History WesternAnimation / RoughnecksStarshipTroopersChronicles

* ShapeShifting: [[spoiler:The infiltrator Bugs]]
* ShootTheDog: When General Redwing was captured by the Bugs, a Brain Bug arrived to suck her mind dry of all the crucial information that she has on S.I.C.O.N. and its forces. The Roughnecks manage to save her, and she is appreciative, but she comments that they should have killed her in order to insure that her knowledge did not fall into the hands of the Bugs. Rico informs her that that was Plan B-and leaves out that it had actually been Plan ''A'' before Brutto came up with an alternative.

* TwentyFourHourArmor: {{Justified}}: the MI troopers often find themselves on worlds with unbreathable or no atmosphere, and their insulated power suits keep them alive. Also, T'phai is ''never'' seen without armor after joining the Roughnecks due being a Skinny, thus breathing methane.

* WhatMeasureIsANonhuman: The C.H.A.S. model robot is added to the Rougnecks during the Tophet Campaign, where he learns the vaue of human life and sacrifces himself to save Higgins. The closing narration reveals that S.I.C.O.N. considered the mission casualty-free, but the team considers it as the loss of one of their own. However, [[BrokenAesop they never wear the K.I.A. or M.I.A. armbands that they do when they lose other Roughnecks]].

* JoinTheArmyTheySaid: Given that this is a show about soldiers in a brutal war, naturally, mockery of the propaganda used to entice them to enlist is a frequent element.

* HalfHumanHybrid: [[spoiler:Zander]], and later the Infiltrator Bugs.

* ShockStick: The show's example is the TropeNamer. It is a melee staff weapon used by the Skinnies that delivers powerful amperages of electricity. They are capable of killing Bugs or disabling a Trooper's PowerArmor. The Troopers later adopt this technology for their own use.

%%* TheChick: Higgins.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

** DrillSergeantNasty: the unsubtly-named Brutto. Zim is revealed via FlashBack to be a subversion, acting the part but also helping Rico during his DarkestHour.

* BolivianArmyEnding: The last shot of the series is of [[spoiler: a massive fleet of transport bugs descending on Earth]].

* TheBusCameBack: Sergeant Brutto sends a few letters after he left the Roughnecks, but then re-appears for the penultimate episode [[spoiler: at Lieutenant Razak's funeral]].

* CallBack: When [[spoiler: Bug!Zander]] is about to kill Rico during the Klendathu Campaign, Dizzy reminds him of the time they had spent together in the Tesca Campaign and quotes back to him his earlier words of friendship and (potentially) love.

* CartwrightCurse: Dizzy ''believes'' this to be the case, but of all her relationships only [[spoiler: Zander]] was killed or removed from the series. Lampshaded when Diz tries to give Johnnie an ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies speech to hold off a RelationshipUpgrade.

** Zander, following [[spoiler: his transformation]].

* HellIsThatNoise: In one episode, Rico hears a mysterious and creepy grinding sound while in a [[PeopleJars recovery vat]] after sustaining heavy injuries in battle, a sound no one else can hear. His crew and the medical team working on him all worry about his mental health[[labelnote:*]]to the point that the [=REMFs=] are seriously considering having his ''memory erased'' to treat his "psychosis"[[/labelnote]]. Ultimately, bugs emerge in the base and they realize he could hear them tunneling in because the tank, being bolted to the floor, was amplifying the noise.

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: Zander and Lieutenant Razak]]

* LoveRedeems: [[spoiler:Zander]] has been transformed into a human/Bug hybrid and is spearheading a new plan that might spell doom for the human invasion of Klendathu, but [[spoiler: Dizzy]] managed to break through his new intentions by reminding him of their time together and asking him to join her, and humanity as a whole, again.

* MeaningfulFuneral: The Roughnecks gather, including former members and General Miriam Redwing, to lay the ashes of [[spoiler: Lieutenant Razak]] to rest over a wild lake at sunrise, per his final request in his will.

** Lt. Walker, particularly in his first couple of appearances. [[CharacterDevelopment Later]], during the Homefront Campaign, he teams up with Lt. Razak to present an alternative to Sky Marshal Sanchez's plan to [[spoiler: carpet bomb San Francisco to destroy a hidden bug hive]].

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Zander]] managed to break out of his new Bug mentality just in time to save the Roughnecks and help destroy the new Bug plan to infiltrate the human forces, but died during the subsequent battle.

** As [[spoiler: Lieutenant Razak]] was pulled underwater, with human bombers incoming and no time for the squad to stay and rescue him, he pulled out a grenade to take out the Bug pulling him under.

* WholePlotReference: The first episode of the Trackers Campaign is ''Film/{{Alien}}'' and ''Film/{{Aliens}}'', complete with exact quotations and shot-for-shot scene recreations. Clearest when [[spoiler: Bug!Zander]] approached members of the squad as they monitor him with a hand-held motion sensor.

