Babylon 5/Characters: Difference between revisions

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''No one here is exactly what they appear.''

 

 

 

== The Earth Alliance ==

 

 

 

* [[The Determinator]]: Te Human-Minbari War is filled with this. Despite the technological disadvantage and many [[Curb Stomp Battles]], the human race fought tooth and nail against the Minbari. As Londo said when describing their efforts to others:

** This is exactly how Sheridan was able to destroy the Black Star in Earth's only real victory in the Earth/Minbari War.

* [[The Government]]

* [[Government Conspiracy]]: Too many over the course of the show to list.

* [[Humans Are Diplomats]]

* [[Humans Are Special]]

* [[Most Writers Are Human|Most Viewers Are Human]]: The chief role of humans often seems to be to provide someone to identify with.

* [[Mutant Draft Board]]: Psi Corps.

* [[Secret Police]]: Night Watch. Also elements of the Psi Cops.

* [[Space Navy]]: EarthForce Naval; most of the main characters are EFN (as opposed to the EarthForce Marine Corps seen in "GROPOS," and the likely EarthForce Corps of Engineers officers in "Babylon Squared").

** More to the point, culture and political organization seem geared to be familiar to an American viewer.

* [[The War of Earthly Aggression]]: The coup by Clark and the rebellion that followed.

** [[Subverted]], as well. The Minbari casually wiped out most of the defenders effortlessly, then proceeded to surrender without explanation. It had the effect of making many Earthers feel that The Line was a [[Senseless Sacrifice]].

 

[[File:sheridan_3518.png|frame]]

 

* [[The Butcher]]: The Minbari call him "Starkiller," for his hand in the destruction of the ''Black Star'', using what they considered underhanded tactics. {{spoiler|In the third season finale, he earns that nickname twice-over, destroying the ''White Star'' by loading it up with nukes and having it dive into the Shadows' capital city.}}

* [[The Good Captain]]

* [[Heroic Archetype]]

* [[Hypocrite]]: In protest of Clark's declaration of martial law on Earth, he secedes and declares independence. However, he declines to form any sort of new governing body for the station and retains ultimate authority over every aspect of its government, making him essentially a military dictator. This is [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] a couple of times by people who don't like him. '''However''', considering he was a Military Governor who was upholding the Constitution of the Earth Alliance and B5 is a military base, it is ''not'' hypocritical for him to maintain the original concept of the station intact. He is not giving the station over to the alien governments who use it. Once the reasons for the declaration were removed from power, it is likely he would have returned into the Earth Alliance, or then made changes to the governing body of the station. The colonies only made a new government once there was no hope in England agreeing to their demands. There always remained the chance for Clark to be removed from power.

* [[In-Series Nickname]]: "Swamp rat".

** Among the Minbari, Sheridan is known as "Starkiller" for his famous defeat of their flagship, the ''Drala Fi'' ("Black Star" in English). The name becomes a [[Multiple Reference Pun]] after he also causes the destruction of {{spoiler|The White Star}}

* [[The Kirk]]

* [[Like Brother and Sister]]: With Ivanova. They'd walk through fire for each other, but their relationship is purely platonic.

* [[Messianic Archetype]]: Which gets him a [[What the Hell, Hero?]] from Garibaldi, {{spoiler|who was [[Brainwashed]] to have his paranoia and distrust of authority enhanced by [[Magnificent Bastard|Mr. Bester]].}}

* [[Noodle Incident]]: Two come up in the same episode. He refuses to explain how he got the nickname Swamp Rat, and the threat of an embarrassing story is enough to stop him from revealing one about another character.

* [[Nose Art]]: His personal [[Space Fighter|Starfury]] has a full-wing Eagle paintjob. In the fourth season, he had the Babylon 5 emblem painted on the hull of his flagship during {{spoiler|The Earth Alliance Civil War.}}

* [[Playing Possum]]

* [[Psychic Dreams for Everyone]]

* [[Screw the Rules, I Make Them]]: Despite his many positive qualities, he can also be a touch petty at times. At one point, he is ordered to pay rent on his quarters or move out. He pulls money from the station's military readiness budget to pay the rent, [[Loophole Abuse|claiming that the station's readiness depends on him getting a good night's sleep.]]

* [[See You in Hell]]

* [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]

* [[Suspiciously Specific Denial]]

* [[Take a Third Option]]

* [[Take Five]]: [[Averted]] and [[Played Straight]], depending on the circumstances.

