http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/B5.jpg

~~DramaticHourLong, NinetiesAdventureShow, PrimeTimeSoap, SpaceOpera~~

''Babylon 5,'' a [[{{Nineties Adventure Show}} Nineties Adventure]] [[{{Space Opera}} Space Show]] created by JMichaelStraczynski, ran from 1994-1998 (a two-hour pilot, "The Gathering", had aired in 1993). It was syndicated for its first four seasons, and was shown on TNT in its fifth.

''Babylon 5'' took the use of {{Story Arc}}s to new heights, and introduced the concept of the WhamEpisode, with probably over half of its episodes contributing to one major series-long arc (a MythArc). JMS had plotted out much of the arc before the series began, and occasionally referred to it as a five-year long MiniSeries. (The fourth and fifth seasons had to be telescoped into one when the show was going to be prematurely ended. Then it was UnCancelled and picked up by TNT, and they had to scramble to create a fifth season, which was not as well-liked by most fans.)

While the series is often given as an early example of a [[MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness hard science fiction]] show, it does have aliens with [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens powers verging on magic]] and PsychicPowers. Still, by TV standards, it's fairly crispy sci-fi. Likewise, while the show is often seen as being more toward the cynical end of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, at times almost edging into BlackAndGreyMorality, it also has some shining moments of idealism as well. One could say that the overarching {{Aesop}} of the series is "the [[IDidWhatIHadToDo pragmatic]] survive, and the [[TheDeterminator determined]] thrive, but [[HonorBeforeReason Faith]] [[RealityWarper Manages]]".

It spun off the short-lived series {{Crusade}} which ran for 13 episodes in 1999, telling the story of the spaceship Excalibur and the search for a counteragent to/cure for a slow-acting biological weapon that had been successfully deployed against the Earth. Despite its superficial resemblance to the plot of ''[[UchuuSenkanYamato Star Blazers]]'', ''Crusade'' showed considerable promise before its [[ScrewedByTheNetwork premature death]].

There were several associated MadeForTVMovie''''''s:
* ''The Gathering'' -- 1993 pilot
* ''In the Beginning'' -- 1998, a prequel to the series
* ''Thirdspace'' -- 1998, takes place during the fourth season of the series
* ''The River of Souls'' -- 1998, takes place shortly after the end of series (excluding its DistantFinale). Features Martin Sheen.
* ''A Call to Arms'' -- 1999, takes place about five years after the end of the series (excluding its DistantFinale). Serves as a lead-in to Crusade.
* ''Legend Of The Rangers'' -- 2002 MadeForTVMovie telling the story of a Ranger fleet. This was actually intended to lead into a third B5 series, but it didn't pan out.
* ''The Lost Tales'' -- 2007 DirectToVideo {{interquel}} which was intended to be the first of a series of new DTV stories. It didn't pan out either despite some degree of commercial sucess.

----
!!Tropes seen on the series include:

* AccidentalMarriage: The "Religions Week" in "The Parliament of Dreams" featured an extremely confusing Minbari ceremony involving eating red fruit and some intense looks between Delenn and Sinclair. Although the people attending it were told that it was a "rebirth" ceremony, Catherine Sakai informs him that it could also have doubled as a wedding. He jokes that he didn't think that Londo and G'Kar were one another's type. [[spoiler:Also subverted: it ''was'' a rebirth ceremony, as Delenn goes into the Chrysalis at the end of the season, to be reborn as half-human.]]
**[[spoiler: Also, a bit {{squick}}y when it's later revealed he's one of her ancestors.]]
* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: When Sheridan is captured and interrogated by President Clark's forces, his interrogator shares a corned beef sandwich with him to gain his trust. Both halves of the sandwich were poisoned, but the interrogator had been eating small amounts every day for several years and had built up an immunity. Sheridan had not, and the poison made him very sick.
* [[AbsenteeActor Actor Existence Failure]]: When asked about sequels, Straczynski was known to say that he didn't see how it would be possible "so long as Andreas [Katsulas, G'Kar] and Richard [Biggs, Dr. Franklin] remain dead."
** That said, he did ''The Lost Tales'' after their passing, and now with his Hollywood success, there seem to be very early feelers out about a real [[TheMovie movie]].
* TheAestheticsOfTechnology: Played mostly straight with the Minbari, Centauri, Vorlons, and several League and Independent races, but subverted with the Narns. They deliberately try to invoke this trope with their fancy looking ships, but the only thing advanced about them are the weapons they pilfered from their former Centauri overlords/oppressors.
*AffablyEvil: The Interrogator from "Intersections in Real Time." Carried out the task of slowly mentally breaking Captain Sheridan over the course of several days with the demeanor of a kindly and mild mannered middle aged accountant.
* AGodAmI: Subverted in Jason Ironheart, who while gaining immense godlike powers, was trying to suppress and control them long enough to get away and [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence finish "becoming"]]. [[spoiler:Lyta gets like this near the end of the series before she leaves forever with G'Kar.]] Cartagia is like this, but then he is AxCrazy.
* AliensSpeakingEnglish: English seems to be the ''lingua franca'' of Babylon 5, but many aliens (especially Centauri nobility) have noticeable accents when speaking it. They all have their own languages, but a TranslationConvention presumably applies most of the time.
** As humans rose to prominence relatively recently, ''older'' aliens have thicker accents than the younger ones, because they learnt English as adults.
** One alien calls English "the human trade language", meaning that other languages, human and alien, are used. Besides, all station signs are trilingual in Interlac, English and Minbari.
* AmericanCustomaryMeasurements: The station is consistently described as five miles long. However, TheMetricSystemIsHereToStay as well, especially when the Earth military is giving space distances.
* AmnesiacDissonance: The episode "Passing Through Gethsemane".
* AncientAstronauts : The Vorlons spent quite a bit of time imprinting themselves as Gods/Angels and a fear of the Shadows in all of the "Younger Races".
** Actually the fear of the Shadows was the Shadows' own fault. Largely due to the fact that shortly before every Shadow War, the race studies how to become the nightmare of THAT era. The memories and legends of their actions the previous times they were active don't help.
* ArcWords: Used liberally in every arc and season.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: "Who are you?" and "What do you want?". Also "Where are you going?" and "Why are you here?", if less often. The former two are asked by the Vorlons and the Shadows respectively, while the last two are referred to as "the human questions". It is implied that the Shadows and Vorlons have somewhat missed the point.
** More that they forgot. There was a period in which both races could've answered.
* ArtifactOfDeath: The life force transfer machine.
