Belisarius Series/Characters: Difference between revisions
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{{work}}
=== Aide ===▼
▲== Aide ==
Mysterious creature comes back in time to seek the help of the Roman general Belisarius to rise against evil
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=== Link ===
* [[Big Bad]]
* [[The Chessmaster]]
* [[Conqueror From the Future]]
* [[Cyborg]]: Part machine, part possessed woman.
* [[Demonic Possession]] of [[Kick the Dog|autistic girls]] no less.
* [[God-Emperor]]
* [[Giving Radio to the Romans|Giving Radio To The Malwa]]
* [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens|Scary Dogmatic Alien]]
* [[The Spock]]: Well yeah, [[You Should Know This Already|it's a ''computer'']]. And
=== Romans ===▼
== Romans
* [[Asskicking Equals Authority]]: Justinian and Theodora rule not because they are aristocrats but because they are a peasant and a prostitute who happened to have enough genius, ambition, and ruthlessness to claw their way to the top [[Deadly Decadent Court|in Byzantium.]]
* [[Badass Army]]: (They are Romans after all)
* [[Byzantine Empire]]
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* [[The Empire]]
* [[Gadgeteer Genius]]
* [[Punch Clock Hero]]: It is nowhere mentioned that the recruitment terms of the Roman Empire include, "help save the world from a demon robot from the future". It is specifically mentioned that "Belisarius captures a lot of [[Plunder]]."
* [[Lightning Bruiser]]: When Belisarius' Cataphracts (heavy cavalry) are in the neighborhood, it is best for the enemy to be elsewhere.
=== Abbu ===
Bedouin Chief and Auxiliary Light Cavalryman in Belisarius' army.
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* [[Scarily Competent Tracker]]
=== Belisarius ===
''Seek the general who is not a warrior''
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Roman General and Title Character
* [[Battle Couple]]: with Antonia. Though only rarely do they appear on the same battlefield, they coordinate strategy together, and Rana Sanga<ref>Prompted by Narses, who evidently realized it '''first'''.</ref> once speculates that Antonia was assigned to the African theater because [[The Power of Trust|he knew]] that [[The Power of Love|she would]] relieve him on time.
* [[Berserk Button]]: All of Belisarius' soldiers know that they had better not commit atrocities while he is in command.
* [[But I Read a Book About It]]: He is up on history, like many generals.
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* [[Happily Married]]
* [[The Hero]]
* [[Historical Badass Upgrade]]: How the heck do you upgrade [[Four-Star Badass|Belisarius' badassery]]? Just give him a demon robot from the future to fight.
* [[Historical Domain Character]] : Never visited by time travelers as far as we know, though.
* [[I Just Want to Be Normal|I Just Want To Be A Blacksmith]]
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* [[The Women Are Safe with Us|The Women Are Safe With Belisarius]]: And those who have a problem with this will have an [[Off with His Head|interview with Valentinian]].
=== Antonina ===
''Purity in the whore''
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* [[Undying Loyalty]]: to Belisarius
=== Photius ===
Son of Antonina and adopted heir to the Roman Empire
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* [[The Wise Prince]]
=== Procopius ===
Gossipy secretary who impugns Antonina's reputation for fidelity. Unaware that Belisarius and Antonina are playing him.
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* [[Historical Domain Character]]: Wrote ''Secret History of the Court of Justinian''
* [[Unreliable Narrator]]: Played with. The author feigns that all along he was simply a shameless gossip and his book full of blarney.
** Given that in real life Procopius' several famous historical accounts directly contradict each other in alleged facts and characterization of the historical figures involved, it is unquestionable that at least ''some'' of his work was a... jaundiced account. The endless debate between historians is merely over "which one(s)"?
* [[Unwitting Pawn]]
=== Valentinian ===
Bodyguard of Belisarius
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* [[Combat Pragmatist]]
* [[Consummate Professional]]
* [[Drill Sergeant Nasty]]: When Belisarius needs men kept in line he turns to Valentinian, sometimes giving him the jobs requiring [[Off with His Head|extreme methods]]
* [[Sociopathic Hero]]: Many men lack the ability to kill at the drop of a hat. Valentinian kills without anyone having to even look at the hat.
* [[Old Soldier]]
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* [[Those Two Guys]]: With Anastasius
=== Anastasius ===
Bodyguard of Belisarius
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* [[The Big Guy]]
* [[The Philosopher]]
* [[World's Strongest Man|Rome's Strongest Man]]: Anastasius is the most physically powerful character in the book, rivaled only by Ousanas and Rana Sanga. He easily overpowers Link's specially-bred giant guards, hits so hard that any opponent he has ever landed a solid blow on in battle was crushed to death on the spot, and uses a longbow with such a powerful draw that he routinely shoots arrows into one side of a fully-armored man's torso and out the other.