* [[They Do]]: With Delenn. A relationship built on mutual respect, trust, and shared interests, that had its ups and downs but was a lifelong love match on both sides? What a novelty!

* [[Two Plus Torture Makes Five]]: {{spoiler|Averted.}}

** [[Lampshaded]] in the fifth season, where an assassin taunting Sheridan says that he understands Sheridan is "a bit of a history buff."

* [[Undercover Cop Reveal]]: Later revealed to have been planted on Babylon 5 to investigate the conspiracy around President Santiago's death.

* [[Unstuck in Time]]

* [[Xanatos Gambit]]

* [[Your Days Are Numbered]]

 

 

 

* [[Alien Abduction]]

* [[Brainwashed]] : But only enough to wipe out his memory of the missing 24 hours.

* [[The Captain]] - Technically a commander in rank, but follows the role.

* [[The Chosen One]]: {{spoiler|The One Who Was}}

* [[Decoy Protagonist]]: Unintentional however, thanks to the [[Absentee Actor]].

* [[In Harm's Way]]: Puts himself in a lot of dangerous positions he really has no reason to. It's hinted it's his [[Survivor Guilt]] speaking, and Garibaldi eventually [[Lampshade Hanging|calls him out on it]] mid-season 1.

* [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]]: "There is a hole in your mind".

* {{spoiler|[[Luke, I Am Your Father]]: He is Delenn's great-great-great-[great*n]-grandfather.}}

* [[The Masochism Tango]]: His relationship with Catherine Sakai consisted of years of on-again, off-again, have-sex-then-one-of-them-leaves frustration before they decided to have a go at things for real.

* [[Mighty Whitey|Mighty Future Human]]

* [[Military Brat]]: Fourth generation military. Knight #2 states it was smart money he'd make Admiral on his pedigree alone; but then along came The Line.

** Sinclair proudly states at one point that his family has been fighter pilots since the [[World War II|Battle of Britain]].

* [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]

* [[Seers|The Seer]]: time travel helps at this.

* [[Shell Shocked Senior]]: Being a survivor of the Battle of the Line is one of his main character points.

* [[Teacher-Student Romance]]: The canon novel ''To Dream in the City of Sorrows'' reveals that he met Catherine Sakai when he was her flight instructor at Earthforce Academy.

* [[Time Travel]]

* [[Warrior Poet]]

* [[Worthy Opponent]]: To Delenn when they first met.

** And to the Minbari in general. Neroon expresses admiration for him, and his special ability in the card game is to undo damages to the human-minbari tension levels.

 

 

 

* [[The Alcoholic]]

* [[Dogged Nice Guy]]: Garibaldi is a Type 1, particularly toward Talia.

* [[Face Heel Turn]] (See Manchurian Agent)

** [[Heel Face Turn]]

* [[Fan of the Past]]: The Daffy Duck poster overhanging his bed.

** When an Earth Alliance official demands to know where Sheridan is, Garibaldi refuses to tell him, on grounds that it is so secret that Garibaldi can't even tell ''himself'' or else he'll have to [[Insane Troll Logic|arrest himself for revealing secret information to himself.]]

*** It helps that the official in question is just [[Genre Savvy]] enough to figure that it is some sensitive issue best left undisturbed for now. Before he can become suspicious enough to realize he's ''[[Wrong Genre Savvy]]'', the heroes present him with an entirely plausible explanation for the secrecy.

 

[[File:ivanova_59.png|frame]]

 

* [[All Love Is Unrequited]]: The [[Trope Namer]].

* [[Knight in Sour Armour]]

* [[Lady of War]]: Ivanova lacks the inspirational genius of Sheridan or the unconventional thinking of Sinclair, but she is a formidable officer in her own right.

* [[My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels]]: When she shows off what she has learned from her studies of the Minbari language. Delenn discretely issues an order to the Minbari crewmembers of Ivanova's ship that anyone who is caught laughing at her heartfelt attempts will be severely punished.

* [[Nose Art]]: Her Starfury has a red star and a double-headed Russian Eagle.

* [[Voice of the Resistance]]

** Hell, that's even the name of her broadcasts.

** During the commentary track for that episode, Claudia Christian points out that the scream Ivanova gives when the Drazi lands on her (when the "injury" supposedly happened) as being quite real (as said actor landed right on her already-broken leg quite heavily.)