* AscendToaHigherPlaneOfExistence: Ironheart, the First Ones who "go beyond the Rim"
* AuthorTract: Quite a few first and second season episodes.
* BadassBoast
-->'''Delenn:''' Only one human captain has ever survived battle with a Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else.
** Ivanova did one even better:
--->'''Ivanova:''' "Who am I? I am Susan Ivanova. Commander. Daughter of Andrei and Sophie Ivanov. I am the right hand of vengeance, and the boot that is going to kick your sorry ass all the way back to Earth, sweetheart! I am Death Incarnate, and the last living thing that you are ever going to see. God sent me."
* BadassCreed : "We are Rangers. We walk in the dark places no others will enter. We stand on the bridge, and no one may pass. We live for the One, we die for the One."
* BadassLongcoat: Marcus Cole.
* BaldOfAwesome: Michael Garibaldi. G'Kar.
* BattleButler: Lennier and Na'toth, when necessary.
** Vir, when [[LetsGetDangerous least expected]].
* TheBattlestar
* BecauseDestinySaysSo: The [[YouCantFightFate eerily-accurate]] prophecies of Valen. (With a fairly significant ProphecyTwist at one point.)
* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: The Vorlon Inquisitor, aka [[spoiler:JackTheRipper]].
** Although his is more of a case of "TheAlienSpyWasBeethoven"
* BerserkButton: Be ''very careful'' what you ask a Vorlon.
* BetterOnDVD, makes it easier to follow the arc-based story structure.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Vir, Lennier
* BigDamnHeroes: In the season three WhamEpisode "Severed Dreams": [[spoiler:[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome "Only one human captain has survived battle against the Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, BE SOMEWHERE ELSE!"]]]]
** Again in season four's "Endgame": [[spoiler:Sheridan orders the crippled ''Agamemnon'' to [[RammingAlwaysWorks ram]] the defence platform, the only hope of preventing it from firing its particle cannon at Earth. Then the ''Apollo'' comes out of jump and shoots down the platform, the ''Agamemnon'' emerging triumphantly from the fireball.]]
* BioAugmentation: Two characters get gills implanted in their necks, allowing them to breath in atmospheres where their species normally can't.
* BlessedWithSuck: a small percentage of [[{{Telepathy}} telepaths]] are also [[MindOverMatter telekinetic]]. Unfortunately, three-quarters of those telekinetics are clinically insane.
* BlingOfWar: The Centauri. Dear ''God'', the Centauri.
* BoatLights: [[spoiler:G'Kar, after having his eye plucked out and replaced with a prosthetic.]]
* The BottleEpisode could often be used, since it was set primarily on a space station.
**In fact most of the series ''is'' bottle episodes, for the reason above.
* BuryYourGays: In every way that matters, [[spoiler:Talia Winters]], who was implied to share a mutual attraction to (and bed with) [[spoiler:Susan Ivanova]], was killed when her "sleeper" personality was activated. [[spoiler:Ivanova]] later confesses to Delenn that she believes she loved [[spoiler:Talia]]. It should be noted that the relationship was to be explored more thoroughly if the actress playing the former hadn't left the series, so it doesn't carry quite so many UnfortunateImplications as it might otherwise.
* TheBusCameBack: Sinclair in "War Without End".
* TheCaligula: Centauri Emperor Cartagia.
* CanYouHearMeNow: In one episode a character loses his communicator. He finds another person's communicator, but can't use it to call for help, because the communicator will only work for its owner. Meanwhile, back in the 21st century, all mobile phones can be used to call the emergency number, even without SIM cards.
** Justified though in that the individual configuration of the B5 personnel communicators are said to be a safety measure.
* CanonDiscontinuity / CanonImmigrant- WordOfGod holds the B5 novels as a pick-and-choose-your-canon affair, barring ''To Dream in the City of Sorrows'' which is canon.
* CaptainsLog: In some episodes.
* TheCassandra: G'Kar
* ChekhovsBoomerang: The alien healing device.
* ChekhovMIA: [[spoiler:Anna Sheridan]]
* TheChosenOne: Masterfully executed.
* CompressedVice : The Minbari's extreme beliefs about honor in "There All the Honor Lies", which are never mentioned in any other episode and don't jibe with the way most Minbari characters actually behave.
**Then again, the honor-bound were of the Warrior Caste, while the Minbari normally seen are of the Religious Caste. Two essentially different cultures, with different codes of behavior.
***The beliefs in that episode are repeatedly described as Minbari beliefs, not Warrior Caste beliefs. Moreover, Lennier, a member of the Religious Caste, is the example used to make Sheridan and others realize there are exceptions to the supposedly rigid rule.
*** Most Minbari ''do'' behave that way, but most Minbari are not on the show. Only those who stand out for some reason -- ambassadors, extremists, rebels -- are noteworthy enough to receive CharacterFocus. Also, in most episodes their honor is not being challenged.
*** The Warrior Caste ''do'' consider their beliefs to be the "main" Minbari beliefs; it's perfectly in keeping with their established arrogance to present it that way, and Lennier was trained by them and picked up some of their ideas.
* ContestWinnerCameo: Dr Lillian Hobbes
* CoolOldGuy: Aldous Gajic from the episode "Grail". The dude not only takes on a bunch of guys, wielding guns, by kicking the crap out of them with a [[SimpleStaff giant stick]], but also talks down a [[MindRape mind-raping]] alien monster right before he takes a bullet ''for a guy he only just met''. The guy is badass, to say the least. And he's played by David Warner.
** It could be said that [[spoiler: Sinclair becomes a CoolOldGuy in "War Without End", after experiencing a number of age-altering effects from the time jumps that turn him grey and wrinkly in a matter of minutes, but still leave him with the ability to take Babylon 4 back to the distant past to kick some Shadow ass as Valen.]]
** Lorien is... [[{{Understatement}} older than he looks]]
* TheCorpsIsMother: TropeNamer.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Vir Cotto is shy and inarticulate, but deeply honourable and courageous and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8MjQ5Z7ZNo you wouldn't like him when he's angry]].
** Also see his response when Morden asks him what he wants
* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: See that part for more details. Many, many examples.
* CrystalSpiresAndTogas: The Minbari homeworld.
* CuteKidsAndRobots : Subverted several times, just to [[{{Anvilicious}} hammer home]] the fact that JMichaelStraczynski [[WriterOnBoard despised this trope.]] The trope name, in fact, comes from JMS's early [=GEnie=] posts about the ''B5'' project.
* DeadlyDecadentCourt : Two Words: The Centaurum.
* DealWithTheDevil : "What do you want?"
