History YMMV / AceCombatZeroTheBelkanWar

** [[spoiler:[[WellIntentionedExtremist A World Without Boundaries]]]] itself is one large question mark.
** Whatever your all-seeing AWACS thought about all this.

** Was it Worth it? How many points did you get? [[labelnote:Explanation]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox4VsczS-6Q An Incorrect Summary of Ace Combat Zero]] uses this during the bombing of Hoffnung in a accusatory manner much like the famous "How many people did you kill today?" and "Do you feel like a hero yet?" quotes from VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine. Often used in discussions about War Crimes in the series, particularly the 7 nuclear bombs and the Hoffnung bombing in Zero.

** Was it Worth it? How many points did you get? [labelnote:Explanation]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox4VsczS-6Q An Incorrect Summary of Ace Combat Zero]] uses this during the bombing of Hoffnung in a accusatory manner much like the famous "How many people did you kill today?" and "Do you feel like a hero yet?" quotes from VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine. Often used in discussions about War Crimes in the series, particularly the 7 nuclear bombs and the Hoffnung bombing in Zero.

** Was it Worth it? How many points did you get? [labelnote:Explanation]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox4VsczS-6Q An Incorrect Summary of Ace Combat Zero]] uses this during the bombing of Hoffnung in a accusatory manner much like the famous "How many people did you kill today?" and "Do you feel like a hero yet?" quotes from SpecOpsTheLine. Often used in discussions about War Crimes in the series, particularly the 7 nuclear bombs and the Hoffnung bombing in Zero.
** People drop quotes from the narration of the game's prologue.

** Another thing of note is that one's perspective of events and how others perceive the same people can changes over time. ''Stage of Apocalypse'' is most likely to make many players change their ace style, which is representative of how they see themselves against the world. Cipher's appearance eventually has the interviewed ace pilots reviewing their worldview in light of the society following the war. And having the story presented in mock-documentary format of past events helps the player better understand the motivations of various organizations and people beyond just immediate enemies and allies in retrospective manner.

** Another thing of note is that one's perspective of events and how others perceive the same people can changes over time. ''Stage of Apocalypse'' is most likely to make many players change their ace style, which is representative of how they see themselves against the world. Cipher's appearance eventually has the interviewed ace pilots reviewing their worldview in light of the society following the war. And having the story presented in mock-documentary format of past events helps the player better understand the motivations of various organizations and people beyond just enemies and allies in retrospective manners.

* CentralTheme: Perspective.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[AwesomeMusic/AceCombat As to be expected]], though special note goes to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGjwXI0n5-I "Zero."]] It is widely considered to be the pinnacle of Keiki Kobayashi's immense body of work and, fittingly, underscores [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vexpkH7mjc the exhilarating and emotionally-charged final mission]] ([[spoiler:a BossOnlyLevel where you {{Air Joust|ing}} your old wingman to prevent him from taking out the world leaders via nuclear bombardment]]), itself [[SignatureScene one of the most emblematic events]] in the annals of ''Ace Combat'' history.

%%* CentralTheme: Perspective.

%%** People drop quotes from the narration of the game's prologue.
* SignatureScene: [[spoiler: The final battle between Cipher and Pixy is considered by many fans to be ''the'' SignatureScene of not just this game, but the entire ''Ace Combat'' franchise in general.]]
* SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing: The games are known for having a case of this, but this especially applies in Zero. [[Creator/YuriLowenthal Yuri Lowenthal's]] casting of Pixy is so good that people, even the Japanese fans, consider him to be ''the'' voice for Pixy.
* ThatOneAttack: The Burst Missiles used by [[spoiler:Pixy's ADFX-02 Morgan]] during the final mission creates a large area of effect blast that deals continuous damage capable of destroying your plane in one go, often forcing you to break off your pursuit in order to avoid it. What makes it worse is, due to the [=PS2=]'s graphics, it's invisible to you when you're actually inside of its range. Fortunately, it loads slower than regular missiles and stops being used after you land six hits.
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*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4exedTCjzt4&list=LL&index=11 Here is an video example of the argument.]]

