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Western Frontier
Brigadier Betty
- Voiced by: Penny Rawlins (1), Pat Rodriguez (2)
- Demoted to Extra: Went from the most used commander in the first game to not being the focus of any mission in the second.
- Genki Girl: In the first game at least. In the second she's mellowed out considerably.
- Same Character, But Different: In the first game, she was an energetic cheerleader-type character with a high pitched voice. In the sequel, she gets a new outfit, a deeper voice and a somewhat more stern personality.
- Ship Tease: In the first game, she got a bit of this with Marshal Nova. The second game completely dropped it, but now the ending cutscene provides plenty of teasing between her and Commander Pierce. Who knows what a third game might've done.
General Herman
- Voiced by: Stefan Ashton Frank
"We got the men. We got the playbook. Where's the conflict?"
The warmongering leader of the Western Frontier's army.- Colonel Kilgore: A lighthearted and heroic example, but nonetheless his enthusiasm for war is brought up many times by both allies and foes alike.
- Hidden Depths: Despite his Blood Knight tendencies, Herman's surprisingly effective at diplomacy. He immediately hits it off with the peace seeking Empress Lei-Qo who compliments him in his first meeting which even befuddles his fellow commanding officers.
- Southern-Fried Private: Herman speaks with a thick American southern accent to help fit the stereotype his character is based around.
- War Hawk: Herman loves the conflict of war and getting to strut his stuff. He's not too happy with the state of the world at the beginning of the first game and the new push towards peace between the Western Frontier and Tundra.
Colonel Austin
- Voiced by: Kenny Andrews (1), Stefan Ashton Frank (2)
- Demoted to Extra: Misses out on the events of the second game thanks to being on his honeymoon with Major Nelly. He makes a brief cameo as a commander in the co-op mission "From Tundra With Love".
- Only Sane Man: Serves as the only truly professional figure in the Western Frontier military, something that he occasionally points out to Herman.
- Official Couple: With Major Nelly as of the second game.
- Token Minority: Happens to be the only black person in either game, as well as being part of a Token Trio among the Western Frontier commanders.
Tundran Territories
Tsar Gorgi
- Voiced by: Kerry Shale
"Prepare yourselves for defeat, decadent Frontier cowboys!"
The emotionally reclusive elder of the Tundran dynasty.- Disc-One Final Boss: In the first game, he's initially built up as the main villain, considering his belligerence and machinations were responsible for starting the war with the Western Frontier. However, his attempts to negotiate an alliance with Kaiser Vlad backfire and result in the Xylvanian betrayal at the end of the first act, which brings about a Frontier-Tundra alliance. Once the first act is done, it's clear that Kaiser Vlad is the real Big Bad of the game.
- Evil Old Folks: While not as evil as Kaiser Vlad, Tsar Gorgi instigates the war with the Western Frontier at the start of the game out of Tundran pride and despite Nova's deescalating policies.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: It is left ambiguous in the second game whether his spirit is an illusion by Nova, or if he actually is a ghost. The only other character that seems to acknowledge his presence is Ubel, which if he is just Nova's illusion, then it wouldn't be the silliest thing Ubel has said.
- Redemption Equals Death: He is killed by Ubel immediately after redeeming himself in the eyes of his son.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Not even death manages to stop him from doing what he does best.
- Spirit Advisor: To Nova in the second game.
- Unwitting Pawn: In the second game, Kaiser Vlad spread a rumor that the Western Frontier was creating a superweapon with the intention of attacking the Tundran. Gorgi used it to launch an invasion the Western Frontier, so that Vlad can infiltrate the Western Frontier and search for the Staff of Qa-Len there.
- War Hawk: Much of his conflict with Nova revolves around his traditionalist beliefs in Tundran supremacy. In the first game, he stages a war with the Western Frontier without Nova's consent in protest of Nova's domestic-focus. In the second game, he once invaded the Western Frontier twenty years ago because of a rumor of the Frontier creating a superweapon.
Marshall Nova
- Voiced by: Kerry Shale
- A Day in the Limelight: Is your commander for Tundra's bonus mission.
- And This Is for...: Says this in the climax of the first game while beating the crap out of Ubel. First for Tundra and then for his father Tsar Gorgi, whom Ubel killed.
