History Characters / YoujoSenki

[[redirect:Characters/SagaOfTanyaTheEvil]]

These are the characters of ''Youjo Senki'', note that spoilers for the light novel are marked and unmarked.
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[[foldercontrol]]

!!Main Characters

[[folder:Tanya von Degurechaff]]
!![[spoiler:Lieutenant Colonel]] Tanya von Degurechaff
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tanya_von_degurechaff_anime.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Tanya in Anime]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Tanya in Manga]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2017_03_26_21h03_49.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Tanya in Light Novel]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/youjo_senki_illustration_roman_008.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Voiced by (as Tanya):''' Creator/AoiYuki (Japanese), Creator/MonicaRial (English), Jocelyn Robles (Latin American Spanish)
->'''Voiced by (pre-reincarnation):''' Creator/KosukeToriumi (Japanese), Creator/JoshGrelle (English), Creator/JoseGilbertoVilchis (Latin American Spanish)

->'''Ranks held:''' Warrant Officer -> Second Lieutenant -> First Lieutenant -> Captain -> Major -> [[spoiler:Lieutenant Colonel]]
->'''Affiliation:''' Empire
->'''Profession:''' Aerial Mage[=/=]Wing Commander of the Imperial Army's 203rd Air Mage Battalion and Company Commander of the the 203rd Air Mage Battalion 1st company.

->''"We're soldiers. If the brass tells us to do something, we do it."''

