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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_kog-movie_980.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:''So far away...'']]
3
4->''This is the tale of the god of light, Amaterasu, and his wife Lachesis, who emerged victorious from an era of wars that raged throughout four solar systems. It will also tell of the many bold and daring headliners who battled courageously during those times, some victorious, some not, but always in the name of chivalry.''
5
6''The Five Star Stories'' (FSS for short) is a long running (began serialization in the venerable ''Newtype Magazine'' in 1986) cult manga series created by Mamoru Nagano, who is best known for his collaborations with Creator/YoshiyukiTomino, especially ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]]''. While not quite his solo debut (that was "Fool for the City", a short story mostly about rock music that was also serialized in Newtype the year before FSS began) FSS has arguably become Nagano's most distinctive work and his career-defining Magnum Opus.
7
8The basics of this epic SpaceOpera are as follows: somewhere in space there is a region known as Joker. It is made up of four stars named after the cardinal directions (North, South, East and West) and a fifth called Stant on an orbit that takes it within traveling distance of the other four every 1500 years, hence the title. The main four stars all have one or two habitable planets populated by many different nations and peoples. And, being different nations and peoples, they often find an excuse to go to war.
9
10But it is the way war is waged that makes things interesting. The people of Joker learned long ago that weapons of mass destruction were a bad idea, so instead they developed a device that could deploy massive amounts of firepower without the indiscriminate collateral damage of a nuke or planetary bombardment.
11
12Enter the [[HumongousMecha Mortar Headd]].
13
14Mortar Headds (MH for short) are not like other RealRobot-type mechs. Rather than mass-produced, expendable military vehicles like tanks or fighter planes, an MH is considered a work of art. Each one is an exquisite display of its nation's wealth and craftsmanship that is passed down from pilot to pilot for generations. (The setup will seem familiar to fans of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' or ''TabletopGame/BattleTech''.)
15
16They are controlled by two operators: a Headdliner, a SchizoTech KnightInShiningArmor, born with superhuman strength and speed as a result of genes passed down from genetically altered SuperSoldiers in the distant past who are the only ones with the proper reflexes to control the machine's incredibly complex movements and their partner, a Fatima, an ArtificialHuman, (usually female) who controls the mech's other functions and has been programmed to obey the Headdliner.
17
18The main characters of ''The Five Star Stories'', more or less, are Amaterasu, the [[AmbiguousGender androgynous]] god-king of the planet Delta Belune and his Fatima wife Lachesis, who, along with their loyal order of Mirage Knights, are destined to change the face of the Five Stars forever.
19
20Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Maybe even a little cliché? Well just take a look and prepare to be blown away.
21
22Nagano's distinctive visual and storytelling style, a cast of thousands of truly unique and bizarre personalities and extensive WorldBuilding combine to create a truly unforgettable experience, epic in scope and yet peppered with many familiar, domestic touches that draw the reader into a strange and fascinating alien world that may not be so far from their own. Once you've seen it you'll never confuse it for anything else.
23
24The manga has been collected into large-format paperbacks, at least ten of which are currently available in English, though these are difficult to find. (Also, in English each volume is split up into two or three books, which comes out to about 25 or so released so far, really). It has also inspired an animated OAV film which presents a mostly faithful adaptation of the first volume, which inexplicably changed the colors of some of the Mortar Headds and a few character designs were tweaked to be more animation-friendly. Nagano has produced a handful of {{Concept Album}}s based on the series with vocals by his wife, voice actress Creator/MariaKawamura.
25
26----
27!!The Five Star Stories has examples of...
28
29* AbsentAliens: There are a few gods, but otherwise the only intelligent life in the universe is apparently human or genetically modified derivatives thereof. We do see quite a few bizarre aliens in the Trafficks saga, but they're all from an AlternateUniverse.
30* AceCustom: Rogner's "Babiron" LED Mirage is probably the most notable, but arguably, ''any'' Mortar Headd can be called AceCustom. There are mass-produced ones, but they mostly fall into RedShirt category and hardly worth mentioning.
31* AdaptationalBadass: Given the ''much'' higher power levels often displayed in this series, most of the MH designs adapted from''Anime/HeavyMetalLGaim'' get this treatment, but the real standout is Vatshu. While ''L-Gaim'''s Bat-Shu was a middling, limited production MookLieutenant, Vatshu is a one-off SuperPrototype with its own bonded Fatima and one of the most powerful Mechs in the setting outside of Amaterasu's Mirage series.
32* AdaptationalWimp: The Junchoon's first form, the one most directly based on the L-Gaim itself, by contrast is depicted as much less formidable than its anime counterpart, losing badly to a relatively minor villain in its first sortie. While its upgraded versions are much more powerful and play a pivotal role in the story, it still loses its role as the main protagonist's mech (inasmuch as ''FSS'', which has much more of an EnsembleCast, could be said to have one).
33* AerithAndBob: Here are the names of a few of the Mirage Knights: Nu. Suoad Graphight, Maximum HOLTFORS Ballanche Kaien (capitalization intentional), Landwand Spacorn, Mishalu Ha Lonn and Allen Bradford (who, incidentally is married to a woman named Qukey).
34** Max, at least [[JustifiedTrope has an excuse]] -- he's something of an [[spoiler:ArtificialHuman]] and that capitalization is [[spoiler:his designation]]
35** Qukey's real name, on the other hand, is perfectly legitimate Ritsuko Zanda.
36* AllPlanetsAreEarthlike: Mostly averted. Though most of the habitable planets are fairly earthlike, either naturally or through terraforming, some are hotter or colder than others on average. There are also two habitable {{Single Biome Planet}}s: Juno, a jungle planet currently in the middle of its Mesozoic Era and Pestako, a city world that was originally an airless mining planet. Also, each star has numerous uninhabitable planets not unlike our own solar system.
