Pravda High School

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/GUP_PravdaSmall_3053.png

A Soviet Russia-themed school, representing Hokkaido as a whole. Their line-up consists of Soviet / Russian tanks such as T-34/85s

, late versions of T34/76s

, an IS-2

, and a KV-2

The winners of last year's tournament, breaking Kuromorimine's winning streak.

In the movie they team up with St. Gloriana in a friendly show match against Ōarai and Chi-ha-tan Academy. They later return to aid Ōarai in the match against the University team, fielding two T-34/85s, an IS-2 and a KV-2

Tropes for Glorious Mother Pravda

Achilles' Heel: Their tendency to commit most of their forces to large scale encirclement operations often leaves their flag tank only lightly defended.
Always Second Best: Prior to their championship win, they were always finishing second to Kuromorimine. The one exception was during Katyusha's freshman year, where they lost early on to St. Gloriana.
Awesome, but Impractical: Their KV-2 heavy tank. Yes, it has a 152 mm howitzer as its main armament and can wreck just about anything it hits. But it's slow, has a long reload, and is inclined to tip over if its turret traverse at an uneven ground surface.
BFG: If they have a tank, they will generally try to fit the largest possible gun on it. The KV-2 with its gigantic 152mm howitzer is the obvious example, but Nonna's IS also has a huge and deadly 122mm cannon, and most of their T-34s are fitted with 85mm guns (which were amongst the largest weapons any country in World War II put on their medium tanks). When Pravda lands hits, they hurt.
Cool Ship: They own a hovercraft big enough to transport four of their tanks, including the aforementioned KV-2 heavy tank, in the movie.
Defeating the Undefeatable: The school that broke Kuromorimine's 9-year winning streak. This is because Miho, then the commander of Kuromorimine's flag tank, abandoned her position in order to save the members of their team whose tank fell in a river, leaving her unit vulnerable and giving Pravda the win.
Defensive Feint Trap: Pravda's signature combat strategy is to set up a defensive front, then lure opponents into traps, encirclement, or flanking formations, letting their heavy hitting tanks finish the job.
The Dreaded: They are last year's champions after all, and they showed that they are not to be underestimated by crushing their opponent in the first round.
Glorious Mother Russia: Pravda exhibits a Russian-esque theme like being from a place which experiences a lot of snow (Hokkaido), having a similar looking school logo as the Soviet Union flag, eating Borscht, and doing That Russian Squat Dance.
Leitmotif: "Katyusha"
We Have Reserves: Pravda is not afraid to flood the battlefield with tanks in order to overwhelm their opponents with raw numbers. This is best shown in the rematch against Bonple where they deploy more than 30 tanks against Bonple's 10. When one of their tanks sinks into the mud, the others simply drive right over it, showing little concern for vehicular loses if it means getting to the enemy.
The Worf Effect: In their first Tankathalon match they lost against Bonple, a school they had previously crushed in the National Tournament, showing that Jajka isn't called "the Queen of Tankathalon" for nothing.
Worf Had the Flu:
- Pravda's loss to Oarai in the semifinals is the result of their carelessness and their boss being so full of herself. They've smartened up later during their team-up with St. Gloriana against Oarai and Chi-Ha-Tan in Der Film.
- Happens again during their rematch with Kuromorimine in Das Finale when Erika took a page from Oarai's book by switching her school's usual Sensha-do tactics for a more unpredictable one.

Katyusha

"All of you are below Katyusha! Your tanks, your technology and your height!" ^note

Position: Squadron Commander/Tank Commander, T-34/85

Voiced by: Hisako Kanemoto (Japanese), Hilary Haag (English)

Pravda's commander. She commands from a T-34/85 during Ōarai vs. Pravda.

