History Characters / CommandAndConquerRedAlertSeriesFactionsAndCharacters

* TheDogBitesBack: Einstein, quite possibly ''the'' most famous and well-known Jewish person in the world kills Adolf Hitler by eradicating him from time itself, thereby avenging every last Jew who died in the Holocaust by proxy. While in ''Yuri's Revenge'', despite being kidnapped by Yuri to work on the Psychic Dominator project, Einstein not only manages to sabotage those plans before being rescued, but even rigs it so that the Allied commander could use it once [[KickTheSonOfABitch on Yuri's forces]].

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: In ''Yuri's Revenge'', it's shown that the otherwise pacifistic Einstein considers Yuri so much of a menace to mankind that after being rescued, he ''willingly'' gives the Allied commander access to the sabotaged Psychic Dominator to [[KickTheSonOfABitch wipe out his former captors]] indiscriminately.

* SovietSuperscience: Mind-controlled squids, cloning vats, weaponized Tesla coils, six-legged amphibious boats with double Tesla coils, armored [[BearsAreBadNews war bears]], huge Zeppelins with megaton bombs, nuclear [[NegativeSpaceWedgie vacuum]] [=ICBMs=], weapon-stealing tanks, magnetic satellites [[SerialEscalation AND MORE]], the Iron Curtain, and Vacuum Imploder, among others..

** The Empire's technological level is superior to the Allies and the Soviets with the same way as the Scrin had extremely advanced technology compared to the Global Defense Initiative and the Brotherhood of Nod. The Empire's sudden appearance to the War of the Three Powers reflects how the Scrin arrived to Earth during the Third Tiberium War: the Allies and the Soviets are shocked to found themselves opposed by a belligerent superpower with the same way as GDI and Nod were invaded by a hostile alien species. Both the unexpected emerge of the Empire and the Scrin were caused by human error: the Empire came to existence via time travel (caused by Anatoly Cherdenko who deliberately disrupted space-time continuum by killing Albert Einstein in the past without considering the consequences of his actions) and the Scrin harvesting fleet was awakened by a cataclysmic Liquid Tiberium explosion (caused by Redmond Boyle's order of using the ion cannon to decimate Temple Prime in Sarajevo, albeit the incident was masterminded by Kane). Coincidentally, both are major themes of their respective series.

** Even the Allies' fancier tech, like the Mirage Tank in both its ''Red Alert 2'' and ''3'' incarnations, is generally mundane-looking but still gets the job done.

** The Empire of the Rising Sun resembles the Brotherhood of Nod in many aspects: both factions are obsessed with ruling the world, are devoted to their charismatic leader, use egregious propaganda and outlandish military tactics to defeat their enemies,and deploy rocket weaponry and experimental weapon systems such as futuristic lasers as well as [[HumongousMecha Humongous Mechas]]. The Empire's fanaticism, suicide attacks and willingness to commit inhumane atrocities is comparable to Nod, as well as to the Global Liberation Army terrorist faction in Generals.

* AllohistoricalAllusion: The "World Socialist Alliance" in ''Red Alert 2'', an overtly Soviet-backed coalition comprised of various rogue Latin American and Middle Eastern states (with Cuba, Libya and Iraq as playable subfactions) is both a nod to the real life Warsaw Pact and a reference to the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism during George W. Bush's administration.

** ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert'' depicts the Soviet Union taking over Europe and the USA in dramatic fashion. In their [=RA=] ending they occupy London and specifically Buckingham Palace.

* TheFederation: To the Rising Sun's [[TheEmpire Empire]]. And the Soviet Union, which despite its name was also TheEmpire.

* CivilWarcraft: The Soviet campaigns in ''Red Alert 2'' and ''3'' necessitate the elimination of another Soviet general whom the Soviet leader has declared inconvenient to keep around. Of course it's only a [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder matter of time]] before [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness they try to do the same to you]].

