mission. [[spoiler: He and his squadron rescue her and the other surviving colonists in the series finale.]]
* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: [=McQueen=] torturing a captured Silicate saboteur to death to find out where Chiggy Von Richthofen is.
%%* LandMineGoesClick
* LeftHanging: Like many other Fox shows, due to premature cancellation.
* LivingShip: the Chigs spacecraft were at least partly biological and may or may not have been [[SapientShip sentient]].
* ManChild: Cooper Hawkes, {{Justified|Trope}} since he is not only [[PeopleJars just a few years old]], but also very poorly socialized due to being a runaway. He [[CharacterDevelopment improves over time]] as he fights and serves alongside the other Wild Cards.
* MacrossMissileMassacre [[spoiler: [=McQueen=] kills Chiggy von Richthofen with one.]]
%%* ManchurianAgent: "Eyes"
* MeaningfulEcho:
** "I Believe In You," by the end of the show, it becomes [[spoiler: "I believe... in]] ''[[spoiler:all]]'' [[spoiler:of you."]]
** Not to mention the [[SemperFi UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS]] [[BattleCry BATTLECRY]]: [[spoiler: In the pilot, Wang is incapable of producing a convincing battlecry without the help of two [[DrillSergeantNasty Drill Sergeant Nasties]] demonstrating one for him at point blank range. In the series finale, he produces a fine battlecry while making his [[HeroicSacrifice Heroic]] [[LastStand sacrifice]]. To top it off, he even throws in a ToAbsentFriends by screaming the names of every Wildcard RedShirt and MauveShirt who died on the show as part of his battlecry.]]
%%* MegaCorp: Aerotech.
* MildlyMilitary: {{Averted}}; The show went out of its way to show a rigid military command structure with a lot of division between ranks.
* MilitaryScienceFiction
%%* MinovskyPhysics: "Sewel Fuel"
* MistakenForRacist: [=InVitros=] are pejoratively called [[TestTubeHuman Tanks]]. A Tank is also a type of armored ground combat vehicle. ''Pearly'' is ''[[BerserkButton not]]'' an Armored Personnel Carrier. Sgt. Fox is initially misunderstood when he tries to clarify this.
%%* MixAndMatchMan: Implied to be used to make the Tanks.
* MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness: Like ''Series/BabylonFive,'' ''SAAB'' was surprisingly "hard" sci-fi for a television show (excluding the artificial gravity, humanoid robots and aliens): FTL travel was accomplished by use of naturally occurring wormholes, kinetic weapons are used by Earth's ground forces, and translating an alien language proves extremely difficult (see below).
* MustHaveCaffeine: Sgt. Fox takes his morning coffee by swallowing a mouthful of coffee grounds washed down with canteen water.
%%* TheNeidermeyer: Ray Butts
* NicknamingTheEnemy: The term "Chigs" is used to refer to their alien enemies, apparently because they look like chiggers.
* NoseArt: Chiggy Von Richtofen's AceCustom has a human skull painted on the nose, and the words "Abandon All Hope".
* OldSchoolDogfighting: Played with a little. The Human SA-43 "Hammerhead" fighters have guns in front and behind so they can shoot at targets that aren't in fount of them.
* OperationBlank: Several examples, most notably the much-foreshadowed "Operation Roundhammer", [[spoiler: the all-out invasion of the Chig homeworld.]]
* OutrankingYourJob:
** As the 58th is composed entirely of officers, each member should be ''leading'' ground units of enlisted soldiers (or at least be attached individually to such a unit as forward air controllers), not acting as cannon fodder. This is particularly egregious when the unit is depicted fighting alongside a conventional infantry unit, commanded by a lieutenant - he is outranked by ALL members of the 58th.
** In "Who Monitors the Birds", the sniper team sent to assassinate a Chig officer consists of Major Colquitt and Lieutenant Hawkes.
* PeopleJars: [=InVitro=] growth tanks.
* PhysicalFitnessPunishment: Sergeant Major Bougus has several officer recruits drop and start doing pushups: One for mouthing off to him, and another for smirking at the first one doing pushups.
* PsychicPowers: Left ambiguous, if not outright [[SubvertedTrope subverted]]: an entire episode is devoted to how the military (specifically, one officer who [[IJustWantToBeSpecial really wants to "see what you see"]]) turns what is likely common intuition into a deal that endangers the whole of the squadron.
* PunyEarthlings: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. Chigs die as easily as humans, and the Silicates, not having been built for fighting, can be beaten by humans in hand to hand combat. In fact, [=McQueen=] and Hawkes are able to break into a Silicate-run prison and liberate the others (who had been captured) pretty much entirely on their own. Three of the few enemies not killed by [=McQueen=], Hawkes, or someone they freed are the two Silicates and the Chig that Vansen and Damphousse manage to kill ''from their prison cell''.
