History Characters / Babylon5

''No one here is exactly what they appear.''
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The scope of the ''Series/{{Babylon 5}}'' universe was truly epic. Over the course of the series, the major characters evolved radically as the arc plot advanced. No summary can do more than scratch the surface of their complexities and their evolution--the only way to fully appreciate both is to watch the series.

Please note that this list contains heavy unmarked spoilers for the whole series.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:The Earth Alliance]]

[[WMG:Humans in general]]

->''Everywhere humans go, they create communities.''

* TheDeterminator: Te Human-Minbari War is filled with this. Despite the technological disadvantage and many CurbStompBattles, the human race fought tooth and nail against the Minbari. As Londo said when describing their efforts to others:
-->''Londo Mollari'': The humans, I think, knew they were doomed. But where another race would surrender to despair, the humans fought back with even greater strength. They made the Minbari fight for every inch of space. In my life, I have never seen anything like it. They would weep, they would pray, they would say goodbye to their loved ones and then throw themselves without fear or hesitation at the very face of death itself. Never surrendering. No one who saw them fighting against the inevitable could help but be moved to tears by their courage…their stubborn nobility. When they ran out of ships, they used guns. When they ran out of guns, they used knives and sticks and bare hands. They were magnificent. I only hope, that when it is my time, I may die with half as much dignity as I saw in their eyes at the end. They did this for two years. They never ran out of courage. But in the end…they ran out of time.
* DeusExNukina: {{Lampshaded}} in one of the novels, where it is stated that while the humans lag behind in many other areas, their nuclear weapons are quite capable, provided they can get one close enough to an enemy they would otherwise be unable to defeat conventionally.
** This is exactly how Sheridan was able to destroy the Black Star in Earth's only real victory in the Earth/Minbari War.
* TheGovernment
* GovernmentConspiracy: Too many over the course of the show to list.
** Oh heck, even the staff of Series/{{Babylon 5}} is a heroic GovernmentConspiracy.
* HeadInTheSandManagement
* HumansAreDiplomats
* HumansAreSpecial
** Debatable; while lots of awesomeness is done by individual humans, humans as a group come off poorly at times.
** More like Humans Build Communities. Delenn even notes how any species could have made B5 but allowed only their own kind inside and maybe a few others, while humans would let anyone in and form bonds with them in one form or another.
* [[MostWritersAreHuman Most Viewers Are Human]]: The chief role of humans often seems to be to provide someone to identify with.
* MutantDraftBoard: Psi Corps.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: Especially by Minbari.
* SecretPolice: Night Watch. Also elements of the Psi Cops.
* SpaceNavy: [=EarthForce=] Naval; most of the main characters are EFN (as opposed to the [=EarthForce=] Marine Corps seen in "GROPOS," and the likely [=EarthForce=] Corps of Engineers officers in "Babylon Squared").
* UnitedSpaceOfAmerica: There are still individual nations and the Earth Government is based in Geneva, Switzerland.... yet most of the Earthers we see in the series are American.
** More to the point, culture and political organization seem geared to be familiar to an American viewer.
* TheWarOfEarthlyAggression: The coup by Clark and the rebellion that followed.
* YouShallNotPass: The Battle Of The Line, a Crowning Moment of Awesome, Heartwarming, and Sacrifice. Especially after this scene [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbBRrK9Q-rw with the President's]] FinalSpeech.
** {{Subverted}}, as well. The Minbari casually wiped out most of the defenders effortlessly, then proceeded to surrender without explanation. It had the effect of making many Earthers feel that The Line was a SenselessSacrifice.

[[WMG:John J Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner)]]
[[quoteright:221:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sheridan_3518.png]]
->''For justice, for peace, for the future... we have come home!''

* TwoPlusTortureMakesFive: [[spoiler: Averted.]]
* TheButcher: The Minbari call him "Starkiller," for his hand in the destruction of the ''Black Star'', using what they considered underhanded tactics. [[spoiler: In the third season finale, he earns that nickname twice-over, destroying the ''White Star'' by loading it up with nukes and having it dive into the Shadows' capital city.]]
* TheCaptain
* TheChessmaster: he's acknowledged in-universe to be one of the finest tactical minds of his generation, and it's no InformedAttribute. He's almost always one step ahead - if not more.
* TheChosenOne: [[spoiler: The One Who Will Be]]
* CombatPragmatist
* DefensiveFeintTrap: Once with the Black Star, and more then once later including the first kill of a Shadow vessel.
* DeusExNukina: WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer... He uses nuclear warheads to deal with superior enemies on no fewer than four occasions.
** [[ContractualGenreBlindness You'd think his enemies would have picked up on that by now...]] except that he never deploys his warheads using the same strategy twice.
*** First he mined an asteroid field and lured a more powerful opponent into the kill zone with [[WoundedGazelleGambit a distress signal]].
*** Later he fitted a small ship with a pair of warheads and programmed it to crash into an enemy city as an improvised cruise missile.
*** On the third occasion, he once again mined an asteroid field, but baited his enemies into the kill zone with false intel regarding a new major base (this one is actually quite a bit more complicated than that, as he had to lure two ''separate'' and mutually-hostile enemies into the mine field at the same time).
*** Finally he gave up all pretense of subtlety and took a nuke and a space suit and attached it to the target himself in the midst of a heated space battle. Even [[LampshadeHanging he had to admit that this last plan was a little nuts.]]
* FanNickname: John "Nuke 'em" Sheridan. (Originally used by Boxleitner.)
* TheFettered
* TheGoodCaptain
* HeroicArchetype
* HeroWithBadPublicity: Dan Randall, the pro-Clark journalist, portrayed Sheridan as a guy subject to sinister alien influences, while oppressing the human population and running ghoulish medical experiments to create alien hybrids, all the while arming an alien invasion fleet outside Babylon 5.
* {{Hypocrite}}: In protest of Clark's declaration of martial law on Earth, he secedes and declares independence. However, he declines to form any sort of new governing body for the station and retains ultimate authority over every aspect of its government, making him essentially a military dictator. This is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] a couple of times by people who don't like him. '''However''', considering he was a Military Governor who was upholding the Constitution of the Earth Alliance and B5 is a military base, it is ''not'' hypocritical for him to maintain the original concept of the station intact. He is not giving the station over to the alien governments who use it. Once the reasons for the declaration were removed from power, it is likely he would have returned into the Earth Alliance, or then made changes to the governing body of the station. The colonies only made a new government once there was no hope in England agreeing to their demands. There always remained the chance for Clark to be removed from power.
* InSeriesNickname: "Swamp rat".
** Among the Minbari, Sheridan is known as "Starkiller" for his famous defeat of their flagship, the ''Drala Fi'' ("Black Star" in English). The name becomes a MultipleReferencePun after he also causes the destruction of [[spoiler: The White Star]]
* TheKirk
* LikeBrotherAndSister: With Ivanova. They'd walk through fire for each other, but their relationship is purely platonic.
* MessianicArchetype: Which gets him a WhatTheHellHero from Garibaldi, [[spoiler: who was {{brainwashed}} to have his paranoia and distrust of authority enhanced by [[MagnificentBastard Mr. Bester]].]]
* MilitaryMaverick: {{Subverted}}. His appointment to ''Babylon 5'' was approved by Clark's government because all the available evidence indicated that he was ''not'' a Military Maverick, but rather a [[MyCountryRightOrWrong staunch loyalist]]. Unfortunately for them, he was staunchly loyal to the Earth Alliance ''Constitution'', as opposed to being loyal to ''the government'' that was failing to follow that Constitution.
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: He adheres to the second part of the quote: "if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, [[LaResistance to be set right.]]”
* NoodleIncident: Two come up in the same episode. He refuses to explain how he got the nickname Swamp Rat, and the threat of an embarrassing story is enough to stop him from revealing one about another character.
* NoseArt: His personal [[SpaceFighter Starfury]] has a full-wing Eagle paintjob. In the fourth season, he had the Babylon 5 emblem painted on the hull of his flagship during [[spoiler: The Earth Alliance Civil War.]]
* PalsWithJesus: To Kosh.
* PlayingPossum
* ThePowerOfLove: Allows him to ''defy death'' because he loves Delenn that much. Damn the Shadows, he's going to be with the woman he loves and ''nothing'' is going to stand in his way. Not even the entire universe.
* PsychicDreamsForEveryone
* PunctuatedPounding
* RageAgainstTheMentor
* [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight Screw Earthgov I'm Doing Whats Right]]
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: Despite his many positive qualities, he can also be a touch petty at times. At one point, he is ordered to pay rent on his quarters or move out. He pulls money from the station's military readiness budget to pay the rent, [[LoopholeAbuse claiming that the station's readiness depends on him getting a good night's sleep.]]
* SeeYouInHell
** Which doubles as ScrewYouElves.
* StayWithTheAliens
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial
* TakeAThirdOption
* TakeFive: {{Averted}} and PlayedStraight, depending on the circumstances.
* TakingYouWithMe
* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath
* TheyDo: With Delenn. A relationship built on mutual respect, trust, and shared interests, that had its ups and downs but was a lifelong love match on both sides? What a novelty!
* TouchedByVorlons
* UltimateAuthorityMayor: {{Justified}}, as he is the military governor of Babylon 5 and really ''does'' have absolute authority over the station[[hottip:*: While the station functions as a neutral meeting place between the major powers, as well as an interstellar commerce hub, it is still first and foremost an Earth Alliance space station operated by [[WeWillUseWikiWordsInTheFuture EarthForce]]]], within the limits of his own orders. Also {{deconstructed}}, as we see that this leaves him with a ''lot'' more on his plate than he ever had to deal with as a starship commander, requiring him to adopt a more hands-off leadership style.
* UndercoverCopReveal: Later revealed to have been planted on Babylon 5 to investigate the conspiracy around President Santiago's death.
* UnstuckInTime
* WeWillAllBeHistoryBuffsInTheFuture
** {{Lampshaded}} in the fifth season, where an assassin taunting Sheridan says that he understands Sheridan is "a bit of a history buff."
* XanatosGambit
* YourDaysAreNumbered

[[WMG:Jeffrey David Sinclair (Michael O'Hare)]]

->''Whether it happens in a hundred years or a thousand years or a million years, eventually our Sun will grow cold and go out. When that happens, it won't just take us. It'll take Marilyn Monroe, and Lao-Tzu, and Einstein, and Morobuto, and Buddy Holly, and Aristophanes... All of this... All of this... Was for nothing. Unless we go to the stars.''

