History Literature / PrinceRoger

* FantasticCavalry: The elephant-sized, heavily clawed, triceratops-like ''flar-ta'' and the horse-sized, omnivorous, velociraptor-like ''civan''. The latter is often fed from the dead enemies on a battlefield and will try to take a bite from their riders when in an ill mood or hungry.

** Enforced with regards to the Bronze Barbarians. Having a potential ChekovsSkill is a requirement to be even considered for The Empress' Own.

** Pahner mentions that while some implants [[spoiler:(like the Royal family's)]] are hardened against intrusion, old-fashioned drugs would do the trick. Turns out that's what's used during the coup, [[spoiler:on the Queen.]]

* NiceJobFixingItVillain:
** The Boman [[spoiler:kill their clever and adaptable war chief when he decides ''not'' to rush enemy fortifications in a [[LeeroyJenkins suicidal berserk charge]].]]
** An attempt to use poison to coerce Roger and his Marines into serving as shock troops for a local warlord-wannabe turns out to actually be of benefit to the humans. [[spoiler:The poison is not only poisonous only to other Mardukans, but it provides some of the nutrients that the humans can't synthesize from the local flora and fauna, and previously had to rely on stored supplements.]]

** Several Mardukan poisons are shown to not work on humans, and vice-versa. One poison, which to Mardukans is tasteless, tastes like rotten fennel to humans.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: The Boman [[spoiler:kill their clever and adaptable war chief when he decides ''not'' to rush enemy fortifications in a [[LeeroyJenkins suicidal berserk charge]].]]

'''Roger:''' Oh, shut up, Julian.

* NoBiochemicalBarries: Played with.

** Just about everyone has a computer implant in their brain, called a "toot", and the implant can be hacked. [[spoiler:The chain of events leading to being stranded on Marduk was from a sailor whose toot was hacked by the conspiracy.

* AntiClimaxBoss: [[spoiler:Taking the port was a lot easier than expected, as the characters note.]]
** [[spoiler:BaitAndSwitchBoss: The Saint Spec-Ops ship, not so much.]]

* ChekhovsGun: The Marine bodies entombed at Voitan. [[spoiler:It tips off a friendly spy in book 3.]]
** [[spoiler:Pahner mentions that while the Royal family's implants are hardened against intrusion, old-fashioned drugs would do the trick. Turns out that's what's used on the Queen.]]
* ChekhovsGunman: Admiral Helmut. Thomas Catrone.

** What happens to [[spoiler:Empress Alexandra VII]], after the [[spoiler:painful AwesomeMomentOfCrowning]] of Roger [=MacClintock=].

* CassandraTruth: Soon after crashing on Marduk, several Marines needlessly die in an animal attack because the commanding officer refused to listen to Roger who, as an experienced hunter, recognized warning signs.

** Subverted with Armagh's Satanists.

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: The Empire of Man's political system leaves the Emperor/Empress with quite a bit of personal power. The Heirs usually have important roles to get them used to wielding power.
** Despite being a generally useless prat, one of Roger's hobbies is big game hunting which results in him being the best sniper of all the troops.
** It also becomes a headache and problem for the (technically second-in-charge, but he's the unofficial CO anyway) Marine CO, who has to keep reminding him that, if Roger fucks up and dies, the Marines might as well kill themselves.

* ShoutOut: [[{{Spaceballs}} Admiral Helmut, "Dark Lord of the Sixth"]]. Also...

** [[{{Scarface}} SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!]] In this case, said "little friend" is not a grenade launcher but the [[WrenchWhack big]] pocking [[ImprovisedWeapon wrench.]]

** [[LordOfTheRings Fell deeds awake. Now for wrath, now for ruin and a red dawn!]]
** "[[HogansHeroes Schultzes]]," guards who can be trusted to see, do, and hear nothing. Subverted, since they ignore atrocities, not heroic hijinks.
** "[[KrakenAndLeviathan Fish]] [[ThePrincessBride of unusual size]]."

* StrawmanPolitical: The Saints are corrupt descendants of Greenpeace. Specifically they claim to ''un''-[[{{Terraforming}} terraform]] planets, but are actually one of the most polluting of the interstellar civilizations.
** Leadership-wise they're really more [[StrawHypocrite Straw Hypocrites]], while as a culture they tend more towards [[DirtyCommunist Dirty Communists]] with a focus on being "green" rather than support of the working class.