* RedHerring:
** [[spoiler: In the episode "Eyes", one of the candidates for UN Secretary-General is the "far right wing" [[CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys Nicholas Chaput]]. He's set up to look like the bad guy via the [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything swastika-like emblem]] of his political party, his [[FantasticRacism distrust of [=InVitros=]]], and his penchant for polygraph loyalty tests (but only from [=InVitros=]). He then reveals that his [[ThereAreNoGoodExecutives opponent's corporation]] provoked the chig attacks in the first place, and said exec (who winds up getting elected as world leader) tries to have Chaput assassinated.]]
** The same episode also had [[spoiler: A group of [[AIIsACrapShoot Silicates that had been invited to the gathering for some reason. They don't cause any problems for the entire time they are there.]]]]
%%* RidiculouslyHumanRobots
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Vansen goes on one when she learns why the Silicates killed her parents: [[spoiler: they flipped a coin, as Silicates view betting as a semi-religious experience]]. She starts her rampage off by [[spoiler: beating a Silicate to death with her bare hands]].
* RobotWar: The Silicate War, shown in flashbacks and alluded to often. Literally an OriginStory for Lt. Hawkes and Lt. Colonel [=McQueen=].
%%* ShootTheDog: The entire show is implied to be a series of these moments.
* ShoutOut: ''[[{{Film/Alien}} In Space, no one can hear you scream]]... [[SemperFi Unless it's a UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS BATTLECRY!!!]]''
* ShownTheirWork:
** The show is of course known for averting MildlyMilitary, but they even go so far as to include little touches like having the deployed servicemen read [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stars_and_Stripes_(newspaper) The Stars and Stripes]].
** The song that that 7th Cav Sergeant sings at the beginning of ''Pearly''? That's not a random tune, that's Garry Owen, the 7th's regimental song.
%%* SpaceFighter
%%* SpacePlane
* SpaceIsAnOcean: References are made to "dropping anchor", "setting sail" and "burial at space" (and yes, it's ''at'' space, not ''in'' space).
* SpaceMarine: Notably US Marines, but since it's the future their role has been extended to space.
%%* TheSquad
%%* TheSquadette: Vansen. Damphousse was female but not a Squadette.
* StarfishLanguage: Communicating with the Chigs proves extremely difficult.
* SexBot: The original programming for some of the Silicates, notably Felicity OH.
%%* StiffUpperLip: Major McKendrick
* TankGoodness and TanksButNoTanks: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] [[StealthPun in]] ''Pearly''. The Wildcards end up taking refuge inside an armored vehicle on the battlefield. They keep referring to it as an [[AwesomePersonnelCarrier Armored Personnel Carrier]], much to the driver's annoyance. Finally he screams "'''''[[MistakenForRacist TANK!]]'''''". Turns out that ''Pearly'' is a Tank, not an [=APC=]
* TechnologyMarchesOn: CRT Monitors and CD-ROMs are used aboard the ''Saratoga''.
* ThemeNaming: The TrueCompanions' squadron is called The Wildcards. Their callsigns are all based on poker cards.
* TripleNipple: Lt. Hawkes is an [[UterineReplicator InVitro]], meaning he spent his embryonic period in a tank. The mark where the feeding tube was connected at his neck resembles a nipple, though he insists it's more like a "belly button".
%%* TortureTechnician: Elroy EL.
%%* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: The Silicates and [=InVitros=].
* TwoPlusTortureMakesFive: [[spoiler: Wang]] confesses under torture to war crimes [[spoiler: he]] didn't commit.
* UnitedNationsIsASuperpower: Very much in effect, though countries like the UK and the USA are shown to still exist, the UN will have a lot more political authority in the mid-21st century, according to this show.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In the episode "Choice or Chance" he Wildcards are captured and thrown into a Silicate prison where they discover what looks like the missing Tellas colonists imprisoned, including West's girlfriend Cailen, mining fuels for the Silicates. At the end of the episode, it's revealed that [[spoiler: "Cailen" was some sort of shapeshifter]], but what about the rest of the prisoners?
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman:
** Most of the problems that the humans have with the Silicates and the Tanks are because the humans keep treating their creations like slave labor or cannon fodder. A decade or more after the Silicate War, racism against the Tanks is rampant because they are perceived as cowards at best, or freaks at worst.
** [=McQueen=] convinces a captured Silicate saboteur to divulge needed information by yanking pieces of his internal circuitry out, despite both the silicate and Lieutenant Wang protesting that Silicates are specifically reserved certain rights as intelligent beings, including protection from torture. After the silicate dies, [=McQueen=] orders that the "pile of scrap" be disposed of.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: [[spoiler: The Chigs' Amygdala weapon turns any mild fear into a crippling phobia]].
* TheWorfEffect: The 127th Attack Wing, AKA the Angry Angels, are hyped up by their fangirl (Vansen) as "The best there is, ever will be." Except for [=McQueen=], they don't survive past the first half of the pilot. Could be {{justified|Trope}} by claiming that the Chigs would try to hit the humans hard in the first attack, and after both sides took severe losses early on, the general intensity of the battle dialed back [[UpToEleven down from eleven]] once it became apparent the war would be on for a while.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: In Vitros are all considerably younger than their physical age, since they're force-grown to eighteen while still in the tank.
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