Tropes that are beneath Katyusha

A-Cup Angst: In Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu, it's indicated that she's slightly jealous of Nonna's large breasts, as she tries to pretend she has a pair of her own.
Analogy Backfire: Suggests that her terms for Ōarai's surrender are generous because she has a heart as large as the Siberian plain. Nonna then asks her if that means her heart is extremely cold.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Word of God (via Twitter) has it that she got her position because she fired the winning shot during last year's finals.
Brilliant, but Lazy: She's a superb commander, but she'll negotiate a ceasefire so she can take a nap. She's also an excellent student, being the top student during her first year, beating Nonna for the position.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: It bears repeating: a school like Pravda would likely never normally have a commander as self-absorbed, infantile, insecure, and bad tempered as Katyusha... except that she really is just that good.
Casting Gag: With some Actor Allusion in the mix for Hilary Haag. She commanded a military unit, but they were merely mercenaries.
Cool Helmet: Wears a 1980s-vintage Soviet tank crewman's winter helmet which is a few sizes too big for her in all her matches. In fact, it adds a good half a foot to her height, which is probably why she wears it (beyond its practical value).
Cute Little Fangs: They just peek out, probably accenting her cocky nature.
Defeat Means Friendship: Becomes friends with Miho and Ōarai's sensha-do team after losing to them.
Disability Superpower: Not quite a superpower, but her size does give her one advantage - T-34 tanks had notoriously cramped turrets which made it impossible for the commander to ride "heads-up" from an open hatch (like Miho, Maho and others do). Katyusha's small size means she's able to do this, overcoming one of her tank's design flaws.
Emotional Maturity Is Physical Maturity: She looks and acts like a gradeschooler. It wasn't always the case, as she used to actually hate the idea of riding on Nonna's shoulders, was self-conscious about her tendency to herself in the third-person or and balked at the idea of taking naps. It wasn't until she bonded with Nonna and the latter encouraged her to not put on airs that she started taking on these familiar behaviors.
Evil Counterpart: To Anzu, in a sense of the Opposing Sports Team. Aside from a certain haughtiness (like rubbing Kuromorimine's defeat last year into Miho's face), which is largely explained by her own insecurities, she's yet to display any truly evil behavior. She's also shown to be lazy and relying on her Hypercompetent Sidekick.
Foil: She contrasts with Manga Anchovy in that while both look down on Miho and insult her decision to save one of her tanks at the cost of the tournament win, Anchovy strives for victory out of a feeling of responsibility to her comrades, but Katyusha mainly does it for the sake of her own pride, and Anchovy's Manga self is a Sore Loser while Katyusha is a Graceful Loser.
Freudian Excuse: A flashback in Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu indicates that some of her schoolmates didn't take her seriously because of her height. Saga of Pravda shows that, until Nonna, nobody's taken her seriously since she stopped growing in the third grade and that she often got bullied by her peers and seniors.
Graceful Loser: Mentions that she's not angry at losing to Ōarai. Not only that, but she also actually gets off Nonna's shoulders to congratulate Miho. And then comes to cheer for her in the final match.
Hidden Depths: Saga of Pravda shows the reason takes so many naps is because she stays up late studying hard.
Hoist by Her Own Petard: Due to her laziness and overconfidence, she gave Oarai three hours worth of ceasefire. This allowed them to recuperate, repair their damaged tanks, send spies to pinpoint the location of each of Pravda's tanks and create a strategy for a counterattack. Lampshaded by Shiho that Oarai's victory was due to Pravda's carelessness.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Tends to be very bossy and arrogant, not to mention rubbing the blame for Kuromorimine's loss last year to Miho, but is nevertheless a decent kid at heart, whose attitude can be easily explained by her severe stature issues. Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu reveals that she is at least somewhat self-aware about it; whilst her raging Napoleon Complex is usually Played for Laughs, it's quite poignant when one thinks about it.
(*imagining the contents of Nonna's "Katyusha Diary", terrified about it): "Cheeky despite being small: plus 50 rubles."
Kneel Before Zod: Her ultimatum to the cornered Ōarai. It has a Freudian Excuse.
The Leader: Of Pravda's Sensha-do team. We see her being the mastermind type in the show onwards, but the Saga of Pravda manga shows that she's also of the headstrong and levelheaded types.
Meaningful Name: Shares a name with the ''Katyusha'' Rocket launcher platform. Can also be seen riding in one prior to their match with Ōarai Academy.
The Napoleon: She's very short and is not proud of it. Sometimes she has Nonna give her a piggyback so as to appear taller. On the other hand, her skills as a commander do rival Napoleon's.
