History Characters / BabylonFiveMinbariFederation

The mysterious Minbari ambassador to Babylon 5 and a member of the Grey Council. A soft-spoken and gentle woman fascinated by humanity, Delenn is an enigmatic figure working towards a hidden agenda. She eventually transforms herself into a HalfHumanHybrid in an attempt to bridge the gaps between the two species, which leads to her being removed from the Coucnil.

* SoreLoser: Many of the Warrior Caste seem to be. Even other Minbari sometimes acknowledge it.

* OddFriendship: In the novel ''Voices'', Garibaldi introduces Lennier to a Minbari-hating Psi Corps WarHawk military liaison largely just to distract the frustrated telepath, only for them to genuinely bond over lambasting the Warrior Caste.

* BreakoutCharacter: Thanks to loving D.C. Fontana's writing of the character and Creator/JohnVickery's performance, [=JMS=] went out of his way to make edits to his MythArc to ensure Neroon would play a large role in the Minbari side of things. This gives Neroon the honorable distinction of being perhaps the only character not created by [=JMS=], and therefore not originally playing any part in the larger MythArc, to have the story edited to be included more often.

* NoodleIncident: He's hinted to have died during the twenty year TimeSkip 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 WordOfGod.

* 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. Clans predate the caste system but are part of it, as each clan belongs to a particular caste, yet each Minbari is free to follow their calling, as demonstrated [[spoiler:by Neroon's dying conversion from warrior to religious.]] ''[[Recap/BabylonFiveS02E14ThereAllTheHonorLies There All the Honor Lies]]'' had two members of Lennier's clan, and between the three of them they represented all three castes.

** She's also unwilling to hurt Lennier's feelings when he all but admits to her that he romantically loves her. She decides to just imply that she loves him as a friend and hopes that he will take the hint. It doesn't, and things eventually go badly.

* FatalFlaw: Delenn aboslutely cannot bring herself to trust others with information they deserve to know, if she has justified to herself that it would hurt or endanger them to find out. For this reason, they feel deeply betrayed when they do finally find out what she's been keeping from them. Sheridan and G'kar are two major cases; Sheridan nearly abandons her for hiding the truth about his wife, and G'kar says he would've killed her if he'd discovered she hid the truth about the Shadows aiding the Centauri before he went through his awakening instead of after.

* TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask: There are times when she must smile, must laugh despite knowing the dark secrets she knows.

%% * TheyDo: With John.

[[folder: Dukhat ]]
[[quoteright:221:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dukhat.jpg]]
->'''Played by:''' Creator/ReinerSchone

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

He was the Chosen One, the leader of the Grey Council. His death by humans hands lead to the Earth-Minbari War.

* CallForward: One of the first things Delenn told Lennier, "I cannot have an aide who will not look up," was said to her by Dukhat a decade prior.
* CantArgueWithElves: [[AvertedTrope 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 a mistake.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Gives one, using a young Delenn as a contrasting example at that, to call out the Nine for their lack of curiosity and interest to examine the mystery the universe presented them called Humanity.

[[/folder]]

->''"We are [[Series/Cosmos star stuff]]. We are the universe made manifest, trying to figure itself out."''

->''"We are [[Series/CosmosAPersonalVoyage star stuff]]. We are the universe made manifest, trying to figure itself out."''

* CrownShapedHead: They have a non-human feature which is a large bony crest on the back of their heads, which often looks like a crown or tiara.

* SoreLoser: Many of the Warrior Caste seems to be. Even other Minbari sometimes acknowledge it.

* TheAtoner: For the Earth-Minbari war.

->'''Played by:'''Creator/JohnVickery

->'''Played by:'''Creator/BartMcCarthy

* CombatAestheticist

%% * The ChosenOne: [[spoiler: The One Who Is]]

%% * Cultured Badass

%% * Ermine CapeEffect

%% * Iron Lady

%% * The Mc Coy
%% * Messianic Archetype

* [[ThePhilosopher The Mystic]]

%% * ProudScholar RaceGuy
%% * RealMenLove Jesus

%% * Rousing Speech: She loves giving these.

* [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight Screw the Grey Council I'm Doing Whats Right]]: Her transformation at the end of season 1.

%% * Sexy Mentor: Poor Lennier...

%% * They Do: With John.
* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness / MomentOfWeakness: 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.

* [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask The Woman Wearing The Ambassadorial Mask]]: There are times when she must smile, must laugh despite knowing the dark secrets she knows.

%% AllLove IsUnrequited
%%* The Atoner: When last seen.
%% * Battle Butler

%% * BewareThe NiceOnes
%% * The Champion: To Delenn.

%% * Dogged NiceGuy: Type 2.

%% * TheNotLove Interest
%% * ProudScholarRace Guy
%% * The ReliableOne
%% * Stiff UpperLip

* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness[=/=]MomentOfWeakness: 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.

%% * The Bully

* IncendiaryExponent

* [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Proud Warrior Caste Guy]]

%% * WellIntentioned Extremist

* HonorBeforeReason: [[AvertedTrope Honor? What's that?]]

%%* Miles Gloriosus
%%* Proud WarriorRaceGuy
%%* Smug Snake

* 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.

* TheChosenOne: [[spoiler: The One Who Is]]

* CulturedBadass

* ErmineCapeEffect

* [[TheHighQueen The High Ambassador]]

* IronLady

* 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

* [[ProudScholarRaceGuy Proud Scholar Race Gal]]
* [[RealMenLoveJesus Real Minbari Love Valen]]

* RousingSpeech: She loves giving these.
* [[KingIncognito Satai Incognito]]: Her true status as a member of the Grey Council is only later revealed.

* SexyMentor: [[AllLoveIsUnrequited Poor Lennier...]]

* TheyDo: With John.

* AllLoveIsUnrequited
* TheAtoner: When last seen.
* BattleButler

* BewareTheNiceOnes
* TheChampion: To Delenn.
* CourtlyLove
* DoggedNiceGuy: Type 2.

* FatalFlaw
* GoodOldWays

* NiceGuy

* TheNotLoveInterest
* ProudScholarRaceGuy
* TheReliableOne
* StiffUpperLip

* TheBully

* WellIntentionedExtremist

* [[GloriousLeader Inglorious Leader]]

* MilesGloriosus
* [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Proud Warrior Caste Guy]]
* SmugSnake

* [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice: Sacrifices himself in place of Delenn at the Starfire Wheel.]]

* [[spoiler:RedemptionEqualsDeath]]: Making his HeelFaceTurn permanent in the process by stepping into the Starfire Wheel in Delenn's place when he realized she was going to immolate herself in it to invoke martyrdom, despite having already won the challenge.

** When Dukhat was killed during First Contact with humans, even Delenn called for Earth's destruction. [[spoiler: In fact, she cast the deciding vote (four voted in favour of war, four against) that led to the near genocide of the human race]]

* [[spoiler:RedemptionEqualsDeath]]: Making his HeelFaceTurn permanent in the process by stepping into the Starfire Wheel when Shakiri would or could not.

* {{Adorkable}}: Despite her wise nature, she is curious about many different things, with the darndest gaps in her vocabulary. Or, she just likes pretending not to understand things.
** She's definitely intensely curious, especially about humans. She makes an honest effort to comprehend Garibaldi's old Daffy Duck cartoons, and even if the humor (and popcorn) is completely lost on her, she clearly responds to how much ''he'' enjoys it.