* DeflectorShields : The Thirdspace aliens have those. [[spoiler: To get through the gate's shields from one side, the protagonists concentrate fire on the other side.]]
* DeusExNukina : "Z'ha'dum." End of line.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The Minbari Fighting Pike, a SimpleStaff that collapses into a small cylinder about the size of your hand and changes size when firmly shaken. Most prominently used by a virgin.
* DoNotGoGentleIntoThatGoodNight : The Earth Alliance's President Elizabeth Levy during the prologue movie. "No greater sacrifice has ever been asked, but I ask you, now, to step forward. One last time. One last battle, to hold the line against the night." One long CrowningMomentOfAwesome for humanity, and a TearJerker speech if ever there was one.
* DreamSequence : Very effectively used in "Interludes and Examinations" and "The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari"
* DisContinuity : ''Babylon 5'' had four seasons. And no TV movies save for "In The Beginning".
** To be precise, Season 5 consisted of the Telepath war, A View From The Gallery, The Corps Is Mother, the Corps Is Father, Na'Toth being rescued from Centauri Prime and the scene with Captain Elizabeth Lochley waking up in the morning.
** I have to object to this. Season 5 is sold ''way'' too short. Yes, the telepath colony arc is stretched out too much, but it's by no means any worse than Season 1 -- and everyone seems to ignore the excellent second half of Season 5 as well. (As for the TV movies, you can go ahead and ignore them if you want... but "A Call to Arms" isn't that bad).
* DistantFinale : "Sleeping in Light."
** "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" is a Distant (Season) Finale, [[strike:replaced by]] ''replacing'' "Sleeping in Light" (which, as evidenced by its credits, was filmed during the fourth season) when the show was UnCanceled.
* TheDocumentary : "And Now for a Word"
* DrugsAreBad: Franklin's stim addiction.
* DuelingShows with ''StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''
** ''B5'' delivered a magnificent TakeThat in its second season:
-->'''Ivanova:''' "This isn't some deep-space franchise, this station is ''about'' something!"
*** Writer PeterDavid (yes, ''that'' PeterDavid) called Straczynski to ask "are you really going to use that line?" Upon receiving the answer "Yes, it's fall-down funny!" David went silent for a few moments, then asked, "You people really ''are'' dangerous over there, aren't you?"
*** Partially [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] in that Straczynski is a ''StarTrek'' fan and it was partially meant as an AffectionateParody.
**** It would probably have been a lot more affectionate if Star Trek hadn't passed on his idea, then green lighted a knock off when B5 got its pilot made without their help. DS9 even stole several names from B5 such as Dukat and Letta.
* EarthShatteringKaboom, during the entire fourth season.
* EarthThatWas: Inverted, once Earth is bombed back to the dark ages in the future, it's TheAlliance, Sheridan, and the war of the third age that [[FutureImperfect become myth]].
* EternalEngine: the Great Machine of Epsilon III.
* EvolutionaryLevels
* ExtendedDisarming: Dureena's arrival in "A Call To Arms"
* FaceDeathWithDignity: In "Passing Through Gethsemane".
** Also: [[spoiler:Regent]] Virini, in "[[spoiler: The Fall of Centauri Prime]]".
* Both the FaceHeelTurn and the HeelFaceTurn, at many points. [[spoiler:particularly the Vorlons, who turn out to be KnightsTemplar, and the main cast, who break away from the Earth Alliance in the third season episode "Severed Dreams".]]
** Honestly though, how can you not include [[spoiler:Londo]] as the ultimate example of how to [[FaceHeelRevolvingDoor do both]]?
** Ditto [[spoiler:Lennier]].
* FakeMemories : With capital punishment reserved for crimes like treason, psychopaths and murderers are instead sentenced to Death of Personality; they have their [[EasyAmnesia memories erased]] and altered by telepaths and their personality restructured to become [[RestrainingBolt pacifists]] and useful members of society (episode: "Passing Through Gethsemane").
* FantasticDrug: Dust, which can unlock latent telepathic powers.
* TheFederation : The Earth Alliance. [[spoiler:At first]].
** Don't forget the Interstellar Alliance.
** The Interstellar Alliance is the more the typical [[TheAlliance alliance]]. A better example is the Minbari '''Federation'''.
*** Which collapses and has to be rebuilt from the ground up.
**** And it also does not really fit the trope...
* TheFettered: Sheridan.
* FightingForAHomeland : The Drakh, Byron's Telepaths
* FindTheCure : [[{{Understatement}} Subverted]] in "Confessions and Lamentations".
* FlashForward : "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" consisted almost entirely of four flash-forwards.
* FlingALightIntoTheFuture: The past, in this case. [[spoiler:Babylon 4 was sent to help in the last Shadow war.]]
* FlowerFromTheMountaintop: Ranger instructor Turval uses a hypothetical mission along these lines as an example of the sort of seemingly-trivial mission worth dying to complete.
* {{Foreshadowing}} was frequently used--since the series was so intricately plotted in advance, it could be. Similarly prophecies (YouCantFightFate), and a particularly well-crafted example of a StableTimeLoop. It was actually built in to such an extent that actors were forbidden from ad-libbing, for fear of it screwing up the foreshadowing.
* GeneticMemory : Fear for the Shadows and reverence for the Vorlons are explained as a combination of several species retaining race memories of the last Shadow War and the Vorlons using genetic and mental manipulation on the young species...
** It should also be noted that Shadows weren't above using genetic engineering to cause the younger races to fear them.
* GiantEnemyCrab: Shadow vessels are commonly referred to as "Battlecrabs." They'll cut through just about any fleet like it was made of soft cheese.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: The Shadows, the monocular "eye" in the Vorlon encounter suits and [[spoiler:Lyta when she starts using her enhanced telepathic abilities in her AGodAmI stage, and when being possessed by either Vorlons or Shadows during their FinalBattle.]]
* GodEmperor- Emperor Cartagia wishes to ascend to GodEmperor status through his dealings with the Shadows.
* GovernmentDrugEnforcement : Human telepaths who refuse to join the Psi Corps must take powerful medication to suppress their abilities, drugs that eventually [[DrivenToSuicide drive them to suicide]].
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor and ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Londo friggin' Mollari. [[spoiler: Not counting when he gets possessed by the Drakh at the end of the series, he spends his time every week flipping between both sides of the coin. For further details, see his treatment of Vir (see "Midnight on the Firing Line"), G'Kar (especially in "The Coming of Shadows"), Refa (see "The Coming of Shadows") and Morden (see "Signs and Portents" and "Interludes and Examinations"). Contrast it to his later treatments of Vir (see "Sic Transit Vir" and "And The Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place"), G'Kar (see "The Long Night" and "No Surrender, No Retreat"), Refa (see "Ceremonies of Light and Dark" and "And The Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place") and Morden (see "The Hour of the Wolf" and "Into The Fire").]]
