History Videogame / CommandAndConquerTiberianSeries

'''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberiumWars Tiberium Wars]]''' is set seventeen years later in a starkly stratified world. GDI has succeeded in containing Tiberium in areas dubbed Blue Zones, which are bastions of civilization and relative paradises compared to the rest of the planet. Yellow Zones are lawless wastelands where daily life is a struggle and Nod is seen as the last hope of the common man. Red Zones, meanwhile, have been wholly xenoformed by Tiberium and are stormwracked hells lethal to humans. Kane reemerges once more to launch a surprise attack on a complacent GDI, whose retaliation has an unintended side effect - an alien race called the Scrin suddenly invades, seeking to harvest Earth's Tiberium bounty. The aliens are narrowly driven off, while Kane succeeds in his plan to acquire their technology. An expansion pack, ''Kane's Wrath'', introduced sub-factions to the three sides and had a Nod-centric campaign telling the story between ''Firestorm'' and ''Tiberium Wars'', and what came after. It also details Kane's reacquisition of the Tacitus artifact from GDI, who had taken possession of it in ''Tiberian Sun''
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The fourth and final installment, '''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianTwilight Tiberian Twilight]]'', is set in 2077. In the aftermath of the Third Tiberium War, the alien crystal mutates and becomes almost impossible to stop. Faced with human extinction, Kane and GDI struck an unholy alliance to build a "Tiberium Control Network", using information from Kane's Tacitus. Though this brings about an uneasy peace, contains Tiberium's spread and begins a new stage of harnessing its potential, GDI reactionaries and Nod separatists once more plunge the world into conflict. The story ends with a triumphant Kane finally achieving his millenia-old ambitions and the Tiberium menace ended once and for all.

* ShoutOut: The "funpark" levels in ''Tiberian Dawn'' where the player faces off against Dinosaurs, a la ''Film/JurassicPark''. Meanwhile, in a nod (pun intended) to ''Film/{{Them}}'', Red Alert features a hidden campaign against Giant Ants.
** '''Tiberian Dawn'''s cutscene of the Ion Cannon firing is titled "Manga/{{Akira}}" in its .MIX files. It's not the only reference to ''AKIRA'' in the original game. Take a good look at [[http://www.cnc-source.com/forums/index.php?app=gallery&module=images§ion=viewimage&img=4847 Nod's Recon Bike.]]

** ''Tiberian Sun'' also had a subtle shout out to ''{{Aliens}}'' (aside from, you know, Michael Biehn). It's stated in the game's instruction manual that the standard-issue weapon for both sides is the "M16 Mk II Pulse Rifle." [[http://www.cnc-source.com/forums/index.php?app=gallery&module=images§ion=viewimage&img=2299 CG Renders]] of the gun even look like the prop from the film.
** ''Renegade'' continued this shout out, wherein its standard-issue weapon for both sides basically ''is'' the original pulse rifle.

* WeHaveReserves: After it becomes clear to the aliens that they were [[spoiler: fooled by Kane into coming to Earth ''much'' too soon, their Overlord, becomes intrigued and declares that the harvesting mission can be deemed expendable in order to find out more about Kane's plot]]. This does ''not'' sit well with Foreman 371 and his ship AI.

* WhatTheHellHero: If you use the liquid Tiberium bomb in the last GDI mission in Tiberium Wars'', [[spoiler:you end up killing over twenty million people, including your entire army]]. Granger immediately calls you out on it and accuses you of being a war criminal before resigning from GDI in disgust. Way to go, jackass.

* YouCallThatAWound: Cyborgs in ''Tiberian Sun'' can have their legs blasted off and still crawl about at full walking speed.
* YouHaveFailedMe: In ''Tiberian Sun'''s GDI campaign, Nod General Vega has just lost to [=McNeil=] and is beseeching Kane for reinforcements. Kane's response is to nuke Vega's entire island base.

* InvisibilityCloak: Nod loves stealth, be it in the form of Stealth Tanks or generators that can cloak an entire base.

** Some of the advanced technology in ''Tiberian Twilight'' also qualifies, since it's obviously based on reverse-engineered Scrin equipment. Examples include [[SomeKindOfForceField shield technology]] and the [[TimeStandsStill time-stopping stasis fields]].

* IAmLegion: The player from ''Kane's Wrath'', though only in name. CABAL is more like IAmLegion. * InvisibilityCloak: Nod loves stealth, be it in the form of Stealth Tanks or generators that can cloak an entire base.

** Sakura and Hotwire (and, to a lesser extent, Sydney Mobius) in ''Renegade'' (and Sydney Mobius to a lesser extent)

ElvesVersusDwarves: Nod vs. GDI, repectively.

* XanatosGambit: Kane's strategies tend to hinge on these, bordering on XanatosRoulette at times - though in ''Kane's Wrath'' we get to see just how much planning and effort went into making ''Tiberium Wars'' unfold the way it did. In the first game, however, Kane gets played by GDI, which faked having its UN funding cut in order to lure Nod into the open, before hitting them with their latest wave of weapon technology.