The main protagonist. Tanya is an 11-year old blonde, azure-eyed girl who is the reincarnation of a cold-hearted, ruthless, career-obsessed [[{{Salaryman}} salaryman]] from modern Japan. Tanya has a high latent magical ability, and is the only one capable of using the Type-95 jewel due to Being X's interference. Tanya is quite ruthless and intolerant of failings in others—much the same as in her previous life, and employs several extreme punishments and training methods. She also introduces modern approach to warfare and military training into the Imperial army and finds loopholes in the international wartime law for such things as city artillery bombardment in Arene and urban night raid in Dacia.
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* TheAce: Of the Imperial Aerial Mage force and since Norden, technically of the Air Force for her feat against bomber planes. To put things into context, by the time of her reassignment from Norden Tanya had already accumulated over 40 confirmed kills and over 60 assists. It is noted that Tanya's long-distance sniping often results in unconfirmed kills and her bombardment spells tend to make counting difficult due to mass casualties. Officially Tanya has single-handedly killed more than an entire ''wing'' of enemy mages. In practice, she has a kill count that can be measured in ''air groups''.
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Her appearance in the manga is cuter than both in the light novel and anime.
* AdaptationalJerkass: In the anime, alongside AdaptationalVillainy. Tanya acts, most of the time, as a strict and stern commander with zero humor, or at least light-hearted humor. In the light novel/manga Tanya displays a more relaxed and, sometimes, even comical side of hers whenever the environment isn't serious. While this most likely is all just an act from Tanya to improve her image, she should be credited for at least making the effort to not come off as the cold-hearted pragmatist she deep down is. Her relationship with Visha, her greatest MoralityPet, and her squadron are also significantly colder, an example being when she wished to have left Visha in the Rhine front, whereas in the original source she is actually happy to see her again.
* AdaptationalVillainy:
** Tanya, and the salaryman who would be reincarnated as her, are portrayed in a significantly more villainous manner for each and every adaptation. In the original light novel, the unnamed HR agent did everything in his power to try and save the job of the man who would later find himself fired, but the drug addict stubbornly refused to cooperate. In the manga, the HR agent hates firing people, but not only did he have a quota to meet so as to keep the company itself afloat, but the man who would be fired was habitually tardy, absent without cause or permission, and a major drain on the morale of fellow employees by deliberately performing poorly when he was at work. In the anime, the HR agent is even more callous and is only interested in advancing his career, with his only saving grace being that the man he fires had the previously mentioned poor work ethic, despite repeated warnings.
** Tanya gets this in the anime. The anime mostly focuses on displaying her cold and manipulative side, but even makes her come off as more callous than in the light novel and manga, not to mention it doesn't show the parts that made Tanya more complex and sympathetic as a character. She practically sent two insubordinate soldiers to their deaths, whereas in the original source she simply sent them away (while they did die too, there are no indications that Tanya did this move expecting them to die).
* AmbitionIsEvil: There is almost nothing Tanya won't do to advance her position in order to accomplish her goals of personal safety and power. While this is partially motivated by her desire to spite [[JerkassGods Being X]], she has always felt the need to rise in a hierarchy by any means necessary, as seen in her previous life.
* ArtifactOfDoom: Tanya's opinion regarding her Type-95 jewel, as not only does it [[TheCorruption corrupt her soul]] every time she uses it, it can potentially [[FantasticNuke wipe her and the battlefield out with it]] if she doesn't follow the rules imposed by "[[JerkassGods Being X]]" in regards how to handle it properly. She is not amused about this.
* TheAntiNihilist: Surprisingly enough, her ImageSong paints her as this. In it, she very much tells the men under her how worthless humanity truly is before encouraging those same men to go forth and show everyone that they can still blossom despite their lives being overall fruitless.
* ArmorPiercingResponse: Tanya has a flair for it, as [[JerkassGods Being X]], [[CluelessBoss the Norden front commander]] and [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Erich von Lehrgen]] would be loath to admit.
** In the Light Novel, "Being X" is unhappy when the salaryman gives [[VillainHasAPoint justified reasons]] on why he doesn't believe in God and where "Being X" went wrong with his business management. Which landed him to his current fate, a life under peril as the salaryman said and completely missing the point.
** When the North front commander rejects her suggestion on halting their winter offensive move, refuse [[HonorBeforeReason to see reason]] and told her to GetOut of Norden. Tanya delivers this trope in full SarcasmMode that she has a duty to inform him that they have no obligation to send their own men on a suicide mission with their strained supplies to please their enemies, excuses herself for [[GuiltyPleasure overdosing her coffee with milk]] since Norden have no worries about supply, then reminds him in a roundabout way that he has no authority to dismiss her who is '''loaned''' to Norden for Rudersdorf's use.
* {{Asexual}}: Tanya doesn't show signs of attraction to men or women, or even interest in romance. Then again, she's still a little girl with the mind of a {{workaholic}} adult male that also was single in his old life, who may be uncomfortable thinking about sex with a female body.
* AtLeastIAdmitIt: Tanya is well aware that she's a not a good person, and has issues. The (chronologically) first episode even has an internal monologue, "I have every complex known to man."
* AxCrazy: She is definitely less than sane. It isn't quite as evident in the anime, but in the manga it is stated very clearly that she just wants to be in the rear or, failing that, to have the best possible meat shields around her. Coupled with her LackOfEmpathy, this often leads to her acting with excessive violence and subjecting those around her to TrainingFromHell.
* BadassBookworm: Tanya fosters this reputation during her days as an officer cadet and, to a much larger extent, during her training in the Imperial Military College. She displays tactical acumen, strategic planning, logistical vision, and has insights far ahead of her age and her time. Tanya is known for spending a lot of time reading in her spare time and in the various libraries available to her. This is partially justified by her early 21st-century knowledge from her previous incarnation. From his narration, not only did he go to university but is apparently very well-read. Thus, Tanya has the benefit of ''two'' university educations. The badass part, of course, comes from using this fantastic knowledge and mental ability to fuel the spectacular performance in combat that earned her the rank of Major in less than three years in military service.
* BecomingTheMask: Her rather overzealous demeanor in combat starts off as a facade that she puts on to impress the higher-ups, the better to climb the ranks of the army. However, over time, she does start genuinely enjoying herself in battle [[BloodKnight a little too much]].
* BerserkButton:
** She does ''not'' tolerate insubordination lightly. Of the last three who tried, one nearly got his head split open with her magically-enhanced rifle bayonet, and the latter two who refused her direct orders to withdraw from an enemy artillery position, saving soldiers' lives as an accidental by-product, went on to then refuse their honorable discharge, which even she admits is ''very lenient'' in the world setting, because they were actually glory hounds; she sets it up so they die by enemy artillery fire, in ignominy. This was true even back in Tanya's original life as a salaryman. While firing an employee, she is clearly rather annoyed by the man's failure to follow company policies.
** She especially hates Communist, seeing their policies as antithetical to her free will ideology.
* BlasphemousBoast: She ends the stinger of episode 12 with one. See RageAgainstTheHeavens below.
* BlondesAreEvil: Tanya has blonde hair ([[MasterRace and blue eyes to boot]]), and she is... [[VillainProtagonist not a particularly nice person]].
* BloodKnight: What Lehrgen and her enemies think about Tanya. [[spoiler:She eventually does become this, becoming a freelance mercenary years after the war, simply to alleviate the monotony of everyday life.]]
* BornInTheWrongCentury: ''Literally''. Having once been a modern human resources manager in life and still fully aware of her previous incarnation, Tanya suffers from this. Whereas most Imperial soldiers believe in [[WarIsGlorious glory]], she retains the general modern belief that WarIsHell, resulting her in making constant miscalculations when trying to predict others' behavior. Tanya's knowledge and past life experiences, while more or less normal in the modern world, have resulted in nigh-revolutionary ideas within the Empire. She also misses the food she ate and drank during the modern Japanese era and dislikes most of the German food she has to eat. Her modern approach to warfare is from literally decades into the future, and while it gives her a clear advantage, it also makes everyone terrified of its cold, calculated, evil ways.
* BullyingADragon: On the receiving end in episode 11. The episode reaches its end with a ''gunnery sergeant'', drunk on his authority as the regional governor of the Republic capital, being obstructive and petty when Tanya requests his aid to stop the fleeing Republic soldiers before they become a menace on the high seas, since Tanya saw on a map that the "armistice" literally led to the Empire putting a noose around its neck. When he refuses to see reason, Tanya reminds him that she is ''a Major'' and has the authority to go around him if she has to, which she then does, with the warning that if she fails due to his obstruction, [[WarIsGlorious history won't look on him kindly]].
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Tanya's basic response to overzealous reaction to her presence, as at this point she is completely unaware of her epithet as "Devil of the Rhine" and how much their enemies are aware of her as their big gun. This reaction is justified in Tanya's part, as she kills anyone close enough to fight her so she is under the impression that she is still an unknown to their enemies. So far, the Republic has only one recording of Tanya in action, and that's the first time they ever saw what she looks like.
** Although she's aware that she met Anson Sue before, she has a hard time remembering where when the two clash in the Osjd Fjord. Of course, since she turns him into a corpse because he foolishly charges her, after she had spared him, due to having completed her mission, and having no actual grudge, she ultimately decides it doesn't matter.
* ButNotTooEvil: Tanya's uniforms, [[BlondesAreEvil her hair color]] [[MasterRace combined with]] [[IcyBlueEyes her eye color]], her [[LackOfEmpathy nasty disposition]] and the fact that she fights for a nation that obviously parallels Germany in a war often [[MisaimedFandom mistaken to be World War 2]] (it's actually a different war brought about by a different course of events in the parallel world, which amalgamates elements from World War 1 and World War 2 alike) all earned Tanya the unsavory nickname "Nazi Loli", have caused cosplays of her to be banned at many events as "Nazi fetishism", and probably turned quite a few people off even giving the story a shot. In reality, Tanya - while a nasty piece of work in her own right - has very little to do with ThoseWackyNazis' delusions and displays nothing even remotely resembling antisemitism or any form of FantasticRacism (while she does display nationalistic tendencies in line with the general sentiments in the Empire, those seem to be mostly part of the mask she puts on to get promoted). The author has gone on record that he hates the Nazis unconditionally and hates the nickname "Nazi Loli" for Tanya, insisting that making her into a Nazi would have instantly robbed the story of all possible nuance and complexity as it is impossible to portray Nazis as anything other than pure evil. Interestingly, Tanya does make one reference to [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]] with what seems to be a bit of admiration, calling him a "demonic genius", though she seems to be referencing his [[RousingSpeech unquestionable skills as an orator and a demagogue]] rather than justifying his horrific policies.
* CastFromSanity: In order to use her highly unstable Type-95 jewel, she has to pray. Problem is, every time she does so, her Atheist-persona gradually [[DeathOfPersonality erodes away]] in favor for a more [[JeanneDArcheType "Being X-friendly"]] personality in its place with more and more severe memory-blackouts as a consequence.
* ChestOfMedals: At such a young age, Tanya is a massively decorated soldier and field officer that even some officers of the Empire questioned the authenticity of her achievements[[note]]One officer of the Eastern Front even states that maybe the results are inflated, much to Zettour and Lehrgen's chagrin.[[/note]].
* ChildProdigy: What the Empire sees her as. This trope is subverted and zigzagged in that while Tanya IS a child and has repeatedly demonstrated skills, knowledge, and mental development far beyond what someone her age should have, she is also a reincarnated male human adult who is ''fully aware'' of her previous incarnation. Even Tanya herself admits that she was never a genius of any sort during her previous life and she simply has the benefit of a lifetime's worth of experiences.
* AChildShallLeadThem: She fulfills this trope whenever she gets a commanding position, especially once she becomes a battalion commander at the tender age of 11. [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]] in that the only thing about her that is child-like is her body.
* ChildSoldiers: Nine years old in her first engagement. The irregularity of this is noted, but as Tanya points out, she doesn't really have any other options, being an orphan in an impoverished nunnery (and because, due to her innate magical ability, she'd be drafted anyway later).
