History WesternAnimation / TheLiberator

* ItHasBeenAnHonor: One of the men says this word-for-word to Sparks after they find out that he won't be going home with them (he has to stay behind to answer for the shootings at Dachau).

* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: An egregious example occurs in very first episode, where protagonists take out a German tank with a mortar. Which is completely, utterly impossible. Why? Well, first of all, mortars ''do not fire anti-tank rounds''. They use fragmentation grenades which are strictly anti-infantry weapon and have absolutely no armor penetrating capabilities, ''none whatsoever''. Secondly, mortar round is fired in a steep parabole, flying high first and then falling freely with relatively low velocity -- which means it lacks kinetic energy which would be required to penetrate heavy armor even if it ''was'' fitted with anti-tank warhead. So basically, the idea of a mortar grenade destroying a tank is just as ludicrous as a notion that by tossing a ball softly into a basket you can break a hard wooden board.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Private Otaktay's name mean "kills many". Doubles as NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Private Otaktay's name mean "kills many".

* IOweYuMyLife: Captain Sparks returns to his men, even though he was given permission to return home, because he felt a debt to them after they saved his life.

* AnswerCut: Sparks and his unit have entered a Sicilian village and are trying to communicate with a local boy. Sparks realizes that his best Italian speaker isn't there and says "Where the hell is Spigs?". The show then cuts to Private Spigliani, who has been captured by the Germans.

* TheDeadHaveNames: Towards the end of the series a superior officer is surprised that Sparks can remember the names of so many soldiers that died under his command. He answers "I had to write a lot of letters."

* ProudWarriorRace: Coldfoot is a Choctaw, or "an Indian with pride" as another soldier describes him. His refusal to submit to the bigotry and racism of the U.S. Army in 1941 not only cost him a promotion to sergeant, it got him busted from corporal to private. He is about to force his way into a whites-only movie theater when Sparks gets him to stop by promoting him to sergeant.
* ShellGame: Cruz does this to amuse/distract some Italian children, as American soldiers and local civilans huddle together in caves outside Anzio, with German shells falling outside.

* ThatsWhatIWouldDo: Said on Felix's behalf. In Episode 3 Felix is expressing skepticism over his unit's mission, namely, occupying a mountain ridge in the Vosges. When another officer questions why Felix is anticipating a German flanking movement that could leave them cut off, the CO says "Because that's what he would do."

* NotSoDifferent: The series makes ''no'' attempt to hide the fact that segregationist United States wasn't far off from Nazi Germany in multiple regards to race laws and white supremacy, with the Nazis mocking the American soldiers for having minorities that weren't even granted the same rights back home. The plights of Native Americans and Mexican Americans are elaborated upon, showing that while they were allowed to serve with white soldiers, they still got shafted in multiple regards, which isn't even getting to those races considered "lesser". Luckily, Sparks takes pains to challenge the system to ensure good treatment for his men.

* {{Rotoscoping}}: The series was animated with a new process called Trioscope, which Variety called "[[https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/netflix-the-liberator-1234823250/ a unique, enhanced hybrid animation technology]] that merges live action performance with computer graphics."

* VoiceoverLetter:
** Sparks's narration accompanies a letter he writes to his wife, as he struggles to explain why he went back to his men in Italy rather than accept a discharge home to the States.
** Episode 2 closes in a similar way, as Sparks's letter to his wife tells about the horror of Anzio.

* OminousFog: The opening scene has Sparks and the men advancing nervously through a fog-bound Sicilian plain. Sure enough, the Germans pounce on them from behind the fog.

* DeadGuyOnDisplay: Episode 4 opens with a German lieutenant--not even a deserter, a guy who had orders to go home to rest from his wounds--dragged out of his home by a major, proclaimed a "traitor", and hanged from a lamppost. The major yells at the crowd as he's leaving that no one is to pull the body down.

** Episode 2 closes in a similar way, as Sparks's letter to his wife tells about the horror of Anzio.

* LastBreathBullet: In episode 2, a German patrol has caught Sparks and the Thunderbirds in a canal.
They've shot a bunch and captured the rest of the Americans--but one soldier, Cooper, isn't quite dead yet. He crawls up the side of the canal and shoots one of the German soldiers, starting a brief fight that ends with the Americans turning the tables. Then Cooper bleeds out and dies.

It's set in World War II and tells the story of Captain [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_L._Sparks Felix Sparks]] and his men, 3rd Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. The story opens with Sparks (Creator/BradleyJames) and the men getting ambushed by the Germans in Sicily. After Sparks is wounded by a mortar shell, the story jumps back to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Sparks is given command of a company of men that is more integrated than most 1941 Army units, consisting of white, Mexicans, and Native Americans--the latter including Samuel Coldfoot (Creator/MartinSensmeier), whom Sparks promotes from private to sergeant. After Sparks forges his men into a unit, they go off to war.

* VoiceoverLetter: Sparks's narration accompanies a letter he writes to his wife, as he struggles to explain why he went back to his men in Italy rather than accept a discharge home to the States.