* [[You Are in Command Now]]: At least four times in the space of three years, in fact, though it never happens in the heat of battle.

 

* [[The Conscience]]: Franklin regards his medical oath as far more important than his oath to Earth Force and is quite willing to remind others of their duties to greater causes than their government.

* [[Determinator]]: After he {{spoiler|is stabbed, then tormented by a hallucination of himself for all of his failures}}, he decides that he wants to live, mistakes and all.

* [[Dr. Jerk]]: For a while when he was abusing stims.

* [[Insufferable Genius]]

* [[The Medic]]

* [[Military Brat]]

* [[Not Quite the Right Thing]]

 

 

* [[The Alcoholic]]: She uses her secret past as an alcohol and drug abuser to get Garibaldi back on the wagon.

* [[Dark and Troubled Past]]

* [[Lady of War]]

* [[Nose Art]]: Her Starfury features a Phoenix.

* [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]

* [[Word of Gay|Word Of Bi]]: [[Neil Gaiman]] confirmed that the [[Les Yay]] in her scenes with Zoe in "Day of the Dead" was intentional.

 

* [[Ascended Extra]]

* [[Big Brother Is Employing You]]

* [[Heel Realisation]]

* [[Hopeless Suitor]]: To Lyta Alexander. Given how she later develops, he was probably lucky.

* [[You Did the Right Thing]]: Both Night Watch and the command staff assure Zack of this when he's used as a double agent in one episode. He finds it less than comforting.

 

 

 

* [[Ace Pilot]]: [[Executive Meddling]] wanted a [[Top Gun]] type character.

* [[Curiosity Killed the Cast]]: Ignores Commander Ivanova's orders not to continue his obsessive search for the mysterious black ship that he encountered in Hyperspace. Finding that ship is the last thing he ever does.

* [[Decoy Protagonist]]: Intentionally given little purpose, but a fake high profile, heroic job.

* [[Shoo Out the New Guy]]: due to being created through [[Executive Meddling]], and the actor apparently not getting on with the established cast.

* [[We Hardly Knew Ye]]

 

 

 

* [[Adorkable]]: The scenes involving him trying to buy and give roses to Ivanova, and his ownership of a Love Bat, especially.

* [[Character Development]]: Starts out in Season 1 as a generic Earthforce officer with no name and a dorky, wallflower personality, ends up in Season 5 as Babylon 5's XO and almost a male, [[Lighter and Softer]] (and, well, still dorkier) version of Ivanova (see above quote).

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]

* [[The Generic Guy]]: Tends to be written as representing the viewpoint of the average, ordinary Earthforce officer in comparison to the larger-than-life, destiny-laden main characters.

 

 

* [[Big Bad]]: For most of season four, once the Shadows were taken care of. His government were already major antagonists before that.

* {{spoiler|[[Driven to Suicide]]}}

* [[Evil Chancellor]]: Well, Evil Vice President to Santiago.

* [[Fantastic Racism]]: Towards aliens.

* [[If I Can't Have You]]: {{spoiler|"Two words: Scorched Earth"}}

* [[President Evil]]

* [[Smug Snake]]

 

 

 

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: See above.

== The Minbari Federation ==

 

 

 

* [[Ape Shall Never Kill Ape]]: "Minbari do not kill Minbari", {{spoiler|the reason why they surrender at the Battle of the Line after discovering Sinclair is the reincarnation of Valen: Minbari souls are reincarnating as humans.}}

** Before that, there was the right of denn'Sha, a duel to the death which is seen closer to the ideals of suicide than one opponent killing the other.

* [[Berserk Button]] : Don't kill one of their leaders, don't win a battle against them in a dishonorable manner (whatever they're deciding to define that as), don't accuse them of lying, don't... well, just don't.

** The clan system is apparently completely independant of the Caste system. Lennier had a clansman who was warrior caste.

* [[Combat Aestheticist]]

* [[Crystal Spires and Togas]]: The spires aren't literally crystal. They don't ''quite'' wear togas. But they're getting dangerously close on both counts.

* [[Fantastic Caste System]]: Religious, Worker, Warrior

* [[Good Old Ways]]

* [[Honor Before Reason]]: All Minbari at least think they are this. Some are more honorable than others.

