History Characters / TeamFortress2

* [[Characters/TeamFortress2NonPlayerCharacters Non-Player Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]Mann Co. (The Administrator, Miss Pauling, Saxton Hale, Redmond and Blutarch Mann, Zephaniah Mann, Gray Mann, Olivia Mann, Charles Darling, The 1850's Team, [[spoiler:The Classic Team]]), The Mercs' Families (Scout's Mom, Demoman's Parents, Sniper's Parents, Bill-Bel and Lar-Nah, Radigan Conagher, Heavy's Family), Enemies and Bosses (Horseless Headless Horsemann, MONOCULUS!, Merasmus the Magician, Bombinomicon, The Robots, Skeleton Army), Others (Mayor Mike, Medic's Doves).[[/labelnote]]

* AffablyEvil[=/=]FauxAffablyEvil: [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality Entirely dependent on whether or not you're on the winning side.]]

* AntiVillain / AntiHero: Almost universally NobleDemon / NominalHero (With the exception of the [[MadScientist Medic]] ). The Mercs are by large violently murderous and property destroying, but they genuinely care about their families and friends, try to avoid implicating civilians in the Gravel Wars, and are universally shown to be much better than either their employers (Who they have no allegiance to, and simply perform the jobs for money.) or the truly repulsive Gray Mann and TFC team. Soldier and Pyro in particular would qualify as [[TragicVillain tragic villains]], considering their ''very'' severe mental illness if the game didn't entirely have it be PlayedForLaughs.

* BadassCrew: See BandOfBrothers below.
** BadassTransplant: Their hearts, otherwise they wouldn't survive an [=ÜberCharge=].

** EmpoweredBadassNormal: Then Halloween comes around, and everybody starts slinging spells around.
* BandOfBrothers

* CarnivalOfKillers: See below.

** In his initial pre-Retcon backstory, Demoman was abandoned by his birth parents as a young age, and killed his adopted parents and lost his eye in the process.

* [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Everyone Calls Them Barkeep:]] Nobody calls each other by their real names in-game, but some of the mercs have pet names for each other. Demoman is called "Demo" by pretty much everyone (Including Ms. Pauling), Medic is often called "Doc/ Doctor" by Heavy and Scout, while Engineer is called "Engie" by everyone, and "Hardhat" specifically by Scout, and "Truckie" by Sniper.

* HeroicComedicSociopath
* HiredGuns[=/=]OnlyInItForTheMoney: They're Mercenaries.

** They are see as the laughingstocks of the mercenary profession implying that they're really bad at their jobs. While they do show incompetency from time to time (specially Soldier and Scout.) A lot of the time they're extremely effective, especially in the ''Meet the'' shorts.
* InHarmsWay

* LaughablyEvil
* LargeHam[=/=]WorldOfHam: Just about everyone in the game, but especially Gary Schwartz, the voice of the Heavy and the Demoman.

* OffingTheOffspring[=/=]SelfMadeOrphan: Can occur between [[spoiler:the Spy and the Scout]], respectively.

* ReportingNames: On the games launch and for much of its lifespan, you'd only know each character by the name of their class. Supplementary material has gradually revealed most of their true names, but ingame characters will still call each other out by their classes.

* TeamPet: Many of the classes have an equip-able ShoulderPet of some kind:

** Pyro: The [[{{Unicorn}} Balloonicorn]], and its holiday counterpart, the Reindoonicorn (which is recolored to look like a reindeer).

** Spy: The Backstabber's Boomslang (a snake).
** All-Class: Dead Little Buddy (implied to be ''the ghost of a dead child''), and Guano (a bat).

* TrueCompanions: A [[AxCrazy very]] [[CloudCuckoolander strange]] [[PsychoForHire example]], but an example nonetheless.
* {{Unscrupulous Hero}}es: Each team member has a few people whom they care for dearly and a few spare [[EvenEvilHasStandards standards]], but otherwise won't think twice about doing dirty deeds for high prices. The single redeeming trait these otherwise sociopathic maniacs have in common is that they wholeheartedly care for their families, loved ones, and pets.

* FamilyValuesVillain: When they're not on the job, many of the mercs try to be this, handing out human molars and inordinate amounts of blood money to trick or treaters, defending Smissmas shoppers from inhuman monsters, escorting unarmed noncombatants through deadly robot hordes, and helping children to conquer their fears through teaching them to commit murder. MoralDissonance is invoked, lampshaded, and played for laughs, especially in the case of the Pyro.

->''Nine mercenaries have come together for a job.''\\
''[[TheSixties It's the middle-ish]] [[TheSeventies part of a century]] a lot like the one we just had. A simpler time. There are three TV stations, one phone company, and [[BreadEggsMilkSquick two holding corporations]] [[MilkmanConspiracy that secretly control every government on the planet.]] [[MegaCorp Each corporation]] administers its half of the world with a multi-disciplined army of paper pushers. For any problem lacking an obvious bureaucratic solution, [[PrivateMilitaryContractors mercenaries]] [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits like]] [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores these]] are contracted to address the situation through a [[MightMakesRight massive application of force.]]''\\
''[[http://www.teamfortress.com/movies.php Now's your chance to Meet the Team.]]''

* DiminishingReturnsForBalance: Generally speaking, too many of one class on a team is going to make the match tough to win, or become an outright weird experience. Classes like Medic and Sniper get so hard with this that a game can become nigh-unwinnable, Soldier and Demomen teams become awkward but still possible to perform well, and Heavy and Engineer can either end in a hilarious defeat or victory like a coin flip.