* AlienAbduction
* BotheringByTheBook[=/=]ExactWords - Displayed an uncommon ability to use Earth gov's ExactWords to accomplish exactly the opposite of what they wanted him to.
* {{Brainwashed}} : But only enough to wipe out his memory of the missing 24 hours.
* TheCaptain - Technically a commander in rank, but follows the role.
* TheChosenOne: [[spoiler: The One Who Was]]
* DecoyProtagonist: Unintentional however, thanks to the AbsenteeActor.
* HeKnowsTooMuch: Delenn had orders to take appropriate action if he showed signs of remembering.
* InHarmsWay: Puts himself in a lot of dangerous positions he really has no reason to. It's hinted it's his SurvivorGuilt speaking, and Garibaldi eventually [[LampshadeHanging calls him out on it]] mid-season 1.
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: "There is a hole in your mind".
* [[ConquerorFromTheFuture Liberator From the Future]] : He goes back in time to become this for the Minbari.
* LoveTranscendsSpacetime: Implied to be what allows [[spoiler:Catherine Sakai]] to find him in the past.
* [[spoiler:LukeIAmYourFather: He is Delenn's great-great-great-[great*n]-grandfather.]]
* TheMasochismTango: His relationship with Catherine Sakai consisted of years of on-again, off-again, have-sex-then-one-of-them-leaves frustration before they decided to have a go at things for real.
* MessianicArchetype
* [[MightyWhitey Mighty Future Human]]
* MilitaryBrat: Fourth generation military. Knight #2 states it was smart money he'd make Admiral on his pedigree alone; but then along came The Line.
** Sinclair proudly states at one point that his family has been fighter pilots since the [[WorldWarII Battle of Britain]].
* PutOnABus: An interstellar bus to Minbar.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The PutOnABus was due to his actor leaving the show between seasons.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure
* ReassignedToAntarctica: Due to his (repeated) tendency to speak his mind when not appropriate, his back story contains this. A lot. His promotion to the head of Series/{{Babylon 5}} came as a surprise to pretty much everyone at Earthforce (including him, given the huge list of people who were ahead of him), but they accepted it because the Minbari were part contributors to the station and got a provision that they had say in who got in. So his assignment to Series/{{Babylon 5}} is a large aversion, though his history is not.
* [[{{Seers}} The Seer]]: time travel helps at this.
* ShellShockedSenior: Being a survivor of the Battle of the Line is one of his main character points.
* StableTimeLoop
* SurvivorGuilt
* TakeAThirdOption: His default solution for practically everything.
* TeacherStudentRomance: The canon novel ''To Dream in the City of Sorrows'' reveals that he met Catherine Sakai when he was her flight instructor at Earthforce Academy.
* TimeTravel
* UltimateAuthorityMayor: {{Justified}}, for the same reasons as Sheridan.
* WarriorPoet
* WorthyOpponent: To Delenn when they first met.
** And to the Minbari in general. Neroon expresses admiration for him, and his special ability in the card game is to undo damages to the human-minbari tension levels.

[[WMG:Michael Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle)]]

->''"Thin air." Why is it always "thin air"? Never fat air, chubby air, mostly-fit-could-stand-to-lose-a-few-pounds air.''

* TheAlcoholic
* BaldOfAwesome: PlayedForLaughs on a couple of occasions. Ivonova strongly suspects (but prefers not to inform Garibaldi) that his hair loss was due to a prank played by a smuggler he had crossed paths with in the past.
* BigDamnHeroes: On several occasions. It does help that all of the station's security personnel answer to him, allowing him to bring TheCavalry with a single call.
* ChefOfIron
* CoolBike - His beloved, antique Ninja ZX-11 motorcycle.
* CowboyCop
* DaChief: Head of station security.
* TheDeterminator: JMS in a commentary track compared Garibaldi to a pitbull, refusing to let go of a problem until he's solved it. [[spoiler:Increased UpToEleven by Bester to make him sniff out an anti-Telepath conspiracy.]]
* DoggedNiceGuy: Garibaldi is a Type 1, particularly toward Talia.
* FaceHeelTurn (See Manchurian Agent)
** HeelFaceDoorSlam
** HeelFaceTurn
* FanOfThePast: The Daffy Duck poster overhanging his bed.
* KnightInSourArmor
* TheLancer
* ManchurianAgent (in Season 4)
* NoseArt: In early seasons, his personal Starfury had a tiger painted on the center of the wing. In the fifth season, he is briefly seen piloting a Starfury with [[LooneyTunes Daffy Duck]] painted on the side.
* OffTheWagon
* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: His computer password is "Peekaboo", because he knows that nobody would assume that [[ProperlyParanoid the infamously paranoid]] security chief would use something so laughably easy to guess.
* PluckyComicRelief: Except for the fourth season. [[spoiler: At least, until his HeelFaceTurn.]]
* ProperlyParanoid: Garibaldi's paranoia is an in-universe legend.
* RefugeInAudacity: One of his specialties. Tries to rescue [[spoiler: Captain Sheridan]] from a secret prison on Mars by walking up in uniform and identifying himself by name. It almost works too, except that the guards are TooDumbToFool.
** When an Earth Alliance official demands to know where Sheridan is, Garibaldi refuses to tell him, on grounds that it is so secret that Garibaldi can't even tell ''himself'' or else he'll have to [[InsaneTrollLogic arrest himself for revealing secret information to himself.]]
*** It helps that the official in question is just GenreSavvy enough to figure that it is some sensitive issue best left undisturbed for now. Before he can become suspicious enough to realize he's ''WrongGenreSavvy'', the heroes present him with an entirely plausible explanation for the secrecy.
* WrittenInInfirmity: Jerry Doyle suffered a broken wrist during the filming of the battle sequence in "Severed Dreams". The visible effects were then very naturally explained as the character suffering the same injury.

[[WMG:Susan Ivanova (Claudia Christian)]]
[[quoteright:221:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ivanova_59.png]]
->''Ivanova is always right. I will listen to Ivanova. I will not ignore Ivanova's recommendations. Ivanova is God. And if this ever happens again, Ivanova will personally '''rip your lungs out!'''''

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: The TropeNamer.
* BadassBoast: Has a habit of these, from "Ivanova is God." to "God sent me."
* BiTheWay (Annoyingly, we only really got a confirmation that Ivanova & Talia were in love after the fact -- because Straczynski knew the executives would crucify him if he actually had them kiss, which was considered but remained unfilmed.)
** Hints do appear previously. [[spoiler: They lounge around in Ivanova's bedroom an awful lot.]]
** WordOfGod is that they did in fact have sex off screen.
* CartwrightCurse
* [[DeadLittleSister Dead Big Brother]]: Her reason for joining Earthforce.
* DeadpanSnarker
* InformedJudaism: In the episodes where it comes up, it's made fairly clear that she isn't exactly a practicing Jew.
* IronLady
* KnightInSourArmour
* LadyOfWar: Ivanova lacks the inspirational genius of Sheridan or the unconventional thinking of Sinclair, but she is a formidable officer in her own right.
* LargeHam: On occasion, though not nearly as large a ham as some of the other characters.
* LostInTranslation: Played hilariously when Ivanova bitterly curses, only to find out that "Ah, hell!" means "continuous fire" in her crew's language.
* MarriedToTheJob: Ivanova. And the job is [[MurderTheHypotenuse jealous]].
* MissionFromGod: For her last BadassBoast, she declared that ''{{God}}'' had sent her to dispatch her foes. [[spoiler: She is nearly killed at the end of the battle by a wayward piece of debris, but not before her force has dispatched the enemy fleet.]]
* MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels: When she shows off what she has learned from her studies of the Minbari language. Delenn discretely issues an order to the Minbari crewmembers of Ivanova's ship that anyone who is caught laughing at her heartfelt attempts will be severely punished.
* NoseArt: Her Starfury has a red star and a double-headed Russian Eagle.
* NumberTwo: For the station, being the second line officer aboard for most of the series.
* OneOfTheBoys: You would almost, but not quite, think that GenderIsNoObject is at work here. That's how well Ivanova blends in.
* RussianGuySuffersMost: And [[GenreSavvy expects to]]. She considers pessimistic outlooks to be Russian by nature and commends people for them. Sheridan even calls developing a greater degree of pessimism "taking Ivanova lessons."
* VoiceOfTheResistance
** Hell, that's even the name of her broadcasts.
* WrittenInInfirmity: Claudia Christian broke her ankle in a ski-ing accident during Season Two, and this was explained as Ivanova being injured after being caught in a brawl between Green and Purple Drazi. (The fan rumour that she was injured during the filming of that scene is false.)
** During the commentary track for that episode, Claudia Christian points out that the scream Ivanova gives when the Drazi lands on her (when the "injury" supposedly happened) as being quite real (as said actor landed right on her already-broken leg quite heavily.)
* YouAreInCommandNow: At least four times in the space of three years, in fact, though it never happens in the heat of battle.

[[WMG:Stephen Franklin (Richard Biggs)]]
* TheConscience: Franklin regards his medical oath as far more important than his oath to Earth Force and is quite willing to remind others of their duties to greater causes than their government.
* {{Determinator}}: After he [[spoiler: is stabbed, then tormented by a hallucination of himself for all of his failures]], he decides that he wants to live, mistakes and all.
* DrJerk: For a while when he was abusing stims.
* FunctionalAddict
* InsufferableGenius
* TheMedic
* MilitaryBrat
* NotQuiteTheRightThing
* ThePornomancer: Despite being a bit of a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold pompous blowhard]] and not really putting any serious effort into it, he can charm the ladies out of their dresses like nobody's business.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Given by a [[TalkingToThemself hallucination of himself]], as he's crawling through down-below with a knife wound. Doubles as a RousingSpeech by the very end.
* TrustMeImAnX

[[WMG:Elizabeth Lochley (Tracy Scoggins)]]

->''My first CO once told me: "When someone asks you why you took on a job, the worst answer you can give is 'Because a friend asked me to.'" I should have listened. This place is one long exercise in frustration.''