* ShoutOut: The "funpark" levels in ''Tiberian Dawn'' where the player faces off against Dinosaurs, a la ''JurassicPark''. Meanwhile, in a nod (pun intended) to Them, Red Alert features a hidden campaign against Giant Ants.

* ThisIsSPARTA: The Nod brotherhood's chant "Peace. Through. Power."

** '''Tiberian Dawn'''s cutscene of the Ion Cannon firing is titled "{{akira}}" in its .MIX files. It's not the only reference to ''AKIRA'' in the original game. Take a good look at [[http://www.cnc-source.com/forums/index.php?app=gallery&module=images§ion=viewimage&img=4847 Nod's Recon Bike.]]

* ChuckYeager: Most pilots.

* ExecutiveMeddling: Killed ''Tiberium'', the planned squad-based FPS. There was [[http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20462 so little leadership]] that it was hard to determinate ''how the game was exactly supposed to be played''. Oh, and it was expected to be completed in [[http://www.cncsaga.de/foren/viewtopic.php?id=522 eleven months]].

* IWorkAlone: Nick "Havoc" Parker invokes this repeatedly in ''Renegade''. He doesn't want to work with his old team again (all soldiers equally as compotent as he) to begin with, when he does meet up with them he orders them to sit around doing nothing while he retrieves the scientists all by himself (and screws this up), and leaves them standing on the sidelines for the rest of the game.

AlThereInTheManual: The novelization, game manuals, various developer blogs, in-game database entries, and official website provide information that wouldn't be revealed during the cutscenes or gameplay.

* InvisibilityCloak: Nod loves stealth, be it in the form of Stealth Tanks or generators that can cloak an entire base.

* LargeHam: "And he cried in a loud voice'', ''Lazarus, come forth!'' And Lazarus did arise from the grave..."
--->'''Kane:''' ''Kane '''LIVES!''' ''

* MiniMecha: Some of the lighter walkers such as the Wolverine fall into this category.
** Although the Wolverine is technically a [[PoweredArmor suit]].

* NotQuiteDead: Kane has been supposedly killed so many times that he is widely believed to be immortal, having evidently died at least once in almost every game in which he appears.

* PoweredArmor: GDI's Zone Troopers start wearing it in ''Tiberium Wars'', and by ''Twilight'' most of its infantry are wearing it. Nod is a bit more selective, regulating theirs to the Black Hand.

* {{Unwinnable}}: A lot of the missions in ''Sole Survivor'' and ''Covert Ops'' are ridiculously tough, and rely heavily on SaveScumming. One example has you trying to rescue a Nod MCV trapped in the middle of a GDI base using only one stealth tank, and then using it to destroy the base it's in. ''Not fun''.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity : Kane, of course. "The world only believes what the media tells them to believe... and I tell the media what to believe. It's really quite simple."

* BaseOnWheels: ''Tiberium Twilight'''s Crawlers, which are the logical evolution of the [=MCV=]s and the Rig from the earlier games.

* {{Determinator}}:
** Kane. No matter what setback he suffers, he will return with greater force than his previous attempt in his quest for ascension, a journey that has spanned thousands of years and four of the bloodiest wars in history.
** Commander Michael [=McNeil=], the field commander of GDI during the Second Tiberium War, makes it very clear that he will win whatever means possible. Its makes him Kane's most ultimate arch enemy of today.
** Captain Nick Parker, the best commando of GDI during the First Tiberium War. He whouldn't let some fanatical terrorists, mutated freaks of nature, [[PsychoForHire psychos for hire]], and one of the greatest MagnificentBastard in history stop him from defeating the Brotherhood of Nod and win the war.
** Nod itself might count, given how they managed to survive multiple devastating defeats, and even ''thrive'' in Tiberium-infested wastelands.

* AGodAmI: Kane plays with this a fair bit. He concedes that he is not God Himself, but certainly a good runner-up. More often he calls himself "[[DarkMessiah The Messiah]]" and the Brotherhood of NOD "[[FauxSymbolism the chosen people]]". Kane has been alive and unaged for over a century now, and has successfully deflected shots from an orbital laser cannon with his face, so why not? Not even the SufficientlyAdvancedAliens know what he is. In ''Renegade'', it's hinted that he may be, or at least may lead his followers in believing that he's ''[[Literature/TheBible that]]'' [[CainAndAbel Kane]].
--->'''[=McNeil=]:''' You're not God, Kane!\\
'''Kane:''' No, I'm not God... but I'm a close second.

** [=CABAL=]. Slavik seems to have been the only one aware of this, since he alone of Nod's leading officers didn't use cyborgs as personal bodyguards.
** The Scrin [=AI=], but only when the Supervisor orders Foreman 371 to [[spoiler: pursue further information on Kane at the expense of the entire mining operation]].
* AllThereInTheManual: The novelization, game manuals, various developer blogs, in-game database entries, and official website provide information that wouldn't be revealed during the cutscenes or gameplay.