* [[Warrior Poet]]
=== Narses ===
Traitorous Roman Spymaster. Once Theodora's mentor but betrays her and the Roman Empire because of his [[Fatal Flaw|ambition]].
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* [[Ambition Is Evil]]: In ''In the Heart of Darkness'' Narses knows he is being evil and curses himself for it, but his ambition is too powerful.
* [[Anti-Villain]] : In point of fact he is almost a hero at times and shows more loyalty toward Damadora then he did to Theodora. He also balks at assassinating Rana Sana's family because [[Even Evil Has Standards]]. In fact when doing so he refuses to be bribed by Link's offer to clone him, [[Heroic Sacrifice|thus turning down his only chance at what a Eunuch could be expected to want most: descendants]]. He also understood, even before Rana Sanga did, how Belisarius made plans based on trusting Antonina to mount a [[Gunship Rescue]].
* [[The Chessmaster]]
* [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder]]
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* [[Handicapped Badass]] : Narses is far more manly then many who are more physically manly.
* [[Heel Face Revolving Door]]
* [[Irony]]: He
* [[Pet the Dog]]: When he rescued and hid Rana Sanga's family
* [[Pragmatic Villainy]]: There are few things he loathes more than incompetent villainy
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* [[The Spymaster]]
=== Irene ===
* [[Ambadassador]]
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* [[Heterosexual Life Partners]] : to Antonina
* [[Lady of War]]: Especially toward the end when she is actually commanding troops when Kungas is away at war.
* [[Overt Operative]]: Her first cover was as [[The Mistress]] to a Roman
* [[Ruling Couple]] : With Kungas
* [[Spirited Young Lady]]: Indeed she once confides to Antonina that she was likely to remain unmarried because
* [[The Spymaster]]: She is more amiable than the typical example of this trope, many of whom are a dour sort.
===
Long-time friend of Belisarius, and an accomplished cataphract general in his own right.<ref>Incidentally, the Real Life Sittas married Empress Theodora's older sister Comito around the time that he's introduced in this story, and may have fathered the wife of Justinian's real-world successor -- she's known to have been Theodora's niece, but Theodora had another sister.</ref> He introduced Irene to Belisarius and Antonina; she was '''his''' so-called mistress.
* [[Animal Motifs]]: When, in the first book, he demands that Belisarius tell him the details of a battle:
{{Quote|Most people, upon meeting Sittas, were struck by his resemblance to a hog. The same girth, the same heavy limbs, the same pinkish hide—unusually fair for a Greek—the same jowls, blunt snoutish nose, beady little eyes. Belisarius, gazing back at his best friend, thought the resemblance wasn't inappropriate. So long as you remembered that there are hogs, and then there are hogs. There is the slothful domestic hog in his wallow, a figure of fun and feast. And then, there is the great wild boar of the forest, whose gaze makes bowels turn to water. Whose tusks make widows and orphans.
"The battle," commanded the boar.}}
* [[Attack! Attack! Attack!]]: Described as "the most aggressive commander in the Roman army ... prone to recklessness." He '''likes''' headlong cavalry charges. But he's not stupid, and can recognize — reluctantly — if it isn't a good time for one.
* [[Brilliant But Lazy]]: Despite his thoroughgoing military competence and devotion to duty, he is widely regarded as the laziest man in the Roman Empire. Even ''[[Properly Paranoid|Justinian]]'', who obsessed about the possibility of being overthrown by one of his successful generals, didn't hesitate to put Sittas in charge of the capital city garrison because it was impossible to suspect Sittas of anything requiring actual ''work'', such as ambition.
** Sittas himself uses his own laziness as a metaphor for [[Beyond the Impossible]].
{{Quote|'''Sittas''': Worry about something else, Your Majesty. Worry that the sun will start rising in the west. Worry that fish will sing and birds will grow scales. *snorts* If you really insist on fretting over fantasy, worry that I'll start drinking water and do calisthenics early in the morning.}}
* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: And drunkenness; he often likes to pretend he's drunk.
=== John of Rhodes ===
Roman naval officer and weapons designer
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* [[Geeky Turn On]]: He says that he is turned on by Irene's library. To the point of [[Engaging Conversation]].