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:A number of ships take one for the team as part of their collective "screw you" to the Vorlons and Shadows, and Kosh arranges for some Vorlon ships to attack the Shadows to help Sheridan build his alliance. He gets torn to shreds for this violation of the Vorlon/Shadow rules of engagement.]]
* HeyItsThatGuy: Many cast members were well-known for other roles before the show, or became well-known for other roles afterward. Primary and recurring cast members included [[{{Tron}} Bruce Boxleitner]], [[{{Lost}} Mira Furlan]], [[LostInSpace Bill Mumy]], [[AnimalHouse Stephen Furst]], [[{{Grease}} Jeff Conaway]] and [[StarTrek Walter Koenig]], with guest appearances by [[TheManFromUNCLE David]] [[{{NCIS}} McCallum]], [[{{Tron}} David Warner]], [[ChildsPlay Brad Dourif]], [[ReAnimator Jeffrey Combs]], [[DawnOfTheDead Ken Foree]], [[TwinPeaks Russ Tamblyn]], [[CrashBandicoot Mel Winkler]], [[BladeRunner William Sanderson]] and [[TheATeam Dwight Schultz]], among others.
* HeyItsThatVoice: Byron the telepath is also the Medic from ''[[TeamFortressTwo Team Fortress 2]]'', among many others. When the computer is rebooted after a systems shutdown, it comes back online with an obnoxious, stubborn personality voiced by HarlanEllison. And Ardwright Chamberlain - Nicolai of ''ShadowHearts: Covenant'' - is Kosh.
* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: Drakh keepers. Guaranteed they'll make your skin crawl.
* HollywoodTactics (seen in the ''Legend of the Rangers'' pilot). "We do not retreat, whatever the reason." A rather stupid tactic for a group known as "Rangers", whose job often involves '''bringing back information''' on mysterious aliens of '''terrifying technological superiority'''.
* HonorBeforeReason / ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Deconstructed several times over with the Minbari warrior caste, whose rigid determination to uphold honor and tradition results in a great deal of pain and pointless death.
**Wouldn't someone who puts HonorBeforeReason be likely to reply that honor ''is'' the point?
* HoYay: Played with hilarious LampshadeHanging during Marcus and Franklin's trip to Mars due to a SmithicalMarriage in their stolen [=IDs=].
** Londo and G'Kar from late season 4 on. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in a season 5 episode when two workers who encounter them ''for the first time'' comment on their relationship with: "How long have they been married?"
* HumansAreSpecial: Used rather often, and to occasionally obnoxious effect. Straczynski seems to hold this trope close to his heart. Alien customs are generally portrayed as bizarre and just so gosh darn ''wacky'' -- see the Centauri contribution to "religion week" in season one, Sheridan's dinner with Delenn and Lennier in season two, the Drazi pilgrims' reaction to an apparent visitation by [[spoiler:an angel]] in season three, et cetera. If an episode features alien customs, expect them to be used as lazy comic relief. Human customs and ceremonies, on the other hand, are treated with the utmost respect -- silly or not.
** The "silly" alien customs were meant as a mirror to shine light on just how silly our own customs and ceremonies are. You do see the occasional security guards having trouble (and not really caring about) keeping track of them all, but that's realistic enough even with only human religions to worry about.
** Also, when it comes to HumansAreSpecial, it's really more like "The Humans that run Babylon 5 are special". The humans on Earth or even Mars are not so special at all...
*HumanityIsSuperior: Humans are said to be really good at community building to the point where no one else would have even attempted anything like the Babylon Project, and they have quickly risen to a major power on the galactic scene despite their technology seriously lacking compared to three of the other major powers and a number of league races.
** Did nobody notice how much human warship progress in only a few years? Early human capitol ships like the Hyperion heavy cruiser are completely outmatched by Minbari capitol ships, while the latest and most advanced human capitol ships like the Shadow Omegas and Warlocks are essentially as powerful. No other civilization seems to advance faster than humanity.
*** Chalk both of them up to ImportedAlienPhlebotinum: the Shadow Omegas were necessary if the Shadows were going to use the Earth Alliance under Clark as their tool of chaos, and the Warlocks used a combination of Minbari and Shadow technology (among others).
*** Reverse Engineering of more advanced ImportedAlienPhlebotinum is a usual way in Babylon 5 to develop new spaceships and other new systems. Reverse Engineering Old Ones-technology is even a sign of significant advancement.
* HumanPopsicle: Second season, we learn that a few human sleeper ships were sent out before the Centauri sold jumpgate technology to Earth. Medlab also has a few units to store and transport patients who need more help than the station can provide. And then there are the [[spoiler: Shadow-altered telepaths]] that turn up later.
** And [[spoiler:Marcus Cole]], notably because of Straczynski taking his sweet time to decide if he was this or [[spoiler:{{Killed Off for Real}} after using the alien healing machine to keep Ivanova alive.]] If the fifth season hadn't been allowed to air, then Straczynski would have said he was [[spoiler:dead instead of being this for about 300 years]].
* [[{{Ptitlemd299wh0}} I Can't Believe It's Not Heroin]]: Even small amounts of alcohol can turn a Minbari into a violent psychotic.
* IdiotBall: In the fifth season episode, "Wheel of Fire", Sheridan is surprised to discover [[spoiler: his wife Delenn is pregnant and says he wasn't sure she could even get pregnant (being a Human-Minbari hybrid) even though he's been to the future two years earlier in "War Without End" and was told on that occation by Future Delenn herself that they have a son named David.]]
**There's these things called [[spoiler: orphanages]]. Just saying.
*** Right, 'cause THAT makes great drama. Also, since [[spoiler: Future Delenn says she remembers Sheridan telling her about this moment]], one might think she would've bothered to mention it, had that been the case, instead of sending the poor sucker home deluded. Besides, by this time Sheridan and Delenn are preparing to move to Minbar. So Sheridan thought that [[spoiler: they were going to adopt a Minbari orphan and name him David?]] That's some Jerry Springer shit right there.
**** Alternatively, he thought there would be a lot more genetic engineering involved, instead of a natural pregnancy.
****Wait,[[spoiler: considering Delenn is the descendent of the first human/Minbari mix, this shouldn't have been that surprising.]]