* {{Expy}}: The Soviet Union shares the characteristics of the Brotherhood of Nod in many aspects, the USSR have clashed with the Allied Nations on many decades, just like Nod have clashed with the GDI. Despite all of this, Soviet Union yet sharing the same nature of military doctrine in the formed of People's Republic of China, both the Soviet Red Army and the People's Liberation Army utilized their brute strength with heavy firepower, and both of their Technology level is almost comparable to each other, both had developed nuclear and chemical weapons that remains most destructive in their arsenals to wipe out their enemies off of the the face of the earth, and both had compensated their ground supremacy with stronger armor, and numerical superiority of cheap infantry to support that role. The Soviets' over reliance on heavily armed and armored tanks such as the Rhino Heavy Tank and the Apocalypse Tank makes them comparable to GDI's own military doctrine which consists of overwhelming Nod's numbers with heavier, slower and more powerful units, especially armor, such as the ever-present Mammoth Tank, which by the way is almost identical in weapons and armor to the Soviet Apocalypse Tank.

* LighterAndSofter: They've become less menacing with each game, as in the very first game, they were a faction almost EXCLUSIVELY composed out of {{Hate Sink}}s who do nothing but commit various war-crimes throughout both campaigns, with the most sympathetic one being a drunkard general who's remorseful over said war-crimes. In ''Red Alert 2'', there were more likeable members, with Premier Romanov shown to be genuinely humane and reasonable, treating the Soviet General kindly and with appreciation. That said, they still had some dark sides, such as Vladimir and Yuri, who are both completely and utterly despicable with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, as well as the architecture of their structure looking fairly ominous and menacing. By the time of ''Red Alert 3'', they've gone full on LaughablyEvil, yet they're a [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass legitimate]] [[BewareTheSillyOnes powerhouse]] as they always were, but none of their members are truly completely hateable, given that Cherdenko, the only one who can be considered completely evil, is an amusing LargeHam, while other characters are either evil, but not really despicable like Moksvin, friendly towards their comrades like Oleg, as well as Zhana, who is merely a loyal and patriotic soldier and they have abandoned the ominous and threatening looking aesthetics they had in the previous game for a significantly less threatening aesthetic, as their primary palette, aside from their signature red, consists of a cheery golden yellow and a healthy-looking earthy green. They are furthermore being portrayed as completely sympathetic and heroic in their campaign in the ''Uprising'' expansion, given that their first mission starts out with them launching a rescue mission on a [=FutureTech=] facility to rescue some of their chief scientists. Moreover, all of the missions after that have them fight against the corporation, who quickly prove themselves to be as just as evil as the Soviets were in the first game, as they're seen testing out their Cryo Legionnaires by freezing innocent civilians[[note]]Forcibly dressed like conscripts, complete with dummy rifles[[/note]] alive and then shattering them to pieces with their Boost Kick, and the final mission of their campaign being a mission to prevent Rupert Thornley from trying to take over the world.

* EmpathyDollShot: RedAlert has a cutscene showing villagers fleeing a Soviet air raid that ends with a long zoom in on an abandoned teddy bear with a bullet hole shot through it. To make this one worse, it's a '''Victory''' cutscene from a Soviet mission. The player was the one directing the air raid. Not at all helped by the fact that the Briefing, where you are given the order by none other than UsefulNotes/JosefStalin himself, there is a slideshow of the aftermath of a chemical gas (possibly ''SARIN'') attack. And since it was the first mission, it was an easy mission, with not much fighting back. Gives the player a warning though: If you wanted to play the good guys, put the Allied Disk in your CD drive ''right now''!

