Prince Roger: Difference between revisions

a.k.a. ''The Empire of Man'' series or the ''March Upcountry'' series.

 

 

Most of the first three books deal with character development while Roger and his Battalion of Marines march toward the spaceport. The fourth deals with the consequences of their actions and what has happened while they've been out of contact.

[[John Ringo]] was asked, at Dragoncon 2010, if there will be another book. He stated that there would not be another one on Prince Roger. Instead, he and David Weber would work on a [[Prequel]] series that will show the founding of the Empire of Man. However, he has recently noted that he is writing a synopsis for a fifth book about Roger.

 

* [[Aborted Arc]]: [[Punny Name|Ima Hooker]], amongst other characters, were given some importance in the first book. They're [[Anyone Can Die|slaughtered within minutes]] of the second book.

* [[Action Girl]]: Naturally, all female marines. (They do come from a society with gender-equality, after all.) More notable would be the few Mardukan females that qualify: Sena and Pedi, two of the most deadly martial artists in the series.

* [[Badass Crew]]: Bronze Company and the ''Basik's'' Own.

* [[Badass Family]]:

'''Julian''': Just say a MacClintock. }}

* [[Bar Sinister]]: The flag of the ''Basik'''s Own wears one for Roger.

* [[Card Sharp]]: Poertena. Then he makes the mistake of teaching his four-armed friends a few tricks...

** A hilarious scene happens at the beginning of ''March to the Sea'' when Prince Roger [[Hustling the Mark|asks him how to play Spades]].

* [[Chekhov's Gunman]]: Admiral Helmut. Thomas Catrone.

* [[Chekhov's Skill]]: Prince Roger and geology. It plays a minor role in the first book, and it plays a more important role in the third.

* [[Cool Pet]]: Dogzard. Patty.

* [[Corrupt Politician]]: The Parliamentary faction seeking to overthrow Roger's mother isn't portrayed at all positively.

* [[Cunning Linguist]]: Roger and O'Casey both have [[Universal Translator]] program in their "toot" implants that let them quickly learn new languages and dialects and then share with the other marines. On the Marduk side, Denat is an absolute natural at learning new languages (and at pretending to be too much of a [[Obfuscating Stupidity|dumb barbarian]] to eavesdrop on people).

* [[Dead Because of Me]]: Prince Roger goes through a lot of [[Survivor Guilt]] as he sees more and more people die on his behalf, especially when it's the result of one of his many (usually minor) lapses in judgment.

* [[Death World]]: Marduk qualifies due to the large and angry (and more common than should be ecologically possible, until justified) wildlife, but the sneaky, venomous wildlife is [[Nightmare Fuel]] as well.

** The Mardukans in general during the assault to capture transport off-planet. Mardukans + plasma cannons + shipboard combat = a ship full of holes.

'''Roger:''' Oh, shut up, Julian. }}

* [[Dirty Coward]]: Prince Jackson Adoula. {{spoiler|Runs away as the counter-coup starts and sacrifices underlings several times just to save his skin.}} Also, his co-conspirator {{spoiler|New Madrid, Roger's father,}} who is pretty much unable to handle meeting Roger.

* [[Doomed Hometown]]: Therdan, for Rastar, Honal, and their people.

* [[Dumb Muscle]]: Erkum Pol. He is huge, even for a Mardukan, and at one point takes out four people simultaneously with a table. His response to anything and everything said by an officer is "Yes, sir".

* [[The Empath]]: Phaenurs, a race of centaroid-lizards whose abilities make them [[Living Lie Detector|Living Lie Detectors]]. They are one of the only races never to engage in physical war or have never engaged in cannibalism. I say "physical war," because they do have societal conflicts -- they're just compared to having a [[Jewish Mother]] writ large.

* [[Gun Stripping]]: Happens a good bit because this is a military squad in a hostile environment that really does need to clean and maintain its gear, but special recognition goes to Julian, who can strip down a 40-piece plasma rifle in 7 seconds.

* [[The Gunslinger]]: Rastar Komas Ta'Norton, last prince of Therdan. Master of the [[Quick Draw]], 4-armed [[Guns Akimbo]], and [[Improbable Aiming Skills]], all at once while sometimes riding a dinosaur. He's even quicker than ''Roger'' and can pull off [[Shooting It Out of Their Hands]].

* [[Heroic BSOD]]: What happens to {{spoiler|Empress Alexandra VII}}, after the {{spoiler|painful [[Awesome Moment of Crowning]]}} of Roger MacClintock.

** Also happens to Roger a few times -- first when he discovers exactly ''why'' he's trapped on a stinking hellhole of a planet, and then when {{spoiler|his lifelong servant and surrogate father get killed.}}

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: Standing orders for the Empress' Own.

** {{spoiler|Rastar, [[You Shall Not Pass|holding a gate into the Imperial Palace]].}}

* [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]: Krindi Fain and Erkum Pol.

* [[Hot Amazon]]: Many of the female Marines, but particular attention is paid to Nimashet Despreaux, who is often compared to an actress or model.