=== Justinian ===
Emperor before he was excluded due to
* [[The Atoner]]
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* [[A Shared Suffering]]: with Theodora
=== Theodora ===
''Murder in the wife''
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* [[The Woman Wearing the Queenly Mask]]: A rather grim version of this, especially compared to Shakuntala. But she is a good ruler if only for her husband's sake.
=== Michael of Macedonia ===
''Doubt in the prophet''
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* [[Badass Preacher]]
* [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]]: He disappears after the first few books.
* [[Dark Shepherd]]: While he is good, he is ''scary'' for he has a penchant for calling down the wrath of heaven on [[Corrupt Church
* [[Good Shepherd]]
* [[Warrior Monk]]
=== Callopodius the Blind ===
Young soldier who becomes chronicler of Belisarius' exploits
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* [[You Shall Not Pass]]: losses his eyes doing this
=== Anna ===
Wife of Collopodius the blind. Becomes famous for cleaning up hospitals in the rear area
* [[Arranged Marriage]]
* [[Good Is Not Nice]]: Before modern medical science and even to this day, the chief tool in the kit of a doctor in a man-made or natural disaster is [[Drill Sergeant Nasty|discipline.]] Anna does her work not so much by genius but by being a [[Neat Freak]], following regulations to the letter, and hiring enforcers to beat up any lazy staff who object to doing the messy work they are getting paid for.
* [[Insatiable Newlyweds]]: Zigzagged, see above.
* [[The Medic]]
* [[Spirited Young Lady]]
* [[Spoiled Sweet]]: Being a rich noblewoman did not stop her from being decent and compassionate. Or from [[Hidden Depths|surviving in a war zone.]]
=== Agathius ===
Wounded Roman officer, Belisarius' chief of staff
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* [[Self-Made Man]](originally a baker's son)
=== Theodoran Cohort ===
Syrian peasants recruited to be the gunpowder unit in the Roman Army and the core of Antonia's force.
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* [[Training the Peaceful Villagers]]
▲== Maratha In General ==
* [[HAD to Be Sharp]]: Marathans live in nasty mountain country as befits a [[Proud Warrior Race]].
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* [[La Résistance]]
=== Shakuntala ===
''Passion in the virgin''
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* [[Badass in Distress]].
* [[Battle Couple]]: With Rao
* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: She is a charismatic, but kind and likable girl ... who can kill men with her bare hands.
* [[Celibate Hero]] : Until she marries Rao.
* [[Chastity Couple]]: With Rao. Until they were kind of [[They Do|not.]] Then they were [[Good People Have Good Sex|something else]].
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* [[Perfectly Arranged Marriage]]
* [[Rebel Leader]]
* [[Rousing Speech]]: She does this to convince the Kushans to change sides. The fact that she is a more likable employer then Venandekatra (not that '''that''' is difficult) helped quite a bit.
* [[Ruling Couple]]: with Rao
* [[Spirited Young Lady]]
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* [[Wartime Wedding]]: Flaunted in front of the Malwa no less, with a delightfully gruesome chant about what this [[Battle Couple]] intends to do.
=== Raghunath Rao ===
One of the two most skilled fighters in India (the other is Rana Sanga), and a Maratha guerrilla commander.
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* [[Wartime Wedding]]
=== Dadaji Holkar ===
''Decision in the slave''
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* [[Retired Badass|Retired]] [[Badass Bookworm]]: In his backstory it is told that he was a Maratha warrior when he was young and saw the duel between Rao and Rana Sanga.
▲== Rajputs In General ==
* [[Cool Horse]]
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* [[Worthy Opponent]]
=== Rana Sanga ===
''The friend across the field''
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* [[Honor Before Reason]]
* [[I Gave My Word]]
* [[Improbable Aiming Skills]]: In addition to being one of India's strongest and fastest swordsmen he is also its best archer. On one legendary occasion he kills a Mahaveda priest with a textbook-perfect shot to the breastbone... at a distance of almost ''five hundred yards''. (The world's record for a longbow shot that actually hit anywhere on a standard archery target, let alone hit a bullseye, is less than three hundred.)
* [[World's Strongest Man|India's Strongest Man]]: He once cut an armored man in half ''vertically''. He also broke a reinforced Roman shield in half with one sword blow, has twice won hard-fought duels by parrying an opponent's blade so hard that ''their'' sword broke in half, and on one occasion almost snapped a bamboo pole by crushing it in his grip.
* [[Let's Fight Like Gentlemen]]
* [[Lightning Bruiser]]: In addition to being incredibly strong Rana Sanga is also ''blindingly'' fast, to the point that Valentinian - the single quickest swordsman in the entire Roman army, and one of the two greatest blademasters in the world - is only barely able to stay ahead of him.
