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Historical Figures
John Dillinger
Thanks to the changes in history, John Dillinger never becomes Public Enemy Nr. 1, instead being drawn into the socialist revolution, making a name for himself in the Spartacus League and later State Sec.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: MAJOR example, the real Dillinger was an unrepentant criminal and a murderer a dozen times over. While the Reds! version becomes a Sergeant in the Spartacus League instead of embarking on a life of crime, he is still a killer, although his victims are people like white supremacists, but also a hero for the cause of socialism and workers’ rights. In a twist of irony, he leads a raid against a group of bank robbers hiding in a motel, led by his fellow (in our timeline) gangster "Machine Gun" Kelly.
- Asshole Victim: Dilinger kills Klansmen, Sons of Liberty terrorists and other white supremacists and reactionaries as part of the Spartacus League and later the State Sec.
Oswald Mosley
After trying to create a British fascism following his falling out with the Labour Party, Mosley loses faith in Fascism when America goes Communist and the American whites are crushed overwhelmingly. Dubbing his organisation simply the "New Party", Mosley rebrands as a Progressive in favour of muscular state intervention and a vision of a united Europe that would protect the legacy of Europe and keep its colonies aligned towards it. He would go on to become the architect of much of the underlying structure of the Alliance of Free States, the European Continental Federation, and the FBU as well as its governing People's Alliance and arguably is the single most influential man in the FBU's history.
- Ascended Extra: Goes from a Fascist without any real meaningful political successes to his name OTL to arguably the primary architect of the entire Franco-British bloc after world war two and the single most powerful man in Alliance of Free States politics and perhaps the entire world (his communist counterparts having significantly more dispersed power) for decades.
- Heel–Face Turn: Comes to denounce Fascism after MacArthur's defeat, the continued nagging of his very anti-fascist wife Cynthia, and his visits to the Soviet Union and America to balance out his trips to Germany and Italy. He's often compared to OTL Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but adjusted for British sensibilities and considers himself a democrat and a progressive.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: Perhaps the single biggest example in the entire timeline. Mosley, disillusioned with Fascism following MacArthur's inability to contain the 1933 American revolution, instead becoming a sort of "British Roosevelt" in favour of muscular government intervention and progressive democratic policies aimed at middle income Britons and creating the basis of a more unified western Europe to protect their colonies. He calls for intervention against Germany and Japan, and his ideology is even listed as a subvariant of "Progressive Liberalism" in the HOI 4 mod.
J. Edgar Hoover
Always up to his old tricks, J. Edgar Hoover switches allegiances as soon as it comes clear that the Communists and their allies are going to win the Civil War of 1933. Though distrusted by many in the new government, his competence at intelligence, both foreign and internal, means that he remains, if not a trusted, then a valuable figure.
- 10-Minute Retirement: Quite a few high-ranking members of the United Republics government, most prominently Premier William Z. Foster, greatly distrust J. Edgar Hoover in his position as Secretary of Public Safety; an opinion which is not entirely unjustifiable given Hoover's past as head of the NBI, and the fact that Hoover, despite having sworn fealty to the new government and the cause of Socialism, and doing his job well, is still very much up to his old, authoritarian tricks. When the Revolt of the Cadres hits Detroit in 1937, Foster is through political maneuvering able to use the crisis to force Hoover to resign and go into retirement. When the Second World War begins in 1940 and Foster resigns as a result, the UASR government agrees that Hoover, despite his character flaws, still is the best man they have to head the nation's intelligence department, something that is especially needed in time of war, and calls him back from retirement and reinstates him as Secretary of Public Safety.
- Heel–Face Turn: J. Edgar Hoover kind of qualifies; he goes from being a hardline reactionary to a hardline revolutionary, mostly because doing so allows him to maximise the amount of power available to him. His authoritarianism, however, remains essentially unchanged.
- Opportunistic Bastard: While there are some implications that the Communist revolution's greater tolerance for homosexuality and queerness in general, and that these factors would allow him to live a much freer and happier life, did genuinely work to win Hoover over to the Revolutionary cause to some degree, for the most part his pivot to starting his career as the spymaster for the post-Revolution government by making a big public show out of betraying the National Salvation Front in the eleventh hour of the Civil War is viewed by most people in-universe is simply down to Hoover looking out for himself.