* [[Humans Are Special]]: Not pushed all that much but the inevitable conclusion when there are several species of sentient aliens but of the six interstellar nations only one is non-human and even then humans make up a significant minority of the three race alliance.

* [[Hungry Jungle]]: Featuring hyper-aggressive herbivores, vampire moths, and flesh-dissolving "killerpillars."

* [[I Owe You My Life]]: D'Nal Cord to Roger, and later, Pedi Karuse to Cord.

** Somewhat of a [[Running Gag]] for the character as he asked to be a backup astrogator (he refuses) and to pretend to be a real estate agent (which he does).

** Amanda Beach is "an astrogator, not an engineer." (She does a fine job of the later, anyway.)

* [[Interrupted Intimacy]]: When Pahner walks in on Eva and Julian. Done with malice aforethought with Roger & Nimashet.

* [[Ironic Echo Cut]]: In ''March to the Stars'':

'''Roger''': "You know," [as Roger fights], "I could wish that Pahner didn't have so much confidence in me!" }}

* [[Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique]]: When {{spoiler|Despreaux is kidnapped}}, Roger almost cuts the messenger's hand off to feed to an ''atul'' to find out {{spoiler|where she is}}. He only holds back at all because {{spoiler|[[Morality Chain|she wouldn't approve]].}}

* [[Lower Deck Episode]]: Anything involving Krindi Fain in ''March to the Sea''.

* [[The Mafiya]]: Roger's crew runs into some interference from local organized crime in ''We Few'' which seems to be the Russian mob. Unfortunately for Siminov, he fails to take hints that he's biting off more than he can chew by trying to muscle in on the prince's cover operation.

* [[Mind Rape]]: What's done to {{spoiler|Empress Alexandra VII}} while the eponymous prince is stranded on Marduk, {{spoiler|by the usurpers to the throne of the Empire of Man.}}

** Oh, and it's backed up {{spoiler|with real rape too}}.

* [[Mister Seahorse]]: Technically, Mardukan "women" are male, and vice versa. The "men" have an ovipositor that resembles human male genitalia. But in fact, the men ovulate and implant the ova into a woman, who fertilizes the egg and carries it to term.

* [[More Expendable Than You]]: Captain Pahner and his Marines make it painfully clear that no matter what they think of the Prince, their duty is to protect him at all costs, up to and including throwing their lives away to get between him and a threat. As the March continues, Roger comes to accept this, while at the same time taking a more and more active role in his own protection - to the point where [[Inverted Trope|the tables get turned]], and Pahner finds himself in the position of relying on Roger to save the Marines, when it's supposed to be vice-versa. Gets deadly serious in the third book when {{spoiler|they find out Roger is suddenly the one-and-only Heir to the Throne, making him absolutely unexpendable}} ... and then even more seriously [[Inverted Trope|flipped again]] when things get so desperate that even Roger himself becomes expendable:

* [[My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels]]: Denat accidentally does this.

"Denat," Julian said over the earbud the intel NCO'd installed," if you're having translation problems ask me. I'll give you the right words. You just said 'I sneeze you in the name of The Idiots." }}

* [[My Sensors Indicate You Want to Tap That]]: Subverted. {{spoiler|Julian is monitoring Despreaux's blood pressure and heartrate. When both go up, she's having an argument with Roger. When the heart rate goes up and the blood pressure drops, it's time to send in a [[Moment Killer]].}}

* [[Old Master]]: D'Nal Cord. He's almost retirement age, and a shaman of his people. And he takes Roger under his slimy wing.

* [[Overly Long Name]]: Roger Ramius Sergei Alexander Chiang MacClintock (and the rest of his family).

* [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]]: Although not particularly ragtag, the Empress' Own chooses members with potentially useful skills, such as an ex-carjacker or a high priestess of [[Satan Is Good|Satan]].

** All members of the Empress' Own Royal Guard Marine units are chosen on the basis of being exceptionally competent soldiers. The 'Bronze Barbarians' that make up Prince Roger's guard are, as a group, the lowest on that totem pole; they're guarding the least important (and most personally irritating) member of the royal family. A few are experts, sure, but lack the shine to make it in the more publically visible battalions. A lot of the rest are just waiting for the seniority and experience to make it into Steel Battalion and guard his big sister. Yet they still manage to walk accross a murderous hell planet full of '''real''' barbarians and keep their protectee alive. Think about how [[Badass]] this means the higher-tier battalions of the Empress' Own must be. {{spoiler|At least, until they're all killed off camera.}}

* [[Red Shirt Reporter]]: Harvard Mansul, IAS. We first meet him as a prisoner in a Krath fortress after being sent to investigate Shin barbarians. He ends up following Prince Roger (the story of millenia) through all sorts of combat hell. In his past, he'd encountered bandits and pirates, gotten shot at by inner-city gangs, been stabbed, and nearly died while lost in a desert.

