History Literature / Worldwar

* AllMenArePerverts:
** The Race is absolutely disgusted by the way human men are able to become sexually aroused at any time. They refuse to accept it as truth when it is first described to them, and run numerous experiments to see if it really is possible for a man to have sex at any time. They think that this constant state of horniness is one of the explanations for humanities rapid technological progress

* AllWomenAreLustful: The Race is absolutely disgusted by the way human women can be sexually "receptive" at any time. They refuse to accept it as truth when it is first described to them, and run numerous experiments to see if it really is possible for a woman to have sex and become pregnant at any time. They think that this constant state of horniness is one of the explanations for humanities rapid technological progress

* AskAStupidQuestion: After an assassination attempt on Mordechai Anielewicz, a neighbor asks why anybody would want to shoot him. Mordechai can only laugh and point out that he's a Prominent Jew, which means that the Poles, Lizards, Nazis, and Russians all don't like him, and probably more people as well if the neighbor wants him to keep going.

* TastesLikeChicken: According to South African cab driver Joseph Moroka, ''zisuili'' taste like chicken.

* CouldSayItBut: When Gorppet has been offered a transfer to the Race's intelligence services, he hesitate to accept for fear that his ginger habit will get him in trouble. The male he is speaking to says -- purely hypothetically, and specifically not asking Gorppet any questions -- that if he ''was'' a ginger user it wouldn't be a problem, provided he is not the sort of male who gives ginger to females [[SlippingAMickey without their knowledge]].

* BoisterousBruiser: Otto Skorzeny of course, it is one of his chief characteristics that he enthusiastically enjoys everything he does.

* AffablyEvil: Otto Skorzeny spends so much time being incredibly charismatic and fun to be around that most characters forget he's a member of the SS and a virulent Nazi. After he has gotten Heinrich Jaeger imprisoned by the SS, many other officers--unaware that he was behind the arrest--actually use the hypothetical example of [[WhatWouldXDo what Skorzeny would do]] as motivation to break their superior out of custody.

* LeaveBehindAPistol: When Colonel Jaeger thinks that Skorzeny has been sent to kill him, he asks if Skorzeny is carrying a pistol with a single bullet for him. Skorzeny swears that he isn't here for Jaeger in one of the only times in the series when he seems honestly surprised.

* WhatWouldXDo: Unaware that Skorzeny was the one behind the SS arresting Heinrich Jaeger, the tank crew under Jaeger's command motivate themselves to break him out of custody by imagining that Skorzeny would do it himself if he were there.

** The ''Reich'' allows, and even encourages, the sale of ginger to the Race because ginger is not illegal within the ''Reich''. When the Race threatens to legalize human drugs in their territory and encourage their sale in the ''Reich'', the ''Reich'' declares that this could be seen as an act of war. They are not quite able to articulate why it is an act of war when the Race dors it, but not when the ''Reich'' does it.

* BelievingTheirOwnLies: Glen Johnson repeats the story of how he boarded the American space station -- that his engine suffered a failure at an inopportune moment and he had to board for repairs -- so often that he almost forgets that he rigged the engine to fail deliberately.

* DealWithTheDevil: Numerous oppressed peoples throughout the world choose to ally with the Race in opposition to the human empires and oppressive regimes which previously ruled over them. This is primarily portrayed through the perspective of the Jews of Poland, who rebel against Nazi occupation to prevent their own extermination. They know that the Race plans to conquer the whole planet, and that they will be regarded as traitors to humanity for allying with them, but the alternative is so much worse.

* SpinOffspring: One of the viewpoint characters from the ''Colonization'' series is Reuven Russie, the son of Moishe Russie. Reuven was a supporting character in Moishe's story in ''Worldwar'', and Moishe continues to appear in Reuven's story.

* DealWithTheDevil: Depends on one's definition of 'devil' but the Jews of Poland make a pact with the Race that is seen as such by other humans at first. However, the Polish Jews had a choice between the Lizards and the Nazis; not surprisingly they (correctly) believed they would be ''much'' better off under the former.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Jager and the Race are both shocked and horrified at the measures taken in the name of German national security, particularly the industrialized murder of the concentration camps and Babi Yar. For the Race, the idea of killing a whole demographic is something they've never imagined.

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: Johannes Drucker manages to protect his wife from the SS, and keep himself on active duty in the ''Wehrmacht'', because General Walter Dornberger recognizes that Drucker is a competent officer and he carries enough weight to protect him.

