Babylon 5/Tropes Q to Z: Difference between revisions

** Sheridan to the Vorlons and Shadows at the end of the Shadow War.

** Delenn is always giving this to the Grey Council, it seems. It may not be coincidental that she has political troubles back home.

** The Babylon 5 Advisory Council and the League of Non-Aligned Worlds was [[Invoked Trope|purposely designed]] to be the United Nations IN SPACE!

* [[Red Alert]]

* [[Red Shirts]]: This role usually falls to the lurkers, though in classic sci-fi fashion, the Security guards tend to be fairly disposable unless named. That role shifts to the Starfury pilots for the space scenes, particularly for any pilot who is [[I'm Going for a Closer Look|Going In For A Closer Look]].

* [[Redemption Equals Death]]: While Neroon had long been the most sympathetic, honorable, and sane Warrior-Caste Minbari, he was only completely redeemed when he sacrificed himself to save Delenn (and end the Minbari Civil War). He does declare himself (in a somewhat [[Narm|Narmy]] scene) Religious Caste just as he dies; although he most likely truly means it (given Shakiri's disgrace), he's also preserving Delenn's victory.

* [[Refuge in Audacity]]: How they smuggle Na'Toth off the Centauri homeworld. No Centauri would admit seeing their own Prime Minister slobberingly drunk snuggling up to a veiled slave girl and staggering toward the spaceport.

* [[Relationship Reveal]]: Following a year or two of dropped hints and innuendo, "Divided Loyalties" reveals Talia sleeping in the same bed as Susan Invanova.

* [[Retroactive Precognition]]: {{spoiler|All of Valen's prophecies.}}

* [[Revealing Hug]]: In "Born to the Purple", Londo and Adira embrace, and the camera lingers on Adira's face as the happy facade she's been putting on for Londo slips away.

* [[Road Trip Episode]]: Due to a blockade, Marcus and Dr. Franklin leave Babylon 5 and embark on a Type 2 on board a slow freighter to Mars in order to meet with [[La Résistance]].

* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: An epic one in "The Coming of Shadows", when G'kar figures out that Londo Mollari -- to whom G'Kar finally extended his hand of friendship -- has declared war on the Narn colonies. It takes a whole security team ''and'' Sheridan to stop G'Kar from breaking into Londo's quarters to kill him, and for moment it looks like even ''that'' is not enough.

* [[Second Episode Introduction]]: Several of the cast regulars were not present in the [[Pilot Movie]]; Dr Franklin didn't show up for the first proper episode either.

* [[Schmuck Bait]]: Marcus escapes his jailer by pretending that his collapsible pike is some sort of medical scanner, and that you activate it by staring down the hole at the end. [[Tap on the Head|Pow]]. Marcus repeats this feat with another mook down the hall, this time using a tennis ball ("Exogenesis").

** On the other hand, often played painfully straight with casualty numbers. [[Word of God]] is that a planetary bombardment using [[Colony Drop|Colony Drops]] had casualties of only 3 million, while the casualties of the Earth-Minbari War were only a little more than those that have been suffered in the Iraq War so far.

**** JMS is of the opinion that the advanced civilizations would generally use more birth control and naturally have lower populations, too. It's his explanation for why Centauri Prime only has a few billion people living on it (though one episode put the total Centauri population at 48 billion), provides a decent explanation as to why we rarely see children on the show, and is evidenced by the families we do see or hear mentioned (many characters are only children who in turn have only one child [ie: Lise, despite three marriages, only gave birth to Garibaldi's child, Delenn and Sheridan only have one child, Londo had 3 wives and at least 2 lovers but never any children, and so on]). It seems like the Narns are the only major species with larger families since they seem to have litters (but even then the occupation seems to have left them with a relatively stunted population).

** Why Franklin turns Dr. Hendricks in at the end of the episode "Infection".

** When confronted with Londo's announcement that he plans to divorce two of his wives, Timov passes up ample opportunities to win his favor or (failing that) murder him. She instead saves her husband's life via a [[AB Negative|blood transfusion]], on the condition that Franklin cannot reveal that she's the donor. In the end, Londo begrudgingly keeps Timov as his spouse, since she's [[Honest Advisor|the least dishonest]].

* [[Screw the Rules, I Have Connections]]: Mere hours after {{spoiler|Jack}} is arrested, President Clark calls Sheridan to demand his extradition to Earth. Shortly after leaving the station, the prisoner 'mysteriously' vanishes while en route.

* [[Screw the Rules, I Make Them]]: Typically invoked by the Psi Cops.

** Delenn undergoes a torturous test of her allegiance by "the Inquisitor", who zaps her with electrified manacles every time she gives an unsatisfactory answer.

