History Characters / BabylonFive

* [[Characters/BabylonFiveTechnomages Technomages]]

* [[Characters/BabylonFiveLeagueOfNonAlignedWorlds League of Non-Aligned Worlds]]

* [[Characters/BabylonFiveLeagueOfNonAllignedWorlds League of Non-Alligned Worlds]]

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

* [[Characters/BabylonFiveTheRangers]]

[[folder:The Shadows]]

[[WMG:Shadows in general]]

->''What do you want?''

* AbusivePrecursors
* BigBad
* BigCreepyCrawlies
* ByTheEyesOfTheBlind: Can normally only be seen by telepaths.
* CatchPhrase: What do you want?
* EldritchAbomination: It's unclear if they '''fully''' qualify for this, but they certainly like to present themselves this way.
* EvilMentor: [[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:GoneHorriblyRight]]: 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.]]
* HigherTechSpecies[=/=]SufficientlyAdvancedAliens: Borderline. Unlike Vorlons, Shadows need ships.
* HumanResources
* InsectoidAliens
* LaserBlade: Their unique space combat tactics, where their large battleships extrude an EnergyWeapon beam and slash other ships with it like a sword, instead of just shooting them.
* ManipulativeBastard
* SocialDarwinist
* StarfishAlien
* UltimateEvil

[[WMG: Mr Morden (Ed Wasser)]]

->''Yes. I think he's ready...perfect for our needs... He suspects nothing. When the time is right, Ambassador Mollari will do exactly as we wish. Destiny is on our side.''

* AffablyEvil
* BadassInANiceSuit
* TheCorrupter
* [[spoiler:DecapitationPresentation: As Morden's final want fulfillment for Vir, courtesy of Londo.]]
* DealWithTheDevil
* DevilInPlainSight
* FakingAmnesia
* TheHandler
* ManipulativeBastard
* MouthOfSauron
* NoNameGiven
* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: 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.
* OffWithHisHead: Londo's "present" to Vir.
* ProphecyTwist : 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.
* RedFilterOfDoom : The lights and surrounding ambience would darken and redden around him during some of his more adversarial encounters with characters (such as with Londo when their relations were strained, in "Interludes and Examinations").
* SmugSnake
* ThatManIsDead
* UnexplainedRecovery

[[WMG:Justin (Jeff Correy)]]

->''I am with them. Same group, different department. Think of me as a sort of middle man. And the name is Justin...''

* AffablyEvil
* BerserkButton: A minor one, but the "Vorlon question" vexes him so he [[Doublespeak doesn't give a straight answer]].
* TheCorrupter: Though he fails in his attempt to corrupt Sheridan.
* EvilCounterpart: Sheridan's "equal and opposite" since he does all his work behind the scenes. He coordinates the human agents of the Shadows.
* EvilEyebrows
* EvilOldFolks
* JoinOrDie: After dropping the CoolOldGuy WeCanRuleTogether speech he pretty much threats Sheridan
* MouthOfSauron
* NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine: Offers tea to Sheridan.
* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans

[[WMG: Anna Sheridan (Beth Toussant, Melissa Gilbert)]]

* BrainwashedAndCrazy
* CameBackWrong
* AFateWorseThanDeath: Forcibly placed in a Shadow vessel. Her personality was completely [[EmptyShell erased]] and replaced with one subservient to the Shadows.
* HeroesWantRedheads
* HotScientist
* TheOtherDarrin

[[/folder]]




[[folder:Others]]

[[WMG:Series/BabylonFive]]

->''Our Last Best hope For Peace''

* CityOfAdventure
* CityOfSpies
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Each Babylon station was evidently painted in a different color scheme. The first Babylon station was red, Babylon 4 was green, and Babylon 5 was blue.
** Likewise, each section of the station was color-coded. Blue Sector is for administration, docking bays, and Medlabs. Red Sector was the main living area, with markets and housing. Green Sector contained the hydroponic gardens for food and oxygen, as well as recreation areas. Grey Sector contained all the station's heavy machinery. Inside of Grey Sector is Yellow Sector, which contains the fusion power plant. Finally, there's Brown sector, which contains maintenance and reclamation, but is best known for Downbelow, where B5's transient population lives.
* GovernmentInExile: Not only served as a human government in exile, but harbored the Narn government in exile, and what was [[TropesAreFlexible almost but not quite]] a Minbari government in exile.
** More specifically, Delenn was using it as a base for the Rangers and as an aid to waging war against The Shadows with the Grey Council in abeyance.
* HomeBase
* LandOfOneCity: 3-4 seasons
* NotSoSafeHarbor
* SpaceStation
* TruceZone

[[WMG:Marcus Cole (Jason Carter)]]

->''Where I come from is a much more interesting place.''

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: The TropeNamer (he didn't say it, but the speaker was referencing him).
* AManIsNotAVirgin: Averted.
* TheAtoner: His younger brother, who was a Ranger, came to warn him about an attack; he didn't believe it, leading to his brother's death. This led him to join the Rangers.
* BadassBeard
* BadassBookworm
* BadassLongcoat
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Ivanova.
* CelibateHero
* CulturedBadass
** HeartbrokenBadass
* DoggedNiceGuy: To Susan Ivanova.
* DoomedHometown
* GentlemanSnarker
* GoingNative: He is more comfortable acting Minbari then acting human.
* KnightInSourArmor
** KnightInShiningArmor too: He has a poetically idealistic personality.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: With Ivanova.
* OppositesAttract: With Ivanova.
* ThePaladin
* SlapSlapKiss: With Ivanova. [[spoiler: though just as they were getting to the 'kiss' part...he died.]]
* StepfordSnarker
* ThoseTwoGuys: Whenver paired with Franklin on a mission.
* UnresolvedSexualTension: With Ivanova.
* WarriorPoet
* WillTheyOrWontThey: With Ivanova.

[[WMG: David Mckintyre AKA "King Arthur"]]

->''No man takes Excalibur away from me and lives!''

* TheAtoner
* BashBrothers: Briefly with G'Kar.
** Evolves into FireForgedFriends when [[spoiler: Mckintyre, having gained closure and resumed his normal identity, leaves the station with G'Kar to help aid and advise the Narn Resistance]].
* BullyHunter: "And they made a very satisfying thump"
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass
* {{Forgiveness}}: [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Between him and Delenn]]. He was actually the man who fired the first shot of the Earth-Minbari war and she was the deciding vote for the Minbari declaration of war.
* ILikeSwords
* JustFollowingOrders: When he fired on the Minbari fleet.
* KingInTheMountain: Subverted. He only thought he was King Arthur. Marcus Cole did suggest that he might actually be King Arthur, preserved by the Vorlons, but that was a red herring.
* KnightInShiningArmor.
* MysteriousPast
* NotSoDifferent: With Delenn. Perhaps Marcus too in a different way.
* ShellShockedVeteran
* SpaceMarine: in his MysteriousPast
* TraumaInducedAmnesia

[[WMG: Lorien (Wayne Alexander)]]

->''Why are you here?''

* [[CoolOldGuy Cool ''Really'' Old Guy]]
* DeusExMachina
* EnergyBeing
* FlatCharacter
* {{Immortality}}
* LastOfHisKind
* TheObiWan
* TheOlderImmortal: The first of his species were born immortal and he is the oldest of them and claims to be the first sentient being in the galaxy.
* {{Precursors}}: (Lorien has referred to himself as '''''the''''' First One. His race was the one that taught and guided the races that eventually became known as the First Ones.)
* SufficientlyAdvancedAliens
* TimeAbyss: His claims to being the first sentient being in the galaxy and to remember when the Earth was forming.

[[WMG: Draal (Louis Turenne, John Schuck)]]

->''I don't like surprises!''

* HumanityIsInfectious: He likes the hokey-pokey after hearing it just once.
* LargeHam: Louis Turenne as Draal is rather subtle, but John Schuck loves to project his voice.
* ManInTheMachine: Draal replaces the caretaker of the Great Machine of Epsilon 3 which the station is close to.
* TheOtherDarrin: First played by Louis Turenne, but in future appearances as John Schuck. It is explained that the Great Machine rejuvenated his body.

[[WMG: Zathras (Tim Choate)]]

->''No one listens. It is good that Zathras does not mind, he has even come to like it.''

* BackupTwin: ''''''''Ten'''''''', well nine Zathras are alive. After one went back in time, the other eight remained in the present. All look the same and all named Zathras. The one who died, "Zathras warn Zathras, but Zathras never listen to Zathras."
* DittoAliens
* DitzyGenius: To whom else could anyone entrust a [[spoiler: time machine]]?
* TheEeyore
-->''Very sad life. Probably have very sad death. At least there is symmetry.''
* HarsherInHindsight: One of Zathras's most memorable lines is "[Zathras] probably have very sad death." The actor playing him, Tim Choate, died in a motorcycle accident.
* LostInTranslation: 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.''"
** [[ItMakesSenseInContext It makes a sort of sense in context]]. Zathras was searching for the tools and components to fix Sheridan's time stabilizer. Ivanova was being impatient and said that they were "running out of time". Zathras was, in his unique manner, basically replying that time wasn't the major issue; he, a finite being like Ivanova, had finite capabilities, and needed the right tools for the job before he could actually tackle the problem.
--->''Cannot run out of time. There is ''infinite'' time. ''You'' are finite. ''Zathras'' is finite. ''This''...is wrong tool.''
* PlanetOfSteves: Zathras is one of many brothers, all named Zathras.
* ThinkingOutLoud: A lot of Zathras' lines come across as him talking to himself at normal conversation level. Perhaps {{Justified}}, as his brother Zathras later says that they lead rather lonely lives.
* ThirdPersonPerson


[[WMG: The Raiders]]

* CombatPragmatist: 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 [[ZergRush overwhelming numbers.]]
* CurbStompBattle: The first time the Shadows make an appearance.
** Most times that we ever see them get cornered into a fight with Earth Force crews. The Starfury is shown to be far superior in pretty much every aspect to their ships. WordOfGod is that the Raiders, unlike the Starfuries, are built to maneuver in atmosphere as well as space, while the standard Starfury was built specifically for space.
* GunshipRescue: 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.
* SpacePirates
* StarterVillain: While they appear a COUPLE of times afterwards, they stop being a major threat after the Shadows appear.

[[WMG: The Streib]]

-->''Their last expedition was into Minbari space. We tracked them back to their homeworld...and made sure they understood the depth of their mistake.''

Aliens who kidnap others in order to experiment on them.

* AlienAbduction
* TheGreys
* MuggingTheMonster: Both when trying to kidnap Minbari and trying to kidnap humans. The Minbari were [[{{Understatement}} rather vindictive about it.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Technomages]]

[[WMG:Technomages in general]]

* AncientTradition
* {{Cyborg}}: The technology the techno-mages use consists of bio-technological implants. The process of installing the implants and adjusting to them is excruciatingly painful.
* EliteMooks: They were created by the Shadows to become warriors of chaos and destruction, pretty much to counter Vorlon-created telepaths.
* MagicFromTechnology
* OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: The Circle, which seemingly governs the technomages
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: After the Shadows reawaken in 2259, technomages decide to leave known space
* SlaveRevolt: The original technomages revolted against the Shadows and spread the technology

[[WMG:Elric (Michael Ansara)]]

* BaldOfAwesome
* TheMentor: to Galen
* ParentalSubstitute: again to Galen

[[WMG:Galen (Peter Woodward)]]

->''Who do you serve and who do you trust?''
->Galen's Questions

* BaldOfAwesome
* TheChessmaster
* LargeHam
* MentorArchetype: To Matthew Gideon
* ManipulativeBastard

[[WMG:Isabelle (Sophie Ward)]]

[[WMG:Alwyn (Edward Woodward)]]

* CastingGag: Edward Woodward is the father of Peter Woodward (Galen)
* CoolOldGuy

[[/folder]]

[[folder:The League of Non-Aligned Worlds]]

[[WMG:The League in general]]

* TheAlliance: A loose one, in order to give their worlds a voice and not be eclipsed by the major powers.
* AllThereInTheManual: 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.
* AssInAmbassador: Often. The Drazi ambassador, definitely. The Brakiri ambassador has his moments. And the League as a whole will often decide to be stubborn over Sheridan's latest idea, to bring another level of conflict to a given episode.
* HufflepuffHouse: 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 DemotedToExtra and the Vree are seen in person only once, though their ships show up a lot.

[[WMG: The Drazi]]

->''Purple! Green!''

* ComedicSociopathy: 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.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness / ArtEvolution: In the first season, the back of their heads are smooth. In season two, some Drazi start appearing with layered scales on the back of the scalp. In their showcase episode “The Geometry of Shadows’’, both variants of Drazi appear, in the same scenes. By season three, and from then on, all Drazi have the scales. In early seasons their cheeks tended to be spiked, but this was less common later on.
* FantasticRankSystem: According to the episode ''Deathwalker'', their ships are commanded by a ''Makar''. The only other Drazi rank we hear of, though, is the far more mundane "General".
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: They become this in later seasons, after the Narn leave the role vacant thanks to the rise of G'Kar.
* TheReptilians
* ScaryDogmaticAliens: A mild example. Violence is their way, and they're not the friendliest of people, but nor are they antagonists. In a strange way, they're one of Babylon 5's strongest allies.
* SillyReasonForWar: Their politics involve randomly splitting into two groups and then fighting each other.
* ViolentGlaswegian
* WarriorMonk: 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.

[[WMG: The Brakiri]]

* AllThereInTheManual: 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're 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.
* DarkIsNotEvil: They have a mildly sinister appearance, they're nocturnal, and they have a creepy necromantic religion, but they aren't bad people. Indeed, during the Shadow War, the Brakiri ambassador was one of Delenn's most loyal allies amongst the League races.
* DiurnalNocturnalAnimal: Despite being nocturnal, they're often seen wandering around in daylight.
* OneNationUnderCopyright: Apparently, their government is corporate-based.
* RubberForeheadAliens

[[WMG: The pak’ma’ra[[note]]The lower-case is the canon spelling[[/note]]]]

* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: Because of their ImAHumanitarian way of life, they are difficult to poison.
* {{Cthulhumanoid}}
* HiddenDepths: Despite being quite benevolent, they're considered "stubborn, lazy, obnoxious, greedy" and are infamous for eating carrion. Yet according to Vir Cotto, their singing is the most beautiful sound he ever heard. It also made Londo cry.
* ImAHumanitarian: They eat carrion, including the bodies of sapient races.
* TheRightOfASuperiorSpecies: They believe they are the Chosen People for their ImAHumanitarian aspects. As one pak'ma'ra said, "pak'ma'ra are chosen of God. Very special, we can eat of all the creatures who walk and fly and crawl, but not of the fish in the sea."

[[WMG: The Abbai]]

* DemotedToExtra: After the first season.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness / ArtEvolution: In their first episode, their crests are longer than in their second appearance - after that, both variants show up as background extras, but the shorter version is more common.
* FishPeople
* LadyLand: According to source materials, their government is matriarchal. This is supported in the show by all but one member of their delegation being female.
* NonMammalMammaries: 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.

[[WMG: The Markab]]

* ApocalypseHow: The ''drafa'' plague results in a Class 3; the extinction of the Markab race.
* HolierThanThou: The attitude that dooms them.
* TheNoseless
* ThePlague
** WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: 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...

[[WMG: The Vree]]

* FlyingSaucer: Their ships, of which two designs are seen.
* TheGreys: 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.
** One member of their race is even brought up on civil charges by a human; the individual Vree's grandfather had abducted the human's grandfather.
* HufflepuffHouse: 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.
* TheVoiceless

[[WMG: The Gaim]]

* HiveQueen: "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.
* InsectoidAliens
* ShoutOut: Named after NeilGaiman, and their environment suits are patterned after the appearance of [[ComicBook/TheSandman Morpheus]]' mask.
* TranslatorMicrobes: They only speak through an electronic translator device.

[[WMG: The Hyach]]

* DarkSecret
* DyingRace: Slowly dying. There's still a lot of them around, but their population is falling and they're on the decline.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness / ArtEvolution: In the first season, they’re mostly tan or beige in colour, with larger heads; by season two they’re either brick red or orange. After that, they’re orange pretty much all the time, though the red variant still makes appearances. Also, some of the early Hyach (and a later one in ''Legend of the Rangers'') have small amounts of fur on their cheeks. FridgeBrilliance, given that [[spoiler: Hyach-Doh had hair]].
* [[spoiler: GenocideBackfire]]: What their governement is hiding is the reason for them being a DyingRace.
* GovernmentConspiracy: The Elders are dedicated to keeping the [[spoiler: genocide of their counterpart race]] a secret.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Telepaths]]

[[WMG:Telepaths in general]]

* EliteMooks: Created by the Vorlons to fight against the Shadows
* FantasticRacism: Many telepaths are guilty of this as well as being targets of it.
* AMindIsATerribleThingToRead
* MutantDraftBoard: Human telepaths, anyway.