37* AllThereInTheManual: Many details about the setting and characters are only made explicit in various supplementary materials, some of which is published, including illustrations in glorious full-color in the backs of the English issues.
38** What's unusual is that not only are elements of the BackStory like this, but the future of the story as well, as each volume is printed with a tentative timeline of the series that goes all the way up to the year 7777 and the character notes often describe things they will do in the future. Odd as that they may seem, it actually underscores the true purpose of the manga quite well: FSS is an ''experience''. It's not about knowing what's going to happen next, but about seeing it happen.
39* AllLoveIsUnrequited: A frequent trope in the series.
40** Aisha Codante loved Amaterasu all her life, [[EveryoneCanSeeIt and he knew it]], but just never felt anything back.
41** Meeth Silver also had a thing for her second adopted father, [[HandsomeLech Douglas Kaien]], even coming to rather ''extreme'' means to make herself a mother of his child, but he hardly ever noticed this.
42** Jhon Weinzel cared deeply for Est and she did love him back, but unfortunately he just didn't have the right characteristics to be her bonded Mortar Headd Vatshu's pilot.
43* AlternateUniverse: We sometimes get brief glimpses of a strange alternate reality known as the Taika Universe during various points in its history, mostly revolving around visitations by Amaterasu and friends after his [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence final ascension]]. The equivalent of humans apparently evolved from Cheetahs, there are many other alien races and Rogner, or at least someone with his name, has a Cheetahman counterpart.
44* AlternativeCalendar: All years are marked with J.C. for Joker Calendar. Interestingly, the previous civilization used a calendar marked A.D., but it stood for something other than Anno Domini. Also, note that a Joker standard year is significantly shorter than those of Earth. So somebody who is 5 years old here would be about 16 by their reckoning.
45** Jokerians also age differently from Earth humans. A 100-year person in Joker would be around thirty Earth years old, but their physical age would correspond to a ~20-25 years old Earthling.
46* AnachronicOrder: The first volume opens in JC 3960, shifts back to 2989 and proceeds in mostly linear fashion from there for the next volume or so. The end of book three jumps before snapping back to the main story in the 2990s. And so on.
47* AncestralWeapon: Many of the Mortar Headds and Fatimas have been in the service of the same order of knights for generations. Let's not even get started on ''[[TimeAbyss Kaienken]]''. Or KOG.
48* AnyoneCanDie: Named characters drop dead like flies.
49* AppliedPhlebotinum: All over the place. Probably the biggest one being the Ezlazer "External Combustion Engine", a bizarre device, the main body of which typically resembles a metallic gall-bladder, that, through a process involving melting metals can convert any radiant energy in its environment, usually sunlight, into electrical power, allowing semi-perpetual motion.
50* TheArtifact: The Active Veils on the Atoll Swans and Cobra are based on the extra arms mounted on the A-Taul V from ''L-Gaim'', which originally came from that series' version of the Ashura Temple, as the A-Taul V was cobbled together from parts of other Heavy Metals. When the ''FSS'''s own version of the Ashura Temple, which bears no resemblance to the original apart from its red color scheme and extra limbs, showed up in the third story arc, its sub-arms were completely different.
51* ArtificialHuman: The Fatimas.
52* ArtShift: Happens around book 6 or so. They at least give in-story explanations for the costume & mecha design changes, but the fact that everyone's eyes & heads are suddenly twice as big goes unmentioned.
53* AttemptedRape: Bugle de'Leizer during Emperor Rescue Mission.
54* AuthorAppeal: FSS is filled to the brim with things Mamoru Nagano loves: giant robots, genderqueer characters, motorcycles, rock music references, bizarre fashions, it's all here. He admits most of the Fatimas are designed after his tastes in women.
55* AwesomeButImpractical: The Jagd Mirage. First you need to make the damn thing, all 40 m of it. Then, you need a genius knight and a top-grade fatima to use it. Next you burn out its eyeballs with its eye-mounted laser cannons. What type of genius created this monstrosity?
56** Well, Amaterasu could be somewhat unhinged at times, but then, he's a ''god''...
57** Jagd qualifies just as of itself, not only its EyeBeams. For all the engineering marvel that it is, it's still fully possible to create a mobile artillery platform capable of carrying the ''Twin Towers'' for a fraction of the mass and cost. After all, both Jagds ever built were used to their full power exactly ''once'', and a couple of much cheaper ''[[OldSchoolDogfight Prowlers]]'' could've arguably do it better -- busters of these caliber being their standard weaponry. It seems that Amaterasu designed and built Jagd Mirages simply because he ''could''... and AKD was able to afford them.
58* AxCrazy: Most of the Mirage Corps' Green Left Wing. Particularily notable are Schaft and Paltenon.
59** ''Any'' of the Greens will do. What about Schaft's boss, FEMC GL IIII and one of Amaterasu's numerous cousins, Amaterasu dis Greens OOE Ikaruga, aka Sarion? The one nicknamed LED, after his signature MH, LED Mirage? The guy [[SelfMadeOrphan made himself an orphan]] just ForTheEvulz, and had his death sentence committed to the life imprisonment by Amaterasu, only to stage a rebellion and try to murder his royal brother in a fit of pique due to some FantasticRacism. But he's still [[KarmaHoudini one of the foremost AKD's knights]], a royal prince (receiving this title ''after'' all that ERM debacle) and even was temporally made an AKD commander-in-chief during one of the Rognar's deaths.
60* BatmanGambit: Amaterasu's true plan to unite the peoples of the titular stars.
61* BeamSpam: Mortar Headds have (comparatively) tiny laser emitters, as well as missile launchers, all over their bodies. They can make mincemeat out of enemy infantry and light armored vehicles in seconds, but are too weak to do much against the armor and other defenses of another MH, which nothing short of energy swords and/or ones made of high tech alloy can take apart.