** Much later on, Sheridan finds himself trapped in one by an Earth Force torturer, not as the torture implement itself, but as a way [[Restraining Bolt|to show that he can't attack him]] if unchained.

{{quote|'''Sheridan:''' ''Ricochet's a killer.''}}

* [[Shout-Out]]: In one of President Clark's propaganda moves, he has ISN and a psychiatrist make up Mimbari War Syndrome, which is similar to [[Die Hard|Helsinki Syndrome]].

* [[Show Within a Show]]: The ISN Special Reports, which form the focus of the episodes "And Now For a Word" and "The Illusion of Truth." The fouth season finale "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" features more special reports, and other video records, being examined by a Ranger {{spoiler|one million years in the future}}.

* [[Silly Reason for War]]: The Drazi conflict in "The Geometry of Shadows", in which the Drazi split into two entirely arbitrary groups chosen by pulling scarves out of a barrel and then fight for the right to rule for the next five years.

* [[Sitting Duck]]:

** Londo invoked this trope {{spoiler|on the Shadow base on his homeworld}}.

* [[Space Cold War]]: Earth and Minbar. Earth and Minbar are slowly mellowing their relation at this time. Vorlons and Shadows are a straighter example of this.

** The Narn and the Centauri. {{spoiler|[[This Means War|Until partway into the second season]].}}

* [[Spikes of Villainy]]: The Shadows' spaceships. {{spoiler|Clark's [[Imported Alien Phlebotinum|Advanced Destroyers]] as well.}}

* [[Spit Take]]: G'Kar, on being unexpectedly hailed by his straight-laced assistant while he's relaxing in a seedy nightclub, in "Born to the Purple".

* [[Space Is an Ocean]]: Magnificiently averted. Sort of lampshaded/subverted with the Minbari Sharlin cruiser, which looks like a fish (However, one could argue that [[From a Certain Point of View|Hyperspace is an ocean]]). The Minbari also practice what they call "going to the sea", in which an elder spends their last days journeying into space, searching for a place where they can be of use.

* [[Space Mines]]: In "Matters of Honor", we see a Centauri minefield deployed to interdict access to a planet.

* [[Space Opera]]

* [[Space Station]]: Kinda the whole point of the show.

** Psi-Corps.

** More blatantly, the Night Watch. They even have black armbands and posters proclaiming "TRAITORS CANNOT HIDE."

* [[Stay on the Path]]: Generally speaking, ships traveling through Hyperspace must take care not to drift too far from the signal transmitted by the Hyperspace Beacons (beams transmitted between Jumpgates), lest they become lost. Some ships have more advanced navigation systems, however.

** Also, it is generally accepted as fact that anybody who goes to Z'Ha'Dum never comes back. {{spoiler|It gradually becomes apparent that this isn't entirely true, though it is very likely that you will not come back ''unchanged''.}}

'''Londo''': And you, Your Majesty, I could swear you have not changed since the last few times I saw you. *smirk*

''Cartagia's minister rolls his eyes'' }}

* [[Street Urchin]]: Alisa Beldon, when we first meet her.

* [[Stop Helping Me!]]: When Vir becomes the Centauri Ambassador to Minbar, Londo keeps offering him advice on how to phrase his reports, much to Vir's chagrin.

* [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien]]: Lorien and the other First Ones. And Not Quite As [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]], the Vorlons and the Shadows ({{spoiler|who happen to worship Lorien as something akin to a god}}). Also, [[Word of God]] says that Humans and Minbari will eventually [[Goal-Oriented Evolution|reach this state]]; in "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" we see it happen.

* [[Suicide by Cop]]: Abel Horn (or what's left of him) provokes station secruity into shooting him. His body promptly [[Why Am I Ticking?|self-destructs]], concealing any evidence of his cyborg implants.

* [[Super Fun Happy Thing of Doom]]

* [[Super Registration Act]]: The PsiCorps.

** JMS even used this to his advantage in the case of Ivanova. He had let slip that if Takashima had stayed on the show, she would have turned out to be a traitor. So when Ivanova showed up, people in the know assumed that Ivanova would now be the traitor. He even put [[Red Herring|subtle hints]] here and there that she might be a traitor to facilitate [[Wild Mass Guessing]]. When it turned out that {{spoiler|Garibaldi's second}} was in fact the traitor, fans were caught completely off-guard.