* AwesomePersonnelCarrier:
** The Crawlers count. In addition to being a BaseOnWheels, they can produce units on the move and unload them once deployed, although already deployed units can't go back in.
** GDI's [=APC=]s are some of the most versatile units in the game. They're dirt cheap, much stronger than the other guy's equivalent units, they tear through infantry and aircraft, they can garrison in any sort of infantry and have it shoot out from the portholes ''and'' if you mass them they're a serious problem even against ''buildings''. Add to that the ability to lay down minefields and the armor piercing ammo upgrade in ''Kane's Wrath'', and you have one of the best units in the game.
** Nod's Reckoner APC isn't powerful, but is nonetheless very useful for ploughing through GDI Zone Troopers and other heavy units with its Dozer Blades, since it's much faster and durable that the Scorpion Tank. The upgraded model in ''Tiberium Twilight'' can even ''burrow''.

The first game, later given the subtitle '''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberian Dawn Tiberian Dawn]]''', was set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture with a smattering of sci-fi elements such as alien crystals, stealth technology, and orbital lasers. A terrorist organization operating from various Third World nations known as the Brotherhood of Nod harnesses the power of Tiberium to challenge the rest of the world on equal footing, under the leadership of the charismatic and enigmatic Kane. The UN-backed Global Defense Initiative, a military coalition dedicated to restoring order and containing the spread of Tiberium, manages to hold the line and defeat Nod, killing Kane in the process. The game was followed by a plot-free expansion pack, ''The Covert Operations'', a multiplayer-only sequel named ''Sole Survivor'', and '''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRenegade Renegade]]''', an FPS that boasts an active modding community and a small but dedicated fanbase.

'''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberium Wars Tiberium Wars]]''' is set seventeen years later in a starkly stratified world. GDI has succeeded in containing Tiberium in areas dubbed Blue Zones, which are bastions of civilization and relative paradises compared to the rest of the planet. Yellow Zones are lawless wastelands where daily life is a struggle and Nod is seen as the last hope of the common man. Red Zones, meanwhile, have been wholly xenoformed by Tiberium and are stormwracked hells lethal to humans. Kane reemerges once more to launch a surprise attack on a complacent GDI, whose retaliation has an unintended side effect - an alien race called the Scrin suddenly invades, seeking to harvest Earth's Tiberium bounty. The aliens are narrowly driven off, while Kane succeeds in his plan to acquire their technology. An expansion pack, ''Kane's Wrath'', introduced sub-factions to the three sides and had a Nod-centric campaign telling the story between ''Firestorm'' and ''Tiberium Wars'', and what came after. It also details Kane's reacquisition of the Tacitus artifact from GDI, who had taken possession of it in ''Tiberian Sun''

The first game, later given the subtitle ''Tiberian Dawn'', was set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture with a smattering of sci-fi elements such as alien crystals, stealth technology, and orbital lasers. A terrorist organization operating from various Third World nations known as the Brotherhood of Nod harnesses the power of Tiberium to challenge the rest of the world on equal footing, under the leadership of the charismatic and enigmatic Kane. The UN-backed Global Defense Initiative, a military coalition dedicated to restoring order and containing the spread of Tiberium, manages to hold the line and defeat Nod, killing Kane in the process. The game was followed by a plot-free expansion pack, ''The Covert Operations'', a multiplayer-only sequel named ''Sole Survivor'', and ''Renegade'', an average-at-best FPS that nevertheless boasts an active modding community and a small but dedicated fanbase.

''Tiberian Sun'', the second installment in the series, is set in 2030. Tiberium is now spreading unchecked, forcing humanity to flee to the arctic or desert regions that can at least slow the substance's progress. As governments break down and GDI does its best to bring order from the chaos, Kane [[NotQuiteDead reappears]] to lead a reunified and invigorated Nod into battle once more. A crashed alien spaceship and an extraterrestrial artifact called the Tacitus hint at a larger purpose behind Tiberium, but ultimately Kane's attempt to use a missile to increase Tiberium's spread is thwarted with the man's death (again). The game was followed by the ''Firestorm'' expansion, in which Nod's battle AI, [=CABAL=], revolts and leads a cyborg uprising, forcing GDI and the remnants of Nod to unite to defeat him.