* TheChosenOne: Despite not wanting to be, she is the only thing "God" / Being X is interested in on her current version of Earth, to the point she actually gains incredible power from her magic equipment when she prays to him, which it all but outright forces her to do. Deconstructed in her battle with Anson Sue, where both end up praying to God for the power to strike down their enemies. Despite Anson being a loving man with a family, it's only the sadistic, orphan Tanya's prayer that gets answered (quite literally), allowing her to easily kill him. [[spoiler: Although "Being X" does backhandedly grant his prayer in the anime, animating his corpse and trying to kill Tanya.]]
* TheCorrupter: Although unintentional on Tanya's part, her proposed ideas, strategies, and philosophies based on modern warfare (written during her time at the Imperial military academy) are gradually being adopted by many Imperial officers. These new methods are practical and efficient, enabling the Imperial army to recover and strike back at its enemies effectively after being on the verge of defeat. However, because these same methods encourage a cold, calculating mindset like Tanya's, Imperial officers like General von Zettour are slowly becoming more ruthless than before. This is one of the reasons why Lt. Col. Erich von Lehrgen fears Tanya's influence over the Imperial army.
* ColonelBadass: [[spoiler: Tanya is [[TheDreaded regarded highly by both Empire and enemy forces]] alike.]]
* CosmicPlaything: Being X is determined to break Tanya's resolve and force her to worship it, treating everything around her as a sadistic game while doing so.
* CowardlyLion: Off the battlefield, we can observe Tanya's attempts to weasel out of active duty and get herself a cushy job as far away from the frontlines as possible, reacting with shock and horror, or at least significant displeasure, when these inevitably fail. However, on the battlefield, we practically '''never''' see Tanya demonstrating even a shred of fear despite the very real danger and the grim consequences that await her if she were to die, in fact, she always comes off as a BloodKnight. This is likely an affected demeanor to some extent but it's clearly not '''all''' there is to it.
* CreepyChild: She's only ''11'' years old, and is utterly batshit insane.
** InUniverse, many adults find her at the very least disconcerting if not outright terrifying. Mainly because while Tanya ''looks'' adorable, she does not act, think, or speak like a child. There is a certain degree of the UncannyValley effect to see a young child act completely like an adult.
* CustomUniform: Light Novel vol. 5 bonus pages reveals that Tanya has to order all her uniforms out of pocket because obviously there are no child-sized uniforms. Even her first uniforms were docked from her pay.
* CuteAndPsycho: Watch her for one moment pretending to act like the adorable little child she looks like and then watch her the next brutally wiping out enemy forces with the fiendishly calculating mindset of the human resources manager she used to be.
* CuteBruiser: While she didn't follow traditional example of this trope she is pretty proficient in using her rifle to knock down opponent much bigger than herself and more than once kicked adult male hard enough to knock them off.
* CuteIsEvil: Tanya is a pre-pubescent girl with an almost cherubic doll-like appearance. Starkly contrasted by her cold ruthlessness, completely sociopathic personality, and the blatant enjoyment she takes while killing her enemies.
* CombatPragmatist: Played with, she will follow the rules and laws of International War to the letter, but she also emphasizes those are "open to interpretation" and she is an expert at exploiting loopholes to win. Her strategic thinking also de-emphasizes [[GloryHound glory]] in favor of victory by any means necessary, a virtually unique trait in the Empire.
* DanceBattler: Lampshaded in the Light Novel and manga by Republican that the way Tanya dodged continuous fire is like dancing. It's noted that Tanya has only medium accuracy in shooting, but is unmatched in aerial acrobatic-like movement that gives her an edge even prior to gaining the Elenium-95 computation orb, as she has no problems shooting while upside-down, thus gaining better momentum than her opponent as shown in her first real battle against Entente's mages.
* DarkActionGirl: During her life as a soldier, Tanya has singlehandedly decimated or completely destroyed entire armies and mage squadrons. This is due to her powerful magical abilities and her unique Elenium-95 jewel, which gives her an edge over her opponents by allowing her to fly at an altitude unachievable to most mages. This trope is played with given that Tanya is an 11-year old girl with the mind of a ruthless male adult.
* DidNotThinkThisThrough: Defied. Tanya clearly thinks through her words and actions very, very carefully. Unfortunately, when he, as the Japanese salaryman, first encountered "Being X", the entity engaged in borderline MindRape, not only reading the salaryman's thoughts without permission, but basing its reactions and judgements of him purely based on the very first thoughts that popped into his head as a direct result of its provocations. If "Being X" was subjected to human laws and courts, it would be heavily guilty of entrapment.
* DidNotSeeThatComing: While Tanya is intelligent enough to fully comprehend why unexpected things, and unintended consequences, happen to her, her unique worldview does give a glaring blind spot that causes her to suffer frequent unexpected setbacks, some of which are completely avoidable in hindsight. For example, Tanya does realize, in the seconds before impact with the train, that a man who is fired for rampant drug abuse and deliberately poor work performance is someone who runs purely on emotion, and would prioritize immediate gratification while completely ignoring long-term consequences. I.e. he will happily push a man to his death in front of a train just because it makes him feel good, but completely ignore how he's now guilty of murder, before numerous witnesses and security cameras, and how ''that'' is going to affect him and his family.
* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: In the moments before his death, the salaryman that would be reborn as Tanya dissed God something fierce when He talked to him. [[DoNotTauntCthulhu This has led to his current predicament of being a child soldier in a magical world war...]]
* DiggingYourselfDeeper: Tanya has an unfortunate habit of doing this without intending to. From explaining why people's faith in God has dwindled (to said God's metaphorical face), leading her to becoming Tanya in the first place, all the way to how explaining to a Brigadier General how the world could be going into a World War and what the Empire would need in order to be able to fight in it, which in turns leads her to being promoted into a Major and leading her own battalion, when all she wanted was to be a [[ArmchairMilitary rear echelon]].
* TheDreaded: In both the light novels and manga, Tanya is regarded as one of their greatest threats by the enemy countries. She is a "Named Ace of Aces" (noted enemy ace with over 50 kills in aerial combat) who is only recognized by her magical signature as every opponent that encounters her does not survive to see what she actually looks like. There was only one chance that the Republic got to look at Tanya's face.
** One of the officers from her own military regards her as this due to her abnormal mentality and proposition of Total War as a doctrine. He was even more disturbed when he found a work dealing with loopholes in international military law to legalize city artillery bombardment.
* DrillSergeantNasty: Accidentally bordering on SergeantRock. Tanya does not pull punches while training soldiers because she wants the entire battalion to drop out, which accidentally means that she's exactly the right kind of drill sergeant for a BadassArmy. She's tougher on them than the enemy could ever be, and they thank her for it because they all know she has gone through worse than they ever will, and ''does'' look out for their well being, though they're not aware that she's just using them to protect herself.
* DudeLooksLikeALady: In the manga at least, Tanya's former life as a male usually looks fairly defined and obviously, well, male. However, when a flashback of his childhood is shown, he pretty much ''was'' Tanya with short hair and glasses.
* EnslavedTongue: She is forced to subconsciously pray to Being X every time she activates her "blessed" Type-95 jewel.
* EntertaininglyWrong: She frequently attempts to stand out so she can have be comfortably assigned to the rear, however everything she does only makes her superiors see her as a model soldier who wants to fight on the front lines.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** In the light novel, when the salaryman analyses himself he claims that he has always honored his parents, that he is pro-animals' rights, never stole anything, never borne false witness against another and never committed adultery.
** While she is clearly ruthless and lacks empathy (and admits it), she constantly states that every action of her has a purpose and if a vicious act doesn't have meaning and a rationale, she refuses to do it.
** While she has little to no empathy for her fellow soldiers, she loathes superiors and peers who endanger them needlessly. She hates wasteful military spending. And the extreme MoralMyopia from the surrounding enemy nations really serve to piss her off.
** Seeing civilian militias beat, torture, and shoot unarmed and bound Imperial soldiers, for nothing but self-righteous "fun", makes her so furious that she loses all hesitation in exterminating them, man, woman, or child, even though she takes no joy from it.
* EvilOrphan: While the audience knows that her family status has nothing to do with her sinister nature, no one in the series other than Being X is aware of anything other than Tanya's origin as one of many war orphans.
* EvilVirtues: Ambition (it helps that her goal is quite down-to-earth rather than something like assuming control over her nation or TakeOverTheWorld), Determination (especially admirable considering that her main opponent is God), Resourcefulness and Valor. If it wasn't mostly due to her LackOfEmpathy, Tanya could have actually be the paragon others see her as.
* ExpressiveHair: In the anime, her idiot hair twitches when her emotions change, or she's deep in thought.
* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: Tanya fills this in ''spades''. Quite a number of people are taken aback by her cute stature, not aware of her pragmatic and ruthless nature.
* TheFakeCutie: Tanya is more than willing to act like an innocent little girl as a psychological tactic, whether by ramping up a puppy dog stare as the finishing blow in convincing a rival officer with a daughter to retire early, or as a means of ExactWords when she is required by law to warn an enemy position of an incoming attack... and does so in the cutest voice possible, ensuring no one listening takes the warning seriously.
* FlatEarthAtheist: The salaryman who would become Tanya doesn't believe that "God" is... well, {{God}}, as he doesn't believe the world could possibly be as screwed up as it is, if an all-powerful, benevolent being actually existed. And since it doesn't identify as the Devil, he therefore decides to refer to it as "Being X".
* GenderBender: Tanya used to be a man in her previous incarnation. She doesn't let this bother her most of the time, since she prefers to focus more on building her military career. The manga showed the salaryman in his childhood as near-identical to Tanya, implying at least in that version that Tanya is physically similar to what he would be like if female.
* GenderBenderAngst: [[DownplayedTrope There are some hints]] that she still prefers to see herself as a man. Her military uniforms give her some degree of masculinity and, in an [[BonusMaterial omake]] anime episode, she is disgusted at the prospect of having sex as a woman. She also felt humiliated when she had to wear a dress for a propaganda photo.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: If you see Tanya's normally blue eyes gain a [[SupernaturalGoldEyes golden glow]], you are probably seconds away from getting blasted to kingdom come as it's a sign that she is about to cast a spell.
* GoblinFace: she's prone to scrunching up her face. Especially when she's in battle or giving a speech.
* HardWorkHardlyWorks: Subverted in her first life, played straight as Tanya. The first life as an HR manager was, in his own words, not a member of the genius elite who had to claw his way up to where he was, which is why people who don't pull their weight piss Tanya off. As Tanya, she plays it straight by being made extremely magically adept and, when combined with her adult consciousness, elevates her to the rank of Major months before her 12th birthday.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
** Tanya's excellence in combat, loyalty to her country, and demonstrated successes have all contributed to her ''not'' achieving her goal of a rear-echelon posting. Her superiors see her as so reliable that they purposefully send her into the thick of the fighting, as their trump card against the enemy. After feats such as training an elite mage wing in a month, routing a division with a battalion-sized formation (i.e. a minimum of 6x difference in ostensible combat power), and defending a vital supply depot against a bomber squadron and three wings of enemy mages, HQ is convinced that she would be wasted in a desk job. If you have a problem, you can solve it by throwing the 203rd Imperial Mage Wing at it.
** This is also how her previous life ended: shoved into the path of an oncoming train by a worker whom he, as a salaryman, had callously fired earlier that very day.
* HopeSpot: In episode 10, the SuicideMission is a success, and the Republic's SuicidalOverconfidence has led them into a trap where attempting to flee just invites death, thus meaning the end of the war is near. [[spoiler:Then Anson Sue shows up with a wing of mages and shoots down 2nd Lieutenant Granz.]]
** It happens ''again'' in episode 11. After winning a major and extremely risky victory, where none of her mage company comes out unscathed, her superiors and country's government, drunk on the spoils, settles on an ''armistice'', a temporary ceasefire, that allows the Republic to regroup, rearm, and rise again, to strike back at a later time. What's worse is that, when Tanya warns them of the consequences, they yell at her to shut up and stand down.
* HypocrisyNod: In the light novel, she herself states that while she is capable of violating others' freedom, though she states that this would only be made if truly necessary, she hates Being X for violating hers.