* TookALevelInBadass: Prince Roger. Good lord, Prince Roger ([[OverlyLongName Ramius Sergei Alexander Chiang MacClintock)]].
** His Marines, elite of the elite, are selected partially based on their incredible loyalty to the Empress. They start off despising him; in the end, [[spoiler:every one of them is so loyal to the Prince that other (non-Bronze Barbarian) Marines think they're dangerously compromised]].
** It gets to the point where [[spoiler:his subordinates push a woman he loves into marrying him despite her objections, due to the fact that he's Heir Primus to the Throne of Man.. because without her acting as his conscience, he would be a neobarbarian tyrant with "shoot first, ask later" policy. With entire fleets of starships and a massive army at his disposal.]]
** In fairness, most of the skills of badass were those he already had, or were genetic (the marksmanship from big game hunting, the pistol speed from a specially implanted assassin program, the general speed from old [=MacClintock=] gene-tweaking, major exception being the swordsmanship which he learns from Cord). He takes many levels in the ''mental attitudes'' of badass, mainly from getting a real goal (get the Marines off Marduk, and later protect the Empire from Adoula).

* UnwantedRescue: By the Peoples' traditions, rescuing someone not of your tribe without a personal need to do so makes them your slave. Cord is miffed when Roger does it to him, though they eventually bond.
** And then this is flipped back on him when he unthinkingly rescues Pedi.

* [[WhoNamesTheirKidDude Who Names Their Kid Ima Hooker?]]: [[{{Deconstruction}} A mostly absent junkie with a twisted sense of humor, apparently...]]

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Weber is fond of this trope, having taken it up to RunningGag levels in the ''EmpireFromTheAshes'' series; it returns here in the fourth book. Prince Jackson Adoula blows up his house on Earth, along with his secret files and household staff; makes a note to eliminate his chauffeur soon thereafter; and intends to do away with at least one of his co-conspirators. Oh, and then there's the whole plot to [[spoiler:murder the Empress after she produces a new heir]]. [[spoiler:He orders her ''and'' the unborn heir eliminated once he has to flee.]]

* AnyoneCanDie: Except for the title character, do not take anyone else's life as a given.
** DeadSidekick: [[spoiler:Kostas,]] who was EatenAlive. Doubles as a SacrificialLion.
** DwindlingParty: Down to only 12 by the time they leave Marduk.

--> '''Helmut''': I'd like to see what could change a clothes horse into a...
--> '''Julian''': Just say a [=MacClintock=].

* BearsAreBadNews: Though not for the good guys in this case. Althari are bear-like aliens whose females are {{Proud Warrior Race G|uy}}irls.
** It's worth pointing out though, that they're a race of huge ''koala bear''-looking aliens.

* CardSharp: Poertena. Then he makes the mistake of teaching his four-armed friends a few tricks...

** Turns out all Mardukans love this trope. If you aren't cheating, you're stupid. If you are and get caught, you're incompetent. They spend half the time bragging about how good they are at cheating and the other half denying, tongue-in-cheek, that they'd ever stoop to it. Standard Mardukan poker rules give every player the right to call a card check once per game.

* [[ClusterFBomb Cluster P Bomb]]: Poertena is unable to form a sentence without every third word being some variation of the word "pock". He's threatened in order to make him stop doing it, but he can't help it.

* DestructiveSavior: Erkum Pol, thanks to ATeamFiring combined with being able to wield [[{{BFG}} vehicle-mounted weaponry]].

--> '''Julian:''' My, Your Highness, you're looking chipper today.
--> '''Roger:''' Oh, shut up, Julian.

* TheEmpath: Phaenurs, a race of centaroid-lizards whose abilities make them {{Living Lie Detector}}s. They are one of the only races never to engage in physical war or have never engaged in cannibalism. I say "physical war," because they do have societal conflicts -- they're just compared to having a JewishMother writ large.