''Tiberium Wars'' is set seventeen years later in a starkly stratified world. GDI has succeeded in containing Tiberium in areas dubbed Blue Zones, which are bastions of civilization and relative paradises compared to the rest of the planet. Yellow Zones are lawless wastelands where daily life is a struggle and Nod is seen as the last hope of the common man. Red Zones, meanwhile, have been wholly xenoformed by Tiberium and are stormwracked hells lethal to humans. Kane reemerges once more to launch a surprise attack on a complacent GDI, whose retaliation has an unintended side effect - an alien race called the Scrin suddenly invades, seeking to harvest Earth's Tiberium bounty. The aliens are narrowly driven off, while Kane succeeds in his plan to acquire their technology. An expansion pack, ''Kane's Wrath'', introduced sub-factions to the three sides and had a Nod-centric campaign telling the story between ''Firestorm'' and ''Tiberium Wars'', and what came after. It also details Kane's reacquisition of the Tacitus artifact from GDI, who had taken possession of it in ''Tiberian Sun''

The fourth and final installment, ''Tiberian Twilight'', is set in 2077. In the aftermath of the Third Tiberium War, the alien crystal mutates and becomes almost impossible to stop. Faced with human extinction, Kane and GDI struck an unholy alliance to build a "Tiberium Control Network", using information from Kane's Tacitus. Though this brings about an uneasy peace, contains Tiberium's spread and begins a new stage of harnessing its potential, GDI reactionaries and Nod separatists once more plunge the world into conflict. The story ends with a triumphant Kane finally achieving his millenia-old ambitions and the Tiberium menace ended once and for all.

!! Besides the tropes common in all ''{{Command and Conquer}}'' games, the ''Tiberium'' saga contains examples of:

** The Scrin Mothership from ''Tiberium Wars'' could quite possibly destroy an entire base with a single shot, but its excruciatingly slow speed makes it an easy target, though there's a GameBreaker tactic that lets you deploy it in your opponent's base.

The forth and final installment, ''Tiberian Twilight'', is set in 2077. In the aftermath of the Third Tiberium War, the alien crystal mutates and becomes almost impossible to stop. Faced with human extinction, Kane and GDI struck an unholy alliance to build a "Tiberium Control Network", using information from Kane's Tacitus. Though this brings about an uneasy peace, contains Tiberium's spread and begins a new stage of harnessing its potential, GDI reactionaries and Nod separatists once more plunge the world into conflict. The story ends with a triumphant Kane finally achieving his millenia-old ambitions and the Tiberium menace ended once and for all.

* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler: Alexa screws with Kane's plan, by framing Kilian and trying to destroy LEGION, out of "her loyalty to him".]]

** '''BY MY OWN FORCES!'''

* UnitsNotToScale: Averted in ''Tiberium Wars'' - aircraft carriers take up a good chunk of the map, but due to pathfinding issues, these realistically large ships only appear in a select few missions and are unbuildable.
** ''Tiberian Sun'' gets around most of the problems due to not having any naval units as all (supposedly because Tiberium-mutated weeds have choked the seas). However there is one issue with the GDI's mobile command centre spaceplane, the ''Kodiak''--it appears landed in one mission the same size as a building, far too small to reflect how it looks in the cutscenes. This was belatedly fixed in the expansion pack ''Firestorm'' when it crashes--now the Kodiak's wreck fills the whole screen and is literally about 20 times larger than it was in the aforementioned mission.

* UnwittingPawn: GDI's acting director Redmond Boyle in ''Tiberium Wars'', [[spoiler: The Commander]] from ''Tiberium Twilight'' to [[spoiler: Louise James]]... you know, anyone who is not Kane.
** The ''Scrin'' themselves are rather embarrassed to find out that they're no better.
* VillainousBreakdown: "How could my own brothers believe that what transpired at the Temple Prime did not [[XanatosGambit unfold exactly as I had planned]]. Of course I could not have planned for an ambush '''BY MY OWN FORCES!'''"

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: In the second video to the Nod campaign in ''Tiberian Sun'' a prominent GDI general implies this trope to a certain Nod leader.

* IncrediblyLamePun: An exchange from ''Renegade'' between Sydney and Havoc:
--> '''Havoc''': Cow.
-->'''Sydney''': Pig!
-->'''Havoc''': No, '''Cow'''.
-->'''Cow''': Moo! {''truck swerves to avoid aforementioned bovine''}
** Not so much lame puns, but the unit quips are full of witty or otherwise humorous remarks.

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: After starting four wars that devastated the planet and cost millions, if not billions of lives, Kane ascends at the end of ''Tiberian Twilight'' ''in both endings.'' That's right, whether you side with GDI or Nod, Kane still gets away clean.]]
** Although he does sort of help to clean up his mess by helping to create the network.

* KlingonPromotion: [[SmugSnake Seth]] attempts this in the original game, but Kane steps in. After giving you your orders, as an afterthought, he mentions "Oh by the way - congratulations on your promotion."
** Nod's commanders do this all the time.

* LesCollaborateurs: Jake [=McNeil=] in ''Tiberian Sun'''s Nod campaign.
* The Obelisk Of LightIsNotGood
* LuckBasedMission: The first Commando-centric mission in ''Tiberian Dawn''. Unlike later games, the Commando fired rather slowly, didn't regenerate health, and was kinda fragile. Also, buildings destroyed by C4 still had a chance to produce wounded infantry just as if they were destroyed normally, resulting in the ''very'' likely scenario of your Commando losing half his health before he gets off the first island.