* FireForgedFriends

* HiddenDepths: In the Meet Your Match Update, a few lines said by the mercenaries will congratulate you for ranking up in Competitive Mode
-->(Scout) "You earned it, bucket-of-chicken pal! You earned it! Don't let nobody take it away from you!"
-->(Soldier) "Son, whatever third-world stink pile you actually live in, today you are an American!"
-->(Demoman) "Ack, I knew you could do it!"
-->(Heavy) "You make Heavy proud!"
-->(Engineer) "Son, I never said this to anybody before, but I am damn proud of you!"
-->(Sniper) "You're better than the best, mate. You're a Sniper."
-->(Spy) "I am not easily impressed, and yet you have impressed me!"

* SoreLoser: Everyone has something demeaning to say to the whole team if Sudden Death is issued, from venting frustration to shifting the blame to each other. In their humiliation poses, everyone has a comically meek surrender pose, and in the case of Spy and Pyro, outright ''shameful'' expressions for the loss.

* RealMenWearPink: The Halloween 2012 event gave us The Magical Mercenary, where the characters can act like pretty pink unicorns when they wear it, except [[OnlySaneMan Medic]] and [[AmbiguouslyHuman Pyro.]] [[MakesSenseInContext Best not think about it much.]]

* [[Characters/TeamFortress2Offense Offense Classes]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]Scout, Soldier, Pyro.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/TeamFortress2Defense Defense Classes]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]Demoman, Heavy, Engineer.[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/TeamFortress2Support Support Classes]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]Medic, Sniper, Spy.[[/labelnote]]

* DistinctiveAppearances: Directly invoked.

* VillainProtagonist: The comics show the civilians of Teufort see them as destructive maniacs and it's hard to argue with them. [[spoiler:To the point that they put Scout and Spy on death row for doing their jobs in "Ring of Fired."]]

* YouHaveResearchedBreathing: A RunningGag with three of the classes who have..er..."hats". The "Ritzy Rick's Hair Fixative", "Texas Slim's Dome Shine" and "Baseball Bill's Sports Shine" hats are pretty much the Sniper, Engineer and Scout without their hats.

** Heavy's father was murdered by Joseph Stalin in the purges for being a counter-revolutionary, and him and his family was thrown in a Gulag, where he witnessed the brutal death of a sparrow, and is implied to have escaped by killing the guards.

* AxCrazy: Some more than others, [[CrazyAwesome but that's why we love them!]]

* AxeCrazy: Some more than others, [[CrazyAwesome but that's why we love them!]]

* TrashTalk: Everybody [[TheUnintelligible except the Pyro]] (who ''could'' be trash-talking but could also just as likely be discussing the weather or reciting T. S. Eliot), especially with their domination quotes. Highlights include:

* Every character in ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' trash talks their opponent to an extent, but Shao Kahn takes it UpToEleven by mocking not only his opponent, but the player as well:
--> "It's official... you suck!"
--> "You're still trying to win?"
--> "That was pathetic!"

* TrashTalk

* ''[[Characters/TeamFortressClassic]] [[labelnote:Click to Expand]]The Classic Team. [[/labelnote]]

* AntiVillain / AntiHero: Almost universally NobleDemon / NominalHero (With the exception of the [[MadScientist Medic]] ). The Mercs are by large violently murderous and property destroying, but they genuinely care about their families and friends, try to avoid implicating civilians in the Gravel Wars, and are universally shown to be much better than either their employers (Who they have no allegiance to, and simply perform the jobs for money.) or the truly repulsive Gray Mann and TFC team. Soldier and Pyro would qualify as TragicVillains considering their severe mental illness if the game didn't entirely have it be PlayedForLaughs.

* PsychoForHire: Even the sanest of them enjoy blowing things up way more than a stable human should.

* BecauseImGoodAtIt: Most mercenaries who feature in the interview-style "Meet the" videos offer this justification for why they do what they do. Even the "Meet The Spy" video, the first to break the interview format, can be considered an inverted version of this trope.

* [[Characters/TeamFortress2NonPlayerCharacters Non-Player Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]Mann Co. (The Administrator, Miss Pauling, Saxton Hale, Redmond and Blutarch Mann, Zephaniah Mann, Gray Mann, Olivia Mann, Charles Darling, The 1850's Team, [[spoiler:The Classic Team]]), The Mercs' Families (Scout's Mom, Demoman's Parents, Sniper's Parents, [[spoiler:Sniper's Birth Parents]], Radigan Conagher, Heavy's Family), Enemies and Bosses (Horseless Headless Horsemann, MONOCULUS!, Merasmus the Magician, Bombinomicon, The Robots, Skeleton Army), Others (Mayor Mike, Medic's Doves).[[/labelnote]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Team_Fortress_2_Group_Photo-smallcropped_8792.jpg]]

* DependingOnTheWriter: When comparing the game, official videos, and supplementary comics, the classes (and NPC's) can be written somewhat inconsistently:

** Sniper: Sir Hootsalot (an owl), and Cobber Chameleon ([[CaptainObvious a chameleon]]).

* [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Everyone Calls Them...]]

* GivenNameReveal: Through the official comics, we have:

** Heavy: Mikhail (although his Russian sisters affectionately nickname him "Misha" for short)

** Medic: Mr. Ludwig
** Sniper: Mr. Mun-Dee Mundy

** Mann Co is specifically stated to automatically hire the lowest bidder regardless of ability; this is especially obvious in the case in the case of Soldier who is depicted as either homeless or a squatter, and Sniper lives in a camper van. On the other end of the scale Demo lives in a mansion while Spy drives a Ferrari and spends thousands of dollars on his suits alone - but they would still be the lowest bidder for their classes.

* NevrLearnedToRead: Four of the Mercs are stated to be illiterate, but it's unclear which ones and to what degree.