* TheAlcoholic: She uses her secret past as an alcohol and drug abuser to get Garibaldi back on the wagon.
* AmicablyDivorced: She was married to [[spoiler:Sheridan]] briefly. Their marriage burned out fast. Their friendship didn't.
* BadassBureaucrat
* DarkAndTroubledPast
* LadyOfWar
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: Fought on the Loyalist side of the Earth Alliance Civil War. Her being chosen to command Babylon 5 after Ivanova's departure was done as a fig-leaf gesture to the government back on Earth.
* NoseArt: Her Starfury features a Phoenix.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure
* RulesLawyer: Manages to temporarily prevent [[MagnificentBastard Mr. Bester]] from arresting a colony of rogue telepaths by citing an Earth Alliance health regulation. Commander Sinclair would have been proud.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute
* [[WordOfGay Word Of Bi]]: NeilGaiman confirmed that the LesYay in her scenes with Zoe in "Day of the Dead" was intentional.

[[WMG:Zack Allen (Jeff Conaway)]]
* AscendedExtra
* BigBrotherIsEmployingYou
* ButtMonkey: in season two, Zack's major function is to be the Earthforce security agent who gets knocked out by the alien. Notably, both G'Kar and Lennier take him out at different points.
* TheEveryman: While he doesn't quite have the blank slate qualities usually associated with this trope, Zack is essentially an average guy way over his head, trying to do the right thing.
* TheGenericGuy
* HeelRealisation
* HopelessSuitor: To Lyta Alexander. Given how she later develops, he was probably lucky.
* TookALevelInBadass: In the final two seasons, when he takes over as head of station Security, he gets notably more serious and more competent.
* YouDidTheRightThing: Both Night Watch and the command staff assure Zack of this when he's used as a double agent in one episode. He finds it less than comforting.

[[WMG:Warren Keffer (Robert Rusler) (Season 2 only)]]

->''It was jet black, a shade of black so deep your eye just kind of slides off it. And it shimmered when you looked at it. A spider, big as death and twice as ugly. And when it flies past, it's like you hear a scream in your mind.''

* AcePilot: ExecutiveMeddling wanted a TopGun type character.
* BookEnds: The season premiere and season finale both feature him taking part in the defense of the station from an alien warship. Also, his second episode and his final episode both feature a Starfury pilot being killed in Hyperspace.
* CuriosityKilledTheCast: Ignores Commander Ivanova's orders not to continue his obsessive search for the mysterious black ship that he encountered in Hyperspace. Finding that ship is the last thing he ever does.
* DecoyProtagonist: Intentionally given little purpose, but a fake high profile, heroic job.
* KilledOffForReal
* ShooOutTheNewGuy: due to being created through ExecutiveMeddling, and the actor apparently not getting on with the established cast.
* WeHardlyKnewYe

[[WMG:David Corwin (Joshua Cox)]]

->''"Okay, activate defense grid. Launch all Starfuries, and if they move, shoot 'em. If they don't move, shoot twice; they're probably hiding something."''

* {{Adorkable}}: The scenes involving him trying to buy and give roses to Ivanova, and his ownership of a Love Bat, especially.
* TheApprentice: Tends to serve as Ivanova's right-hand man and unofficial protegé in later seasons.
* CharacterDevelopment: Starts out in Season 1 as a generic Earthforce officer with no name and a dorky, wallflower personality, ends up in Season 5 as Babylon 5's XO and almost a male, LighterAndSofter (and, well, still dorkier) version of Ivanova (see above quote).
* DeadpanSnarker
* TheGenericGuy: Tends to be written as representing the viewpoint of the average, ordinary Earthforce officer in comparison to the larger-than-life, destiny-laden main characters.

[[WMG: President William Morgan Clark]]

* BigBad: For most of season four, once the Shadows were taken care of. His government were already major antagonists before that.
* [[spoiler: DrivenToSuicide]]
* EvilChancellor: Well, Evil Vice President to Santiago.
* {{Expy}}: Averted, actually. Though many of his policies [[spoiler: and his death]] call AdolfHitler to mind, WordOfGod is that he wasn't supposed to correspond to any one RealLife dictator.
* FantasticRacism: Towards aliens.
* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Clark does have a handful of scenes, but they're short and after he becomes BigBad full time he's only seen [[spoiler: killing himself]]. WordOfGod is that he was supposed to be an idea more than a character.
* IfICantHaveYou: [[spoiler: "Two words: Scorched Earth"]]
* KlingonPromotion: He arranged Santiago's assasination with the Shadows in order to become president himself.
* ANaziByAnyOtherName
* OrcusOnHisThrone: He never leaves Earth after becoming president.
* PresidentEvil
* SmugSnake
* UnwittingPawn: To both the Shadows and Psi Corps, to varying degrees.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: He certainly tries, and his propaganda machine is much spotlighted, but by the time all is said and done a good chunk of the population is set against him anyway.

[[WMG: Susanna Luchenko (Beata Pozniak)]]

->''Well, Captain, you've caused quite a stir. Half of Earth Force wants to give you a kiss on the cheek and the Medal of Honour. The other half wants you taken out and shot. As a politician you learn how to compromise, which by all rights means I should give you the Medal of Honour, then have you shot.''

* DeadpanSnarker: See above.
* InternalReformist: She remarks that Sheridan did the right thing, he just did it in the most inconvenient manner possible.
* IronLady: "Don't make the mistake of thinking this is a conversation. ''It isn't.''"
* PowerHair
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Formerly the leader of the Russian Consortium, she takes over as President of the Earth Alliance after Clark. However, she is still a politician, albeit one of the better sort.
* {{Understatement}}: Describing Sheridan's adventures in the latter half of Season 4 as "caus[ing] quite a stir."

[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Minbari Federation]]

[[WMG:Minbari in general]]

->''We are at our best when we move together. And we are at our worst when we move together.''

* ApeShallNeverKillApe: "Minbari do not kill Minbari", [[spoiler: the reason why they surrender at the Battle of the Line after discovering Sinclair is the reincarnation of Valen: Minbari souls are reincarnating as humans.]]
** And then the civil war broke out and the Warrior Caste, in particular, dumped that rule pretty fast.
** Before that, there was the right of denn'Sha, a duel to the death which is seen closer to the ideals of suicide than one opponent killing the other.
* BerserkButton : Don't kill one of their leaders, don't win a battle against them in a dishonorable manner (whatever they're deciding to define that as), don't accuse them of lying, don't... well, just don't.
* [[spoiler: BiologicalMashUp: Thanks to Valen, first known as the human Jeffry Sinclair, is half-human and had children who had more children. As of the Earth Year 2262, the number of Minbari who have human DNA in their bodies is counted in the millions. You can tell which males have human DNA by seeing if they can grow a beard. Pure Minbaris cannot.]]
* [[RubberForeheadAliens Boney Back Of Head Aliens]]
* CantArgueWithElves: Because the elves are more than capable of blowing your navy out of space and tossing you personally across the room. And aren't reluctant to do so.
* TheClan: Several in fact; Delenn is from the family of Mir (itself part of the Tenth Fane of Elleya), Lennier is from the Third Fane of Chudomo, and Neeroon from the Star Riders. We also have the hawkish Wind Swords.
** The clan system is apparently completely independant of the Caste system. Lennier had a clansman who was warrior caste.
* CombatAestheticist
* CrystalSpiresAndTogas: The spires aren't literally crystal. They don't ''quite'' wear togas. But they're getting dangerously close on both counts.
* DisproportionateRetribution: For a case of PoorCommunicationKills, their reaction is "total genocide of the offending species". Other lines from Delenn indicate that the Minbari responses often tends to be swift and violent.
* FantasticCasteSystem: Religious, Worker, Warrior
* GoodOldWays
* HigherTechSpecies: most technologically advanced non-First One culture.
* HonorBeforeReason: All Minbari at least think they are this. Some are more honorable than others.
* {{Hypocrite}}s: They hold Sheridan as a monster and a butcher for destroying the Black Star. In a war. Using an ambush... while the Black Star was coming to finish off the wounded from an earlier assault. Essentially they consider Sheridan a monster because in a war he dared to win a battle, using tactics that weren't quite as underhanded as the Minbari did.
** In Sheridan's first episode, the Minbari hold him accountable for the self-destruction of another cruiser, because he refused to fire on them and kill them himself.
* MoralMyopia
* OurElvesAreBetter: To the point where they (and especially Delenn) are treated as the moral core of the series, frequently delivering philosophical Aesops, despite actions that are arguably worse than those of any race besides the Shadows and Vorlons.
** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] as the show goes on and frequently examines how they are often less honorable and civilized than they want to think they are.
* ProudScholarRace
* ProudWarriorRace
* RulesLawyer: "Minbari Do Not Lie" & "Minbari Do Not Kill Minbari". Except when they can find loopholes or justify it some different ways. For example, conquering a polar Religious Caste city, and forcing the residents to leave on foot, dying of cold and exposure isn't murder. The weather killed them! Not a Minbari!
* ShamgriLa
* SpaceElves
* WarriorPoet: Seems to contain a high proportion of these.

[[WMG:Ambassador Delenn (MiraFurlan)]]
[[quoteright:221:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/delenn_4673.png]]
->''We are star stuff. We are the universe made manifest, trying to figure itself out.''