* MundaneUtility: Dr. Pascal's optical implants can Activate the Scrin Tower, Receive encrypted transmissions and... watch television. Which the player character does all the time.
* MythologyGag: The GDI campaign in ''Tiberium Wars'' has many homages to the Soviet Campaign from ''Red Alert 2'', including a first mission involving the Pentagon and a virtually identical opening to the second mission.

* NeverMyFault: A particularly amusing example in the beginning of the ''Tiberium Wars'' Nod campaign, where Killian goes on and on about how wonderful the Brotherhood is for spreading Tiberium to those who needed it most, before bitching out GDI for leaving them with all the Tiberium-infected territory. Someone never took lessons on cause and effect, it seems.
* NewEraSpeech: The Nod ending of ''Tiberian Sun'', and both endings of ''Tiberium Twilight''.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero
** Nice job blowing up Temple Prime, Boyle.
** Nice job invading Earth, Foreman.
** [[PyrrhicVictory Nice job dropping the Liquid T. Bomb, Commander]]... Maybe.

* NoCampaignForTheWicked: Inverted in ''Kane's Wrath''. The bad guys are the only campaign available.

* NoodleIncident: In ''Tiberium Wars'', Kane thanks the commander ("The Legendary Insurgent") for his efforts in Honduras, Jericho and "The Great Rio Insurrection," though the later is the first mission of ''Kane's Wrath''.
** Again in ''Twilight'', where the commander is given some backstory as a scarred war hero that lost his eyesight, instead relying on implants that also serve as commanding interface, among other things.
* NonEntityGeneral: With the exception of ''Tiberian Sun'', in which you play as Michael [=McNeil=] or Anton Slavik, you're always just "[[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep commander]]."
* {{Novelization}}: Based on ''Tiberium Wars'', full of HollywoodTactics and DidNotDoTheResearch. One of the few good things to come from it was one FanFic author's [[FanFic/TiberiumWars response.]]

* PrisonEpisode: Renegade has you captured and stripped of your weapons.

* RealityWarper: The Disruptors' transparent beams distort not only what you see through them, but also even the unit's hitbox and life bar, which is very disturbing the first time you see it.
* RecursiveAmmo: In ''Tiberian Sun'', Nod's primary superweapon is the Cluster Missile which, upon detonating over the target and causing damage, releases several dozen small bombs that will fall around the original target and can devastate a sizable chunk of someone's base.

* RiddleForTheAges: Why is the Temple of Nod always in Sarajevo?
** As noted above, Nod's elite assassin group is called the Black Hand...which is also the name of the Serb group that killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914. The subtle implication is that Kane was responsible for the start of WorldWarI.
** It's not. In Renegade and Tiberian Sun Kane's main temple is in Cairo.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: The reason why [[spoiler: Colonel Louise James of GDI]] is ready to do everything to kill Kane is because her children were killed by the Scrin during Third Tibrium War.

* SensorSuspense: ''Tiberian Sun'' had the Mobile Sensor Array which, when deployed, could track enemies hidden by FogOfWar, as well as Stealth and Subterranean units. The suspense part can even come into play with subterranean units, in that you can't tell whether what is about to pop up is a Flamethrower-tank or an APC loaded up with Cyborgs intent on murder.
* ShroudedInMyth: Kane, yet again.
** The Scrin as well. It's not even clear if they ''are'' the Scrin, since the GDI [[TranslatorMicrobes translation computers]] returned several terms for their name.

* SlapSlapKiss: A ''perfect'' example of the trope is seen in the channel-surfing video intro of ''Tiberian Dawn''.
* SmartPeoplePlayChess: Kane is holding a chess piece during the briefing of the 9th NOD mission in the first game.

* StarfishAliens: The Scrin. So alien in fact, that we don't even know how they ''look'' like. All we get is the shimmering, cephalopoidal avatar of the Supervisor during his Warp-Link transmissions.

* SuicideAttack: Nod Fanatics are suicide bombers hopped up on Tiberium infusions and religious zeal.
* SuperPrototype: In the last Nod mission of ''Twilight'', GDI sends in a ''Prototype'' bomber as a last ditch effort to stop you. It's by far the most powerful unit ''anywhere'', being able to destroy even Crawlers with little effort. It's only weakness is the fact that it has to land to call in reinforcements (the three GDI AI's just give up before it arrives).
* SuperSoldier: The Enlightened from ''Kane's Wrath'' are extremely tough, [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul unflinchingly loyal cyborgs]] [[TheUndead built from corpses]]. They can paralyze vehicles with EMP guns, or just blast the hell out of them with their [[ArmCannon particle beams]]. Upgrade their cannons and give them cybernetic legs, and you have squads of [[LightningBruiser lightning bruisers]].