* [[Hypocrite|Hypocrites]]: They hold Sheridan as a monster and a butcher for destroying the Black Star. In a war. Using an ambush... while the Black Star was coming to finish off the wounded from an earlier assault. Essentially they consider Sheridan a monster because in a war he dared to win a battle, using tactics that weren't quite as underhanded as the Minbari did.

* [[Rubber Forehead Aliens|Boney Back Of Head Aliens]]

* [[Rules Lawyer]]: "Minbari Do Not Lie" & "Minbari Do Not Kill Minbari". Except when they can find loopholes or justify it some different ways. For example, conquering a polar Religious Caste city, and forcing the residents to leave on foot, dying of cold and exposure isn't murder. The weather killed them! Not a Minbari!

* [[Space Elves]]

* [[Warrior Poet]]: Seems to contain a high proportion of these.

 

 

[[File:delenn_4673.png|frame]]

 

* [[A Tragedy of Impulsiveness]]: The Earth-Minbari war.

* [[Bearer of Bad News]]

* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: Like Minbari in general, Delenn is polite and well-behaved until she leaves you wondering how you abruptly ended up in Medlab.

* [[Biological Mashup]]: Going all half-human on you in Season 2 and beyond.

* [[The Chosen One]]: {{spoiler|The One Who Is}}

* [[God Save Us From the Queen|God Save Us From The Satai]]: In the Earth-Minbari war.

* [[Good Old Ways]]

* [[The Heart]]: The closest thing to an unambiguously kind, good-hearted character this series has. Surprisingly, this makes her [[Badass|scenes on the bridge of a warship]] even better.

* [[The High Queen|The High Ambassador]]

* [[Honor Before Reason]]: Well she prefers putting [[Honor Before Reason]], and indeed often does. She is however a stateswoman with all that comes with that.

* [[Lady of War]]: Delenn, as mentioned above and below, commands war fleets and generally lays the smackdown several times in the series. While maintaining proper decorum.

* [[Lethal Chef]]: Delenn can't seem to add enough salt to Sheridan's flarn to make it edible.

* [[The McCoy]]

* [[Messianic Archetype]]

* [[The Philosopher|The Mystic]]

* [[Proper Lady]]: Oh man! [[Lady of War|She can command a battle fleet without even wrinkling her robes!]]

* [[Proud Scholar Race Guy|Proud Scholar Race Gal]]

* [[Real Men Love Jesus|Real Minbari Love Valen]]

* [[Rousing Speech]]: She loves giving these.

* [[They Do]]

* [[Warrior Poet]]: Mostly poet but a not an insubstantial bit of [[Lady of War|warrior]].

* [[The Woman Wearing the Queenly Mask|The Woman Wearing The Ambassadorial Mask]]

 

 

 

* [[All Love Is Unrequited]]

* [[The Atoner]]: When last seen

* [[Battle Butler]]

* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]

* [[The Champion]]: To Delenn

* [[The Reliable One]]

* [[Stiff Upper Lip]]

* [[Those Two Guys]]: Is occasionally seen sharing a drink with Vir.

* [[Tragic Hero]]

* [[Undying Loyalty]]: To Delenn.

 

 

 

* [[The Bully]]

* [[Worthy Opponent]]: Views the few humans he respects (Sinclair and Marcus) as these. And views Delenn as a worthy opponent politically rather than in personal combat.

 

 

 

* [[Break the Haughty]]: His final fate was to be shamed in public while being watched by millions of Minbari. Probably considered [[A Fate Worse Than Death]] on Minbar.

* [[Dirty Coward]]

* [[Glorious Leader|Inglorious Leader]]

* [[Large Ham]]

* [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Proud Warrior Caste Guy]]

== The Centauri Republic ==

 

 

 

* [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing]]: Centauri women love this trope. They often have very [[Tastes Like Diabetes|saccharine]] manners and appearance, but are also prone to stab you in the back when you least expect it. There are some exceptions, however:

** This turns out to be a [[Real Life]] example of [[Poor Communication Kills]]. JMS originally intended Centauri hair to be worn more like human hair, with the length signifying rank. When Peter Jurasik was being fitted with the prosthetic, it was put on him sticking up like a peacock's tail. As a joke, he had it left that way and went to JMS, saying "what do you think?" JMS, thinking Peter really wanted it that way, and worried he was a touchy actor, said it looked fine like that. And thus the Centauri got their iconic hairstyle.