Douglas MacArthur
An ardent anti-communist, General Douglas MacArthur finds himself invited by the political and capitalist elite to lead the military arm of the National Salvation Front and head the crackdown upon the Communists in the wake of the 1932 elections. After suffering a crushing defeat in the Second American Civil War, MacArthur finds himself in charge of the government-in-exile on Cuba, soon declaring himself President for Life.
- Action Politician: Despite having become President of Americuba, MacArthur takes an active role leading American exile troops during WWII.
- Allohistorical Allusion: Just before leaving the Continental United States for Cuba following the decisive defeat of the National Salvation Front, MacArthur declares "I shall return", which he famously said in OTL after being forced out of the Philippines in March 1942 by the Japanese invasion during WWII. Contrary to OTL, he won't follow through on that promise.
- Cincinnatus: MacArthur claims to be this but they don't nickname him the American Caesar for nothing in this timeline. After losing the Second American Civil War he becomes the President of the exiled American government in Cuba until his death.
- The Generalissimo: MacArthur is made General of the Armies of the United States after the coup then President-for-Life and Defender of the Constitution as dictator of Americuba. The native cubans also call him El Generalissimo.
- General Ripper: General Douglas MacArthur lives up to this during the Second American Civil War and the subsequent dictatorship in exile in Cuba.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: In OTL, General MacArthur is regarded as a mostly positive figure, a popular War Hero though not without controversy. In Reds!, MacArthur participates in a coup to prevent the democratically-elected Workers' Communist Party from assuming power, forcing President Hoover to comply with it by threatening his family, arresting and executing many members of the WCPA, including the president-elect Norman Thomas. Following his defeat in the ensuing Second American Civil War, he is forced to retreat to Cuba, where he becomes President for Life and rules as a quasi-fascist dictator until his death.
- In Spite of a Nail: Douglas MacArthur still falls seriously ill in late 1963, and eventually dies in April 1964, the only difference being that in TTL he dies six days later, on April 11, rather than April 5.
- Red Baron: MacArthur's OTL nickname of "American Caesar" takes a whole new meaning after he becomes dictator of Americuba. He is also known as El Generalissimo among native Cubans.
- Richard Nixon, the Used Car Salesman: Douglas MacArthur lives a life relatively similar to OTL until his Putsch, where he becomes the point man for the military junta that pressured outgoing President Hoover into suspending the constitution and crushing the commies for good. He becomes President for Life of the exiled US government in Cuba and remains so until his death after a long period of illness in 1964.
- You Are in Command Now: While MacArthur was the military leader of the National Salvation Front and the coup against Norman Thomas and the democratically-elected socialist government, Nicholas Longworth was always the political leader. However, Longworth's capture by the Red forces near the end of the Civil War leaves MacArthur de facto in charge of the White forces, and he maintains that position for the rest of his life.
William Z. Foster
Stemming from humble origins as the son of two poor Irish immigrants, William Zebulon Foster was forced to leave school at the age of ten to search for work to help supporting his family. For much of his youth, he worked a string of hard, dangerous and ill-paying industrial jobs, eventually joining the Socialist Labor Party in 1901 and the Industrial Workers of the World in 1910. As one of the leading Communist politicians following the Red May Revolution, Foster ends up serving as the first Premier of the UASR from 1933 to 1940.
- In-Series Nickname: Foster is called Bill by comrades like Norman Thomas.
- Kicked Upstairs: William Foster is removed from the frontbench after the 1932 election victory and kicked upstairs to the increasingly impotent Senate for his opposition to the concessions to the establishment by the then-ascendant right-wing of the WCPA.
- My Greatest Failure: Foster sees the outbreak of World War II as his, blaming himself for failing to effectively contain the fascist menace in Europe. He decides to take the consequence of this, and resigns from the Premiership, handing the reigns over to John Reed.
- Let No Crisis Go to Waste: Premier Foster uses the Revolt of the Cadres as a shrewd triangulation to dispose himself of allies he'd never viewed as fully reliable.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: During the Revolt of the Cadres crisis, Foster ends up publicly siding with the protesting workers, upholding their right to have recall elections after accusations of corruption in the local soviets, thereby affirming the UASR's dedication to democratic ideals and protection of workers' rights.