* TacticalRockPaperScissors: The basis of ''Twilight''. Every unit has an armor type (Light, Medium Ground, Medium Air, Heavy or Building) and usually one weapon type (Gun, Cannon, Rocket, Beam or Blast). Each weapon type is SuperEffective against one armor type (in those lists, respectively), and you do not have the unit cap to field a varied force.
* TankGoodness: The Mammoth Tank. The offense class in ''Twilight'' is all about tanks (with a few mechs sprinkled in for good measure).

* TheHypnotoad: Scrin Masterminds and their advanced Traveler-59 cousins, the Prodigies.
* TheStarscream: Seth in the first game.

* TomatoSurprise: The person Kane was talking to in ''Kane's Wrath'' [[spoiler: is a computer AI]].

* {{Tuckerization}}: One of the maps in ''Tiberium Wars'', "Black's Big Battle", is likely named for multiplayer designer Greg Black. Ingame art shows a soldier with the nametag "Vessella", a reference to associate producer Jim Vessella.

** And stated way earlier by his right-hand man, Seth:
--->'''Seth:''' I'm Seth. Just Seth. From God, to Kane, to Seth. I am his right hand and I have a task for you.
* ActionGirl: ''Tiberian Sun'''s Umagon, Sakura and Hotwire in ''Renegade'' (and Sydney Mobius to a lesser extent), and the Nod Commando in ''Tiberium Wars''.

* AlienInvasion: Enter, The Scrin!
* AliensStealCable: The Scrin use a satellite news broadcast to learn English; it takes them less than 10 seconds.
** It seems gratuitous at first, but then [[ChekhovsGun comes in mighty handy]] when they [[spoiler: come across a classified transmission by Kane, explaining his scheme]].

* AntiVillain /[[AntiHero Anti Hero]]: Kane's actions in ''Twilight'' are nearly heroic, what with working with GDI to create the Tiberium Control Network to save the planet, even if it's largely to help him complete his "Ascension."
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler: It is debatable whether it is another plane or not but both Kane and the Brotherhood of Nod finally ascend in the end of ''Tiberian Twilight'']].

** Not so much with Nod's Reckoner APC isn't powerful, but is nonetheles very useful for ploughing through GDI Zone Troopers and other heavy units with its Dozer Blades, since it's much faster and durable that the Scorpion Tank. The upgraded model in ''Tiberium Twilight'' can even ''burrow''.

* BadassBoast: Commandos and Kane in all game are fond of these.

* BerserkButton: Captain Parker ''really'' hates it when Nod tortures civilians.
* {{BFG}}: The ''Tiberian Dawn'' Commando fires a silenced .50 caliber sniper rifle. Left handed.

* BondOneLiner: "Yes, power shifts more quickly than [[TheStarscream some people]] think."

* BottomlessMagazines: Averted in ''Tiberian Twilight'', where many bullet-firing units must eventually hold fire and switch over to another ammo belt, or reload rockets into launchers after discharging those already loaded.
** Averted from the beginning with air units like the Orca, which hold a limited amount of missiles and have to return to base to restock.

* CivilWarcraft: Happens a bit; Nod's first missions in ''Tiberian Sun'',and a few in ''Tiberium Wars'' have the Kane-loyalist players fighting Nod forces following someone else.

* ClaspYourHandsIfYouDeceive: Kane occasionally does this along with a self-satisfied smirk when he's in scheming mode. Example on the DarkMessiah page.
* ColorCodedArmies: The Global Defense Initiative is gold, The Brotherhood of Nod is red, the Scrin are purple, CABAL is blue, and the Forgotten are green.

* ContinuityNod: ([[IncrediblyLamePun Get it? Nod! Haha.]]) The Database entries in the ''Tiberium Wars'' are rife with references to previous games, even ''Renegade''.
** A certain ''Nick Parker'' has issues with GDI retiring the Mammoth Mark Two - that is, the big AT-AT wannabe.
*** And there is a statue of Nick in at least one city in the USA. He's a Big Damn Warhero! There are also billboards that show the other members of Dead-6.

* CrewOfOne: In ''Renegade'' you can somehow pilot ''any vehicle'' all on your lonesome. Even the Mammoth Tank, which according to in-universe fluff normally takes a crew of ''eight''.

* CutscenePowerToTheMax: The cinematic introducing the original incarnation of the [[KillSat Ion Cannon]] has its wiping out a small base, while in-game it can't even one-shot a Construction Yard. However, as of ''[=C&C=] 3'' it has been beefed-up ''considerably''.

* DeadpanSnarker: Captain Nick "Havoc" Parker in ''Renegade''.

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:Anton Slavik in ''Kane's Wrath''. After helping save the world and rebuild Nod in ''Firestorm'', he ends up assassinated.]] Thought to have occurred to Michael [=McNeil=] in ''Firestorm'', but shows up alive in the {{novelization}} of ''Tiberium Wars''.