62* {{BFG}}: The Jagd Mirages have not one, but two of these. Not even going into the fact that a Jagd stands many times taller than your average MH.
63** These are the main reason why the Jagd's 1/100 model is 1.5 meters tall.
64* {{BFS}}: Lots of big swords here. The curious broadsword with the bifurcated tip used by the Jagd Mirage probably takes the cake. Proportionally it's not so much, but the Jagd is over 40 meters tall, making it huge even by MH standards.
65* BlingBlingBang: Three words: Knight. Of. Gold.
66* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Amaterasu's decisions may seem bizarre for the average person, such as the whole affair with Bosjathforth, which basically started with what looked like a [[NiceJobBreakingItHero kid throwing a tantrum]] ([[OmniscientMoralityLicense but probably wasn't]]), and draggged for a number of centuries and several wars.
67* {{Bowdlerise}}: The cover of US vols. 21-23 used Green and Gold artwork because the original cover (the one from JP Vol.9) contained frontal nudity of a Fatima.
68* BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins: Allen Bradford, despite the fact that he was born light-years away from the nearest rez.
69* BullyingADragon: Christine V's classmates, one of whom pays for it with his life.
70* CharClone: Vralgo "Testarossa" Kentauri fits this trope perfectly. Appropriately enough, his MH, Boowray (actually a Siren frame with different armor and weapons) is based on a rejected design Mamoru Nagano did for ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack'''s Sazabi.
71* ConstellationsAsLocations: The story is set in a group of star systems that are physically near each other, which many characters refer to as a constellation.
72* CoolButInefficient: Practically runs on this trope, a fact which Mamoru Nagano freely admits. Here's the author's description of the Co-Axial Cannon on the Jagd Mirage's [[WaveMotionGun 200m-long "Twin Tower" Buster Launcher]]:
73-->"An auxiliary gun also found on the Knight Of Gold and used for precision sighting. It is fired first so the main gunnery can get accurate range and sighting data. This is the same technology used in the coaxial machine guns installed in tanks. (Why they don't use lasers is a mystery, but our guess is that such mundane, obvious methods don't fit the Joker preoccupation with complexity and ostentation.)"
74* CultureChopSuey: We've got the Hellenic European fairytale Edo of the AKD, the Germanic Mayan UK of Colus, the Native American Ninja Mimiba, United States of Ottoman Trun Union, Coballkan's Samurai Vatican City and it just goes on like that. [[WordOfGod According to his introduction to the first collected edition]], Nagano deliberately makes all the cultural references as random and incongruous as possible to avoid people reading too much into them due to his dislike for making political statements in his work.
75* {{Deconstruction}}: Whether or not it was intentional, Nagano's realistic portrayal of the consequences of the various {{Applied Phlebotinum}}s of the story create a savage mockery of some of anime's favorite tropes:
76** BornWinner: Though their abilities do give them a privileged place in society, Headdliners and Divers are held to rigid codes of conduct, have serious problems interacting with ordinary people and are often forced to fight and die in pointless wars.
77** MagicalGirlfriend: The Fatimas. Their beauty and loyalty are the result of hideous genetic experiments and brainwashing, they are treated as playthings by most people and the few that aren't brainwashed usually go insane because they're unable to cope with their lot in life.
78** HumongousMecha: The Mortar Headds are horrendously impractical and are only able to thrive due to a combination of MisappliedPhlebotinum, aristocratic traditions and bizarre military tactics.
79* ButtMonkey: Allen Braford, before joining the Mirage Corps during the Emperor's Rescue Mission.
80* ClusterFBomb: Paltenon even used it when complaining why was the eye part of her MH burned off after doing its EyeBeams attack.
81* DeathIsCheap: Only for Rognar, who is the proud owner of the LostTechnology piece that lets him to be reborn each time he dies.
82** There's someone else who get repeatedly reincarnated by even less logical means.
83*** If you mean Bosjathfort, then he a) claims that he's a sorcerer, and b) claims that he knows the secrets of [[{{Precursors}} Farrus Di Kannarn Empire]]. Apparently, some of these claims ''aren't'' bogus.
84* DecompositeCharacter: The ''L-Gaim'' version of the Ashura Temple lends various characteristics to at least three different Mortar Headds in this series. The MH Ashura Temple gets its name, color palette and extra arms; the Atoll gets its shields (indirectly through the patchwork A-TAUL V); meanwhile the LED Mirage's head resembles a much fancier version of its distinctive large "helmet" and minimalist faceplate.
85* DefeatMeansFriendship: When Schaft tried to rape Lachesis in ERM, he was [[LadyOfWar handed his own ass on a platter]] by her. He was so much impressed that he declared his eternal loyalty to her and became one of her most devoted knights.
86* DiagonalCut: Common fate of any {{Muggles}} fool enough to go up against a Headdliner.
87* DidNotGetTheGirl: The tragic story of Jhon Weinzel and Est, who loved each other deeply, but were unable to be together because unlike other Fatimas, Est was programmed to join with the Headdliner who would make the best pilot for her MH rather than the one best suited for herself.
88* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Jabo Beat, a relatively major character, is unceremoniously killed off when she accidentally walks in on a running battle between the Mirage Knights and the evil sorcerer Bosjathfort that also results in the deaths of several Mirages and their Fatimas, named characters all.
89* EarnYourHappyEnding: It takes billions of years, but in the end, [[spoiler: Amaterasu and Lachesis are reunited.]]
90* ElitesAreMoreGlamorous: Ordinary grunts are pretty much the same as they are on Earth, except for sci-fi toys like lasguns and anti-gravity tanks. Then [[BlingBlingBang there's]] [[BlingOfWar the]] [[SuperSoldier knights]].