* HypocriticalHumor: After volunteering for the military at the tender age of 9 and distinguishing herself in her first combat engagement, Tanya wonders if there is some sort of child protection agency she can turn to when she realizes her exploits would probably get her a front-line posting.
* IcyBlueEyes: If you are close enough to see the two shards of ice in her eye sockets then you are either A.) already dead (if you are an enemy), B.) likely subjected to training from hell, (if you are a subordinate) or C.) subject to a cold calcuation of your value as a resource (everyone else).
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Even Tanya was hesitant to lead an artillery attack on the city of Arene, if for no other reason than there's no sport in attacking civilians. When she sees said civilians attack Imperial soldiers who are bound, unarmed, and showing no resistance, even shooting and killing one who ran away InTheBack, [[ThisIsUnforgivable all her hesitation vanishes]], [[KillThemAll and she carries out her orders to exterminate them with a grim resolve]], [[TranquilFury and absolutely no joy in her actions]].
* IdiotHair: One that is just as [[FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon crooked]] as she is mentally.
* IgnoredExpert: Despite proving her keen strategic insight ''repeatedly'', and overcoming one ImpossibleTask after another, most of the top military brass chooses to outright ignore her, at best, whenever her opinion, accounts, or firsthand observations fly in the face of their preconceived notions. This comes to a truly heartbreaking head in episode 11, where her superiors pass up the chance for complete victory in favor of an armistice, after a very costly campaign, and completely order her to stand down, or be executed by firing squad!
* ILikeThoseOdds: Tanya often said variation of this line in front of her superiors in earnest voice she could muster, of course... it's just for show.
* ImprobableAge: While the audience knows the reasons behind it, almost all the brass of the Empire's military are in awe that a little girl of 9 earned the Silver Wings Assault Badge and again when she is promoted to Major[[note]]This was forcibly done in order for the reinforced wing unit, which has 47 other people under her command, to be formed[[/note]], made into the de facto commander of a rapid-response wing unit, and gains the prestige of being one of the military college's Twelve Knights, most of which are later granted lesser nobility status, at the age of 11.
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: There are some hints throughout the story that Tanya's drive to succeed in life is motivated by a need to prove herself superior to others and to [[BeneathTheMask cover up her own deeply disturbed mind]]. Although her current goal is to find personal safety through a rear-line military position, she is also deeply insecure on the inside and is constantly afraid about how others perceive her, driving her to do whatever she can to maintain her good public image. This is also one of the reasons why she [[CowardlyLion is not a coward]] despite her fear of death on the battlefield. In an omake anime episode, Tanya expressed appreciation for Viktoriya's respect (behind her back), demonstrating her need for others' respect.
* InnerMonologue: Tanya often has these when she is assessing a situation, explaining her own strategies to herself and expressing her true feelings from within.
* ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne: From Tanya's point of view, all of her problems in the new world are Being X's fault, and is all too happy to stick it to the guy in whatever way possible. Justified in that Being X wants her to worship him, and believes throwing her into increasingly desperate situations will ultimately force her to submit.
* ItsUpToYou: She leads an autonomous unit, so the brass wouldn't interfere in '''how''' they complete their mission as long as they get the job done. While Tanya enjoys the autonomy of her position to an extent, she didn't appreciate the escalating difficulty of their missions because the brass seems to think she and her battalion are the solution for all trouble.
* JeanneDArchetype: [[{{Irony}} Hilariously enough]], Being X and and her own machinations make her into a model soldier, known as an Ace among Aces, leading her own battalion, who's even featured in internal military propaganda and is ''literally blessed by "God"'', despite being a preteen girl. In the manga and Light Novel, her subordinates think of themselves as Vanguard for the Apostle of God. It didn't help that at one point, she started to wear a rosary she doesn't remember buying, and her need to pray before deploying large-scale spell with her Elenium-95.
* JerkassHasAPoint: In the last moments of her previous life, he fired a man despite his pleas. Said man had missed work without permission or reasonable excuses and had poor work performance despite multiple warnings. In her current life, Tanya punished two subordinates. These men disobeyed a direct ethical order from a superior officer, ostensibly in order to save lives from enemy artillery. While the men made a moral choice, insubordination should never be encouraged in a military institution.
** When they made her aware that they were actually glory hounds, she was right to not only assign them to a rear bunker, but do it in a way where they would be killed by enemy fire.
** On an early training detail, when she was the training instructor, a cocky teen soldier did ''everything'' in his power to undermine her authority, including insulting her age, and would actively endanger the rest of the class by deliberately disobeying her orders. Even Imperial law officially sanctioned her attempt to kill him by cutting his skull open with her combat knife, and she would have done it if an officer superior to her didn't just happen to pass through and stop her.
** When confronted by a subordinate about slaughtering retreating militia, she calmly beats the crap out of him and points out that they are soldiers and they must follow their orders, shooting everyone until told otherwise. In addition, she also points out that these civilians would not show mercy at a later date and even children would grow up to become enemy combatants one day. Every enemy life spared meant more Imperial lives lost.
** Finally, she points out to Erich von Lehrgen that while the Empire has the right to logically conclude that the war had been won, people as a whole are not entirely logical creatures. Those that the Empire defeated will definitely come back and fight again, even if there's no logical point in doing so, for no other reason than because they want revenge. Tanya wanted to continue the war to ensure that their enemies are completely crushed in order to put an end to the CycleOfRevenge caused by the war.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Tanya is definitely willing to give her underlings a shoulder, but only as long as it is promotes her goals. She does fake the comradry convincingly, though.
* KnowWhenToFoldEm: [[spoiler:In the web novels, the Unified States officially declares war on the Empire during the final year of the World War. Upon learning this, Tanya realizes that the Empire's ultimate defeat had become inevitable. Remembering Germany's ignoble fate in the aftermath of World War II on her former world, Tanya proposed a plan to the Imperial military leadership that would enable the Empire to retain its territory and dignity. The plan's first stage involves the commencement of all-out, near-suicidal attacks on the Empire's enemies in order to exhaust their soldiers and resources as much as possible and a [[SaltTheEarth scorched earth strategy]] to prevent valuable Imperial resources from being captured. This would eventually give the Empire's enemies a PyrrhicVictory, making them more receptive to the plan's second stage, which is when the Empire will sue for peace and several concessions, rather than being forced to accept a humiliating unconditional surrender. In addition, a top-ranking military official would take responsibility for the Empire's "war crimes", giving many other Imperial officers a chance to survive. With this plan, the blow of the Empire's inevitable defeat would be softened. The Imperial leaders accept this plan, allowing the Empire to survive as a country in the future despite its overwhelming defeat.]]
* LackOfEmpathy: Tanya is incapable of thinking of others and everything she does is for her own selfish goals.
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: After some amount of time, Tanya realizes gaps in her current memory are starting to show. [[spoiler:It turns out using the power of God through her Type-95 is causing gradual mental corruption that threatening to overwrite her original, atheist personality with a much more pious one that acts out of her control.]] She takes drastic measures to try to ensure it doesn't occur again.
* LaughingMad: She does this very often. The first time, chronologically, is when she's told to hold off a squad by herself for ten minutes; note that this was her first combat situation, and to prepare for a fight to the death she magically dopes herself with stimulants and painkillers.
* {{Leitmotif}}: One that consists of OminousLatinChanting.
* LeonineContract: She is a victim of one. In both the manga and light novel adaptations, "Being X" goes into exquisite detail regarding the use of the Type-95 jewel, and tells her that "using the jewel is not mandatory", but every time she does, it will require her to voice a "prayer" to itself that it chooses by momentarily taking control of her consciousness. In the light novel, Tanya goes on to compare her end of the bargain to that of a kidnapped man who is summarily dumped in a desert, but then told "it's not mandatory" to drink water from the well right next to him.
* LimitedWardrobe: She is rarely seen out of her military uniforms, which is justified. Given her workaholic traits, it is unlikely that she would feel the need for civilian clothes. It is also possible that she uses her uniforms to remind herself of her former masculinity and the legal authority she wielded in her previous life.
* LivingLegend: Tanya is the only living recipient of the Silver Wings medal after surviving her first sortie against Anson Sue which ended in a victory for the Empire. From then on, she builds a reputation as a fearsome soldier [[RedBaron known to her allies as "Argent" and "The Devil of Rhine" to her enemies]].
* LoopholeAbuse: Part of why Tanya is seen as a ruthless but effective soldier is that she has no problems taking advantage of loopholes in military doctrine and international rules of war. She even wrote a thesis about how to legalize artillery attacks in cities by going around the international laws. This thesis was implemented in the Battle of Arene.
* MagicalIncantation: In order to use more powerful spells, Tanya says a short prayer to Being X. Justified as Being X made it so that her Type-95 jewel won't produce the required power output she needs if she didn't pray first. Tanya considers the jewel to be cursed because of this.
%%* MadEye: The anime version shows this often when angry.
* MaskOfSanity: Tanya is capable of pretending to be a capable and loyal, if brutal, officer as well as a sympathetic human being who cares for others. Only Lehrgen and those unfortunate enough to end up as her subordinates have been able to see past her mask thus far (some enemy soldiers also, but they don't really count, since their lifespan from the time they see her can be counted in minutes on one hand at most).
* MilitaryMage: This is Tanya's function within the Imperial Army. She has performed several roles as a mage including observation, artillery and [[SkyConsumingDogfight dogfighting]]. Later, she becomes the commander of her own battalion of mages. Tanya is also powerful enough to decimate entire military units ''[[OneManArmy alone]]''.
* MoralSociopathy: Combined with JerkassHasAPoint, she does have reasonably firm moral lines and displays significant contempt for those who breach them. She hates war and fighting, considering them a waste of resources, endeavors to always obey the rules, despises laziness, and views HonorBeforeReason attitudes as pure selfish pride.
* MortonsFork: Even before she becomes aware that over-performing on the battlefield leads to her being sent to the front lines, where she clearly does not want to be, she lampshades in her internal monologue that the Empire punishes "cowardice" and "dereliction of duty" with death, so she really has no choice but to over-perform, even if she knows that it just makes her superiors more likely to send her to the front lines. Ironically, the one time she ''was'' given a rear-echelon job, she was in an even ''more dangerous'' situation, i.e. testing the Type-95 jewel under the dictates of the Empire's top MadScientist.
* AMotherToHerMen: True, she is rather brutal and ruthless when it comes to discipline, but she does genuinely treat her subordinates the way a mother treats her children. Praise them when they do well. Discipline them when they do wrong. Most importantly, she does provide for and protect them when they're in trouble. She also does everything in her power to make certain they don't get into trouble in the first place.
* {{Narcissist}}: Tanya's defining character trait; as mentioned in InferioritySuperiorityComplex above, she demonstrates constant concern about how other people see her and as a result constantly tries to showcase her superiority to others. In addition, Tanya has repeatedly demonstrated the extremely self-centered mindset typically associated with narcissists in her inner monologues and outright admits that she has absolutely zero empathy towards other people.
* NayTheist: Even after becoming aware of the existence of an entity that claims to be God and displays powers comparable to those one would expect God to have, our main character refuses to acknowledge this entity as a deity worthy of worship and adamantly refuses to pray except when essentially strong-armed into it.
* NightmareFace: Her [[SlasherSmile Slasher Smiles]] shows this impression ''a lot''. Her beyond psychotic grins could rival ''ComicBook/TheJoker''.
