Valkyria Chronicles



""Squad 7, move out!""

- Welkin Gunther

Valkyria Chronicles is a video game made by Sega for the Playstation 3 and released in 2008.

The story is set in an alternate 1935 Europa, where two large blocs, the Atlantic Federation and the East Europan Imperial Alliance, are at war over control of the continent of Europa in what is called the Second Great War. Caught in the middle of the warring alliances is the small, energy rich, neutral nation of Gallia, which suddenly finds itself on the painful end of a surprise attack by the Imperial Alliance. In need of soldiers to defend itself, Gallia makes good on its policy of universal conscription and drafts every able bodied man and woman into military service. Some of the many regular civilians who are pulled into the war are Welkin Gunther, son of a famous general who fought in the First War, Isara Gunther, his Darcsen foster sister, and Alicia Melchiott, a young girl who dreams of becoming a baker. Together, they are organized into Militia Squad 7 with a number of other soldiers with their own stories and motivations and put on the front lines to defend their homes.

Like many JRPGs, Valkyria Chronicles is very story heavy and contains many themes. The most evident are the tragedies of war, racism, fighting to defend one's homeland, friendship, family bonds, and love. Every character you can control (and a good deal of NPCs, too) has their own personal biography, special traits, likes and dislikes, and personality quirks, making it feel like you are actually controlling real people in an actual war. However, unlike JRPGs, Valkyria Chronicles chooses to avoid a high fantasy setting and instead opts for a very World War II themed world with light fantasy elements.

Gameplay-wise, Valkyria Chronicles is unique, as it is a mix of turn based strategy, Real Time Strategy, Eastern RPG, and Third-Person Shooter. During battle, players use a pool of Command Points to directly take control of individual units so they can move and attack. While the player is controlling a unit, other units not being directly controlled will automatically fire on them if they pass through their line of sight, making cover and strategy in approaching your target much more important. All characters the player controls are separated into five classes: Scouts, Shocktroopers, Lancers, Engineers, and Snipers each with their own strengths and weaknesses. In between battles, players can use experience and money earned from battles to level up specific classes and purchase new weapons and upgrades for their troops. There are also tanks, which do not level up but can be upgraded.

Valkyria Chronicles has received generally positive reviews from critics. The main selling points are its beautiful graphic design, engaging story, and unique gameplay based on a unique blend of elements from various video game genres.

In addition to the game, there is also an anime adaptation for Valkyria Chronicles produced by A-1 Pictures, first aired on April 4, 2009. There are also two concurrent manga series in print as well. Extra Downloadable Content was released in Japan after release, and is now available for download in North America as well and Europe. Available are a mission where you play as Edy, 4 missions playing as Selvaria & controlling Imperial forces, an extra hard skirmish setting and "Challenge of the Edy Detachment", a set of seven skirmishes tailored to the various classes, as well as the tank unit and a final, specially-designed skirmish bringing them all together.

There is a sequel for the PSP, called Valkyria Chronicles 2: Gallia Military Academy. It is set two years after the first game and involves civil turmoil as students are drafted in to fight the threats within the country.

A third game, Valkyria Chronicles III: Unrecorded Chronicles, has been released in Japan. It is a Gaiden Game on the PSP, taking place at the same time as the first game. This game has also gotten a anime adaptation.

This series is not to be confused with Valkyrie Profile.

"Susie: (Before filling the enemy's skull with lead;) "Sorry if this hurts!""
 * Ace Custom: the Edelwiess
 * Action Girl: Pretty much every girl in the game. Alicia, Marina, Rosie, Edy, Lynn, Jane, Catherine, Freesia, Rosina, Wendy, Audrey, and Aika, however, are particular standouts. Susie, however, is the only real exception to this trope. Poor little thing, she should be one of these, but thanks to her super pacifistic nature and "Humanitarian" potential...
 * Action Mom: Yoko leaves the kids at home to join the milita and blow up some tanks.
 * Afraid of Needles: Montley.
 * AKA 47: The Ruhm, a high-powered Imperial machine gun, is basically the real-life MG-34 used by Germany chambered for 7.62mm instead of 7.92mm.
 * Amazon Brigade: It's possible to customize your squad so that it is almost entirely female.
 * A Million Is a Statistic:  Full stop.
 * Anti-Villain: Jaegar, more or less.
 * Anyone Can Die: Downed units can die permanently if they aren't rescued in time, or if an enemy reaches them before one of your able units can. In the case of the storyline,.
 * Apologetic Attacker: Susie. Her biography basically defines her as a mellow person, and has the (not-exactly-useful) "Humanitarian" potential to back it up. That doesn't stop her from shouting words and doing things that contradict each other while in combat, since she is yelling things indignantly while carrying out Welkin's orders under obligation by law.. And FYI, also check out Jane for her apparent mirror-reverse.

"Susie: (Just before grenading the enemy to bits;) "I'm a pacifist!""
 * This one's even better.