91* EnergyWeapons: [[LaserBlade Spaads]], various handheld laser guns and [[WaveMotionGun Buster Launchers]].
92** Buster Launchers aren't energy weapons, they are [[MagneticWeapons railguns]] that fire enormous (and often nuclear tipped) projectiles with muzzle velocities measuring in kilometers per second.
93* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Ladios Sopp is constantly getting hit on by other men, whether they realize what he is or not.
94** He's so [[{{Bishounen}} androgynous]] that you can be sure that most of these guys don't even ''think'' he's not a girl.
95* EvilChancellor: Di Barrow.
96** Upandla Raymu becomes one later, when Amaterasu secludes himself and Mirages.
97* EvilPrince: Sarion. Note that he's technically still one of the good guys!
98** [[YellowPeril Ko Fan Shiemarr]] as well. Maybe.
99* {{Expy}}: Various character and mecha designs, most notably Junchoon and Vatshu the Black Knight and their pilots are based on ones that Nagano created for Tomino's ''Anime/HeavyMetalLGaim''. The Colus VI arc is even something of a retelling of L-Gaim's storyline. Also features yet another [[MemeticMutation A]] [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam CHAR]] in the character of Vralgo Kentauri.
100* EyeBeams: Poor Jagd Mirage, did you burn your eyes out? It's too bad your creator is the most idiotic immortal genius in the galaxy.
101* FantasticDrug: "Brain-Crackers", which need to be taken with a laundry list of other medicines to reduce the risk of brain damage. Apparently all drugs in Joker have to be created artificially, as the people's advanced immune systems prevent organic narcotics from affecting them.
102* FeudalFuture: Not ''quite'' every major nation has a feudal system, or at least a powerful monarchy, but it's damn close.
103** Even among the nations that managed to cling to democracy, the same cavalier attitude to the notions of loyalty and nationality, so prominent in feudalism, still prevails. Voards Viewlard, calling from Trun Union, one of such nations, doesn't see anything wrong with his exploits as a mercenary, despite being [[spoiler: Trun's President Mission Routh]].
104* ForegoneConclusion: Nagano lays out the almost complete history of his world ''in prologue'', making it essentially impossible to do any major {{spoiler}} or {{cliffhanger}}. This is done for a reason: he believes that without ''experiencing'' history, even if through a story, it's impossible to truly relate to it. We may know that Amaterasu and Lachesis would search for each other through worlds and dimensions for [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale almost six billion years]], but we won't ''get'' it until we know and love them.
105* GenderBender: Amaterasu, androgynous at the best of times, actually does turn into a full on woman on a few occasions.
106* GenderBlenderName: Amaterasu is named after the Shinto sun goddess. Then again, he is pretty androgynous and Amaterasu is actually the name of the royal family. His full title is Amaterasu Dis Grand Grees Eydas IV, also known as Amaterasu no Mikado.
107* GenderReveal: [[DudeLooksLikeALady Ladios Sopp]]'s biggest RunningGag.
108* {{Gorn}}: While violence in FSS is usually portrayed subtly but more or less realistically, there is a very gratuitous sequence in volume 7. To wit: Ladios Sopp is riding a bus through Kastenpo when it's attacked by enemy aircraft. His foot is trapped in the wreckage, so he's forced to perform a field-amputation with his spaad. He actually manages to elude the enemy for some time even on one foot, carrying a child who soon perishes from his wounds, but they eventually get the better of him and blow him up. The next time we see him his horribly mutilated carcass is being scavenged by wild dogs, buzzards and small dinosaurs. ''While he's still conscious!''
109* GratuitousEnglish: The street signs in Zanda City are a particularly amusing example.
110* GratuitousGerman: Rogner.
111* HandsomeLech: Voards Viewlard and Douglas Kaien, the latter being the father of at least three illegitimate children.
112** Megara seems to be on of the most forgiving women in history. Though, despite being one of Dr. Ballanche fatimas, she's from the earlier batches and still has some mind control installed.
113* HumanAliens[=/=]HumanSubspecies: [[http://www.gearsonline.net/series/fivestarstories/characters/ Humans in the Joker Cluster have numerous differences from modern day humans.]] Some small differences are that they [[WeWillNotHaveAppendixesInTheFuture lack vestigial organs]] such as wisdom teeth and tailbones. The big ones are GoodNewsBadNews; Good, they [[TimeDissonance age four times slower]]. Bad, they're [[AntiIntellectualism about a third less intelligent]].
114* HumansAreWhite: The cast is fairly diverse, but there are only a few Black characters, most hailing from Delta Belune, most notably the aforementioned Paltenon as well as Sir Leibuch, the leader of the God's Knights, the AKD's rank & file MH force, c. JC 3000. Amusingly, after he earns the title of Black Knight, very blonde, Germanic-looking Decors Weissmel, in his characteristically tactless way, begins referring to himself as "This Nigger".
115* HumongousMecha: Well, it is a Mamoru Nagano manga after all.
116* ImplausibleFencingPowers: All Headdliners can do this due to their superhuman powers. In fact, they move so fast they can actually do more damage with a sword than a gun. No, really.
117* InformedAttractiveness: Fatimas are said to be irresistible, but aside from their GenericCuteness and very long legs, they tend to look kind of bony and unhealthy. Voards Viewlard actually lampshades this in volume IX, where he constantly complains that they make them way too skinny for his tastes (though it doesn't stop him from lusting after noodle-people like Jabo Beat and Ladios Sopp). Then again, it may have something to do with the fact that they're practically immortal and even the ones who do get old still look the same.
118** It's AuthorAppeal. Nagano likes his women small and skinny.
119** Decors Weissmel actively lampshades this trope, somehow, in every appearance he makes. In the first chapter he gets pissed off at losing to 'another knight with a Lolita complex' and is visibly disgusted by duke Juba drooling all over Lachesis, upon first meeting Est he tells her Fatimas 'don't do it for him' and in a much later appearance he gets very annoyed when somebody suggests he's been sleeping with Est. Apparently EvenEvilHasStandards after all.