* NominalHero: Tanya is amoral, has a cynical outlook on life, and has no real concern for the people around her aside from how she can use them to her advantage. She does what she does for purely pragmatic reasons, [[SubvertedTrope in stark contrast]] to [[IdealHero the ideal hero]] the Empire sees her as.
* NoNameGiven: We never learn the name of Tanya's previous incarnation.
* NotAllowedToGrowUp: An in-universe example. Tanya is worried that at eleven, she is still short and [[NoPeriodsPeriod hasn't even had her first menarche]] and suspects Being X is at fault. A female medical staff officer assures it's most likely due to being malnourished during her younger years, along with the strenuous life of a soldier.
* NotDistractedByTheSexy: She notes in an omake short that she's spent long enough in her new life to think of herself as a female and not have a reaction out of other nude women. Though she is also ''eleven'', so she could simply not yet have the hormones for a proper sex drive.
* OccultBlueEyes: Tanya has frigid blue eyes and frightening magical power, and so some people have compared her to a devil or witch. Or worse, a vampire, as Viktoriya sees her.
* OneManArmy: Tanya has singlehandedly taken out entire mage platoons all by herself before getting to lead her own battalion.
* OminousLatinChanting: Her {{Leitmotif}} consists of a spin-tingly church chorus, which is ironic given who her nemesis is (or claims to be).
* OrderVersusChaos: Chapter 19 of the manga reveals that Tanya is neutral in this debate, acknowledging that freedom without regulation leads to destructive chaos; while regulation without freedom leads to tyranny and totalitarianism.
* OrphansOrdeal: Invoked and discussed, Tanya uses this as her excuse for joining the military at her ridiculously young age. She tells a classmate from the military college that, as an orphan, she didn't have much choice in employment despite her talent and intelligence.
* PacifismBackfire: All her attempts to give her enemies a chance to peaceful surrender, which are either sincere, pragmatic, or simple formality usually fail to be peaceful. Though to be fair, she does so with confidence that she could deal with the fire, [[ProperlyParanoid and more often than not will have set precautions]].
* TheParagon: On the surface, Tanya is every bit what an Imperial soldier should strive to be. A harsh disciplinarian that still cares about the lives and safety of her troops. A stupendously powerful and brutal warrior that still adheres to international laws. A person with a sharp tactical mind, unflinching courage, and unquestionable loyalty to her country. An officer that nevertheless remains humble and respectful to even non-commissioned officers. A devout believer in religion who often calls upon God to bless her country. All of these would make her an inspirational figure; the fact that she is a young girl as well, only makes the adults around her vow to work harder. The subversion, of course, is that the audience can hear her inner monologues and knows that much of her image is fake.
* PastLifeMemories: Tanya remains fully aware of her previous incarnation and carries over her experiences from that into her current life. Because of this, she has the skills, knowledge, drive, and personality of a ruthlessly efficient modern Japanese human resources manager, in addition to the military training and combat experience gained in her new world. At officer training school, Tanya used her knowledge about the [[UsefulNotes/SengokuJidai Sengoku Period]] to develop answers to theoretical battle situations and wrote a thesis paper that demonstrated modern logistical streamlining. She has also used her knowledge about the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI first World War]] to propose the concept of "Total War" to defend the Empire. Tanya also occasionally lets slip references from her previous life such as comparing her life as a soldier to that of a {{salaryman}} under her breath and shouting "Tamaya!" when witnessing an exploding weapon factory (Tamaya was the name of an old Japanese fireworks maker and is a word that the Japanese people often use to express their thrill for fireworks). In an [[BonusMaterial omake]] anime episode, Tanya admitted to her subordinate Lt. Matheus Weiss that she once had a "by-the-book" attitude at work like he did, but she later grew out of it.
* PetTheDog:
** Visha claims that after the other drill sergeants treated her differently for being a conscript, Tanya treating her with respect was surprising to say at least. Unlike other moments where she acted nice to improve her reputation, this kind act of Tanya is 100% genuine, as she holds nothing more but respect towards Visha, who she deems not only competent but reliable as well.
** She takes her second lieutenant's crisis of faith for the nervous breakdown it is, not as an act of insubordination, and gives him a rare moment of leniency, despite gaining nothing from it, and knowing it would be much easier to kill him and wipe out the fleeing "militia" and their mage bodyguards herself.
** On Episode 11 she pushes one of her soldiers out of the way of an enemy attack and takes the hit. This is one of the most noticeable signs that she [[TookALevelInKindness grew to care for her soldiers, even at the risk of her own life]].
* PickyEater: Although she has no choice, Tanya doesn't like most of the German food available to her now, especially sauerkraut. She misses the food she once ate in her previous life and particularly misses modern coffee.
* PintSizedPowerhouse: Often happen to Tanya because of her petite body, especially when she was up against a full squadron of Mages from Entente in her first mission. Since then, she has taken a new level in fighting against enemies much bigger than herself both in body and number. In her first mission, she killed four and gravely injured two mages of Entente, then annihilating a full squadron of mages above the Rhine, and in her latest exploit in Norden, she shot down at least five bomber planes by herself.
* PragmaticVillainy: Tanya's basic approach in life: Despite being actively sadistic, she constantly considers how her actions could affect her position in social organizations on a long-term basis. Tanya acts professionally and unselfishly when on the job, only because doing so would give her a better chance at career advancement. Having a job where she can be ruthless is just one of the perks. Also, Tanya dislikes war in general, but only because it's often a waste of productive lives and precious resources.
* ProfessionalButtKisser: She is basically never ''not'' thinking about career advancement, and every word from her lips is either a truth or a lie intended to help her advance. It's only when she finds a superior to be incompetent that she actually breaks, but only because she believes it'll help her pal up with the even higher-ups that will eventually get her incompetent boss removed.
* PowerGivesYouWings: A strange example in the manga, as it's not Tanya who gets wings but her computation orb. Elenium Type-95 is originally shaped like a regular orb, but the blessing from Being X gives the orb three wings to emphasize its status as a holy relic. Although it does gives Tanya an ability boost to fly higher.
* PunchAWall: Tanya does this after the [[WonTheWarLostThePeace Empire decides to accept the armistice from the republic]] in Episode 11.
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: Tanya goes from being an atheist to full-on misotheist with some [[GodIsEvil maltheist]] philosophy after being forced to pray to God in order for her Elenium Type-95 to work, calling Being X a [[PrecisionFStrike "vile piece of shit"]]. By the end of episode 12 Tanya is out to treat Being X the same way her previous incarnation did with the incompetent worker--fire it.
-->''Our battlefield have no place for that piece of shit God! It's time we take over God's job, we soldiers will take God's place. Put the arrogant ass, God, out of the job!''
* ReasonBeforeHonor: Is a big believer in this but knows that the world works opposite to this paradigm, as it is in fact the whole reason she's the way she is in the first place: because the employee she fired wanted immediate vengeance against her previous incarnation, over realizing that he was fired for very good reasons. Actually, the RevengeMyopia of the nations against the Empire is one of her pet peeves.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: To a certain extent. While she has absolutely no sympathy for those who fail to meet her standards for a good soldier and refuse to follow her orders, she does make sure that those who prove themselves to be good soldiers get the recognition they deserve. This is, of course, purely pragmatic, as her inner monologues clearly shows she does this to look good to both her superiors and underlings.
* TheRedBaron: "Argent" ("Hakugin") by her own side. The "Devil of the Rhine" by her enemies. In the later volumes, [[spoiler: she's widely known as "Rusted Silver".[[note]]This is because when blood dries up, it gives a colour similar to silver oxide (silver rust) in solution.[[/note]]]]
* RealityIsUnrealistic: Her existence and resume is regarded as either Empire's propaganda or Republican's figment of imagination by other allied countries prior to their personal confrontation with Tanya.
** After receiving Intel on Tanya, the Entente's councilmen could hardly believe her resume[[note]]which says she is a female officer that graduated from Military College as 11th ranked honorable knight, currently a major in rank with several medals. A pious girl around ten years old who attends church on weekends, yet has a kill count of over seventy, and registered as the "Devil of Rhine" in the Republican database,[[/note]] so they concluded Tanya sounds like several things mixed together and likely just malicious propaganda from the Empire's part. So they decided to not inform their subordinates because the intel is unreliable and send Anson's battalion on the rear as precaution.
** In the light novel prior to confirming her mana signature, the Allied Kingdom thinks Tanya, The Devil of Rhine was a ''fictional'' Named the Republican was daydreaming of. They largely ignore intel on her, but come to check it nevertheless with setting up a HQ for volunteers they send to help Entente. Even after they detected her mana signature, the officers still wonder if they were suffering from mass hallucination before double-checking and confirming that The Devil of Rhine is indeed a real person. Even then, they're still sceptical about her resume and decided to [[CuriosityKilledTheCast keep watching]]. Upon detecting [[MagicMissileStorm artillery spell]] being invoked by Tanya, they were still in disbelief because Tanya was kilometers away until the said spell hit and blasted them along with their HQ.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Only happen once, but when Tanya unleashed enough mana to overload her 'standard' operation orb her eyes turned red and she blew up half of a Mage Squadron in her first battle.
* ReincarnateInAnotherWorld: Tanya had this done to her by Being X at the start of the series.
* ReligiousBruiser: An involuntary example; she is forced to "pray to god" by Being X every time she uses her Type-95.
* {{Salaryman}}: In her previous life, Tanya was a classical but ambitious Japanese [[{{Workaholic}} workaholic]], having reached a high position as a human resources manager and earned the Talented Employee Award from her company for establishing efficient business processes. She is still a workaholic, having no life outside her duties as a soldier. Because of this, Tanya appreciates hard work and has no patience for those who can't, or won't, pull their own weight.
* SarcasmMode: Tanya's chosen method to express her displeasure to her superiors as she couldn't go DrillSergeantNasty on them, usually overlap with her flair in ArmorPiercingResponse.
** One of the best example was her emphasize on how much Norden Theatre's commander underestimate their strained supplies. Since Norden Army is so sure they have enough supplies, she could be excused for some GuiltyPleasure. So she poured generous amount of milk to her coffee,[[note]]Tanya drinks her coffee black, the milk most likely served for her under assumption a young girl would like her drink sweet. Making it even more apparent to Lehrgen who knows her taste.[[/note]] spilling it everywhere.
* SchmuckBait: In light novel, the Devil of Rhine is famous for fishing enemy mages with flying at insane height by herself, thus fooling them in thinking she is a vulnerable lone mage separated from her squadron. Double as BaitTheDog as some Republican Mages thought she is doing a LastStand to delay them with putting herself at vulnerable altitude, and they sympathize with her bravery. Then they find out how '''wrong''' they are.
* SelfMadeWoman: Once she was born into her new life, Tanya had no one to turn to but herself. With her opportunistic nature and through sheer willpower, she has raised herself to the upper echelons of a military institution. Although Being X has influenced events that enabled Tanya's rapid rise through the ranks, it did so only for its own selfish, sinister purpose.
* ShellShockedVeteran: Comes across as this at the Academy, since she's constantly carrying and keeping her rifle in mint condition, which is seen as extremely weird by everyone else.
* ShowyInvincibleHero: Despite being a VillainProtagonist, there is something just so overwhelmingly satisfying about seeing her utterly obliterate her enemies.
* ShroudedInMyth: In 1967, 40 years after the end of the World War, [[spoiler:which the Empire lost]], all official records of Tanya's existence are destroyed, encoded or classified, while the rest were lost in the chaotic aftermath of the World War. Former enemies of the "Devil of the Rhine" [[WrittenByTheWinners still consider her a monster]] while Imperial eyewitnesses from the war often give conflicting, fantastical and/or wildly inaccurate accounts of Tanya's accomplishments, giving her something of a mythic status to military historians. A team of journalists dedicated to uncovering an objective historical record of Tanya have named her the "Eleventh Goddess", in reference to the eleven X's used to classify her name (DEGURECHAFF) on recovered World War papers and connecting that to the eleventh card of the Major Arcana Tarot, Justice. At an annual remembrace ceremony for the Arene massacre, Tanya (whose name remained unknown) was known as the alleged "rational" leader of the mysterious Imperial battalion V-600 that committed the massacre. Despite having followed wartime protocols to the letter at the time, the battalion was remembered as the best (in combat ability), and the worst (in morality), of Imperial soldiers.