* [[{{Ptitlet6j237qn}} I'm Going For A Closer Look]]: Very bad idea upon encountering a Shadow vessel or most unidentified craft.
* INeedAFreakingDrink: You would, too, if you had to deal with what happens on this station.
* IncrediblyObviousBomb: In "The Fall of Night", [[spoiler:Sheridan only knew to jump from the core shuttle because the bomb was one of these.]]
* {{Irony}}: Delenn gives Garibaldi the "Blind and Toothless" speech when he espouses the death penalty ("Eye for an Eye"), despite she herself having ordered a genocide over the death of one man in particular.
** Which is where she learned said fact.
** DramaticIrony: Delenn tells her fellow Religious Caste leaders how brutal and unpredictable the Warrior Caste is, how they would never turn on their own, and how people from her Caste are all wiser and better than them. This is after these guys had, after incomplete information, attached waste exhaust to the environmental systems to kill everyone on the ship so they wouldn't surrender.
* IsraelisWithInfraredMissiles: While not precisely a member of the IDF, Colonel Ari Ben-zayn from the first-season episode "Eyes" is a tough, suspicious EarthForce intelligence operative with a life story strongly reminiscent of the sort of ex-IDF troops who become Mossad agents.
** ... who for some reason speaks with an English accent, making him also an EvilBrit and a FakeNationality.
* JigsawPuzzlePlot: One of the classics.
* KarmaHoudini: Dan Randall, the ISN news reporter from "The Illusion of Truth". Yes, Clark's administration all got snapped by Sheridan's comeback tour, but this Troper thinks it would've been nice to see that guy crucified.
** Don't forget Alfred Bester, more or less.
*** Much less in the cannon novels.
* KnightInSourArmor: Marcus Cole. Garibaldi even more so.
-->'''Garibaldi''': "Like you said, I never start a conversation unless I know where it's going, but I always leave a little room for someone to disappoint me."
* KnightTemplar: Byron's followers.
** Almost every side has at least a few.
* LargeHam: "My deeeaarr... ''Meeester'' Garibaldi!"
** There is no ham larger than Draal.
* LastMinuteReprieve: Used a few times throughout the series.
* LeeroyJenkins: The Narn are a whole ''species'' of these.
* LetterMotif
* LiteraryAllusionTitle
**TheBible
***Movie "In The Beginning" (Genesis 1:1)
***"Revelations"
**WilliamShakespeare
***"The Quality of Mercy" (''TheMerchantOfVenice'' IV.i)
***"The Paragon of Animals" (''{{Hamlet}}'' II.ii)
***"Wheel of Fire" (This was also the title for the entire fifth season.) (''KingLear'' IV.vii)
**MarkTwain
***"The War Prayer", after the essay of the same name
* LittlestCancerPatient : Subverted twice; see above under CuteKidsAndRobots.
* LockedInARoom: Subverted in "Convictions"
* LossOfIdentity: Death Of Personality
* LowerDeckEpisode : "A View from the Gallery"
* MagnificentBastard : Londo Mollari is either a MagnificentBastard or a TragicHero, depending on the episode. He's vastly entertaining to watch, but once his machinations begin to spin out of control, everyone knows it, and even his few friends stop liking him.
** Bester qualifies as well, managing to get the upper hand every time with even the protagonists impressed by his evasion of karmic justice.
* ManipulativeBastard: Lord Antono Refa, Morden
* MarriedToTheJob: Ivanova. And the job is [[MurderTheHypotenuse jealous]].
* MayflyDecemberRomance: Sheridan and Delenn.
* MeaningfulName: "Bester" sounds like "[[MagnificentBastard bastard]]" whenever any station personell speaks the name.
* MentorArchetype : Aldous Gajic to "Jinxo" in the first season episode "Grail". As well as several other characters.
* TheMessiah: Byron, Sheridan, Sinclair and Delenn, all in their own ways.
** Also G'kar after his spiritual enlightenment.
* MidnightOnTheFiringLine, at the beginning of its MythArc. TropeNamer, of course.
* AMindIsATerribleThingToRead: Pretty much every teep.
* MindManipulation, such as MindProbe and MindRape : Something [=PsiCop=] Mr. Bester was very fond of.
** The power granted by the [[PsychoSerum telepathic drug]] "Dust" is specifically described as MindRape in the episode (season three's "Dust to Dust") in which it's a major plot element. [[spoiler:G'Kar does it to Londo, finding out about his role in the bombing of the Narn homeworld.]]
** Happens to Sheridan and Delenn, more or less by design, somewhat by consent, during the final battle [[spoiler: with the Shadows and Vorlons]].
** Actully on Bester, while quite willing to mind probe, wasn't one to mind rape unless their where telepath lives at stake. The man did have some standards.
* MindOverManners: The less evil telepaths, ''most'' of the time, follow the rule about not scanning someone against their will. Mostly.
* MoneyDearBoy: Dr. Vance Hendricks' ''raison d'être'' in the first-season episode "Infection."
* MoralMyopia : A lot of it, actually. Minbari were all pissy over Sheridan's nuking of the Blackstar despite their own policy of taking no prisoners and leaving no combatant survivors [that they know of]. Vir's arranged wife feels Narns are a brutal race that needs culling and has participated in multiple atrocities. Bester feels [[WhatMeasureIsANonSuper absolutely no remorse]] about killing [[{{Muggles}} mundanes]] and is less than sympathetic toward teeps that are not Corps.
** The Minbari weren't pissy over a human nuking a ship, but over what they saw as dishonorable means.
*** Because it's a lot more honorable to hone in on a distress signal and blast a drifting wreck to smithereens.
* {{Mordor}}: Z'ha'dum. It even has a Great Eye, [[spoiler:which Ivanova sees when she's plugged into the [[strike:Palantir]] Great Machine, and later when she visits the planet itself.]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: A truly heartbreaking example in "The Coming of Shadows" when [[spoiler:G'kar, after making his peace with the Centauri emperor, finally extends a tentative hand of friendship to Londo and buys him a drink -- unaware that Londo has just ordered the annihilation of a Narn colony.]]
** Another being during the Earth-Minbari War when Delenn receives Dukat's last message.
* MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels: Ivanova speaking Minbari:
-->'''Ivanova:''' (in Minbari) Engines at full... high power. Hatrack ratcatcher to port weapons... brickbat lingerie.
** "Aw hell..."
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Mr. Morden.
* NaughtyTentacles : Centauri have six prehensile phalli, [[BiggusDickus 2-4 feet long]]. Their definition of "bases" is how many you get to put in.