* [[The Patriarch]]
* [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]]
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* [[Worthy Opponent]]
=== Lady Sanga ===
Wife of Rana Sanga
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* [[Housewife]]
* [[My Girl Back Home]]
* [[No Accounting for Taste]]
** After a few hours around her, Valentinian thinks Rana Sanga's taste in this matter is perfectly good.
* [[Trademark Favorite Food]]: onions▼
* [[Proper Lady]]
* [[When She Smiles]]: Seeing her happy smile and the genuine warmth behind that smile is the reason Rana fell in (and still is) madly in love with her.▼
* [[Silk Hiding Steel]]: She does not get frightened easily by crises or bloodshed despite being a [[Proper Lady]]. She also has no stereotypical feminine squeemish reactions to her son learning to fight although she is a bit shocked at how good a fighter he turns out to be. She is a [[Proud Warrior Race|Rajput]] lady.
▲* [[When She Smiles]]: Seeing her happy smile and the genuine warmth behind that smile is the reason Rana fell
=== Rajiv Sanga ===
Eldest Son of Rana Sanga
* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: He really is a very nice boy, just someone you want your daughter marrying. He also is a very scary warrior and even frightens his father a little.
**To put it another way, he is the kind of boy you want taking your daughter to a party especially if the way to the party goes through a bad part of town.
* [[Big Brother Instinct]]
* [[Combat Pragmatist]]: Valentinian has to teach him to be this. His instinct is of course [[Let's Fight Like Gentlemen|different.]] But when he gets the hang of it he is a murderous killing machine.
* [[Foreign Exchange Student|Foreign Exchange Bodyguard]]: Rajiv ends the series moving to Constantinople to spend a term as a bodyguard to Phoetius.
* [[Kid Samurai|Kid Rajput]]: He is so scary that in fact for a moment Rana Sanga has to reassure himself that Rajiv is not a budding [[Sociopathic Soldier]] by remembering that his many [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|heroic deeds]] include risking his life to give some hapless gate guards a chance to surrender.
* [[I Am Not My Father]]: Toyed with. Rajiv's best combat instructor is the one that gets it into the kid's skull that he will never match his father in size and power so he should adjust his style accordingly before he gets himself killed.
* [[Honor Before Reason]]: Like his father he is as Rajput as they come.
* [[Like Father, Like Son]]
* [[My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad]]: Quite true and Rajiv is very proud of that.
* [[Nice to the Waiter]]
* [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]]
* [[Renowned Selective Mentor]]: One of the two people that ''survived'' a duel with his father winds up instructing him.
* [[Warrior Prince]]
=== Axumites In General ===▼
▲== Axumites In General ==
* [[Blade on a Stick]]: They love spears. Oh yes they do.
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* [[The Spartan Way]]
=== Eon ===
* [[Bruiser with a Soft Center]]
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* [[Nice to the Waiter]]: He always treats the palace servant girls well back home. And they respond gratefully.
* [[Perfectly Arranged Marriage]]: His first ''official'' wife was a representative of an influential Arab tribe in a marriage that helped appease a budding rebellion. As a bonus she was <s>very pretty</s> stunningly beautiful, was a [[Spirited Young Lady]], loved to read just like Eon, and was very useful at [[Sexy Secretary|helping with paperwork]].
** One of the rare justified examples of this trope - Rukaiya was only one of a small horde of Arab noblewomen competing for the position -- literally every Arab clan in the region had sent their most beautiful daughter of the relevant generation hoping to get picked -- and she was selected over all the rest precisely because her intelligence and temperament were such a fine match for Eon's. You get a large enough crowd of beauty contest winners together and interview them all, you're pretty much guaranteed to find at least ''one'' smart and nice one.
* [[Scary Black Man]]
* [[Spare to the Throne]]
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* [[The Wise Prince]]
=== Ousanas ===
* [[Battle Butler]]
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* [[You No Take Candle]]: Ousanas does this at first, but it is really just an act.
=== Rukaiya ===
Wife of Eon. Chosen from a number of candidates by to cement relations between Axum and protectorate Arab tribes.
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=== Persians in General ===▼
▲== Persians in General ==
* [[The Empire]]
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* [[Horse Archer]]
=== Khusrau ===
Emperor of Iran
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* [[Try to Fit That on A Business Card]]: Khusrau's full title is "King of Kings of Iran and non-Iran."
=== Baresmanas ===
Persian General and contact of Belisarius
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* [[Officer and a Gentleman]]
Incompetent Persian general who commanded against Belisarius before the war with the Malwa. Goaded into making a stupid assault and presenting Belisarius with a great victory.