* {{Ambadassador}}: The Ambassador has commanded fleets of warships, flown single-pilot fighters, and generally proved she's not someone to annoy.
* TheAtoner: For the Earth-Minbari war.
* BadassBoast: ''If you value your lives, '''be somewhere else.'''''
* [[BadassPreacher Badass Priestess]]: The religious caste are often called upon to be war leaders. Delenn has the credentials to back it up.
* [[BadassPrincess Badass Satai]]
* BearerOfBadNews
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Like Minbari in general, Delenn is polite and well-behaved until she leaves you wondering how you abruptly ended up in Medlab.
** SilkHidingSteel: A sweet and aristocratic demeanor that is very sharp underneath.
* BiologicalMashUp: Going all half-human on you in Season 2 and beyond.
* TheChosenOne: [[spoiler: The One Who Is]]
* CulturedBadass
* DeathGlare: The only person to consistently employ this in the show, Delenn is quite good at it too.
* ErmineCapeEffect
* [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen God Save Us From The Satai]]: In the Earth-Minbari war.
* GoodOldWays
* TheHeart: The closest thing to an unambiguously kind, good-hearted character this series has. Surprisingly, this makes her [[BadAss scenes on the bridge of a warship]] even better.
* HeroicLineage: Descended from Valen which is borderline DivineParentage from the Minbari point of view and is awesome enough from any other when you hear that Valen is Sinclair gone back in time.
* [[TheHighQueen The High Ambassador]]
* [[HighPriest High Priestess]] : One of the three top leaders of the religious caste.
* HonorBeforeReason: Well she prefers putting HonorBeforeReason, and indeed often does. She is however a stateswoman with all that comes with that.
* IntriguedByHumanity
* JeanneDArchetype: ''I do not think they would die for me. But they would die for you... Entil-Zha!''
* LadyOfWar: Delenn, as mentioned above and below, commands war fleets and generally lays the smackdown several times in the series. While maintaining proper decorum.
* LethalChef: Delenn can't seem to add enough salt to Sheridan's flarn to make it edible.
** [[ItsAllThereInTheManual Source material]] indicates that the Minbari have a poor sense of taste, and make their food very spicy as a result. Sheridan possibly made it to suit his personal taste, unaware it'd taste like cardboard to Delenn.
* {{Malaproper}}
* MamaBear: Threatening anyone she feels protective toward can cause her to go into a royal rage. You really do not want to be the target of her wrath.
** Though it is often [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome awesome]] to watch her while she is angry.
* MartialPacifist: She is usually peaceful and compassionate. But when her BerserkButton is pushed, especially when someone she [[MamaBear cares about]] is threatend, [[BewareTheNiceOnes she]] [[LetsGetDangerous will become]] [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen something]] [[LadyOfWar else]].
* TheMcCoy
* MessianicArchetype
* MinoredInAsskicking: Majored in diplomacy and mysticism. But fair at asskicking and even better at encouraging other people to kick ass .
* TheMourningAfter: Sheridan was the love of her life, and she never loved anyone else.
* MyGreatestFailure
* [[ThePhilosopher The Mystic]]
* ThePowerOfLove: Her love is what gives Sheridan the strength to come back from Z'Ha'Dum. In a way, their love for each other won the entire war.
* ProperLady: Oh man! [[LadyOfWar She can command a battle fleet without even wrinkling her robes!]]
* [[ProudScholarRaceGuy Proud Scholar Race Gal]]
* [[RealMenLoveJesus Real Minbari Love Valen]]
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: She gives these very well and some of her finest moments are giving one.
* RomanticismVersusEnlightenment : Definitely romanticism.
* RousingSpeech: She loves giving these.
* [[KingIncognito Satai Incognito]]: Her true status as a member of the Grey Council is only later revealed.
* [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Satai That Actually Does Something]]
* [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight Screw the Grey Council Im Doing Whats Right]]
* SecretLegacy
* SeekerArchetype
* SexyMentor: [[AllLoveIsUnrequited Poor Lennier...]]
* ShellShockedVeteran
* TheyDo
* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: The Earth-Minbari war.
* WarriorPoet: Mostly poet but a not an insubstantial bit of [[LadyOfWar warrior]].
* WellIntentionedExtremist : On more then one occasion, though this is standard for ''Series/{{Babylon 5}}''.
* [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask The Woman Wearing The Ambassadorial Mask]]

[[WMG:Lennier (Bill Mumy)]]

->''Where you will walk, I will walk. I have sworn myself to your side.''

* AllLoveIsUnrequited
* TheAtoner: When last seen
* BattleButler
* BeneathTheMask: He always makes rather heavy weather out of being an honorable Minbari and his shyness makes it seem clumsy.
* BewareTheNiceOnes
* TheChampion: To Delenn
* CourtlyLove
* DoggedNiceGuy(Type 2)
* FatalFlaw
* GoodOldWays
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Played straight for most of the show, but subverted later.
* LoveMakesYouEvil / [[LoveMakesYouCrazy Love Makes You Temporarily Insane]]: [[spoiler:As a Ranger, he has a choice of either helping Sheridan live or [[MurderTheHypotenuse leave him to die.]] He picks the later.]]
* NiceGuy
* TheNotLoveInterest
* ProudScholarRaceGuy
* TheReliableOne
* StiffUpperLip
* SubmissiveBadass
* ThoseTwoGuys: Is occasionally seen sharing a drink with Vir.
* TookALevelInBadass: During the fifth season, he decides to join the Rangers.
* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: Nearly commits negligent homicide on Sheridan out of jealousy before realizing what he is doing and changing his mind to late. Sheridan is saved but Lennier's life is ruined.
* TragicHero
* UndyingLoyalty: To Delenn.

[[WMG:Alyt Neroon (John Vickery)]]

->''I was born warrior caste, but I see now the true calling of my heart is religious!''

* TheBully
* FantasticRacism: He ''really'' hates humans. He makes occasional, grudging, exceptions.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor
* [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice]]
* IncendiaryExponent
* [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Proud Warrior Caste Guy]]
* WellIntentionedExtremist
* WorthyOpponent: Views the few humans he respects (Sinclair and Marcus) as these. And views Delenn as a worthy opponent politically rather than in personal combat.

[[WMG: Shai Alyt Shakiri, head of the Warrior Caste]]

->''Now We Rebuild the Grey Council into a Warrior's Council.''

* BreakTheHaughty: His final fate was to be shamed in public while being watched by millions of Minbari. Probably considered AFateWorseThanDeath on Minbar.
* DirtyCoward
* FantasticRacism
* HonorBeforeReason: [[AvertedTrope Honor? What's that?]]
* {{Hypocrite}} :''If you believe so much in your caste, step into the circle and die for them. Or is it easier for you to kill my caste? Easier to send others out to die for you?''
* [[GloriousLeader Inglorious Leader]]
* LargeHam
* MilesGloriosus
* [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Proud Warrior Caste Guy]]
* SmugSnake

[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Centauri Republic]]

[[WMG:Centauri in general]]

->''I want my people to reclaim their rightful place in the galaxy. I want to see the Centauri stretch their hand and command the stars. I want a rebirth of glory, a renaissance of power.''

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Centauri women love this trope. They often have very [[TastesLikeDiabetes saccharine]] manners and appearance, but are also prone to stab you in the back when you least expect it. There are some exceptions, however:
** Adira Tyree subverts this. [[spoiler:She is originally tasked by an alien spy to get incriminating evidence from Londo by seducing him, and fulfills her mission. However, just before delivering the files to her owner, she runs away, and after she is freed from slavery she seems to genuinely care for Londo]].
** The Centauri girl in ''The War Prayer'' averts this as she seems to really love her boyfriend. This may be because she is still young and has not yet learned the ways of her society.
** Also averted by Timov, one of Londo's wives, and [[spoiler:the only one he keeps]], in that she does not put on sheep's clothing and prefers to stay a bitch in plain sight.
* BizarreAlienBiology: They have no major arteries in their wrists, two hearts, and as for their reproductive organs...well, see ExoticEquipment.
* TheClan: The noble houses, such as House Mollari, or House Refa
* DeadlyDecadentCourt
* ExoticEquipment: Men have six huge prehensile sexual tentacles, usually hidden beneath their clothing. Women apparently have six slots, three on each side of the spine. The more used, the more pleasure.
* HumanAliens - To the point where (if clothed) there's no way to [[HumanOutsideAlienInside distinguish them from a human]] apart from their haircuts and canines
** They attempted to use this to their advantage: when they first met Humans, they claimed that Humans were a lost colony of the Centauri. It almost worked, until the humans learned more about [[BizarreAlienBiology Centauri physiology]].
** According to the first novel in the [[ExpandedUniverse Psi Corps Trilogy]], the humans were [[GenreSavvy wary of the claim]] from the very beginning, but decided to be polite and see what they could get from the Centauri until they were able to get some genetic samples.
* ImpracticallyFancyOutfit and BlingOfWar
* ImprobableHairstyle
** This turns out to be a RealLife example of PoorCommunicationKills. JMS originally intended Centauri hair to be worn more like human hair, with the length signifying rank. When Peter Jurasik was being fitted with the prosthetic, it was put on him sticking up like a peacock's tail. As a joke, he had it left that way and went to JMS, saying "what do you think?" JMS, thinking Peter really wanted it that way, and worried he was a touchy actor, said it looked fine like that. And thus the Centauri got their iconic hairstyle.
* {{Realpolitik}}: The stated philosophy of most prominent Centauri (with heaping doses of FantasticRacism when it comes to the Narns).
* SinsOfOurFathers: Though they commit plenty of sins of their own to be sure.
* VestigialEmpire
* WaistcoatOfStyle

[[WMG:Ambassador Londo Mollari (Peter Jurasik)]]

->''As I look at you Ambassador, I see a great hand reaching out of the stars. The hand is your hand, and I hear the sound of millions of people calling your name.''
->'''Londo''': ''My followers?''
->''Your victims.''