* NearDeathExperience : experienced by Sheridan across "The Hour of the Wolf" and "Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?"
* NeckLift
* Sheridan NeverGotToSayGoodbye. [[spoiler:Neither did Ivanova.]]
* NietzscheWannabe: Marcus Cole (although he's one of the good guys).
--> '''Marcus:''' "You know, I used to think that it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought: Wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them. So now, I take great comfort in the hostility and unfairness of the universe."
* NonSequiturThud: A truly ''epic'' example courtesy of a drunken Londo in "Parliament of Dreams".
* NotActuallyTheUltimateQuestion: Repeatedly and vigorously deconstructed.
* NotSoDifferent : Londo and G'Kar realize this about halfway through the fourth season. As well as Sheridan and Delenn and several other pairs and groups, [[spoiler:including, as is revealed to the characters and audience in the third and fourth seasons, the Vorlons and the Shadows really aren't all that different]].
* NumberTwo: Ivanova
* OddFriendship: Londo and G'kar, representing two races which had long been bitter enemies, grew into an OddFriendship by the end of the series.
* OhCrap: [[spoiler: The look on Refa's face when holographic Londo reveals his endgame to him - which then leads to a pack of angry Narns beating the absolute bajeezus out of him. The following scene, as the Narns pummel him with Lutheran church music playing in the background, is almost eerily beautiful.]]
* OneGenderRace: The Pak'Ma'Ra ... sort of.
**You know how they all have that hump? That's a Pak'Ma'Ra female.
*** [[FridgeLogic What was she doing in the men's bathroom?]]
*** [[WordOfGod Pak'Ma'Ra are symbiotically bonded, the female IS the hump on the back of the male.]] The male is the larger organism and as such probably responsible for the waste management so it's not a suprise he has to take out the trash and does so in the men's bathroom.
***[[{{Squick}} ... Fascinating]]
* OpenHeartDentistry: Dr. Franklin can do everything from setting broken bones to major surgery to incredibly fast pharmaceutical research for nearly every race that lives on the station.
* OptOut: An extra after Sheridan gives a LineInTheSand speech.
* OurElvesAreBetter : The Minbari, who are elegant, refined and more technologically advanced than nearly any other race. As a partial subversion, they are also quite willing to wipe out an entire species if provoked. Slightly. Like, by killing one of their guys (yes, their leader, but still).
** It should be noted that Dukat was more then simply the leader of the Minbari (at least to them). He was the equivalent of the pope and president among other things to them, and the most popular and beloved leader since Valan.
** Responding to provocations with overkill seemed to be a most common Minbari practice.
*** It's pretty much their [[PlanetOfHats "hat"]], really. The Earth/Minbari War started because when they made first contact neither species, in an aversion of TranslatorMicrobes, understood the others' language. TheNeidermeyer captain of the Earth Alliance ship misread the custom of opening gunports in a sign of strength as attacking, so he opens fire. This may seem like a boneheaded custom of the Minbari Warrior Caste, and the leader calls them on it right before his death, which results in the war. They alas would not fully realize humanity to be a literal RagtagBunchOfMisfits until years later, they assumed us to be an entire species of Neidermeyers and decided to teach us a lesson. Other examples include destroying an entire fleet of Drakh for the loss of a single ship, and arranging a duel between a gang leader and his victim after a mugging. You do ''not'' mess with the Minbari. You ''do'' often ask them WhatTheHellHero.
** On the Drakh, keep in mind that both races have pretty strong reason to dislike one another.
* OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions : Totally and utterly averted. Every race is religious, although humanity surprises everyone by having so many different faiths (the only other species explicitly stated to have multiple religious is the Narns, and it's implied that they have many, many fewer than Earth).
** Even though JMS is atheist.
*** Well, yeah. He's a ''real'' atheist, not a HollywoodAtheist. That means his beliefs are the result of a lifetime of soul-searching, not FantasticRacism.
----> '''USENET:''' (on ''Passing Through Gethsemane'') "The themes of faith and forgiveness were worthy of a theologian. Are you sure there isn't something you'd like to tell us?"
----> '''JMS:''' Never shoot pool at a place called Pop's. Never eat food at a place called Mom's. The difference between horses and humans is that they're too smart to bet on what ''we'll'' do.
----> And I have lost people. Too many people. Lost them to chance, violence, brutality beyond belief; I've seen all the senseless, ignoble acts of "god's noblest creature." And I am incapable of forgiving. My feelings are with G'Kar, hand sliced open, saying of the drops of blood flowing from that open wound, "How do you apologize to them?" "I can't." "Then I cannot forgive."
----> As an atheist, I believe that all life is unspeakably precious, because it's only here for a brief moment, a flare against the dark, and then it's gone forever. No afterlives, no second chances, no backsies. So there can be nothing crueler than the abuse, destruction or wanton taking of a life. It is a crime no less than burning the Mona Lisa, for there is always just one of each.
----> So I cannot forgive. Which makes the notion of writing a character who CAN forgive momentarily attractive...because it allows me to explore in great detail something of which I am utterly incapable. I cannot fly, so I would write of birds and starships and kites; I cannot play an instrument, so I would write of composers and dancers; and I cannot forgive, so I would write of priests and monks and Minbari....
* OnlyTheAuthorCanSaveThemNow: How to face the Shadows [[spoiler:''and'' Vorlons?]]
* PerfectPacifistPeople: Subverted by the Minbari, who are pacifists only among themselves.
* PetTheDog: [[spoiler: Londo Mollari]] has so many of these that it makes people cry.
-->'''Mollari:''' My shoes are now too tight, and I have forgotten how to dance.
-->'''Vir Cotto:''' I don't understand.
-->'''Mollari:''' Nor should you.
* PlanetOfHats : Nearly every race. (Well, the Minbari have three types of hats.) Humanity's hat is [[TheMario diversity]] and [[ThePowerOfFriendship community-building]].
** Which thematically justifies their general BadAss status; everybody ''[[GenreSavvy knows]]'' that you can't beat a RagtagBunchOfMisfits.
* PresidentEvil: Clark.
* PrimeDirective : The Psi Corps regulations (which get broken almost as much as the original PrimeDirective)
* PreviouslyOn : Used in certain major arc episodes to remind the audience of previous events that are reference, as well as the entire fifth season narration (see below).
* [[PropheticName Prophetic Ship Names]] : Icarus, [[spoiler: Agamemnon]].
* PsychicStatic : The nursery rhyme variant is used against Bester.