* SlasherSmile: Tanya has a habit of giving this whenever she's killing her enemies. Sometimes, she also gives this when punishing a subordinate. This may be because she enjoys displaying her "superiority" to those who are obviously "inferior". The manga and light novel reveal that she's just doped on both chemical and magical painkillers and stimulants.
* SociopathicHero: One interpretation of Tanya's character and what she arguably becomes by the end of the World War. Despite her [[MoralSociopathy lack of morals]], Tanya is a ruthlessly pragmatic, logical and worldly-wise war veteran with a strong sense of order and ethics. While she [[LackOfEmpathy lacks empathy to others]] for the most part, she has a pragmatic understanding of social behavior, enabling her to predict the actions of others with unnerving accuracy. Because of these traits, as Erich von Lehrgen eventually realizes, Tanya could very well be the embodiment of how to survive and succeed in the madness that is war.
* StealthHiBye: Due to her small body, agility and capability to reach altitude beyond standard of air mage, Tanya often appears out of nowhere to her enemies before they meet their demise. In sixth episode Tanya did pull this off on pilots of Entente's bomber plane. She drops by right in front of their cockpit when they're not looking, before dropping a grenade to their cockpit.
-->''"Good day gentlemen, and goodbye."''
* TheSoCalledCoward: In episode 7, after being asked, in her capacity as a renowned strategist with numerous war accomplishments, for her honest opinion regarding the offensive strategy being employed against a major Republic stronghold in Entente territory, and honestly pointing out its flaws, she openly gets called a coward because she doesn't support an obvious suicidal charge where the front lines have a very high probability of being cut off from their supplies and being starved to death. This makes her so angry she nearly crushes the crystal coffee cup she's drinking from with her bare hands.
* TheSociopath: Tanya displays many traits of a high-functional sociopath. The most noticeable is that she has a LackOfEmpathy, being very prone of seeing others as mere pawns and her AMotherToHerMen attitude is mostly out of PragmaticVillainy, such as ensuring that they remain loyal to her and that skilled soldiers don't die without need, and doesn't show remorse for her actions. She is a skilled manipulator that will use her knowledge and appearance to exploit others and hides her cold and calculating nature under a kind and cute façade. She is an ambitious narcissist that constantly seeks both the advancement of her career and the approval of others, though this is mostly out of compensation for her inferiority complex.
** [[ZigZaggedTrope Zigzagged]] due to the fact that she possesses Visha and other soldiers as MoralityPet and that she actually feels guilty for troubling Lehrgen, implying that she might have a very low sense of empathy, rather than a complete lack of it.
* SoldiersAtTheRear: Most of Tanya's actions throughout the series are motivated by her desire to gain an easy and safe rear-echelon job. However, her own butt-kissing, as well as Being X's intervention, make this task pretty much impossible.
* SoProudOfYou: To Viktoriya. Tanya is both astounded and impressed at Viktoriya's superb work-ethic and dedication to duty, despite being conscripted to the front lines, against her will. At least in the light novel, this is something Tanya does not hesitate to tell her, and is another reason Viktoriya [[UndyingLoyalty is so determined to be Tanya's adjutant, come hell or high water]].
** Tanya also express this to her squadron commanders and Grantz, she sees of how much they grow to be dependable subordinates and told them to grow further as soldiers.
* SplitPersonality: Tanya has started to develop one. [[spoiler:In chapter 11, she reveals that during 601st training, she used the Type-95 so much her consciousness blacked out. She awoke to hear herself paraphrasing [[Film/FullMetalJacket GSGT Heartman's speech]]. Later on, she found herself wearing a rosary she doesn't remember buying and there are hints that her prayers, [[PerspectiveFlip at least on the enemies' side, that do make look like a]] JeanneDArchetype.]]
* SpringtimeForHitler: Everything she does to wind up with a cushy rear-echelon job either doesn't help at all or worse, only convinces her superiors to send her back to the front lines.
* StockLightNovelHero: Tanya Von Degurechaff is a very dark take on the genre that twists the cliches. It involves a cynical atheist Japanese HR manager who was a {{jerkass}} to his workers, leading one of them to murder him by pushing him in front of a train. The man was then confronted with a being who claimed to be {{GOD}}, only for the bitter atheist to not only refuse to believe the God (who he dubs "Being X") but to challenge him on how the world didn't need any faith. Angered by this, Being X punished him by [[TrappedInAnotherWorld reincarnating him a world of magic and constant warfare]], in the body of a little girl named Tanya Von Degurechaff, who finds herself as a powerful [[ShowyInvincibleHero unstoppable]] sorceress fighting in what resembles World War I. While the empire she serves sees her as a hero, Tanya is concerned for no one but herself and only seeks to further her own power and self preservation.
* StraightEdgeEvil: She really hates smoking and even praised one of her lieutenants at the end of Episode 6 for his abstinence from smoking. Unfortunately for Tanya,she now lives in an era where EverybodySmokes and has to constantly deal with the heavy smoking that her superiors practice.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: Quite literally. Her IcyBlueEyes eyes turn gold when she uses her magic.
* SurroundedByIdiots: She does not think very well of both her immediate superiors, and their bosses at the very top of the chain of command. Her assertions actually tend to be proven correct far more often than not, as their own greed for military accomplishment and war technological superiority needlessly endanger her, her men, and the fate of the country as a whole on a repeated basis.
* TakingYouWithMe: In a calm, rational manner, she comes to the conclusion that this is the best ploy available to her in her first combat situation where she, alone, is set upon by a wing of enemy mages with superior equipment, and she's not only forbidden from retreating, but she's informed that reinforcement and rescue is at least 10 minutes away.
* TargetSpotter: This was Tanya's first job as an Imperial mage soldier.
* TechnicalPacifist: While the world view her as a BloodKnight Tanya would like to think of herself as a pacifist reincarnation of modern Japan salary-man. Though, Tanya's attempt at being a pacifist is rarely sincere, mostly pragmatic or formality because the international law said so. Once peaceful negotiation fall, she has no problem following order to completely crush her enemy. However, this could be in an attempt to end the war as quickly and efficiently as possible, and though apathetic to the deaths of her enemies, she still considers war to be vile thing, due to its unproductive nature.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Tanya is a firm believer of this and with a good reason due to the nature of aerial mage world, where becoming an ace with five recorded kill of enemy mage is already a tall ordeal. Mages are very tough to kill a numbers advantage, which Tanya frequently fights against. Her solution is large scale bombardment, which kills her target either by explosion, or the oxygen deprivation and carbon dioxide poisoning right after. In close combat, she usually mutilates her opponents to make sure they're dead.
** This is also why she lead her battalion to Dacia's capital to destroy their weapon factory.
* ThousandYardStare: PlayedForLaughs, Tanya gets this when she is forced to have a makeover for [[http://i.imgur.com/Pzd4avy.jpg propaganda photos]].
* ToBeLawfulOrGood: In episode 11 she is conflicted by this. She could go against her superiors' orders that demanded her to respect the armistice and destroy the Republic's fleet before they escaped, thus saving the Empire from a second war, though she most certainly would have been executed for this, or obey their orders and be forced to stand powerless as the Republic prepared to start another war. She decides to do the Lawful choice, but she is clearly enraged and on the verge of tears since peace was so close to be achieved.
* TookALevelInKindness: As time passes, she treats her battalion with genuine kindness, not as meat-shields, even when she would gain nothing from it, such as saving the life of Lt. Wiess, at considerable risk to herself. As such, she is genuinely shocked and outraged when 2nd Lt. Grantz is shot down by Anson Sue in episode 10.
* TrainingFromHell: Tanya deliberately subjects her battalion recruits to this in an effort to discourage them from forming the new rapid-response battalion, thus allowing her to save face while giving herself another chance to get a rear line position. Instead, the training instills a healthy amount of fear and respect in the recruits for Tanya, driving them to complete the training.
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Zig-zagged since she is not an actual child, but most adults view her pragmatic tactics and ruthlessness in battle as this.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: On the receiving end of this by her superior by episode 12, being called an arrogant soldier who didn't know when to stop. Tanya barely showed emotion, except from when Lehrgen called her [[BerserkButton loved by the God of War]] she then calmly explained why he and the Command HQ were wrong, explaining that HumansAreFlawed and will continue to fight beyond rationality.
* {{Unperson}}: The constant threat that "Being X" has hanging over her head. If she dies in this alternate reality, she's gone, forever, with nobody remembering she ever existed. Small wonder she wants to spite "it" at every opportunity.
* VillainHasAPoint: Presuming prayer works like currency, the male salaryman was correct in that people generally won't offer something for nothing. Even people who donate to charity tend to do so in return for feeling good about seeing positive results. Since "Being X" was really offering nothing in exchange for devotion to itself, and that includes failing to acknowledge the prayers of its faithful, it's entirely responsible for the lack of faith that it was bemoaning. Unfortunately for the protagonist, and humanity in general, it prefers to drive people into praying to itself in fear and desperation, rather than making prayer attractive by actually offering something in exchange up-front.
** Further, it's very difficult to believe there's a ''benevolent'' god in charge considering the many ills of the world, which "Being X" callously ignores, purely to focus on Tanya.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Tanya is this to Lt. Colonel Erich von Lehrgen. Having once seen Tanya's ruthless nature, he sees her as a monster who could potentially lead the Empire to ruin one day. However, most of the Imperial upper military echelons are prepared to ignore Tanya's quirks due to her great abilities and deeds as a soldier. In addition, the Imperial army and the citizens of the Empire see Tanya as a national hero.
* VillainProtagonist: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin It's right there in the title]]. She is arrogant, ruthless, egotistic and only interested in personal benefit. When it comes to achieving her goals, she is willing to do ''anything'' to achieve them.
* VillainSong: The ending theme, "Los! Los! Los!", is definitely this.
* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:Suffers a massive one near the end of Episode 11, when the Empire calls for a armistice with the Republic rather than finish them off.]]
* VocalEvolution: A subtle example. Over the course of the anime series, her voice gets progressively more mature, since she is still a growing young girl.
* TheVonTropeFamily: Earns the "von" prefix to her name by becoming one of the Twelve Knights of the Military College, giving her status as a minor nobility.
* WarGod: In the novels, Tanya has been regarded as this by both friend and foe. Both even describe her as the God of Death and the Empire's enemies spared no expense in taking her down.
* WhatYouAreInTheDark: In the original light novel, Viktoriya's leg is broken as a direct result of the avalanche triggered by the careless shouting of one of the other soldiers that would go on to become the 601st flying battalion. While Tanya publicly chews her out for the broken leg, in private, Viktoriya is well aware that Tanya is directly responsible for saving her life, at great risk to herself. What's more, Tanya doesn't ''want'' anyone else to know about it, despite being well aware of how big a PR boost this would give her. This serves to make Viktoriya aware of how much she is a MoralityPet for Tanya, and makes her dedicate herself to being Tanya's conscience from that point on. Serving Tanya faithfully, regardless of the consequences.
* WriteWhatYouKnow: An in-universe example, while in officer school, Tanya wrote a thesis for logistical streamlining based off modern distribution and inventory practices.
* WrongGenreSavvy: Tanya makes constant mistakes as she forms her mage wing due to this. For a rationalist born in pacifistic Japan, Tanya reckons that emphasizing WarIsHell would be enough to drive away all potential recruits to her wing. However the prevailing attitude among the military is that WarIsGlorious and thus they see her harsh pamphlets as nothing more than an exhortation for them to display their patriotism. Tanya forgets that the "esprit de corps" of the Imperial Army is especially strong and the other armies are just itching to help out their comrades in the Northern and Western armies. Particularly egregious as Tanya should be aware that it was the First World War (which she is currently living through) that finally did in the notion of a glorious and honorable war.
* YouHaveFailedMe: In the first episode Tanya decides to send two of her subordinates back home for insubordination, which she admits was exceptionally lenient. They protest her decision, in the name of "glory" asking to return victorious [[ExactWords or dead]], so instead she has them reassigned to man a fortified pillbox [[spoiler:knowing that such fortifications are prime targets for artillery barrages. She was counting on them being blown to smithereens by enemy battery fire leaving her hands clean.]]
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[[/folder]]