* DropShip: Used as a special unit in ''Tiberian Sun''. Bonus points since the game stars ''{{Aliens}}'''s Michael Biehn as the player character in the cutscenes.

* EverythingTryingToKillYou: ''Tiberian Sun'' is infamous for this, with Visceroids, Tiberian Fiends, Tiberium Floaters, Veinhole Monsters destroying vehicles and buildings and the gas they produce killing infantry, Tiberium poisonous to infantry, ion storms causing lightning strikes and your planes to fall out of the sky and crash, etc. etc. On the one hand, this does realistically evoke the feel of a CrapsackWorld going to hell and anarchy because of the effects of Tiberium; on the other hand it is actually possible to win one-on-one skirmish battles without ever seeing the enemy, because the enemy was just overwhelmed by all the third-party nasties on the map.
* EvilGloating: Kane gives a good one to Mike [=McNeil=] after breaking through the Hammerfest defenses in ''Tiberian Sun'' and stealing the sonic crystals, leaving behind a broadcast in which he glibly informs him that the sonic tank "will make an excellent addition to my collection", and that he is [[SarcasmMode sorry to hear]] that [=McNeil=]'s brother died a slow and painful death in the raid.
* EvilLaugh: CABAL likes to do these during missions in ''Firestorm''.
-->'''CABAL''': Cybernetic lifeforms will always be superior.
-->'''EVA:''' [[OhCrap Missile launch detected.]]
-->'''CABAL:''' ''Kehahahahahahahaha!''
* EvilSoundsDeep: CABAL.

* {{Expy}}: The standard assault rifle in ''Renegade'' is basically the [[Film/{{Alien}} M41A pulse rifle]], minus a working grenade launcher.
* FamilyFriendlyFirearms: As a result of continuity error in the {{novelization}}: suddenly, Nod grunts are using laser rifles!
* FreeWheel: In ''Tiberian Sun''.

* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler: Whichever side you choose, your character in ''C&C 4'' will die of a gunshot wound from Colonel James in the ending]].
* HollywoodScience: in the {{novelization}} of ''Tiberium Wars'', radioactive rainwater kills plants and trees within minutes while leaving the rest of the landscape, including the people who live in the area, unaffected. ''Radiation does not work that way.''
* HonorBeforeReason: Captain Parker from ''Renegade'' disobeys orders at least twice because civilians were in trouble. His reaction to being greeted by [=MPs=] when he returns to the carrier after the first implies he pulls off things like this all the time. And he also once decided to help a defenceless city against the Nod instead to retreat with Dead-6.
* HufflepuffHouse: The Forgotten (mutants) in ''Tiberian Sun'' act as a third faction, reached out to by GDI and manipulated by Nod. Their units are, appropriately enough, cobbled together from odds and ends and include old vehicles left over from ''Tiberian Dawn''.
* HumansAreWarriors: Why the harvesting operation goes bad for the Scrin in ''Wars''. While it's true that the Scrin's "invasion" was actually just a ''mining operation'' that harvests Tiberium-infested planets when all the inhabitants are dead, they still view humanity as "warlike to the extreme" and a major threat to the survival of their entire race.
* HumongousMecha: ''Tiberian Sun'' gave GDI the Wolverine and Titan walkers, and the [[StarWars AT-AT]] [[ShoutOut lookalike]] Mammoth Mk. II. ''Firestorm'' added the Juggernaut, an artillery platform on legs, and CABAL's "defense protocol" the Core Defender. In ''Sun'' there seemed to be a conscious design choice that GDI ''only'' used mechs and floating vehicles.

* IAmNotLeftHanded: But the commandos shoot with that arm anyway, being BadAss and all.
** In Renegade, when asked if he's gonna fight against the whole ship's crew all by himself, Havoc casually replies, "Just don't seem fair, does it? Maybe I'll shoot left-handed."
* IdiotBall: Just about everyone in ''Twilight''. Kane won't reveal his (rather harmless) goal, so half of the GDI accuses him of having evil plans, half of Nod feels betrayed, and everyone else gladly fights for Kane without knowing the truth.

* AIIsACrapshoot: [=CABAL=]. Slavik seems to have been the only one aware of this, since he alone of Nod's leading officers didn't use cyborgs as personal bodyguards.
** The Scrin [=AI=] causes trouble too, but only when the Supervisor orders Foreman 371 to [[spoiler: pursue further information on Kane at the expense of the entire mining operation]].
* AirstripOne: The Blue, Yellow and Red zones of ''Tiberium Wars''.
* AlienInvasion: Enter, The Scrin! Except it's [[spoiler: not really an invasion, but they try to make it look like one, to divert attention from their mining operations]].