""Beat Empire!" "Shooting time!" "Dying time!" "You're dead!" "Nobody beats Hannes!""
 * Applied Phlebotinum: Ragnite is a multi-purpose mineral, useful for making fuel, weapons, and even medicine; arguably a case of Truth in Television, as oil can be used for all these purposes.
 * Arbitrary Headcount Limit: Typically, you can only take about nine or ten members of your twenty-member squad into combat. Some missions, depending on circumstance, cut it down to even fewer. On top of this, while you can choose to leave out any of the main characters except for Welkin, you are punished for not deploying them by getting one less command point for each character. So in reality, unless you want the handicap, you've already got four slots filled.
 * Arc Number: The number seven seem to play a role in this universe, Squad 7, Class G (seventh letter of the alphabet), Number 7 is the main character of the third game, etc.
 * Aristocrats Are Evil:
 * The Gallian generals, and especially Prime Minister Borg. Princess Cordelia is the only exception.
 * The Imperial High Command (particularly Maximillian) often do this as well.
 * Artificial Stupidity: The computer will often waste turns moving units back and forth, send wave after wave of their own infantry to certain death by interception fire, will almost always fail to make proper use of cover, and is completely unable to coordinate its units in a meaningful way. Much of the game's actual difficulty comes from having to face far larger numbers of units occasionally supplemented by powerful elite units and obstacles like fortified bunkers or mortar fire. And the fact that they can make shots from halfway across the map.
 * Ascended Fangirl: In-game example. Audrey, who was so inspired after hearing of Welkin's exploits that she joins the militia hoping to be part of Squad 7.
 * Attack Its Weak Point:
 * Tanks have a radiator exposed on their backs that, if hit with an armor-piercing round, will blow them up in one shot. At higher levels, a burst of fire from a shocktroopr into the radiator will do it. At very high levels, a scout, engineer, or sniper can blow up the radiator with a single burst as well.
 * Squad 7 also uses
 * The Atoner:, even so far as to
 * Authority Equals Asskicking: Like you wouldn't believe.
 * seems to be a subversion though. . Although, to be fair,
 * Definitely applies to the leaders of the Imperial invasion; defeating each one is among the hardest tasks in the game.
 * Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Gallia was just supposed to be a staging area and supply depot in The Empire's fight with The Federation. What it turned out to be was a nation of ass-kickers.
 * Awesome but Impractical: Compared to the World War II style tanks of the period, the Edelweiss has the appearance and capabilities of a modern battle tank. However, its construction and engineering is incredibly complicated and there is currently no way to mass produce it. Background material, however, makes clear that as it was initially built, the Edelweiss was, in fact, practical for mass production---it simply did not jibe with the overall strategic thrust of Gallian defense spending. By the time the player gets ahold of it, though, Isara's modified it enough that it's rather improbable that they manage to keep it repaired between battles. By game's end, it's a damnable mystery how the thing can move under its own weight.
 * Extra ammunition magazines for tanks may seem like a good idea at first, but become considerably less desirable later on, when mortar shells don't always pull off one hit kills on enemies and are more useful for dislodging them from cover. Radiator plates aren't that useful either, since they only really affect how much damage you can take from gunfire to your radiator, and any regular tank shell or lance rocket is capable of blowing you up in one hit.
 * Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other: Karl and Lynn. So much that their (in-game) death quotes are entirely of one of them calling out to another...in a really sad way. Welkin and Alicia get several of these moments as well, especially in side chapters.
 * Babies Ever After:
 * Badass:
 * Selvaria, yes. When you first encounter her on the battlefield, she's powerful enough to own EVERY unit singlehandedly except the Edelweiss, and fast enough to deflect a tank shell with her weapon. That goes double for
 * And an even bigger one (YES, there IS one) would be It would be worth mentioning that  Although, in that battle,
 * In fact, it's probably easier just to say that Squad 7 is an entire regiment of badasses. Invading Gallia was a mistake. Heck, even Isara has her moments!
 * EVEN Isara? I ask you to replay the first cutscene in the second chapter.
 * Badass Army: Squad 7 may be a bunch of misfits from all walks of life, but put them in the battlefield and wait a few hours...
 * Badass Bookworm: Welkin. He doesn't look like one, but his tactical and operative planning wins every single victory for Squad 7.
 * Badass Grandpa: Coby, the oldest soldier in the squad at 65.
 * Bait and Switch Gunshot
 * Bash Brothers: Incorporated into the combat system. If squadmates are near your selected character when you attack, they add supporting fire too, and some of the potentials give bonuses depending on the type of person the selected character is around. Furthermore your troops also have favourites which they prefer to have around them - though some of them also have potentials that specify people they hate.
 * Band of Brothers and Sisters: Down to various quotes from the game calling the platoon a family.
 * Battle Aura: look like they are constantly being consumed by blue flames.
 * Battle Couple: There's the obvious. There's also your units Karl and Lynn, and possibly Aika and Vyse.
 * Battleship Raid: Literally the final stage.
 * BFG: The Ruhm, Selvaria's Signature Weapon, and the game's sole automatic rifle (the rest of the shocktrooper weapons are merely sub-machine guns).
 * Beach Episode: Extra Chapter "Squad 7 R&R", between chapter 9 & 10.
 * Berserk Button: Welkin. Usually a nice guy, but he bursts into a tantrum when he discovers that
 * Do Not mess with Largo when vegetables are involved.
 * Beta Couple:
 * Big Bad: Maximilian.
 * Big Damn Heroes: Squad 7 does a few of these. Alicia also delivers one later in the game as well as the episode of the anime covering said battle from the game.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: When the imperial soldiers attack Bruhl and come into her house, Isara shoots one of them with a rifle. And then
 * Bi the Way: Possibly Ted. He's the only character with both the "Fancies Men" and "Fancies Women" Potentials. Not to mention the fact that, when you heal him, regardless of whether it's a guy or a girl healing him, he says "I could just kiss you!"
 * The Big Guy: Hannes, he's either a Class 1 or Class 3.
 * Largo is a Class 4.
 * Bling of War: The Gallian officers have some pretty classy dress uniforms to wear with whatever medals they've earned. General Damon wears his all the time, which probably serves to highlight his vanity and military incompetence. Welkin can also earn medals and weapons from the royal armoury as rewards for in-game accomplishments.
 * On the Imperial side of things, most Imperial generals and officers are soberly dressed in a dark gray uniform, with some gold trimmings. The exception is Maximilian, who pretty much holds the title for having the most bling of all.
 * Blond Guys Are Evil: Maximilian encore! Also Gregor, though he usually wears a hat.
 * Boobs of Steel: Selvaria possesses a prominent set, for fairly obvious design reasons.
 * Bodyguard Crush: Selvaria, towards Maximillian. Tragically and pathetically one sided, however.
 * Boisterous Bruiser: Hannes Salinger.

"Welkin: THIS IS AN ORDER!"
 * Bond One-Liner: Ohhh... Gotta count 'em all!!
 * Boom Headshot: The preferred way of dealing with most enemy troops.
 * Breaking the Fourth Wall: Edy does this in the add-on if you get a D on the mission, calling the player "sloth fingers". Homer, next to her, wonders who she is talking to. The nature of this mission makes it very hard to do this badly without getting a gameover, making this something of an Easter Egg.
 * Breast Plate: Literal ones. Some of the troopers have them, and they cover exactly what they say they do on both men and women.
 * Broken Aesop: In one scene about halfway through the game, Welkin and Alicia try to provide medical aid and comfort to a dying Imperial scout, discussing how many of the Imperial soldiers are actually just Punch Clock Villains who are Not So Different. Later,.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: Welkin. If he says you look like a beetle, don't worry, that's a compliment.
 * Calling Your Attacks

""Oooh, Ms. Alicia!""
 * Call to Agriculture: Largo always had a dream to have a vegetable garden.
 * The Call Twinks You
 * Camp Gay: Jann. The facts that he wears make-up and lipstick, fancies men AND has a potential called "Largo Lover" do not help. Not to mention the way he talks...especially in the Japanese track where he uses a feminine pronoun of "I". As one of the largest, most solidly-built characters in the game, and a Lancer, he also qualifies as a Hard Gay. The Edy Detachment add on gives him a Paul Lynde voice to complete the look.
 * Cannon Fodder: The general perception of the militia by the regular army. Squad 7 sure proves them wrong, though...
 * The Captain: Captain Eleanor Varrot, obviously. Although of lower rank, it also applies to Welkin; he's the one in charge of Squad 7, and although he's easygoing and amicable, do NOT question his orders. He's in charge for a reason.
 * Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough: Captain Varrot and Sergeant Largo.
 * Catch a Falling Star:  are rescued this way.
 * Catch Phrase: Welkin's famous "Squad 7, move out!". Spammed utterly throughout the game.
 * Chekhov's Gun:
 * Child Soldiers: Due to Gallia's policy of universal conscription, military training is a part of general education and citizens as young as fifteen may be conscripted. Then there's twelve-year-old Aisha Neumann, a Shocktrooper in your Squad, who apparently begged to serve and had it granted if her bio in the game is to be believed.
 * Climax Boss: Selvaria.
 * Cold Sniper:
 * Marina, not the only sniper, but by far the best because of her potential "Ultimate Accuracy" which is always activated. Ultimately subverted if you purchase the add-on content: her potentials imply she is a sociopath, but the Edy's Brigade reveals that she has a soft side. Apparently she just doesn't like being around other people.
 * Cezary plays this trope a little straighter, though in his case it's less cold sniper and more selfish asshole sniper.
 * Color-Coded Armies: The good guys are blue, the bad guys are dark gray and red, especially the officers.
 * The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard:
 * Enemy tanks, in particular, appear to have freakishly good accuracy and can make pinpoint shots with their shells from halfway across the map. Good luck making equally-impressive shots without Save Scumming.
 * Enemy Aces are also incredibly annoying in their ability to dodge long-range sniper shots - from behind - as well as point-blank barrages.
 * There's also the Lancers. If your tank's radiator is visible at all, it's likely to take a shot. It doesn't matter if they can only see 1 cm of it, and they're firing from the other end of the map; they will hit that radiator. This is especially painful because losing your tank means game over.
 * Conservation of Ninjutsu: In a good number of the game's levels, chances are your squad will be horribly outnumbered by the Imperials. Plus, unlike you, they literally have infinite reinforcements they can continually call on until you capture their bases.
 * Cool Big Sis: Rosie. This is even one of her potentials.
 * Cooldown Hug:
 * Crippling Overspecialization: Every class is restricted to certain types of weapons. This means that Lancers can't carry a carbine as a back-up weapon for dealing with infantry. Later on, Lancers can have the option of taking mortar lances that are more effective against infantry, with the obvious tradeoff in mortars being less effective against tanks.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Squad 7 pretty much does this every level, especially once you learn to correctly utilize each class and their strengths/weaknesses.
 * Selvaria does this on almost every map she shows up on and in the anime.
 * Alicia delivers one to Selvaria later on as well, while in a half-weakened state no less.
 * Custom Uniform: Jaeger and Selvaria.
 * Cutscene Incompetence: Where the hell was that medic when
 * A Day in The Limelight: In one of the downloadable content packs, Edy gets a mission that is entirely focused on her. Also included are a slew of secondary characters you may or may not have used in the main game.
 * A Death in The Limelight:
 * David Versus Goliath: More like David versus two Goliaths, if you count the Atlantic Federation.
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Squad 7's defeat of
 * Didn't See That Coming : Maximilian's plan to hold Europa hostage with the power of the Valkyrian bloodline was kind of derailed by the minor detail of . He rolls with the punches, though.
 * Dirty Coward: Cezary. He chose to be a sniper so that he could stay as far away from the front lines as possible.
 * Does Not Like Men: Dallas. Like Rosie, this is one of her potentials, and causes her to lose combat prowess in the proximity of males. Put her with women, on the other hand, and...