[[folder:Viktoriya Serebryakov]]
!!2nd Lieutenant Viktoriya Ivanovna "Visha" Serebryakov
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/viktoriya_serebryakov_anime.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Visha in anime]]
[[caption-width-right:350: [[labelnote: Visha in Manga]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2017_03_26_21h29_16.png [[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/SaoriHayami (Japanese), Creator/JeannieTirado (English), Erika Langarica (Latin American Spanish)

->'''Rank:''' Second Liutenant
->'''Affiliation:''' Empire
->'''Profession:''' Aerial Mage/Second-in-command of the 203rd Air Mage Battalion 1st Company

->''"I too am a soldier of the Empire! It may sound presumptuous, but I believe I am capable of completing this mission!”''

Viktoriya is a Second Lieutenant in the Imperial Army and serves under Tanya Degurechaff. Viktoriya is in actuality a refugee from the Rus Revolution, and her family was originally a member of the Rus aristocracy. She and her whole family were forced to flee to the Empire, and later she was conscripted into the army. Having served under Tanya in the Rhine Theater, Viktoriya is more familiar with Tanya's true personality, to which she shows fear, but also respect. As a result of knowing Tanya, Viktoriya is more able to keep up with Tanya's mindset as compared to other soldiers.
----
* ACupAngst: In the light novel, she is jealous of her roommate Elya because, despite living on equal conditions and being basically of the same height, her friend has '' curves in all the right places''.
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: For both the anime and the manga. The anime gives her more cutesy features like overly large eyes, while the manga has her more seductive with longer flowing hair.
* AdaptationalCurves: Downplayed. Viktoriya is notably more voluptuous in the anime compared to her manga and light novel versions, however her bulky flight uniform makes this difficult to notice.
* AdaptationDyeJob: She has blonde hair in the novels/manga but gets light brown [[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya Mikuru]] hair in the anime.
* AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul: In the anime, Visha is aware of the fact that her superior Tanya is not exactly a good person, as she is terrified of her, but she still admires and respects her as a commander. In the manga, she believes that Tanya is deep down a good person and that her DrillSergeantNasty behavior is her way to ensure that her soldiers are well prepared.
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: In the original light novel, she sees Tanya as a SergeantRock, not as a sadistic OmnicidalManiac, because Tanya turned her expectations on their head by ''praising her'' for being a hard-working conscripted soldier. Tanya also berated the two ''volunteer'' enlisted soldiers that came with her, telling both of them she expected them to work twice as hard, as the armed forces have no time or space for entitled incompetents. In every other unit, Viktoriya found herself in, the reverse was true, and she was utterly treated like crap.
* BigEater: Downplayed. She eats more than the other soldiers, but considering the setting of this series as Victoriya is the only character {{in universe}} shown enjoying the food, and ate at least twice the amount her fellow soldiers eat. Even Tanya is surprised about Victoriya eating K-bread as a snack. Even with her youngish age, her fellow soldiers are amazed she could [[WeightWoe gain weight]] during wartime as a frontline soldier.
* BornLucky: In poker, at least – in Episode 10 she is the sole winner of their poker night.
** She may be UnluckilyLucky in some case, for getting stuck as Tanya's partner from the get-go. However, being Tanya's partner plays a large role in her career advancement and survival, but also lands her in the most dangerous battles.
* TheBusCameBack: While admittedly it was a short bus ride, she left as a corporal and returned as a second lieutenant and Tanya's adjutant.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: She is the second main focus of the story, and for being Tanya's greatest ally.
* EveryonesBabySister: Seems to hold this title amongst her fellow officers, despite being Tanya's adjutant and second-in-command of 1st Platoon.
* EyeColorChange: Notable in its absence. Despite being highlighted as one of the strongest and most skilled mages in the setting, her eyes don't change color when she uses spells. Everyone else's does.
* GenreSavvy: Viktoriya is well aware that she is living through a WarIsHell story during Tanya's intensive training regimen rather than a WarIsGlorious story. When Tanya is talking about helping out a friendly artillery unit to get rid of their old shells, Viktoriya is already grabbing an entrenching tool and digging herself a shell scrape while the rest of the wing is still gaping at their commander.
* HeroWorship: Among Tanya's subordinates, Victoriya is noticeably more devoted, with half of her monologue praising her commander, ranging from calling her Fairy, Apostle of God, Angel, and Patriot.
* ImpoverishedPatrician: Implied due to her being chased off by an alternate rendition of the Red Army during the fall of the expy Russian Empire.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: In episode 11, she shoots Anson Sue with a high-speed, armor piercing round InTheBack while he was holding Tanya tightly, intending to self-destruct. What makes this improbable is that the round hits him in the heart, while hitting Tanya in the shoulder after the exit wound, with Viktoriya unable to see where the bullet would hit Tanya since Anson was blocking her view.
* MilitaryMage: Like Tanya, Viktoriya is also an Imperial mage soldier. While usually [[OvershadowedByAwesome overshadowed by her commander]], she is a competent officer and mage who has quickly matured during her time as a soldier.
* MoralityPet: Viktoriya is the one person in the entire setting that [[VillainProtagonist Tanya]] treats even remotely kindly, on genuine feelings, even when Tanya has absolutely nothing to gain by it. Viktoriya, while quick to pick up on it, does not push her luck, and continues to prove herself as being worthy of having the role of Tanya's adjutant.
* NonstandardCharacterDesign: Interestingly, while most human characters are depicted using roughly same art style both in the manga and in the anime (rather realistic for adults and standard magical girl for Tanya), the anime art style for Viktoriya would be better suited for a much younger audience, making her look extremely inexperienced.
* NumberTwo: She serves as Tanya's adjutant after going through officer school, although she is not second-in-command of the 203rd Aerial Mage Wing, that honor belonging to 1st Lieutenant Weiss. In their first battalion, Victoriya still serves as her second in command and the one who leads the group whenever Tanya goes solo.
* ThePollyanna: She has so much unshakeable faith in her commander, Tanya, that while everyone else is terrified of the upcoming SuicideMission in episode nine where none of them can rest easy, she's shown to have fallen soundly asleep while sitting at a table.
* ServileSnarker: At least in the anime, Viktoriya keeps Tanya honest with periodic witty one-liners. Viktoriya is the only one Tanya lets get away with it, because as far as Tanya's concerned, she has more than earned the privilege.
* ShovelStrike: In the manga during the battle of Osje Fjord, Viktoriya's melee weapon has become her trench shovel rather than the normal bayonet or combat knife.
* TookALevelInBadass: She becomes a significantly more capable soldier after going through officer school. Tanya isn't entirely pleased with this outcome, however, as she feels having someone too competent as a subordinate could jeopardize her chances of getting into rear echelon duty... [[{{Irony}} ignoring the fact that her desire to show her competence as a subordinate is what actually keeps getting her placed on the front lines]].
* TrialByFriendlyFire: In episode 11, she shoots Anson Sue in the heart while he was holding Tanya in his arms and trying to detonate himself. While this shot also hits Tanya, it does ultimately save her life.
* UnconsciousObjector: In the stinger of episode 10, when she falls out of bed, thrashing around in her sleep, and Gantz scoops her up to tuck her back in, she not only threatens him with an explosion spell, but punches him in the face, all while talking in her sleep about "eliminating the enemy" and questioning Tanya on further orders.
* VomitIndiscretionShot: After she had her day in the trenches, she vomited from shock.
* WarriorTherapist: In addition to being Tanya's adjutant, she serves this role, to the point of being TheHeart and gives the men in Tanya's battalion the encouragement and brief therapy they need to avoid breaking down altogether, to their surprise.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Visha's main motivation for trying her best as a soldier, even though she is a conscripted soldier. She [[UndyingLoyalty idolizes Tanya]] and craves her acknowledgment above all else. Which [[SoProudOfYou Tanya returns]], as she acknowledges Visha as a talented and devoted subordinate.
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[[/folder]]