* PunyEarthlings: Played straight with regards to a few races' raw physical strength (Minbari, Narn...) compared to humans; but averted in other cases. Minbari come from a planet that is colder than Earth, and temperatures high enough that a human would merely find enormously uncomfortable will kill a Minbari rapidly, not to mention they become violently deranged when they consume alcohol. The Drazi have the opposite problem; they are far more intolerant of COLD weather than humans are.
* ThePuppetMasters: Used straight with [[spoiler: the creatures that possess the Centauri Regent and Londo]], subverted in "Exogenesis". Also, [=PsiCop=] Bester [[MoreThanMindControl subtly controlling]] [[spoiler:Garibaldi]] by enhancing the paranoid tendencies of his mind and planting post-hypnotic suggestions; and the [=PsiCorps=] being able to plant a second "sleeper" personality into people, something which happened to [[spoiler:Talia Winters]].
* RageAgainstTheMentor: Sheridan and Kosh, in "Interludes and Examinations."
* RefugeInAudacity: How they smuggle Na'Toth off the Centauri homeworld. No Centauri would admit seeing their own Prime Minister slobberingly drunk snuggling up to a veiled slave girl and staggering toward the spaceport.
* RescuedFromPurgatory
* RestrainingBolt : Something that Mr. Bester installed in [[spoiler:Garibaldi's]] mind, to make sure his [[ThePuppetMasters puppet]] wouldn't attack him afterward.
* RetroactivePrecognition: [[spoiler:All of Valen's prophecies.]]
* RomanticRunnerUp: Zack.
* RoomFullOfCrazy: In ''Thirdspace''.
* RubberForeheadAliens: But while B5 does have its RubberForeheadAliens, it also has a far wider assortment of semihumanoid and completely nonhumanoid species than is usually seen in TV SF: the giant mantis crime boss from the first season, the Shadows (the show's BigBad), the Pak'ma'ra, the Nakaleen Feeder, and of course the Vorlons (an entire race that spent most of the series acting as TheWatcher), just to name a few. And it's indirectly implied that the RubberForeheadAliens are the result of genetic tampering by Vorlons, as the humanoid species are generally the ones with telepaths, and [[spoiler: the projected form of an unsuited Vorlon is a WingedHumanoid found in most races' major religions]], even though the Vorlons' true form is nothing like that.)
** The most infamous is of course the Centauri who don't even rise to the "rubber forehead" level and are basically people with unlikely haircuts.
*** And sharp teeth. And NaughtyTentacles. And many other bits that aren't obvious on television without the help of the ''CSI'' team and the NecroCam.
**** Lampshaded, as the Centauri are mentioned to have claimed (fraudulently, of course) that Earth was one of their lost colonies when they first made contact.
** Not sure if this counts as a subversion or a lampshading, but there was an amusing scene in "There All Honor Lies" which features a Drazi wearing a rubber ''human'' mask.
* ScrewDestiny : [[spoiler:The main cast eventually decides this and enlists the aid of the First Ones to fight both the Shadows and the Vorlons, ending their constant struggle for dominance.]]
* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: [[spoiler:Why Franklin turns Dr. Hendricks in at the end of the episode "Infection."]]
* SecretPolice: Nightwatch, in their snappy [[PuttingOnTheReich brown shirts]].
* ShoutOut: The show is known to have a few shout outs to ''TheLordOfTheRings'', ''ACanticleForLeibowitz'', and other works of fiction.
**Such as a Martian representative named Amanda [[JohnCarterOfMars Carter]] in the episode ''Spider in the Web''. With an ancestor named John, [[{{Anvilicious}} in case you didn't get it]].
** And ''The Demolished Man'' by Alfred Bester-- which is about a telepathic cop.
** Also don't forget the multiple ShoutOuts to George Orwell's ''1984'': Ministry of Peace, rewriting the dictionaries, ect.
*[[ScienceIsBad Academia is bad]]: In the commentary for the last episode of the fourth season, JMS stated that, as an academic himself, he always hated the habit of deconstructing a historical character, thus perhaps the title "The Deconstruction of Fallen Stars". He also intended the holographic operator in the third segment to be a doctor.
* SillyReasonForWar: The Drazi conflict, solved by Ivanova deftly ''plucking'' the leader scarf off the head Drazi, and ordering her faction to wait quietly in a cargo bay for the conflict to end. She even got free booze out of it! (The broken leg, not so good.)
** That actually wasn't a complete solution, since it turned out the conflict was supposed to last more than a year. However, she used her leadership to make her faction dye their sashes the other color.
* SomethingThatBeginsWithBoring: Marcus and Franklin on the way to Mars.
* [[OurElvesAreBetter Space Elves]]: The Minbari, sort of.
* SpaceIsAnOcean: Magnificiently averted. Sort of lampshaded/subverted with the Minbari Sharlin cruiser, which looks like a fish. However, one could argue that Hyperspace is an ocean.
* SpaceOpera
* StandardSciFiFleet: Several of them, operating everything from fighters to kilometer-long battleships. Battlestars are quite popular.
* StateSec: Psi-Corps, admit it.
* StayOnThePath
* SubliminalSeduction: "THE PSI CORPS IS YOUR FRIEND. TRUST THE CORPS."
* SubspaceAnsible: Tachyon relays.
* SufficientlyAdvancedAlien: Lorien and the other First Ones. And Not Quite as SufficientlyAdvancedAliens, the Vorlons and the Shadows ([[spoiler:who happen to worship Lorien as something akin to a god]]).
** Also, WordOfGod says that Humans and Minbari will eventually [[EvolutionaryLevels reach this state]]. In "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" we see it happen.
* SuperRegistrationAct: The [=PsiCorps=].
* SupremeChef: Garibaldi
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Elizabeth Lochley for Susan Ivanova, John Sheridan for Jeffrey Sinclair, Susan Ivanova for Laurel Takashima, Stephen Franklin for Benjamin Kyle, Talia Winters for Lyta Alexander, and later Lyta Alexander for Talia Winters.
* TakeOffEveryZig
* TakeThat: In a single episode, swipes are taken at both StarTrekDeepSpaceNine and merchandising generally; in the series finale, an inspirational message doubles as a dig at the show's doomsayers.
* TechnoWizard: The Technomages.
* TelepathicSpacemen: Due to being TouchedByVorlons, every race has some (except the Narns, due to Shadows killing all of them in the past, but the genes are still latent in them).
* ThemeInitials: John Sheridan and Jeffrey Sinclair. [[AuthorAvatar Which surely has nothing to do with the show being created by Joe Straczynski]]. The ThemeInitials of the romantic leads matched those of JMS and his wife.
* TheyDo: John and Delenn.