- Resigned in Disgrace: Foster feels his resignation to be this as he stood by the Soviet Union's decision to sign the Non-Agression Pact with Nazi Germany and it resulted in their invasion of the USSR catching them off-guard.
- Spared, but Not Forgiven: Foster never forgave the British for their support of MacArthur despite how inconsequential it was but offered them a trade agreement for the sake of the survival of the UASR.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Foster laments that the Red May Revolution has to be a murderous process but goes through with it regardless because he believes it its promises, quoting Marx in saying "terror was the midwife of revolution, easing the pains of a new birth".
Emma Goldman
The famous Anarchist and Feminist makes the controversial decision to endorse the revolutionary government in the wake of the Red May Revolution, becoming the People's Secretary for Labor to enact mandatory union membership and strong workplace protections.
- 10-Minute Retirement: Emma Goldman's resignation during the Revolt of the Cadres is reversed after the cadres' demands are satisfied.
- Resign in Protest: The Revolt of the Cadres incident causes Goldman to resign as Secretary of Labor in sympathy with the striking workers, complicating the already strained cooperation between the General Union of Anarchists and the Workers' Party. She returns to the position after the resolution of the crisis in favor of the strikers.
William Dudley Pelley and Virgil Effinger
The two leaders of the Free American State: William Dudley Pelley, perennial fascist presidential candidate turned Nazi collaborator and President of the Free American State. And Virgil Effinger, former Klansman and White paramilitary, who becomes a Gestapo officer and the ruthless enforcer of the Free American State.
- Ax-Crazy: Virgil Effinger's tendency towards extreme violence leads to his removal of command during the Second American Civil War. When he joined the Nazis he became an auxiliary officer of the Gestapo but was demoted to a desk job due to his inability to control his temper.
- Brains and Brawn: In the pro-Nazi rump "Free American State" in Byelorussia, William Dudley Pelley is Brains to Virgil Effinger's Brawn. While Pelley is the political leader of the micronation and a skilled administrator, Effinger is the leader of its paramilitary arm and the main overseer of torture and executions of Soviet and American prisoners.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: They subject aryan-looking American POWs to this to turn them into soldiers for their Nazi American state.
- Can't Take Criticism: Virgil Effinger's tendency to accuse his critics of being crypto-Jews and communists got him exiled from Cuba and is part of the reason he was demoted when in the Gestapo.
- Cult of Personality: Pelley starts his own in the Free American State, particularly through Silver Christianity, depicting himself as the "savior" of America.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Before the war they are considered so extreme they are ejected from Cuba by the MacArthur regime. Their acts during the war are so horrible the Americuban dictatorship (which enacted its fair share of atrocities during and after the Second American Civil War) refuses to shelter Pelley.
- Virgil Effinger became the commander of a White paramilitary regiment during the Second Civil War, but his unstable mental state and tendency towards extreme violence led to the dissolution of the regiment within a month of its formation and Effinger's removal from command.
- After joining the Silberne Legion he is eventually transferred out because too extreme even for the SS.
- Virgil Effinger became the commander of a White paramilitary regiment during the Second Civil War, but his unstable mental state and tendency towards extreme violence led to the dissolution of the regiment within a month of its formation and Effinger's removal from command.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Pelley and Effinger are confused that most American POWs refuse to join them after giving them a tour of their recreation of pre-revolutionary America and subjecting them to propaganda and torture.
- The Exile: First to Americuba after the Second Civil War then to the German Reich.
- General Failure: William Pelley's performance as a leader of paramilitary troops during the Second Civil War is described as "lackluster" and his attempts to command the SS-Silberne Legion during the Czechoslovak and Polish Wars were "nothing short of disastrous". Despite granting him the rank of Standartenführer (equivalent to colonel) in the SS, the Nazis eventually removed him from any actual military command (keeping his SS rank as consolation however).
- Godwin's Law: Sort of. Virgil Effinger is a Nazi, so instead he accuses people criticizing him of being crypto-Jews and communists.