* [[Realpolitik]]: The stated philosophy of most prominent Centauri (with heaping doses of [[Fantastic Racism]] when it comes to the Narns).

* [[Vestigial Empire]]

* [[Waistcoat of Style]]

 

 

''Your victims.'' }}

 

* [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder]]

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]

* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: {{spoiler|When he blows up the island containing the Shadow vessels.}}

* {{spoiler|[[The Emperor]]}}

** And in the episode where {{spoiler|The Shadows arrive on Centauri Prime}}, he gets a brief switch back to his original, brighter wardrobe as he begins to realize the [[My God, What Have I Done?|full consequences of his actions.]]

* [[Fallen Hero]]

* [[Heel Face Revolving Door]]

* [[Henpecked Husband]]: Implied to have been one to the dancer he married (and was later forced by his family to divorce). "She had a voice that could curdle fresh milk. 'Londooo?' 'Coming, my darling!'"

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]

* [[I'm Going to Hell For This]]: "And when I die, there will be a reckoning." Except he seems to have meant that ''seriously''.

** At the end of the episode, Londo talks about a Centauri legend about reincarnated souls in unworthy lives - a suitably good soul can attempt to end an appropriatly evil existence - literally ''will'' the body to die - in order to escape from it. Vir reminisces that he heard that this was about the souls of card-carrying [[The Messiah|messiahs]] trapped in the bodies of [[Complete Monster|Complete Monsters]] - and eats his foot when he realizes that Londo is referencing '''himself'''.

* [[Gone Horribly Right]]: In Season 1, Londo has been [[Kicked Upstairs]], and he knows it, lamenting how little power he and his people have to his friends and drinking buddies. By the end of the series, he is arguably the single most politically powerful figure on the show, but has no friends, {{spoiler|no free will}}, and is lost to his misery.

* [[Ignored Epiphany]]

* [[In-Series Nickname]]: "Passo Liati", a nicknamed earned via his swordfighting abilities. It translates roughly to "[[The Berserker|fights like a madman]]".

* [[Man of Wealth and Taste]]

* [[My God, What Have I Done?]] - ''beautifully'' captured when he's observing {{spoiler|the [[Magnetic Weapons|mass-driver]] bombardment of Narn}}. There isn't a ''single word'' of dialogue in the entire scene...Londo's face [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GImJdrCSOFA says it all].

* [[Not So Different]]

* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: He really does like his booze and his gambling, but he's not nearly as dumb as he lets on.

* [[Retired Badass]]: Londo was at the head of the Centauri assault on a world in his backstory, and on the one incident he piloted a shuttle he weaved, effortlessly and laughing, through incoming anti-air fire.

** Incoming anti-air fire that had already foiled three out of four previous attempts to reach the planet's surface, one of which ''six'' ships launched from an Earth Force cruiser.

* [[Sleazy Politician]]

* [[Start of Darkness]]

* [[What the Hell Is That Accent?]]

 

 

 

* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]

* [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]]

* [[Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?]] -- by flipping off their proxy: Mr. Morden.

*Vir does a mocking little cutesy wave* }}

* {{spoiler|[[The Emperor]]}}

* [[The Unfavorite]]

 

 

 

* [[A God I Am]]: He hopes to achieve this with the aid of the show's resident [[Cosmic Horror]]

* [[Depraved Bisexual]]: [[Word of Gay|According to Krimmer, anyway]].

* [[Modest Royalty]] (by Centauri standards)

* [[Omnicidal Maniac]]

* [[Unwitting Pawn]]: Perhaps inevitable given pitting a madman against Londo in chessmastery.

 

 

 

* [[Ambition Is Evil]]

* [[Not Me This Time]]: Londo arranges Refa's death because he assumes Refa had his lover Adira murdered. {{spoiler|It was actually Morden doing a [[Batman Gambit]].}}

* [[Unwitting Pawn]]: When he went to Narn.