* AmbitionIsEvil
* AntiHero[=/=]AntiVillain (depending on the episode)
* AssInAmbassador
* TheAtoner: toward the end anyway.
* BeAllMySinsRemembered
* BlingOfWar
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder
* DeadpanSnarker
* DealWithTheDevil
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: [[spoiler: When he blows up the island containing the Shadow vessels.]]
* [[spoiler:TheEmperor]]
* EnemyMine (G'Kar, on two separate occasions)
* EvenEvilHasStandards
* EvilCostumeSwitch: Following his first contact by the Shadows, Londo's wardrobe purposely gets darker as the series goes on.
** And in the episode where [[spoiler: The Shadows arrive on Centauri Prime]], he gets a brief switch back to his original, brighter wardrobe as he begins to realize the [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone full consequences of his actions.]]
* FallenHero
* GoneHorriblyRight: In Season 1, Londo has been KickedUpstairs, and he knows it, lamenting how little power he and his people have to his friends and drinking buddies. By the end of the series, he is arguably the single most politically powerful figure on the show, but has no friends, [[spoiler: no free will]], and is lost to his misery.
* GuileHero and/or MagnificentBastard: Not in every episode but it comes out some times. In the last few episodes of the Shadow Wars arc he actually pulled a XanatosGambit on the Shadows (which is for all practical purposes the same as doing that to {{Satan}}).
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor
* HenpeckedHusband: Implied to have been one to the dancer he married (and was later forced by his family to divorce). "She had a voice that could curdle fresh milk. 'Londooo?' 'Coming, my darling!'"
** His third wife, Mariel, is SilkHidingSteel and described by Timov as a 'Iron claw in a velvet glove'. Maybe he likes being henpecked....
* HeroicSacrifice
* IgnoredEpiphany
* ImGoingToHellForThis: "And when I die, there will be a reckoning." Except he seems to have meant that ''seriously''.
* InSeriesNickname: "Passo Liati", a nicknamed earned via his swordfighting abilities. It translates roughly to "[[TheBerserker fights like a madman]]".
* ItsAllAboutMe: In "The Very Long Night Of Londo Mollari" - a [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind Journey To The Center of Londo's Mind]] - a part of his mind points out that, "You're not sorry for what you did! You're just sorry you got caught!" - this trope in a nutshell.
** At the end of the episode, Londo talks about a Centauri legend about reincarnated souls in unworthy lives - a suitably good soul can attempt to end an appropriatly evil existence - literally ''will'' the body to die - in order to escape from it. Vir reminisces that he heard that this was about the souls of card-carrying [[TheMessiah messiahs]] trapped in the bodies of {{Complete Monster}}s - and eats his foot when he realizes that Londo is referencing '''himself'''.
* LargeHam
* ManOfWealthAndTaste
* MyCountryRightOrWrong
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone - ''beautifully'' captured when he's observing [[spoiler: the [[MagneticWeapons mass-driver]] bombardment of Narn]]. There isn't a ''single word'' of dialogue in the entire scene...Londo's face [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GImJdrCSOFA says it all]].
* NotSoDifferent
* ObfuscatingStupidity: He really does like his booze and his gambling, but he's not nearly as dumb as he lets on.
* OddFriendship (G'Kar)
* PetTheDog: [[spoiler: After Vir begs Londo to help him learn to live with the guilt of misdeeds, Londo refuses, telling Vir to embrace the guilt. Londo doesn't want Vir to be like him.]]
* PluckyComicRelief
* ReassignedToAntarctica: In a {{Flashback}}, we see him being told to his face that this is why he was sent to Babylon 5.
* ReassignedToAntarctica: Unwillingly assigned to Babylon 5 before the series begins. Londo's superior tells him in no uncertain terms that it's a dead-end job.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath
* RetiredBadass: Londo was at the head of the Centauri assault on a world in his backstory, and on the one incident he piloted a shuttle he weaved, effortlessly and laughing, through incoming anti-air fire.
** Incoming anti-air fire that had already foiled three out of four previous attempts to reach the planet's surface, one of which ''six'' ships launched from an Earth Force cruiser.
---> Susan Ivanova: My god, whoever's piloting that shuttle's a madman!
* SkunkStripe
* SleazyPolitician
* StartOfDarkness
* TragicHero[=/=]TragicVillain
* [[spoiler: VillainousBSOD: During the Centauri attack on the Narn homeworld, he watches in horror as the Narn civilization is laid waste, realizing that he is now responsible for the slaughter.]]
* WellIntentionedExtremist
* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent

[[WMG:Vir Cotto (Stephen Furst)]]

->''There is still hope for you...and for that I find I still envy you. ''

* BewareTheNiceOnes
* TheChewToy
* TheConscience: Londo's conscience, though often a rather ineffective one.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass
* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu -- by flipping off their proxy: Mr. Morden.
--> '''Vir''': I'd like to live just long enough to be there when they cut off your head and stick it on a pike, as a warning to the next ten generations that some favors come with too high a price. I want to look up into your ''lifeless'' eyes, and wave... like this.
--> *Vir does a mocking little cutesy wave*
* [[spoiler:TheEmperor]]
* HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath: [[spoiler: When he kills Cartagia. Though the assassination was the only way to save billions of lives, the guilt overwhelms him.]]
* HiddenDepths
* OnlySaneMan
* PluckyComicRelief
* SecretKeeper: To Lando. This leads him to a small HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath in season 2.
* SueDonym: [[AbrahamLincoln Abrahamo Lincolni]], a made-up bureaucrat who saves thousands of Narns. Only, he used the name deliberately.
* TokenGoodTeammate
* TheUnFavorite

[[WMG:Emperor Cartagia (Wortham Krimmer)]]

->''One of our very best torturers. I felt certain he would break him. Two hours he worked. Not a sound! I said, 'Give me a cry, give me a shout, a whimper, a scream'. Silence! So, I got into it myself. You can't leave these things to others, they never get it right.''

* TheCaligula: Lampshaded by Londo in the novelization of ''In The Beginning''.
* DepravedBisexual: [[WordOfGay According to Krimmer, anyway]].
* AGodIAm: He hopes to achieve this with the aid of the show's resident cosmic menace
* ModestRoyalty (by Centauri standards)
* OffWithHisHead: Courtiers who displease him get this treatment. Then he uses them as his Council
* OmnicidalManiac
* UnwittingPawn: Perhaps inevitable given pitting a madman against Londo in chessmastery.

[[WMG:Lord Antono Refa (William Forward)]]

->''It is a small price to pay for immortality.''

* AmbitionIsEvil
* EvilChancellor: He orchestrates the deaths of the Emperor and Prime Minister to install Cartagia.
* KarmicDeath: Beaten to death by a mob of angry Narn.
* NotMeThisTime: Londo arranges Refa's death because he assumes Refa had his lover Adira murdered. [[spoiler: It was actually Morden doing a BatmanGambit.]]
* UnwittingPawn: When he went to Narn.
* UpperClassTwit

[[WMG:Adira Tyree (Fabiana Udenio)]]
* HookerWithAHeartOfGold
* InLoveWithTheMark
* SexSlave
* StuffedIntoTheFridge

[[WMG:Timov Mollari (Jane Carr)]]
* ArrangedMarriage
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther

[[WMG:Lyndisty Drusella (Carmen Thomas)]]
* ArrangedMarriage - to [[spoiler:Vir. It doesn't last long, and you can be thankful for that.]]
* DaddysLittleVillain
* FantasticRacism: Or actually, it's not even as much racism as [[CompleteMonster sadism taken to the extreme]].
* ProperLady
* StepfordSmiler

[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Narn Regime]]

[[WMG:Narn in general]]
->''Though it take a thousand years, we will be free.''

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority
* BizarreAlienBiology: As mentioned below, the Narn are actually marsupials. And it's the men who carry their young children in pouches.
* ButtMonkey
* CycleOfRevenge: The Narn homeworld was once occupied brutally by the Centauri. The Narns drove them off in a war of attrition. The Narns spend most of Season 1 mentioning how they wish to exterminate the Centauri, make them pay for the occupation of their homeworld, and kill them all. This comes to bite them in the ass when their revenge-fueled aggression ends up inspiring Londo to use Mr Morden to strike at them. This causes the Narns to AGAIN swear revenge, and declare war on the Centauri, a war they are not capable of winning because the Centauri are significantly more advanced (having mastered true artificial gravity for one) and have the help of Mr Morden's allies. Even the other races, as explained by Delenn and foreshadowed by Sinclair, are unwilling to involve themselves in the war on the Narn's behalf, because they know that should the Narn win, they will go right back to attempting to kill all the Centauri, and no race wants to be accessory to that genocide.
-->'''Sinclair:''' "In order to be free you had to learn to fight. No one questions that. But you've overcompensated. You are like abused children who have grown big enough to do the same thing to someone else as if it would somehow balance the scales. It won't. If you let the anger cloud your judgment, it will destroy you."
* MisterSeahorse
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: It's implied that this isn't the sole basis of their culture, but being brutally occupied by the Centauri and violently winning their freedom led to their most violent and aggressive aspects becoming dominant.
* TheReptilians (although they're actually scaly marsupials)
* LaResistance
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilised

[[WMG:Ambassador G'Kar (Andreas Katsulas)]]

->''It is said that the future is always born in pain. The history of war is the history of pain. If we are wise, what is born of that pain matures into the promise of a better world, because we learn that we can no longer afford the mistakes of the past.''

* {{Ambadassador}}
* AssInAmbassador
* CassandraTruth: He discovers that a very old, very powerful race has returned, and attempts to bring proof to the Babylon 5 Security Council in order to rally the other races together and fight the new threat. Nobody listens to him. [[spoiler: It is later revealed that the Narn Regime may have been the ''last'' to learn of the Shadows' return, as the Vorlons and Minbari were already putting their own secret plans in motion, and the Shadows had already begun to gain influence amongst the Centauri and Human governments. [[hottip:*: Those who were in the know kept G'kar (as well as Sinclair and Sheridan) out of the loop for their own various reasons.]]]]
* CharacterDevelopment: While he is always something of a WarriorPoet, he started out as a part-time IneffectualSympatheticVillain, later becoming more ThePhilosopher by the time the show ends. [[spoiler: He endured several fires to get there, seeing his homeworld decimated and occupied by his sworn enemies, learning that Sheridan and Delenn let it happen to keep the Shadows complacent, and finally being personally tortured by [[TheCaligula Emperor Cartagia]] who orders one of his eyes gouged out and nearly executes him. And along the way he went on a Vorlon-influenced VisionQuest.]]
* ChivalrousPervert
* CovertPervert: By season 4 he has an artificial eye that transmits an image even while it's not in his head and what does he do with it? [[spoiler: He spies on Sheridan and Delenn on their wedding night.]]
* EnemyMine (Londo, on two separate occasions)
* EyeScream
* HeelFaceTurn
* HotBlooded
* MarsNeedsWomen
* MessianicArchetype
* MoralMyopia: He seems perfectly fine with ''Narn'' being TheBully in the first season. Rather less so when Narn are being bullied. [[spoiler: He gets over it.]]
* MyCountryRightOrWrong
* NotSoDifferent
* OddFriendship (Londo)
* RevengeBeforeReason
** Played with; he is often dominated by the desire for revenge, to a degree that would be unwholesome for a real diplomat. However he can put reason before revenge when needed.
* ScarsAreForever
* SmugSnake
* StopWorshippingMe
* WarriorPoet
* WellIntentionedExtremist
* WithFriendsLikeThese: [[spoiler: When he finds out that Delenn allowed the slaughter of his people at the Shadows' hands to avoid revealing that the Shadows' return was known, G'Kar tearfully, painfully, admits she was correct to do so. And that he will never, ever forgive her for it.]]

[[WMG:Na'Toth (Caitlin Brown, Mary Kay Adams)]]
* BerserkButton: DEATHWALKER!
* DarkActionGirl
* DeadpanSnarker
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Delivered to Jha'Dur in Deathwalker
* NotQuiteDead
* TheOtherDarrin

* PutOnABus / TheBusCameBack
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Vorlon Empire]]

[[WMG:Vorlons in general]]

->''Who are you?''