- Hate Sink: William Dudley Pelley and Virgil Effinger are the worst American Nazi collaborators, they form SS troops and openly participate in the Holocaust, subjecting both Slavs and captured prisoners of war to horrific slave labor.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: William Dudley Pelley and Virgil Effinger, already in OTL committed white supremacists and the leaders of the fascist Silver Legion
and the terroristic Black Legion respectively, become even worst through their collaboration with the Nazis and as the leaders of the "Free American State", committing some of the most horrific acts of the Eastern Front of WWII such as working black American POWs and Slavs to death under slave labor and starvation rations to maintain the parasitic lifestyle of the Free American State's leadership, and subjecting prisoners of war to torture, with POWs refusing to defect to the Nazi cause being mauled to death by Effinger's dogs. - The Quisling: Virgil Effinger and William Dudley Pelley, while not as prominent as Ford, are probably even more vicious than him. After the Nazis established a small puppet American state in occupied Belarus, they attempt to restore the glorious American days under the banner of Nazism, all the while prioritizing the comfort of themselves and other American exiles over the lives of the starved and genocided Belarussian population. Even some of the American POWs were treated badly, with Black American POWs becoming slaves reminiscent of the Old South. It was so bad that when UASR soldiers liberated the area, the surviving Belarussian population was terrified of them, much to their confusion until they realised the truth and were outraged by Effinger and Pelley's atrocities.
- Renegade Splinter Faction: The Free American State is composed of American Whites who completely embrace Nazism, going further than even Americuba finds tolerable.
- Strawman News Media: William Dudley Pelley founds and edits Security, an English language newspaper and Nazi mouthpiece aimed at American and British expatriates in Axis countries. The newspaper is discontinued when he becomes a war correspondant for Der Stürmer, a German Nazi newspaper.
- Villainous Breakdown: As the FAS experiences its growing decline and Comintern forces become ever closer, Effinger resorts to killing in an attempt to regain control, however his actions unsurprisingly fail to deter death, disease or discontent.
- You Have Failed Me: As Comintern forces advanced deeper into Belarus in 1944, Virgil Effinger began to execute the brainwashed POWs the Free American State had converted, blaming the defeat of the FAS on their "lingering redness" after he ran out of Jews and Slavs to murder as "Bolshevik intruders".
Fictional Characters
Commander Columbia Characters
General Tropes
- Acting for Two: In the original cast Mel Blanc plays Henry Strauss, Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Iosif Stalin and William Z. Foster.
- All Germans Are Nazis: Averted. Germany is personified by Fraulein Germania rather than Siegfried precisely to avoid portraying the national personifications of other cultures as inherently evil.
- Alliterative Name: The names of the main heroes: Amanda Ariel Aaron, Vladimir Valentinovich Volkov, Yang Yanyu and Miguel Mateo Morales).
- Cool Helmet: Commander Columbia, and both her allies and arch-enemy Siegfried all wear distinctive and awesome-looking helmets.
- Elemental Personalities: The main heroes of Commander Columbia are all associated with an element reflected in their character. Air for the outgoing Amanda Aaron, Earth for the serene Vladimir Volkov, Water for the diplomatic and creative Yang Yanyu, and Fire for the energic Miguel Morales.
- Evil Sorcerer: Werner von Koehlberg is a Nazi sorcerer.
- Ghostapo: The Nazis are very involved in the occult, this being how they revive Siegfried.
- Herr Totenkopf/Johann von Eisenberg is the leader of "the Black Order", Germany's primary supernatural detachment, and the adjutant of Himmler.
- Multinational Team: The team of protagonists of Commander Columbia is composed of an American (Amanda Aaron), a Russian (Vladimir Volkov), a Chinese (Yang Yanyu) and a Mexican (Miguel Morales).
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Henry Strauss, an American bourgeois exile working with Nazi Germany is obviously based on this timeline's Henry Ford, who's also working with the Nazis.
- Only Sane Woman: Gesine Oswalt is a Nazi scientist but also the sole voice of reason among the villains.
- Opposites Attract: Amanda and Vladimir were created to be complimentary so that the two could have the sort of strong chemistry that would be necessary to embody the United Republics' newfound eternal friendship with the Soviet Union.
- Propaganda Hero: The main cast of heroes of Commander Columbia embody the cause of communism and each one represents a different country.
- Rogues Gallery: Commander Columbia benefits from an extensive one, representing tyranny and imperialism in many formsList.
- Scary Skeleton: Koschei has a skeletal frame and skull face meant to evoke death.
- Secret Test of Character: Amanda, Vladimir, Yang and Miguel gain their powers from Pandora's box in a moment where they put themselves in danger to save others despite being ordinary people themselves.