120* IntergenerationalFriendship: Amaterasu, being immortal, is the king of this trope. When he met Dr. Ballanche, for example, he was about 600 (which translates into pretty impressive 200 years even if this was in [[AlternativeCalendar JC]]), and the good doctor was still in his teens. When Dr. Ballanche died of old age at 300, Amaterasu hasn't changed even a bit. Lachesis might be the only exception -- while she's about 700 years younger than him, she's also immortal.
121* InvisibilityFlicker: Specialty of both Headdliners and Fatimas, as well as members of the mysterious Mimiba people.
122* JerkWithTheHeartOfAJerk: Decors Weissmel, full stop. He's so completely defined by his spitefulness, that only [[VillainousValor his exceptional skill in battle]] lets him still draw breath, otherwise he'd been dead long, long ago.
123* JiveTurkey: Fatima Paltenon combines jive with TalkativeLoon. Amusingly, her master, Bugle de Leizer's codename is ''Schaft''. Can you dig it?
124* KarmaHoudini:
125** Sarion, who was entirely forgiven for his rebellion during the ERM.
126** Ironically, but Weissmel again, who, despite being the one-time Commander-in-Chief of the Bosjathfort's Magical Kingdom of Buchtgma, the AKD's primary enemy at one point, was one of the Mirages by the time of the Kallamity Goddarce destruction. Moreover, he piloted the Green Demon Jagd Mirage, with Rognar at the helm of the Orange Dragon, which would indicate that he was a Green Left Wing CO at the time.
127* KingIncognito: Many important aristocrats there find their kicks posing as someone else. First and foremost there's Amaterasu himself, in his favorite disguise of Ladios Sopp, but then, apart from Doug Kaien, there's Sopp's best friend Voards Viewlard, in real life [[spoiler: Mission Routh, the President of the Trun Union]], and many others.
128** Interestingly, even the Mechs get in on it. Because of Nagano's signature "Movable Frame" designs wherein every MH has a fully articulated skeletal frame overlayed with armor, many headdliners disguise them by by swapping out the external armor and other equipment for the sake of PlausibleDeniability. Most notable are the Boowray Battalion, a group of alleged PrivateMilitaryContractors who are actually members of the Fillmore Empire's elite Kneue Syltiss Knights acting as deniable assets in conflicts that would be politically inconvenient for the empire to officially commit its forces to. They use Fillmore's signature MH, the Siren, with bulky armor and gun turrets attached to obscure the Siren frame's distinctive outline.
129* LadyOfWar: ''Tons'' of. Aisha, Jabo, Christine, mel Rince (she friggin' defeated ''Douglas''), Lachesis and many other fatimas as well... [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Again]], tons of them.
130* LegacyCharacter: The BlackKnight.
131* LightningBruiser: Some of the heavier MH models are surprisingly fast, especially the Sirens.
132* MagicKnight: Prince Ko Fan Shiemar and other "Baiyas".
133* MasterOfDisguise: Amaterasu, aka Ladios Sopp, aka mel Rince Usaretama. A few other character often hide their identities when going about in public, since they're important aristocrats.
134** Rince isn't Amaterasu's disguise like Sopp, because there were numerous cases of them being in the same place in the same time. She, like Agari-no-Kimi, is more like a full-fledged avatar.
135** Douglas Kaien is one of such aristocrats, with his alter ego of a [[UpperClassTwit deadly playboy]] Hugh von Hitter.
136*** As are [[spoiler: [[KingIncognito Trun's President]] Mission Routh]] and his sister Mallory, better known to the world as the mercenary headdliners Voards Viewlard and Mallory Viewlard Hierarchy.
137* MechaMooks: While all classes of MH are supposed to be elites compared to the ordinary tank and infantry grunts, a few mass production (well, limited production might be a better term) types are noticeably less flashy and more prone to being piloted by RedShirts. Colus' Berlin Greens, Hagooda's Maglows and AKD's Temple series all fit the bill. According to background material, their performance levels aren't especially lower than those of the ones piloted by major characters, it's just that the more accomplished and/or skilled knights tend to get flashier-looking mechs as a symbol of their accomplishment.
138* MidseasonUpgrade: Junchoon gets two.
139* MindScrew: The action is often interrupted for bizarre, dreamlike visions of gods and monsters whose relevance to the plot is not immediately obvious.
140* MultiArmedAndDangerous: The MH Ashura Temple's secret weapon is that its shoulder armour turns into an extra set of arms that grab the enemy and hold it down so the main arms can strike the killing blow.
141** The Jagd Mirage, paragon of hideously overbuilt pseudo-SuperRobot-ness that it is, also features not one, but ''six'' retractable insectoid sub-limbs to anchor it to the ground and carry extra shields to protect it from the backblast when firing its WaveMotionGun.
142** Though lacking anything resembling hands on them like the above examples, the A-toll Swans and Cobra series Mortar Headds feature "Activeils", rounded shields attached to multi-jointed armatures on their shoulders that move autonomously to intercept incoming attacks. Also featured on it's ''L-Gaim'' counterpart.
143* MultipleChoicePast: Early in the Emperor Rescue Mission Arc a mother tells her child a fairytale about how the five dragon gods came to rule over the Kastenpo region of the planet Both, when a princess in medieval times summoned them by praying for her kingdom to be saved when it was attacked by bizarre, technologically advanced DemonicInvaders. Another passenger on the bus they're riding scoffs at the story, saying there were no princesses or kingdoms on Both in medieval times, Both is a terraformed planet that couldn't even support life until relatively recently. It's also implied elsewhere that the dragons are really living weapons created by the Super Empire, but they do seem pretty godlike when they appear in the story.
