Main Character Index Superpowers: Großgermanisches Reich (Heydrich's Germany) | The United States of America (1964-1968 American Presidents | 1972 American Presidents) | Dai-Nippon Teikoku Major Powers: Regno d'Italia | Iberian Union | Republic of Turkey | Ordensstaat Burgund Other Countries By Region: Africa: Northern & East Africa | West Africa | Southern Africa | Post-Colonial Central Africa Asia: Mainland China & Oceania (State of Guangdong | 1964-1972 Guangdong Chief Executives | Guangdong Flavor Characters) | Southeast Asia (Republic of Indonesia) | South Asia | Middle East | Central Asia Europe: Northern & Western Europe (British Isles | French State) | Southern Europe | Eastern Europe (Reichskommissariat Ukraine | Reichskommissariat Moskowien) Americas: North America | South America (United States of Brazil | Argentine Republic | Oriental Republic of Uruguay) The Russian Anarchy: West Russia (West Russian Revolutionary Front | Komi Republic | Communist Party of Komi | Passionariyy Organization | Taboritsky's Russia) | Southern Urals | Western Siberia | Central Siberia (Siberian Black Army) | The Far East (Harbin Three) | After Midnight Miscellaneous: Antarctica | Miscellaneous Content | Non-Canon Content
This page is for miscellaneous characters featured in TNO who aren't playable in a traditional Hearts of Iron system.
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Anarchies
General Tropes
In-Game Description Click to Show
Anarchy is a unique "state" that TNO uses to represent regions that are completely devoid of authority. At game start, North and Northeastern Siberia is represented as such (see below), but it can also arise in other regions should some particularly extreme political scenarios arise.
- Anarchy Is Chaos: Nothing properly resembling a society remains in them. These occur with nobody able to lead such territories and when conflict crushes the populaces enough so that nobody notable can gain control over them. Subverted in the sense that pre-existing cities and villages still function. However, after being cut off from Irkutsk by Yakutia’s rebellion following the Siberian War, they have devolved into individual city-states with no higher authority to report to.
- Crapsack World: The most pleasant example among these is Northeastern Siberia, an endless tundra wasteland where the ground never thaws, you could well not find another human being in a hundred miles, and where the largest human gathering available is a town of a few hundred people. Every other example tweaks the wasteland and adds either radioactive fallout, a whole load of desperate, armed Nazis in full Villainous Breakdown mode, or all of the above with a side of earth so poisoned nothing will ever grow in it during your lifetime. All in all, they go from merely Medieval to making The Dung Ages look pleasant.
- Debug Room: On the very bottom of the map, right below New Zealand, players can find a tiny, barely visible "island" that keeps the "Anarchy" country tag (ZZZ) present for the entire game, which helps the developers code for events that involve territories falling into anarchy.
- Villainous Legacy: All of the anarchies that emerge in Russia were indirectly started by the Soviet Union's collapse, since its defeat to Nazi Germany.
- Walking the Earth: For those who don't live in a village, many people are forced to adopt a nomadic lifestyle of hunting and foraging for their own foods, while dealing with the threat of predator animals and bandits. Additionally, this means that these travelers don't have any time to exercise other pursuits beyond survival like artistry or higher education.
The Nuclear Wastelands (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
In-Game Description Click to Show
- Bittersweet Ending: Should World War III result in Thermonuclear War, the world completely collapses into anarchy as a result of the fallout. Normally, this would be a straight Downer Ending, but epilogue events reveal that humanity managed to survive the catacalysm and rebuild a society, free from the horrors of Nazism. The final event shows astronauts landing on the moon, repeating the same achievement made by the Nazis and confirming that human civilization has rehabilitated back to what it was in the 1960's.
- Dramatic Irony: The player knows that this anarchy was caused by nuclear war, but the people in-universe slowly forget the reasons why human civilization collapsed in the first place, with some debating what the cause was.
- "Everybody Dies" Ending: Zig-Zagged. Nuclear war means that nearly every single character in the mod's setting perishes from nuclear fire, in which the few notable survivors slowly pass away during the fallout. However, many regular, unnamed civilians manage to survive and slowly rebuild society when the effects of nuclear war wear off over hundreds of years.
- Urban Ruins: Practically every major city is destroyed in nuclear devastation and with them, billions of lives were lost.
Russian Travelers
Early in-game, word gets out of a "modern bogatyr" traveling across Russia and having adventures. Shortly afterwards, an American tourist decides to take the arduous journey of traveling across the Russian landscape, recording everything he sees in a journal and describing the varied Russian warlords he encounters. The Modern Bogatyr
Of all the tales of the Russian Anarchy, there stands but one that has spread from the frozen lands of the Far East to the city of Kostroma in the west, and even deep into the lands of the Nazi empire. The story of a wanderer from parts unknown, who brings justice with them as they walk the desolate roads of old Russia. This wanderer has come to be one of the greatest enigmas in all of Russia.
- All for Nothing: His service in the Wehrmacht didn't save his parents from being purged back in the Reich, and trying to save civilians in the West Russian War got him shot and burnt while they died anyway.
- Assassin Outclassin':
- In Komi, they singlehandedly foil an assassination attempt by murdering every single conspirator.
- In Omsk, at least half a dozen men from the Black League track them down to kill him for being German. The wanderer killed half of them and wounded the rest to keep them from pursuing further.
- The Atoner: Motivated to wander Russia out of altruism and remorse for his part as a Wehrmacht soldier in the West Russian War.
- Back-to-Back Badasses: Evident in how they and border guard Vasily fought off a bandit raid when no backup would arrive until next morning.
- But Now I Must Go: Many of their events end with them leaving for the next warlord region after helping some people. Averted in the end, when he returns to Vyatka to stay with Sofia.
- The Cameo: Appears in an event for each possible unifier region during the warlord stage as they make their way east across the Russian anarchy.
- Covered in Scars: Years of traveling the dangerous Russian anarchy have left them like this, to say nothing of the burn marks on his torso in his failed attempt to save civilian lives in the West Russian War.
- Crazy Enough to Work: Helping the PRC fight off Mengjiang scouts, they made a mad dash toward the enemy line with an RPG before firing it at the mountainside and starting a landslide to crush them. Miraculously, the plan works, surviving to tell the tale and minimizing casualties from the PRC.
- Dark and Troubled Past: When he was still young in Germany, his parents were executed by the Nazi party, his mother for her Jewish ancestry and his father for marrying her in the first place. With only himself left, the Gestapo forced him to prove his loyalty by joining the Wehrmacht army during the West Russian War, where he took part in his unit's innumerable atrocities. Remorseful, Alexander defected and fled into Russia, where he swore to one day repay his crimes by helping as many people as possible.
- Due to the Dead: Assists in the secret burial of Vitaliy Grinin, a Jew living in Amur, because Vitaliy saved Alexander's life when he got shot for trying to save Russian civilians. Vitaliy's son is floored by the power of his father's memory to this German.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After twenty events
, Alexander is able to travel from west Russia to the Far East and back again to start a new life with Sofia in Vyatka. - Establishing Character Moment: The modern bogatyr's first event in the WRRF features them warning the lone soldier there of incoming bandits, albeit in broken Russian. After Vasily fights off the bandits with only the stranger's help, they are gone by the time reinforcements arrive, establishing the traveler's mysterious, but heroic characterization, as well as giving an early hint to his German, not Russian, ancestry.