Commander Columbia / Amanda Aaron
Voiced by: Judy Garland
Commander Columbia, Amanda Ariel Aaron, the Storm Goddess of the Revolution, god and personification of the new communist America and eponymous main character of the franchise.- Abandoned War Child: The Second American Civil War left her an orphan.
- Action Girl: Commander Columbia is focused on action, she is a fighter and acts rather than theorize.
- Amazonian Beauty: Amanda is strong, built like a soldier and no less beautiful.
- Ambiguously Bi: In the beginning, Amanda has often flirtatious interactions with women as well as men, leading to her character becoming an icon for the bisexual community. This is later expanded by subsequent writers removing the ambiguity.
- Ambiguously Christian / Ambiguously Jewish: Amanda is stated to be Catholic Irish on her father's side and Ashkenazim Jewish on her mother's side but she is not seen outright attending either Church or Synagogue.
- Arch-Enemy: Siegfried.
- Blood Knight: Amanda likes to fight and looks forward to it, she enjoys the challenge of a good fight for a good cause.
- Fiery Redhead: Amanda Aaron is an energetic and pugnacious character with long scarlet red hair.
- Genki Girl: Amanda is very energetic, always bouncing around from one idea to the next.
- The Leader: She is the leader of the group of heroes.
- Leitmotif: Commander Columbia's leitmotif is named "Amanda the Thunderer" and inspired by upbeat American wartime songs.
- Meaningful Appearance: Her personal symbol on her armor's spaulders is an esoteric horned circle embodying both unity and ferocity.
- Men Act, Women Are: Amanda was created with the intention to subvert this trope, she is a fighter and forward with her romantic interests rather than content to be courted. While she is not a complete inversion of typical tropes regarding romance, she is very much not a passive object of desire.
- Named Weapons: Amanda's spear is named Keyt Tsoymen and her sword Yichud.
- Official Couple: With Vladimir.
- Secret Identity: Averted. Commander Columbia and Amanda Aaron are one and the same and she attaches no separate persona to her war-clad self.
- Series Mascot: The franchise is named after her.
- Talk to the Fist: She very often prefers to just cut to the chase and hit the foe in the face when possible.
Vladimir Volkov
Voiced by: Andrei Abrikosov
Vladimir Valentinovich Volkov, Tovarishch Slava, embodiment of the Soviet Union and perennial heart throb.- Badass Adorable: He is both a powerful hero and a baby-faced cute guy.
- Badass Bookworm: Both an intellectual and a fighter.
- Bespectacled Cutie / Cute Bookworm: He is a bespectacled intellectual with a baby face.
- The Heart: The most benevolent member of Columbia's team, who looks after the emotional well-being of everyone.
- Husky Russkie: Purposefully subverted by Samanthe Waver. Vladimir is a lean, soft-spoken intellectual who enjoys stereotypically feminine pursuits and less active pursuits such as writing, singing, dancing, botany, and playing chess.
- In Touch with His Feminine Side: He whole heartedly embraced many feminine pursuits such as knitting (making his own scarfs) and carving out nesting dolls.
- Named Weapon: Wields the Hammer of the Earth.
- Nerd Action Hero: He is certainly a nerd, but also very capable of standing his ground in a fight.
- Nerd Glasses / Smart People Wear Glasses: Vladimir is a glasses wearing intellectual.
- Nice Guy: He is kind, compassionate and supportive.
- Official Couple: With Amanda.
- Power Armor: Vladimir fights in a heavy industrial-looking armoursuit with an heavier hammer.
- Science Hero / The Smart Guy: The smart intellectual in Commander Columbia's squad who fights in a power suit of his own making.
Yang Yanyu
Voiced by: Anna May Wong
Yang Yanyu, Koshih (革士)- The Face: Yang is the most diplomatic member of the team.
- Technicolor Eyes: Has purple eyes.
- Water Is Womanly: Yang embodies the water element.
Miguel Morales
Voiced by: Ramón Novarro
Miguel Mateo Morales, El Valiente- Blood Knight: Even moreso than Amanda. To the point that often he needs to be reminded that the proper place of someone who wishes to be a hero is to help the needy more than to destroy the wicked.