* NoNameGiven: Straha's driver plays a key role in several plotlines as a bodyguard, spy, and even an antagonist, but is never given a name.

** General Patton criticizes the Race for getting bogged down in street fighting at Chicago, saying that unlike the Germans the Race are slow to learn from their mistakes and the Germans would not have tried to take Stalingrad house by house if they had reached it. In reality, they did, and it was a complete disaster, Patton uses the same tactics that the USSR used to destroy the German Sixth Army, and the main difference is that the Race actually fought ''smarter'' (they had the sense to pull back the force in the city and managed to save a large part of it, while Hitler refused to allow a retreat resulting in the complete loss of the Sixth Army).

* PassFail: When the (Jewish) Mordechai Aneliwicz is traveling in the countryside, he encounters a farmhouse and attempts to pass as a Catholic Polish partisan. He manages to eat the ham they're serving without hesitation, but unwittingly exposes himself when he crosses himself wrong and does not think to put butter on his potatoes. Fortunately for him, the farmer quietly sets him straight afterward.
** Mordechai also realizes he'll need to stay away from the eager FarmersDaughter if he's to keep up the charade. Only a Jew would be circumcised in Poland at this time.

** When David Goldfarb emigrates to Canada, he speaks with a sailor on their ship about the way they each use the English language. David says the sailor sounds like an American, but the sailor points out the ways that Canadian English has similarities to both American English and British English.

* UnexpectedSuccessor: Secretary of State Cordell Hull assumes the Presidency after Franklin Delano Roosevelt's death, since Vice President Henry Wallace was killed in the atomic bombing of Seattle.

** Same Yeager and Straha become friends after Straha's defection to the USA. Straha appreciates that Sam can think like a member of the Race more than any other Big Ugly he knows, and he cherishes that kind of connection when he is so isolated from his own kind.

** The conspiracy tries multiple times to have Sam Yeager assassinated as soon as he starts poking around secure areas of the computer network, before he has even realised that there ''is'' a conspiracy.

* NoSell: What happens when the Race tries to use anti-missile defences, intended for use against fragile and sophisticated guided missiles, against the big dumb ''seven-ton'' Dora rounds. To say the Lizards are flabbergasted is an understatement.

* SeparatedByACommonLanguage: Yiddish and German are close enough to be mutually intelligible, but each carry large cultural baggage. Jews and Germans can therefore understand one another, but are continuously reminded of who they're speaking to. When members of the Race speak German, their terminology by necessity borrows much of the Nazi talking points about their own superiority, which is grating for every Jew they speak with.

* TheGenerationGap: The younger generation that grew up after the arrival of the Lizards has created a subculture based around imitating them in appearance, which has lead to drastically reduced nudity taboos as men and even women begin casually going around topless while wearing body paint. Eventually ''their'' children begin covering up again, and view going around shirtless as something that old people do.

* MoralMyopia: David Goldfarb [[DiscussedTrope thinks about the way the morality of Basil Roundbush's actions will depend on the perspective of the person considering them]]. To David, Basil's actions are monstrous as he extorts under-the-table favors from David by threatening his family. To the higher ups in the RAF and the UK government, Basil might be perceived as doing necessary DirtyBusiness in the war against the Lizards. To the public at large, he may even be perceived as a hero.

* SdrawkcabAlias: Sam Yeager joins the Race's computer network using the alias 'Regeya'.

* AffablyEvil: Otto Skorzeny spends so much time being incredibly charismatic and fun to be around that most characters forget he's a member of the SS and a virulent Nazi. After he has gotten one of the viewpoint characters imprisoned by the SS, many other officers--unaware that he was behind the arrest--actually use Skorzeny's example of being SS but also charming as motivation to break their superior out of custody.

* MildlyMilitary: Major Samuel Yeager and Lieutenant Colonel Glen Johnson never receive orders from their immediate superior to halt their investigations into the US space station or [[spoiler:the attack on the Colonization Fleet ships]], neither is ever transferred to a different post to reduce their access to information, and neither even has their security clearance revoked. What they do get is a screaming fit from Curtis [=LeMay=] who, though a three-star general, has no authority over them due to the chain of command. The one person who gives them orders ''is not authorized to give them orders.''

* ThrownOutTheAirlock: Glen Johnson nearly has this happen to him after getting aboard the new US space station using trickery. The guy in charge tells him that, if Johnson wasn't an experienced pilot, this is exactly what would happen to him. When did the US turn into Nazi Germany?

%%* YoungFutureFamousPeople