* [[Suspiciously Specific Denial]]: Deliberately [[Invoked Trope|invoked]] by Sheridan when he plants a news story that "Absolutely nothing happened today in Sector 85 by 9 by 12. Please remain calm." {{spoiler|He is telling ''almost'' the entire truth. Three White Stars, under his orders, ''did'' go to that sector and spend a little while shooting at nothing. Otherwise, absolutely nothing happened there.}}

* [[Talking the Monster to Death]]: The resolution of "Infection", where Sinclair persuades the alien bioweapon to deactivate itself by bringing it up to speed on the history of the world it was built to protect (dead for centuries, because the population was wiped out by the weapons intended to protect them).

* [[Talking Your Way Out]]: In "The Parliament of Dreams", G'Kar tries the "whatever you were paid, I'll double it" tactic on the assassin. It doesn't work because, the assassin explains, the assassin's guild has a reputation to uphold and comes down very hard on members who let themselves get bought off.

* [[Tasty Gold]]: Somebody in a low dive in Downbelow tests a coin this way in "Survivors".

* [[Tattooed Crook]]: The thug in "Survivors".

* [[Techno Wizard]]: The Technomages.

* [[The Teetotaler]]: The Centauri Regent. When Londo is informed that the Regent has been drinking himself into a stupor lately, Londo responds that the Regent had purposely cultivated sobriety as [[Blue and Orange Morality|his one vice]].

* [[Telepathic Spacemen]]: Due to being [[Touched by Vorlons]], every race has some (except the Narns, due to Shadows killing all of them in the past, but the genes are still latent in them).

** Even races the Vorlon never visted have psychics.

** In the second season, Captain Sheridan, who does not know Garibaldi yet, is able to tell that he is {{spoiler|contemplating suicide}}, based on the fact that Garibaldi is {{spoiler|sitting alone in his quarters idly loading and unloading his sidearm.}} Of course, given the recent events that had happened, Sheridan was right to be on the lookout for warning signs.

* [[Temporal Paradox]]: The storyline involving {{spoiler|Sinclair going back in time to become Valen}} is rich with both the Object Loop ({{spoiler|the device that he and Delenn use to switch between being human and Minbari}}) and the Information Loop ({{spoiler|everything he teaches the Minbari as Valen, which he learned from the Minbari, who learned it from Valen}}).

** In "Revelations", when Garibaldi attempts to recall who attacked him, most of his flashback is just a rerun of the actual scene of him getting attacked, including several shots of Garibaldi in third person. The sequence does contain one new shot, representing Garibaldi noticing a detail that passed him by at the time, and this is in first person.

* [[Third Person Person]]: Zathras.

* [[This Is the Part Where]]: The assassin in "The Parliament of Dreams":

{{quote|'''Assassin:''' ''([[Sarcastic Clapping|claps sarcastically]])'' And this is the part where I'm supposed to decide I trust you, drop my guard, and let you shoot me in the back. Sorry.}}

* [[This Was His True Form]]: The end of "Infection" plays out like this for the guy taken over by [[The Corruption]] {{spoiler|though it's quickly established that he's only unconscious, not dead}}. Notable because it's a supposedly sciency weapon, and it took hours to transform him into the monstrous form, but once it leaves him he's back to normal in seconds, just like magic.

* [[Throw It In]]: Averted for the most part. JMS was very much against ad-libbed lines, since he was careful about how every line was written in order to avoid screwing up the [[Myth Arc]]. In the few cases where it did happen, he had very serious talks with the actor involved (such as when Billy Mumy/Lennier hummed a mantra that turned out to be the title of the album his band made). One notable case where an addition was allowed is in ''The Fall of Night'', the Season 2 finale. The Earth Ambassador tells Ivanova that his pen was a gift from his wife. After mentioning this, he kisses the pen. JMS states in that episode's commentary that when he asked the actor why he did that, the actor responded "Well, my wife isn't here, so I can't kiss her, so I kiss the pen instead." JMS then chuckles and says "Ah, actors. Someday they'll all be replaced with CG. I'm kidding. No I'm not. Yes I am."

** An early episode features a character touched by the Psi Corps. Who then proceeds to {{spoiler|[[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence]] and ''touch'' Talia Winters, but she [[Absentee Actor|left the series]] and was [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute|substituted]] by Lyta before it got ''really'' spectacular}}.

* [[Tractor Beam]]: The Minbari have them.

* [[Trapped by Gambling Debts]]: Happens to one of Garibaldi's men early in the series.

* [[Trashcan Bonfire]]: "Chrysalis" has a scene with, in the background, a group of homeless people huddled around a futuristic equivalent, what looks like a large orange light bulb in a frame the shape and size of an oil drum.

* [[Twisting the Words]]: "The Illusion of Truth"

* [[2-D Space]]: Averted. The human Star Furies have multiple thrusters and rotate across all three axes.