* TheFashionista: Pedi Karuse. It falls behind both her ({{lampshaded}}) FieryRedhead personality and being a {{Badass}} as a defining trait for her, but she's the ''only'' fashion & makeup loving Mardukan (since most came from cultures that didn't wear clothes), and she's the only woman of any species to qualify on the team as well.

* GenderBender: The "[[BiggusDickus embarrassingly male]]" Mardukans are actually female by biological definition, based on the fact that they produce ova. Their "penis" is actually an ovipositor (egg-placer), and the actual males are the gender that receives the eggs, fertilize them, and carry them to term. After this is initially sorted out, the series continues to go with calling the biologically female gender "male" based on their appearance and societal role.

*** He DOES suggest they could give one to Despreaux, as well.

* HeroWithBadPublicity: Roger. Before the start of the story, there is only one person in the universe that likes and trusts him -- his valet. His tutor, his mother, and his siblings have ambiguous feelings about him, and everyone else thinks he's a useless prat. [[spoiler:And then while he's on Marduk, the villains finger him as a traitor, which everyone is all too willing to believe.]]
* HeroicBSOD: What happens to [[spoiler:Empress Alexandra VII]], after the [[spoiler:painful AwesomeMomentOfCrowning]] of Roger [=MacClintock=].

* HeroicSacrifice: Standing orders for the Empress' Own.

* HiddenDepths: Prerequisite for acceptance to the Empress' Own. TheCaptain is a pretty good machinist, [[SergeantRock the senior NCO]] is a skilled seamstress doubling as chaplain, the armorer is [[ChekhovsSkill a journeyman shipwright]], their [[AcePilot best pilot]] is a CombatMedic, [[TheLoad the Prince]] is an amateur geologist and master sniper, one of their heavy gunners is [[BreadEggsMilkSquick an accomplished car thief]]...

* HungryJungle: Featuring hyper-aggressive herbivores, vampire moths, and flesh-dissolving "killerpillars."

* ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder: Zig-zagged with Dobrescu. First, he protests that he's a shuttle pilot, not a medic (his MOS is shuttle pilot, but he is trained as a medic too). Then he gets to start treating Mardukans...
--> '''Dobrescu:''' I'm a goddamned medic, not a xeno-surgeon.

** Notably, this is not a case of GodIsEvil; rather, the Satanists believe that there's so much suffering because the angels are keeping God imprisoned, and Satan is rebelling against those angels to rescue God. Her home planet provides a ''worryingly'' large proportion of its population to the military - when Armageddon comes, ''they will be ready''.

--> '''Pahner''': "I almost wish he was still considered incompetent. Maybe then I'd have sent a decent sized force to look after him." (cut)
--> '''Roger''': "You know," [as Roger fights], "I could wish that Pahner didn't have so much confidence in me!"

* KillerRabbit: '''Humans''', to Mardukans. We look like a large version of a weak, stupid, easily scared prey animal that's usually hunted by children by scaring them into a circle and clubbing them to death. Only we don't even have horns, claws, or armor. And our smiles look like the expression they make right before being clubbed. Fortunately, Mardukans learn ''quickly'' to take humans seriously.

* LeeroyJenkins: '''Roger'''. Much to the ''constant'' despair of his bodyguards. In the second book, it actually gets discussed - now that Prince Roger has turned himself around ''and'' has proven himself to be a capable leader, the Marines (and Mardukians) willingly follow him into dangerous situations. Pahner has to lay this out for him, telling him that, with each heroic action he does, he risks another Marine (and a nice dosage of guilt).

* TheLoad: How the marines view Roger at first. Mostly justified (99%) because he's a spoiled clothes horse with three feet of gorgeous blond hair famous for throwing snit fits. Somewhat unjustified in that, for example, the first time he kills something he gets thoroughly yelled at despite the fact that it was, essentially, a Cape Buffalo[[note]]One of the most dangerous animals in the world[[/note]] the size of a house, and he did so because he recognized that it was a highly territorial herbivore (like a Cape Buffalo).
** They begin to realize he's not TheLoad when they learn that his extensive experience on safari makes him well qualified to survive a dangerous jungle. Also, he slaughters six enemies in as many seconds with perfectly aimed head shots. [[CaptainObvious That is not easy]]. Not even with cybernetics.

* MindRape: Just about everyone has a computer implant in their brain, and the implant can be hacked.

