History Literature / BloodRavens

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blohdrehvens_8.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:None shall find us wanting.]]
-> My armour is Contempt
-> My shield is Disgust
-> My sword is Hatred
-> In the Emperor's Name
-> Let none survive

The Blood Ravens series of novels are a novelisations for the ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'' video game, although the first trilogy only follows the game in the original book.

The series consists of:

* Dawn of War Trilogy by C. S. Goto
** ''Dawn of War''
** ''Dawn of War: Ascension''
** ''Dawn of War: Tempest''
** The short story ''The Trials of Isador''
* ''Dawn of War II'' by Chris Roberson
* ''Dawn of War III'' by Robbie [=MacNiven=]

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!!Tropes used in the novels:
* BackToBackBadasses:
** In C. S. Goto's ''Dawn of War: Ascension'', at the Blood Rites, aspirants form bands for this, but many are stabbed InTheBack by others whom they had trusted to guard their backs.
** At the end of the ''Dawn of War II'' novelization, Aramus and Thaddeus are surrounded on all sides by Tyranids, and fall back to the temple ruins to hold off the Swarm in a last stand [[spoiler: until TheCavalry arrives]].
* BandOfBrothers: At one point in C. S. Goto's trilogy, Gabriel confronts another Blood Raven captain with his friends in the room, because he knows he can trust them to have his back even against the other captain — that's why they were his friends.
* BastardUnderstudy: In ''Dawn of War: Tempest'', Ahriman reflects on hoe Magnus outdid the "False Emperor" and how he outdid Magnus — and how he keeps his own Prodigal Sons down, so no one would supplant him. (For instance, there is no Book of Ahriman, as there as a Book of Magnus, because he stole it.)
* TheCavalry: After nearly a month's worth of fighting against the Tyranid onslaught, the 3rd Company performs this trope by deep striking into the heart of the swarm at a critical moment, saving the surviving Blood Ravens from annihilation, and providing the soldiers needed to strike a killing blow against the Hive Fleet.
* CollectorOfTheStrange: They'll take anything that appears of interest to them, including the corpse of the Avatar of Khaine from Dark Crusade, when they canonically defeated the Eldar there.
* CoolSword: Wisdom, from ''Dawn Of War II'' is explicitly described as a rare sword so marvelous as to have a name. Lost in a fight with a Tyranid, it is found again in a collection of xenos artifacts, and one Space Marine immediately takes it up in order to undo the shame.
* CultureClash: In the ''Dawn of War II'', when the Blood Ravens are looking for aspirants among refugees, one speaks to the old woman who is in charge of one group to try to get a boy from her. She contemptuously refuses to speak to him because he hasn't shown her his face. He considers and unhelms rather than use force. That granted, she only asks whether the boy will have a chance to survive if they take him, and being told that he will have a chance to live, tells him to take him.
* DeepSleep: In ''Dawn of War II'', when the two boy are exhausted the Blood Ravens carry them, and they do not wake even when the Blood Raven shoots off his gun next to them.
* DontYouDarePityMe: In ''Dawn of War: Ascension'', a captive Eldar is infuriated when he realizes a human woman pities him.
* DueToTheDead: in C. S. Goto's trilogy, Jonas characterizes the rite "Beacon Psykana" as an honor paid to the dead.
* FireForgedFriends: In ''Dawn of War: Tempest'', Rhamah has his doubts about Ahriman, but wavers because they had, after all, fought side by side against the Harlequins.
* FirstNameBasis: In C.S. Goto's ''Dawn of War'' trilogy, an Eldar Farseer calls Gabriel by his first name; he finds it presumptuous but doesn't object.
* ForgedByTheGods: Rhamah's Vairocanum, from ''Dawn of War: Tempest'', was made from part of a WreckedWeapon that had been forged by Vaul, the Eldar god of smiths.
* GladiatorGames: ''Dawn of War: Ascension'' shows the Blood Raven's selecting their new recruits by ushering the aspirants into an arena and telling them they can't leave. Fighting breaks out shortly, and the Blood Ravens watch with care. Gabriel Angelos remembers his own selection: he drew his sword and killed several people on arrival, before anyone else realized they should fight.
* InTheBack: In ''Dawn of War: Ascension'', aspirants taking part in the Blood Rites are stabbed in the back by others whom they had trusted to protect them.
* ItWasAGift: In the ''Dawn of War II'' novel, the governor tries to justify having the Space Marine sword Wisdom by claiming it was a gift. It doesn't save him.
* KidAmidTheChaos: In ''Dawn of War II'', one squad happens on two boys searching for their mother. They bring them back all the way. Part way through, one Marine pragmatically suggests leaving them, to have Thaddeus declare that any Marine who says that will be left himself; Thaddeus looks at the boys who are not crying, though they have tear tracks. They realize their mother is almost certainly dead, and want Revenge; when Thaddeus suggests they could be Blood Ravens, they are eager for it.
* LastStand: In ''Dawn of War II'', the defense against the tyrannids looks like a Last Stand by the end [[spoiler:and to nearly the very end when The Cavalry arrives]].
