Gauche (Alternate Europe), commonly known simply as Gauche, is a Web Animation created by Frkon
that, through countries talking to each other, tell the story of Europe follow a devastating war that left it in the superstate named Gauche, who rules the continent through a series of puppet states that are occasionally seized by Gauche to force them into subservience. The series starts as one of them, Poland, discovers a mysterious book (which Poland doesn't recognize) in an abandoned house that Gauche for some reason dislikes. The series can be found here.
The series started on July 28th, 2018, and concluded on September 14th, 2019. A sequel, Hague, was released on February 23rd and is currently ongoing under a different creator.
On February 23rd, 2020, a sequel called Hague was released, telling the story of Europe after it breaks from Russia, as the titular character starts to uncover a sinister plot. The series is currently being made by a different creator, HydreGod, and can be found here.
Tropes applying to Gauche (WARNING: All spoilers for Gauche will be unmarked):
- After the End: The story is set after a massive war that left Gauche and its allies as the only remnants of civilization, with the rest wilderness or controlled by mysterious barbarians. Later episodes reveal this to be a lie and downplay this, as while cities, societies, and nations were destroyed, America, Russia, and Arabia are alive, with the later two being the aforementioned barbarians who are trying to stop Gauche.
- Alternative Calendar: Gauche uses an XX calendar, with the series starting in XX63, with its year zero being a global war. After Gauche's defeat, it is replaced with the Gregorian one in 2100.
- Antagonist Title: Gauche, and to a lesser extent the playground that is Europe.
- Anyone Can Die: By the end of the series, the only starting countries who are still around are Belarus, Arabia, Russia, Romania, America (which is unseen), and secretly the leader of Gauche, with everyone else being absorbed or killed by Russia, Gauche, or any other countries who fell.
- Anti-Villain: Magyar is revealed to be this. While his goal is undeniably noble (stopping Gauche), the methods he pursues to it (making Poland commit ethnic cleansing and launching a war against Poland to get the book) are despicable.
- Back from the Brink: Russia. They had suffered their capital being burned, occupation by Gauche, incursions by the superstate, and being pushed back even further when the war resumed. A few years after the later, it had its grip across more of Europe than Gauche ever did.
- Balkanize Me: Happens too many of Gauche's puppets, likely to make it easier to keep control over them all. Italy is the main example, being split into several countries, while most others are split in two.
- Big Bad: The eponymous Gauche, or to be clear its leader.
- Blue Is Heroic: Subverted with Gauche. Big time.
- Book Ends: The story starts and ends a Europe controlled by a single hegemon and its allies following a devastating war.
- Books vs. Screens: Exaggerated: Gauche's held so much sway over the world, and technology progressed so much, that no one knows what words or books even are.
- Came Back Wrong: There is something off about the bravely independent Austria and Crimea after they come back from their long silences...
- Crapsack World: The year XX63 is not a fun place to live in: the only superpower left is a dictatorial superstate which dishes out mysterious punishments when countries get to rebellious that leave them strangely changed, balkanizes its puppets as its leader sees fit, and the only other civilized places are its puppets and allies that are to weak, scarred, and/or loyal to act against it. Books and writing have been all but forgotten about, the soil is polluted, all food and technology has to be imported from Gauche due to no one but them knowing how to grow crops, and everything outside Gaucher Europe is apparently controlled by barbarians that eventually start attacking, with terrifying success, after Crimea incurs into their territory.
- Dead All Along: Crimea.
- Deadly Euphemism: Being seized. As it turns out, it's this for the whole country.
- Dead Person Impersonation: Gauche does this with Crimea, which manages to fool Poland for a while before his leader deduces somethings up.
- Downer Ending: As Gauche is defeated, Russia takes his place, transforming Europe to another mess of puppets after breaking its promise to Poland, while Belarus and Romania are to weak to stop it.
- Dwindling Party: Happens as Gauche absorbs more and more puppet states, and the few that don't get annexed fall to barbarians. By episode 16, Poland is seemingly the last one left, and Gauche tries to ditch them as well.
- Evil vs. Evil: What Gauche's and Hungary's conflict boils down to, as much as neither of them want to admit it.
- Faux Affably Evil: Gauche, who constantly reassures (through prerecorded messages) that they are keeping Europe safe, while dismantling their puppets and leaving their allies to die. Downplayed in Season 2, where they are oftentimes angry, but the calming tone starts coming back eventually, as they they tell Poland they're being seized.
- The Ghost: Gauche in the first half, ironically enough, is a downplayed example. While the nation makes announcements, it's all but stated to be prerecorded messages. Starting with season 2, Gauche's leader begins actually speaking of himself, however.
- Heel–Face Turn: Hungary makes one after he realizes Poland is worthy enough to lead the resistance against Gauche. Overlaps with Redemption Equals Death.
- How We Got Here: Poland's leader starts the story by saying it will explain how he died.
- Manipulative Bastard: Hungary, Gauche, and arguably Russia.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: A recurring theme, with several antagonists and even heroes going to horrifying lengths for their claimed good intentions.
- Gauche claims to be trying to save Europe, but often resorts to betraying his allies and outright genocide to do so. Before the war, he also tried to fix France's problems, but resorted to war to do so.
- Hungary is willing to go to war and recreate the holocaust just to further its plans of stopping Gauche.
- Russia is willing to abandon its allies so that they can focus on stopping Gauche. That being said, the ending implies that they weren't so well intentioned.
Tropes applying to Hague:
- Ambiguous Situation: While it's heavily implied that France is Gauche, this is unclear as of yet.
- Apologetic Attacker: France apologizes to Occitania when invading them, promising to treat the people well.
- Big Bad: Gauche, again, though significantly weaker due to having lost control of his superstate. It's implied that he now rules France.
- The Chessmaster: Gauche is revealed to have been instigating events around Europe, in order to propel himself back to control.
- Driven to Suicide: Revealed to be the fate of the leader of Belarus, who killed himself due to guilt over failing to save Poland while he got to live forever.
- Fog of War: Romania says he failed to find the results of the DNA test on Gauche due to the rebellion against Russia.
- The Hero: Hague, who started the rebellion against Russia and is leading the search for Gauche.
- Immortality Immorality: Gauche created three vials of a lightricity-based substance which gave him biological immortality. Naturally, this isn't a good thing.
- The Illegible: Belarus' leader apparently was this.
- Not-So-Omniscient Council of Bickering: What the European Council meetings become as the series goes on. By Episode 6, France has left and Italy has basically done the same.
- Sole Survivor: Romania's and Gauche's leaders are the only ones still left from the end of Gauche, with everyone else having died.
- Spark of the Rebellion: Hague urged France to defy Russia's order to dissolve, which caused France and all its puppets to rebel.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: Partially the reason for the suicide of Belarus' leader.