 

* [[Sex Slave]]

* [[Stuffed Into the Fridge]]

 

* [[Arranged Marriage]]

* [[Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other]]

 

* [[Arranged Marriage]] - to {{spoiler|Vir. It doesn't last long, and you can be thankful for that.}}

* [[Daddy's Little Villain]]

== The Narn Regime ==

 

 

* [[Asskicking Equals Authority]]

* [[Butt Monkey]]

* [[Cycle of Revenge]]: The Narn homeworld was once occupied brutally by the Centauri. The Narns drove them off in a war of attrition. The Narns spend most of Season 1 mentioning how they wish to exterminate the Centauri, make them pay for the occupation of their homeworld, and kill them all. This comes to bite them in the ass when their revenge-fueled aggression ends up inspiring Londo to use Mr Morden to strike at them. This causes the Narns to AGAIN swear revenge, and declare war on the Centauri, a war they are not capable of winning because the Centauri are significantly more advanced (having mastered true artificial gravity for one) and have the help of Mr Morden's allies. Even the other races, as explained by Delenn and foreshadowed by Sinclair, are unwilling to involve themselves in the war on the Narn's behalf, because they know that should the Narn win, they will go right back to attempting to kill all the Centauri, and no race wants to be accessory to that genocide.

* [[Mister Seahorse]]

* [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]]: It's implied that this isn't the sole basis of their culture, but being brutally occupied by the Centauri and violently winning their freedom led to their most violent and aggressive aspects becoming dominant.

* [[The Revolution Will Not Be Civilised]]

 

 

 

* [[Ambadassador]]

* [[Eye Scream]]

* [[Heel Face Turn]]

* [[Mars Needs Women]]

* [[Moral Myopia]]: He seems perfectly fine with ''Narn'' being [[The Bully]] in the first season. Rather less so when Narn are being bullied. {{spoiler|He gets over it.}}

* [[Messianic Archetype]]

* [[Not So Different]]

* [[Scars Are Forever]]

* [[Smug Snake]]

* [[Warrior Poet]]

* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]

 

* [[Berserk Button]]: DEATHWALKER!

* [[Dark Action Girl]]

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]

* [[Not Quite Dead]]

* [[The Other Darrin]]

 

== The Vorlon Empire ==

 

 

 

* [[Abusive Precursors]]

* [[You Cannot Grasp the True Form]]

 

 

 

* [[Cryptic Conversation]]: Talks almost exclusively in these.

* [[Stern Teacher]]

 

 

 

* [[Bad Boss]]

* [[Color Coded for Your Convenience]]: While Kosh's encounter suit is light-colored, Ulkesh's is dark and his "eye" is red instead of Kosh's green.

* [[Domestic Abuser]]

* [[Evil Counterpart]]: To Kosh

* [[Vader Breath]]

 

 

 

* [[Alien Abduction]]

* [[Beethoven Was an Alien Spy]]: Inverted

* [[Break the Haughty]]: What the Vorlons did to him, and what they have him do now on their behalf.

* [[Exalted Torturer]]

* [[Ironic Hell]]: {{spoiler|Sebastian wanted to purify the world of sin. Now, as his "penance," that's all he's allowed to do.}}

* [[Knight Templar]]

* [[Sadist Teacher]]

* [[Secret Test of Character]]

 

 

== The Shadows ==

 

 

 

* [[Abusive Precursors]]

* [[Big Bad]]

* [[Catch Phrase]]: What do you want?

* [[Evil Mentor]]: {{spoiler|They honestly believe in helping and nurturing the younger races by turning them against each other and making them kill each other so that the 'strongest' survive.}}

** [[Hypocrite]]: {{spoiler|They take it poorly when people decide they want to be free themselves and don't want their 'help'.}}

* {{spoiler|[[Gone Horribly Right]]}}: The Shadows believe that conflict is key to helping younger races evolve. {{spoiler|They are indirectly responsible for Sheridan so evolving, due in part to his decision to kick the Shadows out of the galaxy.}}

* [[Human Resources]]

* [[Insectoid Aliens]]

* [[Social Darwinist]]

* [[Starfish Alien]]

 

 

 

* [[Affably Evil]]

* [[The Corrupter]]

* [[Faking Amnesia]]

* [[The Handler]]

* [[No Name Given]]

* [[No One Could Survive That]]: After Sheridan nukes the Shadows' capital city, hope is expressed that Mr. Morden will never be seen again. He shows up in the ''very next scene'', burnt to a crisp (and [[Squick|flaking]]), but still very much alive and ambulatory.

* [[Prophecy Twist]] : All the people who express a wish to him get what they want. Londo gets the temporary rise of the Centauri; G'kar gets revenge on the Centauri, and Vir gets revenge on Morden. Only Vir is pleased with his wish in the long run.