- Dashing Hispanic:
- A Day in the Limelight: The film Iron Thunder heavily features Valiente over the others of the cast, and is often considered the film where he came into his own as a character.
- Friendly Sniper:
- Named Weapon: Miguel's rifle is named the Judicator.
- Sniper Rifle: Miguel's weapon is a sniper rifle.
- Technicolor Eyes: Has orange eyes.
Siegfried
Voiced by: Fritz Lang
The arch-nemesis of Commander Columbia, being her longest-running and fiercest rival. Resurrected by Heinrich Himmler's SS to serve the Nazis.- 24-Hour Armor: Siegfried is encased in his armor.
- Abstract Apotheosis: His resurrection made him an embodiement of Qliphoth, the forces of evil in the Jewish Kabbalah.
- Achilles' Heel: His invincibility has a single weakpoint on his back.
- Almighty Janitor: Siegfried is a knight, not a leader, but one of the most powerful characters in the franshise.
- Badass Cape / Ominous Opera Cape: Wears a long black cape as part of his garb.
- Big Bad: Siegfried is the longest-running enemy of Commander Columbia.
- Black Knight: Siegfried is encased in a black armor and the most powerful villain of the franchise.
- Blood-Splattered Warrior: His sword constantly drips blood.
- The Brute: Siegfried is the most powerful villain but enslaved to the wishes of his Nazi masters.
- Cool Helmet / Cool Mask: His helm is a mix of later medieval gothic helmets, Teutonic great helmets, Prussian Pickelhaubes, and German Stahlhelms.
- Dark Is Evil: Siegfried's costume is mostly colored in black and feldgrau.
- The Dragon: To Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler themselves.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom / Occult Blue Eyes: He has glowing blue eyes radiating energy.
- The Heavy: Siegfried is Commander Columbia's longest-running enemy but mostly just the powerful enforcer of Hitler and Himmler.
- Human Sacrifice: The ritual to resurrect him involved one.
- Invincible Villain: Siegfried is legendary for his invincibility.
- The Juggernaut: His invincibility means he could shrug off pretty much anything.
- Malevolent Masked Man: His helm doesn't show any hint of his face or any humanity.
- Obviously Evil: If his black-clad figure and menacing eyes are not indicative enough of his evilness, the huge swastika on his chest, SS sieg runes on his collar and the black sun on the pommel of his sword certainly are.
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: His armor has both black and a pale red.
- Tragic Villain: Siegfried may have once been a noble man, but since he was resurrected using dark magic he has become a servant of the Nazis' designs.
- Villainous Friendship: Fafnir his former nemesis became his ally as Siegfried no longer sees anything wrong with the Dragon's Greed.
Forum Personas
flibbertygibbet
Together with FallingOutsideTheNormalMoralConstraints, flibbertygibbet is the closest thing to an author avatar in the Reds Timeline, being a regular poster from Britain (more specifically Wales) who considers herself a Communist fellow traveler. Generally more fond of discussing the non-violent aspects of history and brooking few excuses for the more questionable actions of the Allies or Comintern during the Second World War or afterwards, she rarely shies from making her opinion heard. She's quite quick to criticize her home country in particular.
- Author Avatar: According to Aelita herself "flibbertygibbet" most closely represents her views.
- Chummy Commies: While listed as a "fellow traveller" of Communism there's no denying that sides with the political left.
Ziburinis Squared
A young "Pan-Baltic Mongrel" Boy (15 as of the year 2015). A fairly recent addition to the forum poster cast, he's an idealist with dreams of being a webcomic writer and is rather articulate for his age but not the best grasp of what he's talking about some times.
- Author Avatar: Ziburinis Squared is based on the author The Red Star Rising when they were considerably younger than they are now.
- Chummy Commies: In a board noted for having a great deal more hostility, belligerence, and political divisions than its equivalent in our timeline he's fairly polite as far as the cast goes, and is active in the youth league of his local left-communist party.
- Tank Goodness: Quite fond of military vehicles and their history.
Rule Britannia
A young (twenty two years old) man from London in the FBU, RuleBritannia is perhaps the clearest sign that politics are much more contentious in this timeline than they are in ours. Rude and abrasive with few friends on the board, RuleBritannia is a vehement opinion of Communism and rather deeply unfond of much of current youth culture. Loudly of the opinion that the UASR is an illegitimate government and an instrument of mass murder and death and even of the opinion that the Axis was the lesser evil between itself and the Comintern; it's needless to say he grates on the nerves of everyone outside the capitalist bloc.
