History YMMV / BelisariusSeries

** [[BadassBookworm Ousanas]], for his subversion of pretty much every trope associated with DarkestAfrica, his status as a [[LightningBruiser premier]] {{Badass}}, and his hilarious comments on just about everything.

** [[AntiVillain Rana Sanga]], for being the single biggest {{Badass}} in the setting and for his complete devotion to his family.

* NeverLiveItDown: Played with. Antonina is never allowed to forget her [[HighClassCallGirl old occupation]]. However being a [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections friend of Theodora and a wife of Belisarius]] not to mention being a [[{{Badass}} war hero who can hack men apart with a cleaver]] kind of makes up for that.

* CompleteMonster: [[ForTheEvulz Venandakatra]] the [[NamesToRunAwayFrom Vile]] is the first cousin of the Emperor of the Malwa and a [[TheCaligula depraved hedonistic sadist]], [[ZeroPercentApprovalRating hated even among]] the other [[RapePillageAndBurn Malwa]]. Venandakatra's tactics involve [[WeHaveReserves throwing his soldiers at the enemy]] until the enemy runs out of defenses before he runs out of men, and when he takes a city he subjects it to horrific massacres, with women taken as spoils and civilians massacred in huge numbers, often by his favorite execution method, [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impalement on short stakes]]. When he and Belisarius conquer one city, Venandakatra has a rebel leader with his family brought to Belisarius for rape and torture; Belisarius [[MercyKill has them killed swiftly to spare them the fate]]. Venandakatra is also a pedophile who [[WouldHurtAChile brutalizes little girls]] he inducts into [[SexSlave his harem]], requiring frequent replacements when he kills them, [[EvenEvilHasStandards disgusting even the Malwa spymaster Nanda Lal]]. When he is placed in charge of a section of the empire, Venandakatra's excesses eventually drive it into open revolt. When his chief holding is under siege, Venandakatra [[BadBoss has a commander who contradicts him blasted out of a cannon]] and forces his slaves to carry him to his palace, threatening to impale him should even one of them stumble. When they delay in getting him to safety, he orders them impaled on the spot, only to find out his troops have deserted him, leaving him to the mercies of his greatest enemy.

* {{Squick}}: [[TheSociopath Venandakatra]] has some...[[{{Lolicon}} odd tastes]].

* CompleteMonster: Venandakatra the Vile, a [[{{Sadist}} sadistic]] [[PaedoHunt pedophile]] who's intolerably evil even for the Malwa.

* CompleteMonster: Venandakatra the Vile, a [[{{Sadist}} sadistic]] [[PaedoHunt pedophile]] who's intolerably evil even for the Malwa.

* EnsambleDarkhorse: Given that it's [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters an Eric Flint series]], the protagonists are often upstaged by more minor characters.

* CompleteMonster: Venandakatra the Vile, a [[Sadist sadistic]] [[PaedoHunt pedophile]] who's intolerably evil even for the Malwa.

* NightmareFuel: What the Malwa do to their enemy is [[Gorn not a pretty sight]].

** 99% of everything that [[CompleteMonster Venandakatra]] [[PaedoHunt does]] [[Sadist in]] [[TheSociopath his]] [[Gorn free]] [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil time]].

* MagnificentBastard: Narses.
* NeverLiveItDown: Played with. Antonina is never allowed to forget her [[HighClassCallGirl old occupation]]. However being a [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections friend of Theodora and a wife of Belisarius]] not to mention being a [[{{Badass}} war hero]] kind of makes up for that.
* NightmareFuel: What the Malwa do to their enemy is not a pretty sight.

* BookEnds: Far from the beginning of the series (and not right at the end), but you could say that active Roman involvement in the war begins and ends with Belisaurius speaking one word -- "Valentinian" -- and Valentinian without hesitation [[spoiler:cutting a young girl's head off]].

* BookEnds: Far from the beginning of the series (and not right at the end), but you could say that active Roman involvement in the war begins and ends with Belisaurius speaking one word -- "Valentinian" -- and Valentinian without hesitation [[spoiler:cutting a nine-year-old girl's head off]].

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: honestly, this series has so much awesomeness that one can't pick specific moments that easily.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Link is destroyed and Aide gains humanity . . . but the victory means that Aide's existence is now a time paradox, so he dies soon after. There's also the loss of all their other beloved friends and comrades, but the future--for now--looks bright.]]

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: The RealLife Narses was never a traitor and was almost as much of a FourStarBadass as the RealLife Belisarius.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: The real Belisarius was a brave and loyal commander and very skilled. But there is no evidence that he would qualify for being the rescuer of humanity.

* UnfortunateImplications: At Eon's marriage, Antonina speculates that she just changed history so that Islam would not exist. Whether that is possible of course depends on whether you consider Islam a merely human phenomenon which in turn depends on whether or not you are a Muslim.

* CompleteMonster: Venandakatra the Vile.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: What the Malwa do to their enemy is not a pretty sight.

** Emperor Skandagupta and his spymaster, Nanda Lal, also qualify. Venandakatra blows well past them on sheer {{Squick}} factor, admitted, given his preference for [[spoiler:preteen girls]].
** Nanda Lal also had the countervailing factor of actually being competent enough to earn some respect as a villain. Skandagupta and Venandakatra... not so much.
*** Belisarius ''pretends'' to be this to get his enemies off their guard. Even to the point of telling Venandakatra "God, how I love a [[RapePillageAndBurn sack]]". In reality atrocities by his men were the most certain way to make Belisarius send for the hangman, but he doesn't tell Venandakatra ''that''.

* TheWoobie/JerkassWoobie: Justinian.

* TheWoobie: Justinian.

* NightmareFuel: What the Malwa do to their enemy is not a pretty sight.

** Nanda Lal also had the countervailing factor of actually being competent enough to earn some respect as a villain. Skandagupta and Venandakatra... [[{{Understatement}} not so much]].

* TearJerker: The death of [[spoiler: Aide]].
** Also the death of [[spoiler:Eon]].