[[WMG:Talia Winters (Andrea Thompson)]]

->''I don't feel like a victim.''

* AbortedArc
* BiTheWay: She was married to a man named Matt Stoner [[spoiler:and slept with Ivanova]].
* FaceHeelTurn [[spoiler: As the result of an artificially-implanted personality being activated and [[DeathOfPersonality destroying]] the original one.]]
* ForgottenFallenFriend: The crew really doesn't seem to think very much about Talia after her real personality is effectively murdered by reciting the keyword triggering her sleeper personality.
** Well, the next time Bester (below) arrives he comments on what was learned at her dissect..."debriefing". This doesn't necessarily mean that Talia was actually dissected. Bester is the kind of guy who would think it's funny to say that to her old friends. And let's not forget Ivanova's confession to Delenn mid-season 3:
---> '''Ivanova:''' I think I loved Talia.
* LimitedWardrobe: Talia gets a ''lot'' of wear out of that gold blazer. This is more evident than with other characters, each of whom wear an assigned uniform or ceremonial garb.
* [[spoiler:ManchurianAgent: For Bureau 13[=/=]Department Sigma]]
* [[spoiler:TheMole]] Revealed to be one at the end of season 2.
* PutOnABus
** BusCrash: Maybe. When Bester speaks of her, he uses past tense and speaks of dissecting her. This, of course, could be a ruse to get the heroes so angry he can bypass their defenses and read their minds easily.

[[WMG:Lyta Alexander (Patricia Tallman)]]

->''You cannot stop one who's been touched by Vorlons!''

* BlackMagicianGirl
* BreakTheCutie
* TheDogBitesBack: to Kosh II (Ulkesh).
* EyeColorChange: In the later seasons, Lyta Alexander's eyes would turn [[BlackEyesOfEvil solid black]] whenever she made use of the [[TouchedByVorlons Vorlon enhancements to her psychic abilities]]. However she became even more powerful in the PostscriptSeason, she acquires GlowingEyesOfDoom instead. Possibly because the black contacts used for the old effect were painful to wear.
* FieryRedhead - or Cold Rage Redhead
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: ColorCodedForYourConvenience[[spoiler: Glowing green eyes when she is linked with a Vorlon, Inky black eyes when she is linked with the Shadows (typically when she is hitting them with a [[PsychicStatic psychic attack]])]]
* PersonOfMassDestruction
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: 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.]]
* StockholmSyndrome
* TouchedByVorlons (personal TropeNamer)
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds

[[WMG:Alfred Bester (Walter Koenig)]]

->''I'm here to save your butts. Next time show a little gratitude.''

* ArchEnemy: To Garibaldi and Ivanova
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: 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 [[TheChessmaster people skills]] as well.
-->'''Lyta Alexander''': "[=PsiCops=] are trained to make people feel nervous. Bester makes ''other [=PsiCops=]'' nervous!"
* BadAss: He accidentally discovers the Shadows' AchillesHeel when he picks up on the mental noise of the [[WetwareCPU integrated pilot]] of a Shadow ship about to pounce on the [[CoolStarship White Star]] with him aboard. He simply blocks the noise out, which effectively "jams" the Shadow vessel's controls. Using telepaths to do this ''intentionally'' becomes an integral strategy for Sheridan later.
** HandicappedBadass: 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.
* BerserkButton: Do not threaten or otherwise endanger his lover.
* BewareTheSuperman: Actively plotting what appears to be either the enslavement or extermination of non-telepaths.

* DeadpanSnarker
* DevilInPlainSight: He doesn't even bother trying to play nice with Sheridan and the crew when he pops up in the first few seasons – he's an outright jerk to everyone and they can't do a thing about it.
* EnemyMine: When he told Sheridan where the telepaths were being shipped, which was a combination of PapaWolf, IWillFindYou, and a RoaringRampageOfRevenge upon the Shadows.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[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.]]
--> [[spoiler:''Your war is now my war.'']]
* FauxAffablyEvil
* InsultBackfire: Garibaldi one time says he wants to string Bester up like a pinata. After conversing about the matter at hand, he comes back to the insult and comments that pinatas are colorful things that are filled with candy and other goodies which bring joy to children. So he thanks Garibaldi for being called one.
* KnightTemplar: He will do anything to protect ''his'' telepaths. [[spoiler:Using Garibaldi to find out the conspiracy and even sacrificing his own men to get Babylon 5 to take him to Za'Ha'Dum to see what the Shadows left behind.]]
* NoseArt: His personal [[SpaceFighter Starfury]] is painted jet-black, with the Greek letter Omega in white. Mind you, he commands an entire [=PsiCop=] unit that operates these, but they only appear briefly in flashbacks or as UnwittingPawns in one of his plots.
* NotSoDifferent: He tries to argue this to Garibaldi in this comment. Garibaldi doesn't buy it.
--->'''Bester:''' My blood is the same color as yours, and what I do, I do to protect Earth, same as you. You don't like how I do it, that's your prerogative. But there are things going on out there that you know nothing about. Threats to the human race that no one ever hears about — because we stop them. There's dangers all around us! And whether you like us or not, we may be all that stands between you and the abyss.
** Also in the exchange with Garibaldi quoted below under ParanoiaFuel, he points out that they both use a badge and uniform to intimidate people when they find it useful to do so.
* OlderThanTheyLook: He's in his seventies when he first appears.
* ParanoiaFuel: He, the uniform, and his badge are this to anyone who knows the symbol. Even when he was on sleepers, he played them up, and the perp not knowing he couldn't scan him, to get information out.
--->'''Bester:''' Liars are always afraid that somebody's going to see through them. So I just provided him with a vehicle for his paranoia. Your captain's opinions notwithstanding, the badge and the uniform do have certain…advantages.\\
'''Garibaldi:''' Like intimidation?\\
'''Bester:''' [[NotSoDifferent Absolutely! Just like…your badge, and…your uniform]].
* PlayingAgainstType: ''Very'' different character from Chekov. One must remind oneself it's the same actor.
** Which, in fact, was the goal. To help Walter avoid type-casting.
* ShoutOut - to the real-world [[Creator/AlfredBester SF novelist of the same name]], who wrote the "telepathic secret police" novel ''Literature/TheDemolishedMan''. As it turns out, the ''Psi Corps'' novel trilogy reveals that he was purposefully renamed after Bester by his grandfather, a big fan. His birth name is Stephen Kevin Dexter.
** [[ThePrisoner Be seeing you.]]
* StateSec
* TranquilFury: When his BerserkButton gets pressed.
* VillainEpisode: "The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father"
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: There was a Bester episode planned for ''Series/{{Crusade}}'', "Value Judgements". It was unproduced due to the cancellation, but canonically happened, as referenced in ''Final Reckoning - The Fate of Bester''. The script can be read online.
* YouMightRememberMeFrom: Hey, it's [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Pavel Chekov]] as a fascistic psychic secret policeman!

[[WMG:Byron (Robin Atkin Downes)]]
* ActualPacifist: At first. Even to the point of, after being struck by a [[{{muggle}} mundane]], asking him to [[TurnTheOtherCheek 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.
* DefectorFromDecadence: [[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.]]
* FantasticRacism: Although he tends to accuse others of it, it's obvious that Byron has quite a chip on his shoulder about 'mundanes'
* IceCreamKoan
* KingOfTheHomeless: As the leader of the Telepath Colony on the station in Downbelow.
* LongHairedPrettyBoy
* NoseArt: [[spoiler: Painted jet-black, with the Greek letter Omega in white.]]
* PassiveAggressiveCombat: Byron is a master of it. He can make '''anything''' someone else's fault. To the point where telepaths fighting each other is the fault of mundanes, having been forced into it by mundane persecution. Even when those mundanes are aliens not involved in the internal politics of humanity.

[[folder:Technomages]]

[[WMG:Technomages in general]]

* AncientTradition
* {{Cyborg}}: The technology the techno-mages use consists of bio-technological implants. The process of installing the implants and adjusting to them is excruciatingly painful.
* EliteMooks: They were created by the Shadows to become warriors of chaos and destruction, pretty much to counter Vorlon-created telepaths.
* MagicFromTechnology
* OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: The Circle, which seemingly governs the technomages
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: After the Shadows reawaken in 2259, technomages decide to leave known space
* SlaveRevolt: The original technomages revolted against the Shadows and spread the technology

[[WMG:Elric (Michael Ansara)]]

* BaldOfAwesome
* TheMentor: to Galen
* ParentalSubstitute: again to Galen

[[WMG:Galen (Peter Woodward)]]

->''Who do you serve and who do you trust?''
->Galen's Questions

* BaldOfAwesome
* TheChessmaster
* LargeHam
* MentorArchetype: To Matthew Gideon
* ManipulativeBastard

[[WMG:Isabelle (Sophie Ward)]]

[[WMG:Alwyn (Edward Woodward)]]

* CastingGag: Edward Woodward is the father of Peter Woodward (Galen)
* CoolOldGuy

[[/folder]]

[[WMG: The Drakh]]

* BodyHorror
* TheChessmaster
* DragonAscendant - their name is even similar to many Romance-language words for "dragon"!
* FantasticCasteSystem
* PuppeteerParasite
* TheRemnant: [[spoiler: They were servants of the Shadows.]]

* [[Characters/BabylonFiveEarthAlliance]]
* [[Characters/BabylonFiveMinbariFederation]]
* [[Characters/BabylonFiveCentauriRepublic]]
* [[Characters/BabylonFiveNarnRegime]]
* [[Characters/BabylonFiveVorlonEmpire]]
* [[Characters/BabylonFiveTheShadows]]
* [[Characters/BabylonFiveLeagueOfNonAllignedWorlds]]
* [[Characters/BabylonFiveTelepaths]]
* [[Characters/BabylonFiveTechnomages]]
* [[Characters/BabylonFiveOthers]]

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:The Earth Alliance]]

[[WMG:Humans in general]]

->''Everywhere humans go, they create communities.''

* TheDeterminator: The Human-Minbari War is filled with this. Despite the technological disadvantage and many [[CurbStompBattle Curb Stomp Battles]], the human race fought tooth and nail against the Minbari. As Londo said when describing their efforts to others:
-->'''Londo Mollari''': The humans, I think, [[HopelessWar knew they were doomed]]. But where another race would surrender to despair, the humans fought back with even greater strength. They made the Minbari fight for every inch of space. In my life, I have never seen anything like it. They would weep, they would pray, they would say goodbye to their loved ones and then throw themselves without fear or hesitation at the very face of death itself. Never surrendering. No one who saw them fighting against the inevitable could help but be moved to tears by their courage…their stubborn nobility. When they ran out of ships, they used guns. When they ran out of guns, they used knives and sticks and bare hands. They were magnificent. I only hope, that when it is my time, I may die with half as much dignity as I saw in their eyes at the end. They did this for two years. They never ran out of courage. But in the end…they ran out of time.
** DoNotGoGentle: During Londo's narration above we are shown examples of how hard they fought back, including a Starfury chasing and shooting down a Minbari fighter just as two or three other Minbari were shooting at it from behind, a ''Nova''-class dreadnought ramming a Minbari warcruiser in spite of being shot by the same warcruiser at least three times before the contact, and a unarmed human fighting a knife-wielding Minbari warrior, punching it after being downed and ''still trying to stand up and fight after being knifed in the heart''.
* DeusExNukina: {{Lampshaded}} in one of the novels, where it is stated that while the humans lag behind in many other areas, their nuclear weapons are quite capable, provided they can get one close enough to an enemy they would otherwise be unable to defeat conventionally.
** This is exactly how Sheridan was able to destroy the Black Star in Earth's only real victory in the Earth/Minbari War.
* TheGovernment
* GovernmentConspiracy: Too many over the course of the show to list.
** Oh heck, even the staff of Series/BabylonFive is a heroic GovernmentConspiracy.
* HeadInTheSandManagement
* HumansAreDiplomats
* HumansAreSpecial
** Debatable; while lots of awesomeness is done by individual humans, humans as a group come off poorly at times.
** More like Humans Build Communities. Delenn even notes how any species could have made B5 but allowed only their own kind inside and maybe a few others, while humans would let anyone in and form bonds with them in one form or another.
** Most cases of this trope are specifically from ''alien'' viewpoints; Delenn seems especially prone to this view. And Londo admired humans' {{Determinator}} tendencies even in the face of a HopelessWar.
* [[MostWritersAreHuman Most Viewers Are Human]]: The chief role of humans often seems to be to provide someone to identify with.
* MutantDraftBoard: Psi Corps.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: Especially by Minbari. And yet some among the Minbari admire ''them''.
* SecretPolice [=/=] StateSec: Night Watch. Also elements of the Psi Cops.
* SpaceNavy: [=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").
* UnitedSpaceOfAmerica: There are still individual nations and the Earth Government is based in Geneva, Switzerland.... yet most of the Earthers we see in the series are American.
** More to the point, culture and political organization seem geared to be familiar to an American viewer.
* TheWarOfEarthlyAggression: The coup by Clark and the rebellion that followed.
* YouShallNotPass: The Battle Of The Line, a Crowning Moment of Awesome, Heartwarming, and Sacrifice. Especially after this scene [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbBRrK9Q-rw with the President's]] FinalSpeech.
** {{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 SenselessSacrifice.

[[WMG:John J Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner)]]
[[quoteright:221:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sheridan_3518.png]]
->''For justice, for peace, for the future... we have come home!''