* ThrownOutTheAirlock: Dr. Franklin does not find 'spacing' jokes funny because of a friend's accident. Garibaldi advocates it regularly for particularly heinous crimes. And, most famously, Sheridan spaced a teddy bear.
** For the Earth Alliance, this is an execution method reserved for specific circumstances.
* TimeAbyss: Lorien
* TimeTravel : "Babylon Squared" and the two-parter "War without End"
** Notable as the episodes (set two season apart) are both sides of the same time travel event.
* [[TheydCutYouUp They'd Cut You Up]]
* TitleDrop: Not in the usual sense, though. Each season has a title that it shares with one episode in that season. When you see a title card reading "Signs And Portents" or "The Coming Of Shadows," you know that something big is coming.
* TouchedByVorlons: The TropeNamer. Specifically Lyta Alexander and Sheridan. [[spoiler:To a lesser extent, telepaths (of all races) in general.]]
** An early episode features a character touched by the Psi Corps.
*** Who then proceeds to [[spoiler:AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence and ''touch'' Talia Winters, but she was {{Jonas Quinn}}ed by Lyta before it got ''really'' spectacular.]]
* TruceZone: The Babylon stations were all built to be this.
* TwistingTheWords: "The Illusion of Truth"
* TwoOfYourEarthMinutes
* UnstuckInTime: [[spoiler:Sheridan]] gets ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
* TheUnpronounceable: The Shadows' true name is said to have hundreds of syllables and to be unpronounceable for the tongues of younger races.
* UnusualEuphemism : Characters are repeatedly being described as having "Gone beyond the Rim" when the actor playing them dies. This is most noticeable in [[spoiler:G'Kar]] who continued to be a prominent character even after the show ended until the actor playing him died of lung cancer.
** Many aliens seem to have a habit of saying "As the humans say" before using a well known Earth expression.
** Sheridan: "Well, as my great granddad used to say, cool"
** A more literal example, Vir's "Spoo-for-brains"
** In the first season, "stroke" is occasionally used basically as a substitute for "fuck" (with "stroke" presumably referring to masturbation). This doesn't really appear again afterwards.
* UrbanSegregation: The shiny areas seen for most of the series vs Down Below
* UsedFuture
* VestigialEmpire: The Centauri spend half their time invading the rest of the galaxy and the other half reminiscing about their supposed glory days, back when -- one assumes -- they were even ''worse''. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] with Londo's LightbulbJoke.
* ViewersAreGeniuses: Hands up, everyone who knew Jason Ironheart's "You cannot harm one who has dreamed a dream like mine," was a Dakota prayer of protection and not a really weird line.
* VoiceOfTheResistance.
* TheWarOfEarthlyAggression: On slow burn throughout most of the first four seasons, this becomes the main plot in mid-season 4 after [[spoiler:the First Ones leave the galaxy]].
* WeHardlyKnewYe, Sinclair and to a lesser extent Talia. Also Lt. Warren Keffer, a more traditional [[TheHero action hero]] who was added by ExecutiveMeddling and later KilledOffForReal by JMichaelStraczynski [[WriterRevolt at the earliest point convenient for the plot]]. Plus Dr. Kyle and Takashima in the pilot.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: William Edgars sets himself up as this.
* WeWillNotHavePocketsInTheFuture: Averted.
* WhamEpisode: It's the TropeMaker, so there's obviously plenty.
* WhatTheHellHero: Garibaldi's reaction to Sheridan interrogating Morden in the second season episode "In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum".
* WhatYouAreInTheDark
* WillNotTellALie: The Minbari like to think of themselves as this, but it's at best an InformedAttribute. It would be an understatement to say their definition of 'lie' is extremely flexible. Notably it doesn't include lying to save another person's honour (which forms the basis of the plot of the second season episode "There All The Honour Lies") or lying by omission. And some Minbari characters, including Delenn who is easily the most prominent one on the show, just plain ''ignore'' this supposedly deeply ingrained aspect of their culture; one fan quipped on Usenet that "the way to tell whether Delenn is lying is to check whether her mouth is moving", and no-one (including JMS, then a regular contributor to that newsgroup) disagreed.
** This is actually [[LampshadeHanging commented upon]] several times. Sheridan tells his old friend Captain Maynard "The Minbari never tell you the ''whole'' truth." Delenn states that the Grey Council "never tells the ''whole'' truth." When Sheridan and Delenn meet infront of the "Universe Today" vending machine, she states that she likes to read the "Eye on Minbar" section so she can learn things before the Grey Council tells her "What she needs to know and no more." Their philosophy us stated to be "Understanding is not required, only obedience." And of course, most importantly, the Grey Council never told the Warrior Caste why they ''surrendered at the Battle of the Line.'' It seems the Minbari do not think omissions are lies.
* XanatosGambit: Most notably, the string of episodes after [[spoiler:Sheridan's return from Z'ha'dum was an elaborate gambit ultimately culminating in the Vorlons and the Shadows invading Sheridan and Delenn's minds, allowing the heroes to talk the elder races into leaving the galaxy.]], Also, Mr. Bester's manipulation of [[spoiler:Garibaldi]].
** Sheridan managed to pull off a delectable one in the episode "[[http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/synops/079.html Rumors, Bargains and Lies]]".
** Londo's elimination of [[spoiler:Lord Refa]]
*** Morden [[spoiler: turning Londo against Refa in order to make him come to Morden for support]]
* YouDontWantToCatchThis: Lennier claiming to have Netter's Syndrome.
* YouHaveAlreadyChangedThePast / StableTimeLoop: Everything involved with "War Without End" and "Babylon Squared." [[spoiler:Babylon 4 appears in Babylon 5 space four years after it disappears (the episode "Babylon Squared." The events leading up to that appearance are explained in the two-parter "War Without End," in which we find out that Babylon 4 was taken to the year 1260 AD (or so) to help the Minbari and their allies gather to fight the Shadows. To prevent this from happening, the Shadows sent a big bomb to Babylon 4 just as it was about to come on line in 2254. However, the White Star also goes back in time (because Delenn, Sinclair, Sheridan, and Ivanova see it in a recording), destroys the bomb, and (as it turns out) takes it back in time as well. However, this is not before the time device (sent by Draal and transported by Zathras) malfunctions, dropping Babylon 4 into 2258, leading to the events of "Babylon Squared." Sinclair then realizes that he must take Babylon 4 back in time himself, and then uses the triluminary device to turn himself into a Minbari--specifically, Valen, who led them in the First Shadow War, organized their society, and effectively became the main prophet of their religion. SoYeah...]]

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