* AbusivePrecursors
* AncientConspiracy
* BeneathTheMask: The series references that seeing a Vorlon's true face inspires absolute trust, and Kosh himself says that he avoids showing it since he would be recognized. By who, someone asks? [[spoiler: Everyone. The Vorlons look like angels.]]
** Everyone [[spoiler:except Londo]], that is...
* CatchPhrase
* EnergyBeing
* KnightTemplar
* ManipulativeBastard
* SadistTeacher
* StarfishAlien
* SufficientlyAdvancedAliens
* WellIntentionedExtremist
* YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm

[[WMG:Ambassador Kosh Naranek (Ardwight Chamberlain)]]

->''I have always been here.''

* CrypticConversation: Talks almost exclusively in these.
* DefectorFromDecadence: Toward the end
* HeroicSacrifice (twice)
* {{Koan}}: known as "Koshisms" in the fandom
* MentorOccupationalHazard
* NoBodyLeftBehind
* NotQuiteDead
* TheObiWan
* OldMaster
* SternTeacher

[[WMG:Ambassador Kosh II/ Ulkesh Naranek (Ardwight Chamberlain)]]

->''We are all Kosh.''

* AllThereInTheScript: he insists on being called "Kosh" throughout, after the character he replaces. His real name, Ulkesh, was only revealed in a spin-off novel.
* BadBoss
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: While Kosh's encounter suit is light-colored, Ulkesh's is dark and his "eye" is red instead of Kosh's green.
* DomesticAbuser
* EvilCounterpart: To Kosh
* RedEyesTakeWarning
* VaderBreath

[[WMG: Sebastian the Inquisitor AKA JackTheRipper: Vorlon Examiner of ChosenOne Candidates]]

->''Remembered not as a messenger, remembered not as a reformer...not as a prophet, not as a hero...not even as Sebastian.Remembered only... as Jack.''

* AlienAbduction
* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: Inverted
* BreakTheHaughty: What the Vorlons did to him, and what they have him do now on their behalf.
* DeathSeeker: "They showed me the terrible depth of my mistake, my crimes, my... presumption. I have done four hundred years of penance and service, a job for which they said I was ideally suited. Now, perhaps, they will finally let me die."
* DrivenByEnvy
* ExaltedTorturer
* IronicHell: [[spoiler: Sebastian wanted to purify the world of sin. Now, as his "penance," that's all he's allowed to do.]]
* KnightTemplar
* MaleGaze: A blink-and-you'll-miss-it invocation that serves as an early hint to his identity. Just as he laments that "nothing changes", the camera lingers on some of the more-revealingly-dressed women milling about the Zocalo.
* SadistTeacher
* [[ScrewYouElves Screw You Delenn]]: He continually says this to her during the session.
* SecretTestOfCharacter
* SerialKiller: His previous vocation.
* StayWithTheAliens: Not that anyone ''wanted'' him back...
* TouchedByVorlons
* TrainingFromHell
* WhatYouAreInTheDark: Invoked.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Shadows]]

[[WMG:Shadows in general]]

->''What do you want?''

* AbusivePrecursors
* BigBad
* BigCreepyCrawlies
* ByTheEyesOfTheBlind: Can normally only be seen by telepaths.
* CatchPhrase: What do you want?
* EvilMentor: [[spoiler:They honestly believe in helping and nurturing the younger races by turning them against each other and making them kill each other so that the 'strongest' survive.]]
** {{Hypocrite}}: [[spoiler:They take it poorly when people decide they want to be free themselves and don't want their 'help'.]]
* [[spoiler:GoneHorriblyRight]]: The Shadows believe that conflict is key to helping younger races evolve. [[spoiler: They are indirectly responsible for Sheridan so evolving, due in part to his decision to kick the Shadows out of the galaxy.]]
* HigherTechSpecies[=/=]SufficientlyAdvancedAliens: Borderline. Unlike Vorlons, Shadows need ships.
* HumanResources
* InsectoidAliens
* ManipulativeBastard
* SocialDarwinist
* StarfishAlien
* UltimateEvil

[[WMG: ''de facto'' ambassador Mr Morden (Ed Wasser)]]

->''Yes. I think he's ready...perfect for our needs... He suspects nothing. When the time is right, Ambassador Mollari will do exactly as we wish. Destiny is on our side.''

* AffablyEvil
* BadassInANiceSuit
* TheCorrupter
* DealWithTheDevil
* FakingAmnesia
* TheHandler
* ManipulativeBastard
* MouthOfSauron
* NervesOfSteel: Nothing seems to faze Mr Morden. At least until Londo blew up the Shadows' island.
** He already got a little distracted by Vir's answer to his "What do you want?" - question...
*** Arguably his nerve comes from his confidence in being guarded by the shadows rather then his own courage which would make it a possible subversion.
* NoNameGiven
* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: After Sheridan nukes the Shadows' capital city, hope is expressed that Mr. Morden will never be seen again. He shows up in the ''very next scene'', burnt to a crisp (and [[{{Squick}} flaking]]), but still very much alive and ambulatory.
* OffWithHisHead: Londo's "present" to Vir.
* ProphecyTwist : All the people who express a wish to him get what they want. Londo gets the temporary rise of the Centauri; G'kar gets revenge on the Centauri, and Vir gets revenge on Morden. Only Vir is pleased with his wish in the long run.
* ShowTheForehead
* SmugSnake
* ThatManIsDead
* UnexplainedRecovery
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The League of Non-Aligned Worlds]]

[[WMG:The League in general]]

* TheAlliance: A loose one, in order to give their worlds a voice and not be eclipsed by the major powers.
* AllThereInTheManual: You’ll need to take a look at the tie-in materials, notably an authorized CD, to learn anything substantial about most of the member races. Their names, even.
* AssInAmbassador: Often. The Drazi ambassador, definitely. The Brakiri ambassador has his moments. And the League as a whole will often decide to be stubborn over Sheridan's latest idea, to bring another level of conflict to a given episode.
* HufflepuffHouse: Some more than others. The Llort, Grome and Yolu can be seen sitting in session, but none of them will ever say anything. The Abbai get DemotedToExtra and the Vree are seen in person only once, though their ships show up a lot.

[[WMG: The Drazi]]

->''Purple! Green!''

* ComedicSociopathy: They can be counted upon to start swinging fists at any opportunity, and are often used for comedy. Such comedy usually involves someone getting hurt. The Drazi have plenty of serious moments too, though.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness / ArtEvolution: In the first season, the back of their heads are smooth. In season two, some Drazi start appearing with layered scales on the back of the scalp. In their showcase episode “The Geometry of Shadows’’, both variants of Drazi appear, in the same scenes. By season three, and from then on, all Drazi have the scales. In early seasons their cheeks tended to be spiked, but this was less common later on.
* FantasticRankSystem: According to the episode ''Deathwalker'', their ships are commanded by a ''Makar''. The only other Drazi rank we hear of, though, is the far more mundane "General".
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: They become this in later seasons, after the Narn leave the role vacant thanks to the rise of G'Kar.
* TheReptilians
* ScaryDogmaticAliens: A mild example. Violence is their way, and they're not the friendliest of people, but nor are they antagonists. In a strange way, they're one of Babylon Five's strongest allies.
* SillyReasonForWar: Their politics involve randomly splitting into two groups and then fighting each other.
* ViolentGlaswegian
* WarriorMonk: Many of them are shown to be religious. In the first season, a Drazi monk has to reluctantly surrender his blade to Garibaldi; in season three, two missionaries poke Zack Allen to receive a blessing. And the patron god of Drazi pilots gets mentioned. Naturally, being Drazi, anything in their culture of any importance seems to involve aspects of the warrior, or at least the brawler.

[[WMG: The Brakiri]]

* AllThereInTheManual: Aside from the religious stuff in ''Day of the Dead'', all we really know about them from the show is that they're pack rats. Source material indicates that they are a corporatocracy, and that their society has many parallels to 20th Century Earth, due to them having picked up television transmissions from Earth before they gained space-faring technology. The only indication of that in the show is that the Brakiri Ambassador's clothing somewhat resembles a human suit.
* DarkIsNotEvil: They have a mildly sinister appearance, they're nocturnal, and they have a creepy necromantic religion, but they aren't bad people. Indeed, during the Shadow War, the Brakiri ambassador was one of Delenn's most loyal allies amongst the League races.
* DiurnalNocturnalAnimal: Despite being nocturnal, they're often seen wandering around in daylight. Justified, in that Babylon Five business operates during daylight hours; presumably those Brakiri living and working there adapt.
* OneNationUnderCopyright: Apparently, their government is corporate-based.
* RubberForeheadAliens

[[WMG: The pak’ma’ra]]

* {{Cthulhumanoid}}
* HiddenDepths: Despite being quite benevolent, they're considered "stubborn, lazy, obnoxious, greedy" and are infamous for eating carrion. Yet according to Vir Cotto, their singing is the most beautiful sound he ever heard. It also made Londo cry.
* ImAHumanitarian: They eat carrion, including the bodies of sapient races.

[[WMG: The Abbai]]

* DemotedToExtra: After the first season.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness / ArtEvolution: In their first episode, their crests are longer than in their second appearance - after that, both variants show up as background extras, but the shorter version is more common.
* FishPeople
* LadyLand: According to source materials, their government is matriarchal. This is supported in the show by all but one member of their delegation being female.
* NonMammalMammaries: They're pretty clearly amphibians, but of course they have breasts. Tie-in materials (an authorized CD) attempt to justify it by describing the Abbai breast as in fact a clump of small tendrils that serve a similar but not identical function to mammaries.

[[WMG: The Markab]]

* ApocalypseHow: The ''drafa'' plague results in a Class 3; the extinction of the Markab race.
* FlyingSaucer: Their ships, of which two designs are seen.
* TheGreys: One of no less than three races in the setting to fit the trope. They're the closest of all, having saucer-shaped ships and a history of buzzing Earth in them.
** One member of their race is even brought up on civil charges by a human; the individual Vree's grandfather had abducted the human's grandfather.
* HolierThanThou: The attitude that dooms them.
* HufflepuffHouse: Their ships show up a lot, but we only ever see an actual Vree individual on screen once, and they never have an important role.
* TheNoseless
* ThePlague
** WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: Not intended as a stand-in for AIDS, despite the parallels: initially unknown etiology and vector of transmission, perception that it's punishment for immorality...