144* NippleAndDimed: Fatima Lachesis in the opening scene is shown topless.
145* OffWithHisHead!: Prince Krakenbeal Mejojo decapicated Ananda, who was in the brothel after his master, Iler the Bishop, was killed, after the later refused to leak information about the now destroyed Ashura Temple.
146* OlderThanTheyLook: Most Fatimas do eventually die of old age, though it takes them ''much'' longer to do so than humans, but because of the extensive genetic enhancements they've undergone they never ''look'' any older than their 20s, if that.
147* OneWorldOrder: Delta Belune, controlled by the government of the Amaterasu Kingdom Demesnes. Unlike most examples of this trope, though, the AKD is a supra-national entity made up of numerous cultures ruled by a single god-king.
148** And most of the AKD's government functions are executed by the Emperors's various vassals who are lords of those nations. For example, AKD's Prime Minister is Aisha Codante, FEMC II, Amaterasu's cousin, and the Crown Princess of Codante, one of the AKD's member nations, while its Commander-in-Chief is Falk U. Rognar, FEMC III, King of Babilon and the Speaker of AKD Parliament's House of Lords.
149* OurAncestorsAreSuperheroes: The superhumanly powerful Headdmasters are the last remnants of the ancient precursor civilization known as the Farus Di Kanon, or the Super Empire.
150* OurDemonsAreDifferent: They carry [[{{BFG}} 7 foot long laser rifles]], for one thing.
151** Or 100 meter long {{Wave Motion Gun}}s -- the first Jagd Mirage is named ''Green Demon''.
152* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The Kastenpo region on planet Both is ruled by five godlike dragons who periodically die and are reborn as "Nymphs". While they mostly resemble European dragons with some Asian features, their supposed creator, the even more godlike "ARCH The Water Dragon" is something else entirely, looking like a green-haired woman's head atop a bizarre, limbless technorganic mechanism of some sort.
153* PedophilePriest: Iler the Bishop, the antagonist of the Traffics arc, is a 7' tall guy dressed in psuedo-Catholic bishop's regalia and has a young boy Fatima named Ananda.
154* PhysicalGod: Amaterasu, Lachesis, the dragons and possibly a few others.
155* PointDefenseless: Very consciously averted. While most vehicles only have a few large, visible weapons, as mentioned above most MH, tanks and other war machines are shown to have tons of tiny gun-ports recessed into their hulls as point defense, mostly as anti-personnel and anti-ordnance devices. This is actually a fairly realistic setup for a HumongousMecha, as without them it's legs would make far too tempting a target for enemy tankbusters.
156* PraetorianGuard: First and foremost the First Easter Mirage Knights, an elite corps and knightly order of the Amaterasu Kingdom Demesnes. It's interesting that Amaterasu, being the GenreSavvy WellIntentionedExtremist that he is, separated this unit into two wings: Orange Right, where all {{The Cape}}s (or {{Anti Hero}}s at worst) were put, and Green Left wing, reserved for all the AxCrazy {{Blood Knight}}s who agreed to serve him, both retaining their services and keeping an eye on them.
157** There are analogues in the most other countries, like Neue Syltiss Knight for Fillmore Empire or Trio Temples for Trio de Colus.
158* {{Precursors}}: The mystical Farus Di Kannarn "Super Empire" who supposedly ruled the entire galaxy and then some in the distant past. Source of various bits of LostTechnology such as the AppliedPhlebotinum that's keeping Rogner alive.
159* PropheticName: One of the habitable planets is known as Kallamity. [[EarthShatteringKaboom Three guesses what eventually happens to it & the first two don't count]].
160* PsychicPowers: "Divers", also descendants of ancient SuperSoldiers. Split into two types: "Para Divers", prophet/clairvoyants and "Force Divers" who can perform telekinetic attacks. [[MagicKnight Headdliners who also have Diver powers]] are called "Bayias".
161* PsychoForHire: Some of the nastier Headdliners. Notable in that many are on the main character's payroll.
162** Some of the more sociopathic ones, like Schaft and Sarion, ''actively seeked'' this service, in their characteristic gory and backstabbing ways.
163* RealMenWearPink: Max's MH, Akatsuki Hime, was initially orange-red, bu was repainted into the fluorescent purplish shade of pink known as Opera color. And although Maximum's manliness might be called into the question (he's almost as [[AmbiguousGender androgynous]] as Amaterasu), he's still the baddest among the FSS Headdliners.
164* RestrainingBolt: Almost all the Fatimas have various mind control programs in place to keep them from realizing they're better than humans and revolting. Dr. Chrome Ballanche, Fatima Meight par excellence, however, disagreed with this and created most of his Fatimas with fewer restrictions and a few with none at all.
165* {{Retcon}}: Starting JP Vol. 13, in which featured everything related to Gothicmade.
166* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: Some of this may be due to translation errors, but there seems to be some confusion as to what Joker actually is. It is commonly referred to as a star cluster and the official translation renders it as galaxy, both of which are patently absurd, as star clusters typically have thousands of stars and galaxies many times that and during the Traffics arc it is confirmed to be part of our own Milky Way galaxy. Some characters refer to it as a constellation, but this is also nonsensical, as a constellation would never be called as such by the people living in it. Most likely it is a multiple star system of five stars orbiting a common centre of mass, though it could possibly be a star cluster if there are more stars that just never get mentioned because they either have no habitable planets or are too far to visit.
167** The fifth star, Stant, is also referred to in sourcebooks as "a large comet" despite having it's own planets, including at least one with an earthlike environment (though this may simply be poetic license, referring to the periodicity of its orbit around the other four stars being similar to that of famous comets like Halley's).
168** It was stated in the (Japanese version) prologue that the war lasted 900 years, involving 700 nations over four Solar Systems.