- Dirty Commies: Of this opinion regarding all the board's leftist members and the socialist countries of the world, going as far as to consider people within the Capitalist Bloc who vote Labour or Communist as little more than traitors or deluded fools who can't understand why they'll never win an election in the Alliance of Free States. Whether or not he's wrong about the latter is left ambiguous as the timeline's official end date is the 2015 General elections.
- Eagle Land: Sees the UASR as essentially a type II communist eagle land, an authoritarian and dystopic place that's deluded its populace with lies that all is well when in reality they're all languishing under the yoke, and that the UASR is the greatest threat to the world at the moment with its policy to spread its mode of government when possible.
- Even Evil Has Standards: While certainly not evil so much as rude and belligerent, even RuleBritannia regards CyberDoctor with contempt.
- Evil Reactionary: He's so right-wing that he regards Nazi Germany as less evil than the UASR.
- Foil: Essentially meant to be the unreasonable and often ignorant Tory counterpart to the erudite and well spoken Admiral Sanders; who while still being on the right wing of FBU politics, at least avoids getting into mudslinging fights over it.
- Hate Sink: Is not fondly regarded by anyone, even people who share his political affiliations like Admiral Sanders. Generally his presence in a thread leads to a lot of shouting and hostility.
- Hilarious in Hindsight: A poster with the same username and essentially the same political beliefs appeared on OTL Alternate history.com not long after the character began appearing in Reds, and as Alternate History.com in our timeline has little patience for rude and belligerent members; eventually found himself permanently banned after starting one fight too many. Even years after his banning, the whole episode has been met with amused bewilderment.
- Love to Hate: Despite being boorish, rude, and genuinely not a nice person, he's probably the most well-known and talked about poster on the alternate AH.com.
De Opresso Liber
A reservist in the American military and a volunteer firefighter as well as an African American and Muslim, whenever the topic being depicted involves military history she's almost guaranteed to make an appearance. Quick to correct other people when they get something wrong about her preferred topic and deeply knowledgeable about the breadth of military history, she's an ardent communist, generally serious and has only so much patience for the right wing to spare.
- Hypocrite: Generally quick to point out those people guilty of it, such as CyberDoctor who in the same breadth can espouse Ayn Rand inspired ideals of governance and then turn around and praise the fascist government of Italy.
Rear Admiral Jingles
A frequently appearing moderator who is almost certainly not being paid enough to manage the frequent flame wars of the website, Jingles has a career as a video game streamer (or "let's player" as they're more commonly called in our timeline) and is a noted expert on all things relating to military vehicles. Associated with the Labour Party, he meets the thankless task of maintaining some civility on the alternate AH.Com with good humor and a heavy dosage of snark.
- Deadpan Snarker: Easily the snarkiest of the mod characters who rarely spares people he's warning to stay on the right track his impressively caustic wit.
- Expy: All but outright stated to be the Paul Charlton (better known as the Mighty Jingles of World of Tanks fame) of this timeline, using a number of his catchphrases, having a similar style of speech and typing, sharing his interests and career, and being exactly the same age.
- In Spite of a Nail: Despite all the changes in the Reds! timeline, he's essentially the same person that he is in our timeline. He just happens to also be an Alternate History.com moderator.
- Tank Goodness: Among the most knowledgeable posters on the board when it comes to military vehicles.
Babe-a Yeah-huh
A friend of Ziburinis Squared and perhaps his best friend outside of his girlfriend, Babe-a Yeah-huh is based on The Red Star Rising's real life best friend and is a highly snarky and very irreverent poster with an exceedingly informal typing style. Energetic and always quick to offer a quip or an opinion, she doesn't take the forum super-seriously most of the time, though being a fifteen-year-old girl might have something to do with that.
- Deadpan Snarker: Among the snarkiest of the revealed characters, always having some kind of barb for the many posters she butts heads with.
- Jive Turkey: Writes in a decidedly more informal manner than is standard on the board, typing more like she's on an IRC room than she's on a forum and inserting heavy amounts of (American) slang and (though not on screen yet) internet memes.
- Plucky Girl: Nearly always in a good mood.