The Nicknamer: Addresses Miho as "Miho-sha".
No Badass To Her Valet: Nina tends to make fun of Katyusha's childish tendencies when a disguised Erwin and Yukari, whom she mistakes for her seniors, bring her up.
Older Than They Look: Seriously, would you believe she's in high school?
O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- When congratulating Ōarai, she gets off Nonna's shoulders.
- In Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu, after she accidentally pokes Nonna in the eyes while trying to regain her hold on her head, she is horrified and apologizes profusely.
- In the movie, when Katyusha voices her disagreement about not being chosen as a platoon commander, Maho gives her a Death Glare, and she shuts up. Notable in that aside from Nonna, Katyusha isn't shown to take crap from anybody.
Paper-Thin Disguise: Shows up to the Tankathalon Cauldron Match wearing a ski mask as a disguise, likely in reference to the Russian takeover of Crimea. Though as was the case with the "little green men" in Crimea, her disguise fooled no one.
Red Baron: "Snowdrift" Katyusha.
Sand In My Eyes: Tried to deny to Nonna that she is about to break down crying after their semifinals loss. She quickly gets better and takes her loss gracefully.
Second Place Is for Losers: Shows this attitude in Saga of Pravda.
Sleepyhead: Regularly takes naps since she doesn't have a lot of energy in that underdeveloped body of hers.
Smarter Than You Look: One probably wouldn't guess from her childish demeanor and out-of-control ego, but Katyusha is very intelligent. Not only is she one of the best strategists in the series with a particular talent for military deception, she's also the top-scoring student in her grade.
The Strategist: All of the plans Pravda has been shown executing in the series so far have been devised by Katyusha. She had at least two strategies in place to deal with Oarai in the tournament. A conversation between Darjeeling and her teammates during the exhibition match in the movie indicates the winning strategy was Katyusha's idea, and she directs Anteater Team and Leopon Team on how to take advantage of the western set in the fight against UST to take out several of their tanks out of the match.
Sweet Tooth: Usually seen munching on sweets; some of them ending up on her cheek. She even eats jam directly without spreading it on bread or mixing it with tea! To Darjeeling, this amounts to Jabba Table Manners.
Tempting Fate: In the movie, she names the hill they were to capture "203 hill".^note The Hippo team, being history buffs, comments if she intends to lose. Sure enough, her company almost gets annihilated by the UST, and it takes Clara, Nina, and Nonna's units delaying the pursuing forces in order for Katyusha to escape.
Thanks for the Mammary: It's brief, but when Nonna is cleaning Katyusha's ears in the Motto Love Love Sakusen manga, Katyusha gets to rest her hand (and head) on Nonna's ample bosom.
Third-Person Person: At her most egotistical, she even appends "-sama" to her own name. It's mostly unconscious and she tries to avoid doing so whenever she notices it, knowing that it made her sound childish. She stopped restraining herself after making a promise with Nonna.
Threshold Guardians: Because of the trap she manages to catch Oorai in, she's the greatest test of Miho's resolve to win the tournament.
Tiny Tyrannical Girl: The shortest girl in the series, a Bratty Half-Pint threatening serious punishment and with a huge height complex.
Token Mini-Moe: Shorter than even Anzu at a mere 127cm (and incredibly insecure about it).
Tsundere: Tends to act cold and abrasive to other people, but shows a sweet side from time to time. Clara even calls her as such in the Motto Love Love Sakusen manga. In Der Film, she even says that she's doesn't care about arriving last for The Cavalry and Nonna says she wanted to arrive first.
Villainous Breakdown: Calling her a villain is a stretch, but she is among the most ruthless commanders in the series. Yet, in Saga of Pravda, during an intel-gathering mission, she got spotted by Maho despite her camouflage and safe distance from Kuromorimine training ground. Worse, Katyusha had to use a zooming camera to spy, while Maho managed to spot her with naked eyes. Katyusha was forced to leave the perimeter and ended up in tears of fear, she also had nightmare for days thanks to that dreadful experience.
Katyusha: This cannot be... Such thing can't possibly exist!
You Have Failed Me:
- Katyusha warns her teammates that, should they be get taken out, they'll be punished with... 25 days of supplementary classes in a dark classroom. It's unlikely she is serious about that — after all, sacrificing a few tanks in a Defensive Feint Trap, as well as protecting the flag tank with the bodies of the other T-34s, which implies getting taken out, were her own orders.
- In Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu's second omake, she and Nonna grill Nina about seeing Yukari and Erwin disguised as Pravda students in the fifth OVA. Thankfully, Nina pulls her coat over her head, making her seem even shorter than Katyusha, which prompts the short commander to forgive her.
- In Ribbon Warrior she threatens to send Nina to "Siberia" if she doesn't win the upcoming Tankathalon match against Bonple.