[[WMG: The Vree]]

* TheVoiceless

[[WMG: The Gaim]]

* HiveQueen: "The Queens" are mentioned by the Gaim Ambassador at least once; although the context is ambiguous, background materials confirm that these are the Gaim's leaders.
* InsectoidAliens
* ShoutOut: Named after NeilGaiman, and their environment suits are patterned after the appearance of [[ComicBook/TheSandman Morpheus]]' mask.

* TranslatorMicrobes: They only speak through an electronic translator device.
[[WMG: The Hyach]]

* DarkSecret
* DyingRace: Slowly dying. There's still a lot of them around, but their population is falling and they're on the decline.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness / ArtEvolution: In the first season, they’re mostly tan or beige in colour, with larger heads; by season two they’re either brick red or orange. After that, they’re orange pretty much all the time, though the red variant still makes appearances. Also, some of the early Hyach (and a later one in ''Legend of the Rangers'') have small amounts of fur on their cheeks. FridgeBrilliance, given that [[spoiler: Hyach-Doh had hair]].
* [[spoiler: GenocideBackfire]]: What their governement is hiding is the reason for them being a DyingRace.
* GovernmentConspiracy: The Elders are dedicated to keeping the [[spoiler: genocide of their counterpart race]] a secret.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Telepaths]]

[[WMG:Telepaths in general]]

* FantasticRacism: Many telepaths are guilty of this as well as being targets of it.
* AMindIsATerribleThingToRead
* MutantDraftBoard: Human telepaths, anyway.

[[WMG:Talia Winters (Andrea Thompson)]]

->''I don't feel like a victim.''

* AbortedArc
* BiTheWay
* FaceHeelTurn [[spoiler: As the result of an artificially-implanted personality being activated.]]
* ForgottenFallenFriend: The crew really doesn't seem to think very much about Talia after her real personality is effectively murdered by reciting the keyword triggering her sleeper personality.
** Well, the next time Bester (below) arrives he comments on what was learned at her dissect..."debriefing". Not that she was actually dissected, he's just getting a rise out of them.
* LimitedWardrobe: Talia gets a ''lot'' of wear out of that gold blazer. This is more evident than with other characters, each of whom wear an assigned uniform or ceremonial garb.
* ManchurianAgent
* TheMole
* PutOnABus
** BusCrash, maybe.

[[WMG:Lyta Alexander (Patricia Tallman)]]

->''You cannot stop one who's been touched by Vorlons!''

* BlackMagicianGirl
* BreakTheCutie
* TheDogBitesBack: to Kosh II (Ulkesh).
* FieryRedhead - or Cold Rage Redhead
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: ColorCodedForYourConvenience[[hottip:*: Glowing green eyes when she is linked with a Vorlon, Inky black eyes when she is linked with the Shadows (typically when she is hitting them with a [[PsychicStatic psychic attack]])]]
* PersonOfMassDestruction
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: In a variety of ways. [[spoiler: Her departure and return to the show were major story points, and her relationship with Kosh was partially based on her real life romance with Kosh's actor.]]
* StockholmSyndrome
* TouchedByVorlons (personal TropeNamer)

[[WMG:Alfred Bester (Walter Koenig)]]

->''I'm here to save your butts. Next time show a little gratitude.''

* AffablyEvil
* ArchEnemy: To Garibaldi and Ivanova
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Only P12s (the most powerful rated telepaths) are allowed to be [=PsiCops=], and Bester is one of the most powerful [=PsiCops=], not only because of his raw telepathic talent, but because of his [[TheChessmaster people skills]] as well.
* BadAss: He accidentally discovers the Shadows' AchillesHeel when he picks up on the mental noise of the [[WetwareCPU integrated pilot]] of a Shadow ship about to pounce on the [[CoolStarship White Star]] with him aboard. He simply blocks the noise out, which effectively "jams" the Shadow vessel's controls. Using telepaths to do this ''intentionally'' becomes an integral strategy for Sheridan later.
** HandicappedBadass: It's easy to miss, but one of his hands is immobile. The crippled hand is a minor plot point in the Psi Corps books.
* BerserkButton: Do not threaten or otherwise endanger his lover.
* TheChessmaster
* DeadpanSnarker
* DevilInPlainSight: He doesn't even bother trying to play nice with Sheridan and the crew when he pops up in the first few seasons – he's an outright jerk to everyone and they can't do a thing about it.
* EnemyMine: when he told Sheridan where the telepaths were being shipped, which was a combination of PapaWolf, IWillFindYou, and a RoaringRampageOfRevenge upon the Shadows.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler:He had a lover who was modified to serve as a living CPU for a Shadow vessel. Finding out about this is what made him a temporary ally to the station during the Shadow War.]]
--> [[spoiler:''Your war is now my war.'']]
* KnightTemplar
* NoseArt: His personal [[SpaceFighter Starfury]] is painted jet-black, with the Greek letter Omega in white. [[SarcasmMode Subtle.]] Mind you, he commands an entire [=PsiCop=] unit that operates these, but they only appear briefly in flashbacks or as UnwittingPawns in one of his plots.
* OlderThanTheyLook: He's in his seventies when he first appears.
* PlayingAgainstType: ''Very'' different character from Chekov. One must remind oneself it's the same actor.
* ShoutOut - to the real-world SF novelist of the same name, who wrote the "telepathic secret police" novel ''The Demolished Man''. As it turns out, the ''Psi Corps'' novel trilogy reveals that he was purposefully renamed after Bester by his grandfather, a big fan. His birth name is Stephen Kevin Dexter.
** [[ThePrisoner Be seeing you.]]
* StateSec
* TranquilFury: When his BerserkButton gets pressed.
* VillainEpisode: "The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father"
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: There was a Bester episode planned for ''Series/{{Crusade}}'', "Value Judgements". It was unproduced due to the cancellation, but canonically happened, as referenced in ''Final Reckoning - The Fate of Bester''. The script can be read online.
* YouMightRememberMeFrom: Hey, it's [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Pavel Chekov]] as a fascistic psychic secret policeman! [[ChekovsGun With a gun]]!

[[WMG:Byron (Robin Atkin Downes)]]
* ActualPacifist: At first. Even to the point of, after being struck by a [[{{muggle}} mundane]], asking him to [[TurnTheOtherCheek hit him again]], to see if it gets his attacker any additional satisfaction. He goes out of his way to try and restrain his fellow rogue telepaths from retaliating against various hostilities from mundanes aboard the station.
* DefectorFromDecadence: [[spoiler: Used to be one of Bester's underlings until he was forced to kill a bunch of surrendered rogue telepaths while they were being transferred to an allied mundane transport, killing both.]]
* FantasticRacism: although he tends to accuse others of it, it's obvious that Byron has quite a chip on his shoulder about 'mundanes'
* IceCreamKoan
* LongHairedPrettyBoy
* NoseArt: [[spoiler: Painted jet-black, with the Greek letter Omega in white.]]
* PassiveAggressiveCombat: Byron is a master of it. He can make '''anything''' someone else's fault.
* WellIntentionedExtremist

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Others]]

[[WMG:Series/{{Babylon 5}}]]

->''Our Last Best hope For Peace''

* CityOfAdventure
* CityOfSpies
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Each Babylon station was evidently painted in a different color scheme. The first Babylon station was red, Babylon 4 was green, and Babylon 5 was blue.
* GovernmentInExile: Not only served as a human government in exile, but harbored the Narn government in exile, and what was [[TropesAreFlexible almost but not quite]] a Minbari government in exile.
** More specifically, Delenn was using it as a base for the Rangers and as an aid to waging war against The Shadows with the Grey Council in abeyance.
* HomeBase
* LandOfOneCity: 3-4 seasons
* NotSoSafeHarbor
* SpaceStation
* TruceZone

[[WMG:Marcus Cole (Jason Carter)]]

->''Where I come from is a much more interesting place.''

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: The TropeNamer (he didn't say it, but the speaker was referencing him).
* TheAtoner
* BadassBeard
* BadassLongcoat
* CelibateHero
* CulturedBadass
** HeartbrokenBadass
* [[DeadLittleSister Dead Brother]]
* DoggedNiceGuy
* DoomedHometown
* GentlemanSnarker
* GoingNative: He is more comfortable acting Minbari then acting human.
* KnightInSourArmor
** KnightInShiningArmor too: He has a poetically idealistic personality.
* MrFanservice
* NietzscheWannabe
* ThePaladin
* WarriorPoet

[[WMG: David Mckintyre AKA "King Arthur"]]

->''No man takes Excalibur away from me and lives!''

* TheAtoner
* BashBrothers: Briefly with G'Kar.
* BullyHunter: "And they made a very satisfying thump"
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass
* {{Forgiveness}}: [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Between him and Delenn]]. He was actually the man who fired the first shot of the Earth-Minbari war and she was the deciding vote for the Minbari declaration of war.
* ILikeSwords
* JustFollowingOrders: When he fired on the Minbari fleet.
* KingInTheMountain: Subverted. He only thought he was King Arthur. Marcus Cole did suggest that he might actually be King Arthur, preserved by the Vorlons, but that was a red herring.
* KnightInShiningArmor.
* MysteriousPast
* NotSoDifferent: With Delenn. Perhaps Marcus too in a different way.
* ShellShockedVeteran
* SpaceMarine: in his MysteriousPast
* TraumaInducedAmnesia

[[WMG: Lorien (Wayne Alexander)]]

->''Why are you here?''

* [[CoolOldGuy Cool ''Really'' Old Guy]]
* DeusExMachina
* EnergyBeing
* FlatCharacter
* {{Immortality}}
* LastOfHisKind
* TheObiWan
* {{Precursors}}: (Lorien has refered to himself as the First One. His race was the one that taught and guided the races that eventually became the First Ones.)
* SufficientlyAdvancedAliens

[[WMG: Zathras (Tim Choate)]]

->''No one listens. It is good that Zathras does not mind, he has even come to like it.''

