X-Wing Rogue Squadron: Difference between revisions

* [[Aerith and Bob]]: As in the rest of the Expanded Universe, Tatooinians such as Gavin Darklighter are more likely to have real-life human names than the rest of the human characters.

* [[Airstrike Impossible]]: Regularly. It ''is'' about ''[[Star Wars]]'' fighter pilots, after all.

** Played with when Rogue Squadron personalizes their fighters' paint jobs. The human pilots opt for paint schemes that are personally meaningful or symbolic of their home planets. Ooryl Qrygg, as a Gand the least humanoid of Rogue Squadron's pilots, has a plain white fighter... to human eyes, anyway; the squadron's chief mechanic, a Verpine, assures his human colleagues that it is "a masterpiece" if you can see in the UV spectrum.

* [[All Nations Are Superpowers]]: Averted in ''Starfighters of Adumar''. The top power on Adumar is Cartann, which controls over half the planet. It's mentioned, however, that Cartann's power is partly because it controls several other smaller countries as puppet states. The opposition consists of a coalition of smaller states, led by the Yedagon Confederacy and Halbegardia -- and it's mentioned that the coalition's military power is ''still'' dwarfed by Cartann.

* [[And Now for Someone Completely Different]]: The first four books have Rogue Squadron, with Corran Horn sharing the limelight with Wedge. The next three have Wedge leaving the Rogues and founding a new squadron. The non-Wedge protagonist character in ''Wraith Squadron'' is undoubtedly Kell Tainer, but his character arc apparently ended early and the next two Wraith books have no single central character - Face, Gara/Lara and Wedge all share the spotlight about equally.

* [[And Now for Something Completely Different]]: The first four books are relatively straight military SF in Stackpole's [[Beige Prose]], which revolves pretty resolutely around Corran Horn; all other characters are secondary. The next three are along those lines, but Corran is absent and a good deal of humour and personal issues creep in. The eighth is another Corran book, but the ninth is almost entirely Wedge's personal story about duty versus doing the right thing, as well as having more jokes than any other book in the EU.

{{quote|'''Donos''': "One for Falynn. Two for Talon."}}

* [[Anyone Can Die]]: Except for Wedge. Or anyone else who made appearances in earlier books set chronologically later.

* [[BFG]]: [[Character Name and the Noun Phrase|Voort "Piggy" saBinring and the two-meter-long starfighter's cannon]]. Now ''that's'' a title.

* [[Big Bad]]: Ysanne Isard, natch.

* [[Big Damn Gunship]]: While escorting a bacta convoy in the Alderaan Graveyard, Rogue Squadron is ambushed by a ''Victory''-class Star Destroyer and an Interdictor Cruiser. Suddenly, an ancient, automated Alderaanian frigate appears and starts blasting away at the Imperials, tipping the battle into the Rogues' favor.

* [[Bizarre Alien Biology]]: Ooryl Qrygg sees in the far-ultraviolet, 'talks' by vibrating his exoskeleton and, well. His race doesn't sleep much and can in fact "store" rest for later, and some Gand can also regenerate lost limbs, too. It's admitted that even the Rebel medics are just as surprised by all this as Ooryl's squadmates. He also kills a stormtrooper at one point by... punching him in the back through his armor. Ow.

* [[Call a Rabbit a Smeerp]]: As the books deal with everyday life more than most EU books, we get a lot of [[Star Wars]] terms for items. For example, refrigerators are 'conservators' and bathrooms are 'refreshers'.

** Allston pulls off a brilliant 'bilingual' pun with the latter one in ''Starfighters of Adumar'' when Tomer Darpen mentions the local ablution facilities are a bit more primitive than what they're used to and they may need teaching how to use them. Hobbie immediately quips "A refresher course."

* [[Call Forward]]: Common in Stackpole's books to other [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] books written earlier but set chronologically later.

** Warlord Zsinj is a background villain in the first four books, and Leia's mission to the Hapans is mentioned (''[[The Courtship of Princess Leia]]'').