- Foreshadowing: The first event describing the modern bogatyr presents several hypotheses as to the identity of this mysterious figure. The second presented theory, "of a former Wehrmacht soldier, consumed by guilt and under a self-imposed exile, as a penance to the people he wronged," is the truth.
- Friend to All Children: Their event in Sverdlovsk is rather lowkey in displaying their kindness as they help a lost child find their parents.
- Good Is Not Soft: One of the most altruistic and benevolent figures in the Russian anarchy, and perfectly willing and able to defend themselves against any attacker with lethal force and giving slavers and rapists their just desserts.
- Given Name Reveal: After two-thirds of their event chain has passed, the modern bogatyr gives their name as Alexander to a fisherman in Irkutsk.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: Subverted. Sickened by the German war crimes committed against the Russian people, Alexander defected from his home country and tried saving them. His former comrades shot at him and would've killed him had a Jewish Red Army soldier not saved him. In Amur, Alexander learns that his rescuer passed away due to cancer and thus attends his funeral as a final thanks for his actions.
- Heroes Gone Fishing: Literally in Irkutsk. He spends his day there in a fishing boat with another Russian in Lake Baikal, talking about his past and mentioning that he used to go fishing a lot with his father.
- Heroic Fatigue: After successfully retrieving an original Ostromir Gospel manuscript for a librarian in Tomsk, they slump down in a chair and fall asleep before they can even be thanked, tired from the long journey past the Urals.
- Humble Hero: Briefly helping the Kingsguard in Kemerovo fight off bandits, some of the younger members would offer them a drink in gratitude, but they would always humbly decline and buy those offering a drink instead.
- I Will Wait for You: Before leaving on the journey detailed in their event chain, they promise to return to Sofia in Vyatka. After visiting every major Russian warlord, he returns to Vyatka and fulfills his promise, much to his and Sofia's joy.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Conscripted to fight in the West Russian War after it was discovered his mother is Jewish, Alexander turned against the Wehrmacht to save Russian lives not long after he got news that his parents were executed back in Germany.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Turned against the Nazis after the weight of his crimes during the West Russian War became too much to bear.
- Nice to the Waiter: When they visit one of the labor camps in Tyumen, they take pity on the workers slaving away in the mines and joins them to ease the labor. Thanks to their energetic help, the workers are given a day of respite from their usually miserable schedules.
- No Name Given: For the majority of their event chain, the modern bogatyr is only ever referred to in description.
- Odd Friendship: In their brief stay at Samara, they befriend an ROA member, despite their different backgrounds and nationalities. Notably, the two befriend each other because both share the same regret of having collaborated for the Germans, a fact that would get them hated throughout Russia.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted, as Alexander the Wehrmacht deserter comes face-to-face with Alexander Men at the end of his long journey for redemption before turning back to Vyatka.
- Plagued by Nightmares: While traveling across the SBA's territory, they suffer nightmares of their past before turning against the Nazis, and it's obvious that they've been dealing with this for years.
- Reformed, but Rejected: Their heroic actions are all done to atone for their past as a Wehrmacht soldier, but some Russians, like the Black League, will simply not forgive them and attack on sight.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Averted for the total arc of their event chain, but in Magadan, Alexander is looking for an old friend and his family, only to find out they were purged before the RFP split.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: A remorseful and wandering Wehrmacht deserter doing the best he can for the people his country broke, struggling under the weight of their nightmares and the scars accumulated from their travels.
- Slave Liberation: In their trek east, the modern bogatyr frees a camp of slaves from the Aryan Brotherhood, inciting a rebellion among the prisoners to kill their tormentors.
- Small Steps Hero: Outside of personally interacting with Alexander Men, the modern bogatyr never intervenes in the larger conflicts between the Russian warlords or meets any of the region's leaders, preferring to help the individuals and small groups they meet in their travels.
- The Social Expert: They can read people very well, which is a particularly useful skill when surviving the Russian wasteland. For example, they quickly distinguish the more idealistic and free atmosphere in Buryatia in contrast to Irkutsk, so they become more lax and open there.
- Still Wearing the Old Colors: The Black League soldiers are able to recognize their quarry while traveling through Omsk because Alexander is still wearing his old Wehrmacht uniform, out of a mixture of both pragmatic convenience (they were the clothes on his back when he was left for dead by the Wehrmacht) and guilty conscience.
- Token Enemy Minority: The mysterious wanderer who brings justice across the Russia anarchy is a Wehrmacht deserter.
- We Help the Helpless: Their general profession is to help the common Russian who would be preyed upon by bandits or the despotic Russian warlords roaming in the wasteland. In one particular scenario, they help a small steel mill fight off two corporate guards in Novosibirsk, ensuring that they won't be bought out and exploited by one of the larger companies.
- What You Are in the Dark: Even after everything he's lost, Alexander will sooner compromise his stay at a hotel in Chita than allow a White Army officer to rape a girl in the room next door.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Personally meeting with Men in Siberia, Alexander confesses his guilt for all the past crimes he partook in during his service to the Wehrmacht, wondering if he's even worthy of redemption. Calmly, Men assures him that he's done everything he can to atone for his past and all that matters is what he intends to do in the present and future. Slightly reinvigorated, Alexander prays, the first time he's done so in years.
- You Are Too Late: Looks for several Russians they once knew in Magadan, asking a drunk alcoholic when he's escorted back home. Unfortunately, the informant sympathetically tells them that they were already purged by the RFP before it split, so the bogatyr leaves in solemn disappointment, but not before giving him a stack of rubles as thanks.
Steve Smith
- Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: When he gets drunk in Zlatoust, he can barely write a comprehensible sentence in his journal, nearly gets into a bar fight, and flirts with Mikhail Kalashnikov's daughter. Luckily, Zoya guides him out of trouble until he can sober up and leave before he gets chased by a mob.
- And the Adventure Continues: By the end, it's hinted that even as his book becomes an international bestseller, Steve's pondering on the prospect of returning to Russia one day.
- Audience Surrogate: Like most players, Steve wields no political power whatsoever and is just exploring Russian for the sake of adventure. His entire experience is meant to showcase what Russia would be like for an ordinary person rather than a politician or a military leader.
- Bait-and-Switch: In his penultimate location, the West Russian Revolutionary Front, there is an option for the Front to send Tukhachevsky and a patrol to detain them. Given that the violent options in the other events result in Steve's death, this seems like another terrible end for the poor American, but instead, Tukhachevsky just steals their truck and sends them on their way to Onega.
- Black Comedy: While most of Steve's potential deaths are pretty tragic, his death in Novosibirsk while trying out a new experimental jet that results in him crashing into some poor Russian farmer's crop field makes it too absurd and darkly comedic to shed any tears for him.
- Blatant Lies: If he gets to personally meet Matkovsky, Steve will fabricate lies about his dad to make him seem awesome, claiming that he was an astronaut who secretly visited Venus and killed 100 Japanese soldiers in World War II with only a pistol, even though his father has always just been a modest mechanic. However, Matkovsky seems to buy his story or, at least, doesn't understand enough of Steve's English to realize how unlikely his story is.
- Cassandra Truth:
- As Steve travels deeper into Russia, he finds himself having to make more of an effort to convince people that he's an American tourist, just by virtue of being just about the only American within hundreds of miles.