* MissingMum: In the ''Dawn of War II''novel, a Space Marine squad happens on two boys, who are searching for their mother; Sergeant Thaddeus at first thought she had abandoned them, and then realized that she could have been searching for them and been caught in the tyranid attack. When the boys realize that she is almost certainly dead, they are eager for Revenge; Thaddeus tells them to leave the fighting to the Marines, but they might be Blood Ravens one day, and they want to be, so they can fight.
* NamedWeapon:
** In C.S. Goto's ''Dawn of War: Tempest'', Rhamah's Vairocanum. Made from part of a WreckedWeapon that had been ForgedByTheGods of the Eldar themselves.
** In Chris Roberson's ''Dawn Of War II'', the sword Wisdom is explicitly described as a weapon so marvelous as to have a name.
* NoOneGetsLeftBehind: In ''Dawn of War: Tempest'', the Blood Ravens discover that one of their number, who they thought was dead, is still alive. This causes them to engage in a deeply risky warp space maneuver that threatened all their lives just so that they could to retrieve him.
* NotSoDifferent: During C.S. Goto's ''Dawn of War: Tempest'', the Chaos Sorcerer Ahriman claims that he and Gabriel Angelos arn't too different. Gabriel looks at the corpses and declares they are nothing alike because he searches for knowledge only in the Emperor's service.
* OccultBlueEyes: ''Dawn of War: Tempest'' describes the eyes of the Chaos Sorcerer Ahramin as burning blue with the power of his sorcery
* SecretTestOfCharacter: In the original ''Dawn of War'' trilogy, Sturnn tells Gabriel that his Imperial Guard forces killed Ultramarines; Gabriel asks why and deduces (after he learns that they were disguised Alpha Legion) that Sturnn told him to find out whether he would just attack or ask questions.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: During ''Dawn of War: Ascension'', a Blood Ravens Librarian performs a Heroic Sacrifice to save a new recruit. In ''Dawn of War: Tempest'', however, [[spoiler:he is found to be alive on a deserted Eldar world, suffering from Laser-Guided Amnesia. He wanders around trying to figure out just what the hell is going on, being led around by Chaos Marines who are subtly trying to sway him to join them, while an Eldar pushes him to think for himself about what they're really doing. Just when his actual chapter arrives, and he begins to realize just what is happening, the Eldar who had talked to him kills him for no visible reason, and is in turn killed by the Chaos Marines before he could explain himself, if he was even going to bother.]]
* ShroudedInMyth: In ''Dawn of War: Ascension'', an aspirant had heard tales of the "Sky Angels" but thought them overblown — why, they didn't even agree on the color of their armor! When he actually sees Space Marines in battle with Eldar, he is awe-struck. After a time, he realizes that they are fighting a stalemate, but he concludes that means the foe is worthy of their steel — and that he and the other aspirants should help.
* SpellBook: In ''Dawn of War: Tempest'', Ahriman muses that the reason he doesn't have a book that contains all his arcane knowledge is so that it cannot be stolen by one of his followers as he stole the Book of Magnus from the Thousand Sons' Primarch.
* {{Revenge}}: In ''Dawn Of War II'', when Phaeton hears that the Tyranids have killed his mother, he declares he will kill them all; the Space Marine tells him to let them do the fighting for now, but perhaps he might be a Blood Raven one day, whereupon his younger brother is also eager to be one so he can fight.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility: In ''Dawn of War: Tempest'', the amnesiac Rhamah's first serious doubts about the Chaos Sorcerer Ahriman stem from his actions — and Rhamah's rebuke is that knowledge brings power, and power brings responsibility.
* WreckedWeapon: in ''Dawn of War: Tempest'', Rhamah's [[NamedWeapon Vairocanum]] was made from part of a Wrecked Weapon that had been ForgedByTheGods, and then broken again in the course of the trilogy. Blood Ravens perform funeral rites with the part that was all they had left of him. [[spoiler It was later reformed.]]
* YouDidEverythingYouCould: In C. S. Goto's trilogy, Gabriel's battle-brothers try to console him after he had to order Exterminus on a planet and tell him another captain would have done the same. Gabriel is angry, the question is whether the other captain would have let the situation arise in the first place.
* YouRemindMeOfX: In the ''Dawn of War II'' novelization, the two boys they find in the hive remind Thaddeus of himself at that age--partly because he came from the same sort of hive, and partly because they fit the aspirant profile. (When he suggests that they might become Blood Ravens and [[{{Revenge}} kill xenos such as those that killed their mother]], they are quite eager to be like him.)
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* ShootTheShaggyDog: During ''Dawn of War: Ascension'', a Blood Ravens Librarian performs a Heroic Sacrifice to save a new recruit. In ''Dawn of War: Tempest'', however'', [[spoiler:he is found to be alive on a deserted Eldar world, suffering from Laser-Guided Amnesia. He wanders around trying to figure out just what the hell is going on, being led around by Chaos Marines who are subtly trying to sway him to join them, while an Eldar pushes him to think for himself about what they're really doing. Just when his actual chapter arrives, and he begins to realize just what is happening, the Eldar who had talked to him kills him for no visible reason, and is in turn killed by the Chaos Marines before he could explain himself, if he was even going to bother.]]