* [[spoiler:TheObiWan]]: Captain Pahner

* OverlyLongName: Roger Ramius Sergei Alexander Chiang [=MacClintock=] (and the rest of his family).

* PardonMyKlingon: Pocking pock, modderpocker.

* PolitenessJudo: [[SergeantRock Sergeant Major Kosutic]]. She breaks up several arguments prior to planetfall, and O'Casey [[LampshadeHanging drops part]] of the trope name when discussing Roger with her.

* ReligionOfEvil: The Fire Temples, from the volcanic land of Krath. Despite being a theocracy, none of the natives will talk about their religion at all, and cities are ruled by the principle of "all is forbidden, save that which the law requires." They trade for slaves to act as Servants of the God. [[spoiler:"Servants" are sacrifices which are roasted and then served in chunks to the people of the cities.]] There's a reason the local pirates fight to the last man to avoid capture.

* MindRape: What's done to [[spoiler:Empress Alexandra VII]] while the eponymous prince is stranded on Marduk, [[spoiler:by the usurpers to the throne of the Empire of Man.]]
** Oh, and it's backed up [[spoiler:with real rape too]].
** Also, toot zombies.

* HiddenDepths: Prerequisite for acceptance to the Empress' Own. TheCaptain is a pretty good machinist, [[SergeantRock the senior NCO]] is a skilled seamstress, the armorer is [[ChekhovsSkill a journeyman shipwright]], their [[AcePilot best pilot]] is a CombatMedic, [[TheLoad the Prince]] is an amateur geologist, one of their heavy gunners is [[BreadEggsMilkSquick an accomplished car thief]]...

* TheUnfavorite: Roger is despised mostly because he looks like his father, though made worse by his being a foppish twit, since his father is also a foppish twit [[spoiler:as well as a traitor not even permitted within six planets of the Empress]]. [[TheNotSecret Everyone assumes he's intentionally following in his father's footsteps]], when in fact Roger knows nothing about his father and just thinks everyone hates him.

* CampStraight: Roger is a LongHairedPrettyBoy who loves clothes, and has never shown any sexual interest in any of the women (or men) at court. His butler is so used to the question he laughs at Despreaux's tentative query into his orientation.

* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: Although not particularly ragtag, the Empress' Own chooses members with potentially useful skills, such as an ex-carjacker or a high priestess of [[SatanIsGood Satan]].
** All members of the Empress' Own Royal Guard Marine units are chosen on the basis of being exceptionally competent soldiers. The 'Bronze Barbarians' that make up Prince Roger's guard are, as a group, the lowest on that totem pole; they're guarding the least important (and most personally irritating) member of the royal family. A few are experts, sure, but lack the shine to make it in the more publicly visible battalions. A lot of the rest are just waiting for the seniority and experience to make it into Steel Battalion and guard his big sister. Yet they still manage to walk across a murderous hell planet full of '''real''' barbarians and keep their protectee alive. Think about how {{Badass}} this means the higher-tier battalions of the Empress' Own must be. [[spoiler: At least, until they're all killed off camera.]]

* TheLoad: How the marines view Roger at first. Mostly justified (99%) because he's a spoiled clothes horse with three feet of gorgeous blond hair famous for throwing snit fits. Somewhat unjustified in that, for example, the first time he kills something he gets thoroughly yelled at despite the fact that it was, essentially, a Cape Buffalo[[hottip:*:One of the most dangerous animals in the world]] the size of a house, and he did so because he recognized that it was a highly territorial herbivore (like a Cape Buffalo).

A series by DavidWeber and Creator/JohnRingo. Prince Roger Ramius Sergei Alexander Chiang [=MacClintock=] was the third and youngest child of Alexandra VII, Empress of Man. Roger is TheUnfavorite of his mother, considered a foppish clotheshorse who looks a bit too much like his [[{{Bishonen}} father]] for his mother to trust him. With a crisis on the horizon he's sent off to represent the Royal family in a sector capital's chief festival. During transit the crisis starts for real with an attempt on his life. The destroyer transporting him is sabotaged, but Roger and his battalion of [[SpaceMarine Marines]] manage to land on a primitive planet on the farside of the planet from the Imperial trading post.