* TwoPlusTortureMakesFive: [[spoiler: Averted.]]
* BadassBaritone: An authoritative, gravelly voice seems to be a requirement for running the station.
* TheButcher: 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.]]
* TheCaptain
* TheChessmaster: he's acknowledged in-universe to be one of the finest tactical minds of his generation, and it's no InformedAttribute. He's almost always one step ahead - if not more.
* TheChosenOne: [[spoiler: The One Who Will Be]].
* CombatPragmatist
* CurbStompCushion: His destruction of the ''Black Star'' was the only real victory Earth ever had in the entire Earth-Minbari War.
* DefensiveFeintTrap: Once with the Black Star, and more then once later including the first kill of a Shadow vessel.
* DeusExNukina: WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer... He uses nuclear warheads to deal with superior enemies on no fewer than four occasions.
** [[ContractualGenreBlindness You'd think his enemies would have picked up on that by now...]] except that he never deploys his warheads using the same strategy twice.
*** First he mined an asteroid field and [[BatmanGambit lured a more powerful opponent into the kill zone with a distress signal]] (which falls ''just'' short of a full-on case of PlayingPossum due to the ship ''actually'' being damaged and in distress).
*** Later he fitted a small ship with a pair of warheads and programmed it to crash into an enemy city as an improvised cruise missile.
*** On the third occasion, he once again mined an asteroid field, but baited his enemies into the kill zone with false intel regarding a new major base (this one is actually quite a bit more complicated than that, as he had to lure two ''separate'' and mutually-hostile enemies into the mine field at the same time).
*** Finally he gave up all pretense of subtlety and took a nuke and a space suit and attached it to the target himself in the midst of a heated space battle. Even [[LampshadeHanging he had to admit that this last plan was a little nuts.]]
* FanNickname: John "Nuke 'em" Sheridan. (Originally used by Boxleitner.)
* TheFettered: He will do the right thing, even if it means going to war against his own people.
* TheGoodCaptain
* HeroicArchetype
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: His trip to Z'ha'dum, which he knew was "almost certainly a trap", in a mistaken belief that this might avert some of the tragic events revealed to him when he became UnstuckInTime in the future in "War Without End". And then [[TakingYouWithMe bringing the nukes down on the Shadow seat of power, and himself.]]]]
* HeroWithBadPublicity: Dan Randall, the pro-Clark journalist, portrayed Sheridan as negatively as he could in order for Clark to excuse military action against Babylon 5. Randall portrayed Sheridan's helping of aliens and humans as an attempt to conduct medical experiments to create hybrid aliens; being subject to alien influences; and arming an alien invasion fleet in order to "make them understand" (a prime example of quote mining from Randall).
* {{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 [[LampshadeHanging 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 Earthdome agreeing to their demands. There always remained the chance for Clark to be removed from power.
* InSeriesNickname: "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 MultipleReferencePun after he also causes the destruction of [[spoiler: The White Star]].
* TheKirk
* LethalChef: Delenn can't seem to add enough salt to Sheridan's flarn to make it edible.
** [[ItsAllThereInTheManual Source material]] indicates that the Minbari have a poor sense of taste, and make their food very spicy as a result. Sheridan possibly made it to suit his personal taste, unaware it'd taste like cardboard to Delenn.
* LikeBrotherAndSister: With Ivanova. They'd walk through fire for each other, but their relationship is purely platonic.
* MessianicArchetype: Which gets him a WhatTheHellHero from Garibaldi, [[spoiler: who was {{brainwashed}} to have his paranoia and distrust of authority enhanced by [[MagnificentBastard Mr. Bester]].]]
* MilitaryMaverick: {{Subverted}}. His appointment to ''Babylon 5'' was approved by Clark's government because all the available evidence indicated that he was ''not'' a Military Maverick, but rather a [[MyCountryRightOrWrong staunch loyalist]]. Unfortunately for them, he was staunchly loyal to the Earth Alliance ''Constitution'', as opposed to being loyal to ''the government'' that was failing to follow that Constitution.
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: He adheres to the second part of the quote: "if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, [[LaResistance to be set right.]]”
* NoodleIncident: 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.
* NoseArt: His personal [[SpaceFighter 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.]]
* NotDistractedByTheSexy: In "Lines of Communication" Sheridan walks in on Ivanova in her nightgown and just starts talking, ignoring her dress. She even has to note she needs to get dressed before they leave and he reacts with as much interest as someone saying "Okay, just let me turn off this light." Ivanova is perturbed by this.
* PalsWithJesus: To Kosh.
* ThePlan
* PlayingPossum
* ThePowerOfLove: Allows him to ''defy death'' because he loves Delenn that much. Damn the Shadows, he's going to be with the woman he loves and ''nothing'' is going to stand in his way. Not even the entire universe.
* PsychicDreamsForEveryone
* PunctuatedPounding
* RageAgainstTheMentor
* [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight Screw Earthgov, I'm Doing Whats Right]]
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: 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, [[LoopholeAbuse claiming that the station's readiness depends on him getting a good night's sleep.]]
* SeeYouInHell
** Which doubles as ScrewYouElves.
* TheSouthpaw: Because his actor is left-handed.
* StayWithTheAliens
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial
* TakeAThirdOption
* TakeFive: {{Averted}} and PlayedStraight, depending on the circumstances.
* TakingYouWithMe
* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath
* TheyDo: 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!
* TouchedByVorlons
* UltimateAuthorityMayor: {{Justified|Trope}}, as he is the military governor of Babylon 5 and really ''does'' have absolute authority over the station[[note]]While the station functions as a neutral meeting place between the major powers, as well as an interstellar commerce hub, it is still first and foremost an Earth Alliance space station operated by [[WeWillUseWikiWordsInTheFuture EarthForce]], within the limits of his own orders. Also {{deconstructed}}, as we see that this leaves him with a ''lot'' more on his plate than he ever had to deal with as a starship commander, requiring him to adopt a more hands-off leadership style.[[/note]]
* UndercoverCopReveal: Later revealed to have been planted on Babylon 5 to investigate the conspiracy around President Santiago's death.
* UnstuckInTime
* WeWillAllBeHistoryBuffsInTheFuture
** {{Lampshaded}} in the fifth season, where an assassin taunting Sheridan says that he understands Sheridan is "a bit of a history buff." His primary areas of interest seem to be TheAmericanCivilWar and WorldWarII.
* WorkingWithTheEx: With [[spoiler:Lochley]] in Season 5.
* YourDaysAreNumbered

[[WMG:Jeffrey David Sinclair (Michael O'Hare)]]
[[quoteright:221:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sinclair_5603.jpg]]
->''Whether it happens in a hundred years or a thousand years or a million years, eventually our Sun will grow cold and go out. When that happens, it won't just take us. It'll take Marilyn Monroe, and Lao-Tzu, and Einstein, and Morobuto, and Buddy Holly, and Aristophanes... All of this... All of this... Was for nothing. Unless we go to the stars.''

* AbsenteeActor: Was PutOnABus after the first season, due to both character writing problems (JMS stated that he felt he wrote Sinclair into a box) and issues with the actor (the network didn't much care for him). He would turn up again a couple of times afterward in the series, including an appearance in one of the TV movies years later [[ClipShow using recycled footage.]]
** There was another reason that didn't become known publicly until revealed by JMS at Babylon 5's 20th Anniversary Reunion at Phoenix Comicon 2013. O'Hare was suffering from a physical brain condition that caused him to have bouts of schizophrenia, to the extent where he believed he was receiving private messages in newspaper articles, similar to mathematician John Nash's problems as depicted in ABeautifulMind. O'Hare discussed this with JMS, and JMS agreed to keep it a secret until O'Hare passed away. [[note]]JMS originally promised that he would take the secret to his own grave instead, but O'Hare believed that it was important that fans knew what had happened eventually.[[/note]]
* AcePilot: Though he doesn't get to show it very often, due to his job ([[TheLancer Ivanova]] and [[DaChief Garibaldi]] are both far more likely to mix it up in dogfights) he is the latest in a long family tradition of fighter pilots. During the Battle of the Line, he was able to take down a Minbari fighter despite the signficiant technological and numerical advantage they had (in return for that one fighter, his entire squadron was wiped out).
* AlienAbduction
* AllThereInTheManual: The canon novel ''To Dream in the City of Sorrows'' ties up Sinclair's storyline (and his romance with Catherine Sakai) where the show simply didn't have room to.
* BadassBaritone
* BadassNormal: Manged to defeat Neroon in hand-to-hand combat despite being jumped in a dark room. At the time it didn't seem too impressive but as the series went on and we saw how capable Neroon was, as well as how much stronger than humans Minbari are, it's become quite an impressive achievement.
* BotheringByTheBook[=/=]ExactWords: Displayed an uncommon ability to use Earth gov's ExactWords to accomplish exactly the opposite of what they wanted him to.
* {{Brainwashed}}: But only enough to wipe out his memory of the missing 24 hours.
* TheCaptain: Technically a commander in rank, but follows the role.
* TheChosenOne: [[spoiler: The One Who Was]]
* DecoyProtagonist: Unintentional however, thanks to the AbsenteeActor.
* DorkKnight: Yes, he's captain of the most important space station in the galaxy. Yes, he's sent back in time to become ''Valen''. Yes, he can out-RulesLawyer Earthgov itself. But above all that, he is, first and foremost, a complete ''dork''.
* DullSurprise: Michael O'Hare is often accused of it; he was a stage actor who never quite got comfortable working in front of cameras, and it shows.
* HeKnowsTooMuch: Delenn had orders to take appropriate action if he showed signs of remembering.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Travelling back in time to become Valen, basically leaving Humanity and all that was familiar to him for an alien society in a different age, with no reasonable hope of ever returning to it. Plus (FridgeLogic perhaps) he had to live the rest of his life very carefully following what history had laid out about Valen, lest he disrupt the StableTimeLoop.]]
* InHarmsWay: Puts himself in a lot of dangerous positions he really has no reason to. It's hinted it's his SurvivorGuilt speaking, and Garibaldi eventually [[LampshadeHanging calls him out on it]] mid-season 1.
* IShallTauntYou: A few times.
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: "There is a hole in your mind". His inability to account for a 24 hour block of time during and after the Battle of the Line effectively ended his career advancement, due to (unprovable) suspicions that he had [[TheMole cut a deal]] with the Minbari, or that he had been reprogrammed as a ManchurianAgent by them.
* [[ConquerorFromTheFuture Liberator From the Future]]: He goes back in time to become this for the Minbari.
* LoveTranscendsSpacetime: Implied to be what allows [[spoiler:Catherine Sakai]] to find him in the past.
* [[spoiler:LukeIAmYourFather: He is Delenn's great-great-great-[great*n]-grandfather.]]
* TheMasochismTango: 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.
* MessianicArchetype
* [[MightyWhitey Mighty Future Human]]
* MilitaryBrat: 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 [[WorldWarII Battle of Britain]].
* PutOnABus: An interstellar bus to Minbar.
* RaisedCatholic: He used to study in a Jesuit school, which explains his generally mellow and spiritual attitude about the universe.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The PutOnABus was due to his actor leaving the show between seasons.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure
* ReassignedToAntarctica: Due to his (repeated) tendency to speak his mind when not appropriate, his back story contains this. A lot. His promotion to the head of Series/BabylonFive came as a surprise to pretty much everyone at Earthforce (including him, given the huge list of people who were ahead of him), but they accepted it because the Minbari were part contributors to the station and got a provision that they had say in who got in. So his assignment to Series/BabylonFive is a large aversion, though his history is not.
* RulesLawyer: His primary tactic in dealing with interference from [=EarthGov=] and with problems generally. He frequently uses both human and alien laws and rituals to defuse conflicts/get what he wants.
* [[{{Seers}} The Seer]]: time travel helps at this.
* ShellShockedVeteran: His experience as a survivor of the Battle of the Line is one of his main character points.
* StableTimeLoop
* SurvivorGuilt: His entire squadron was wiped out at the Battle of the Line except for him. To make things worse, he [[LaserGuidedAmnesia has no memory of how he survived]].
* TakeAThirdOption: His default solution for practically everything.
* TeacherStudentRomance: 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.
* TimeTravel
* UltimateAuthorityMayor: {{Justified|Trope}}, for the same reasons as Sheridan.
* WarriorPoet
* WorthyOpponent: 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.

[[WMG:Susan Ivanova (Claudia Christian)]]
[[quoteright:221:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ivanova_59.png]]
->''Ivanova is always right. I will listen to Ivanova. I will not ignore Ivanova's recommendations. Ivanova is God. And if this ever happens again, Ivanova will personally '''rip your lungs out!'''''

* AcePilot: Practically ''begs'' for the chance to go on patrol several times in the first two seasons, and shows just what she's capable of by taking on an entire contingent of Raiders alone (after sending her wingman back to the station). Ivanova returns none the worse for wear after [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome an offscreen battle]] (although her Starfury is pretty beat up).
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: The TropeNamer.
* BadassBoast: Has a habit of these, from "Ivanova is God." to "God sent me."
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Marcus.
* BiTheWay (Annoyingly, we only really got a confirmation that Ivanova and Talia were in love after the fact -- because Straczynski knew the executives would crucify him if he actually had them kiss, which was considered but remained unfilmed.)
** Hints do appear previously. [[spoiler: They lounge around in Ivanova's bedroom an awful lot.]]
** WordOfGod is that they did in fact have sex off screen.
** Claudia Christian claims that the entire subplot may have been as a result of her preemptively warning JMS off of making her character, an ambitious career military officer, dependent on a man as a LoveInterest, but joking that she'd be fine with a female lover for her character.
* BlasphemousBoast: The "Ivanova is ''God''" bit. Almost immediately afterwards, she [[AsideGlance glances upwards]] and apologizes for that bit.
* CartwrightCurse
* DeadpanSnarker
* DefrostingIceQueen: Towards Marcus. [[spoiler: An ultimately tragic example as she defrosts just in time for him to die.]]
* GotVolunteered: This is how she winds up as the VoiceOfTheResistance.
* InformedJudaism: In the episodes where it comes up, it's made fairly clear that she isn't exactly a practicing Jew.
* IronLady
* KnightInSourArmour
* LadyOfWar: Ivanova lacks the inspirational genius of Sheridan or the unconventional thinking of Sinclair, but she is a formidable officer in her own right due to her unrelenting tenacity.
* LargeHam: On occasion, though not nearly as large a ham as some of the other characters.
* LostInTranslation: Played hilariously when Ivanova bitterly curses, only to find out that "Ah, hell!" means "continuous fire" in her crew's language.
* MarriedToTheJob: And the job is [[MurderTheHypotenuse jealous]].
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: With Marcus.
* MissionFromGod: For her last BadassBoast, she declared that ''{{God}}'' had sent her to dispatch her foes. [[spoiler: She is nearly killed at the end of the battle by a wayward piece of debris, but not before her force has dispatched the enemy fleet.]]
* MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels: 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.
* NoseArt: Her Starfury has a red star and a double-headed Russian Eagle.
* NumberTwo: For the station, being the second line officer aboard for most of the series.
* OneOfTheBoys: You would almost, but not quite, think that GenderIsNoObject is at work here. That's how well Ivanova blends in.
* OppositesAttract: With Marcus.
* PublicServiceAnnouncement: Particularly during the fourth season, Ivanova can be seen issuing these over the Babcom system, including updates about systems endangered by the ever-expanding Shadow War. Leads directly to VoiceOfTheResistance, below.
* RealitySubtext: Ivanova wears a single earring in memory of her older brother, killed during the Earth Minbari War. Claudia Christian actually wore that earring in memory of her little brother, who was hit by a car when they were kids (the other earring was buried with him).
* RussianGuySuffersMost: And [[GenreSavvy expects to]]. She considers pessimistic outlooks to be Russian by nature and commends people for them. Sheridan even calls developing a greater degree of pessimism "taking Ivanova lessons."
* SlapSlapKiss: With Marcus [[spoiler: though tragically they never get to kissing part.]]
* TheSpymaster: She prides herself on knowing about everything happening aboard the station. Including all of the relevant details on the Rangers' mission on B5, when Sheridan and Garibaldi were supposed to be the only [=EarthForce=] personnel who even knew of their existence on the station. Similarly, when Doctor Franklin tries to run an unauthorized free clinic in [[TheCityNarrows Downbelow]], Ivanova finds out easily. When Ivanova ''doesn't'' know about something happening aboard B5, ''then'' you can worry.
* TeamMom: Played with; she's the first one to tell Franklin to stop pushing himself and get some rest before he puts his patients in jeopardy. While this is logically part of her command responsibilities, Ivanova is also the one to whom Delenn turns for advice on hair care and menstrual cramps (neither of which Minbari women typically have to deal with) and to whom Vir turns for advice on 'the facts of life' when his ArrangedMarriage to Lyndisty crops up (given that he's probably too embarrassed to talk to Londo and there are no Centauri women of equivalent status on the station). She also lets Corwin down ''very'' easily when he confuses a personal interview intended to sound him out on his stance on the Clark regime for a date. For a proven hardass, she can be quite empathetic.
* UnresolvedSexualTension: With Marcus.
* VoiceOfTheResistance
** Hell, that's even the name of her broadcasts.
* WillTheyOrWontThey: With Marcus.
* WrittenInInfirmity: Claudia Christian broke her ankle in a skiing accident during Season Two, and this was explained as Ivanova being injured after being caught in a brawl between Green and Purple Drazi. (The fan rumour that she was injured during the filming of that scene is false.)
** 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.)
* YouAreInCommandNow: At least four times in the space of three years, in fact, though it never happens in the heat of battle.
** [[spoiler: During the transmission from the alternate future in "Babylon Squared" Ivanova is in command, delivering an increasingly panicky distress call after Sheridan was killed offscreen and the Shadows are overrunning the station.]]

[[WMG:Michael Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle)]]

->''"Thin air." Why is it always "thin air"? Never fat air, chubby air, mostly-fit-could-stand-to-lose-a-few-pounds air.''