* [[Religion of Evil]]: The Fire Temples, from the volcanic land of Krath. Despite being a theocracy, none of the natives will talk about their religion at all, and cities are ruled by the principle of "all is forbidden, save that which the law permits." They trade for slaves to act as Servants of the God. {{spoiler|"Servants" are sacrifices which are roasted and then served in chunks to the people of the cities.}} There's a reason the local pirates fight to the last man to avoid capture.

** Despite being a generally useless prat, one of Roger's hobbies is big game hunting which results in him being the best sniper of all the troops.

** It also becomes a headache and problem for the (technically second-in-charge, but he's the unofficial CO anyway) Marine CO, who has to keep reminding him that, if Roger fucks up and dies, the Marines might as well kill themselves.

* [[She Is Not My Girlfriend]]: Cord to Roger, regarding Pedi.

** IBI Special Agent Temu Jin (Temujin being another name of Genghis Khan).

** ''Atul'' liver is apparently nice [[Silence of the Lambs|served with the local fava bean equivalent and a light chianti.]]

** Ancient plasma rifles. [[Terminator|Forty kilowatt-range.]]

** [[Scarface|SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!]] In this case, said "little friend" is not a grenade launcher but the [[Wrench Whack|big]] pocking [[Improvised Weapon|wrench.]]

** "[[Hogan's Heroes|Schultzes]]," guards who can be trusted to see, do, and hear nothing. Subverted, since they ignore atrocities, not heroic hijinks.

** "[[Kraken and Leviathan|Fish]] [[The Princess Bride|of unusual size]]."

* [[The Strategist]]: Admiral Helmut.

* [[Strawman Political]]: The Saints are corrupt descendants of Greenpeace. Specifically they claim to ''un''-[[Terraforming|terraform]] planets, but are actually one of the most polluting of the interstellar civilizations.

** Leadership-wise they're really more [[Straw Hypocrite|Straw Hypocrites]], while as a culture they tend more towards [[Dirty Communist|Dirty Communists]] with a focus on being "green" rather than support of the working class.

* [[Then Let Me Be Evil]]: Subverted by Armagh's Church of Satan. They were the more secular schism on a planet of Catholics and were labeled minions of Satan by their opponents. So they embraced the name, won the holy war, instituted religious freedom, and turned "Satanism" into a positive church in the wake of a discredited Christianity.

** His Marines, elite of the elite, are selected partially based on their incredible loyalty to the Empress. They start off despising him; in the end, {{spoiler|every one of them is so loyal to the Prince that other (non-Bronze Barbarian) Marines think they're dangerously compromised}}.

** It gets to the point where {{spoiler|his subordinates push a woman he loves into marrying him despite her objections, due to the fact that he's Heir Primus to the Throne of Man.. because without her acting as his conscience, he would be a neobarbarian tyrant with "shoot first, ask later" policy. With entire fleets of starships and a massive army at his disposal.}}

** In fairness, most of the skills of badass were those he already had, or were genetic (the marksmanship from big game hunting, the pistol speed from a specially implanted assassin program, the general speed from old MacClintock gene-tweaking, major exception being the swordsmanship which he learns from Cord). He takes many levels in the ''mental attitudes'' of badass, mainly from getting a real goal (get the Marines off Marduk, and later protect the Empire from Adoula).

* [[Turn Out Like His Father]]: The initial reason for Roger's estrangement. He has no idea, and is ticked to find out.

* [[The Unfettered]]: By the time he's finished with Marduk (and vice versa), Roger would be this if not for Nimashet acting as his [[Morality Chain]]. He and his people call her his "prosthetic conscience."

* [[Unobtainium]]: ChromSten collapsed matter armor.

* [[We Have Reserves]]: Barbarian tribes on Marduk seem to exclusively rely on berserk [[Zerg Rush]] tactics. It works for the most part until humans introduce soldier formation tactics. The few who wise up to this fact find themselves quickly overruled for being "weak."

* [[Weirdness Censor]]: The Mardukians are almost shockingly blase to the presence of humans, partially because we resemble a harmless prey animal. Few towns display any curiosity for more than a couple of days before treating the group like any other traveling traders/warriors. This is [[Lampshaded]] several times.

* [[Ye Olde Nuclear Silo]]: [[Cool Old Guy|Thomas "Tomcat" Catrone]] lives in one. He bought a large tract of land in central Asia to retire and start a horse ranch on, and since there already was a large and very solid structure on his property, he converted it into a well-appointed home. The fact that he can hold off an assault platoon on his own in there is a nice bonus.

* [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness]]: Weber is fond of this trope, having taken it up to [[Running Gag]] levels in the ''[[Empire From the Ashes]]'' series; it returns here in the fourth book. Prince Jackson Adoula blows up his house on Earth, along with his secret files and household staff; makes a note to eliminate his chauffeur soon thereafter; and intends to do away with at least one of his co-conspirators. Oh, and then there's the whole plot to {{spoiler|murder the Empress after she produces a new heir}}. {{spoiler|He orders her ''and'' the unborn heir eliminated once he has to flee.}}

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Military Science Fiction]]

[[Category:Science Fiction Literature]]