- Upon reaching the Karelian border, should Steve survive long enough to reach that far, the Finnish border guards are incredulous to his claims that he actually made his way through Russia. This is averted, however, once he properly returns to the West, and his story becomes widely publicized.
- Character Development:
- If he survives the bandit attack in Yugra, Steve realizes how reckless he's been while traversing through Russia, noting that he nearly got Zoya and his entire party killed. As such, he becomes more wary of trespassing the territory of dangerous warlords like Vorkuta, avoiding situations that could've turned fatal.
- Overall, Steve goes from being a naïve tourist seeking adventure to being a Humble Hero who genuinely wants to shine a light on what's happening in Russia, and to one day return.
- Comically Missing the Point: When visiting the Ural League, he's told to avoid one of their mortal enemies, Oskar Dirlewanger, nicknamed "King Rapist". In his journal, Steve internally inquires "Is his name actually King Rapist?"
- Disappeared Dad: Downplayed. While not terribly estranged from him, Steve does have a rather distant relationship with his father, who was often too busy to pay him much attention during his childhood. However, his father will break down into tears when Steve prepares to leave for Russia, even subtly handling him a compass and gun to prepare for the dangerous landscape he is about to travel to. The scene is enough to choke up Steve a bit.
- Dumbass Has a Point: While pretty naive most of the time, there are several occasions where Steve makes some insightful observations:
- If he visits Magadan, he sees a labor camp where Matkovsky's enemies are thrown into, despite his guide's attempts to steer him away from Magadan's secret authoritarianism.
- After leaving Yakutia, Steve correctly realizes how dangerous the Russian landscape is and hires a bodyguard, Zoya, to defend him and his caravan.
- He correctly points out how contradictory the ideology of the Siberian Black Army is, where the idealists trumpet about how free their territory is, even though Steve sees Black Army soldiers constantly spying and monitoring his actions. At the end of his stay, Steve is pretty confused on what their anarchist ideology is about.Steve: Why does a free society have a fucking thought police?
- When visiting Tomsk, he'll be invited to witness a political debate in salon, but he gets plain confused about their intellectual talk, comparing the whole system to if "every nerd back in university decided to make a country". It's an early hint to how elitist Tomsk's democratic system is and foreshadows the Cynicism Crisis.
- When crossing the border into Vorkuta, he realizes that he and his caravan are entering into dangerous territory and leave before they get into trouble. Given Vorkuta's despotic nature, he probably made the right choice.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Steve has a minimal chance of surviving his adventure, a fact Lampshaded by a sergeant in the People's Revolutionary Council. However, if Steve does survive, he'll become a global phenomenon for his achievement and his recollection of the journey in Across the Tundra becomes an instant bestseller. Better yet, his book raises global awareness of the situation in Russia and leads to greater calls for humanitarian aid there.
- Everyone Has Standards: Of all the Russian warlords he encounters, he fears and hates the Aryan Brotherhood the most, deciding to bolt out of there early when he visits and realizes how psychotic they are.
- Horrible Judge of Character:
- Upon arriving in Magadan and meeting with Matkovsky, Steve will call him a "nice fellow", unaware that he's also a ruthless, nationalist dictator.
- When personally meeting Sablin, Steve learns about how authoritarian Irkutsk is and that Yagoda's tyranny is the reason why Buryatia rebelled against it in the first place. Initially, Steve doubts that Irkutsk is as bad as Sablin is describing it, but when he actually arrives at Irkutsk, he realizes that Sablin was right.
- In Krasnoyarsk, Steve gets to personally meet Andreev and hear about how committed he is to democracy, completely fooling him into thinking that Krasnoyarsk is a free, stable territory when their talk of liberalization is actually just a sham.
- If sent on a guided, propagandized tour in Omsk, Steve has many positive things to say about the Black League, commenting that his stay there was very comfortable and that the government is very compassionate to its citizens, unaware of the Black League's true nature and goals.
- When he hears of the bandits in Yugra, he doesn't think they're as violent as most Russians describe them to be. Upon arriving, Steve finds out that the stories were true and he could pay his own life for it when his party gets ambushed by them. Steve himself and Yugra lampshade how idiotic his judgement was, commenting that he shouldn't have expected anything else for a country literally called "Thief Territory".
- In West Russia, he decides to visit the Aryan Brotherhood, thinking that they'll be like the kind people he met in Oyrotia. Anyone familiar with the Aryan Brotherhood will know that they are anything but "kind".
- Humble Hero: The whole reason why he writes Across the Tundra is to record how the people he's met in Russia helped him on his journey and to ensure that they receive their due credit for helping him navigate their hostile Russian landscape. Even as his book becomes a bestseller, he noticeably feels uncomfortable with the fame and wealth coming his way, while Russia continues to languish. Neither does he rub it in to his detractors back home, being more concerned over what to do now with his experiences and newfound fame.
- I Should Write a Book About This: To ensure that the contributions and help of his friends aren't forgotten, Steve writes a book about his journey, which becomes a bestseller.
- Innocent Bystander: Many warlords think that he's some important American bureaucrat or enemy spy, but Steve is just an ambitious tourist seeking adventure and has no stake in Russian politics.
- The Many Deaths of You: There are eight ways for him to perish on his journey:
- In Amur, Steve could be suspected of being a Matkovskyite spy and Rodzaevsky's border guards try to arrest him, but resistance from him and Zoya leads to a scuffle and their subsequent demise.
- In Irkutsk, Yagoda will invariably send some of his men to arrest Steve out of suspicion of him being a Sablinite spy, but if he gives the order for his men to fire if necessary, he'll be killed in a firefight between them and Zoya.
- In Novosibirsk, Steve will be invited to pilot an old Soviet plane or test out a new experimental jet. If he picks the latter option, the aircraft will malfunction and crash into the ground, killing Steve and burning his diary.
- In Omsk, Steve can reject the Black League's offer to take him on a tour and explore on his own. However, the Black League fear that he will expose their crimes if he writes in his journal and ruin their international reputation, so they have him tortured and executed.
- In Tyumen, Steve and his party will be incorrectly perceived as Black League spies and gunned down, if an aggressive approach is chosen to engage with.
- In Yugra, a large bandit group can be sent to raid them, in which Steve will get killed in the ensuing gunfight.
- In the Aryan Brotherhood, he may not be deemed "Aryan" enough and enslaved instead, where he almost certainly perishes under the inhuman conditions of their factories.
- In Gorky, an aggressive commander can be sent to investigate Steve's caravan, riding on a truck, in which the patrol decides to murder all of the occupants and steal their vehicle.
- Naïve Newcomer: He's a new arrival in the former Soviet Union and has little knowledge on how to survive on his own there, which is why he hires Zoya as a guide.
- Nice Guy: Steve is a humble, down-to-earth guy who, if he survives, accepts a fan's request to take a picture with him and offers to give his book for free to his family.
- No One Should Survive That!: Should Steve survive, he gets this reaction from just about everyone outside Russia. Given how many have largely written off the former USSR as an anarchic death trap, it's not surprising. On the other hand, Steve has many opportunities to prove those claims true with his life.
- Non-Indicative Name: In the event titled "Siberian Hospitality", Steve tries exploring Chita and interviewing the inhabitants, but everyone is either too dejected or disinterested to talk. When he tries talking to the guards, they get very pushy and start asking strange questions, like if he knew Mikhail II, a man he's never even met. Eventually, Steve's guide kicks him out of Chita, stating that they don't want "nosy Americans" snooping on their business.