** This is far less noticeable in the first Red Alert, without expansions, partially because it has ''far'' less superscience overall, and partly because the Allies aren't far behind in superscience, their teleporter balancing out a Soviet invincibility generator, leaving only the weaponized Tesla coil to shift the balance in the Soviets' favour (and even then, the Allied GPS system is arguably far enough into the future of the period for it to count as a sort of super-tech). The expansions added a lot more super-science, but on both sides, setting the trend for the future games: the Soviets have Superscience, but only ''slightly'' more than the Allies[[note]]Yes, that does mean Red Alert technically fails the "far beyond their Western counterparts" part of this trope's description.[[/note]].
*** One could argue that the Soviets are actually ''lagging behind'' technologically - a large amount of the "super-science" is more or less a redux of the prior game's technology - compared to the Allies, who between Red Alert 1 and 2, developed lasers, cloaking devices, and weather control. Red Alert 1 might play it straight, but essentially every game from 2 onwards might just count as a subversion. The Soviet super-tech is just crazier and more memorable than the Allies one.
*** It crosses over with TruthInTelevision, actually. The Allied tech is more advanced, but far more fragile, while the Soviet technology seems to be crazier, but also far more simple and sturdy. Allies use a highly precise laser, highly-advanced power plants, and a modular MacrossMissileMassacre IFV, the Soviets use giant Tesla Coils, nuclear power plants, and a flak halftrack.
** It should be noted that the Soviets were the first to have advanced cybernetics. They had Volkov and Chitzkoi, a pair of [[HollywoodCyborg cyborgs]] who are devastating when micromanaged properly. Unfortunately, the Allies capturing and sabotaging them caused the Soviets to discontinue their cyborg program. Then in Red Alert 2, they got back into cybernetics with the Terror Drone, a small robot which is pure scary for ground forces. The Allies still didn't have any form of cybernetics. Its only until Yuri's Revenge do they finally get the Robot Tank and even then its primitive, as evident by the tank's need of a control centre to keep it functional as opposed to the independent Terror Drone (which can eat the Robot Tank inside out easily).

* SympatheticPOV: Their campaign in ''3: Uprising'' is notable for them being genuinely heroic and sympathetic, as their first mission has them preform a rescue mission on a facility to rescue some of their chief scientists, and the second has them attack a [=FutureTech=] base, who quickly prove themselves to be as evil as the Soviets were portrayed as in the first game, as they're shown testing out their Cryo Legionnaires by having them freeze innocent civilians solid and then shattering them with their Boost Kick ability. Their final mission also has them preventing Rupert Thornley from trying to take over the world using the Sigma Harmonizer, an even more powerful version of the Chronosphere capable of stopping time.

** In the first game, European countries are the dominant players within the Allies, with America mostly working in the background (i.e. lending its industrial strength to make good of losses in materiel incurred by the European forces during the Soviet invasion), though it's mentioned that the US does eventually join outright during the final stages of the war. The player's superiors are in fact German and Greek.

* AwesomeButImpractical: At least in the first game. She didn't automatically attack enemies, forcing you to order to attack enemies, was vulnerable to dogs, which could instantly kill her, and couldn't swim and instantly kill infantry like she was able to in later installments of the game. Averted in the sequels, where she gained buffs in the form of instantly killing infantry on top of being able to swim and demolish structures and boats alike with her C4 charges, and in Red Alert 3, her [=C4=] was now used on land vehicles, and she would hide herself inside the structures and vehicles she blew up with them.

* CivilWarcraft: Surprisingly (at least to the players), the Allies also got one against [[spoiler: President Ackerman]] in ''Red Alert 3''.

* HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct: Provides a perfect example of why there ''is'' such a thing by kickstarting the entire franchise's plot.

* TechnicalPacifist: Einstein would rather ''not'' make weapons or involve himself with matters of war, but the threat posed by the Soviets leave him with little choice but to give his expertise to the Allies.

* LighterAndSofter: They've become less menacing with each game, as in the very first game, they were a faction almost EXCLUSIVELY composed out of {{Hate Sink}}s who do nothing but commit various war-crimes throughout both campaigns, with the most sympathetic one being a drunkard general who's remorseful over said war-crimes. In ''Red Alert 2'', there were more likeable members, with Premier Romanov shown to be genuinely humane and reasonable, treating the Soviet General kindly and with appreciation. That said, they still had some dark sides, such as Vladimir and Yuri, who are both completely and utterly despicable with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, as well as the architecture of their structure looking fairly ominous and menacing. By the time of ''Red Alert 3'', they've gone full on LaughablyEvil, yet they're a [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass legitimate]] [[BewareTheSillyOnes powerhouse]] as they always were, but none of their members are truly completely hateable, given that Cherdenko, the only one who can be considered completely evil, is an amusing LargeHam, while other characters are either evil, but not really despicable like Moksvin, friendly towards their comrades like Oleg, as well as Zhana, who is merely a loyal and patriotic soldier and they have abandoned the ominous and threatening looking aesthetics they had in the previous game for a significantly less threatening aesthetic, as their primary palette, aside from their signature red, consists of a cheery golden yellow and a healthy-looking earthy green. They are furthermore being portrayed as completely sympathetic and heroic in their campaign in the ''Uprising'' expansion, given that their first mission starts out with them launching a rescue mission on a [=FutureTech=] facility to rescue some of their chief scientists. Moreover, all of the missions after that have them fight against the corporation, who quickly prove themselves to be as just as evil as the Soviets were in the first game, as they're seen testing out their Cryo Legionnaires by freezing innocent civilians alive and then shattering them to pieces with their Boost Kick, and the final mission of their campaign being a mission to prevent Rupert Thornley from trying to take over the world.