"Welkin: Um, uh, my name is Welkin. ...And you are?
 * Doomed Hometown: Bruhl
 * Downloadable Content: The Edy Brigade mission, Behind Her Blue Flame (a pair of missions featuring Selvaria), and the Edy Brigade challenges, which are missions tailored to a specific job class.
 * The Dragon: Selvaria..
 * Dramatic Gun Cock: In the earliest part of the story, no less!

Alicia: The one with the gun."

"Drill Sergeant: Good job maggots! You're one step closer to being human!"
 * Dreadful Musician: In one of the downloadable missions, Edy is shown to be able to trigger death scenes from her own teammates with only her voice. Her personnel files state that she is unknowingly tone deaf.
 * Drill Sergeant Nasty:
 * The drill sergeant NPC's existence hinges on his ability to insult you as you level up your troops. He's the epitome of the trope, really.

"Edy: What?! Since when was any of this MY fault?
 * Dubtitle: While hardly unusual for a game with a bilingual soundtrack, the English script used for the subtitles only matches the English dub. While it hardly alters the game's plot in any way and the English script and dub is faithful to the plot and the characters, it can create a strange dissonance with the Japanese track on. Most notable is a moment in which Welkin simply says "Faldio", and the script reads "I don't know what to tell you, Faldio."
 * While it is true that the overall plot is, on face value, faithful, the differences in the minor details can lead to a very different impression from the characters, which may or may not change the resulting flavour of the ending. The best example would be Faldio in the fully unlocked (New Game Plus) scene "Awakening"; in the Japanese audio, he comes off far more sinister, not to mention his words are a few notches more brutal than what the subtitles actually say.
 * Dude, Where's My Respect?: Despite beating back the Imperials pretty much by themselves, Squad 7 is constantly given the insanely dangerous missions while the main army gets the fairly easy jobs.
 * If not for the actual callousness of the high command, this would actually make sense because Squad 7 is by far the most capable formation in the Gallian military, and with their proven track of astounding successes, it would only make sense to give them the more difficult jobs.
 * This is Lampshaded in the briefing for the assault on Ghirlandio.
 * Dungeon Bypass: The best (sometimes only) way to get A ranks on missions. Easy to do in New Game Plus when your units are way overpowered.
 * During the War
 * Elite Mooks:
 * As the game progresses, you'll eventually start facing tougher enemies, who aptly have the title "Elite". By reaching a certain level, your own soldiers can also attain this status, which confers new potentials and subweapons for particular classes.
 * Also in the spirit of the trope are black-armored Imperial units, who are stronger than ordinary soldiers, and aces, who have preternaturally good accuracy and dodging skills. An ace will frequently duck bullets from a sniper stationed half a mile away, before the rifle actually goes off.
 * The Empire: The East Europan Imperial Alliance.
 * The Engineer: Loads of them, but Isara, Leon and Kries are the most prominent, storywise. Leon fits the young engineer stereotype to a tee: enthusiastic, hot-blooded and with a little bit of an inventor stripe. Sometimes borders on Mad Scientist territory. In battle, engineers are essential for building and breaking fortifications, repairing tanks, disarming land mines and resupplying fellow soldiers.
 * Encyclopedia Exposita: For all the weapons, characters, major world events and landmarks.
 * Ensign Newbie: Welkin.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: In one of the side chapters, an Imperial war criminal who is infamous for taking civilian hostages in battle is court-marshaled by his own superiors. Maximilian may be a bit of a royal bastard who treats even his most loyal subordinates as pawns, but even he expects his troops to stick to the rules of war.
 * Everything's Better With Princesses: Cordelia; notable in that she's the daughter of an Archduke and Archduchess and the only heir to the throne, but is not crowned due to her young age, and cedes control of the country to her Prime Minister. Even after she matures, has her big reveal, and said Prime Minister, her title remains Princess. Since Gallia is a principality: the ruler is supposed to be a prince(ss).
 * Evil Albino: Selvaria.
 * Evil Chancellor:
 * Evil Prince: Maximilian.
 * Eyepatch of Power: [[The Cameo Vy]se; granted, it has a clear part so he can see out of it, but it's no coincidence that he has an eyepatch and is one of the best Shocktroopers in the game.
 * Single Goggle of Power?
 * Eyes Always Shut: Leon the Mechanic rarely, if ever, opens his eyes.
 * Faceless Goons: Generally speaking, the Imperial Army. Played with a bit between mission 8 and 9, though, wherein Alicia and Welks comfort a dying Imperial grunt (removing his helmet in the process) and then have a civil chat with his commanding officer; more obviously played with in the Selvaria DLC.
 * Fan Disservice: The breastplates on the shocktroopers. Just... it's not strictly for women. Welkin's old-timey swimsuit can count as this, especially as out of place as it looks when the other women around him are wearing extremely modern and Fan Service friendly swimsuits.
 * Then again... it does make for a good laugh...
 * Fan Service:
 * Selvaria. Again.
 * Many of the girls of Squad 7. If they're not in pants, they wear skirts and REALLY HIGH knee socks. Rosie tops all the others by having a gap around her midriff (and having a much shorter skirt). The girls with skirts are prone to Panty Shots as the their evasive manoeuvre is to drop to the ground. Guess where the camera points. And then there's the Beach Episode. In particular, Alicia has a very revealing bikini.
 * Strictly speaking, they're wearing shorts under their skirts, albeit some very short shorts.
 * Fantastic Racism: Darcsens, although they are a clear analogue for the Jews/Gypsies in World War II and their experiences; this is perhaps muddied by how the Darcsens are visualized in Anime/Manga style. Technically, they are human but what sets them apart is their dark blue hair.
 * Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The following could be said of the countries and peoples that appear in the game:
 * Gallia is loosely based on the nations geographically associated with Gaul (or Gallia in Latin) and more specifically the Rhineland, including a mix of Dutch, French, Belgian and German traits.
 * In his review of Valkyria Chronicles, Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw referred to Gallia as: "a small, idyllic country that resembles a mashup of Holland, Belgium and Switzerland as depicted by Winnie the Pooh".
 * The Atlantic Federation is essentially akin to NATO and the Western Allies of the world wars.
 * The Imperials are a mishmash of Imperial Russia, Austria-Hungary, Imperial Germany, the Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany.
 * If Jaeger's any indication, his homeland within the Empire bears at least a passing semblance to Hungary.
 * The Darcsens, meanwhile, are basically European Jews with some cultural elements of the Gypsies.
 * A Father to His Men: Welkin sees himself this way, as does the commander of the Imperials he and Alicia meet in Chapter 8. Selvaria is also like this towards her subordinates.
 * The Federation: Subverted.
 * Five-Man Band: The main characters of Squad 7:
 * Welkin: The Hero
 * Alicia: The Chick
 * Largo: The Big Guy (Class 4/Class 2)
 * Rosie: The Lancer / Cool Big Sis
 * Isara: The Smart Guy
 * Zaka: The Sixth Ranger
 * Hans: Team Pet
 * Forgotten Superweapon:
 * Fragile Speedster:
 * Scouts go down easy. The trade-off is that their insane movement range makes them one of the most valuable units in the game, especially when going for A ranks.
 * Zaka's tank, the Shamrock. While not as tough as the Edelweiss, it has a higher movement range and can choose between three different primary weapons: the standard mortar/cannon, a gatling gun, or a flamethrower.
 * Framing Device: The game proceeds as if you're reading through the history book Irene Koller wrote about the events of the war; cutscenes and battles are played by selecting them in the book's chapters and most of the game's extra content can be accessed through "tabs" to other sections.
 * Freudian Excuse: Maximilian's ambition to conquer Europa was fueled by
 * Friend to All Children: Jann. He used to be a babysitter before enlisting in Squad 7, and he after the end of the war. Awwwwww.
 * Friendly Sniper: Catherine O'Hara, and the Bielert brothers (Oscar and Emile). Inverted by the other two snipers, Marina and Cezary.
 * Gameplay and Story Segregation:
 * See "Cutscene Incompetence". Dang, that one was irritating.
 * A squad is awarded the Splintered Horn when one of their own falls in the line of duty., though, since it happens in a cutscene rather than in gameplay.