* AttackDrone / MechaMooks: The Scrin "army" (actually an escort for the mining fleet) seems to be composed of automated troops commanded by Scrin Foremen in spaceborne Motherships. All of their units and even their buildings immediately shutdown and decompose once their [[spoiler: Relay Node is destroyed]].
* AwesomeButImpractical: The Avatar Warmech from ''Tiberium Wars'' is powerful, but to fully upgrade it requires the sacrifice of four other units and a commitment of credits, time, and micromanagement that could be better spent elsewhere. Unless you're fighting another Nod player, in which case you can just use ''their'' units to upgrade it.
** Additionally, the Scrin Mothership from ''Tiberium Wars'' could quite possibly destroy an entire base with a single shot, but its excruciatingly slow speed makes it an easy target.
*** However, there's a GameBreaker tactic that lets you deploy it in your opponent's base.

*** They serve to keep the casualties to a minimum when one comes across an Obelisk of Light. 10 smaller tanks would be halved in number by the end of the engagement, but 5 Mammoths can take it out without losing one of their number.

* AwesomePersonnelCarrier: The Crawlers count. In addition to being a BaseOnWheels, they can produce units on the move and unload them once deployed, although already deployed units can't go back in.

** Not so much with Nod's Reckoner APC, which is basically a high-speed deployable front-line bunker. It is, however, very useful for ploughing through GDI Zone Troopers and other heavy units with its Dozer Blades, since it's much faster and durable that the Scorpion Tank. The upgraded model in ''Tiberium Twilight'' can even ''burrow''.
* AwesomeYetPractical: The GDI Disruptors from ''Tiberian Sun''. At 1300 credits a pop, they weren't too difficult to mass produce. However, each had its own WaveMotionGun with a decent range that damaged everything in it's path ''except'' other disruptors. Having any other unit fight alongside these bad boys would be [[IdiotBall foolish]]. [[GameBreaker But an army of them is effective against everything]]. The only weakness they have is a lack of effective air protection (but since air support is a joke in Tiberian Sun, you won't lose very many by the time they blow up the enemy's helipads).
** It carries over with the Shatterer hovertanks of ''Kane's Wrath''. They can kill almost anything on the ground, and have the added advantage of being fast about it.
* {{Badass}}: The original Commando unit is basically "Macho Man" RandySavage with a headband and high-powered rifle, [[OneManArmy leaving a trail of demolished buildings and slaughtered infantry in his wake]]... and [[IAmNotLeftHanded that was left-handed]]. [[CripplingOverspecialization Just don't ask him to deal with vehicles]]. It carries over to the other games as well; basically, there's very little that can stand against a heroic Commando in ''C&C3''... and the Black Hand can train ''two'' of them at once.
** Havoc, of course. Well, there's dozens of these throughout the series, really, so it's easier not to list them.
* BadassArmy: GDI has overwhelming firepower an a ''lot'' of money, Nod has fanaticism and advanced technology, and the Scrin have all sorts of space-bending nastiness and Tiberium tricks.
* BadassBoast: "You can't kill the messiah!"

* TheBadGuyWins: ''Tiberium Twilight'', [[YourMilageMayVary depending on how you feel about Kane]].
** Technically in ''Tiberium Wars'' as well. Kane got what he wanted when he started the Third Tiberium War; the technology of the Scrin, including their portal tower so that the Brotherhood of Nod can ascent thirty years later, not the ultimate defeat of GDI.

** Also, The Overlord doesn't seem like that much of a nice guy either.
* BlondGuysAreEvil: Anton Slavik. Nod seems to love HairTropes.

* CoolStarship: The ''Kodiak'', enough that it even appeared in Battlestar Galactica.

* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: Nod cyborgs don't tend to have a whole lot of free will. On the plus side, they're extremely powerful.
** Actually an early Nod mission Tiberian Sun has you capture a TV station and broadcast a call to arms, urging the "enemy" Nod troops in the level to come to your side. Among them are several cyborgs of which only SOME of them defect to you.

* DarkMessiah: Kane ''is'' TheMessiah in the eyes of his own followers.
** And ''Tiberium Twilight'' shows that [[spoiler: he maybe is the Messiah afterall]].
* DeadlineNews: Occurs a few times in ''Wars''. The GDI reporters survive. The Nod reporter doesn't.
** Oxanna shoots her Hassan loyalist colleague, Maycheck, on live TV.

* {{Determinator}}: Kane. No matter what setback he suffers, he will return with greater force than his previous attempt in his quest for ascension, a journey that has spanned thousands of years and four of the bloodiest wars in history.

* [=~Didn't See That Coming~=]: [[spoiler: In ''Kane's Wrath'', Kane's reaction when Alexa says she set up Kilian Qatar is ''surprise''. Alexa deserves a CMOA for such a feat]].

* TheDragon: Anton Slavik in ''Tiberian Sun''. Incidentally, he's the player's character in the Nod campaign.
* DrillTank: In ''Tiberian Sun'', Nod uses subterranean units such as the Subterranean APC and the Devil's Tongue, although only the first looks like a recognisable DrillTank.