History Series / SpaceAboveAndBeyond

*** [[spoiler: Then again, Damphousse might have a degree in ArtMajorBiology, since she started pumping water into what was obviously a gill used for breathing. Odds are, if the first one didn't commit suicide, it drowned.]]

* 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.]]

* FantasticShipPrefix: The ''Kennedy''-class space carriers took the current hull classification for a nuclear carrier, CVN, and put an 'S' (for Space) in front resulting in SCVN. ''Saratoga'' is SCVN-2812.

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

* 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.)

* AncientAstronauts: It's all but confirmed in "Stardust" that the Chigs have encountered humans for a long time: they can apparently understand Navajo [[spoiler:enough that the Marines are able to successfully plant disinformation written in it]]. [[spoiler:In the series finale, the Chig ambassador claims his people are originally ''from'' Earth, but left home hundreds of thousands of years before humans evolved. This was in an ancestral form, as bacteria that survived in space and found their way to a new life-bearing planet, but the familiarity with the Navajo language does imply that the 21st century wasn't the first time they dealt with Homo sapiens.]]

** "Take a chance," the message that leads to the Silicate rebellion.

* TheNeidermeyer: Ray Butts, due to a combination of HeWhoFightsMonsters and PoorCommunicationKills, is generally despised by the 58th.

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

** In the finale, during his HeroicSacrifice, [[spoiler:Wang]] recites the name of ''[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome every single character]]'' [[TheDeadHaveNames killed in the entire course of the series]], ending with "This is for you!"

** 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.]]

An example of this would be the several plotlines revolving around "[=InVitros=]," humans who had been [[ArtificialHuman 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 bigotry, enduring slurs like "nipple-neck" ([=InVitro=] umbilical cords stem from the neck and leave a puckered scar after removal) and "tank."

* ArtificialHuman:
** The [=InVitro=] "Tanks", human beings grown in laboratories for use as soldiers, 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.

** No, [=Colonel McQueen=], the real Marine Corps does ''not'' routinely send naval aviators in as infantrymen. Despite the Marine creed that every Marine is first a rifleman, that would be a stupid risk of very expensively trained officers.

* 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 by the smell).

* 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]]

** Lt. Herrick tries to be this with his unit,[[note]]lampshaded by Wang, who says he's "seen too many war movies."[[/note]] but [=McQueen=] steps in and does the same thing ''to him''.

* {{Embarrassing First Name}}/{{Embarrassing Middle Name}}: Colonel T.C. [=McQueen=] never goes by any other name than "Colonel" or "Sir", to cover up the fact that T.C. stands for Tyrus Cassius.
* 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.

* 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.

** "Chigs" or (less commonly) "Chiggers" for the aliens - to the point of being OnlyKnownByTheirNickname.

* 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***".

* GovernmentConspiracy: It turns out the human higher-ups were aware of the Chigs' existence before they established the colonies at Vesta and Tellus. According to them, when the Chigs warned them against settling those worlds, they concluded that the Chigs had no legal claim to planets so far outside their sphere of influence. The Chigs disagreed.

* NoseArt: Chiggy Von Richtofen's AceCustom has a human skull painted on the nose, and the words "Abandon All Hope".[[note]]In ''English.''[[/note]]

* AncientAstronauts: It's all but confirmed in "Stardust" that the Chigs have encountered humans for a long time: they can apparently understand Navajo [[spoiler:enough that the Marines are able to successfully plant disinformation written in it]]. [[spoiler:In the series finale, the Chig ambassador claims his people are originally ''from'' Earth, but left home hundreds of thousands of years before humans evolved.]]

* {{Ultraterrestrials}}: [[spoiler:In the final episode the Chig ambassador claims that his species evolved on Earth before humans did, but left before it became suited to oxygen-breathing life.]]

* WrongGenreSavvy: Lieutenant Herrick, West's brother's CO in the Recon Marines, is gung-ho caught up in the tales of heroic Marine battles of the past, wanting to imitate them in his own career. Unfortunately, ''Space: Above and Beyond'' is a WarIsHell-style series and he isn't the protagonist. As a result, [[spoiler:he and his entire unit are killed in a Chig ambush, with West's brother fighting to his last bullet]].

** [[Film/FullMetalJacket Gunnery Sergeant Hartmann]] reappears, played by Creator/RLeeErmey, only this time he insists his name is Bogess... and he has toned it down to PG-13 dialogue. Bogess is also a lot less nasty than Hartmann: he's certainly tough on his cadets but it's made abundantly clear that he deeply cares for them.

** 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''.

%%* TheSquadette: Vansen. Damphousse was female but not a Squadette.

--> [[spoiler:'''E. Allen Wayne:''' How can you lay sole claim to the universe?]]
--> [[spoiler:'''Chig Ambassador:''' How can you claim the Earth?]]
--> [[spoiler:'''E. Allen Wayne:''' It's our home, we originated there.]]
--> [[spoiler:'''Chig Ambassador:''' ''So did we.'']]

* WhoWatchesTheWatchmen: In a flashback sequence in "Who Monitors the Birds?", [[MeaningfulName Hawkes]] asks one of his indoctrination monitors the eponymous question. When the monitor replies, "I monitor the birds," Hawkes' next question is, "Who monitors you?" The monitors decide Hawkes must be eliminated at that point.

* SpaceIsNoisy: Has noisy space like almost every other sci-fi show, but also {{parodied}} in the pilot with Creator/RLeeErmey's line, "In space, no one can hear you scream, unless it's a United States Marine Corps battle cry!"

* 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]]

** [[Film/FullMetalJacket Gunnery Sergeant Hartmann]] reappears, only this time he insists his name is Bogess... and he has toned it down to PG-13 dialogue.

** [[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.]]

* 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.

* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:The series finale has Wang cover the escape of West, Hawkes, and Kylen and the other captured colonists by separating the cargo compartment of an APC with him in it so West can grab the one from the other, disabled, APC. He blows away several Chig fighters with a mounted gun before one crashes into him. WordOfGod is that, had the series not been cancelled, the death would still have stuck.]]

** Played with in "Stay with the Dead" - [[spoiler:West's]] superiors ''think'' he is the only survivor, and he must convince them otherwise in order to save the rest of his unit.

* SuperPrototype: Chiggy Von Richtofen's custom Chig fighter. It's hull is NighInvulnerable to Earth weaponry, it has superior handling than the Hammerheads, and it's almost completely invisible to sensors.

* RecycledInSpace: The show draws heavily from UsefulNotes/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.

* 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=]. (The driver is briefly MistakenForRacist because Hawke is there.)