** In the same book, Wedge hopes a handshake is an appropriate response to an outstretched hand and they don't expect him to "kneel on the floor and put the hand on his head" or something.

* [[Cybernetics Eat Your Soul|Cybernetics Eat Your Future]]: Oh, Phanan...

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Many, many examples among the Rogues and Wraiths. Most notably Hobbie, Janson, Face, Phanan, and Wedge himself.

* [[Defictionalization]]: An in-universe example - the Ewok pilot Lieutenant Kettch started out as a [[Running Gag]] among the pilots in ''Wraith Squadron'', then in ''Iron Fist'' Face claims to Zsinj that he's real and Wedge has to fly his TIE interceptor with an Ewok puppet in his lap. (Wedge wears a black flight suit to blend in with the cockpit's black background, so that only people who looked in the cockpit very closely would notice that the "Ewok" was sitting on somebody.) Finally, in ''Solo Command'', Lara discovers that Zsinj has an actual Ewok pilot called Kolot. (Which he had created after hearing about Kettch from Face)

** One of the members of the resistance was [[Interspecies Romance|Asyr Sei'lar]], and she decides to kill her future boyfriend as a speciesist because he won't stop plotting in order to dance with her. Misjudged a little there, Asyr.

** Castin Donn is mentioned to have been in one of the few anti-Imperial groups which were equally anti-alien. This leads to... friction.

* [[Five-Token Band]]: In "Rogue Squadron" Wedge complains that the New Republic is trying to turn Rogue Squadron into one to act as a propaganda symbol, meaning he's having to accept pilots based on political considerations rather than absolute skill. The most absurd case is that the New Republic wants Thyferra on side because it produces bacta, but Thyferra is ruled by a corporate cartel duopoly of two big companies who hate each other, so Wedge has to take on ''two'' Thyferran pilots, one from each side.

* [[Fix Fic]]: The Allston books to ''[[The Courtship of Princess Leia]]'' (see [[Historical Villain Upgrade]] below.)

** Tycho Celchu, having a background in TIE fighters and A-wings, uses this kind of piloting style. When they were stuck in big, slow Blade fighters on Adumar, Hobbie beat him in a simulated dogfight (it's usually the other way around). Even regular TIE fighters are this in the hands of good pilots, as seen for instance in ''Starfighters of Adumar'' where Tycho, despite being an excellent pilot, is unable to shake one that's on his tail.

* [[Former Child Star]]: Garik "Face" Loran used to be a child actor in Imperial propaganda holodramas. [[The Atoner|He regrets his involvement]], and now uses his piloting skills and considerable acting ability to help the New Republic.

* [[Fun Personified]]: Wes Janson. Making it all the more dissonant in ''Wraith Squadron'' that Kell (because of being misinformed of the manner of his father's death) is terrified of him, believing him to be a [[General Ripper]] prone to [[You Have Failed Me]].

* [[Gambit Roulette]]: Subverted. {{spoiler|When Corran returns from the ''Lusankya'' with information exonerating Tycho, someone wonders if the information could have been planted to keep the accused Imperial sleeper in place. This is casually dismissed, as it would have required an absurd level of planning and foreknowledge of completely random events.}}

* [[Genius Bruiser]]: Voort is a [[Pig Man|Gammorrean]] whose brain chemistry was altered, making him intelligent and stable enough to become a very good pilot. And he has a habit of being able to knock out any human in one punch.

{{quote|'''Wes''': [[You Killed My Father|I killed his father.]] He hates me. He knows how to make ''bombs''. Tell me, Wedge, how does this end?}}

** Also, Tyria.

* [[Good with Numbers]]: Voort "Piggy" saBinring.

** This is also the "hat" of the Givin race who live on Yag'Dhul, though we don't really see any evidence of it until the New Jedi Order books.