* AxCrazy: Downplayed. She isn't a foaming-at-the-mouth maniac but a LOT of her quotes make it clear that she's extremely violent and enjoys killing other people, and one of her lines in ''Red Alert 2'' is just her laughing maniacally, and also remarks that the Soviet War Bears are cute as they die in ''Red Alert 3''. Just imagine her as Revy from Manga/BlackLagoon, but as a military commando, without any tattoos, and not a StrawNihilist.

* SociopathicHero: She's one of the good guys... who happens to take pleasure at gunning down her opponents complete with an EvilLaugh. One of her lines before killing an opponent is a nonchalant "Another loser".

* CloningBlues: Yuriko is cloned several times to power the Empire's ultimate weapon. In ''Uprising'', she heads out to destroy a facility which has the sole purpose of mass cloning her.

%%* CloudCuckoolander

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: In ''Yuri's Revenge'', it's shown that Einstein considers Yuri so much of a menace to mankind that after being rescued, he ''willingly'' gives the Allied commander access to the sabotaged Psychic Dominator to [[KickTheSonOfABitch wipe out his former captors]] indiscriminately.

* ImmuneToMindControl: Specifc to ''Yuri's Revenge'', as Tanya's upgrade to HeroUnit in the ''RA2'' expansion added this trait as a buff and made her immune to Yuri's mind control attacks. Note that this ''isn't'' true in the original game -- indeed, a NonStandardGameOver cutscene occurs in the 8th Allied campaign mission if the strike team led by Tanya to take out the Psychic Beacon in St. Louis doesn't do so before time runs out, where Tanya has a FaceHeelTurn and bids the player "dasvidaniya" before leaving with Soviet troops.

** In ''Red Alert 2'', while the Americans are able to keep the Soviet invasion from fully overwhelming them, with most standard units in the campaign being US troops, it's still not enough to drive the invaders out, with the nuking of Chicago driving home how dire their predicament is. It's not until they receives help from the Allies in Europe and gain access to Albert Einstein's expertise that the tide truly turns. That doesn't stop President Dugan from claiming that they won, which is mocked in ''Yuri's Revenge.''

** Yuri's Army is completely and utterly inhumane in a way that Nod would consider too extreme, as its arsenal consists of pyrokinetics who immolate their opponents to death, snipers with bullets laced with a highly contagious, highly lethal virus that causes people to messily explode into a cloud of the stuff, and literal slave labor. This should be specified as coming in the form of absolutely filthy and stuffy looking vehicles helmed by absolute scumbags who keep the slaves in line by threatening to kill them with a machine-gun that's been mounted to said vehicles. Those slaves are also only given shovels for mining ore and are clad in nothing but a pair of pants, not even having shoes, being allowed to take bathroom breaks or even have regular meals.

* DirtyCommunists: To the extent that even when you're ''playing as them'' they still come across as [[{{Jerkass}} jerks]]:

* HeroUnit: She's a unique unit with devastating firepower against infantry and a OneHitKill melee attack against any and all buildings (plus vehicles in later games). Her special status also makes her immune to being run over by enemy vehicles, at least from ''[=RA2=]'' onwards. In most missions she appears in [[HeroMustSurvive she must live through it]].

* OneHitKill: Averted for the original Tanya who needed two or three (very quick) shots to kill even basic infantry, but her later incarnations took down anything organic with a single pistol shot each, and any building or vehicle with one application of [=C4=].
* OneManArmy: Though in ''Red Alert 1'' she can only blow up buildings and kill infantry, and only if you specifically order her to kill that infantry, in Red Alert 2, she automatically fires on advancing infantry (with pistols, but long before she's in range of their assault rifles), she can swim even in nearly frozen rivers, and use C4 on ships, buildings, and tanks (in [=RA2=], as with many games, tanks have no machine guns, making them weak against infantry). The only thing that can stop her besides air power and overwhelming force are base defenses like sentry guns and Tesla coils. There are several missions where she takes out entire bases with little backup.