 * General Ripper: And quite literal ones at that. One on each side.
 * Generation Xerox: Played with, everyone thinks Welkin is following in his father's footsteps while the only thing he wants is to become a teacher.
 * Gentle Giant: Walter, Hector, Jann, and Largo.
 * Note that they're all Lancers, a class you'd expect to be populated with Dumb Muscle. There's not a single one who fits that description.
 * Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Certain characters, especially in the side chapters and DLC, start to go a little crazy before their Love Interest snaps them out of it.
 * Glamorous Wartime Singer: Rosie used to be a barmaid before the war, but still sings occasionally. She remarks that it was hardly glamourous though.
 * Glass Cannon: Snipers; they can kill most opponents with one hit, at ranges far beyond what any other unit can manage, but they have very low health and ridiculously little movement range.
 * Glory Hound: General Damon is more worried about his reputation and victory than the welfare of his troops, especially the militia. Most of the missions he issues to the militia are practically suicidal, and would invariably rack up huge body counts if not for the fact that they are far more capable than he gives them credit for.
 * Go Out With a Smile:
 * Good Looking Privates: Your squad makes the military look good. One soldier, Ramona, was even a model before the war.
 * Green Rocks: Ragnite. Used in anything humanly possible from first-aid kits to ammunition, including, but not limited to, street lamps and engine fuel.
 * Happily Married: . Also Karl and Lynn, two of the otherwise faceless units, are lovers by the time the game has started and get married after the war ends.
 * Harder Than Hard: EX Hard Mode. As an example, the first mission pits a tiny squad smack-dab in the center of a huge Imperial ambush.
 * Heel Realization:
 * Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: None of Squad 7 wears a helmet. In fact, the armor they do wear is highly impractical in general. They have protection on their shoulders, hips, knees and (in the case of the shocktroopers) pectorals, but leave the rest of their center-mass, neck, head and groin protected only by cloth uniforms. This may be justified in the fact that they are a civilian militia, which is often undersupplied and considered cannon fodder by the military brass, rather than army regulars.
 * True for the psuedo-WWII setting, body armor didn't exist (or was issued, in the later years). Still doesn't explain the lack of something as simple as a steel pot. Odder still is the fact that all Imperial soldiers wear full body armour, although unlike Gallia, the Empire is a militaristic superpower that can probably afford to outfit all their troops with good equipment.
 * Hero of Another Story: Essentially Faldio's initial role.
 * Heroic BSOD: Welkin, and all of Squad 7 really, experience this when and when
 * Heroic Sacrifice: Averted when Then played completely straight by.
 * Hidden Depths: Turns out Nadine is quite the writer, Largo is highly knowledgeable about agriculture, Jann is good with kids, and Walter enjoys cooking and gardening.
 * Hopeless Boss Fight:
 * The first tank you encounter is impossible to destroy with any gun, even in New Game Plus. Selvaria in all but her last battle is pretty much "run away and get the stage goal accomplished before she kills everyone."
 * You can, interestingly, defeat Jaeger's Tank when it first appears in the forest stage. Beating him sends all other enemies running with their tails between their legs, and Jaeger himself comments on your skill. Although curiously you get no experience credit for it.
 * Hotblooded Sideburns: Largo sports an impressive pair, and he lives up to them well.
 * Hot Amazon: Pretty much any male character with any semblance of romantic interest in any female character is this, given every female character in Squad 7 is a hardcore Action Girl.
 * Hot Librarian: Captain Varrot's totally rockin' the look. It helps that she also has an office full of books, and that a local bookshop actually owes its livelihood to her.
 * I Did What I Had to Do:
 * Idiot Hair: Marina Wulfstan. She's certainly not an idiot though.
 * Idiot Hero: Edy in her DLC, which surprises the people who thought she'd be more of the Alpha Bitch.
 * Ill Boy: Oscar and his brother, Emile. Homer sort of qualifies with his frail body, but he seems to enjoy the suffering.
 * I'm Taking Her Home With Me: Marina of all people. She bears some responsibility for getting the detachment lost in Edy's DLC for running after a cute looking puppy.
 * Insufferable Genius: Cezary may be a bigoted prick, but damn if he isn't a good sniper.
 * Insurmountable Waist Height Fence: Not everywhere, but particularly bridge handrails. Kinda subverted: while Snipers can easily shoot over them, Lancers apparently can't.
 * Interface Spoiler: When you first meet Rosie, she's prejudiced against Darcsens, but doesn't have the "Darcsen Hater" potential, hinting that she'll get over her prejudice eventually.
 * In Book Mode, cutscenes are displayed as a greyed-out still of the scene, which are colored after you watch them. But it's often easy to guess the content of the scene from the still: most egrigiously, one in Chapter  shows the main characters looking very sad, with one member of the group suspiciously abscent...
 * Interservice Rivalry: There is a lot of friction between the soldiers of the militia and the high echelon officers of the regular military.
 * Intrepid Reporter: Ellet, who decides to tag along with Squad 7 after deciding that they're the most interesting of the Gallian military.
 * The Ishmael: To a small extent - although Selvaria is the leader in her DLC, the player's experience with her is through the eyes of Johann, an engineer assigned to be her personal aide.
 * Jerkass:
 * Rosie is this at first, but eventually becomes a Jerk With a Heart of Gold.
 * Maximilian.
 * General Damon, who views the militia as expendable canon fodder.
 * Cezary. Just... Cezary. At one point in the manga he is shown telling Oscar not to give the Darcsens fighting alongside them backup (thankfully Oscar refuse to obey him) and lets an Imperial Sniper take aim at Nadine without bothering to help, and she probably would've been shot if Marina hadn't killed the sniper before he had the chance. Cezary is considered such a Jerkass that he's often portrayed as a downright evil character, or even a traitor, in fanfictions.
 * Ironically, the only person that does like Cezary in the manga is not other than
 * Theold, although he apparently.
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold: Edy.
 * Jumped At the Call:
 * Karmic Death: Most of the morally corrupt characters suffer a well-deserved demise. When not literally it comes symbolically, through loss of status or motivation.
 * Kick the Dog:
 * In Selvaria's side chapter, Damon kicks the dog when he
 * Your very first encounter with Imperial troops starts with them gunning down unarmed fleeing civilians.
 * Killed Off for Real: . Also, if any of your soldiers are downed in combat and are not rescued before an enemy soldier touches them, you lose them permanently. Except for plot-critical characters who will "retreat" instead, despite the fact that they were unconscious seconds before and have an enemy standing over them.
 * The Kingdom: Gallia. Even though the country is actually a Principality and ruled by a Archduke/Archduchess, it fits the archetype to a tee.
 * Knife Nut: Maximilian is said to be one in his background fluff; justified in that at the time it was for self defence, but it eventually grows to him having a collection of hundreds of knives, if not thousands.
 * Lady of War: Selvaria, obviously. Also, Captain Varrot is one to a lesser degree.
 * The Lancer: Aside from literally being Lancer-class, Largo plays one to Welkin.
 * Land Mine Goes Click: Not a noise you want to hear - the only units that won't be immediately caught in a fiery explosion after that click are the engineers, the only ones capable of disarming them. Sustaining the trope, the mine never blows up until you step/roll off of it. If you end turn as soon as you hear the click, an engineer can still disarm the mine.
 * Law of Inverse Recoil:
 * In Real Life, RPGs have little to no recoil. On the other hand, the degree of steadiness with which Shocktroopers can hold the Ruhm beggars belief.
 * The lances do not have a rear exhaust for the back blast, so recoil is expected.
 * Leeroy Jenkins: The entire basis of the Edy Detachment DLC is due to Edy doing just this.
 * In Real Life, RPGs have little to no recoil. On the other hand, the degree of steadiness with which Shocktroopers can hold the Ruhm beggars belief.
 * The lances do not have a rear exhaust for the back blast, so recoil is expected.
 * Leeroy Jenkins: The entire basis of the Edy Detachment DLC is due to Edy doing just this.