* [[Heroic BSOD]]:

** Donos starts ''Wraith Squadron'' with his sanity hanging by a thread, loses it twice during his time with his new squadron (slipping into an [[Angst Coma]] in one case), and comes perilously close an additional time. Near the end of ''Solo Command'', he thinks he's about to lose it again... {{spoiler|but realizes the truth in time to save most of his fellow pilots from a dangerous trap.}}

*** Kell actually does manage to show off his bomb making expertise in the preview for ''Mercy Kill'', where he manages to build a bomb that looks like a priceless gem, is powerful enough take out several city blocks, and is programmed to detonate when it reaches a certain depth below ground. He considers the bomb a work of art and gets ''highly'' offended when somebody suggests otherwise.

* [[Interspecies Romance]]: Gavin and Asyr, Nawara and Rhysati, Face and Dia. In the comics, Ibitsam and Nrin, neither of them human (the romance wasn't outright stated, but the implication could hardly be more obvious). Corran tells a story about a brief relationship with a Selonian that dealt with some of the issues of such a romance; their personal chemistry was fine, but their ''bio''chemistry was incompatible and they parted amicably. One arc that's poorly regarded for different reasons has very strong hints of more temporary human/Bothan encounters.

** In another example from ''Solo Command'', Han and Warlord Zsinj each oversee work on a secret project, the ''Millennium Falsehood'' and the ''Second Death'' respectively, and both of them consider what they're looking at the "ugliest ship they'd ever seen". (This is [[Played for Laughs]] on Han's end, since the phrase is a [[Call Back]] regarding the actual ''Falcon'', but he thinks the fake looks nothing like the real one.) ''Wraith Squadron'' itself opens with what will become an [[Ironic Echo]], the "twelve snubfighters swooping down through the sky" appearing first as the newly-reinstated Rogue Squadron performing for Leia and the Provisional Council, then as Myn Donos's doomed Talon Squadron.

* [[It Never Gets Any Easier]]: Observed during a funeral in ''[[Rogue Squadron]]''.

{{quote|"No, and it never should. If it ever does, that means we've become the enemy."}}

* [[Kill Sat]]: Rogue Squadron remote-control-hijacks a solar mirror orbiting Imperial Centre. [[Hilarity Ensues|Hilarity]] ([[Stuff Blowing Up|and explosions]]) [[Hilarity Ensues|ensue]].

* [[La Résistance]]: The Ashern are a Vratix [[Badass Army|badass resistance group]] dedicated to freeing their fellow Vratix from virtual slavery under the bacta cartels. They're later joined by remnants of the Zaltin cartel after Xucphra stages a hostile takeover.

{{quote|"Elassar Targon, ''master of the universe'', reporting for duty!" [[Hilarity Ensues]].}}

** Also, [[Small Name, Big Ego|Captain Darillian]] of the ''Night Caller''. Until they had to scrape him off the ceiling. And Face, especially when he's impersonating him.

* [[Little No]]: Iella's use of this trope is what clues {{spoiler|Ysanne Isard}} into the fact that [[Villainous Breakdown|things are about to go to pot, quickly.]]

* [[Loads and Loads of Characters]]: A squadron has twelve pilots, up to twelve potentially distinct (i.e. quirky) astromech droids, a lead mechanic and his team, a quartermaster, and a couple of superior officers. Main characters also have love interests, friends, and enemies. Pilots who die are replaced by new pilots, with new astromechs. There are two primary squadrons in the series, plus the occasional extra character for good measure. And that's just the ''good guys''... Allston is better at this. A lot of the members of Stackpole's cast tend to fade into the background.

* [[Macross Missile Massacre]]: How you take down an 19-kilometer-long Super Star Destroyer if all you have is snubfighters, a 30-year-old frigate and some freighters? (That and a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] when the ''Lusankya's'' [[Smug Snake]] captain is told that his ship has been painted with more than ''three hundred'' missile locks...) This is adopted throughout the books as a way for starfighters to take down capital ships. It is a sub-tactic of "Trench Run Disease," the tactics that killed both Death Stars.