- Expy: He shares more than a few similarities with Ivan Drago.
- Internal Reformist: Upon taking power, he wishes to reform Tundra much to the anger of Gorgi.
- Only Sane Man: In the first game, he tries to lead Tundra away from the constant border conflicts with the Frontier that happened under his father's rule. In the second game, he is quick to bow out of the Solar Empire vs Anglo Isles war after its battles descend into petty acts of defilement.
Major Nelly
- Voiced by: Sarah Parnell (1), Pat Rodriguez (2)
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A commander with a strong sense of justice, and the first woman to become an officer in the Tundran army thanks to Nova's reforms.- Brawn Hilda: Fits the 'masculine, foreign woman' part of the trope, though those traits aren't portrayed as a gag.
- Demoted to Extra: Along with Colonel Austin, her only appearance in the second game is during the co-op mission "From Tundra With Love".
- Husky Russkie: The woman is built like an ox.
- Official Couple: With Colonel Austin as of the second game.
Xylvania
Kaiser Vlad
- Voiced by: Wolf Kahler
- A Day in the Limelight: The commanding officer for Xylvania's bonus mission.
- Big Bad: Of both games, manipulating their conflicts in order to advance his goal of conquering the world under Xylvania.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Never tries to deny or rationalize his evil.
- The Chessmaster: In the first game he exploits the war between the Western Frontier and Tundran Territories to weaken them both before launching a series of surprised against them. In the second game he feeds the Anglo Isles faulty information to get them to declare war on the Solar Empire, setting up a conflict to keep all the nations distracted while he advances his own agenda behind the scenes.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite his flippant attitude towards Xylvanian soldiers, he is genuinely fond of both Ubel and Ingrid, and claims to have raised them both like they were his own children.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He refuses to use his sword to revive the Iron Legion, stating that doing so would only bring suffering, not victory. Ingrid's ill-advised attempt to do so only proves him right.
- Evil Old Folks: He is visibly the oldest of the Battalion Wars cast, with the Xylvanian Heavy Tank flavor text implying that he is at least 97 years old.
- Karma Houdini: He gets away in both games although in the second, he winds up trapped under rubble and is last seen having Ubel dig them both out.
- Man Behind the Man: In the second game, he spread a rumor of the Western Frontier creating a superweapon to trick Tsar Gorgi into invading the Western Frontier, so that he can infiltrate the Frontier to search for the Staff of Qa-Len there. Twenty years later, he would use the same scheme again to the Anglo Isles so that they and the Solar Empire declare war on each other and involve the Tundran Territories into the war. With the other nations distracted, Kaiser Vlad invades the Tundran Territories and begin excavating for the Staff within their land.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: The ruler of Xylvania who takes an active part in his country's war effort.
- Stupid Jetpack Hitler: At least, a Fantasy Counterpart Culture version of it. He uses several impractically big, hideously well-armed and armored Diesel Punk war machines to further his agenda, and in the sequel, attempts to utilize ancient superscience as well.
Kommandant Ubel
- Voiced by: Simon Greenall
"Greetings, frontier dogs! Kommander Ubel is here!"
A dimwitted but loyal follower of Vlad.- The Ahnold: A very atypical example as he is a villain, but he does fall into a surprising number of traits associated with the archetype: Being Dumb Muscle, having a vaguely thick Austrian accent, and at one point gets a Bond One-Liner.Nova: Who is this? What have you done with the Tsar?Ubel: I let him go.
- The Brute: Vlad's big, burly and muscular henchmen.
- Co-Dragons: One of Vlad's two lieutenants in Battalion Wars. He becomes his only Dragon in II after Ingrid betrays him in the first game and gets subsumed into the Iron Legion.
- Dumb Muscle: He's built like a gorilla, but quite clearly lacking in brainpower.
- Gonk: Definitely the ugliest CO of the series, as Hermann comments in the Frontier's first combat against the Xylvanian in the first game.Hermann: "Whoa! I heard them X-ers were ugly, but this fella takes the cake!"