169* ShoutOut: Numerous rock and metal music inspired ones, including the prevalance of things with Light Emitting Diodes in order to facilitate the acronym [[Music/LedZeppelin LED]]. The name for the series' HumongousMecha is a corruption of Motorhead.
170** Sopp is seen at one point in a Utah Saints T-Shirt, despite the series ostensibly being set on the other side of the galaxy.
171** The series also contains numerous references to ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'', most notably the Fatimas' similarity to mentats, with the blue contact lenses they wear resembling the solid blue eyes of the spice habituate, while the Etrimls resemble the mutated Navigators. Grand Duke Juba, main antagonist of the first story arc and his somewhat longer-lived step-nephew Decors Weissmel are pretty obviously based on Baron Vladimir and Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (unsurprising, considering that Mamoru Nagano also based [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Yazan Gable]]'s character design on {{Sting}}'s portrayal of Feyd-Rautha in Creator/DavidLynch's movie version). Bosjathfort also bears some resemblance to Baron Harkonnen, being an evil, diseased mutant who later possesses a much younger body. Duke Rogner is partly based on Duncan Idaho, being a master swordsman who repeatedly dies and comes back to life. The Colus family resemble House Atreides, particularly Colus VI to Paul. Dr. Chrome Ballanche's appearance, in turn, is based on Herbert's description of Atreides' physician Dr. Wellington Yueh.[[note]]The novel's one, not the movie's, which was heavily retooled.[[/note]]
172* SdrawkcabName: Both Amaterasu's alter egos, sort of. There's the obvious mel Rince Usaretama, but Ladios Sopp is also one. His name is a corruption of Lladiesop, from Poseidall, the name of the character from ''L-Gaim'' that Amaterasu's imposter Upandla from the Colus VI arc is based on.
173* {{Seppuku}}: Seems to be a fairly common practise among the Fillmore Empire's Kneue Syltiss Knights. Blreno Canzian, sole survivor of the aforementioned A CHAR's Boowray Battalion who backed the losing side in 2990's Colus/Hagooda conflict attempts to gut himself in a bout of survivor guilt during an audience with the Emperor to explain how he screwed up, only for the Emperor to stop him. Years later, Blreno acts as ''kaishakunin'' for fellow Kneue Syltiss Barbaluse V who had suffered a string of career-derailing humiliations, culminating in his young daughter Christine misusing her headdliner powers to murder a school bully.
174* SoBeautifulItsACurse: Played in a disturbing fashion with the Fatimas. Because of their irresistable beauty and the fact that most are programmed to be incapable of harming civilians, a Fatima without a Headdliner alone in public's chances of getting raped increase by a factor of 10 with each passing second.
175* SociopathicHero: ''ALL'' members of FEMC Green Left Wing. That's their [[PlanetOfHats hat]], actually. Although for many of them the only claim to heroic status was in that they are serving the main character, they all were undoubtedly fine examples of a [[AxCrazy "sociopath"]] part.
176* SpiderTank: It also has these, though they're rare.
177* SplitPersonality: Picking Harris/Spark has this [[spoiler: after her very strong powers were sealed by the former Atoll Shaman when she as a child]]. Hence, she has another personality named Madora Moirai, a pacifist.
178* TheStraightWillAndGrace: Subverted with Decors Weissmel and his Fatima Est. Est is programmed to pair with a knight best suited to pilot her bonded MH Vattshu, who just happens to be [[JerkWithTheHeartOfAJerk Weissmel]], instead of her [[DidNotGetTheGirl would-be boyfriend Jhon Weinzel]]. So she does spend most of her story together with him, but while it is common for a knight and his/her Fatima to have a relationship, in this case both sides are thoroughly indifferent to each other. There isn't even friendship, much less attraction: Est still loves Jhon, while Weissmel... well, he just isn't attracted to Fatimas at all. In fact, he consistently complains about Joker's fashion in Fatimas, who are commonly made small, skinny and somewhat {{Lolicon|AndShotacon}}ish, [[EvenEvilHasStandards which he finds disgusting]].
179* SuperSoldiers: Headdliners. On average, they can run 100 meters in 3 seconds, leap over a 10 meter bar in one bound, and have [[SuperReflexes reflexes TEN times faster]] than baselines. They are descendants of genetically modified soldiers of ancient Super Empire, and many aspiring scientists tried to reproduce this lost technology, until the eventual success of famous Fatima Meight Dr. Chrome Ballanche and his student and heir Meeth Silver Ballanche. However, the result of their work, Meeth's son Maximum Kaien, turned out to be [[PhysicalGod so overpowered]] that he eventually had to leave Joker Cluster to the AlternateUniverse.
180* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Emperor Rescue Mission. True, Di Barrow was essentially holding Amaterasu hostage, but still, unleashing a Jagd Mirage on his forces was a bit too much. Especially with [[AxCrazy Schaft]] piloting... But then, given just [[EarthShatteringKaboom what]] Jagd is fully capable of, arguably, ''any'' appearance of either ''Green Demon'' or ''Orange Dragon'' would count. In the end it probably was just Lachesis not wanting to take any chances, as she knew that Mishalu had taken off to Both [[[WithThisHerring with an inadequate forces]] [[EnsignNewbie and lacking experience]], so she sent them the heaviest reinforcement she could.
181** Ironically, Di Barrow ([[spoiler: or, more correctly, Bosjathfort]]) had the last laugh, ''killing'' Schaft with his PsychicPowers, as he fled after Schaft had decimated his forces.
182* TransformingMecha: The Bang Doll changes from an ugly looking robot into a cool looking robot. The Cloudschatze, aka Speed Mirage is a more conventional space fighter into robot example.
183* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Amaterasu (still being a cute little kid and all) [[PhysicalGod banishing Bosjathforth]] into the very fires of Hell, [[DisproportionateRetribution for challenging his mother's position]] as a head of the [[PsychicPowers Divers Guild]]. 'Tis but an early glimpse into his [[MagnificentBastard future character]] and one of the first signs of his real BlueAndOrangeMorality.
184** This also directly bought him [[ItsPersonal the lifelong enmity of Bosjathfort]] (who didn't appreciate the treatment), as he wasn't initially having anything against Amaterasu's family, he simply wanted his mother's post; and laid the ground for the (arguably) worst AKD's crisis of the recent history, the Emperor Rescue Mission.
185* TrulySingleParent: The Fatima Meights (scientists who create Fatimas). Also, Amaterasu's mother, Amaterasu no Mikami. Dr. Ballanche originally speculated that Amaterasu might be a haploid organism, but quickly rejected it as haploid humans are scientifically impossible. Then he realized the truth was even less scientific...
186** And then there's Max again. When Duchess of Fates Meeth Silver Ballanche, his mother and Dr. Ballanche's adopted daughter, decides that she wants Doug's kid, she doesn't bother to ask him. She just combines her own genetic material with the last of Dr. Ballanche masterpieces, MAXIMUM project, and then tricks Doug into fertilizing the resulting egg, later tweaking it and herself as she sees fit.
187* WaveMotionGun: Jagd Mirage's 2004 mm ''Twin Towers'' Buster Launchers. Four of them are enough to [[EarthShatteringKaboom reduce]] ''[[EarthShatteringKaboom a planet]]'' [[EarthShatteringKaboom into the dust]].
188** Which runs straight into the WritersCannotDoMath: okay, this is the hyper-advanced tech of some aliens, but the weight of the ''full "TwinTowers" unit'' is just 427 tons. Note that it's a semi-auto artillery piece with double 2004L/100 barrels. The largest ''real'' cannon ever fired in anger, namely [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons the German]] ''[[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons Schwerer Gustav]]''[[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons , AKA]] ''[[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons Dora]]'', had just one 807 L/40 barrel and weighed 1350 tons, being assembled and serviced by as much as a full ''regiment'', and requiring up to a full two months to set up a firing position, lay the double railway track for its carriage, and assemble the gun itself. Unless Joker works under the entirely different laws of physics, in no way the SquareCubeLaw would allow the 2.5 times larger cannon weigh 3 times ''less''.
189** Are you really trying to bring in the square cube law to argue the atomic railgun cannons of a 40 meter tall bipedal giant robot that stands on stick thin legs and high heels? In a setting where the base piece of technology is an indestructible, semi-perpetual "external combustion energy" that's a lone cubic meter in size?
190* WeaksauceWeakness: Fatimas are vulnerable to synthetic fabrics.
191* WithThisHerring: The entirety of the Emperor's Rescue Mission. Because of the whole Float Temple SNAFU [[note]]Seals in the Tower of Demon, locking the [=SATANs=] out of Jocker, acting up, which has thrown the castle's power sources out of whack, Sarion and Green Left's uprising, most of the Mirages being out of town, their [=MHs=] in maintenance or rendered inoperable by the aforementioned power surges, etc.[[/note]] [[EnsignNewbie Mishalu]] [[YouAreInCommandNow Ha Lonn]] took off to Both with only one cruiser, her own half-assembled MH, and one ([[NewMeat very inexperienced]]) combined arms division to take on the much, much heavier Di Barrow forces. Even when she was reinforced by an [[TheBattlestar assault carrier]] of the AKD's Both protectorate, and her MH was finally readied to battle, she still had just four [=MHs=] (three of them being of a RedShirt Temple model) against Di Barrow's nine, most of which were of much better Blue Armor type. It was so bad that they had to resort to the desperation tactic of using tanks against Mortar Headds at one point, which didn't turn into CurbStompBattle only because of an exceptional skill and, eventually, HeroicSacrifice of Col. Vasyuchenko, the AKD forces tank commander. Though they've managed to hold long enough for TheCavalry to arrive, [[BigDamnHeroes with Schaft and Aisha coming just in the nick of time]], and [[ButtMonkey Allen Braford]] deciding to desert Di Barrow and join the AKD's side after meeting with Sopp personally.
192* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Fatimas have very little in the way of civil rights. Fortunately (?) most of them are so brainwashed that it doesn't really bother them too much.
193** What's interesting is that it generally doesn't stop many Headdliners from marrying their fatimas, especially in the case of Amaterasu and Lachesis.
194*** Considering Lachesis is one of those with no brainwashing, it's not so bad. For others, however, that might not be that good, see the sad story of Est, who ''had'' the programming.
195* WifeHusbandry: Lachesis first met Amaterasu when she was little and he was centuries old.
196** As they both are ''immortal'', it doesn't matter much for them.
197** Mission Routh, lampshaded heavily.
198* WretchedHive: Zanda City, narcotics capital of Joker.
199* YellowPeril: Prince Ko Fan Shiemar has strong shades of this.
200* YouAreInCommandNow: Mishalu Ha Lonn, [[EnsignNewbie a very young and inexperienced Mirage Knight]], was left as a watch officer in the Float Temple for the very first time... Only for the frigging ERM to happen on her watch. To her credit, [[TookALevelInBadass she did pretty well]], though not without the help from [[SuperSoldier Lachesis]], [[SociopathicHero Schaft]] and [[MemeticBadass Kaien]]. In fact, given that for Lachesis this was also the first time she was left on her own, the event firmly cemented both girls fame as the [[LadyOfWar Ladies Of War]].
201* {{Zeerust}}: Setting material describe Fatima having the processing power of a 128 bit computer. Impressive when written in 1986, but the computer technology was eventually achieved in 1999. As such, barring a retcon, the combat systems of the F-22 Raptor are more advance than a Mortar Headd.

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