** G'Kar and Na'Toth both speak of "Earth hours" in "The Parliament of Dreams". Oddly, they mostly do it when discussing a deadline G'Kar is facing -- which was set by a Narn, and which they discuss only with each other and with another Narn. So why don't they talk about it in terms of their own Narn hours?

** Neatly inverted in "By Any Means Necessary", with Sinclair pointing out to G'Kar that "The Narn homeworld is twelve light-years from Babylon 5. Ten of ''your'' light-years."

** Starting with the spinoffs, we begin to see the Interstellar Alliance begin to use Destroyers as well, in this case referring to something with more firepower than a Minbari Warcruiser while being [[Lightning Bruiser|much faster]].

* [[Tyrant Takes the Helm]]: Col. Ben Zayn's (short-lived) takeover as Commander of Babylon 5.

 

== U ==

* [[Unable to Cry]]: Mariah Cirrus, upon finding out that her husband is dead. [[Justified Trope|Justified]] because the cryogenic hibernation process caused her tear ducts to dry up.

* [[Underground Railroad]]: Babylon 5 is host to part of the Telepath Underground Railroad, a network that helps Rogue Telepaths escape the Psi Corps. The stationmaster on B5 is revealed to be {{spoiler|Doctor Stephen Franklin.}}

** In the second and third seasons, multiple such railroads are set up by various characters to help {{spoiler|Narn civilians}} escape the brutal occupation of their homeworld after their war with the {{spoiler|Centauri Republic.}}

* [[Unusual Euphemism]]:

** Characters are repeatedly being described as having "Gone beyond the Rim" when the actor playing them dies. This is most noticeable in {{spoiler|G'Kar}} who continued to be a prominent character even after the show ended until the actor playing him died of lung cancer.

{{quote|Londo: "I feel like I'm...what are those Earth creatures? Webbed feet, goes 'quack'?

Vir: "Cats!"

'''Londo:''' [[You're Insane!|You are insane!]]<br />

'''G'kar:''' And ''that'' is why we'll win.<br />

'''G'kar:''' So do I.<br />

'''Londo:''' ''Shut up!'' }}

{{quote|Delenn, I have pledged myself to your side... come fire or storm or darkness or death. Can understanding be a greater danger?}}

** Also from Vir to Londo although Londo's warts were more obvious.

* [[We Hardly Knew Ye]], Sinclair and to a lesser extent Talia. Also Lt. Warren Keffer, a more traditional [[The Hero|action hero]] who was added by [[Executive Meddling]] and later [[Killed Off for Real]] by [[J. Michael Straczynski]] [[Writer Revolt|at the earliest point convenient for the plot]]. Plus Dr. Kyle and Takashima in the pilot.

* [[We Will Not Use Photoshop in the Future]]: Vir creates a phony Centauri bureaucrat named [[Sue Donym|Abrahamo Lincolni]] to divert Narns away from concentration camps. Ivanova assists him by whipping up a photo ID for "Lincolni": A doctored picture of Sheridan, albeit with a Centauri hairdo and medals.

* [[We Will Spend Credits in the Future]]: It's not a universal currency though; only humans carry credits.

** The last line of ''Comes The Inquisitor'':

{{quote|'''Sebastian:''' Good luck to you in your holy cause, Captain Sheridan. May your choices have better results than mine. Remembered not as a messenger, remembered not as a reformer, not as a prophet, not as a hero, not even as Sebastian... Remembered only... {{spoiler|[[Jack the Ripper|as "Jack."]]}}}}

{{quote|'''{{spoiler|Satai Delenn}}:''' Animals! Brutal! [[Berserk Button|They deserve no mercy!]] Strike them down, follow them back to their base and [[Disproportionate Retribution|kill all of them, all of them!]] ''[[Disproportionate Retribution|No mercy!]]''}}

* [[What Could Have Been]]: The role of Knight Two in "And the Sky Full of Stars" was originally offered to [[The Prisoner|Patrick McGoohan]] (who couldn't fit it into his filming schedule) and then [[Walter Koenig]] (who was too ill to take it). Koenig, of course, was [[Happy Ending|later cast as Alfred Bester]].

* [[What Could Possibly Go Wrong?]]: Nice one, Sheridan.

* [[What Did You Expect When You Named It?]]: Even putting aside the [[Faux Symbolism|unlucky connotations]] of "Babylon", Earthforce has already deployed ''four'' Babylon stations, each of which has either blown up or vanished. Did it not occur to them to maybe name it different next time?

** For that matter, why do people keep insisting on naming ships Marie Celeste?

* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?]]: Londo stabbing a bug in his quarters with an antique Centauri knife.