Nonna

"You're probably thinking you couldn't do that, right Katyusha?"

Position: Tank Commander/Gunner, T-34/85, then IS-2

Voiced by: Sumire Uesaka (Japanese), Shannon Emerick (English), Olga Jankowski (English, das Finale)

Pravda's second-in-command. Initially commands a T-34/85 during the semifinals against Ōarai, then switches to the IS-2 later during the same match.

Tropes for Nonna

Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: She's tall, stacked, has dark hair and pale skin. She fits the personality as well, being a loyal yet snarky Cool Big Sis.
Beleaguered Assistant: Taking care of Katyusha is hard.
The Cast Show Off: Sumire Uesaka is not only a foreign language major specializing in Russian, but is also a huge Russia otaku, so she understands her Gratuitous Russian. An official tweet even said that the "Cossack Lullaby" in Episode 9 was ad-libbed by Uesaka herself (the original script called for her to sing any lullaby).
Clingy Jealous Girl: She's not very enthused at the idea of other girls cutting into her enjoyment with Katyusha. When Katyusha goes on an outing with Erika and Leopon Team, she's absolutely livid and goes full stalker mode.
Cold Sniper: Knocked out all of Ōarai's tanks that were hit during the match. The flipping of the Pz.38(t) was particularly brutal. A flashback in Saga of Pravda even has her training with Dragunov sniper rifle.
Cool Big Sis: Serves this role towards the childlike Katyusha by keeping her line and also giving her piggyback rides.
Deadpan Snarker: A particularly dry, literal variety:
Katyusha': Katyusha's has a big heart! As big as the Siberian plain!
Nonna: So it's full of ice?
Eye Scream: Victim of an accidental poke in the eye by Katyusha. Luckily, she only needed to get eye drops from the nurse.
Freudian Excuse: She wasn't always so fond of her height. She tells Katyusha in Saga of Pravda that people piled expectations on her because she always looked so mature, expectations that she was never able to reach. This is why she can empathize with Katyusha in regards to their respective height situations.
Gentle Giant: She's enough of a terror on the battlefield to deserve the nickname "Blizzard", but acts incredibly sweet and motherly around Katyusha, and has a beautiful singing voice.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Both the character and, largely thanks to this role, her voice actress have gained a considerable following in Russia, principally because of Sumire's fluency in Russian and her awesome rendering of the Katyusha song.
Gratuitous Russian: Speaks it when conversing with Clara, which angers Katyusha as she can't speak it fluently.
Huge Schoolgirl: The tallest girl in the cast, with official materials listing her height as 172 cm. This fact is highlighted even further given how she's paired with the diminutive Katyusha.
Hypercompetent Sidekick: Without Nonna , Katyusha would spend too much time napping and let her ego getaway with her. Katyusha realizes this; when she discovers that Nonna keeps a "Katyusha diary", she is terrified.