Ubel: You want ugly, scrawny little man? Ubel's storm troopers will show you ugly. - Made of Iron: When Ingrid resurrected the Iron Legion, the energy pushes Ubel out of the Cenotaph, which is a very tall structure that he had to climb to the top with Ingrid riding on him. He is fine, with no broken bones or even death, as he runs away from the Legion to report to the Kaiser.
- Overlord Jr.: He was adopted by Vlad and raised by him from childhood.
Countess Ingrid
- Voiced by: Sarah Parnell
"Run away, little mouse... kitty shall always catch you in the end!"
A manipulative pilot known as the "Countess of the Skies" who holds great interest in Xylvania's past.- Ace Pilot: Her introduction has her lead a squadron of Xylvanian Bombers against the warring Tundrans and Frontier. Throughout the game she is often responsible for aircraft reinforcements.
- A Day in the Limelight: She's your commander during the Iron Legion's bonus mission.
- Ambition Is Evil: Her decision to resurrect the Iron Legion to save Xylvania despite Vlad's objections ends with her going insane.
- The Baroness: While her title is Countess, she fits the archetype very well, as a sexy, mean lady devoted to her country's malign ideology who carries a riding crop.
- Betrayal by Offspring: She's not Vlad's biological child, but he did raise her like she was his own daughter. This doesn't stop her from going behind his back to steal his sword and resurrect the Iron Legion, which Vlad is understandably not happy about.
- Cavalry Officer: Not in function, but her outfit does seem to be based off one, down to her carrying a riding crop.
- Coat Cape: She wears her massive heavy jacket as a cape, rather than wearing it with her arms.
- Co-Dragons: One of Kaiser Vlad's top lieutenants alongside Kommandant Ubel.
- Daddy's Little Villain: She's Vlad's adopted daughter, and one of his top two henchmen.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: As the Xylvanian are losing to the Alliance of Nations, she proposes to Kaiser Vlad to resurrect the Iron Legion to push back the Alliance and grant the Xylvanians a swift victory. Kaiser Vlad rejects her proposal, as the Iron Legion are uncontrollable and not obligated to aid their descendants. He is proven to be correct when she resurrects the Legion anyways, becomes their thrall, and orders the Legion to attack everyone indiscriminately.
- Ghostapo: Well, as close as a Fantasy Counterpart Culture can get, that is. She's a villainess with a Germanic accent who uses black magic to further her Reich's agenda.
- I Am Legion: Suffers this as a consequence of resurrecting the Iron Legion.
- Killed Off for Real: Is killed by Empress Lei-Qo after the resurrected Iron Legion is destroyed. She bears the distinction of being the only character in the first game that doesn't even make a cameo in the sequel.
- Red Baron: Nicknamed the "Red Countess".
- Red-plica Baron: She's a fierce Ace Pilot for a Germanic nation nicknamed "the Red Countess." It shouldn't be hard to guess who she's essentially a gender-flipped version of.
- Underestimating Badassery: A cutscene during the Coral Atoll campaign shows that she dismisses the Solar Empire as a "minor military power," in which Kaiser Vlad lectures her that the Solar Empire destroyed the Iron Legion when they were close to world domination 200 years ago. After the Iron Legion's defeat in the first game, she awaits for Empress Lei-Qo near the ruined Cenotaph, assuming that Lei-Qo is a powerless figurehead. She pays for her overconfidence with her life.
- Whip of Dominance: She is a Blue Blood commanding officer of Xylvania and is frequently seen with a riding crop in her hands, not only as a symbol of her rank but also to further illustrate her domineering and playful sadistic nature, as she enjoys mocking and ridiculing her enemies.
Solar Empire
Empress Lei-Qo
- Voiced by: Haruka Kuroda
- A Day in the Limelight: The commander for the Solar Empire's bonus mission.
- Ascended Extra: Is much more active in the second game.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She's calm, kind, and peaceful by nature. However, if she sees no choice but to go to war, she will do everything in her power to ensure swift and complete victory.
- The Empress: A rare benevolent example of the ruler of an empire.
- Hime Cut: Fitting for her imperial status and regal demeanor.
- The High Queen: A peace-loving, duty-driven and wise ruler.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue Oni to both A-Qira and Qa-Len's Red Oni.
