History Series / SpaceAboveAndBeyond

* DramaticUnmasking: When a [[spoiler: Chig ambassador aboard the ''Saratoga'' takes off it's helmet, revealing itself as the same alien species the 58th aided on Anvil.]]

* WhamLine: From an unarmed Chig ship at the end of "And if they lay us down to rest...", transmitted in English;
--> '''Chig Ambassador:''' PEACE

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Aero-Tech.

* 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 UnusualEuphemism for Adios Mutha' F***.

* 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).

** Round Hammer itself is inspired by the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands. [[spoiler:But unlike the real one that never happened because the Japanese surrendered after the American nuclear attacks, Round Hammer is called off in the finale because the Wild Cards screw up and give away the battle plan to the Chigs,[[note]]They meet an unarmored Chig while scouting a moon of the Chig homeworld and, not knowing what unarmored Chigs look like, mistake him for a different alien species and tell him about the planned assault to save his life. He is apparently a guardian of a Chig breeding ground and tells his government about the invasion.[[/note]] who offer to open peace negotiations instead of taking advantage. The negotiations go badly awry and the war restarts, but the UN has lost the initiative.]]

* ShoutOut: ''[[{{Film/Alien}} In Space, no one can hear you scream]]... [[SemperFi Unless it's a UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS BATTLECRY!!!]]''

** Major McKendrick's ordeal behind enemy lines began when his unit was wiped out.

** Possibly McQueen himself, as he is the only member of the Angry Angels explicitly shown to have survived their battle with the Chigs.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: CRT Monitors and CD-ROMs are used aboard the ''Saratoga''.

* TortureTechnician: Elroy EL, a line of Silicates that specialize as torturers.

* 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?

* 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.

* 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 UsefulNotes/TheSpaceRace of the 1960s.

* 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.

''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 Fighter Squadron, or the Wildcards. The show often focused on current issues and introduced moral dilemmas ''without'' being pathetically obvious.

** In "The Angriest Angel", several of the Wildcards get too familiar with Colonel McQueen (Wang casually invites him to join in a game of pool, while Winslow is in the process of hitting on him. McQueen proceeds to [[DrillSergeantNasty lay down the law]] on all of them, reminding them that he is ''not'' there to be their friend. [[spoiler:Winslow gets [[SacrificialLion killed later in the same episode]], sparking [[ItsPersonal McQueen's vendetta]] against [[RedBaron Chiggy von Richthofen]].]]

* AManIsNotAVirgin: Most of the male cast aren't (among other things, [=McQueen=] is a divorcee), but in "R&R", West hires a prostitute to take Hawkes' virginity. Rather understandable that the socially stunted runaway with no family (other than his unit) would be one.

** It's lampshaded pretty early on. Col. [=McQueen=] takes time during a briefing to chew the team out for whining about ground duty, remind them that "every Marine is a rifleman!" and that they'll damn well keep their traps shut.

** 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).]]

* 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]].

* FatalFamilyPhoto: {{Averted}}. The photo of his girlfriend is [[TheQuest specifically]] [[IWillFindYou what keeps West going.]]

* LivingShip: the Chigs spacecraft were at least partly biological and may or may not have been [[SapientShip sentient]].

** 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.]]

* MilitaryScienceFiction

* 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."
** 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.

** 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.

* 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=]

* 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.

* 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]]

* TheNeedsOfTheMany: In ''Mutiny'', the ship the 58th faces destruction by the chigs if they don't divert power from one section to get away. That section happens to be where the InVitros are being stored, and the InVitro crewers refuse their orders. A mutiny occurs, but eventually they're persuaded to stand down because if they don't do this, ''everyone'' will die. In the end, they do it.

* TheCastShowoff: Tucker Smallwood as Commodore Ross played blues guitar as often as possible.

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 -- a process with a 90% failure rate which produces humans physically 18 years of age -- to be full-grown ChildSoldiers; socially awkward children with the bodies and training of elite military operatives, but with no life experiences. 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."

* AllPlanetsAreEarthLike: both averted and played straight in different episodes. Some planets can be operated on in plainclothes, while others require full space suits. The Chigs' native atmosphere is apparently methane-based.

** Often zigzagged during space combat sequences. While the Hammerheads are typically seen executing maneuvers that wouldn't look out of place for a WorldWarI or WorldWarII fighter, they are also shown to be capable of feats of agility matched only by present day attack helicopters and aircraft like the Harrier... [[FridgeBrilliance as befitting craft maneuvering via thrust vectoring and operating outside of an atmosphere.]]

** The military had long since abandoned the issue of sending letters to inform families of their dead loved ones. Appropriately, to avoid exactly the sort of situation Nathan finds himself in one episode. [[spoiler: His parents not getting the letter and still believing their son is alive.]]

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.