* BackupTwin
* DittoAliens
* DitzyGenius: To whom else could anyone entrust a [[spoiler: time machine]]?
* TheEeyore
* HarsherInHindsight: One of Zathras's most memorable lines is "[Zathras] probably have very sad death." The actor playing him, Tim Choate, died in a motorcycle accident.
* LostInTranslation: Zathras' attempts to explain that his name is pronounced quite differently from his brother's, Zathras.
* {{Metaphorgotten}}: When trying to explain to Ivanova that they can't possibly run out of time, because time is infinite. He somehow concludes with "This... is wrong tool. ''Never use this.''"
* PlanetOfSteves: Zathras is one of many brothers, all named Zathras.
* ThirdPersonPerson

[[WMG: The Drakh]]

* BodyHorror
* TheChessmaster
* DragonAscendant - their name is even similar to many Romance-language words for "dragon"!
* FantasticCasteSystem
* PuppeteerParasite
* TheRemnant: [[spoiler: They were servants of the Shadows.]]

[[WMG: The Raiders]]

* CombatPragmatist: They are badly outmatched in any fight with Earth Force. Thus, they prefer hit-and-fade attacks against soft targets such as merchant ships, and will only fight Earth Force units if they have no other choice or if they have [[ZergRush overwhelming numbers.]]
* CurbStompBattle: the first time the Shadows make an appearance
** Most times that we ever see them get cornered into a fight with Earth Force crews. The Starfury is shown to be far superior in pretty much every aspect to their ships.
* GunshipRescue: Invoked twice, when a larger ship is brought in to reinforce them or to help them escape. Both ships are destroyed or disabled soon after.
* SpacePirates
* StarterVillain

[[/folder]]

* DeusExNukina: {{Lampshaded}} in one of the novels, where it is stated that while the humans lag behind in many other areas, their nuclear weapons are quite capable, provided they can get one close enough to an enemy they would otherwise be unable to defeat conventionally.

** More like Humans Build Communities. Delenn even notes how any species could have made B5 but allowed only their own kind inside and maybe a few others, while humans would let anyone in and form bonds with them in one form or another.

* UnitedSpaceOfAmerica: There are still individual nations and the Earth Government is based in Geneva, Switzerland.... yet most of the Earthers we see in the series are American.

** [[ContractualGenreBlindness You'd think his enemies would have picked up on that by now...]] except that he never deploys his warheads using the same strategy twice.

* HeroWithBadPublicity: Dan Randall, the pro-Clark journalist, portrayed Sheridan as a guy subject to sinister alien influences, while oppressing the human population and running ghoulish medical experiments to create alien hybrids, all the while arming an alien invasion fleet outside Babylon 5.

* ThePowerOfLove: Allows him to ''defy death'' because he loves Delenn that much. Damn the Shadows, he's going to be with the woman he loves and ''nothing'' is going to stand in his way. Not even the entire universe.

** Which doubles as ScrewYouElves.

* TwoPlusTortureMakesFive: [[spoiler: Averted.]]
* WeWillAllBeHistoryBuffsInTheFuture
** {{Lampshaded}} in the fifth season, where an assassin taunting Sheridan says that he understands Sheridan is "a bit of a history buff."

* HeKnowsTooMuch: Delenn had orders to take appropriate action if he showed signs of remembering.

* MessianicArchetype

* UltimateAuthorityMayor: {{Justified}}, for the same reasons as Sheridan.

* [[DeadLittleSister Dead Big Brother]]: Her reason for joining Earthforce.

* KnightInSourArmour
* LadyOfWar: Ivanova lacks the inspirational genius of Sheridan or the unconventional thinking of Sinclair, but she is a formidable officer in her own right.

* FunctionalAddict

* KilledOffForReal

* ANaziByAnyOtherName

* {{Expy}}: Averted, actually. Though many of his policies [[spoiler: and his death]] call AdolfHitler to mind, WordOfGod is that he wasn't supposed to correspond to any one RealLife dictator.

* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Clark does have a handful of scenes, but they're short and after he becomes BigBad full time he's only seen [[spoiler: killing himself]]. WordOfGod is that he was supposed to be an idea more than a character.

* KlingonPromotion: He arranged Santiago's assasination with the Shadows in order to become president himself.
* OrcusOnHisThrone: He never leaves Earth after becoming president.

* UnwittingPawn: To both the Shadows and Psi Corps, to varying degrees.

* TheClan: Several in fact; Delenn is from the family of Mir (itself part of the Tenth Fane of Elleya), Lennier is from the Third Fane of Chudomo, and Neeroon from the Star Riders. We also have the hawkish Wind Swords.
** The clan system is apparently completely independant of the Caste system. Lennier had a clansman who was warrior caste.

* [[RubberForeheadAliens Boney Back Of Head Aliens]]

* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: The Earth-Minbari war.

* [[BadassPreacher Badass Priestess]]: The religious caste are often called upon to be war leaders. Delenn has the credentials to back it up.

** SilkHidingSteel: A sweet and aristocratic demeanor that is very sharp underneath.

* HeroicLineage: Descended from Valen which is borderline DivineParentage from the Minbari point of view and is awesome enough from any other when you hear that Valen is Sinclair gone back in time.

* JeanneDArchetype: ''I do not think they would die for me. But they would die for you... Entil-Zha!''

* MinoredInAsskicking: Majored in diplomacy and mysticism. But fair at asskicking and even better at encouraging other people to kick ass .
* MyGreatestFailure

* RomanticismVersusEnlightenment : Definitely romanticism.

* TheMourningAfter: Sheridan was the love of her life, and she never loved anyone else.
* ThePowerOfLove: Her love is what gives Sheridan the strength to come back from Z'Ha'Dum. In a way, their love for each other won the entire war.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: She gives these very well and some of her finest moments are giving one.

* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: Nearly commits negligent homicide on Sheridan out of jealousy before realizing what he is doing and changing his mind to late. Sheridan is saved but Lennier's life is ruined.

* BeneathTheMask: He always makes rather heavy weather out of being an honorable Minbari and his shyness makes it seem clumsy.

* LoveMakesYouEvil / [[{{LoveMakesYouCrazy}} Love Makes You Temporarily Insane]]: [[spoiler:As a Ranger, he has a choice of either helping Sheridan live or [[MurderTheHypotenuse leave him to die.]] He picks the later.]]

* FantasticRacism

* {{Hypocrite}} :''If you believe so much in your caste, step into the circle and die for them. Or is it easier for you to kill my caste? Easier to send others out to die for you?''

* HonorBeforeReason: [[AvertedTrope Honor? What's that?]]
* MilesGloriosus

* SinsOfOurFathers: Though they commit plenty of sins of their own to be sure.

* GuileHero and/or MagnificentBastard: Not in every episode but it comes out some times. In the last few episodes of the Shadow Wars arc he actually pulled a XanatosGambit on the Shadows (which is for all practical purposes the same as doing that to {{Satan}}).

* GoneHorriblyRight: In Season 1, Londo has been KickedUpstairs, and he knows it, lamenting how little power he and his people have to his friends and drinking buddies. By the end of the series, he is arguably the single most politically powerful figure on the show, but has no friends, [[spoiler: no free will]], and is lost to his misery.
* IgnoredEpiphany
* InSeriesNickname: "Passo Liati", a nicknamed earned via his swordfighting abilities. It translates roughly to "[[TheBerserker fights like a madman]]".

* MyCountryRightOrWrong

* SkunkStripe
* ReassignedToAntarctica: In a {{Flashback}}, we see him being told to his face that this is why he was sent to Babylon 5.

* TheChewToy

* AGodIAm: He hopes to achieve this with the aid of the show's resident cosmic menace

* LaResistance

* MessianicArchetype

* PutOnABus / TheBusCameBack

* [[ScrewYouElves Screw You Delenn]]: He continually says this to her during the session.
* SerialKiller: His previous vocation.

[[/folder]]

->''What do you want?''

* UltimateEvil

* NervesOfSteel: Nothing seems to faze Mr Morden. At least until Londo blew up the Shadows' island.

* TheAlliance: A loose one, in order to give their worlds a voice and not be eclipsed by the major powers.

* FlyingSaucer: Their ships, of which two designs are seen.
* TheGreys: One of no less than three races in the setting to fit the trope. They're the closest of all, having saucer-shaped ships and a history of buzzing Earth in them.
** One member of their race is even brought up on civil charges by a human; the individual Vree's grandfather had abducted the human's grandfather.
* HufflepuffHouse: Their ships show up a lot, but we only ever see an actual Vree individual on screen once, and they never have an important role.

* ShoutOut: Named after NeilGaiman, and their environment suits are patterned after the appearance of [[{{Sandman}} Morpheus]]' mask.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness / ArtEvolution: In the first season, they’re mostly tan or beige in colour, with larger heads; by season two they’re either brick red or orange. After that, they’re orange pretty much all the time, though the red variant still makes appearances. Also, some of the early Hyach (and a later one in ''Legend of the Rangers'') have small amounts of fur on their cheeks. FridgeBrilliance, given that [[spoiler: Hyach-Doh had hair]].

* GovernmentConspiracy: The Elders are dedicated to keeping the [[spoiler: genocide of their counterpart race]] a secret.

* FantasticRacism: Many telepaths are guilty of this as well as being targets of it.

* FaceHeelTurn [[spoiler: As the result of an artificially-implanted personality being activated.]]
* LimitedWardrobe: Talia gets a ''lot'' of wear out of that gold blazer. This is more evident than with other characters, each of whom wear an assigned uniform or ceremonial garb.

** BusCrash, maybe.

* TouchedByVorlons (personal [[TropeNamer trope namer]])

* CityOfAdventure

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: The TropeNamer (he didn't say it, but the speaker was referencing him).

* CelibateHero

* MrFanservice

* BashBrothers: Briefly with G'Kar.

* KnightInShiningArmor.

* HarsherInHindsight: One of Zathras's most memorable lines is "[Zathras] probably have very sad death." The actor playing him, Tim Choate, died in a motorcycle accident.

* PlanetOfSteves: Zathras is one of many brothers, all named Zathras.

** Most times that we ever see them get cornered into a fight with Earth Force crews. The Starfury is shown to be far superior in pretty much every aspect to their ships.

*** On the third occassion, he once again mined an asteroid field, but baited his enemies into the kill zone with false intel regarding a new major base (this one is actually quite a bit more complicated than that, as he had to lure two ''seperate'' enemies into the mine field at the same time).

* [[HighPriest Satai]]

** [[ContractualGenreBlindness You'd think his enemies would have picked up on that by now...]]