** ''Dawn of War Ascension''

* MimmingMum: In the ''Dawn of War II''novel, a Space Marine squad happens on two boys, who are searching for their mother; Sergeant Thaddeus at first thought she had abandoned them, and then realized that she could have been searching for them and been caught in the tyranid attack. When the boys realize that she is almost certainly dead, they are eager for Revenge; Thaddeus tells them to leave the fighting to the Marines, but they might be Blood Ravens one day, and they want to be, so they can fight.

* KidAmidChaos: In ''Dawn of War II'', one squad happens on two boys searching for their mother. They bring them back all the way. Part way through, one Marine pragmatically suggests leaving them, to have Thaddeus declare that any Marine who says that will be left himself; Thaddeus looks at the boys who are not crying, though they have tear tracks. They realize their mother is almost certainly dead, and want Revenge; when Thaddeus suggests they could be Blood Ravens, they are eager for it.

* NotSoDifferent: During C.S. Goto's trilogy, the Chaos Sorcerer Ahriman claims that he and Gabriel Angelos arn't too different. Gabriel looks at the corpses and declares they are nothing alike because he searches for knowledge only in the Emperor's service.

The Blood Ravens are a mysterious chapter of {{Space Marine}}s in the TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} universe, whose origins are unknown even to themselves. Originally created for the ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'' game, they became {{Canon Immigrant}}s. They feature in C. S. Goto's ''Dawn of War'' novel trilogy, and later in Chris Robeson's ''Dawn of War II'' novels. They also made a cameo in ''VideoGame/Warhammer40000SpaceMarine'' by way of the NPC Squad Corvus, and received official tabletop rules in 8th Edition in ''White Dwarf''.

The Blood Ravens are unique amongst the Astartes chapters due to their approach to war. Emulating the real time strategy games from which they originated, the Blood Ravens prefer more calculated strikes, analyzing enemy patterns and attacking weak points as they arise, similar to how RTS players break through their opponents. They also do not hesitate to salvage any wargear they find for their own use, let it be from Imperium or Chaos which had earned them the nickname "[[KleptomaniacHero Bloody Magpies]]" among fans.

The Chapter also is notable for its large collection of Librarians, having a much higher rate of latent psykers within their ranks than normal chapters, to the point where their Chapter Master was simultaneously the Chief Librarian. This has lead to suspicions regarding their origins, which remain a mystery to all but a select few members of the chapter.

!!The Blood Ravens are depicted as using the following tropes:

* LastStand: Three moments stand out in their history. The first was an utter disaster, when Captain Boreale and half the Chapter were slaughtered at the Chapter Keep in the Kaurava System. The second occurred during the Tyranid Invasion, when the remaining Blood Ravens in Subsector Aurelia held off the Tyranid Swarm. The final confrontation [[spoiler: took place on Cyrene, where the last surviving loyalist Blood Ravens fought the Daemon of the Maledictum and cleansed Aurelia of Chaos once and for all.]]