* [[Smug Snake]]

* [[That Man Is Dead]]

== The League of Non-Aligned Worlds ==

 

 

* [[All There in the Manual]]: You’ll need to take a look at the tie-in materials, notably an authorized CD, to learn anything substantial about most of the member races. Their names, even.

* [[Hufflepuff House]]: Some more than others. The Llort, Grome and Yolu can be seen sitting in session, but none of them will ever say anything. The Abbai get [[Demoted to Extra]] and the Vree are seen in person only once, though their ships show up a lot.

 

 

 

* [[Comedic Sociopathy]]: They can be counted upon to start swinging fists at any opportunity, and are often used for comedy. Such comedy usually involves someone getting hurt. The Drazi have plenty of serious moments too, though.

* [[Warrior Monk]]: Many of them are shown to be religious. In the first season, a Drazi monk has to reluctantly surrender his blade to Garibaldi; in season three, two missionaries poke Zack Allen to receive a blessing. And the patron god of Drazi pilots gets mentioned. Naturally, being Drazi, anything in their culture of any importance seems to involve aspects of the warrior, or at least the brawler.

 

 

* [[All There in the Manual]]: Aside from the religious stuff in ''Day of the Dead'', all we really know about them from the show is that they're pack rats. Source material indicates that they are a corporatocracy, and that their society has many parallels to 20th Century Earth, due to them having picked up television transmissions from Earth before they gained space-faring technology. The only indication of that in the show is that the Brakiri Ambassador's clothing somewhat resembles a human suit.

* [[Rubber Forehead Aliens]]

 

 

* [[Cthulhumanoid]]

* [[I'm a Humanitarian]]: They eat carrion, including the bodies of sapient races.

 

 

* [[Demoted to Extra]]: After the first season.

* [[Non-Mammal Mammaries]]: They're pretty clearly amphibians, but of course they have breasts. Tie-in materials (an authorized CD) attempt to justify it by describing the Abbai breast as in fact a clump of small tendrils that serve a similar but not identical function to mammaries.

 

 

* [[Apocalypse How]]: The ''drafa'' plague results in a Class 3; the extinction of the Markab race.

** [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic]]: Not intended as a stand-in for AIDS, despite the parallels: initially unknown etiology and vector of transmission, perception that it's punishment for immorality...

 

 

* [[Flying Saucer]]: Their ships, of which two designs are seen.

* [[The Greys]]: One of no less than three races in the setting to fit the trope. They're the closest of all, having saucer-shaped ships and a history of buzzing Earth in them.

* [[Hufflepuff House]]: Their ships show up a lot, but we only ever see an actual Vree individual on screen once, and they never have an important role.

* [[The Voiceless]]

 

 

* [[Hive Queen]]: "The Queens" are mentioned by the Gaim Ambassador at least once; although the context is ambiguous, background materials confirm that these are the Gaim's leaders.

* [[Insectoid Aliens]]

* [[Translator Microbes]]: They only speak through an electronic translator device.

 

 

* [[Dark Secret]]

* [[Dying Race]]: Slowly dying. There's still a lot of them around, but their population is falling and they're on the decline.

* {{spoiler|[[Genocide Backfire]]}}: What their governement is hiding is the reason for them being a [[Dying Race]].

 

== Telepaths ==

 

 

* [[Fantastic Racism]]: Many telepaths are guilty of this as well as being targets of it.

* [[Mutant Draft Board]]: Human telepaths, anyway.

 

 

 

* [[Aborted Arc]]

** Well, the next time Bester (below) arrives he comments on what was learned at her dissect..."debriefing". Not that she was actually dissected, he's just getting a rise out of them.

* [[Face Heel Turn]] {{spoiler|As the result of an artificially-implanted personality being activated.}}

* [[Manchurian Agent]]

* [[The Mole]]

 

 

 

* [[Black Magician Girl]]

* [[Real Life Writes the Plot]]: In a variety of ways. {{spoiler|Her departure and return to the show were major story points, and her relationship with Kosh was partially based on her real life romance with Kosh's actor.}}

* [[Stockholm Syndrome]]

 

 

 

* [[Affably Evil]]

* [[Arch Enemy]]: To Garibaldi and Ivanova

* [[Asskicking Equals Authority]]: Only P12s (the most powerful rated telepaths) are allowed to be PsiCops, and Bester is one of the most powerful PsiCops, not only because of his raw telepathic talent, but because of his [[The Chessmaster|people skills]] as well.