** The Loran Spitball. In its first deployment, there were nine X-Wings in the bow hangar of a ship. The hangar opens while facing an enemy frigate, resulting in a full eighteen torpedos into the engines. The ship is literally split into two pieces after the barrage.

*** Yes.

*** I ''hate'' that!

* [[Master of Disguise]]: Face. It helps that he's a former child actor ... and a member of a people whose [[Planet of Hats|hat]] is communication and identification of body language.

* [[Meaningful Name]]: ''Rogue'' Squadron. As an adjective, one definition is "no longer obedient, belonging, or accepted and hence not controllable or answerable; deviating, renegade." The squadron once leaves the New Republic.

'''Tyria:''' Something I heard about in my childhood. Dark things that come in the night for you. That's what I think we are. For the Empire, for the warlords, we're the phantoms under the bed, the monsters in the storage cubicles. }}

* [[Medal of Dishonor]]: The accidental kind, concerning Kell's Kalidor Crescent. He received it for pulling off a series of crazy maneuvers trying to save a fellow pilot's life, and he's disgusted with it because he failed. And in the comics, Fel is given an ugly one for following stupid orders.

** The Wraiths greet Piggy coming out of a bacta tank with talk about bacta-flavored cheese, bacta-flavored ale, and a manual entitled "How to Dodge".

* [[Mighty Glacier]]: B-wing bombers. Wedge once used one and said he felt less like a pilot and more like a ''driver'', but on the other hand they can both take and dish out vast amounts of punishment.

** Wedge also does it in ''Rogue Squadron'' when an Imperial Lancer-class frigate, [[The Dreaded|a ship specifically designed to take on starfighters and with a fearful reputation]], appears.

* [[Old School Dogfighting]]: Both averted and played straight. Alliance pilots tend to initiate fights with their missiles and proton torpedoes to soften up the often numerically superior Imperials (it also helps that most TIE fighters are only armed with lasers). However, there are still many opportunities and situations for fighters to mix it up old school style.

* [[One Steve Limit]]: Averted. Bail Antilles, the Alderaanian captain killed by Lord Vader in ''[[A New Hope]]'', happened to be the superior officer of the Wraith's quartermaster. He's pleased to be serving another of the same name, though they aren't related. It's implied that "Antilles" in ''[[Star Wars]]'' is like "Smith", a rather popular last name. For example, there's a Jedi named Jon Antilles (his real name is unknown, with the alias being chosen apparently to be as generic as possible).

** And a xenoarchaeologist named [[Indiana Jones|Henrietya "Corellia" Antilles]].

* [[Only Known by Their Nickname]]: Hobbie is called Derek Klivian, but not many people actually call him that. Wraith Squardon also gives us Face, Piggy, Runt, and Grinder.

* [[Paparazzi]]: ''Starfighters of Adumar'' features Hallis Saper, now a documentarian and intelligence agent but who used to work in "sludgenews", the [[Call a Rabbit a Smeerp|Star Wars term]] for shallow celebrity gossip news.

* [[Paranoia Fuel]]: An in-universe example with the [[Manchurian Agent|Manchurian Agents]].

* [[Proud Warrior Race]]: The people of Adumar have this in spades, and it's [[Deconstructed]] a little by Wedge. Some of the X-Wing pilots may also be part of one.

** The first part of one of Zsinj's plans hinges largely on Gotals and Twi'leks being viewed like this, so when brainwashed agents begin to act on his schemes, the overall plan is to foment distrust of these two races precisely because of their Proud Warrior [[Buffy-Speak|Raceishness]]. And because he's just proven that they can be converted very quickly into [[Manchurian Agent|Manchurian Agents]].

** And while the pilots brought in to make up the numbers don't seem to have issues, it is quickly found that all of them are just as screwed up. Also, the actual real life implications of having such a team are [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]]/discussed by Wedge and Wes in a pretty serious moment.

{{quote|'''Wedge:''' I'm leading children Wes, and I'm getting them killed.