* AcePilot: Though out of the PowerTrio, he is the least likely to get into space battles, due to his primary job being to lead Station Security.
* {{Adorkable}}: How else can you describe someone who has a framed picture of Daffy Duck hanging over his bed?
* TheAlcoholic
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: He learns everything he can about the crew, including his senior officers. As a result, he's ''very'' good at predicting their behavior on a day-to-day basis.
** In "Deconstruction of Falling Stars" a ''holographic simulation'' of Garibaldi 500 years after the events of the main series retains his analytical skills and basic personality, resulting in holo-Garibaldi [[spoiler: hacking Politdivision Central and revealing their plans to the opposition. Unfortunately his actions result in [[NiceJobBreakingItHero humanity nuking itself back into the Middle Ages]] with the ensuing conflict]].
*** [[spoiler: Fortunately, this is probably SLIGHTLY better then the alternative, which would be everyone except the Orwellian guys being nuked PAST the middle ages...]]
* BaldOfAwesome: PlayedForLaughs on a couple of occasions. Ivanova strongly suspects (but prefers not to inform Garibaldi) that his hair loss was due to a prank played by a smuggler he had crossed paths with in the past.
* BigDamnHeroes: On several occasions. It does help that all of the station's security personnel answer to him, allowing him to bring TheCavalry with a single call.
* ChefOfIron
* CoolBike - His beloved, antique Ninja ZX-11 motorcycle. [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness Which appears in only one episode and is never spoken of again.]]
* CowboyCop
* DaChief: Head of station security.
* DeadpanSnarker: It doesn't matter how high Your rank is or how threatening You are - Garibaldi has a snarky one-liner prepared for You.
* TheDeterminator: JMS in a commentary track compared Garibaldi to a pitbull, refusing to let go of a problem until he's solved it. [[spoiler:Increased UpToEleven by Bester to make him sniff out an anti-Telepath conspiracy.]]
* DoggedNiceGuy: Garibaldi is a Type 1, particularly toward Talia.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Boy does he ever, going from a black-listed alcoholic cop on Mars to [[spoiler: rescuing and marrying his true love and becoming one of the most powerful businessmen in the Earth Alliance.]]
* FaceHeelTurn (See Manchurian Agent)
** HeelFaceDoorSlam
** HeelFaceTurn
* FanOfThePast: He's a huge fan of old LooneyTunes cartoons, including having a DaffyDuck wall hanging and NoseArt on one of his Starfuries.
* KnightInSourArmor
* TheLancer
* ManchurianAgent (in Season 4)
* MilitaryBrat: His father was a Gropo, [[OneDegreeOfSeparation serving under Doctor Franklin's father]]. His mother was a cop on earth, making this trope play double-duty.
* NoseArt: In early seasons, his personal Starfury had a tiger painted on the center of the wing. In the fifth season, he is briefly seen piloting a Starfury with [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Daffy Duck]] painted on the side.
* OffTheWagon
* OutOfCharacterMoment: During an episode where he's protecting Talia from a murderer he lets her enter a client's quarters without checking them first and simply waits outside, guess who was inside?
** Also in Dividied Loyalties he instantly and completely trusts Lyta Alexender despite Lyta not being on the station long enough to establish trust during her previous visit and nobody has ever gained his trust instantly before or after.
* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: His computer password is "Peekaboo", because he knows that nobody would assume that [[ProperlyParanoid the infamously paranoid]] security chief would use something so laughably easy to guess.
* PluckyComicRelief: Except for the fourth season. [[spoiler: At least, until his HeelFaceTurn.]]
* ProperlyParanoid: Garibaldi's paranoia is an in-universe legend.
* RefugeInAudacity: One of his specialties. Tries to rescue [[spoiler: Captain Sheridan]] from a secret prison on Mars by walking up in uniform and identifying himself by name. It almost works too, except that the guards are TooDumbToFool.
** He's more successful when using audacity to rescue Ivanova from the Green Drazi. [[Funny/BabylonFive As a door-to-door salesman]].
** 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 [[InsaneTrollLogic arrest himself for revealing secret information to himself.]]
*** It helps that the official in question is just GenreSavvy enough to figure that it is some sensitive issue best left undisturbed for now. Before he can become suspicious enough to realize he's ''WrongGenreSavvy'', the heroes present him with an entirely plausible explanation for the secrecy. It ''also'' helps that Garibaldi allows the official to talk to G'Kar off the record using the exact same logic.
* TheSouthpaw: Because his actor is left-handed.
* SupremeChef: The man can ''cook'', given proper ingredients. When Franklin tries Garibaldi's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagna_c%C3%A0uda bagna càuda]], he is impressed.
** It's implied that this is also AddictionDisplacement: he cooks and eats instead of drinking.
* WrittenInInfirmity: Jerry Doyle suffered a broken wrist during the filming of the battle sequence in "Severed Dreams". The visible effects were then very naturally explained as the character suffering the same injury.

[[WMG:Stephen Franklin (Richard Biggs)]]
* TheConscience: 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.
* DrJerk: For a while when he was abusing stims. And other times when he's being [[InsufferableGenius insufferable]] because he believes he's right.
* FunctionalAddict
* InsufferableGenius
* TheMedic: A CombatMedic, specifically. When trouble ensues, he usually ignores orders to stay out of danger, and can be found in the middle of the worst violence looking for people who need help. He has no problem beating people into the deckplate if he has to protect himself or his patients.
* MilitaryBrat: His father is a General in the Earthforce Marines. He was inspired to become a doctor after his father's life was saved by a doctor on the opposing side (that doctor was killed by his own government for aiding the enemy).
* NotQuiteTheRightThing
* ThePornomancer: Despite being a bit of a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold pompous blowhard]] and not really putting any serious effort into it, he can charm the ladies out of their dresses like nobody's business.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Given by a [[TalkingToThemself hallucination of himself]], as he's crawling through down-below with a knife wound. Doubles as a RousingSpeech by the very end.
* TrustMeImAnX

[[WMG:Elizabeth Lochley (Tracy Scoggins)]]

->''My first CO once told me: "When someone asks you why you took on a job, the worst answer you can give is 'Because a friend asked me to.'" I should have listened. This place is one long exercise in frustration.''

* TheAlcoholic: She uses her secret past as an alcohol and drug abuser to get Garibaldi back on the wagon.
* AmicablyDivorced: She was married to [[spoiler:Sheridan]] briefly. Their marriage burned out fast. Their friendship didn't.
* BadassBureaucrat
* DarkAndTroubledPast
* LadyOfWar
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: Fought on the Loyalist side of the Earth Alliance Civil War. Her being chosen to command Babylon 5 was done as a fig-leaf gesture to the government back on Earth.
* NoseArt: Her Starfury features a Phoenix.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure
* RulesLawyer: Manages to temporarily prevent [[MagnificentBastard Mr. Bester]] from arresting a colony of rogue telepaths by citing an Earth Alliance health regulation. Commander Sinclair would have been proud.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: For Ivanova, who would have become station commander in Season 5 if Claudia Christian had remained on the show.
* [[WordOfGay Word Of Bi]]: NeilGaiman confirmed that the LesYay in her scenes with Zoe in "Day of the Dead" was intentional.
* WorkingWithTheEx

[[WMG:Zack Allen (Jeff Conaway)]]
* AscendedExtra
* BigBrotherIsEmployingYou
* ButtMonkey: In season two, Zack's major function is to be the Earthforce security agent who gets knocked out by the alien. Notably, both G'Kar and Lennier take him out at different points.
* TheEveryman: While he doesn't quite have the blank slate qualities usually associated with this trope, Zack is essentially an average guy way over his head, trying to do the right thing.
* TheGenericGuy
* HeelRealisation
* HopelessSuitor: To Lyta Alexander. Given how she later develops, he was probably lucky.
* TookALevelInBadass: In the final two seasons, when he takes over as head of station security, he gets notably more serious and more competent.
* YouDidTheRightThing: 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. Especially since he's PlayingBothSides, and both sides are saying the same thing to him...

[[WMG:Warren Keffer (Robert Rusler) (Season 2 only)]]

->''It was jet black, a shade of black so deep your eye just kind of slides off it. And it shimmered when you looked at it. A spider, big as death and twice as ugly. And when it flies past, it's like you hear a scream in your mind.''

* AcePilot: ExecutiveMeddling wanted a character of this type.
* BookEnds: The season premiere and season finale both feature him taking part in the defense of the station from an alien warship. Also, his second episode and his final episode both feature a Starfury pilot being killed in Hyperspace.
* CuriosityKilledTheCast: 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.
* DecoyProtagonist: Intentionally given little purpose, but a fake high profile, heroic job.
* ShooOutTheNewGuy: due to being created through ExecutiveMeddling, and the actor apparently not getting on with the established cast.
* WeHardlyKnewYe
* YouAreInCommandNow: Ends up in command of Zeta Squadron despite being only a Lieutenant, due to the squadron commander being killed during a mission in Hyperspace.

[[WMG:David Corwin (Joshua Cox)]]

->''"Okay, activate defense grid. Launch all Starfuries, and if they move, shoot 'em. If they don't move, shoot twice; they're probably hiding something."''

* {{Adorkable}}: The scenes involving him trying to buy and give roses to Ivanova, and his ownership of a Love Bat, especially.
* TheApprentice: Tends to serve as Ivanova's right-hand man and unofficial protegé in later seasons.
* CharacterDevelopment: 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, LighterAndSofter (and, well, still dorkier) version of Ivanova (see above quote).
* DeadpanSnarker: He gets in a few zingers on Commander Ivanova, then quickly gets back to work before she can retort.
* TheGenericGuy: 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.
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: When he is promoted to Lieutenant, Ivanova and Sheridan decided to get to know him better, to decide if they can bring him in on their [[LaResistance conspiracy]]. When asked if he would disobey an order if it wasn't in the best interests of Earth, he states that he doesn't feel it would be his place to determine that. When the command staff do decide to break off from Earth, however, he sides with them against President Clark.

[[WMG: President William Morgan Clark]]

* BigBad: For most of season four, once the Shadows were taken care of. His government were already major antagonists before that.
* [[spoiler: DrivenToSuicide]]
* EvilChancellor: Well, Evil Vice President to Santiago.
* {{Expy}}: Averted, actually. Though many of his policies [[spoiler: and his death]] call AdolfHitler to mind, WordOfGod is that he wasn't supposed to correspond to any one RealLife dictator.
* FantasticRacism: Towards aliens.
* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Clark does have a handful of scenes, but they're short and after he becomes BigBad full time he's only seen [[spoiler: killing himself]]. WordOfGod is that he was supposed to be an idea more than a character.
* IfICantHaveYou: [[spoiler: "Two words: Scorched Earth"]]
* KlingonPromotion: He arranged Santiago's assasination with the Shadows in order to become president himself.
* ANaziByAnyOtherName
* OrcusOnHisThrone: He never leaves Earth after becoming president.
* PresidentEvil

* UnwittingPawn: To both the Shadows and Psi Corps, to varying degrees.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: He certainly tries, and his propaganda machine is much spotlighted, but by the time all is said and done a good chunk of the population is set against him anyway.

[[WMG: Susanna Luchenko (Beata Pozniak)]]

->''Well, Captain, you've caused quite a stir. Half of Earth Force wants to give you a kiss on the cheek and the Medal of Honour. The other half wants you taken out and shot. As a politician you learn how to compromise, which by all rights means I should give you the Medal of Honour, then have you shot.''

* DeadpanSnarker: See above.
* GoodIsNotSoft: She makes it clear that having Sheridan shot for treason is still an option if it means maintaining the cohesion of the Earth Alliance. It's not plan ''A'', but it's on the table.
* InternalReformist: She remarks that Sheridan did the right thing, he just did it in the most inconvenient manner possible.
* IronLady: "Don't make the mistake of thinking this is a conversation. ''It isn't.''"
* PowerHair
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Formerly the leader of the Russian Consortium, she takes over as President of the Earth Alliance after Clark. However, she is still a politician, albeit one of the better sort.
* {{Understatement}}: Describing Sheridan's adventures in the latter half of Season 4 as "caus[ing] quite a stir."

[[WMG: Catherine Sakai (Julia Nickson)]]

->''The dance goes something like this. We meet, renew acquaintances, talk about old times at the Academy, you ask about my aunt, I ask about your brother, we lie about not missing each other, and then we end up in bed together.''

* AcePilot: She's an independent surveyor, with the skills to navigate hyperspace alone in a comparatively tiny and defenseless surveying ship.
* AllThereInTheManual: The canon novel ''To Dream in the City of Sorrows'' ties up her story and Sinclair's in much more detail than was ever seen on the show proper, thanks to Sinclair being largely written out after the first season.
* LoveAtFirstSight: Admits that she fell in love with Jeffrey Sinclair at first sight.
* LoveTranscendsSpacetime: After she and Sinclair are reunited while he is the Ambassador to Minbar and she [[spoiler:starts training as a Ranger]], she [[spoiler:gets pulled into a time rift]]. WordOfGod reveals that [[spoiler:she and Sinclair do find each other in the past]], after he has [[spoiler:become Valen]].
* LoveWillLeadYouBack: No matter what happens, she and Sinclair always know they'll end up back together.
* TheMasochismTango: Her quote essentially sums up their pattern for ''years'' before she and Sinclair finally decided to have a go at things for real. Unfortunately, the day he asked her to marry him, President Santiago [[spoiler:was assassinated]], Sinclair was recalled to Earth, and it wasn't until [[spoiler:they found each other on Minbar a thousand years in the past]] that they were finally able to get married.
* TeacherStudentRomance: She fell in love with Sinclair while he was her flight instructor at Earthforce Academy. The feeling was mutual.

[[folder:The Minbari Federation]]

[[WMG:Minbari in general]]

->''We are at our best when we move together. And we are at our worst when we move together.''

* ApeShallNeverKillApe: "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.]]
** And then the civil war broke out and the Warrior Caste, in particular, dumped that rule pretty fast.
** 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.
* BerserkButton : 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.
* [[RubberForeheadAliens Boney Back Of Head Aliens]]
* CantArgueWithElves: Because the elves are more than capable of blowing your navy out of space and tossing you personally across the room. And aren't reluctant to do so.
* TheClan: Several in fact; Delenn is from the family of Mir (itself part of the Tenth Fane of Elleya), Lennier is from the Third Fane of Chudomo, and Neroon from the Star Riders. We also have the hawkish Wind Swords.
* CombatAestheticist
* CrystalSpiresAndTogas: The spires are literally crystal. They don't ''quite'' wear togas.
* DisproportionateRetribution: For a case of PoorCommunicationKills, their reaction is "total genocide of the offending species". Other lines from Delenn indicate that the Minbari responses often tend to be swift and violent, such as when accused of lying by a member of another race. It's not for nothing that even the Centauri at the peak of their expansionist glory went out of their way to avoid angering (or encountering, really) the Minbari.
* FantasticCasteSystem: Religious, Worker, Warrior
* GoodOldWays
* HigherTechSpecies: most technologically advanced non-First One culture.
* HonorBeforeReason: All Minbari at least think they are this. Some are more honorable than others.
* {{Hypocrite}}s: 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.
** In Sheridan's first episode, the Minbari hold him accountable for the self-destruction of another cruiser, because he refused to fire on them and kill them himself.
* MoralMyopia
* OurElvesAreBetter: To the point where they (and especially Delenn) are treated as the moral core of the series, frequently delivering philosophical Aesops, despite actions that are arguably worse than those of any race besides the Shadows and Vorlons.
** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] as the show goes on and frequently examines how they are often less honorable and civilized than they want to think they are.
* ProudScholarRace
* ProudWarriorRace
* RulesLawyer: "Minbari Do Not Lie" & "Minbari Do Not Kill Minbari". Except when they can find loopholes or justify it some different ways. For example, the Warrior Caste 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!
** A Minbari who dies as a result of a DuelToTheDeath is said to have ''committed suicide'' by the very act of participating in the duel.
* ShamgriLa
* SpaceElves
* WarriorPoet: Seems to contain a high proportion of these.

[[WMG:Ambassador Delenn (MiraFurlan)]]
[[quoteright:221:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/delenn_4673.png]]
->''We are [[{{Series/Cosmos}} star stuff]]. We are the universe made manifest, trying to figure itself out.''

