History VorkosiganSaga / TropesJToZ

* ShootTheDangerousMinion: The LawfulEvil Emperor Ezar turns out to have deliberately launched an invasion of Escobar which was doomed to fail, so that he could kill his son [[TheCaligula Prince Serg]] and discredit the violent nationalists at his court. The sacrifice of numerous innocents during that invasion made it possible for the throne to pass to Ezar's grandson, Gregor, who is a noble and benevolent [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask Guy Wearing the Kingly Mask]]. And Ezar himself not only confesses to it all on his deathbed, but makes it clear he's looking forward to dying. After all he'd gone through by that point, he was ready for a nice long rest.

** Etienne Vorsoisson never takes responsibility for his own mistakes and failings, and always blames somebody else. [[PsychologicalProjection He also assumes everyone else is as self-interested as he is.]] [[spoiler:This eventually gets him killed due to his own proud/hasty neglect of proper safety measures (which his wife reminded him about earlier)...and then someone else uses Tien's death to accuse Miles of murder.]]

* MindRape: Happens to Mark during ''Mirror Dance'', along with the physical kind.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: Played with, in the case of Ivan: There is a conversation in ''Mirror Dance'' where this possibility is discussed, but Aral Vorkosigan dismisses it, commenting that Ivan has acted stupidly from too young an age for it to be an act. However, when you read the portions of the book from Ivan's perspective, it is clear that he is fairly intelligent, and more in the way of BrilliantButLazy; he has learned that the "reward" for doing a job well is another, harder job. This had already been established in ''Cetaganda'' and ''Brothers in Arms'', where it is clear that Ivan is a perfectly competent young soldier, but that he feels safer if everybody regards him as a harmless fool. Considering he is the effective heir [[note]](Aral and Miles, and maybe Mark have a better claim, but none of them want the job)[[/note]] for Emperor of Barrayar, he may also believe that he keeps the people ahead of him safer (all of whom are family who he is close to), by assuring ''nobody'' wants him in charge.

*** Ekaterin underestimates a 10-year [=ImpSec=] veteran; Miles was too well-trained by Simon to trust ''anybody'' unnecessarily. He incinerated the rejected drafts personally.

*** Ekaterin overestimates the 10-year [=ImpSec=] veteran; Miles incinerated the rejected drafts personally because Pym was ''not'' above gossip.

* ShockStick: Used throughout the series (referred to as either "shock-sticks" or "shock sticks"), they are baton-like non-lethal electric weapons, which can be sufficiently painful as to cause the victim to lose consciousness. in ''The Vor Game'' (the first mention within the saga) one is used on Miles by Jacksonian goons, and later on Gregor (although as Miles points out, they only used the low power setting on Gregor). They also feature prominently in Mark's backstory in ''Brothers in Arms'' and ''Mirror Dance'', including Ser Galen using a shock stick to sexually assault Mark as part of his "training".

* LoveMakesYouCrazy. Miles, in a big way. The things he did to try to win Elena's hand, and then Ekaterin. From a certain point of view, Miles creates the whole vast edifice of the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet just so that Elena can fulfill her longing to be a soldier -- or, in a different sense of love, to prove his worth to his father.

** The Koudelkas: At least until Delia and Olivia got married, and Kareen moved in with Mark..

* MyEyesAreUpHere: Tej is described as ''[[BuxomIsBetter nicely]]'' [[BuxomIsBetter full figured]] and frequently has men looking at her, and then shifting their gaze up to her face.

* RagtagBunchofMisfits: The Dendarii Mercenaries originally consists of: a [[HandicappedBadass disabled teenage boy]] who failed the army fitness test; a teenage girl who [[StayInTheKitchen wouldn't even be allowed to apply to join the army]]; a [[ShellShockedVeteran mentally unstable ex-soldier]]; an [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] pilot; and a deserter who [[TheExile can never return to his home planet]]. And they manage to conquer, then ''recruit'', an entire fleet of experienced mercenaries.

** Miles at one point reflects that he's not eager for the day that he is greeted as "Count Vorkosigan, sir?" This will signify that his father is dead, and he's the new count. Happens at the end of "Cryoburn."

*** The third instance involves [[spoiler:Mark]] who starts to force himself on someone who was mentally a child [[YoungerThanTheyLook in an adult's body]], and who doesn't understand what is being done to her. The would-be rapist is only stoped due to [[spoiler: his own inability to perform due to past psychological issues owing to his own experience of being raped]], this time the perpetrator does get a clear WhatTheHellHero response from the immeditae witnesses who treats it as hitting the MoralEventHorizon, but Cordelia is quite forgiving about the incident, and ultimately the would-be rapist ends up being treated as a protagonist deserving of a happy ending.

* RejectedMarriageProposal: Ekaterin turns down marriage proposals from Venier in ''Komar'' and from Alex Vormoncrief in ''A Civil Campaign.'' In fact, she turns down proposals from Vormoncrief twice, the second time hitting him in the nose when he grabs hold of her. She also storms out of a large dinner party after a horribly awkward proposal from Miles - but without actually saying "no", a fact that both Ekaterin's aunt and Miles find to be highly significant. [[spoiler: Ekaterin later proposes to Miles in an even more public setting and Miles accepts]].

** He'd also felt this relationship with his grandfather, Piotr, which is why he is devastated initially when he fails to get entry into the military. Piotr dies before he's inducted into the military, and spends a good chunk of the series trying to impress a dead man.

* NoPronunciationGuide: The audio books each pronounce "Dendarii" differently, even ones with the same reader.

* PsychoticSmirk: When Bothari tortures a jump pilot, he wears a creepy one. It's a (bad) revelation for Miles, who underestimated how dastardly Bothari could be when given the leeway. [[CriticalResearchFailure Had Miles asked his father]] ''[[CriticalResearchFailure anything]]'' [[CriticalResearchFailure about Bothari's past, he'd have never asked him to torture anyone for information]], especially since it directly leads to the jump pilot's death later. [[invoked]]

** Bothari, to Miles' regret.

** Also averted from an unlikely source -- Cordelia, of highly progressive, scientific, sociologically and psychologically-minded Beta Colony, is rather calmly, quietly Christian. Her Christianity is only mentioned in passing by Miles a couple times, having been a minor influence in how she raised him. Everyone else seems blandly indifferent to the question of God, though occasionally willing to entreat or curse Him silently during moments of duress.

%%* TheMenFirst

* RetiredBadass: Aral and Cordelia, in the later books.,

%%* ResearchInc: the Durona Group

%%* LaResistance: Miles organizes one in "The Borders of Infinity."
* RetiredBadass: Aral and Cordelia, in the later books.

* ThePlotReaper: [[spoiler: Ekaterin's unlikeable, abusive, and all-around JerkAss of a husband dies just as she has decided to leave him, freeing her to be courted by Miles Vorkosigan. Unfortunately, he dies in such a way that fewer than a score of people in the Barrayaran Empire have a high enough security clearance to be able to satisfy themselves that Miles didn't kill him out of jealousy, which causes problems for Miles all throughout the ''next'' book. As for Ekaterine, the reaper didn't strike until after she'd told Tien she was leaving, meaning she gets all the guilt of breaking her word without the catharsis of it actually accomplishing something.]]

* ThirdLineSomeWaiting: The BreatherEpisode books, like ''A Civil Campaign'' or ''Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen'' often feature a minor plot thread that gets resolved in the end, such as the butter bugs in the former and Mikos ''ghem'' Soren and his adjusting to life on Sergyar in the latter. Despite the series having LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, Bujold manages to avoid any {{Kudzu Plot}}s.