- Rags to Riches: While Steve comes from a fairly middle-class American family, upon returning to the US and publishing his book he gets more than enough money to be all but set for life. But rather than spending the rest of his days in luxury or in the spotlight, he contemplates returning back to Russia.
- Ridiculously Average Guy: Several Russian warlords, think he has a higher agenda on his journey, but Steve is really just an average American tourist who mostly survives by being lucky.
- Sheep in Sheep's Clothing: Siuda in the SBA's territory suspects that he's a CIA agent out to sabotage his anarchist territory, but Steve's actually just a Nice Guy who doesn't have any ill intentions towards anyone.
- Small Steps Hero: Steve didn’t originally go to Russia with any high-minded goals other than traveling, and by the end doesn’t have any ambitious hopes of changing the shattered nation. If he manages to survive, he nonetheless hopes that his experiences could at least inspire some to help the long-suffering Russians in whatever way they can, no matter how small.
- The Storyteller: Steve recounts his journey several times to the friendly Russians he converses with, which can culminate in him sharing his story globally when he writes a book about it.
- Unlikely Hero: In the unlikely chance he survives his journey, his novel Across the Tundra can raise humanitarian awareness in Russia, inspiring many to begin sending aid there and making life there even slightly more bearable.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: He first starts out as a naive traveler who starts his journey unprepared for the dangers that await him. Eventually, he becomes more savvy to the threats in the wasteland, to the point that he acknowledges Lydia from Kemerovo may have a point in cracking down on them.
Zoya Federovna
- Action Girl: Since Steve lacks any firearm training, it's up to Zoya to use her sniper rifle to defend him from hostile warlords.
- Badass in Distress: Like the rest of Steve's party, she gets pursued by soldiers from the Aryan Brotherhood after escaping their territory, in which she and the caravan are saved by Vyatkan patrols.
- Berserk Button:
- Every time Zoya mentions the NKVD, her voice becomes venomous, hating how they're a tool used by Yagoda to oppress the common people of Russia.
- She despises any collaborators to the German Reich, barely containing her rage when she and Steve reach Samara and find the ROA there.
- The Cynic: Zoya personally expresses doubt that Sablin's revolt against Yagoda can actually succeed, contrasting with Steve's more optimistic hope that Sablin can win. She also spends much of the journey being very jaded with the prospect of Russian unification, though she still hopes for something better.
- Cynicism Catalyst: Zoya's old enough to not only remember the German invasion of the Soviet Union, but also how she tried doing her part in fighting back. The ensuing Nazi victory, and the Russian Anarchy, however, have left her jaded with what the future holds for her country, however much she clings to some shred of hope.
- The Fellowship Has Ended: Zoya and Steve part ways just short of reaching the border station to Karelia, unwilling to leave Russia and having fulfilled her end of the deal.
- Friendly Sniper: She's a Russian sniper and a bit more cynical than Steve, but she nonetheless assists Steve in his trek across Russia.
- Hero of Another Story: Zoya has seen more than her fair share of action, having not only witnessed the fall of the Soviet Union, but having also fought the invading Nazis first-hand. She's also evidently well-traveled, having a decent grasp of just about all the various warlords and successor regimes in Russia.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: While Steve is the protagonist of his event chain, he makes it clear in his journal that he wouldn't have made it so far in Russia without Zoya's help, whose quick thinking and knowledge of the Russian landscape have helped him avoid potentially dangerous situations.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Zoya doesn't trust the Black League in Omsk and chastises Steve if he decides to follow their propaganda tour. While the Black League does treat them well upon their visit, her wariness towards them is completely justified, considering their secret genocidal plans. Ironically, though, Steve heeding her advice will offend the Black League to the point of killing them both, and that's how they can die in Omsk.
- The Many Deaths of You: Like Steve, there are a number of ways for her to perish:
- In Amur, Rodzaevsky may send his men to arrest her and Steve to interrogate them about being spies sent by Matkovsky. Zoya tries resisting, but the guards quickly kill her and Steve in retaliation.
- In Irkutsk, several of Yagoda's men will try arresting her and Steve. If Yagoda doesn't order his men to be cautious, the NKVD agents will intensely interrogate them, leading Zoya to try escaping out of fear of imminent execution. She kills one of the guards, takes his weapon, and shoots several more men before she is overwhelmed.
- In Novosibirsk, she's invited with Steve to try out an experimental plane, but if piloted, both she and Steve will perish when the plane malfunctions and crashes into a farm.
- In Omsk, Zoya will try fleeing if Steve gets captured and executed, but she's quickly shot during her escape.
- In Tyumen, Steve's entire party will be gunned down if an aggressive approach is pursued by Kaganovich. Zoya tries firing back, but to no avail.
- In Yugra, she can be killed in a bandit raid if a large force was sent after them.
- In the Aryan Brotherhood, she and Steve's party may be arrested by them, in which Zoya attempts to resist, but ultimately gets shot.
- In Gorky, she and the rest of Steve's party will be killed if an aggressive patrol is sent to intercept and steal their truck, with them shooting all of the riders there when they show hesitance over surrendering their vehicle.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: After they part ways in Onega, it's left unclear what happens to Zoya. This is lampshaded as well, with Steve wondering whether he'll see her again while writing down Across the Tundra.
Legacy Characters
Characters who are mentioned heavily in TNO's backstory and are even responsible in some ways for the state of the world by 1962 through their ideologies and/or actions. Bill Alexander
- You Cannot Kill An Idea: Alexander was executed, along with Stirling, for his role in organizing the '56 Uprising, but his followers in the Left Resistance still make up a core component of HMMLR, a resistance group dedicated to fighting the collaborationist regime.
Ion Antonescu
- Passing the Torch: During the 1946-1947 famine, Ion Antonescu would step away from politics and leave Mihai Antonescu to succeed him. Ion was fine with this because Mihai was a long-standing friend, even if Germany disliked his friendliness to Italy.
- Pet the Dog: Ion Antonescu tolerated some minor opposition during the Second World War, allowing PNT and PNL leaders to write letters questioning his actions.
- Posthumous Character: Ion Antonescu died of organ failure caused by neurosyphilis in April 1956.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Despite wishing to form a authoritarian regime, Ion Antonescu's first priority was to establish a national government that could be broadly supported by the three largest parties of the 1937 election, which were the PNT, PNL, and the Legionary Movement.
- Reluctant Ruler: Downplayed. Ion Antonescu made several offers and attempts to resign as leader, with the first being only a few days after he took power. This never happened, either because the opposition leaders at the time viewed Antonescu as a necessary evil or because the Germans wanted to keep a regime friendly to them and intervened when Antonescu tried to leave after World War II. After the famine, Ion finally let his long-time friend, Mihai Antonescu, become the de-facto leader.
- Superficial Solution: Most members of the PNT saw Ion Antonescu's agrarian reforms, such as redistributing land from defunct companies to war veterans, as a makeshift solution to broader issues facing the peasants.
- Villainous Friendship: Stepping down from politics after the famine, Ion would handpick Mihai as his successor because of their long friendship with each other.
- Xanatos Gambit: Downplayed. Ion Antonescu's decision to join the Axis Powers, at the time, was a smart play against Hungary, another Axis country. If the Axis won, Hungary would have no political leverage to extract something from Rumania. If the Axis lost, both of their countries would suffer the same fate and Hungary will still have no advantage over their rival. However, Antonescu could not have predicted the long-term economic ramifications of joining the Axis and being tied to the Einheitspakt.