* {{Ambadassador}}: The Ambassador has commanded fleets of warships, flown single-pilot fighters, and generally proved she's not someone to annoy.
* TheAtoner: For the Earth-Minbari war.
* BadassBoast: "If you value your lives, '''''be somewhere else.'''''"
* [[BadassPreacher Badass Priestess]]: The religious caste are often called upon to be war leaders. Delenn has the credentials to back it up.
* [[BadassPrincess Badass Satai]]
* BearerOfBadNews
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Like Minbari in general, Delenn is polite and well-behaved until she leaves you wondering how you abruptly ended up in Medlab.
* TheChosenOne: [[spoiler: The One Who Is]]
* CulturedBadass
* DeathGlare: The only person to consistently employ this in the show, Delenn is quite good at it too.
* ErmineCapeEffect
* GoodOldWays
* TheHeart: 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.
* HeroicLineage: Descended from Valen which is borderline DivineParentage from the Minbari point of view and is awesome enough from any other when you hear that Valen is Sinclair gone back in time.
* [[TheHighQueen The High Ambassador]]
* [[HighPriest High Priestess]] : One of the three top leaders of the religious caste.
* HonorBeforeReason: Well she prefers putting HonorBeforeReason, and indeed often does. She is however a stateswoman with all that comes with that.
* IntriguedByHumanity
* IronLady
* JeanneDArchetype: ''I do not think they would die for me. But they would die for you... Entil-Zha!''
* LadyOfWar: Delenn, as mentioned above and below, commands war fleets and generally lays the smackdown several times in the series. While maintaining proper decorum.
* {{Malaproper}}
* MamaBear: Threatening anyone she feels protective toward can cause her to go into a royal rage. You really do not want to be the target of her wrath.
** Though it is often [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome awesome]] to watch her while she is angry.
* MartialPacifist: She is usually peaceful and compassionate. But when her BerserkButton is pushed, especially when someone she [[MamaBear cares about]] is threatend, [[BewareTheNiceOnes she]] [[LetsGetDangerous will become]] [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen something]] [[LadyOfWar else]].
* TheMcCoy
* MessianicArchetype
* MinoredInAsskicking: Majored in diplomacy and mysticism. But fair at asskicking and even better at encouraging other people to kick ass.
* TheMourningAfter: Sheridan was the love of her life, and she never loved anyone else.
* MyGreatestFailure: Giving the tie-breaking vote to attack humanity in retaliation for the death of Dukhat.
* [[ThePhilosopher The Mystic]]
* NeverMessWithGranny: In "Deconstruction of Falling Stars" an elderly Delenn comes out of seclusion after 80 years specifically to [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech tell off a panel of academics]] who are running down Sheridan's reputation and casting him as a power-hungry megalomaniac.
* ThePowerOfLove: Her love is what gives Sheridan the strength to come back from Z'Ha'Dum. In a way, their love for each other won the entire war.
* ProperLady: Oh man! [[LadyOfWar She can command a battle fleet without even wrinkling her robes!]]
* [[ProudScholarRaceGuy Proud Scholar Race Gal]]
* [[RealMenLoveJesus Real Minbari Love Valen]]
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: She gives these very well and some of her finest moments are giving one.
* RomanticismVersusEnlightenment : Definitely romanticism.
* RousingSpeech: She loves giving these.
* [[KingIncognito Satai Incognito]]: Her true status as a member of the Grey Council is only later revealed.
* [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Satai That Actually Does Something]]: As noted, she is a one of the Nine leading the entire planet, but took the position of Ambassador [[spoiler:to watch Sinclair if he ever came to remember his time in Minbari custody.]]
* [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight Screw the Grey Council Im Doing Whats Right]]: Her transformation at the end of season 1.
* SecretLegacy: [[spoiler:She is a child of Valen's bloodline.]]
* SeekerArchetype
* SexyMentor: [[AllLoveIsUnrequited Poor Lennier...]]
* ShellShockedVeteran
* SilkHidingSteel: A sweet and aristocratic demeanor that is very sharp underneath.
* TheyDo: With John.
* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: The Earth-Minbari War. The other council members really should have waited until she wasn't nearly mad with grief before asking for her opinion.
* WarriorPoet: Mostly poet but a not an insubstantial bit of [[LadyOfWar warrior]].
* WellIntentionedExtremist: On more then one occasion, though this is standard for ''Series/BabylonFive''.
* [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask The Woman Wearing The Ambassadorial Mask]]: There are times when she must smile, must laugh despite knowing the dark secrets she knows.

[[WMG:Lennier (Bill Mumy)]]

->''Where you will walk, I will walk. I have sworn myself to your side.''

* AllLoveIsUnrequited
* TheAtoner: When last seen.
* BattleButler
* BeneathTheMask: He always makes rather heavy weather out of being an honorable Minbari and his shyness makes it seem clumsy.
* BewareTheNiceOnes
* TheChampion: To Delenn.
* CourtlyLove
* DoggedNiceGuy: Type 2.
* FatalFlaw
* GoodOldWays
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Played straight for most of the show, but subverted later.
* LoveMakesYouEvil / [[LoveMakesYouCrazy Love Makes You Temporarily Insane]]: [[spoiler:As a Ranger, he has a choice of either helping Sheridan live or [[MurderTheHypotenuse leave him to die.]] He picks the latter.]]
* NiceGuy
* NoodleIncident: He's hinted to have died during the twenty year {{Time Skip}} before the final episode, but JMS has been notoriously tight-lipped as to how it happened, still wanting to actually get the story out somehow rather than resort to {{Word Of God}}.
* TheNotLoveInterest
* ProudScholarRaceGuy
* TheReliableOne
* StiffUpperLip
* SubmissiveBadass
* ThoseTwoGuys: Is occasionally seen sharing a drink with Vir.
* TookALevelInBadass: During the fifth season, he decides to join the Rangers.
* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: Nearly commits negligent homicide on Sheridan out of jealousy before realizing what he is doing and changing his mind too late. Sheridan is saved but Lennier's life is ruined.
* TragicHero
* UndyingLoyalty: To Delenn.

[[WMG:Alyt Neroon (John Vickery)]]

->''I was born warrior caste, but I see now the true calling of my heart is religious!''

* Badass: Marcus easily defeats entire gangs of criminals and thugs. Neroon easily defeats Marcus.
* TheBully
* FantasticRacism: He ''really'' hates humans. He makes occasional, grudging, exceptions.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor
* [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice]]
* IncendiaryExponent
* [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Proud Warrior Caste Guy]]
* [[spoiler:RedemptionEqualsDeath]]: making his HeelFaceTurn permanent in the process by stepping into the Starfire Wheel when Shakiri would or could not.
* WellIntentionedExtremist
* WorthyOpponent: Views the few humans he respects (Sinclair and Marcus) as these. And views Delenn as a worthy opponent politically rather than in personal combat.

[[WMG: Shai Alyt Shakiri, head of the Warrior Caste]]

->''Now we rebuild the Grey Council into a Warrior's Council.''

* BreakTheHaughty: His final fate was to be shamed in public while being watched by millions of Minbari. Probably considered AFateWorseThanDeath on Minbar, where personal and family honor are paramount.
* DirtyCoward: Revealed to be one before the end, and the perfect example of why the Ancient Minbari created the Starfire Wheel.
* FantasticRacism: Hates any caste that is not Warrior.
* HonorBeforeReason: [[AvertedTrope Honor? What's that?]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: Called out by Delenn "''If you believe so much in your caste, step into the circle and die for them. Or is it easier for you to kill my caste? Easier to send others out to die for you?''"
* [[GloriousLeader Inglorious Leader]]
* LargeHam: When he thinks he won, he really hams it up.
* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: His plan for Delenn when the war was over, despite agreeing to accept her surrender.
* MilesGloriosus
* [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Proud Warrior Caste Guy]]
* SmugSnake

[[WMG: Dukhat (Reiner Schone)]]

-> ''Authority should never be used as a club, Delenn.''

He was the One. The leader of the Nine on the Council. His death by humans hands lead to the Earth-Minbari War.

* CantArgueWithElves: He is not this trope. He finds himself in this situation when the isolationist Nine refuse to open any level of communication with Humans. He calls them out, makes them look like crotchety, small minded fools. However, he won't use his power as the One to overrule them because they wouldn't learn anything and just dig into their spots deeper.
* PosthumousCharacter: He was dead before the series started.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He is a kind, but stern man who would call out people when they make the mistake.
* ReasonYouSuckSpeech: Gives one, and by using a young Delenn at that, to call out the Nine for their lack of curiousity and interest to examine the mystery the universe presented them called Humanity.

[[folder:The Centauri Republic]]

[[WMG:Centauri in general]]

->''I want my people to reclaim their rightful place in the galaxy. I want to see the Centauri stretch their hand and command the stars. I want a rebirth of glory, a renaissance of power.''

* {{Ambadassador}}: If Londo is to be believed, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8MjQ5Z7ZNo being capable to become a sword-wielding berserker at the drop of a hat is a requirement to be an ambassador for the Centauri Republic]].
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Centauri women love this trope. They often have very [[TastesLikeDiabetes saccharine]] manners and appearance, but are also prone to stab you in the back when you least expect it. There are some exceptions, however:
** Adira Tyree subverts this. [[spoiler:She is originally tasked by an alien spy to get incriminating evidence from Londo by seducing him, and fulfills her mission. However, just before delivering the files to her owner, she runs away, and after she is freed from slavery she seems to genuinely care for Londo]].
** The Centauri girl in ''The War Prayer'' averts this as she seems to really love her boyfriend. This may be because she is still young and has not yet learned the ways of her society.
** Also averted by Timov, one of Londo's wives, and [[spoiler:the only one he keeps]], in that she does not put on sheep's clothing and prefers to stay a bitch in plain sight.
* BizarreAlienBiology: They have no major arteries in their wrists, two hearts, and as for their reproductive organs...well, see ExoticEquipment.
* TheClan: The noble houses, such as House Mollari, or House Refa.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Apparently inoffensive Centauri who are actually {{Ambadassador}}s aside, a single Centauri battlecruiser once overwhelmed Babylon 5's [[ShootTheBullet interceptors]] while firing on a Narn vessel at the same time, and Earthforce, that according to WordOfGod could have defeated the Minbari if it wasn't for that pesky [[StealthInSpace stealth technology]], considers war against the Centauri as a hopeless conflict that would be over in a matter of weeks. This is the same Centauri Republic that is a VestigialEmpire and is most famous for the great number of drunkards among their nobles.
** Centauri small arms can kill [[spoiler: the Shadows]], and two palace guards ''did just that'' [[TheStoic without losing their serious expressions]].
* CycleOfRevenge: Their backstory: they were once a peaceful race dedicated to arts and science, until the Xon, the other race from their homeworld, showed up from nowhere and started enslaving and exterminating them for no apparent reason, at which point the Centauri used their superior technology to repel them, chase them back to the other continent of Centauri Prime, and hunt them down into extinction.
** Also {{Subverted}} with their encounter with the Shroggen, servants of the Shadows who came from space and attacked for no apparent reason (they actually had one: they were pursuing a group of Technomages who had just taken refuge on Centauri Prime after their faction rebelled to the Shadows): after repelling them with the help of the Technomages, the Centauri reverse-engineered Shroggen technology and built a fleet to chase them and finish the job, but failed to find them.[[note]] [[YouHaveFailedMe The Shroggen had been exterminated by the Shadows for too many failures, of which their defeat at the hands of the Centauri was the straw that broke the camel's back]][[/note]]
* DeadlyDecadentCourt: The Royal Court, as well as the Centaurum
* ExoticEquipment: Men have six huge prehensile sexual tentacles, usually hidden beneath their clothing. Women apparently have six slots, three on each side of the spine. The more used, the more pleasure; using all six tentacles and all six slots is needed for conception.[[note]]One imagines that combines with their notorious decadence for truly fantastic orgies.[[/note]]
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: The Centauri were once a peaceful race, who was attacked for no apparent reason by ''two'' different races seeking to enslave them (the Xon, developed on their same homeworld, and the Shroggen, low-ranked servants of the Shadows). After exterminating the Xon and repelling the Shroggen, the Centauri took the stars to build a force that would capable of defending them... And started enslaving any race too weak to fight them.
** {{Irony}}: This is pretty much the same backstory of the Narn.
* HigherTechSpecies: Outclassed only by the Minbari among the younger races.
* HumanAliens - To the point where (if clothed) there's no way to [[HumanOutsideAlienInside distinguish them from a human]] apart from their haircuts and canines
** They attempted to use this to their advantage: when they first met Humans, they claimed that Humans were a lost colony of the Centauri. It almost worked, until the humans learned more about [[BizarreAlienBiology Centauri physiology]].
** According to the first novel in the [[ExpandedUniverse Psi Corps Trilogy]], the humans were [[GenreSavvy wary of the claim]] from the very beginning, but decided to be polite and see what they could get from the Centauri until they were able to get some genetic samples.
* ImpracticallyFancyOutfit and BlingOfWar
* ImprobableHairstyle: Male Centauri wear their hair shaped like a male peacock's open tail. The bigger the "fan", the higher the social status. Women shave their heads bald.
** This turns out to be a RealLife example of PoorCommunicationKills. 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.
* MilesGloriosus: While they're still more than a match for most of the younger races, the Centauri Republic is a [[StealthPun shadow of its former self]] and the Centauri are seen as braggarts who are all talk and no action:
--> How many Centauri does it take to change a light bulb?
--> These days, just one. But, in the glorious days of the great Centauri Republic, hundreds of servants would change thousands of light bulbs at the clap of a hand!
* NeverBeHurtAgain: Their original motivation to take the stars was to build a force capable of defending them from aggressions like those of the Xon and the Shroggen. While they still remember these events, they forgot their original purpose and became conquerors.
* PurpleIsPowerful: The Centauri ''love'' this colour (restricting it to the clothing of nobles and military hardware), and their warships can match Minbari ships in firepower (meaning that nothing built by the Younger Races will survive for more than five seconds against their sustained fire).
* {{Realpolitik}}: The stated philosophy of most prominent Centauri (with heaping doses of FantasticRacism when it comes to the Narns).
* SinsOfOurFathers: Though they commit plenty of sins of their own to be sure.
* VestigialEmpire
* WaistcoatOfStyle

[[WMG:Ambassador Londo Mollari (Peter Jurasik)]]

->'''Elric''': ''As I look at you Ambassador, I see a great hand reaching out of the stars. The hand is your hand, and I hear the sound of millions of people calling your name.''
->'''Londo''': ''My followers?''
->''Elric: Your victims.''

* AcePilot: In his younger days; he still has his old touch (see RetiredBadass below)
* TheAlcoholic: High-functioning, but still. In the first season he spends much of his time DrowningMySorrows over the state of the Republic and you almost never see him without a drink.
-->'''Londo:''' ''*Commenting on Garibaldi's choice of drink*'' Water. Fascinating. I never touch the stuff, myself...
** It becomes much less funny later, [[spoiler:when he is infected by a Keeper. Londo's only advantage is that he has a higher alcohol tolerance than it and thus he can remain himself if he drinks himself *almost* to a stupor. Unfortunately he can't do it too much or it gets suspicious.]]
* {{Ambadassador}}: Ever wondered how he gained the [[InSeriesNickName nickname]] "[[TheBerserker Fights like a Madman]]"?
* AmbitionIsEvil
* AntiHero[=/=]AntiVillain (depending on the episode)
* AssInAmbassador
* TheAtoner: toward the end anyway.
* BeAllMySinsRemembered
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: If only he hadn't [[DealWithTheDevil answered Morden's question.]] He got everything he asked for, and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone regretted it for the rest of his life.]]
* BigDamnHeroes: Londo convinces the League of Non-Aligned Worlds to send a combined fleet to assist Sheridan in his fight against the Clark regime, explaining to Delenn that he took the initiative because Sheridan would not ask for help and Delenn could not ask without being perceived as having personal motivation. It's noteworthy that this takes place ''after'' the Centauri Republic generally and Londo specifically has antagonized most of the participants.
* BlingOfWar
* CassandraTruth: Attempted to warn [=EarthGov=] about provoking the Minbari, telling them that even the Centauri at the height of their power were out of their weight with them, but is dismissed by an [[MilesGloriosus overly confident EarthForce general]].
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder
* ClassicalMovieVampire: Not actually undead, but his dress sense, accent, fangs and elements of his personality are heavily influenced by this trope.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He's an happy-go-lucky drunkard who got the job at Babylon 5 because [[ReassignedToAntarctica nobody wanted it (not even him)]]. He's also a MagnificentBastard, an AcePilot, and a capable swordsman whose nickname translates as [[TheBerserker "Fights Like a Madman]]".