Jann: Maybe the part where you charged after those imps, screaming like a banshee."

"Jane: Scream for me!"
 * Lighter and Softer: Despite the fact that Anyone Can Die and that virtually every horrible war-related trope comes into play, the whimsical art style and the numerous light-hearted moments manage to make this a lot less depressing than most war stories.
 * Averted in the Manga, which is brutal.
 * Little Hero Big War: The Gallian conflict is a small part of the second Europan War; the Empire and the Federation are still at war with each other after Gallia drives out the fragment that invaded them, having convinced them that it's not worth it.
 * Little Miss Badass: Aisha.
 * Loads and Loads of Characters: Oh yes. Both games border on Suikoden levels.
 * Love At First Punch: Implied with Homer towards Edy in her DLC. Justified in that he is a masochist, though one must wonder if he winds her up deliberately just to get her to punch him.
 * Love Martyr:, although
 * Lower Deck Episode: The downloadable chapters featuring Selvaria are focused around Johann, an Imperial soldier who is saved from mook status by the fact that he is assigned to be Selvaria's personal aide. Selvaria's personality is expanded upon through Johann's experiences with her.
 * Luminescent Blush: Let's see here. Japanese RPG: check. Anime-style: double check. Romance plot: check, check, check. Nope. No reason not to see this trope in it.
 * Mad Bomber: Wendy Cheslock has all the hallmarks of one, be it her introduction ("heheh Ka-boom! heheh") her background and motivations for joining the milita (accidentally blew up her house, and joined so she could test out some of her creations.) or her epilogue
 * Martyr Without a Cause:
 * The Medic: When one of your soldiers is down and another one manages to get to him on time, the cute little medic will pop up to get them back in shape!
 * The Men First: Welkin's first priority in every single mission, beyond its completion, is the safety of his soldiers.
 * Micro Monarchy: The Principality of Gallia.
 * Mighty Glacier: Lancers; they're great against tanks and can weather most incoming fire like it's nothing. Unfortunately they have trouble keeping up with everyone else.
 * Military Mashup Machine: . Think "Battleship on wheels" or "insanely armed and armoured hovercraft".
 * Military Maverick: Welkin usually comes up with incredibly unorthodox strategies to win his battles. Varrot also embodies this trope to some extent.
 * Mind Rape:
 * Mook Maker: Enemy camps. In later stages, they'll spawn one unit per camp every turn, on average, if not always. Better be glad they can't spawn tanks...
 * Morality Pet: Oddly, Selvaria is this to Maximillian for much of the story. His respect and kindness toward her, and her devotion to him, are the primary signs that he's not a Complete Monster. Especially since it turns out her obsessive loyalty is for a really good reason:
 * More Dakka: Most Stormtrooper weapons. Selvaria's Ruhm in particular.
 * Must Make Her Laugh: Ted's profile mentions that he's tried time and again to make Marina laugh. He doesn't succeed if the Encyclopedia Exposita is any indication.
 * Mysterious Waif:
 * Nakama: Squad 7, natch.
 * New Game Plus: You get a bonus character during New Game Plus, some cut scenes are extended, and you can also unlock some exposition only chapters that would have been totally Spoileriffic if seen on the first play through.
 * New Meat: Some of the characters' potentials exemplify traits of this.
 * The Neidermeyer: General Damon. Oh man. If it weren't for actual competent officers like Captain Varrot and Lieutenant Gunther, Gallia would be doomed.
 * Nice Guy: Welkin's a really nice guy... when he's not out there blowing up enemies.
 * No Name Given: The Medic, unless you know that she's a cameo character from one of the earlier games from the same developers. There are actually three medics who are all identical siblings. Their names are Fina, Hina, and Mina. More direct examples would be the Drill Instructor and the Aged Gentleman in the War Cemetery, though you can eventually get their names and bios after unlocking all the orders and leveling every class to level 20.
 * Nonuniform Uniform: If you look carefully, some of the characters, especially the main ones, have noticeable variations in their uniforms.
 * Normally I Would Be Dead Now: You can still rescue squadmates even after they get shot in the face with a tank shell. With a little luck, tougher classes such as Lancers and Shocktroopers can even take a direct hit from an explosive round and get back up to return the favor.
 * Officer And A Lady: Varrot.
 * Officer and A Gentleman: Welkin.
 * Official Couple: Guess who!
 * Oh Crap: Chapter 4, when Welkin's tank just appeared out of the water in front of two Imperial soldiers. Even though their faces can't be seen because of the helmets, their voices alone are just priceless. Hell, Alicia's reaction is basically this, even though the tank is on HER side!
 * Old Soldier: While Coby fits the with the age part at 65, Largo is the one that most fits the personality of the trope. He's even peeved at first at taking orders from the much younger Welkin... until Welkin pulls a Crowning Moment of Awesome so massively badass that Largo literally has to shut up and follow orders.
 * One-Man Army: Selvaria, and Alicia does this in one level. Can also be played straight if you use almost one character exclusively throughout the mission.
 * One-Winged Angel:.
 * Only One Name: Darcsens do not usually have last names. (Isara is an exception because she's adopted.)
 * The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Edy's attitude towards Rosie. When she heard that Rosie got shot, she runs across the map to make sure she's alright.
 * Optional Party Member: While this applies in a sense to all of the game's recruitable soldiers, there are also five hidden ones (one per class):, that only get unlocked by certain means, two of which involve certain characters getting KO'ed.
 * Orange-Blue Contrast
 * Pause Scumming: The unit you are controlling, (and only the unit you are controlling) will be exposed to suppression fire, whether he or she is stationary, behind cover, or moving. However, enemies will mysteriously cease fire the moment you take aim. This leads to one or two different playstyles. The player will usually either run fast, shoot, and stop controlling the character; or walk, aim, walk, aim, walk, aim....
 * Pendulum War: In the absence of Squad 7, the rest of the Gallian military doesn't seem to be able to achieve much of anything and generally get their butts handed to them by the Empire. However, once Squad 7 arrives on the field, expect to see Imperials flying across the Gallian-Imperial border in droves.
 * Person of Mass Destruction:
 * Power Trio: Hannes (Id), Oscar (Superego) and Jane (Ego)
 * Player Mooks: More of a You Suck than anything else, but if the player loses enough squad members permanently, they get replaced with an endless series of faceless, one-size-fits-all mooks.
 * Plotline Death: . And later,  too, but everyone hates him anyway.
 * Punch Clock Villain: Not all Imperial soldiers are Magnificent Bastards or Jerkasses. A large majority of them are just regular joes just like the Gallians and this fact is heavily emphasized during one of the game's chapters. The Selvaria DLC expounds on this a bit more. Radi Jaeger also has signs of this, as he's only fighting for the Empire to free his homeland. He (and Selvaria, except she's truly dedicated to the cause) is easily the most likable of the villains.
 * Putting On the Reich: The Empire loves this. Though they'd probably look more at home in early World War I. They're very Prussian.
 * Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The Gallia Militia in general, with Squad 7 standing out moreso.
 * Really Dead Montage: As if they couldn't hammer home death enough.
 * Recurring Ace: The aptly named "Ty the Immortal."
 * Red Baron: Various characters have names attached to them, most noticeably the enemy aces. They have monikers like "the Iron", "the Immortal", "the Heavy". The Selvaria DLC showed that Musaad was in the military with the name "the Mole", which he apparently had since the previous war, also according to her bio at the end of the game,.
 * Red Eyes Take Warning: All activated Valkyria appear to have red eyes, though it seems to be Selvaria's natural eye color.
 * Redemption Equals Death:
 * and in a way, too.
 * Somewhat inverted in the case of Rosie, who got her own personal redemption via the death of another person.
 * Rescue Romance:
 * Rewarded As a Traitor Deserves:
 * Royal We: Maximilian refers to himself this way. (He does sometimes speak without it, however.)
 * Savvy Guy Energetic Girl: Homer and Edy in the Edy Detachment DLC.
 * Say My Name:
 * Sensitive Frail Masochistic Guy And Brash Arrogant Egotistical Girl: Homer and Edy in Edy's DLC, with him being a masochist, Homer takes sublime pleasure in every punch and kick Edy sends his way.
 * Seen It All: Largo and Rosie get this way really quick. "Yeah, you sorta get used to this." "Huh.....so it really is a giant land battleship."
 * Senseless Sacrifice: Attempted by  Deterred by   Borders on Stupid Sacrifice depending on how you view the character development at the end of the game.
 * Serious Business: Largo. Vegetables. That is all.
 * Short-Range Long-Range Weapon: Gunfights in Valkyria Chronicles tend to take place at extremely close ranges, particularly in the early game when everyone's accuracy is fairly low.
 * Shout Out: Major cameos by Vyse, Aika, and Fina of Skies of Arcadia as two playable soldiers and the unnamed Medic, respectively.
 * Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Most of the female characters with a male Love Interest fall under this, thankfully.
 * Slow Motion Fall: 's death.
 * Small Girl, Big Gun: Most female Lancers are this, walking around with a weapon that's usually longer than they are tall. Applies to Aisha too, the 12-year-old Shocktrooper later on, where she can hold something about the size of a typical light-machine gun, or if you get the Ruhm via DLC.
 * Smug Snake: Prime Minister Borg. He tries to come up with dastardly plots, but all end up horribly backfiring on him.
 * Sociopathic Soldier:
 * Jane. One of her potentials describes her as a sadist, and her Catch Phrase when it activates does not help at all, nor does the fact that the animation shows her rubbing her face in something close to ectacsy.