Mihai Antonescu
- Let No Crisis Go to Waste: When the West Russian War broke out, Mihai started border skirmishes with Hungary and ramped up support for Romanian insurgents to take control of Northern Transylvania.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Mihai Antonescu would move away from military rule and work alongside Gheorghe Brătianu and his branch of the PNL. It was agreed to restore the Rumanian constitution and hold (unfair) elections so that the Antonescu regime could get some ideological legitimacy.
- Reassigned to Antarctica: When he resigned from the Council of Ministers in 1956, Mihai would take a lower-status job as ambassador to Italy.
- Short-Lived Leadership: Zig-Zagged. While Mihai spent may years as de-facto leader of Rumania when Ion was still alive, Mihai only briefly held the position of Acting President of the Council of Ministers in 1956. There, he did not have support form the public, elites, the King, or the Germans. Remembering his attempt to side Rumania with Italy during the Italo-German split, Germany put an end to Mihai's short tenure when they pressured Michael I to replace him with Gheorghe Brătianu.
- Villainous Friendship: Mihai was a close friend of Ion, which made him the latter's personal pick to be his successor.
- You Are in Command Now: When Ion passed in 1956, Mihai was chosen as Acting President of the Council of Ministers.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was a Turkish politician who reformed the dying Ottoman Empire into the modern Republic of Turkey. During his reign as President, Atatürk enacted sweeping, modernizing reforms and founded the Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, with the aid of his close confidant, İnönü. He strongly emphasized the ideals of republicanism, populism, laicism, reformism, nationalism, and statism, which still define the ideologies of many Turkish politicians in the 1960s. Though he died a year before World War II started, the legacy he left behind is unquestionable and the political party he left behind remains an ever present force in Turkey.
- Cult of Personality: Downplayed. While Atatürk cultivated a public facade of vitality in life to cement his reforms, it was only after his death that a personality cult around him really came into its own. Even decades later, his memory and image remain powerful, unifying symbols in Turkey, among Kemalists and opposition figures alike.
- Founder of the Kingdom: He's widely acknowledged as the founding father of modern-day Turkey, creating it out of the Ottoman Empire's ashes and practically transforming the country overnight through his reforms.
- In Spite of a Nail: In addition to Atatürk's policies being nigh-identical to OTL, the man himself still dies from cirrhosis in 1938, just as in real life.
- Patriotic Fervor: Nationalism is a core tenet of Atatürk's ideology, something that his followers wholeheartedly believe in.
- Religion Is Wrong: As part of his reforms, Atatürk clamped down on the presence of religion in Turkey, advocating secularism in its place.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Atatürk has been dead for decades by 1962. His legacy, however, remains very much alive, albeit tarnished by Inönü's own attempts to carry the torch.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Atatürk had a fairly tense working relationship with Inönü, as his pragmatism clashed with the latter's stubbornness.
Nikolai Bukharin
- 0% Approval Rating: The one thing nearly all the warlords share in common is their disdain for Bukharin, blaming him for the collapse of the USSR and the current warlord era.
- The Aloner: One of the post-apocalyptic events◊ indicates that Nikolai Bukharin, erstwhile leader of the USSR, survived his country's collapse and is living in self-imposed exile somewhere in Russia, partly out of guilt for failing to prepare the Soviet Union to resist Nazism.
- Disappeared Dad: Is this to Svetlana Bukharina, who is now a Left Communist based in Komi.
- Foreshadowing: A very easy to miss example. In the non-canon Halloween event, every single posthumous character is brought back except for him, hinting that his supposed death following the USSR's collapse may not be as certain as it seems. Instigate nuclear war but keep the game running and this will be confirmed through an event.
- Inadequate Inheritor: He was Lenin's successor, but led the USSR to defeat and ensured the fracturing of the Soviet Union.
- My God, What Have I Done?: In his secret event should nuclear war occur, Bukharin has been wracked with guilt over the USSR's defeat to the Nazis during Barbarossa all those years ago, seeing it as the catalyst for German domination of Europe and the ensuing nuclear war.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Bukharin's attempt to industrialize the Soviet Union through the NEP backfired horribly, leaving them weak and vulnerable to the German onslaughter during World War II.
- Precious Photo: The event where he appears in has him look at an old photo of him, Trotsky and Stalin at Lenin's funeral.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Implied during his sole appearance in the nuclear war event, as Bukharin had lived in a cabin, while his daughter is rather likely to die in the early power struggle in Komi. To the public at large however, the inversion of this trope is seen as the truth, with Bukharina seemingly outliving her father.
- Richard Nixon, the Used Car Salesman: In our world, Bukharin was an Old Bolshevik who became a member of the Politburo after Lenin's death, only to eventually get purged by Stalin. In TNO, the shoe is on the other foot as he becomes Lenin's successor and holds onto power from both Stalin and Trotsky while trying (and failing) to implement the New Economic Policy, later leading the USSR to defeat against the Nazis when they come knocking in 1941.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Bukharin was overthrown in a coup and disappeared shortly after the collapse of the USSR, not having been seen since.
- Secret Character: Only appears in person during a random event◊ that only shows following a global nuclear war.
- Self-Imposed Exile: Out of guilt for leading the USSR into ruin, Bukharin exiled himself to a remote cabin in Siberia, never to return to political prominence again. Such is his isolation that the outside world believes he is dead.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Only really plays a role in TNO's backstory, but it's his rule of the USSR that shapes the Russian Warlord era and many of the rulers within in.
- Uncertain Doom: Bukharin disappeared without a trace after the Soviet collapse. There are several versions of his further fate in the mod. It is finally revealed for certain in a post-nuclear ending◊ that not only has Bukharin been alive the whole time, but living in the middle of nowhere out of shame for failing to save the world. While he survives the initial nuking, an aged Bukharin only further laments his inability to save Russia and the world from its fate.
- Walking Spoiler: It's hard to talk about Bukharin without mentioning that he survived the collapse of the USSR but appears only in a nuclear war event.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Despite the nuclear war event revealing he's still alive, there are no events for him reacting to Russian reunification or even reuniting with his daughter should she reunite Russia. Justified as the aforementioned event reveals that he's in a cabin somewhere in Siberia and is more or less in self-imposed exile, perhaps with no way of knowing what exactly has been going on away from the hill on which he lives.
- You Cannot Kill An Idea: Bukharin's ideas are carried on by his erstwhile successor in Irkutsk, Genrikh Yagoda, who builds upon them to advance his own vision for the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, the aborted New Economic Policy is shown to be sound enough that even non-socialist detractors, from the Russian Fascist Party to the Siloviki of Novosibirsk, incorporate some version of it in their efforts to rebuild Russia.
Winston Churchill
- Defiant to the End: Even as Germany landed in Britain, Churchill did not flee to safety in Canada, letting himself get killed without showing any cowardice or submission to the Axis.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: An in-universe case. Churchill is a controversial figure in real-life, but the collaborationist regime outright vilifies him as a "Judeo-Bolshevik puppet" out to destroy his own country.