* DealWithTheDevil
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: [[spoiler: When he blows up the island containing the Shadow vessels.]]
* [[spoiler:TheEmperor]]
* EnemyMine (G'Kar, on two separate occasions)
* TheEmperor
* EvenEvilHasStandards
* EvilCostumeSwitch: Following his first contact by the Shadows, Londo's wardrobe purposely gets darker as the series goes on.
** 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 [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone full consequences of his actions.]]
** Fully inverted when Londo [[spoiler: becomes Emperor]] and wears the completely white uniform of that position, while arguably in the darkest moment of his life.
* FallenHero
* GoneHorriblyRight: In Season 1, Londo has been KickedUpstairs, 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.
* GuileHero and/or MagnificentBastard: Not in every episode but it comes out some times. In the last few episodes of the Shadow Wars arc he actually pulled ThePlan on the Shadows (which is for all practical purposes the same as doing that to {{Satan}}).
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor
* HenpeckedHusband: 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!'"
** His third wife, Mariel, is SilkHidingSteel and described by Timov as a 'Iron claw in a velvet glove'. And Timov, of course, has a ''very'' sharp tongue. [[spoiler:When Londo has to choose one wife to keep so he can divorce the other two, he chooses to keep Timov because, he claims, at least with her he always knew where he stood.]] Maybe he likes being henpecked....
* HeroicSacrifice
* IgnoredEpiphany: There's more than one occasion during the war with and occupation of Narn where he seems to realize that what he's doing is horrible...and then he keeps right on going.
* ImGoingToHellForThis: "And when I die, there will be a reckoning." Except he seems to have meant that ''seriously''.
* InSeriesNickname: "Passo Liati", a nicknamed earned via his swordfighting abilities. It translates roughly to "[[TheBerserker Fights Like a Madman]]".
* ItsAllAboutMe: In "The Very Long Night Of Londo Mollari" - a [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind Journey To The Center of Londo's Mind]] - a part of his mind (represented by G'Kar) points out that, "You're not sorry for what you did! You're just sorry you got caught!" - this trope in a nutshell. [[spoiler:As he recovers from his heart attack in that episode, he gives an unexpected apology to G'Kar--one that confirms that, yes, he ''can'' actually be sorry for what he's done.]]
** 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 messiahs trapped in the bodies of monsters - and eats his foot when he realizes that Londo is referencing '''himself'''.

* MagnificentBastard: And ''how''! [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYKloZRwLu4 This]] is what happens when Londo wants you dead.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste
* TheMentor[=/=]ParentalSubstitute: To Vir, in varying degrees. Vir's own family has rejected him, so Londo is his default source of guidance. Londo's TragicVillain status is all that more disturbing to Vir because of this.
* MyCountryRightOrWrong
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone - ''beautifully'' captured when he's observing [[spoiler: the [[MagneticWeapons mass-driver]] [[ColonyDrop 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]].
** And again, when the Centauri Intelligence officer tells him that [[spoiler:it was Morden, not Lord Refa, who ordered Adira's death]]. Being Londo, there is some scenery-chewing once the officer is dismissed, but Jurasik demonstrates his range before then purely in the facial expression. Not only "What Have I Done", but "I did it because of a lie".
* NoHeroToHisValet: Vir once he [[GrowingTheBeard gains more confidence]] routinely calls Londo out on some of his more questionable decisions. Londo, to his credit, actually starts listening.
* NumberTwo: As Prime Minister
* NotSoDifferent
* ObfuscatingStupidity: He really does like his booze and his gambling, but he's not nearly as dumb as he lets on.
* OddFriendship (G'Kar)
* PetTheDog: [[spoiler: After Vir begs Londo to help him learn to live with the guilt of misdeeds, Londo refuses, telling Vir to embrace the guilt. Londo doesn't want Vir to be like him.]]
** Londo does this all the time, whether it's looking after his young and idealistic atache Vir, or pulling strings to help two young Centauri avoid arranged marraiges, or giving Garibaldi some cash when he was [[ClearMyName on the run]] from the law. It's a major reason he remains a sympathetic character in spite of all he's done.
* PluckyComicRelief
* ReassignedToAntarctica: Unwillingly assigned to Babylon 5 before the series begins. Londo's superior tells him in no uncertain terms that it's a dead-end job.
** ReassignmentBackfire: Even before getting help from [[spoiler: the Shadows]] he had already made the job important, and with their help became one of the most powerful men of Centauri Prime.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath
* RetiredBadass: 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.
---> Susan Ivanova: My god, whoever's piloting that shuttle's a madman!
* SkunkStripe
* SleazyPolitician
* StartOfDarkness
* TragicHero[=/=]TragicVillain
* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent

[[WMG:Vir Cotto (Stephen Furst)]]

->'' '''Londo:''' There is still hope for you...and for that I find I still envy you. ''

* {{Adorkable}}: His quiet, generally bumbling manner slips him into this territory.
* {{Ambadassador}}: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8MjQ5Z7ZNo Here's how he earned the promotion to ambassador]].
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Don't even assume Vir's kindness and {{Adorkable}} mannerisms mean he's weak or helpless.
* ButtMonkey
* TheConscience: Londo's conscience, though often a rather ineffective one. He's not ''entirely'' ignored, though; as early as "The War Prayer", Vir manages to get Londo to listen to him.

* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu -- by flipping off their proxy: Mr. Morden.
--> '''Vir''': I'd like to live just long enough to be there when they cut off your head and stick it on a pike, as a warning to the next ten generations that some favors come with too high a price. I want to look up into your ''lifeless'' eyes, and wave... like this.
--> ''[Vir does a mocking little cutesy wave.]''
--> '''Vir''': Can you and your associates arrange that for me, Mr. Morden?
** [[spoiler:Like every other request to Morden, his wish is granted. He's happier with ''his'' wish than Londo, G'Kar, and Lennier were with ''theirs'', though.]]
* [[spoiler:TheEmperor]]
* HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath: [[spoiler: When he kills Cartagia. Though the assassination was the only way to save billions of lives, the guilt overwhelms him.]]
* HiddenDepths
* HypercompetentSidekick: Vir can carry out complex negotiations with other alien ambassadors with little to no guidance from Londo; generally has needed research ready before Londo even requests it; and often fills in for Londo when Londo is otherwise occupied/hung over/not on speaking terms with G'Kar. Diplomatic personnel who refuse to deal with Londo will go to Vir instead if they ''really'' have to deal with the Centauri. Eventually Vir [[spoiler: receives appointment as ambassador to Minbar--partly on merit and partly because Londo wants to keep him away from [[DeadlyDecadentCourt the Centaurum while Cartagia is Emperor]]. Vir becomes a highly-placed official when Londo takes the throne, and eventually becomes Emperor himself.]]
* OnlySaneMan
* PluckyComicRelief
* RankUp: [[spoiler: happens twice on-screen; first when Vir is appointed ambassador to the Minbari and again when he succeeds Londo as [[TheEmperor Emperor]]. As the Centauri believe their emperors become gods after they die, Vir will eventually become a Centauri deity as well]].
* SecretKeeper: To Londo. This leads him to a small HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath in season 2.
* SueDonym: [[AbrahamLincoln Abrahamo Lincolni]], a made-up bureaucrat who saves thousands of Narns. Only, he used the name deliberately.
** While this proves to be a PaperThinDisguise to the humans when they come across the name and recognize it immediately for what it is, the ''Centauri'' have no familiarity with the Earther historical figure, and would have no reason to.
* TokenGoodTeammate
* TheUnFavorite

[[WMG:Emperor Cartagia (Wortham Krimmer)]]

->''One of our very best torturers. I felt certain he would break him. Two hours he worked. Not a sound! I said, 'Give me a cry, give me a shout, a whimper, a scream'. Silence! So, I got into it myself. You can't leave these things to others, they never get it right.''

* AristocratsAreEvil: He's Emperor and one of the most evil forces in the show.
* TheCaligula: Lampshaded by Londo in the novelization of ''In The Beginning''.
* DepravedBisexual: [[WordOfGay According to Krimmer, anyway]].
* EvilIsHammy: And don't you ''dare'' tell him to tone it down, because he will backhand you for your insolence in telling "the stars to darken on a whim".
* AGodAmI: He hopes to achieve this with the aid of the show's resident cosmic menace.
** To be precise, according to the Centauri religion all emperors become gods upon their deaths. Cartagia wants to be one while he's still alive to enjoy it...
* KickTheDog: Notices a court jester mocking him, but decides to play along much to the relief of the courtiers and servants who were in fear for the jester's life...[[MoodWhiplash then has the man executed once the fun is over]].
* ModestRoyalty: Well, by Centauri standards anyway. In particular, his insistence on a very short hair crest. A Centauri male of his rank should have a ''huge'' crest to reflect his status, but he prefers the shorter crest because it allows him to [[KingIncognito go slumming outside the palace]].
* MummiesAtTheDinnerTable: He keeps the severed heads of executed courtiers on his desk, and occasionally stops by to chat with them.
* OffWithHisHead: Courtiers who displease him get this treatment. Then he uses them as his Council (or "Shadow Cabinet" as he calls them).
* OmnicidalManiac: When you plan to turn your homeworld into a giant funeral pyre, you qualify.
* [[PuppetKing Puppet Emperor]]: Averted, Refa and his cronies wanted to rule through Cartagia, but he's too mad to be properly controlled.
* [[spoiler:ShootTheDog]]: [[spoiler:His ultimate fate.]]
* UnwittingPawn: Perhaps inevitable given pitting a madman against Londo in chessmastery.

[[WMG:Lord Antono Refa (William Forward)]]

->''It is a small price to pay for immortality.''

* AmbitionIsEvil
* AristocratsAreEvil
* AssholeVictim: [[NotMeThisTime As it turns out]], he was actually innocent of the crime that he was assassinated in retaliation for. That's not nearly the same as saying he didn't ''deserve'' the death he got. He did do everything else on the list, though.
* EvilChancellor: He orchestrates the deaths of the Emperor and Prime Minister to install Cartagia.
* KarmicDeath: Beaten to death by a mob of angry Narn.
* NotMeThisTime: Londo arranges Refa's death because he assumes Refa had his lover Adira murdered. [[spoiler: It was actually Morden doing a BatmanGambit.]]
* TheStrategist: Whatever his faults, Refa is excellent being this, correctly interpreting intelligence on the Narn's fleet's major strike and planning a trap of his own.
* UnwittingPawn: When he went to Narn.
* UpperClassTwit

[[WMG: Urza Jaddo]]

Nobleman and old friend of Londo. When his family is disgraced in Centauri politics he provokes a duel with Mollari to ensure that after his death Londo will care for his family according to the customs of Centauri duels.

* BatmanGambit: Challenges Londo to a duel with weapons that favor his skills only to throw the match and let Londo kill him as honor dictates that his family would be brought under the protection of House Mollari and be protected from Refa.
* BlueBlood
* BadassGrandpa: Even Londo can not match his skill with a blade.
* CulturedBadass
* DuelToTheDeath
* FriendlyEnemy
* HeroicSacrifice: Allows Londo to kill him in a duel to save his family.

* PapaWolf: Lord Refa was doing his best to ruin his family, so he does what he has to to ensure their safety and well being.

* [[SuicideByCop Suicide By Londo]]

[[WMG:Adira Tyree (Fabiana Udenio)]]
* HookerWithAHeartOfGold
* InLoveWithTheMark
* SexSlave
* StuffedIntoTheFridge

[[WMG:Timov Mollari (Jane Carr)]]
* ArrangedMarriage
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: [[SubvertedTrope Well, no they don't]]. But they tolerate each other, and at least they're honest about their lack of affection or romantic interest. More importantly, [[spoiler:they know that they won't try to kill each other.]]
* BrutalHonesty: Her default mode. [[spoiler:Londo seems to prefer this over the insincerity of the his other two wives.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: She tells others what she thinks of them (rarely anything good), and doesn't care what they think about that.
** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: She definitely has standards, though; see WhatYouAreInTheDark.
* PlatonicLifePartners: They're not friends or lovers in any possible sense of the word. Nevertheless, it's rather telling that Londo never attempted to divorce her or marry someone else, even after becoming Emperor.
** Centauri practice polygamy and explicitly marry for political reasons. The marriage to Timov may ultimately reflect a family alliance Londo still finds advantageous (not to mention a possible need for an heir). Londo may have been leading up to marriage, or at least a ''very'' public affair, with Adira [[spoiler: before Morden had her killed]]. Londo ''could'' have kept her as a slave and concubine, and gotten what he wanted, but chose to free her. ''That's'' love.
* SdrawkcabName: Timov is vomit spelled backwards.
* WhatYouAreInTheDark: She didn't have to donate blood to save Londo, she could have easily kept it a secret and gotten the inheritance. She openly admits that part of her wouldn't mind seeing Londo die, but tells Dr. Franklin that she won't win her battles like this.

[[WMG:Lyndisty Drusella (Carmen Thomas)]]
* ArrangedMarriage - to [[spoiler:Vir. It doesn't last long, and you can be thankful for that.]]
* DaddysLittleVillain
* FantasticRacism: Against the Narn, to the point of extreme sadism.
* ProperLady
* StepfordSmiler

[[WMG:Emperor Turhan (Turhan Bey)]]

* BaldOfAwesome
* CoolOldGuy
* TheDanza: Though his name is mentioned after his death
* TheGhost: For much of the series.
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: He's quite aware of backstabbing, power hungry nature of his courtiers. He even wanted to formally apologize to the Narn for the atrocities commited during the First Occupation of Narn.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure
* [[TheWisePrince The Wise Emperor]]
* WeHardlyKnewYe: He dies in his only appearance

[[WMG:Prime Minister Malachi (Malachi Thorne)]]

* BigOlEyebrows
* CoolOldGuy
* TheDanza: Like Emperor Turhan, his name is also mentioned after his death.
* GenreSavvy
* TheGoodChancellor
* NeverSuicide: Refa and his cohorts inform he had commited suicide. Several GenreSavvy nobles, like Urza Jaddo suspect that Refa had him murdered.
* NumberTwo

[[folder:The Narn Regime]]

[[WMG:Narn in general]]
->''Though it take a thousand years, we will be free.''

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority
* BizarreAlienBiology: As mentioned below, the Narn are actually marsupials. And it's the men who carry their young children in pouches.
* ButtMonkey
* CycleOfRevenge: 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, starting the Narn-Centauri War, a war which they lose (partly because the Centauri have Mr. Morden's "associates" on their side). 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.
-->'''Sinclair:''' "In order to be free you had to learn to fight. No one questions that. But you've overcompensated. You are like abused children who have grown big enough to do the same thing to someone else as if it would somehow balance the scales. It won't. If you let the anger cloud your judgment, it will destroy you."
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: The Narn were once a peaceful and spiritual race, and their status as conquering villains at the start of the series comes from [[NeverBeHurtAgain their desire to ensure they'll never be again at the mercy of the Centauri]].
** {{Irony}}: The Centauri ''share the same exact backstory'' of being a peaceful race turned into conquerors after being attacked by ''two'' enslaving and genocidal races and using the technology of the latter to reach the stars in the attempt to never be hurt again.
* MisterSeahorse
* NeverBeHurtAgain: In the early seasons. Their motivation, which prompts their bullying, their expansion, their desire to crush the Centauri, is largely about ensuring that they'll never again be at the mercy of the Centauri.
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: 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.
* TheReptilians (although they're actually scaly marsupials)
* LaResistance
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilised

[[WMG:Ambassador G'Kar (Andreas Katsulas)]]

->''It is said that the future is always born in pain. The history of war is the history of pain. If we are wise, what is born of that pain matures into the promise of a better world, because we learn that we can no longer afford the mistakes of the past.''

* {{Ambadassador}}
* AssInAmbassador
* CassandraTruth: He discovers that a very old, very powerful race has returned, and attempts to bring proof to the Babylon 5 Security Council in order to rally the other races together and fight the new threat. Nobody listens to him. [[spoiler: It is later revealed that the Narn Regime may have been the ''last'' to learn of the Shadows' return, as the Vorlons and Minbari were already putting their own secret plans in motion, and the Shadows had already begun to gain influence amongst the Centauri and Human governments. [[note]]Those who were in the know kept G'kar (as well as Sinclair and Sheridan) out of the loop for their own various reasons.[[/note]]]]
* CharacterDevelopment: While he is always something of a WarriorPoet, he started out as a part-time IneffectualSympatheticVillain, later becoming more ThePhilosopher by the time the show ends. [[spoiler: He endured several fires to get there, seeing his homeworld decimated and occupied by his sworn enemies, learning that Sheridan and Delenn let it happen to keep the Shadows complacent, and finally being personally tortured by [[TheCaligula Emperor Cartagia]] who orders one of his eyes gouged out and nearly executes him. And along the way he went on a Vorlon-influenced VisionQuest.]]
* ChivalrousPervert
* CovertPervert: By season 4 he has an artificial eye that transmits an image even while it's not in his head and what does he do with it? [[spoiler: He spies on Sheridan and Delenn on their wedding night.]]
* EnemyMine: Londo, on two separate occasions.
* EyeScream
* HeelFaceTurn
* HotBlooded
* MarsNeedsWomen: And more or less every other sexually-compatible species, it would seem, although humans are obviously abundant on a human space station.
-->'''Na'Toth''' (after G'kar finds an assassin's calling card in his bed): "It is not my place to speculate upon how anything gets into your bed. Your reputed fascination with Earth women, for example..."
* MessianicArchetype
* MoralMyopia: He seems perfectly fine with ''Narn'' being TheBully in the first season. Rather less so when Narn are being bullied. [[spoiler: He gets over it.]]
* MyCountryRightOrWrong
* NotSoDifferent
* OddFriendship: With Londo.
* RevengeBeforeReason
** Played with; he is often dominated by the desire for revenge, to a degree that would be unwholesome for a real diplomat. However, he can put reason before revenge when needed (as in "Deathwalker"). [[spoiler:And he gets over it in later seasons.]]
* ScarsAreForever
* SmugSnake
* StopWorshippingMe
* TragicBigot
* WarriorPoet
* WellIntentionedExtremist
* WithFriendsLikeThese: [[spoiler: When he finds out that Delenn allowed the slaughter of his people at the Shadows' hands to avoid revealing that the Shadows' return was known, G'Kar tearfully, painfully, admits she was correct to do so. And that he might ''eventually'' forgive her for it--but not that day.]]