* TheLostWoods: Planet Tesca

* StunGuns

* AlienInvasion: Take a wild bloody guess.
* AlienSky

* TheAsteroidThicket
* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: Bugs are seen surviving without equipment on atmosphere-free Pluto (Pluto does tachnically have an atmosphere, but see ArtisticLicenseSpace), the methane-atmosphere of Tophet, the not-quite-oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere of Klendathu and the oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere of Earth. They are also seen, on occasion, underwater, although there appear to also be water-specific bugs used for aquatic missions.

* TheChick: Higgins

* CommercialBreakCliffhanger

* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: [[spoiler:Zander]], Combined with TheCorruption and BodyHorror, culminating in WhatHaveIBecome and [[spoiler:RedemptionEqualsDeath]]).

* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: Bugs are seen surviving without equipment on atmosphere-free Pluto (Pluto does tachnically have an atmosphere, but see SpaceDoesNotWorkThatWay below), the methane-atmosphere of Tophet, the not-quite-oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere of Klendathu and the oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere of Earth. They are also seen, on occasion, underwater, although there appear to also be water-specific bugs used for aquatic missions.

* SpaceDoesNotWorkThatWay: Winged bugs flying on Pluto. Pluto does ''technically'' have an atmosphere (composed of nitrogen, methane and carbon monoxide), but it's about one tenth of one percent ''of one percent'' of the density of Earth's atmosphere. Good luck flying in that.

* CutShort: Just as they were setting up for [[WhatCouldHaveBeen a big climax]]. Four clip-shows were produced instead.

* MadeOfIron: The Bug Queen takes a lot of punishment, and in "Checkmate" is seen survive a number of giant stone pillar crash on her and a direct hit from a grenade, plus hundreds of rifle rounds. Then UpToEleven in "Trackers", when she somehow survives [[spoiler:a ''nuke'' and the destruction of the Super Transport Bug]].

* TheOtherDarrin: Creator/ClancyBrown is the only actor to reprise his role from the film, that of Career Sergeant Zim. All other characters were recast.

* ShockSticke: The show's example is the TropeNamer. It is a melee staff weapon used by the Skinnies that delivers powerful amperages of electricity. They are capable of killing Bugs or disabling a Trooper's PowerArmor. The Troopers later adopt this technology for their own use.

* GunshipRescue, a few times.

-->'''Rico''': '''''[[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments THANK YOU!]]'''''

* YouKeepUsingThatWord: Doc keeps using "virus" and "bacteria" interchangeably. A virus, by definition, can not be defeated by means of an anti-biotic.

* HomoeroticSubtext: Brutto and T'phai, of all people. They even [[LampshadeHanging comment on it]] themselves at one point, [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar in a network-friendly way]].

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Brutto tells Higgins that if he points his camera at him again, it is [[AssShove "gonna get a real nice closeup of your lower intestine."]]

The series ran into horrible behind-the-scenes [[TroubledProduction production problems]], and was never properly finished. Forty episodes were ordered and thirty-six were produced, leaving the conclusion of the final story arc unresolved. To fill the original order, four clip-shows were created from earlier episodes, one of which also included plot-relevant new footage. The series is divided into eight campaigns, each composed of five episodes which follow the Roughnecks through the numerous battles of an individual combat theatre. Each campaign contains an individual storyline within the larger context of the BugWar, to create [[MythArc one single over-arching plot]].

* ShootTheDog: When General Redwing was captured by the Bugs, a Brain Bug arrived to suck her mind dry of all the crucial information that she has on S.I.C.O.N. and its forces. The Roughnecks manage to save her, and she is appreciative, but she comments that they should have killed her in order to insure that her knowledge did not fall into the hands of the Bugs. Rico informs her that that was Plan B.

* LegoGenetics: The Bugs produce new strains of their species by feeding samples of local lifeforms to a specialist caste of "Nurse Bugs", who create a chemical slurry that is used to splice genes harvested from those lifeforms into hatchling Bugs so that they will absorb desirable traits and become better adapted for specific worlds and specific roles. As we see with [[spoiler: Zander,]] it works in reverse too, as bugs can create [[VideoGame/StarCraft infested terra]]-um, that is, "infected humans" by feeding us their DNA.

* LoveRedeems: [[spoiler: Zander]] has been transformed into a human/Bug hybrid and is spearheading a new plan that might spell doom for the human invasion of Klendathu, but [[spoiler: Dizzy]] managed to break through his new intentions by reminding him of their time together and asking him to join her, and humanity as a whole, again.

* LoweredMonsterDifficulty: Hoppers. When they are introduced on Pluto they are immune to pulse rifle rounds, requiring grenades or rockets. By the Tesca Nemerosa campaign, pulse rifles kill them with ease.