** [[Handicapped Badass]]: It's easy to miss, but one of his hands is immobile. The crippled hand is a minor plot point in the Psi Corps books.

* [[Berserk Button]]: Do not threaten or otherwise endanger his lover.

* [[Enemy Mine]]: when he told Sheridan where the telepaths were being shipped, which was a combination of [[Papa Wolf]], [[I Will Find You]], and a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] upon the Shadows.

* [[Even Evil Has Loved Ones]]: {{spoiler|He had a lover who was modified to serve as a living CPU for a Shadow vessel. Finding out about this is what made him a temporary ally to the station during the Shadow War.}}

* [[Knight Templar]]

* [[Nose Art]]: His personal [[Space Fighter|Starfury]] is painted jet-black, with the Greek letter Omega in white. [[Sarcasm Mode|Subtle.]] Mind you, he commands an entire PsiCop unit that operates these, but they only appear briefly in flashbacks or as [[Unwitting Pawns]] in one of his plots.

* [[Older Than They Look]]: He's in his seventies when he first appears.

* [[Playing Against Type]]: ''Very'' different character from Chekov. One must remind oneself it's the same actor.

** [[The Prisoner|Be seeing you.]]

* [[State Sec]]

* [[Tranquil Fury]]: When his [[Berserk Button]] gets pressed.

* [[Villain Episode]]: "The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father"

 

* [[Actual Pacifist]]: At first. Even to the point of, after being struck by a [[Muggle|mundane]], asking him to [[Turn the Other Cheek|hit him again]], to see if it gets his attacker any additional satisfaction. He goes out of his way to try and restrain his fellow rogue telepaths from retaliating against various hostilities from mundanes aboard the station.

* [[Defector From Decadence]]: {{spoiler|Used to be one of Bester's underlings until he was forced to kill a bunch of surrendered rogue telepaths while they were being transferred to an allied mundane transport, killing both.}}

* [[Fantastic Racism]]: although he tends to accuse others of it, it's obvious that Byron has quite a chip on his shoulder about 'mundanes'

* [[Ice Cream Koan]]

* [[Nose Art]]: {{spoiler|Painted jet-black, with the Greek letter Omega in white.}}

* [[Passive Aggressive Combat]]: Byron is a master of it. He can make '''anything''' someone else's fault.

== Others ==

 

 

 

* [[City of Spies]]

* [[Truce Zone]]

 

 

 

* [[The Atoner]]

* [[Warrior Poet]]

 

 

 

* [[The Atoner]]

* [[Bully Hunter]]: "And they made a very satisfying thump"

* [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]]

* [[I Like Swords]]

* [[Just Following Orders]]: When he fired on the Minbari fleet.

* [[Mysterious Past]]

* [[Not So Different]]: With Delenn. Perhaps Marcus too in a different way.

* [[Shell-Shocked Veteran]]

* [[Space Marine]]: in his [[Mysterious Past]]

 

 

 

* [[Cool Old Guy|Cool ''Really'' Old Guy]]

* [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]]

 

 

 

* [[Backup Twin]]

* [[Ditzy Genius]]: To whom else could anyone entrust a {{spoiler|time machine}}?

* [[The Eeyore]]

* [[Lost in Translation]]: Zathras' attempts to explain that his name is pronounced quite differently from his brother's, Zathras.

* [[Metaphorgotten]]: When trying to explain to Ivanova that they can't possibly run out of time, because time is infinite. He somehow concludes with "This... is wrong tool. ''Never use this.''"

* [[Third Person Person]]

 

 

* [[Body Horror]]

* [[The Remnant]]: {{spoiler|They were servants of the Shadows.}}

 

 

* [[Combat Pragmatist]]: They are badly outmatched in any fight with Earth Force. Thus, they prefer hit-and-fade attacks against soft targets such as merchant ships, and will only fight Earth Force units if they have no other choice or if they have [[Zerg Rush|overwhelming numbers.]]

* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: the first time the Shadows make an appearance

* [[Gunship Rescue]]: Invoked twice, when a larger ship is brought in to reinforce them or to help them escape. Both ships are destroyed or disabled soon after.

* [[Space Pirates]]

* [[Starter Villain]]