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* [[Zerg Rush]]
=== Tahmina ===
Persian Princess who marries Photius cementing alliance with Rome.
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* [[Princess Classic]]
=== Sudaba ===
Wife of Agathius who travels with him on campaign
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* [[Undying Loyalty]]
▲== Kushans In General ==
* [[Cadre of Foreign Bodyguards]]: Kungas' men. Because anyone who could be [[Badass Princess|Shakuntala's]] jailor would be a very effective bodyguard for her.
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* [[The Engineer]]: After their [[Heel Face Turn]] they manage to change the course of one of the biggest rivers in the world and change it back again to trap the enemy.
* [[Fighting For a Homeland]]
* [[Happiness in Slavery]]: Downplayed. After one unit captured they are supposedly slaves but under negotiated terms of surrender that rather more resemble clientage then slavery. Kushans had always fought primarily for their own tribe's interests and when they got a chance to get away from the Malwa they get a better deal latter. They just have an eccentric preference for being slaves to being defectors even though the effect is the same. Toward the end the same unit is allowed to join Kungas in founding the new Kushan empire.
* [[Heel Face Turn]]
* [[Proud Warrior Race]]
* [[Worthy Opponent]]
=== Kungas ===
* [[Battle Couple]]: With Irene
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Asian
* [[Exclusively Evil]]
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* [[Villainous Valour]]
=== Malwa in General ===
▲== Malwa in General ==
* [[The Empire]]
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* [[We Have Reserves]]
=== Venandakatra the Vile ===
A Malwan lord that takes the [[Deadly Decadent Court]] trope [[Up to Eleven]] Living exponent of every vice known to man and some that aren't.
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* [[Dirty Coward]]
* [[Evil Is Hammy]]
* [[Evil Cannot Comprehend Good]]: Belisarius manipulates this. He is able to, as a distraction, convince him that Eon is an entitled pervert who absolutely ''loves'' raping slave-girls (somewhat like Venandakatra in other words). As the main part of the plot he is able to convince him that Kushans, despite the fact that they were ordered to guard Shakuntala's virginity, were absolutely certain to try to seduce her. The idea that they might be honorable soldiers who would never do such a thing (when they do defect it is out of politics and simply because they like Shakuntala better as a person, not out of their own lust) never occurs to him, because of course Venandakatra does not really believe there is a such thing as honor. As a result the Kushans are replaced as guards by celibate priests who are supremely qualified as [[Cannon Fodder|garrote-fodder]] for Rao. Basically Belisarius [[Guile Hero|manipulates]] Venandakatra's assumption that [[Laser-Guided Karma|everyone is like him.]]
* [[For the Evulz]]:
* [[General Failure]]
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* [[Rape, Pillage and Burn]]: His favorite hobbies. As long as it doesn't require him to do any actual fighting.
* [[Royal Brat]]
* [[Sex Slave]]: He [[Kick the Dog|tortures them in the process]] until they are completely traumatized even though he has enough power to have the minimal decency to just order them to have sex with him, or enough wealth to hire any amount of women of negotiable virtue either on short or long-term contract, rather then
* [[The Sociopath]]
* [[Stupid Evil]]
* [[Too Important to Walk]]: Has a sedan chair which he takes wherever he goes. If his servants fail at carrying him they are tortured to death. Even if they have to go fight that ''proves'' they are not doing their duty.
* [[Unwitting Pawn]]: To Belisarius.
* [[Villainous Glutton]]
=== Damodara ===
* [[Becoming the Mask]]: With Rajputs. He puts on the mask of an honorable warrior until it starts to actually fit him.
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* [[The Wrongful Heir to the Throne]]
=== Skandagupta ===
* [[The Emperor]]
* [[Puppet King]]: Link holds all the real power.
=== Nanda Lal ===
* [[Combat Pragmatist]]
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* [[The Spymaster]]
=== Ajutasutra ===
Henchman of Narses, and one of the most skilled secret agents in India.
* [[Badass]]
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Stands out amongst an entire cast of Deadpan Snarkers in this regard. Damodara at point Lampshades that it would be impossible for him to keep Ajutasutra on as his chief royal assassin, despite him being overqualified for the position in every other aspect, because Ajutasutra is ''constitutionally incapable'' of restraining himself from cracking wise at his friends' expense -- which is entirely fine so long as he's working in the field, but would be impossibly disruptive to an Imperial court.
* [[The Dragon]]: To Narses who in turn is one of Damadora's dragons
* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: He considers pimps to be subhuman
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