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán is a respected name across Colombia. When he was elected President, Gaitán ran on a program of liberal socialism and anti-fascism, finally creating equality between the people and the oligarchical elite. In the four years Gaitán spent in office, Colombia transformed into a genuine democracy that sought revolutionary reform through peaceful compromise and cooperation with other liberal democracies, including the OFN. Tragically, Gaitán's tenure was cut short when he was mysteriously assassinated, ushering La Violencia and a period of bloody civil war. Despite this, his legacy is carried on by many, both in Colombia and beyond.
- Ambiguous Situation: Even years after his assassination, no one knows who was really behind the murder of the beloved former President Jorge Eliécer Gaitán. There are all sorts of political actors blame it on different targets because they want to exploit his massive popularity for their own legitimacy and pin the blame on opponents they want dead.
- The Paragon: President Gaitán was beloved and respected across the Americas for his unshakable commitment to democracy as the best form of government, his absolute faith in the people, and his fierce anti-fascism. His wildly successful socialist programs made him an inspiration to all left-wing forces in Latin Americas, and his openness to cooperating with the OFN won him the trust of the US. Gaitán's murder came as such a shock to the region that every South American nation minus Paraguay expressed condolences for his death.
- Posthumous Character: His four-year presidency was cut short when he was mysteriously assassinated, throwing Colombia into the difficult and chaotic period of La Violencia.
- Universally Beloved Leader: Gaitán 's support for democracy and equality made him one of the most respected and beloved leaders in Colombian history, arguably in all of Latin American history.
Joseph Goebbels
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: In the late 50s, Nazi Party propagandist Joseph Goebbels was mortally wounded by partisans in Moskowien, and was finished off by his friend Wolf-Heinrich Graf von Helldorff.
- Gone Horribly Right: Should Goering win the German Civil War and then succeed in all his military campaigns, Nazi Germany would indeed usher in a total war in which it would conquer the world. The problem is that, since nuclear weapons are a thing, there won't exactly be a world left to rule over by the time the war is "won".
- Minor Major Character: Goebbels is long gone in the 1962 setting, but his ideology has been carried on by the German militarist faction and his death sparked the rivalry between Kasche and the SS in Moskowien.
- Predecessor Villain: To Göring as leader of the German militarists.
- Villainous Friendship: He was a personal friend to Wolfgang-Heinrich Helldorff in Moskowien, which made it worse when partisans wounded Goebbels and Helldorff subsequently murdered him to avoid being blamed for the death of a senior Nazi member.
- Villainous Legacy: His ideology of Stratocratic Nazism has been adopted by German militarists (as well as a few other Nazi-adjacent leaders here and there like Bronislaw Kaminski and Veli Kayyum Han), and has the potential of spreading to the entirety of Germany and then the world if Göring wins the German Civil War.
- War Hawk: He relished total war, and believed it to be a solution to all of the Reich's problems. According to him, the Cold War was to be won solely through Blood and Iron.
Eduardo Gomes
Eduardo Gomes was the first President to take power in Brazil after the Estado Novo regime was dismantled, being elected in 1950. A member of the UDN and former ally of Vargas, Gomes' presidency was troubled by an inflation crisis and a need to balance American interests. Yet, the death knell of his party was abolishing the popular minimum wage instituted by Vargas, costing Gomes the 1955 election to Kubitschek. Though Gomes has since taken a step away from the limelight, many of his policies have survived into Lott's presidency.
- Choosing Neutrality: During the attempted military coup of 1955, Gomes remained silent on the matter, withdrawing support for either the military or Kubitschek.
- Minor Major Character: Gomes is still alive, but has very little presence in the mod. Despite this, many of the policies he enacted as President are still around, such as his outlawing of the PCB and industrialization campaigns. He also helped promote his ally, Costa E Silva, to become a general, who may play a major role in politics if the military coup happens.
- Red Scare: As soon as he became President, Gomes banned the PCB through "National Security Laws" after seeing their surprising popularity in the 1950 elections.
- Tragic Mistake: Had Gomes not tried to abolish a popular minimum wage policy established by Vargas, he could've stood a better chance at officially joining Brazil with the OFN.
Chiang Kai-shek
- Irony: He and Mao Zedong were rivals to each other like in OTL, yet died together, fighting the Japanese in Chongqing.
- Keystone Army: Downplayed. His death during the Second Sino-Japanese War destroyed any hope of the Kuomintang liberating China and led to their dissipation, leaving only Wang's puppeted regime. However, some NRA members are still alive and continue his mission to liberate China.
- A Lighter Shade of Grey: Chiang may have been an autocratic dictator when he was alive, but he was preferable to the invading Japanese, who were even crueler to the average Chinese.
Oswald Mosley
- Villainous Legacy: Mosley is long dead by 1962, having been shot by the British government. However, many of his ideas still live on in the Ideologues, specifically under Jeffrey Hamm's wing. One of Fountaine's sub-paths is listening to Hamm and promoting himself into Mosley's successor.
Benito Mussolini
- Fascist, but Inefficient: In the 1950s, an aging Mussolini tried to bolster Italy's place in the world, which turned out disastrously. Coincidentally, many of the issues plaguing Italy by 1962 are directly related to those botched policies.
- Historical Badass Upgrade: Mussolini had a far better run building his colonial empire here than in OTL, turning Italy into a powerful geopolitical force.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: An in-universe example. In OTL, Mussolini is widely criticized and mocked as a buffoon who failed to realize his imperial ambitions and caused so many pointless deaths for a toxic ideology. Here, Mussolini was counted among the victorious Axis powers and became an idol for fascists in Italy and across the world. Even now, Mussolini's supporters still evoke his image to legitimize themselves and call upon the people's nostalgia for the dictator.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: His fascist rhetoric is riddled with contradictions. At one moment, Mussolini could dismiss liberals and communists as pathetic degenerates, but then talk about how they pose a threat to Italy and must be destroyed. Apparently, this never seemed to occur in Mussolini's mind or any of the other fascists still roaming around. (This strange line of thinking, as in OTL, was extended to the Jews by Hitler, with beyond disastrous consequences.)
- Patriotic Fervor: A given for the man who authored fascism. During his reign, Mussolini preached of Italy's past glories, giving him the means to skyrocket into power and justify his militarist ventures.
- The Resenter: Mussolini's resentment towards his erstwhile Nazi allies overshadowing him ultimately boiled over with the founding of the Triumvirate.
- Villainous Legacy: Mussolini's brand of Italian Fascism is carried on by Galeazzo Ciano, who seeks to keep it as it had been when Il Duce died, by Italo Balbo, who aims to make sure that Mussolini's footprint is able to truly endure in the long run, and in a more perverse sense by Niccolò Giani, who's elevated those tenets into a spiritual way of life.
Ruben Um Nyobé
- Keystone Army: His charisma was the key unifying factor of his government. When he was assassinated, the Union collapsed and would've perished, if Moumié didn't intervene.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He was a great military leader, but not a good politician. He proved ineffective in quelling separatist warlords who only sought to pillage Cameroon, which nearly destroyed his country posthumously.
- Occupiers Out of Our Country: Nyobé fought long and hard for Cameroonian independence against France, coming to pass during World War II.
- Patriotic Fervor: He's one of the many pan-Africanists who emphasized black national identity and the need for Africans to unite against imperialist powers who would try to exploit them.
- Rebel Leader: Nyobé spent decades fighting French colonialism in Cameroon and eventually got his wish when they were overrun by the Germans in World War II.
- You Cannot Kill An Idea: Even well after his death, Nyobé's brand of Pan-Africanism continues to inspire revolutionary and anti-colonial sentiment across the continent.