"Wendy: "Hehe, I upped the power!" "I seeeee yoooou!" "Here I coooommmme!""
 * When you first recruit Wendy, she says "Ha ha...kaboom! Ha ha..." According to the biographical material, she accidentally blew up her house making homemade explosives before joining the militia.

"Homer: Oh, woe is me!"
 * Marina is initially implied to be a silent version this but is averted in the fact that she is not sociopathic but just extremely anti-social.
 * In Edy's DLC, Edy herself seems to enjoy using Homer as her own personal punching bag. However, he seems to enjoy it as well, perhaps too much.
 * So Proud of You: Drill Sergeant Nasty gets teary-eyed and genuinely compliments the squad when every class reaches level 20.
 * Splash Damage: Grenades deal splash damage, which makes them one of the only weapons that can easily hit more than one target. Their main use, however, is taking out sandbags so you can get headshots on the exposed troops.
 * Spin to Deflect Stuff: The Valkyrian Shield.
 * The Squad: Enough said...
 * Standard Evil Empire Hierarchy:
 * The Emperor: Prince Maximillian
 * The Right Hand: Selvaria Bles
 * The General: Berthold Gregor
 * The Guard: Giorgios Geld
 * The Evil Counterpart: The Enemy Aces
 * The Oddball: Radi Jaeger
 * Stealth Based Mission: The first operation of Chapter 8, where Welkin and Alicia must dodge Imperial troops and make it to the other side of a forest at night. The Bonus Report "Largo's Passion" tries to be this but arguably fails -- it's too easy to attack it head-on.
 * The side chapter "What Lies Beyond Hate" is a straighter version, as the mission fails instantly if your units are sighted at the end of your phase.
 * The Stoic: Ramsey, and a few others.
 * Surprisingly Elite Cannon Fodder: After establishing themselves as a Badass Army, half the missions Squad 7 gets sent on are insanely dangerous suicide missions, courtesy of a jealous General Damon.
 * Taking You With Me: Averted with  Kinda subverted when
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: Selvaria.
 * Tank Goodness: Appears to be standard operating procedure in the Empire.
 * Team Mom: Welkin sees Alicia this way. Also helps that one of Alicia's abilities is called 'Maternal.'
 * Team Pet: Hans, the insufferably cutesy winged pig.
 * That Woman Is Dead:  feels this way about being Valkyria. She's convinced otherwise.
 * There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Using mortars to kill scouts or engineers, using anti-tank lances to kill anyone but tanks...
 * Third Person Person: Aisha is like this at times.
 * Those Two Guys: Kreis and Leon.
 * Too Good for This Sinful Earth:
 * Too Kinky to Torture: Homer really enjoys getting hurt; emphasised by one of his potentials which gives a stat boost when his health is depleted to half, complete with a face rubbing animation (and almost orgasmic voice) much like Jane's when her sadist potential is activated. Edy even remarks on it in her DLC. "So pretty, so broken" indeed.


 * Tsurime Eyes: Several of the women, though Cpt. Varrot is the most obvious of them.
 * Trapped Behind Enemy Lines: One of the chapters is based on this, where Welkin and Alicia are cut off from their squad during an ambush and spend two missions trying to reunite with them, the Edy Detachment dlc is also based on this premise.
 * Trial and Error Gameplay: A lot of the later stages are subject to this, especially the Scrappy Level.
 * Underdogs Never Lose: Pretty obvious.
 * Unexplained Recovery: If you can rescue your fallen soldiers with the medic, you can bring them back into combat in the same battle using a base. It doesn't matter if they got shot in the head, blown up with a grenade, or blasted to smithereens by a tank shell. They get better (and fast!).
 * Unknown Rival: Edy has a one-sided rivalry with fellow Glamorous Wartime Singer Rosie, and thinks Rosie's fame is impeding her own path to stardom.
 * Unlucky Childhood Friend:
 * Juno. As crazy as she is about Welkin, we all know whom he'll end up with... Poor lass.
 * Noce for Alicia would qualify as well.
 * Verbal Tic: There are many of these to distinguish characters in the Japanese track. Hermes and his "-yo"s. Hannes likes to end his sentences with "-ssu" like a Prinny... Elysse doesn't really have one in particular, but talks slowly and drags out her words. (Maybe because she's a "Slow Starter?")
 * Urban Warfare: While many stages feature World War I-type trench warfare, there's also quite a few that happen in the ruins of cities, especially during the first chapters.
 * Video Game Caring Potential: Sometimes, your troopers are just too darn adorable! Really!
 * You will go to save your squad members when they're downed.
 * Video Game Cruelty Potential:
 * You can send your troops on suicide missions deliberately.
 * Also, you can run your own soldiers over with your tank. It won't harm them at all, and you get to hear their hilarious reaction to being hit by a tank.
 * You can even use your soldiers to provide cover for other soldiers; yes, interception fire will hit another soldier if you hide your "active" soldier behind one. In certain cases, you can actually use this to your advantage against the AI. You Bastard.
 * One medal requies a memeber of your unit to die permenantly during combat (Not saved by a medic in three turns, has an enemy soldier touch their unconcious form etc). The player will most likely develop a retinue of troops they always use and couldn't bare to be without, so for 100% completionists they have to look at their roster, decide which of their unused men they like least, put them in a battle, control them by hand into enemy fire, and sit there for three turns (more than enough to save them) while they lay there dying, before listening to their final words.
 * Villain Episode: One of the DLC packs includes chapters that are focused around Selvaria and the Imperial army.
 * Villain's Dying Grace: Selvaria
 * Warrior Prince: Let it not be said that Maximillian is not willing to lead his troops...
 * Wave Motion Gun: On a smaller scale, the Valkyrian lance.
 * Weak but Skilled: Engineers; sure, they have bugger-all health, but the fact they can move almost as far as scouts, defuse mines (even after stepping on one), refill any unit's ammo to full just by touching them, carry three grenades as opposed to one, use healing items that are twice as effective, and are the only ones capable of fixing your tank(s) make them one of the most versatile units around. It's generally an unwritten rule to have at least one in your squad at all times.
 * We Cannot Go On Without You: Welkin's death is a losing condition on pretty much every map in the game.
 * Alicia is subject to this on occasion as well.
 * We Have Reserves: The Gallian Militia is almost always given the most suicidal missions with minimal support from the main army.
 * What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic:
 * Where Are They Now? Epilogue: For all the main characters in the credits, and all the secondary characters in your squad when you completed the game in the Encyclopedia Exposita.
 * White-Haired Pretty Girl: Selvaria . Edy as well, although hers is a darker silver.
 * World War II: The game cribs its setting heavily from World War II; Gallia is essentially "Belgium with the military policies of Finland and Switzerland in the mix", the East Europan Empire is basically the Axis powers of Europe (though their territory includes where Russia should be, interestingly enough), the Federation is obviously the Allied powers (sans the U.S.) and there's even a persecuted ethnic minority whom the East Europans particularly hate. The actual visual and mechanical design ends up being a bit of an Anachronism Stew between both real life World Wars, though.
 * Wreathed in Flames: Active Valkyria.
 * Wrench Wench: Isara is a really sweet, feminine and gentle version of this, bordering on Yamato Nadeshiko levels.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Darcsens have either dark blue or dark purple hair. Dark-hair is a racial slur.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Maximilian does this to It may apply to  too, in a sense.
 * You Have Failed Me: Coincides with the above entry, as Maximilian also does this to
 * Zettai Ryouiki: Hmm... where to start? Alicia, Rosie, Isara... Pretty much any Squad 7 girl who isn't in pants, in which case, they're in skirts and knee socks.