Ink-Suit Actor: Nonna might be based on her voice actress Sumire Uesaka, who majors in Russian studies and was interested in Soviet warfare in World War II well before playing this role (proof pic - note the 2011 date◊). The character also seems to look somewhat like the voice actress, and both are relatively tall (Sumire's 160 cm is tallish for a Japanese young women).
Is That Cute Kid Yours?: She occasionally gets mistaken for Katyusha's mother.
Lightning Bruiser: Befitting her Hypercompetent Sidekick status, she's got the all-around best tank in Pravda's arsenal. The IS-2 is as fast as their T-34 mediums, significantly better-armoured, and armed with a monstrous 122mm gun that she's lethally accurate with.
Meaningful Name: Pravda's best gunner shares a name with a long-ranged killing machine.
Ms. Fanservice: She has among the largest breasts in the roster, and her motherly nature has its own kind of appeal. The Motto Love Love Sakusen manga gives her a lot of more fanservicey moments such as bathing with Katyusha and putting more focus on her bosom.
Nice Girl: Despite her stoic demeanor, she is shown to be very gentle and caring, and even somewhat playful, and she almost never gets angry.
Not So Above It All: Despite her serious and stoic demeanor, she enjoys fooling around with Katyusha.
Not So Stoic: Saga of Pravda shows that she wasn't always the cool, snarky and motherly person we know.
Paper-Thin Disguise: She shows up in Tankathlon Cauldron Match alongside Katyusha and Clara wearing a skull mask, but like Katyusha above nobody buys it.
The Quiet One: Rarely raises her voice, talks to Katyusha only to point things out (or snark at her) and to others only to make (sincerely) polite noises.
Red Baron: "Blizzard" Nonna.
Servile Snarker: Katyusha’s second-in-command, and the only person who can tell Katyusha to wipe her face, point out her ulterior motives and make fun of her analogies and get away with it without getting yelled at.
Statuesque Stunner: She's the tallest girl (at 176 cm) in the cast and is a treat for the eyes.
Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Seems aloof and detached most of the time, but shows a warmer side around Katyusha, and smiles when she and Katyusha greet Miho before the finals.
Team Mom: Takes care of the child-sized Katyusha. In Motto Love Love Sakusen, bystanders assume she is Katyusha's mother.
Trolling Translator: Nonna reveals she is this in the Pravda's audio drama for the movie because Katyusha can't speak Russian fluently.
Yes-Man: Affirmed but subverted. Katyusha and Nonna say that their relationship is like this but a closer examination shows that it's anything but.
Katyusha: Nonna trusts me completely! If I say that snow is black, she wouldn't dare to call it white! Right?
Nonna: Yes.
Younger Than They Look: It's not uncommon for her to be mistaken for a grown woman. Since she spends a lot of time with the child-like Katyusha, the two of them sometimes get mistaken for mother and daughter.
You Shall Not Pass!: Pulls this off in the movie together with Clara and the KV2 against the University Team's pusuing Pershings in order for Katyusha to escape.

Nina

"Don't underestimate this monster!!"

Position: Loader, KV-2

Voiced by: Saki Ogasawara (Japanese), Olivia Swasey (English), Karlii Hoch (English, der Film)

One of the crew members of Pravda's KV-2. She appears in OVA 5.