** Another example is from ''Iron Fist'', where Allston managed to come up with a plausible explanation for how the titular vessel had been blown up... twice... in a later-set, but earlier-written, novel.

** Also in ''Iron Fist'', Allston had to modify Warlord Zsinj's personality in ''[[The Courtship of Princess Leia]]'' of being a generic frothing-at-the-mouth-when-things-go-bad Imperial into a character with actual panache that could pull of victory after victory against the New Republic for novels at a time. He does this by making Zsinj into a skilled actor who pretends to be overly evil and angry on occasion either to impress and mislead his viewers or for his own amusement. The only disadvantage to this otherwise very successful reinvention is that it makes Zsinj's final defeat in the chronologically later ''Courtship'' seem very dissappointing in retrospect, considering he is barely even a character in that novel.

{{quote|"There are three types of dress clothing. The kind that offends the wearer, the kind that offends the viewers, and the kind that offends everybody. I'm going for the third type. Fair is fair."}}

* [[Running Gag]]: Lieutenant Kettch, the fake Ewok pilot. This becomes something of an [[Ascended Meme]] or [[Defictionalization]] [[In-Universe]]: after their enemies/employers overhear the Wraiths' comm chatter, in which Wedge's voice was modified to sound like an Ewok, some ad-libbing and improvisation culminated in [[Crowning Moment of Funny|Wedge having to fight a battle with a stuffed Ewok in his lap]] to keep up the illusion that Kettch was real. To say nothing of Kolot...

** Subtle one in ''Isard's Revenge''. Wedge, in disguise as Colonel Roat and pretending to be a standard Imperial racist, complains that the "wait-beasts" serving him on another planet once tried to serve him red wine with fish, very similar to a line from the ''James Bond'' movie ''[[From Russia with Love]]'' in which a spy pretending to be an officer of culture drinks red wine with fish, which Bond notes as suspicious.

** ''Wedge's Gamble'' has one of the squadron's pilots tell a stormtrooper, "[[A New Hope|You don't need to see her identification,]]" while offering him a bribe. {{spoiler|It works.}} ''The Bacta War'' has untrained Jedi Corran Horn mind trick another stormtrooper with the words, "I can go about my business." {{spoiler|It fails horribly.}}

* [[Smug Snake]]: While there are a few of them, Kirtan Loor is by far the most notable.

** Dr. Edda Gast. There's not a scene in the entire novel ''Solo Command'' where you don't want to give her a smack upside the head. At least. Her little "I'm human so I'm better than you" rant in ''Solo Command'' might make you want to punch her. Saying that to ''Nawara Ven'' of all people, who is most likely one of the most diplomatic people in Rogue Squadron and should ''not'' be talked to that way... The [[Laser-Guided Karma]] is one of the best parts of the book.

* [[Tactful Translation]]: A [[Universal Translator|translator droid]] that Wedge uses to communicate with Chewbacca removes Chewie's... ''colorful'' language. Chewie (who can understand but not speak Basic due to physiology) is not pleased with this.

* [[That Man Is Dead|That Twi'lek Is Dead]]: During ''Iron Fist''.

* [[Trigger Phrase]]: "Those Wookies are dancing in the parlor again."

** "Wedge Antilles hops on one transparisteel leg."

* [[Turned Against Their Masters]]: Gara/Lara's astromech droid manages to hack the ''Iron Fist'''s army of toaster-sized maintenance and utility droids and use them to sabotage the ship's systems. The result is a hilarious version of a [[Robot War]] where the crew is running around smashing any rogue droid they see. Mostly by stomping and kicking them to pieces with their boots.

* [[2-D Space]]: Averted, even in capital ship combat.

** Donos' new squadron is ambushed at the beginning of Book 5, and only he escapes. This becomes a notoriously difficult training simulation for the Rogues and Wraiths later.

** Subverted with Kell's first training scenario: The given objectives are failed before you start...the ACTUAL objective is simply to escape alive. It's a nice baitandswitch mission.