Recep Peker
- Evil Colonialist: In the Turkey starting screen teaser, Peker fully encouraged Turkification policies in the newly conquered territories and Inspectorate-Generals.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: While Peker did not live to see the long-term effects of his reign, his industrialization and education policies would facilitate the rapid growth of urban, educated, and unionized workers' movements in the starting screen teaser. These would become one of the major demographics supporting the DYP in opposition to the CHP, Peker's own political party.
- Posthumous Character: The Turkey starting screen teaser mentions that Peker has been dead since 1950, but the legacy of his premiership is still felt across Turkey and carried on by the Radical Kemalists.
- Villainous Legacy: Recep Peker has cast such a legacy over the CHP during his time as Prime Minister, leaving the party stuck with a reputation for authoritarianism with a progressive streak, furthered by constitutional amendments he led in 1924 and by the Grand Council of Kemalism. These amendments granted near limitless power over the assembly and illiberal policies to fight dissent. His teased personal subideology, Radical Kemalism, is deeply unpopular with the Turkish people and the CHP actively tries to distance itself from his legacy.
- Visionary Villain: Peker envisioned Turkey as a "Jacobin Republic", based on extreme nationalism, authoritarianism, secularism, and modernism. During his thirteen-year reign in the Turkey starting screen teaser, he oversaw a period of extensive industrialization and land reform before he stepped down in 1950 from ill health.
Philippe Pétain
- Dark Lord on Life Support: By the time Pétain was made "Chief of State" in 1940, he became one of the oldest leaders in French history, and was implied to have only grown weaker from there. Most likely he underwent the same descent into senility during the late 40's that he had in OTL, judging by him dying in the same year he died in OTL.
- Decapitated Army: As Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour discovered the hard way, Pétain's charisma and popularity in spite of his ailing health were practically the only things really keeping the Vichy regime functional at all. His death marked the point wherein the French State's fortunes really turned for the worse.
- Fallen Hero: Downplayed. Once hailed as the "Lion of Verdun", he quickly became the face of Fascism in the French State. That said, he remained popular and firm enough to prevent the country from falling apart.
- Family-Values Villain: His motto of "Labor, Family, and Fatherland", which came to be used for the French State, was made to both repudiate the Third Republic and hearken back to what he considered traditional French values.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: In-universe. Despite being a traitorous collaborator and a fascist, Pétain has been romanticized by the French State as a charismatic war hero to justify their own legitimacy.
- In Spite of a Nail: Despite radically different circumstances, he still dies rather quietly of old age in 1951, likely from the same slide into senility he had in OTL.
- Old Soldier: Pétain was already a general when the Great War began, and saw France through the most harrowing moments of the conflict on French soil, including the Battle of Verdun.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Despite his ailing health and ignoble reputation over collaborating with the Nazis, he still remained popular and charismatic enough to keep the French State together. His death, however, would prove detrimental as his successor Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour lacked that same popularity.
- Villainous Legacy: Despite having died in 1951, his legacy still endures in the French State's fragile status quo, and in the Pétainist wing of the Parti National.
Wang Jingwei
- The Quisling: After the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, after which he accepted an invitation from the Japanese Empire to form a Japanese-supported collaborationist government in Nanking. Wang served as the head of state for this Japanese puppet government until his death.
Hasan Saka
- Posthumous Character: Saka was the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1954-1958, representing what is largely seen as a stagnant period, and has since passed away in 1960, as mentioned in the starting screen teaser.
- Resigned in Disgrace: The starting screen teaser mentions that Saka resigned as Prime Minister in 1958, due to a combination of declining health and deteriorating control over the CHP.
- Yes-Man: Hasan Saka was appointed by İnönü to the position of Prime Minister in 1954, using him as a tool for his own policies in the starting screen teaser. During his premiership, most of Peker's economic policies were continued, whilst the democratization efforts remained stalled.
Ian Smith
Ian Douglas Smith is a farmer, politician, and fighter pilot born to British settlers in Southern Rhodesia (nowadays known as Zimbabwe). After the war and the Reich's subsequent expansion into Africa, he was among the White Rhodesians who fled to South Africa, eventually becoming a United Party MP. By 1962, he gains a reputation for fiery speeches condemning both Boer nationalists and universal black suffrage.
- Contempt Crossfire: Despite his relative popularity, he's mentioned as having garnered many enemies among both Boer nationalists and the ANC. This also made it easy for either side to pin the blame on the other for his death.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Even with Ian Smith's political views in mind, he refused to go along with his compatriots collaborating with Reichskommissariat Ostafrika as the Kolonialverwaltung Sambesi, notably Clifford Dupont. He evidently considered working with Nazis as a step too far.
- Historical Downgrade: In our world, Ian Smith gained notoriety as Prime Minister of Rhodesia for much its existence. In TNO, he's simply a South African politician who, though relatively popular, is nowhere near the reins of power and with his assassination later on, will never get a chance to get close.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: While not a German collaborator, Smith still has a racist streak, opposing both universal black suffrage and Boer representation.
- Small Role, Big Impact: His assassination sets off a chain reaction that ultimately leads to civil war in South Africa, OFN involvement, and eventually the South African War.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Smith is killed by an unknown assailant revealed to be on Karl Chmielewski's orders in mid-1962, with his death being pinned on both the Boers and ANC.
Josef Stalin
- The Cameo:
- Just like every dead backstory character, he appears in the non-canon Halloween event where he is resurrected as a zombie.
- Appears in Bukharin's photo of Lenin's funeral along with other members of the Communist party, but with his face crossed out.
- Disappeared Dad: Is this to Svetlana Stalina, who is now a leading figure within Komi's Sovereign Democratic Party.
- Founder of the Kingdom: He founded the West Siberian People's Republic in the aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse along with Lazar Kaganovich.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: Downplayed. While Stalin still has some degree of notoriety in TNO's timeline, his less powerful position means that he's still seen, especially by Lazar Kaganovich and his supporters in Tyumen, as a bold revolutionary whose ideas never really got a chance to shine.
- In Spite of a Nail: Stalin losing the power struggle to Bukharin does not change the fact that he dies from a similar stroke to the one that killed him in real life.
- Out-Gambitted: This version of Stalin ultimately lost the power-struggle between himself, Nikolai Bukharin, and Leon Trotsky that he won in OTL.
- Point of Divergence: As far as we know, his losing the power struggle against Bukharin is this for TNO.
- Posthumous Character: This version of Stalin died in 1955, suffering the same stroke he did in OTL.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He only appears in backstory, and by the time the game starts he's been dead for nearly a decade. But his losing out to Bukharin meant that the USSR lacked the industrial base to beat the Nazis, and the rest is (alternate) history...
- You Cannot Kill An Idea: While Stalin isn't as prominent of a figure in TNO, his ideas live on in Tyumen largely thanks to Lazar Kaganovich.
David Stirling
- Rebel Leader: While the Pakt was stretched thin in the West Russian War, Stirling organized a massive uprising in the United Kingdom, threatening to depose the Chesterton regime.
- You Cannot Kill An Idea: Stirling was executed after the failed '56 Uprising, but this turned him into a martyr for the surviving SOE members, who vow to one day liberate Britain.