[[WMG:Na'Toth (Caitlin Brown, Mary Kay Adams)]]
* BerserkButton: DEATHWALKER!
* BusCrash: Subverted.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Subverted. While she quietly disappeared from the series early in season 2, she reappeared in a season 5 episode. And before that, a season 3 episode established what had happened to her.
* DarkActionGirl
* DeadpanSnarker
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Delivered to Jha'Dur in Deathwalker.
* NotQuiteDead
* TheOtherDarrin
* PutOnABus / TheBusCameBack

[[WMG:Na'Far (Stephen Macht)]]
* LesCollaborateurs: to the Centauri Republic
* MouthOfSauron: To the Centauri-controlled [[TheQuisling Provisional Government]] of Narn
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: He considers the efforts of the Narn Resistance to be counterproductive, leading to greater loss of life.
* ReplacementGoldfish: Sent by the Provisional Government to replace G'Kar - the last free member of the Kha'Ri - as the head of the Narn community on Babylon 5.

[[WMG:Ta'Lon (Marshall Teague)]]
* [[spoiler:{{Ambadassador}}: Becomes G'Kar's replacement as ambassador to Babylon 5]]
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: During his time as a prisoner of the Streib
* LesCollaborateurs: Briefly became the bodyguard of Centauri collaborator Na'Far
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Rarely seen without K'tok, the Narn version of the earth katana
* NumberTwo: Becomes G'Kar closest confidant after joining him
* ReplacementGoldfish: Becomes one of sorts to Na'toth, who is imprisoned during the Second Occupation of Narn. [[spoiler:By the end of the series he becomes one for G'Kar.]]
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Abandons Na'Far to join G'Kar

[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Vorlon Empire]]

[[WMG:Vorlons in general]]

->''Who are you?''

* AbusivePrecursors
* AncientAstronauts: Implied. It is unknown if they planted religions to manipulate the younger races or if they took advantage of pre-existing religions.
* AncientConspiracy
* BeneathTheMask: The series references that seeing a Vorlon's true face inspires absolute trust, and Kosh himself says that he avoids showing it since he would be recognized. By who, someone asks? [[spoiler: Everyone. The Vorlons look like angels. Later subverted, when we discover this is what they cause the younger races to see them as.]]
** Everyone [[spoiler:except Londo]], that is...
* CatchPhrase
* EnergyBeing
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Murdering a few species to prevent the Shadows from gaining influence among the younger races? The Vorlons find this acceptable. Murdering EVERY other species solely because they are inferior to you, as the Thirdspace aliens do? The Vorlons find that horrifying.
** In addition, while they claim to be largely indifferent to the affairs of the younger races, the Vorlon Empire filed a formal protest against the Centauri Republic for launching an orbital bombardment of the Narn homeworld. This from a government whose representative usually declines to even show up for B5 Security Council meetings, despite that being the only reason he's on B5 at all.
* GoodIsNotNice: The more caring Vorlon characters are this.
* KnightTemplar
* LightIsNotGood: The Vorlons deliberately cultivate an angelic image of themselves to inspire superstitious awe in less advanced races, [[spoiler:but only some of them genuinely care about the younger races' well-being, while most of the others only want to to impose their (highly dogmatic) ideology on the younger races and to recruit them into the war with the Shadows that lost its meaning long ago]].
* ManipulativeBastard
* SadistTeacher
* StarfishAlien
* SufficientlyAdvancedAliens
* WellIntentionedExtremist
* YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm

[[WMG:Ambassador Kosh Naranek (Ardwight Chamberlain)]]

->''I have always been here.''

* CrypticConversation: Talks almost exclusively in these.
* DefectorFromDecadence: Toward the end
* HeroicSacrifice (twice)
* {{Koan}}: known as "Koshisms" in the fandom
* MathematiciansAnswer: Kosh is ''really'' fond of these, to Sheridan's irritation, and there's even hints that he does it partly just to mess with him.
--> '''Sheridan:''' ''"How do I know you're the same Vorlon? Inside that encounter suit, you could be anyone."''
--> '''Kosh:''' ''"I have always been here."''
--> '''Sheridan:''' ''"Oh yeah? You said that about me, too."''
--> '''Kosh:''' ''"Yes."''
--> '''Sheridan:''' ''"I really hate it when you do that."''
--> '''Kosh:''' ''"Good."''
* MentorOccupationalHazard
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: The reason Vorlons have any reputation at all for benevolence is because Kosh actually gives a damn about the younger races.
* NoBodyLeftBehind
* NotQuiteDead
* TheObiWan
* OldMaster
* PetTheDog: Despite showing indifference to the problems of the Narn and Centauri in the first season Kosh interupts G'Kar's dust fueled MindRape of Londo and grants him a vision leading him to enlightenment, for absolutely no reason.
** Except, perhaps, to influence G'Kar to bring the Narns into the Alliance so they can be used as pawns against the Shadow-controlled Centauri. Kosh already knows both races are doomed, so he may have been trying to play the rivalry to the Vorlons' advantage.
* SternTeacher: Does not like being questioned or disobeyed but ultimately a good person with the best interests of the younger races in mind.
* ToBeLawfulOrGood: Kosh chooses to be Good while the other Vorlon choose merely being Lawful.

[[WMG:Ambassador Kosh II/ Ulkesh Naranek (Ardwight Chamberlain)]]

->''We are all Kosh.''

* AllThereInTheScript: he insists on being called "Kosh" throughout, after the character he replaces. His real name, Ulkesh, was only revealed in a spin-off novel. He's also "younger" than Kosh
* BadBoss
* ColorCodedCharacters: While Kosh's encounter suit is light-colored, Ulkesh's is [[DarkIsEvil dark]] and his "eye" is red instead of Kosh's green.
* DomesticAbuser: [[spoiler:poor Lyta...]]
* EvilCounterpart: To Kosh
* KnightTemplar
* RedEyesTakeWarning
* VaderBreath

[[WMG: Sebastian the Inquisitor AKA JackTheRipper: Vorlon Examiner of ChosenOne Candidates]]

->''Remembered not as a messenger, remembered not as a reformer...not as a prophet, not as a hero...not even as Sebastian.Remembered only... as Jack.''

* AlienAbduction
* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: Inverted.
* BreakTheHaughty: What the Vorlons did to him, and what they have him do now on their behalf.
* DeathSeeker: "They showed me the terrible depth of my mistake, my crimes, my... presumption. I have done four hundred years of penance and service, a job for which they said I was ideally suited. Now, perhaps, they will finally let me die."
* DrivenByEnvy
* ExaltedTorturer
* IronicHell: [[spoiler: Sebastian wanted to purify the world of sin. Now, as his "penance," that's all he's allowed to do.]]
* KnightTemplar
* MaleGaze: A blink-and-you'll-miss-it invocation that serves as an early hint to his identity. Just as he laments that "nothing changes", the camera lingers on some of the more-revealingly-dressed women milling about the Zocalo.
* SadistTeacher
* [[ScrewYouElves Screw You Delenn]]: He continually says this to her during the session.
* SecretTestOfCharacter
* SerialKiller: His previous vocation.
* StayWithTheAliens: Not that anyone ''wanted'' him back...
* TouchedByVorlons
* TrainingFromHell
* WhatYouAreInTheDark: Invoked.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Shadows]]

[[WMG:Shadows in general]]

->''What do you want?''

* AbusivePrecursors
* BigBad
* BigCreepyCrawlies
* ByTheEyesOfTheBlind: Can normally only be seen by telepaths.
* CatchPhrase: What do you want?
* EldritchAbomination: It's unclear if they '''fully''' qualify for this, but they certainly like to present themselves this way.
* EvilMentor: [[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:GoneHorriblyRight]]: 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.]]
* HigherTechSpecies[=/=]SufficientlyAdvancedAliens: Borderline. Unlike Vorlons, Shadows need ships.
* HumanResources
* InsectoidAliens
* LaserBlade: Their unique space combat tactics, where their large battleships extrude an EnergyWeapon beam and slash other ships with it like a sword, instead of just shooting them.
* ManipulativeBastard
* SocialDarwinist
* StarfishAlien
* UltimateEvil

[[WMG: Mr Morden (Ed Wasser)]]

->''Yes. I think he's ready...perfect for our needs... He suspects nothing. When the time is right, Ambassador Mollari will do exactly as we wish. Destiny is on our side.''

* AffablyEvil
* BadassInANiceSuit
* TheCorrupter
* [[spoiler:DecapitationPresentation: As Morden's final want fulfillment for Vir, courtesy of Londo.]]
* DealWithTheDevil
* DevilInPlainSight
* FakingAmnesia
* TheHandler
* ManipulativeBastard
* MouthOfSauron
* NoNameGiven
* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: 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.
* OffWithHisHead: Londo's "present" to Vir.
* ProphecyTwist : 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.
* RedFilterOfDoom : The lights and surrounding ambience would darken and redden around him during some of his more adversarial encounters with characters (such as with Londo when their relations were strained, in "Interludes and Examinations").
* SmugSnake
* ThatManIsDead
* UnexplainedRecovery

[[WMG:Justin (Jeff Correy)]]

->''I am with them. Same group, different department. Think of me as a sort of middle man. And the name is Justin...''

* AffablyEvil
* BerserkButton: A minor one, but the "Vorlon question" vexes him so he [[Doublespeak doesn't give a straight answer]].
* TheCorrupter: Though he fails in his attempt to corrupt Sheridan.
* EvilCounterpart: Sheridan's "equal and opposite" since he does all his work behind the scenes. He coordinates the human agents of the Shadows.
* EvilEyebrows
* EvilOldFolks
* JoinOrDie: After dropping the CoolOldGuy WeCanRuleTogether speech he pretty much threats Sheridan
* MouthOfSauron
* NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine: Offers tea to Sheridan.
* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans

[[WMG: Anna Sheridan (Beth Toussant, Melissa Gilbert)]]

* BrainwashedAndCrazy
* CameBackWrong
* AFateWorseThanDeath: Forcibly placed in a Shadow vessel. Her personality was completely [[EmptyShell erased]] and replaced with one subservient to the Shadows.
* HeroesWantRedheads
* HotScientist
* TheOtherDarrin

[[/folder]]

[[folder:The League of Non-Aligned Worlds]]

[[WMG:The League in general]]

* TheAlliance: A loose one, in order to give their worlds a voice and not be eclipsed by the major powers.
* AllThereInTheManual: 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.
* AssInAmbassador: Often. The Drazi ambassador, definitely. The Brakiri ambassador has his moments. And the League as a whole will often decide to be stubborn over Sheridan's latest idea, to bring another level of conflict to a given episode.
* HufflepuffHouse: 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 DemotedToExtra and the Vree are seen in person only once, though their ships show up a lot.

[[WMG: The Drazi]]

->''Purple! Green!''

* ComedicSociopathy: 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.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness / ArtEvolution: In the first season, the back of their heads are smooth. In season two, some Drazi start appearing with layered scales on the back of the scalp. In their showcase episode “The Geometry of Shadows’’, both variants of Drazi appear, in the same scenes. By season three, and from then on, all Drazi have the scales. In early seasons their cheeks tended to be spiked, but this was less common later on.
* FantasticRankSystem: According to the episode ''Deathwalker'', their ships are commanded by a ''Makar''. The only other Drazi rank we hear of, though, is the far more mundane "General".
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: They become this in later seasons, after the Narn leave the role vacant thanks to the rise of G'Kar.
* TheReptilians
* ScaryDogmaticAliens: A mild example. Violence is their way, and they're not the friendliest of people, but nor are they antagonists. In a strange way, they're one of Babylon 5's strongest allies.
* SillyReasonForWar: Their politics involve randomly splitting into two groups and then fighting each other.
* ViolentGlaswegian
* WarriorMonk: 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.

[[WMG: The Brakiri]]

* AllThereInTheManual: 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're 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.
* DarkIsNotEvil: They have a mildly sinister appearance, they're nocturnal, and they have a creepy necromantic religion, but they aren't bad people. Indeed, during the Shadow War, the Brakiri ambassador was one of Delenn's most loyal allies amongst the League races.
* DiurnalNocturnalAnimal: Despite being nocturnal, they're often seen wandering around in daylight.
* OneNationUnderCopyright: Apparently, their government is corporate-based.
* RubberForeheadAliens

[[WMG: The pak’ma’ra[[note]]The lower-case is the canon spelling[[/note]]]]

* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: Because of their ImAHumanitarian way of life, they are difficult to poison.
* {{Cthulhumanoid}}
* HiddenDepths: Despite being quite benevolent, they're considered "stubborn, lazy, obnoxious, greedy" and are infamous for eating carrion. Yet according to Vir Cotto, their singing is the most beautiful sound he ever heard. It also made Londo cry.
* ImAHumanitarian: They eat carrion, including the bodies of sapient races.
* TheRightOfASuperiorSpecies: They believe they are the Chosen People for their ImAHumanitarian aspects. As one pak'ma'ra said, "pak'ma'ra are chosen of God. Very special, we can eat of all the creatures who walk and fly and crawl, but not of the fish in the sea."

[[WMG: The Abbai]]

* DemotedToExtra: After the first season.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness / ArtEvolution: In their first episode, their crests are longer than in their second appearance - after that, both variants show up as background extras, but the shorter version is more common.
* FishPeople
* LadyLand: According to source materials, their government is matriarchal. This is supported in the show by all but one member of their delegation being female.
* NonMammalMammaries: 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.

[[WMG: The Markab]]

* ApocalypseHow: The ''drafa'' plague results in a Class 3; the extinction of the Markab race.
* HolierThanThou: The attitude that dooms them.
* TheNoseless
* ThePlague
** WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: 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...

[[WMG: The Vree]]

* FlyingSaucer: Their ships, of which two designs are seen.
* TheGreys: 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.
** One member of their race is even brought up on civil charges by a human; the individual Vree's grandfather had abducted the human's grandfather.
* HufflepuffHouse: 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.
* TheVoiceless

[[WMG: The Gaim]]

* HiveQueen: "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.
* InsectoidAliens
* ShoutOut: Named after NeilGaiman, and their environment suits are patterned after the appearance of [[ComicBook/TheSandman Morpheus]]' mask.
* TranslatorMicrobes: They only speak through an electronic translator device.

[[WMG: The Hyach]]

* DarkSecret
* DyingRace: Slowly dying. There's still a lot of them around, but their population is falling and they're on the decline.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness / ArtEvolution: In the first season, they’re mostly tan or beige in colour, with larger heads; by season two they’re either brick red or orange. After that, they’re orange pretty much all the time, though the red variant still makes appearances. Also, some of the early Hyach (and a later one in ''Legend of the Rangers'') have small amounts of fur on their cheeks. FridgeBrilliance, given that [[spoiler: Hyach-Doh had hair]].
* [[spoiler: GenocideBackfire]]: What their governement is hiding is the reason for them being a DyingRace.
* GovernmentConspiracy: The Elders are dedicated to keeping the [[spoiler: genocide of their counterpart race]] a secret.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Telepaths]]

[[WMG:Telepaths in general]]

* EliteMooks: Created by the Vorlons to fight against the Shadows
* FantasticRacism: Many telepaths are guilty of this as well as being targets of it.
* AMindIsATerribleThingToRead
* MutantDraftBoard: Human telepaths, anyway.

[[WMG:Talia Winters (Andrea Thompson)]]

->''I don't feel like a victim.''