** Also his reaction to Sheridan in general during the 4th Season.

* [[What Measure Is a Non-Cute?]]: Spoo. The Interstellar Animals Rights Protection League's official policy on the treatment of spoo is "Kill 'em.".

{{quote|How do you know the Chosen Ones? No greater love hath a man than he lay down his life for his brother. Not for millions. Not for glory, not for fame... For one person. In the dark. Where no one will ever know or see.}}

* [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]:

** What happened to Captain Lochley? She's not at the party they have for Sheridan, she's not listed among the dead, and she's not on Babylon 5. And it's a little weird that Sheridan would invite everyone else and not his ex-wife.

*** "Sleeping in Light" was filmed at the end of season 4 in case the show got canceled. As a result, Lochley didn't appear since Ivanova's actor hadn't left yet, and thus Lochley's character hadn't been introduced.

** In the episode "Sic Transit Vir," Vir's fiance has captured a Narn, whom she offers for Vir to kill. After this scene, which ends before Vir takes any action, the Narn is never referred to again.

* [[Who Wants to Live Forever?]]:

** Lorien explains to Susan that he and his race were born naturally immortal.

* [[With Due Respect]]

* [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity]]: Three quarters of human telekinetics are insane.

** Skip the except. Any woman who can become Satai, can be offered a job as head and refuse, can disband and rebuild the Grey Council by fiat, and can stop a war by burning herself alive might as well be a queen.

* [[The World Is Not Ready]]: Stock excuse for why advanced aliens won't entrust the Narn, Centuari, or human species with advanced technology.

* [[Would Not Shoot a Good Guy]]

* [[Word of Gay]]: JMS once asked actor Wortham Krimmer to tone down Emperor Cartagia's fey behavior, to which Krimmer responded, "Well, Joe, he's bisexual, don't you know." When JMS gave an "oh really" sort of reply, Krimmer said, "Absolutely. He's the emperor. He can f--- anyone he wants."

* [[Word of God]]: JMS remained active on USENET throughout the show's run, and would often answer questions about the B5 'verse posted to rec.arts.sci-fi.tv.babylon5.moderated.

* [[World of Cardboard Speech]]: Ironheart gives one of these to Sinclair in ''Mind War''.

* [[Worth Living For]]: Stephen Franklin, after getting a lengthy [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]] from {{spoiler|a trauma-induced hallucination of himself}}.

* [[Wretched Hive]]: A seedy tavern in Downbelow where Marcus meets with his contacts.

* [[Write Back to the Future]]: After {{spoiler|Sinclair travels to the past to become Valen he leaves behind notes for himself and Delenn to be deliver 1000 years later, with the information about how and why they need to steal Babylon 4.}}

** In the second-season episode "The Geometry of Shadows", Ivanova breaks her leg in a brawl that broke out while she was trying to resolve an internal dispute between two Drazi factions; Claudia Christian had actually broken her leg in an accident and they needed an excuse for her leg being in a cast.

*** In fact, her leg was already broken in the scene where it happens in the show. One can assume that her cry of pain as she falls [[Enforced Method Acting|was not entirely faked]]. JMS referred to her as "a trooper" for doing this.

 

* [[You Already Changed the Past]]: Babylon 4 reappears four years after it disappearance ("Babylon Squared"). In the two-parter "War Without End," it is revealed that Babylon 4 was snatched by the Minbari and taken to the year 1260 AD to help fight the Shadows. To prevent this from happening, the Shadows sent a bomb to Babylon 4 just as it was about to come on-line in 2254. However, the White Star also goes back in time, destroys the bomb, and (as it turns out) [[Timey-Wimey Ball|takes it back in time as well]]. However, this is not before the time travel device (sent by Draal and delivered by Zathras) malfunctions, dropping Babylon 4 back into present-day 2258, resulting in the events of "Babylon Squared." Sinclair then realizes that {{spoiler|he must take Babylon 4 back in time himself, and then uses the triluminary device to turn himself into a Minbari--specifically, Valen, who led them in the First Shadow War, organized their society, and effectively became the main prophet of their religion}}.

** The Vorlon Inquisitor is [[Berserk Button|easily peeved]] by anybody presuming to be 'chosen', or part of a greater plan. As he later confides to Sheridan, the Inquisitor believed he was doing God's work when he {{spoiler|committed the Whitechapel murders}} centuries ago.

* [[You Can't Fight Fate]]: See "Dreaming of Things To Come", above.

* [[You Didn't Ask]]: Sinclair's excuse for not sharing an important piece of information sooner in "A Voice in the Wilderness". (The real reason is that he just made it up on the spot.)

 

{{reflist}}