The anime series provides examples of:

 * Action Girl: The girls of the Militia, especially Alicia... but especially not Susie.
 * A Day in The Limelight: For Selvaria, Jaeger, and that new guy, Karl (who has no relation to the Squad 7 Karl).
 * A Million Is a Statistic: More like hundreds or lower thousands, but Gregor and Damon take this attitude towards their soldiers.
 * Anyone Can Die: Well, anyone not in Squad 7 and not Vyse or.
 * Armor-Piercing Slap: Subverted in the anime version the first time Alicia tries to use it on Faldio. He dodges it and Alicia sends it right into Welkin's face instead.
 * Ascended Extra:
 * Edy, and 4 of the 5 members of the Edy Detachment (Lynn isn't there for some reason...) game add on, are all members of the squad in the show.
 * Other recuitables, like Salinas, Nils, Hannes, Wendy, Cezary, Alex, Hebert, Rosina and Mica become part of Squad 1, and as of episode 6, they get to talk. Episode 13 shows Vyse Inglebard as Squad 5's sergeant who dies a few minutes after his introduction.
 * A-Team Firing: No one seems to be able to hit anyone unless it's plot important.
 * Ascended Extra: In the anime, Faldio gets much more screen time vs his video game counterpart, who only shows up a few times in some cutscenes. In addition, he takes part in missions whereas in the game he's never seen on the map.
 * Attack Attack Attack: Gregor's standard strategy.
 * Bait and Switch Credits: The 2nd Opening makes you think the anime looks like some war action flick until to see the show for yourself and realize...it isn't.
 * Beauty Equals Goodness: Be it Imperial or Gallian, you can trust that only the ugly people are jerks.
 * Also, Beauty Equals Competence: When two factions clash, the best-looking one will succeed. Note the ugly appearances of the incompetent Gallian army officer corps, and the conspirators seeking to murder Maximilian. Subverted in Squad 1's case where
 * Blind Idiot Translation : In-world documents are written in something that looks like English - which makes little sense to begin with, as Gallia doesn't look like England in any way - but turns out to be pretty much random gibberish.
 * Bling of War: The regular Gallian army. Seriously, there is no way those poofy pants are practical for combat purposes.
 * Breakout Character:
 * Alicia is the main character of the anime, not Welkin. Faldio also gets a lot more focus, even more so than Welkin.
 * Jann gets twice as much screen time as any of the other optional characters, along with very flattering characterization as the voice of reason.
 * Breather Episode: Episode 6, which shows Ellet Embedded, with a whole lot of added goofy (and sex appeal).
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: Still, Welkin. And Faldio to some extent.
 * Child Soldiers: Emile's age (16) is in the squad list Alicia looks at in Episode 3. We can assume Homer (15) and Oscar (15) will be somewhere similar in their ages. Aisha, who's in the credits, still looks 12.
 * Camp Gay: Jann, with a bit of Hard Gay.
 * Chekhov's Gunman: Zaka appears much earlier, when Gallia still had control of Fouzen.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Welkin, considerably more so in the anime than in the game.
 * Conspicuous CG: Tanks and smoke.
 * Dropped a Bridge On Him: Arguably, pretty much all of the non-game deaths can come off as unnecessary and contrived. For example, there's It wouldn't have been so bad had it not been established since the early episodes that no one could hit the broad side of a barn unless it was plot important. Had it been something else, like squad members getting killed off during their missions to show off that War Is Hell from the start, there'd be less complaints.
 * Dysfunction Junction: Squad 7.
 * Fantastic Racism:
 * More prevalent than in the game (if a bit confusing about it), but less than in the manga. It causes a Red Shirt to ignore Isara's advice about the malfunction in his tank. Oh, the irony.
 * Even the Valkyria suffer racism, with both Selvaria and being called monsters.
 * Go Out With a Smile: Also,
 * Handsome Lech: Jaeger
 * Heroic BSOD:
 * Welkin ; he gets better after finally having a good cry.
 * Faldio.
 * Heroic Sacrifice:
 * While infiltrating the Marmota, delays Welkin's pursuers by using a grenade to take them out along with himself.
 * I'm Taking Her Home With Me: Happens to Hans twice, initially by Alicia, but Marina is the one taking care of him at all times. During the epilogue,
 * Hollywood Tactics: Too many to count.
 * Soldiers standing in the open under enemy fire, returning fire without even trying to get cover. Tanks spinning their whole hull instead of just turning the turret. Tanks completely lacking secondary weapons, such as coaxial or turret-mounted machineguns. Artillery being nearly never brought up when it would be a reasonable tactic.
 * A particularly egregious example of astonishing bad tactics is the third episode, where
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja: Several ninja-like assasims are sent to take out Maximillian at one point. It doesn't work.
 * Jerkass:
 * Rosie remains a colossal one after Fouzen. She gets better, just later than expected.
 * And Damon. Just... Damon.
 * Karmic Death:
 * Kick the Dog:
 * Damon's tantrum about Isara's poncho being on the front of the Edelweiss, shortly after her death and in front of Squad 7.
 * Damon kicks it again by telling Alicia that the reason she's been transferred to the regular army is because everyone fears her.
 * The Gallian regulars as a whole are jerkasses.
 * Last Minute Hookup: In order of appearance:
 * Alicia and Welkin. Duh.
 * Love Triangle: In the anime, there is one between Faldio, Welkin, and Alicia.
 * Magic Skirt: Rosie. Apparently ass-length skirt plus kicking people high and frequently doesn't put the underwear at notable risk of exposition. The complete opposite of the game, of course.
 * Mistaken for Gay: Alicia thought that there was something between Faldio and Ramal.
 * Nakama:
 * A narrowly averted tear jerker moment occurs when Jaeger mentions that he wanted to take Selvaria and Maximilian to visit his home town, and though he's his normal cheerful self he has obviously realised Selvaria's ready to throw herself into death out of self pity and Maximilian is a unrepentant dog kicker.
 * Squad 7, on the other hand, is close, but how close they are flip-flops as plot and angst happens.
 * Nakama:
 * A narrowly averted tear jerker moment occurs when Jaeger mentions that he wanted to take Selvaria and Maximilian to visit his home town, and though he's his normal cheerful self he has obviously realised Selvaria's ready to throw herself into death out of self pity and Maximilian is a unrepentant dog kicker.
 * Squad 7, on the other hand, is close, but how close they are flip-flops as plot and angst happens.