* AbortedArc
* BiTheWay: She was married to a man named Matt Stoner [[spoiler:and slept with Ivanova]].
* FaceHeelTurn [[spoiler: As the result of an artificially-implanted personality being activated and [[DeathOfPersonality destroying]] the original one.]]
* ForgottenFallenFriend: The crew really doesn't seem to think very much about Talia after her real personality is effectively murdered by reciting the keyword triggering her sleeper personality.
** Well, the next time Bester (below) arrives he comments on what was learned at her dissect..."debriefing". This doesn't necessarily mean that Talia was actually dissected. Bester is the kind of guy who would think it's funny to say that to her old friends. And let's not forget Ivanova's confession to Delenn mid-season 3:
---> '''Ivanova:''' I think I loved Talia.
* LimitedWardrobe: Talia gets a ''lot'' of wear out of that gold blazer. This is more evident than with other characters, each of whom wear an assigned uniform or ceremonial garb.
* [[spoiler:ManchurianAgent: For Bureau 13[=/=]Department Sigma]]
* [[spoiler:TheMole]] Revealed to be one at the end of season 2.
* PutOnABus
** BusCrash: Maybe. When Bester speaks of her, he uses past tense and speaks of dissecting her. This, of course, could be a ruse to get the heroes so angry he can bypass their defenses and read their minds easily.

[[WMG:Lyta Alexander (Patricia Tallman)]]

->''You cannot stop one who's been touched by Vorlons!''

* BlackMagicianGirl
* BreakTheCutie
* TheDogBitesBack: to Kosh II (Ulkesh).
* EyeColorChange: In the later seasons, Lyta Alexander's eyes would turn [[BlackEyesOfEvil solid black]] whenever she made use of the [[TouchedByVorlons Vorlon enhancements to her psychic abilities]]. However she became even more powerful in the PostscriptSeason, she acquires GlowingEyesOfDoom instead. Possibly because the black contacts used for the old effect were painful to wear.
* FieryRedhead - or Cold Rage Redhead
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: ColorCodedForYourConvenience[[spoiler: Glowing green eyes when she is linked with a Vorlon, Inky black eyes when she is linked with the Shadows (typically when she is hitting them with a [[PsychicStatic psychic attack]])]]
* PersonOfMassDestruction
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: 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.]]
* StockholmSyndrome
* TouchedByVorlons (personal TropeNamer)
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds

[[WMG:Alfred Bester (Walter Koenig)]]

->''I'm here to save your butts. Next time show a little gratitude.''

* ArchEnemy: To Garibaldi and Ivanova
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: 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 [[TheChessmaster people skills]] as well.
-->'''Lyta Alexander''': "[=PsiCops=] are trained to make people feel nervous. Bester makes ''other [=PsiCops=]'' nervous!"
* BadAss: He accidentally discovers the Shadows' AchillesHeel when he picks up on the mental noise of the [[WetwareCPU integrated pilot]] of a Shadow ship about to pounce on the [[CoolStarship White Star]] with him aboard. He simply blocks the noise out, which effectively "jams" the Shadow vessel's controls. Using telepaths to do this ''intentionally'' becomes an integral strategy for Sheridan later.
** HandicappedBadass: 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.
* BerserkButton: Do not threaten or otherwise endanger his lover.
* BewareTheSuperman: Actively plotting what appears to be either the enslavement or extermination of non-telepaths.
* TheChessmaster
* DeadpanSnarker
* DevilInPlainSight: He doesn't even bother trying to play nice with Sheridan and the crew when he pops up in the first few seasons – he's an outright jerk to everyone and they can't do a thing about it.
* EnemyMine: When he told Sheridan where the telepaths were being shipped, which was a combination of PapaWolf, IWillFindYou, and a RoaringRampageOfRevenge upon the Shadows.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[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.]]
--> [[spoiler:''Your war is now my war.'']]
* FauxAffablyEvil
* InsultBackfire: Garibaldi one time says he wants to string Bester up like a pinata. After conversing about the matter at hand, he comes back to the insult and comments that pinatas are colorful things that are filled with candy and other goodies which bring joy to children. So he thanks Garibaldi for being called one.
* KnightTemplar: He will do anything to protect ''his'' telepaths. [[spoiler:Using Garibaldi to find out the conspiracy and even sacrificing his own men to get Babylon 5 to take him to Za'Ha'Dum to see what the Shadows left behind.]]
* NoseArt: His personal [[SpaceFighter Starfury]] is painted jet-black, with the Greek letter Omega in white. Mind you, he commands an entire [=PsiCop=] unit that operates these, but they only appear briefly in flashbacks or as UnwittingPawns in one of his plots.
* NotSoDifferent: He tries to argue this to Garibaldi in this comment. Garibaldi doesn't buy it.
--->'''Bester:''' My blood is the same color as yours, and what I do, I do to protect Earth, same as you. You don't like how I do it, that's your prerogative. But there are things going on out there that you know nothing about. Threats to the human race that no one ever hears about — because we stop them. There's dangers all around us! And whether you like us or not, we may be all that stands between you and the abyss.
** Also in the exchange with Garibaldi quoted below under ParanoiaFuel, he points out that they both use a badge and uniform to intimidate people when they find it useful to do so.
* OlderThanTheyLook: He's in his seventies when he first appears.
* ParanoiaFuel: He, the uniform, and his badge are this to anyone who knows the symbol. Even when he was on sleepers, he played them up, and the perp not knowing he couldn't scan him, to get information out.
--->'''Bester:''' Liars are always afraid that somebody's going to see through them. So I just provided him with a vehicle for his paranoia. Your captain's opinions notwithstanding, the badge and the uniform do have certain…advantages.\\
'''Garibaldi:''' Like intimidation?\\
'''Bester:''' [[NotSoDifferent Absolutely! Just like…your badge, and…your uniform]].
* PlayingAgainstType: ''Very'' different character from Chekov. One must remind oneself it's the same actor.
** Which, in fact, was the goal. To help Walter avoid type-casting.
* ShoutOut - to the real-world [[Creator/AlfredBester SF novelist of the same name]], who wrote the "telepathic secret police" novel ''Literature/TheDemolishedMan''. As it turns out, the ''Psi Corps'' novel trilogy reveals that he was purposefully renamed after Bester by his grandfather, a big fan. His birth name is Stephen Kevin Dexter.
** [[ThePrisoner Be seeing you.]]
* StateSec
* TranquilFury: When his BerserkButton gets pressed.
* VillainEpisode: "The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father"
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: There was a Bester episode planned for ''Series/{{Crusade}}'', "Value Judgements". It was unproduced due to the cancellation, but canonically happened, as referenced in ''Final Reckoning - The Fate of Bester''. The script can be read online.
* YouMightRememberMeFrom: Hey, it's [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Pavel Chekov]] as a fascistic psychic secret policeman!

[[WMG:Byron (Robin Atkin Downes)]]
* ActualPacifist: At first. Even to the point of, after being struck by a [[{{muggle}} mundane]], asking him to [[TurnTheOtherCheek 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.
* DefectorFromDecadence: [[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.]]
* FantasticRacism: Although he tends to accuse others of it, it's obvious that Byron has quite a chip on his shoulder about 'mundanes'
* IceCreamKoan
* KingOfTheHomeless: As the leader of the Telepath Colony on the station in Downbelow.
* LongHairedPrettyBoy
* NoseArt: [[spoiler: Painted jet-black, with the Greek letter Omega in white.]]
* PassiveAggressiveCombat: Byron is a master of it. He can make '''anything''' someone else's fault. To the point where telepaths fighting each other is the fault of mundanes, having been forced into it by mundane persecution. Even when those mundanes are aliens not involved in the internal politics of humanity.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Technomages]]

[[WMG:Technomages in general]]

* AncientTradition
* {{Cyborg}}: The technology the techno-mages use consists of bio-technological implants. The process of installing the implants and adjusting to them is excruciatingly painful.
* EliteMooks: They were created by the Shadows to become warriors of chaos and destruction, pretty much to counter Vorlon-created telepaths.
* MagicFromTechnology
* OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: The Circle, which seemingly governs the technomages
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: After the Shadows reawaken in 2259, technomages decide to leave known space
* SlaveRevolt: The original technomages revolted against the Shadows and spread the technology

[[WMG:Elric (Michael Ansara)]]

* BaldOfAwesome
* TheMentor: to Galen
* ParentalSubstitute: again to Galen

[[WMG:Galen (Peter Woodward)]]

->''Who do you serve and who do you trust?''
->Galen's Questions

* BaldOfAwesome
* TheChessmaster
* LargeHam
* MentorArchetype: To Matthew Gideon
* ManipulativeBastard

[[WMG:Isabelle (Sophie Ward)]]

[[WMG:Alwyn (Edward Woodward)]]

* CastingGag: Edward Woodward is the father of Peter Woodward (Galen)
* CoolOldGuy

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Others]]

[[WMG:Series/BabylonFive]]

->''Our Last Best hope For Peace''

* CityOfAdventure
* CityOfSpies
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Each Babylon station was evidently painted in a different color scheme. The first Babylon station was red, Babylon 4 was green, and Babylon 5 was blue.
** Likewise, each section of the station was color-coded. Blue Sector is for administration, docking bays, and Medlabs. Red Sector was the main living area, with markets and housing. Green Sector contained the hydroponic gardens for food and oxygen, as well as recreation areas. Grey Sector contained all the station's heavy machinery. Inside of Grey Sector is Yellow Sector, which contains the fusion power plant. Finally, there's Brown sector, which contains maintenance and reclamation, but is best known for Downbelow, where B5's transient population lives.
* GovernmentInExile: Not only served as a human government in exile, but harbored the Narn government in exile, and what was [[TropesAreFlexible almost but not quite]] a Minbari government in exile.
** More specifically, Delenn was using it as a base for the Rangers and as an aid to waging war against The Shadows with the Grey Council in abeyance.
* HomeBase
* LandOfOneCity: 3-4 seasons
* NotSoSafeHarbor
* SpaceStation
* TruceZone

[[WMG:Marcus Cole (Jason Carter)]]

->''Where I come from is a much more interesting place.''

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: The TropeNamer (he didn't say it, but the speaker was referencing him).
* AManIsNotAVirgin: Averted.
* TheAtoner: His younger brother, who was a Ranger, came to warn him about an attack; he didn't believe it, leading to his brother's death. This led him to join the Rangers.
* BadassBeard
* BadassBookworm
* BadassLongcoat
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Ivanova.
* CelibateHero
* CulturedBadass
** HeartbrokenBadass
* DoggedNiceGuy: To Susan Ivanova.
* DoomedHometown
* GentlemanSnarker
* GoingNative: He is more comfortable acting Minbari then acting human.
* KnightInSourArmor
** KnightInShiningArmor too: He has a poetically idealistic personality.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: With Ivanova.
* OppositesAttract: With Ivanova.
* ThePaladin
* SlapSlapKiss: With Ivanova. [[spoiler: though just as they were getting to the 'kiss' part...he died.]]
* StepfordSnarker
* ThoseTwoGuys: Whenver paired with Franklin on a mission.
* UnresolvedSexualTension: With Ivanova.
* WarriorPoet
* WillTheyOrWontThey: With Ivanova.

[[WMG: David Mckintyre AKA "King Arthur"]]

->''No man takes Excalibur away from me and lives!''

* TheAtoner
* BashBrothers: Briefly with G'Kar.
** Evolves into FireForgedFriends when [[spoiler: Mckintyre, having gained closure and resumed his normal identity, leaves the station with G'Kar to help aid and advise the Narn Resistance]].
* BullyHunter: "And they made a very satisfying thump"
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass
* {{Forgiveness}}: [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Between him and Delenn]]. He was actually the man who fired the first shot of the Earth-Minbari war and she was the deciding vote for the Minbari declaration of war.
* ILikeSwords
* JustFollowingOrders: When he fired on the Minbari fleet.
* KingInTheMountain: Subverted. He only thought he was King Arthur. Marcus Cole did suggest that he might actually be King Arthur, preserved by the Vorlons, but that was a red herring.
* KnightInShiningArmor.
* MysteriousPast
* NotSoDifferent: With Delenn. Perhaps Marcus too in a different way.
* ShellShockedVeteran
* SpaceMarine: in his MysteriousPast
* TraumaInducedAmnesia

[[WMG: Lorien (Wayne Alexander)]]

->''Why are you here?''

* [[CoolOldGuy Cool ''Really'' Old Guy]]
* DeusExMachina
* EnergyBeing
* FlatCharacter
* {{Immortality}}
* LastOfHisKind
* TheObiWan
* TheOlderImmortal: The first of his species were born immortal and he is the oldest of them and claims to be the first sentient being in the galaxy.
* {{Precursors}}: (Lorien has referred to himself as '''''the''''' First One. His race was the one that taught and guided the races that eventually became known as the First Ones.)
* SufficientlyAdvancedAliens
* TimeAbyss: His claims to being the first sentient being in the galaxy and to remember when the Earth was forming.

[[WMG: Draal (Louis Turenne, John Schuck)]]

->''I don't like surprises!''

* HumanityIsInfectious: He likes the hokey-pokey after hearing it just once.
* LargeHam: Louis Turenne as Draal is rather subtle, but John Schuck loves to project his voice.
* ManInTheMachine: Draal replaces the caretaker of the Great Machine of Epsilon 3 which the station is close to.
* TheOtherDarrin: First played by Louis Turenne, but in future appearances as John Schuck. It is explained that the Great Machine rejuvenated his body.

[[WMG: Zathras (Tim Choate)]]

->''No one listens. It is good that Zathras does not mind, he has even come to like it.''

* BackupTwin: ''''''''Ten'''''''', well nine Zathras are alive. After one went back in time, the other eight remained in the present. All look the same and all named Zathras. The one who died, "Zathras warn Zathras, but Zathras never listen to Zathras."
* DittoAliens
* DitzyGenius: To whom else could anyone entrust a [[spoiler: time machine]]?
* TheEeyore
-->''Very sad life. Probably have very sad death. At least there is symmetry.''
* HarsherInHindsight: One of Zathras's most memorable lines is "[Zathras] probably have very sad death." The actor playing him, Tim Choate, died in a motorcycle accident.
* LostInTranslation: 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.''"
** [[ItMakesSenseInContext It makes a sort of sense in context]]. Zathras was searching for the tools and components to fix Sheridan's time stabilizer. Ivanova was being impatient and said that they were "running out of time". Zathras was, in his unique manner, basically replying that time wasn't the major issue; he, a finite being like Ivanova, had finite capabilities, and needed the right tools for the job before he could actually tackle the problem.
--->''Cannot run out of time. There is ''infinite'' time. ''You'' are finite. ''Zathras'' is finite. ''This''...is wrong tool.''
* PlanetOfSteves: Zathras is one of many brothers, all named Zathras.
* ThinkingOutLoud: A lot of Zathras' lines come across as him talking to himself at normal conversation level. Perhaps {{Justified}}, as his brother Zathras later says that they lead rather lonely lives.
* ThirdPersonPerson

[[WMG: The Drakh]]

* BodyHorror
* TheChessmaster
* DragonAscendant - their name is even similar to many Romance-language words for "dragon"!
* FantasticCasteSystem
* PuppeteerParasite
* TheRemnant: [[spoiler: They were servants of the Shadows.]]

[[WMG: The Raiders]]

* CombatPragmatist: 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 [[ZergRush overwhelming numbers.]]
* CurbStompBattle: The first time the Shadows make an appearance.
** Most times that we ever see them get cornered into a fight with Earth Force crews. The Starfury is shown to be far superior in pretty much every aspect to their ships. WordOfGod is that the Raiders, unlike the Starfuries, are built to maneuver in atmosphere as well as space, while the standard Starfury was built specifically for space.
* GunshipRescue: 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.
* SpacePirates
* StarterVillain: While they appear a COUPLE of times afterwards, they stop being a major threat after the Shadows appear.

[[WMG: The Streib]]

-->''Their last expedition was into Minbari space. We tracked them back to their homeworld...and made sure they understood the depth of their mistake.''

Aliens who kidnap others in order to experiment on them.

* AlienAbduction
* TheGreys
* MuggingTheMonster: Both when trying to kidnap Minbari and trying to kidnap humans. The Minbari were [[{{Understatement}} rather vindictive about it.]]

[[/folder]]

* DeadlyDecadentCourt

* ImprobableHairstyle

*** Created problems, since Londo's ridiculous hair is meant to be for a LOW ranking person. It's why the Emperor is always bald.