Tropes for Nina

Ascended Extra: Though she gets a good amount of screen time in OVA 5, she has a bigger story impact in the movie.
Badass Adorable: Smallest girl in the series, and one of the cutest. Her offhand mention about how reloading her KV 2's gun is tiring, however, shows that she's one of the loaders of the biggest (152mm howitzer), heaviest (40 kg each round) gun seen in the entire series. The movie shows that all members of the KV2 are just as short and adorable as she is.
Cute Clumsy Girl: In Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu she accidentally tips over and breaks Katyusha's statue. Twice.
Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: In the Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu omake, she's handed a picture of Yukari, and recognizes her from near the tank. She then remarks aloud about what she's wearing (the picture of her is in an Oarai uniform), and realizes that she had talked to an Oarai student.
History Repeats: While in command of Pravda's Tankathalon Team she makes the exact same mistake Katyusha made in the match against Oarai and leaves her flag tank exposed. This allows Bonple to give her main force the slip and go straight for the flag tank, winning them the match.
Humiliation Conga: Her stint as the commander of "Katyusha's Volunteer Army" Tankathalon team does not go very well. For starters her first match against Bonple ends in defeat, despite outnumbering the Poles more than 3 to 1. Her next match against Anzio was even more humiliating, as Anzio's Confusion Fu successfully exploited her fear of her commanding officers to lure her entire force into a kill zone.
Oh, Crap!: Her reaction during the rematch against Bonple when she realized that Bonple's main force had slipped through her encirclement and were now heading straight for her lightly defended flag tank.
Servile Snarker: Likes to gossip about Katyusha behind her back.
Small Girl, Big Gun: The KV-2 she crews packs the largest-caliber gun of any tank, even bigger than the main gun on Kuromorimine's Maus (152mm on the KV-2 vs 128mm on the Maus).
You Have Failed Me: Despite escaping the wrath of Katyusha, it's assumed that she still suffered some kind of punishment in the Motto Love Love Sakusen omake, as Nonna drags her away in the final panel.
You Shall Not Pass!: She and the rest of the KV2 crew pulls this off in the movie together with Clara and Nonna against the University Team's pusuing Pershings in order for Katyusha to escape.

Alina

"Our tank is big enough to become a shield, right? Wanna go?"

Position: Loader, KV-2

Voiced by: Kanami Sato (Japanese), Natalie Rial (English)

The other loader of Pravda's KV-2.

Badass Adorable: Just like Nina.
Satellite Character: When she appears or has speaking lines, it's usually something involving Nina.
You Shall Not Pass!: Alongside Nina and the rest of the KV-2 crew (as well as Nona and Clara), to save Katyusha from the University Team.

Clara

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/klaraofficial.png

"Katyusha-sama, it was an honor to fight beside you. For Pravda!"

Position: Tank Commander/Gunner, T-34/85

Voiced by: Jenya Davidyuk (Japanese), Olga Jankowski (English), Sarah Natochenny (English, das Finale)

Introduced in the movie, one of Katyusha's right hands that prefers to speak Russian, much to Katyusha's chagrin.

Tropes for Clara

Ascended Fangirl: In-Universe, of Katyusha. In the audio dramas it's explained she is a Katyusha fangirl who arranged her transfer to Pravda to be closer to her, and who used her father's military intelligence contacts to provide childhood photos of Katyusha that she shared with Nonna to gain her trust and friendship.
Katyusha: Nonna! Why are you shaking hands with Clara? What did you find out?
Cool Big Sis: If Nonna is like Katyusha's mother then Clara is her sister. In the epilogue of Der Film she plays an instrument to help Katyusha sleep while Nonna sings.
Fauxreigner: Averted. Clara is genuinely Russian.^noteAs is her Japanese Voice Actress.
Gratuitous Russian: Speaks Russian most of the time, drawing the ire of Katyusha (who cannot speak it fluently).
Heroic Sacrifice: Holds back the University team, along with Nonna, while under fire from the Morser-Karl to allow Katyusha to retreat to safety.
Made of Iron: Her tank took a direct hit from the Karl-Morser's 600mm HE shell. Penetration aside, the kinetic force of the blast alone should've been fatal, but she and her crew survived.
Spell My Name With An S: Some materials spell her name as "Klara", probably in tune with the Russian theme of the school.
Statuesque Stunner: Stands at 174 cm.
Taking the Bullet: Her tank gets hit by a shell from the Karl-Morser Siege mortar.
You Shall Not Pass!: Played for Drama in the movie. She takes her tank to hold off the pass and let Katyusha and the rest of Sunflower team escape the Pershings.

Characters / Girls Und Panzer Pravda