 * Name's the Same: The new guy, Karl, shares a name with one of the squaddies. Perhaps they got around that by never referring to the name of the Gallian Karl.
 * The Neidermeyer: Damon. Gregor isn't too far away from this trope at times, but unlike Damon he does show some actual competence in his role and doesn't blame his men for his own screwups.
 * Normally I Would Be Dead Now:  shows up in the background during the epilogue, despite assumedly being  Then again, the guy never died in the original in the first place, but it still stretches Willing Suspension of Disbelief when
 * Not What It Sounds Like: Faldio and Alicia, concerning him being shirtless, her panties and some Greek Mythology. All in front of Squad 1 and Squad 7.
 * Obviously Evil: Maximilian's brother and conspirators. The way they conduct their private conspiracies, it leaves no room for doubt.
 * The Other Darrin: Largo changes his seiyuu from Hisao Egawa to Kenji Nomura. So he now fires his anti-tank shell from his -- GIGANTIC TAGER!!! Junko Minagawa does Rosie in place for Megumi Toyoguchi.
 * Offhand Backhand: Isara does this with a wrench in episode 6.
 * One-Man Army: Maximilian pretty much murders an entire army of ninjas sent to assassinate him all by himself.
 * Princess Curls: Susie.
 * Punch Clock Villain:
 * Explored as well with the similar wounded-soldier-in-the-cabin-with-them situation, although it worked better with Franz than it did with Mikhail.
 * Jaeger is even more friendly and good natured than in the game, where he was already only nominally loyal to the Empire. He's been promised his country's independence for his servitude and is proud enough to want to do a good job; that doesn't mean he has to hold anything against his foes however.
 * Redemption Equals Death: Happens to, for having shot  , and he takes out Maximilian with him.
 * Redshirt Army: The Gallian military forces that aren't Squad 7 is essentially this. Its implied they're doing their own things, but during cutscenes in between levels its obvious to the player they're not having much luck without Squad 7.
 * Rule of Cool: Seems to take more of a precedence in the anime, especially when Edelweiss is involved. In every scene it's depicted, Edelweiss is essentially a high performance sports car with lots of armor and a really big gun.
 * Serious Business: Interviews.
 * Ship Tease: Aside from Jann's occasional fawning over Largo, Susie has been sighted hanging around closely with Edy a couple of times. Edy herself gives Homer a gift as part of some Valentine's-esqe special day during the Marberry Beach episode. Given that both also appear in Edy's DLC in the game, this is just adding fuel to the fire. Rosie and Zaka is also teased.
 * Shower Scene: A... suprisingly NSFW one from Selvaria, complete with Godiva Hair.
 * Spoiler Opening: Second opening. Alicia with a Put two and two together.
 * Stupid Sacrifice:
 * The Squad: A couple of them appear, but they only deserve Nominal Importance if they're not Squad 7.
 * Team Mom: Jann. Oh God, Jann!
 * Team Pet: Hans.
 * The Theme Park Version: And freaking how!
 * This Is a Drill: The Valkyrian Lance.
 * Token Minority: In-universe, Isara  is the only Darcsen seen in the militia. Lynn, Wavy and Nadine are nowhere to be seen. Even a random Darcsen NPC would've been nice to see.
 * Too Dumb to Live/ Suicidal Overconfidence:
 * Faldio and Squad 1. Immediately after Selvaria blocks a tank shell and destroys 2 tanks with impunity, you decide to attack her head on? There's a reason why, in the game, you are advised not to take her head on (even when she's not using her Valkyria powers). Instead, you have to double time on accomplishing your original objective since it would put the Imperial forces at a disadvantage and force Selvaria to retreat.
 * And also,
 * Tsundere:
 * Alicia, considerably moreso than in the game.
 * Ramal certainly fits the bill as of episode 7.
 * Edy, anyone?
 * Watching Troy Burn: The beginning hometown is subjected to this, as well as the Gallian capital once the Empire rolls out their secret weapon. Made worse by the fact that despite your attempts to stop it, it manages to break through anyway.
 * Wave Motion Gun: The Valkyrian lance.
 * We Hardly Knew Ye: Applies to all of Squad 1, in a sense, considering the only people who knew some of the characters were those who had played the game, but Salinas deserves a special mention because he disappears from Squad 1 sometime before the Marberry Beach operation and is replaced with Hermes, with his death mentioned in passing. And even then its just Faldio saying "some of my troops have died, too" when trying to get The reason for his replacement is a mystery as none of the troops of Squad 1 did much except be window dressing.
 * The Worf Effect:
 * The Batomys, when it went up against Squad 1. In the game, it was a long, hard and desperate struggle for players to fight it (especially in their first play-through), but in the anime, it went down so simply, it's almost insulting. And who's idea was it to replace the radiators' covers and make the radiators pop-up? At least it's excusable when Alicia fought it,
 * Falls under here or The Worf Barrage, but the
 * What Happened to The Mouse?:
 * Where did Ms. Ellet go?
 * Better yet, what happened to Maximilian's brother?
 * Wrench Wench: Isara, still.
 * Your Princess Is in Another Castle: The second part of "Showdown at Naggiar", although it's fairly easy to see that coming. Capture the enemy camp, and... enter enemy reinforcements from north and south.
 * Zettai Ryouiki: All the female military uniforms except Marina now qualify. The anime gets confusing about when the secondary female characters wear shorts, pants or skirts, but it's always consistent with the main female characters.
 * Your Princess Is in Another Castle: The second part of "Showdown at Naggiar", although it's fairly easy to see that coming. Capture the enemy camp, and... enter enemy reinforcements from north and south.
 * Zettai Ryouiki: All the female military uniforms except Marina now qualify. The anime gets confusing about when the secondary female characters wear shorts, pants or skirts, but it's always consistent with the main female characters.

This Manga provides examples of:
 * Adaptation Distillation: Tha manga is better than the anime in its story telling. It helps that the extras are now integrated into the story, meaning someone's Ensemble Darkhorse now gets more characterization and stuff.
 * Accidental Hero: mistakes  as the one who saved her from an enemy sniper. But what really happened was that  He tries to explain the truth it to  but  gives him a Death Glare to make him shut up and not talk about it.
 * Ascended Extra: All of the Militia members in the game get their own scenes or an extra role in the manga.
 * Bloodier and Gorier: Seeing people bleeding getting shot and injured in the manga makes the anime look like childsplay. But nothing compare seeing Alicia saving an injured farmer
 * Cliff Hanger:
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Welkin (again), even more so than in the anime or the game. Having forgotten that the schedule for a strategy meeting was changed, he went off to watch an ant colony and collect spotted leeches.
 * Darker and Edgier: See War Is Hell.
 * Ho Yay: Mintz and Julius in the Wish Your Smile manga.
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold:
 * Leeroy Jenkins: Spoofed; during the vasel engagement Jane is shown charging towards the Imperial lines (much to Rosie's annoyance), frothing at the mouth and yelling obscenities whilst firing her machine gun...only to get clotheslined accidentally by Largo's anti-tank lance when he turns around to see what Jann wants.
 * Love Square: A very interesting, complicated one which is more better than the anime:
 * Shown Their Work: The manga author thankfully averts doing Hollywood Tactics and instead did some research on WW 2 and modern combat tactics and made most of the chracters do accurate and practical battle tactics like giving covering fire, taking cover, snipers working in pairs using camouflage, teamwork, etc.
 * The Rival: Edy's one-sided rivalry with Rosie is finally become two-sided with Rosie seeing Edy as an idiot attention seeker that might put the squad in danger.
 * War Is Hell: The manga doesn't shy away on how war affects everyone from civilians to soldiers on both sides.
 * War Is Hell: The manga doesn't shy away on how war affects everyone from civilians to soldiers on both sides.