** In Japanese fandom, the cinematics in ''Zero'' spawned numerous GagSub.
** "Muh clay" [[labelnote:Explanation]]Belka's spends most of the story gradually losing territory following Ustio's liberation, so they frantically fight a losing war against the much larger Osean forces to reclaim their rightful territory along with natural resource within, or rather clay as the fandom puts it.[[/labelnote]]

** People drop quotes from the narration of the game's prologue.

* SignatureScene: [[spoiler: The final battle between Cipher and Pixy is considered by many fans to be ''the'' climatic scene of not just this game, but the entire ''Ace Combat'' franchise in general.]]

** Belka did nothing wrong.[[labelnote:Explanation]]Similarly, some fans like to give Belka the DracoInLeatherPants treatment, glossing over the fact that they got themselves into a multi-front war and their sole military advantage was systematically wiped out by [[OneManArmy one pilot]].[[/labelnote]]

** The narrator, Brett Thompson, is also highly quotable, especially in the prologue with gems like "there was a reason for my obsession" and [[AsYouKnow "this of course can be found in any history book."]]

* FountainOfMemes: Let's face it, you can't really talk about Larry "Pixy" Foulke without quoting every single line he says during the story. It gets particularly JustForFun/{{egregious}} in the final mission, where his obsession with [[spoiler:V2 and borders]] takes over.

* SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing: The games are known for having a case of this, but this especially applies in Zero. [[Creator/YuriLowenthal Yuri Lowenthal]]'s casting of Pixy is so good that people, even the Japanese fans, consider him to be ''the'' voice for Pixy.

* SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing: The games are known for having a case of this, but this especially applies in Zero. [[Creator/YuriLowenthal]]'s casting of Pixy is so good that people, even the Japanese fans, consider him to be ''the'' voice for Pixy.

** Of course, Belka. In particular, the ememy ace squadrons are seen in this regard. It helps that almost all of them are [[PunchClockVillains Punch-Clock Villains]] who are just doing their jobs and following orders, and all of them, even Schwarze Team's leader, who is a war criminal, are AffablyEvil and are willing to talk to the narrator about Galm One.

** Of course, Belka. In particular, the ememy ace squadrons are seen in this regard. It helps that almost all of them are PunchClockVillains who are just doing their jobs and following orders, and all of them, even Schwarze Team's leader, who is a war criminal, are AffablyEvil and are willing to talk to the narrator about Galm One.

** Of course, Belka. In particular, the ememy ace squadrons are seen in this regard. It helps that almost all of them are Clock-PunchVillains who are just doing their jobs and following orders, and all of them, even Schwarze Team's leader, who is a war criminal, are AffablyEvil and are willing to talk to the narrator about Galm One.

* EvilIsCool: Mercenary Galm One is seen this way by the Mercenary fans. Committing war crimes? Who cares, the paycheck is awesome!
** Of course, Belka. In particular, the ememy ace squadrons are seen in this regard. It helps that almost all of them are ClockPunchVillains who are just doing their jobs and following orders, and all of them, even Schwarze Team's leader, who is a war criminal, are AffablyEvil and are willing to talk to the narrator about Galm One.

** "Yo buddy, you still alive?"[[labelnote:Explanation]]Pixy's first line during the FinalBoss fight. Just about everything he says is quotable to some degree, but this one stands out.[[/labelnote]]

** BELKA STRONK [[labelnote:Explanation]]The notion that if something originates from Belka, [[MemeticBadass it's magnitudes better than its counterparts]]. This is due to the story constantly demonstrating that Belka's military is a force to be reckoned with, what with their GermanicEfficiency mindset, multiple superweapons, legendary ace squadrons, and even having an influence in chronologically later installments.[[/labelnote]]

* {{Deconstruction}}: In-universe. Of the Belkan War. Those who played ''Ace Combat 5'' first will be told that the evil Belkans invaded other countries and the heroic Allies liberated them. Well that happened, but after Ustio was liberated, Thompson says it perfectly, "The true nature of the war begins from this point forward." Not all Belkans were evil, as evidenced by the interviews. And the Allied Forces invaded Belka in the first place to secure "resource interests." Come Mission 11, [[spoiler:Allied bombers destroy an entire Belkan city, and the Belkans rush frantically to defend it... before deciding to burn it anyway just so the Allies can't say they did.]] To quote Thompson again, "Everyone is a hero and a villain. And no one knows who's the victim or who's the aggressor." [[spoiler:Pixy didn't know either. So he defected.]]