[[/folder]]

** In ''Yuri's Revenge'', it's shown that Einstein considers Yuri so much of a menace to mankind that after being rescued, he ''willingly'' gives the Allied commander access to the sabotaged Psychic Dominator to [[KickTheSonOfABitch wipe out his former captors]] indiscriminately.

* SelectiveMagnetism: In Red Alert 3 they use various magnetic weapons: from magnetic harpoons to magnetic weapons that strip armor and weapons off enemy vehicles to magnets that suck units into space.

** In ''Red Alert 2'', while the Americans are able to keep the Soviet invasion from fully overwhelming them, with most standard units in the campaign being US troops, it's not until they receives help from the Allies in Europe and Albert Einstein that the tide truly turns. That doesn't stop President Dugan from claiming that they won, which is mocked in ''Yuri's Revenge.''

* StartOfDarkness:[[spoiler:Surprisingly, despite ''Red Alert 3[='s=]'' lighter and campier tone, the Allies seem to be undergoing a dark path morality-wise, as their campaign ending is fairly ominous in tone, as the new president of America intends to "share" the fruits of capitalism and consumerism with the now conquered Soviets and Empire, clearly intending to placate them with this so that they don't resist them, and this descent into darkness is outright confirmed in ''Uprising'' as the Soviet Campaign reveals that [=FutureTech=], an R&D company associated with the Allies, is highly sinister and immoral, and a major member of them, Rupert Thornley, is collaborating with them to take over the world. The Imperial Campaign also reveals that they care more about ruling over the Empire rather than helping it out, as they do nothing when the Soviets start taking over the northern parts of their territory, and even try to attack them rather than come to their aid after they steal their technology to use against the Soviets.]]

** A staple of the Allied forces since Red Alert 2, with the Harrier serving as a hit and run bomber that's effective against tanks and structures.

* {{Irony}}: They're very heavily based off of the GDI, down to having a HEAVILY similar logo, but they're more similar to the Brotherhood of Nod in terms of their play style, such as their Patriot Missiles, and their successors, the Multigunner Turrets, are based off of the SAM sites that the brotherhood uses use. They also make use of stealth technology as well, such as the Gap Generators and their mobile counterparts, which are equivalents of the Stealth Generators and the Mobile Stealth Generators. The Allies also get a Stealth Tank equivalent in the form of Mirage Tanks, which differentiate themselves from their inspirations by wielding a heat ray, later replaced by a spectrum cannon instead of missiles, and disguising themselves as part of the scenery rather than simply cloaking themselves.

--->'''[[Creator/TimCurry Premier Cherdenko]]:''' We will sign this treaty, we will come together as brothers, and then... we will crush them!

* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler: To the Brotherhood of Nod in the first game, and Yuri in the second.]]

* {{Irony}}: They're very heavily based off of the GDI, down to having a HEAVILY similar logo, but they're more similar to the Brotherhood of Nod in terms of their play style, such as their Patriot Missiles, and their successors, the Multigunner Turrets, are based off of the SAM sites that the brotherhood uses use, and they also make use of stealth technology as well, such as the Gap Generators and their mobile counterparts, which are equivalents of the Stealth Generators and the Mobile Stealth Generators, as well as the Stealth Tank getting an equivalent in the form of the Mirage Tanks, which differentiate themselves from their inspirations by wielding a heat ray, later replaced by a spectrum cannon instead of missiles, and disguising themselves as part of the scenery rather than simply cloaking themselves.

* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: To Yuri's Army. Like his faction, the Empire of the Rising Sun prefers bizarre, cutting-edge technology and many of their units are flat-out bizarre next to the Allies and Soviets, who prefer more conventional technology, and they also make use of cloning and psychic technology, as well as being fanatically devoted to their leader. Unlike Yuri's Army, the Empire, however, sincerely believes in Japan's ideals of loyalty and honor, and is ''far'' less vile and cruel in comparison to Yuri's faction, as they prefer using exotic energy weapons rather than biological or chemical warfare.