Mao Zedong
- Historical Hero Upgrade: Arguably one of the biggest examples of this trope in the entire mod. A man widely considered to be one of the most controversial figures in the OTL 20th century, is nothing but a heroic revolutionary in the timeline of TNO, fondly remembered by his communist peers. Even those who follow in his footsteps are generally Chummy Commies, unlike the murderous Stalinists of Tyumen and post-Taboritsky Orenburg. Interestingly, this was achieved not by the circumstances fundamentally changing who Mao was, but simply by him dying before he could really put his views into practice.
- Hit-and-Run Tactics: Due to his theory focusing much more on the peasantry compared to other branches of Marxism, Mao prioritised rural guerrilla warfare, termed "protracted people's war", over conventional military strategies. This makes Maoism attractive to communist leaders in mostly rural areas like Truong Chinh in Vietnam and Stepan Valenteev in Central Siberia.
- Irony: Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek, bitter enemies in OTL, died together in this timeline.
- Occupiers Out of Our Country: Anti-imperialism was a recurring theme in Zedong's ideology and rhetoric, which is still practiced by surviving CPC members resisting Japan's occupation of China.
- Rebel Leader: Just like in OTL, Mao led an insurgency first against the Chinese Kuomintang and then against the Japanese invaders. Unlike in OTL, that's all he had ever been.
Former U.S. Presidents
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Party: Democratic Party
Ideology: Dynastic Liberalismnote
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1933 to January 20, 1941.- Passing the Torch: In this timeline, Roosevelt decided to respect Washington’s 2-term tradition and entrusts Harry Hopkins, the architect of the New Deal, to run in his place. This decision backfires when Hopkin’s stomach cancer is discovered on the campaign trail, and Thomas Dewey narrowly wins the election by a 0.4% margin.
Thomas E. Dewey
Party: Republican Party
Ideology: Conservatism
Thomas Edmund Dewey was the 33rd President of the United States, serving from January 20, 1941, to January 20, 1949. Under his Presidency, America lost the Second World War and was forced to give up Hawaii and the Treaty Ports to Japan.- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Dewey’s neutering of New Deal policies and concessions to the isolationist wing of the Republican party ended up contributing to America losing the Second World War.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: For all the mistakes and humiliation he endured in his term, Dewey does get credit for taking in Russian refugees who fled from the Far East, successfully giving them a comfortable, new life in Alaska.
- Unfit for Greatness: He was a well-meaning president, but foresight was not his strong suit. His discontinuation of Roosevelt's New Deal and concessions to Robert Taft's isolationists left the country vulnerable and ill-prepared to counter the rising Axis powers. His presidency was such a lame duck that he only won reelection thanks to Eisenhower's popularity and the Democrats' schism between James Farley and Henry Wallace.
- Young and in Charge: Dewey is the nation’s youngest President, being inaugurated at the age of 38.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Party: Democratic Party
Ideology: Dynastic Liberalismnote
Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States of America, serving from January 20, 1949, to January 20, 1957. He won the 1948 and 1952 elections as the Democratic nominee, defeating Robert Taft in 1948 and Ed Martin and George S. Patton in 1952. In the Second World War, he led the American defence of the British Isles during Operation Sea Lion.- Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Eisenhower played a far larger role in fighting the Axis than President Dewey, in which his daring defense of Scotland was a major contributing factor behind Dewey's reelection.
- Landslide Election: Eisenhower won a landslide victory in the 1948 election against the Republican nominee Robert Taft.
- Passing the Torch: One of his last written letters before he passes is a congratulations to Hart, if he wins the presidency, and a reminder of his obligations, entrusting the torch of American liberalism to him. As such, one of Hart's major projects is completing the highway system that Eisenhower built.
- Suffrage and Political Liberation: As President, Eisenhower desegregated the armed forces and passed the first federal civil rights act.
- Taking Up the Mantle: Eisenhower continued many of the New Deal policies advocated for by Franklin D. Roosevelt.
- War Hero: Eisenhower led the American troops in the defence of Scotland, earning him a status as a war hero back home.
- We ARE Struggling Together: His first term was hindered by a bad working relationship with his Vice President, Burton Wheeler, arguing over American intervention in Germany's invasion of Portugal's colony in Angola. It nearly cost Eisenhower a reelection and destroyed much of the momentum and enthusiasm that drove his second term.
Estes Kefauver
Party: Democratic Party
Ideology: Dynastic Liberalismnote
Carey Estes Kefauver was the 35th President of the United States of America, serving from January 20, 1957, to January 20, 1961. Notable accomplishments during his presidency include the admission of Alaska into the union and the creation of NASA.- Hero with Bad Publicity: Kefauver's election proved incredibly controversial, as many had grown tired of the mainstream establishment and sought new blood in the recently formed Nationalist and Progressive parties.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: His destruction of the Akagi Accords and total embargo on Japan kicked off the Hawaiian Missile Crisis, threatening the entire world with nuclear war until diplomats from both sides manage to calm each other down.
Former Japanese Prime Ministers
Tōjō Hideki
Party: Taisei Yokusankai - Dainihon Seijikainote
Ideology: Stratocratic Corporatismnote
Tōjō Hideki was a Japanese politician who succeeded Konoe Fumimaro's seat as Prime Minister of Japan after his predecessor was sacked for incompetence. In his tenure, Tōjō oversaw the escalation of the Second Sino-Japanese War into the Pacific and Southeast Asia, carving a bloody warpath across the continent. Despite his success, the Yokusankai forced him to resign mere months before World War II's conclusion. Though he passed away a few years later, the colonial empire he built still survives and some in the Sphere still regard his militarism fondly, particularly in Manchuria.- 0% Approval Rating: During the later stages of the war, many members of his cabinet and the Jushin such as Nobosuke Kishi, Mitsumasa Yonai, Funimaro Konoe and Keisuke Okada became dissatisfied with his government, eventually leading to his resignation.
- Plot-Triggering Death: His passing in the early 1950's kickstarted the internal power struggle of the Kwantung Army in Manchuria, which continues into the next decade.
- Reassigned to Antarctica: After being ousted from the positions of Prime Minister and Chief of the General Staff, the only position Tōjō held was Chief of the Kwantung Army Staff, effectively exiling him to Manchuria.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Subverted. For the man responsible for Japan's victory over China and the Western powers, Tōjō is largely forgotten about by the Japanese public and the Yokusankai. His ideas are more accepted in Katakura's clique of the Kwantung Army and they're just one faction among many in Manchuria.
- Villainous Legacy: He served as Japan's Prime Minister for the majority of World War II, playing a key part in building their continent-spanning empire. Many of his reactionary ideas are still advocated by hardline Kwantung Army members in Manchuria and token politicians in the Home Isles. It is also represented by the Stratocratic Corporatism sub-ideology, which Katatura follows back in Manchuria.
- Warhawk: Already supervising the Japanese invasion of China, Tōjō widened the conflict's scale by attacking the United States at Pearl Harbor and invading the European colonies in East Asia.
Suzuki Kantarō
Party: Taisei Yokusankai - Onken-hanote
Ideology: Aristocratic Conservatismnote
After the forced resignation of Tōjō, the politicians that ousted him needed a respected but politically unambitious leader to maintain stability until the end of the war. Their natural choice was Suzuki Kantarō, an aristocrat and retired naval officer, who served from 1944 to 1947.- Puppet King: Suzuki had no political ambition as prime minister, only serving during the war as a "national unity candidate" and after the war as a "seat-warmer" until elections could be held.