- Reluctant Warrior: In both games she avoids conflict until her homeland is attacked, after which she is willing to grant her full support to the Western Frontier and its allies.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Ruler of the Solar Empire and the one who leads it against invaders.
- Silk Hiding Steel: She may seem delicate and nonthreatening, but she's not to be trifled with, as the Xylvanians in general and Countess Ingrid in particular found out the hard way.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: Fits the archetype very well, especially the "touch of iron" part.
Admiral A-Qira
- Voiced by: Dai Tabuchi
"Victory is mine by right!"
The commander of the Solar Empire's navy.- Arc Villain: The antagonist of the Anglo Isles campaign.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: In the end of the Anglo Isles campaign, A-Qira takes a sip of his flask after his final defeat by the Anglos. Unfortunately for him, Kaiser Vlad replaced the content with poison.
- Killed Off for Real: Kaiser Vlad makes him unknowingly drink a glass of poison after he has Outlived His Usefullness.
- My Nayme Is: His name is obviously a variant of the real Japanese name "Akira".
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The passionate and impulsive Red to the calm and collected Lei-Qo's Blue.
- Shout-Out: He's clearly modeled on Tetsuo.
- Unwitting Pawn: His invasion of the Anglo Isles was exactly what Kaiser Vlad wanted to weaken both nations.
Empress Qa-Len
- Voiced by: Haruka Kuroda
"Hurry, brave warriors. There is so little time.
The Empress of the Solar Empire during the Lightning War.- Greater-Scope Paragon: Led the Solar Empire to victory against Lord Ferrok and the Iron Legion in the past.
- Hot-Blooded: The main thing that differentiates her from Lei-Qo.
- Identical Grandson: She happens to bear a strong physical resemblance to her direct descendant Empress Lei-Qo, down to sharing the same voice actress.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to her descendant Lei-Qo's blue, being passionate and bombastic while Lei-Quo is soft-spoken and serene.
Iron Legion
Lord Ferrok
- Voiced by: Wolf Kahler
"None can resist! Total conquest is at hand!"
Supreme leader of the Iron Legion during the Lightning War.- Evil Overlord: He is a brutal warlord bent on conquering the world.
- The Faceless: We never see what he looks like under his helmet.
- Famed In-Story: The Unit Dossier reveals that Xylvania named a Battleship the 'XNS Ferrok' after him.
- Greater-Scope Villain: He created the Iron Legion and nearly conquered the world ages ago.
- High-Pressure Emotion: His 'angry' portrait features his helmet turning red and steaming like a kettle.
- Killed Off for Real: Gets incinerated along with the rest of the Iron Legion by the Staff of Qa-Len.
- Meaningful Name: The word ferro is portuguese for iron.
- Predecessor Villain: He ruled Xylvania in the past and started the Lightning War to take over the world. After his death, Kaiser Vlad followed his example.
- Tin Tyrant: He is covered in a giant suit of armor.
Anglo Isles
Colonel Windsor
- Voiced by: Colin Mace
"Tally ho, men! Nothing shall stand in the way of us finding and destroying the enemy's superweapon!"
The stuck-up commander of the Anglo navy.- Arc Villain: The antagonist of the Solar Empire campaign in Battalion Wars II.
- High-Class Glass: He wears a monocle as the highest ranking officer in the Anglo Isles military.
- Stiff Upper Lip: When the Solar Empire launched a counterattack against the Anglo Isles' base, Windsor was enjoying an evening meal with Commander Pierce at the time, and he expressed only mild annoyance at the explosions that rocked the building and knocked a chandelier onto their table. It just wouldn't do to interrupt tea time, after all.
- Unwitting Pawn: Kaiser Vlad tricks him into invading the Solar Empire in a ploy to weaken both nations.
Commander Pierce
- Voiced by: Paul Thornley
"Pilots to your planes! This will be your finest hour..."
The commander of the Anglo air force.- Ace Pilot: Flies a Fighter in the intro to Campaign 1, both of the missions he serves as a commander in involve aircraft, and shows up to take down a Stratodestroyer in the finale.
- Straight Man and Wise Guy: The Straight Man to the bumbling and incompetent Windsor.