!!V601/203rd Mage Batallion -> [[spoiler:Salamander]]

[[folder:General Tropes]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2017_04_04_19h28_29.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Tanya's elite Batallion]]
[[caption-width-right:350: [[labelnote:Squadron commanders minus Tanya]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/commanders.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]

Imperial Army 203rd Air Mage Battalion is a rapid response force led by Tanya von Degurechaff, formed in the year 1925 to realize Tanya's suggestion of ''Attritional Containment Doctrine'' to Zettour. Known by their elusive "V601" codename in the future, they have been wiped out from history, with only their recruitment notice left as evidence of their existence. An elite force consisting of 48 active Aerial Mage with powerful Type 97 Elenium Orbs, giving them the capability to fly more than 8,000 feet above sea level and somewhat match Tanya's firepower and mana efficiency. An autonomous unit specialized in guerilla and covert missions.
----
* BadassCrew: After they completed Tanya's training program that made even veteran soldiers pause, officers in charge of human resources like Lehrgen remarked that they're the best batch of Flight Mages the Imperial Army has ever seen.
* ComedicSociopathy: They're subordinates Tanya trained personally after all, who remarks they're competent enough to ''enjoy'' war. They're more often than not playing along with Tanya's black humor. Sometimes even Tanya has to stop them from going too far. This trope is not as apparent in the anime as in the manga and the light novel.
--> "Welcome to the Empire, did you bring your visa?"
--> "Hahaha, Wing Commander, I forgot the welcoming flowers, what should I do?"
--> "Sigh, you troublesome fellows. Didn’t we bring fireworks as a substitute?"
--> "Oh right. Let’s set them off grandly then."
* DanceBattler: In their inspection parade and performance in the battlefield, it's noted that while they're not as swift as their commander, their graceful movements as if they were playing hide and seek is envied by other Aerial Mages in the army.
* DecapitationStrike: One of the Elite Battalion's specialties, since Tanya proposed this doctrine to Zettour during their chat in the War College.
* InspirationalInsult: On the receiving end of this from their commander during their training, and whenever they get in trouble with her.
* HypocriticalHumor: With their commander, especially in the manga. Both sides often refer to each other as [[AxCrazy war maniacs]].
-->'''Tanya''': ''Speaking of good news, except for myself, the subordinates I recruited are all fellows with the scent of battle maniacs.''
-->'''203rd Battalion''': ''Our commander is still smiling, she is really a battle maniac.''
* ItsUpToYou: Considering who [[UnluckilyLucky their commander is]], and their position as a Rapid Response Force, they're more often than not on the receiving end of this trope. They're also an autonomous unit so the brass wouldn't interfere in '''how''' they complete their mission as long as they get the job done.
-->'''"It seems the brass wants to work us like draft horses."'''
* ManlyTears: In the sixteenth chapter of the manga, in response to Tanya's show of patriotism and mercy for enemies.[[note]]That rousing line is just her excuse for her tears, she is just touched she gets to drink wine at last in this reincarnation.[[/note]]
* MasterOfIllusion: Their initial test is spotting illusion, which is in line with their commander's favorite tactic ''Decoy Fishing'' that makes use of an optical illusion spell. Unlike Tanya, who deploys this spell as bait, her battalion uses this in tandem with evasive maneuvers, making them impossible to track in the heat of battle, on top of their higher combat aptitude.
* MidSeasonUpgrade: [[spoiler:After the Battle of Dodobird, Tanya is required to form a kampfgruppe, which she does under the name "Experimental Kampfgruppe Under The General Staff" codenamed Salamander. During its experimental phase; the unit comprises of Tanya's original 203rd Air Mage Battalion along with a reserve air mage company serving as the "anvil" to the 203's "hammer." A paratrooper battalion after the initial 322nd infantry troop disobeyed orders and was subsequently replaced; a self-propelled artillery unit with old model 15cm guns on modified Republican armored cars; and a tank company armed with Panzer IV Ausf. Gs. The practice period saw the paratroopers become a reinforced infantry battalion whose initial commanding officer went MIA. The creation of this unit is what allowed Tanya to be promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.]]
* MilitaryMage: A rapid response force consisting of 48 Aerial Mages.
* OneDialogueTwoConversations: Tanya's subtle signaling never really gets through to her subordinates, yet they act like it did and she never finds out.
* ServileSnarker: The squadron commanders, plus Visha from time to time, will follow up Tanya's remarks whenever the brass give them the most unpleasant and dangerous job with witty remarks. While Tanya is more lenient to Visha for this, she doesn't mind their jokes from time to time and would stop them from getting too far, like the time they wanted to play with a Dacian soldier's corpse in the manga.
* TrainingFromHell: Tanya's special menu that Lehrgen summarized as ''Stalked by death for a whole month.''[[note]]A hell week, a demanding training in anti-interrogation and wilderness survival (SERE) followed by a long distance marching exercise through the alpine mountains while prohibiting magic use. The last one was done under extreme conditions of half a bottle of water and no food provided, with a knife shared in pairs as their sole tool.[[/note]] And by the author, ''Booted off of Alpen.'' which is literal to some of them, who were unfortunate enough to fall off when scaling said mountain, Viktoriya included. No one died, but whoever lost consciousness was kicked awake by Tanya, or in Viktoriya's case [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan slapped awake]].
* TwoGirlsToATeam: Tanya and Visha are the only female members of the 203rd. There was one more potential member, and she was on the right track to passing the SecretTest but failed due to being too good of a soldier to question a superior officer who turned out to be a decoy illusion.
* UndyingLoyalty: They would curse Tanya out as laughing and commenting on her quirks behind her back, but there's no doubt they are very devoted to their commander. [[spoiler:After witnessing their commander's rage and grief after losing a number of their comrades, it becomes hard to tell whether they're more loyal to Tanya or their country.]]
* WeaponOfChoice: Their magic powered rifles.
* WithFriendsLikeThese: Their collective opinion about their commander, whom they fear more than any hellish battlefield. Even her smile traumatizes them and is taken as ''You're dead if you don't work hard,'' while at times Tanya means it as encouragement. As Visha aptly put it below,
--> '''Visha:''' "Ah, there was an ally I fear more than the enemy."
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[[/folder]]

[[folder:Matheus Johan Weiss]]
!!1st Lieutenant Matheus Johan Weiss
[[quoteright:245:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/matheus_6.png]]

->'''Rank:''' First Lieutenant
->'''Affiliation:''' Empire
->'''Profession:''' Aerial Mage[=/=]Second in command of 203rd Air Mage Battalion[=/=] Company Commander of 2nd Comapny

He is the Vice commander and 2nd company commander of Tanya's Aerial Mage Battalion. He is a competent officer; even Tanya acknowledges him as someone she could delegate duties to aside from Viktoriya. However, he is also prone to stick to manual, and berated by Tanya for being inflexible in mind. He takes Tanya's criticism seriously and continues to improve himself under her guidance.
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* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: In bonus shorts, it's revealed he is a terrible drinker who not only CantHoldHisLiquor but also suffers [[MirrorMoralityMachine Personality Inversion]] that turns him to a CasanovaWannabe.
* BadassBookworm: Played with, he likes reading old books related to ancient warfare and sticking to the manual he learned by heart, but unlike his commander, this becomes a source of his FatalFlaw because what he learns quickly becomes obsolete in modern war.
* FatalFlaw: Due to the inherent nature of his basic training, before Tanya's, he's a bit too cautious in live combat; This causes him to hesitate or flee in either unfamiliar or suspiciously advantageous situations. In the "battle" of Dacia, this almost got him executed for desertion as he fled from a woefully outdated formation of enemy infantry, and in the battle over Arene, it got him injured in a way that took him out of action because he was so busy expecting a trap that he never even noticed getting shot in the arm.
* HeroWorship: Second to Viktoriya, Weiss is deeply impressed by Tanya's critical mind that exceeds known manuals and war results.
* LeeroyJenkins: After being lectured by Tanya for his FatalFlaw repeatedly, he unwittingly goes too far in the other direction, allowing Anson Sue to lead him into an obvious trap because he was too fixated on taking Anson down to notice his surroundings, and Tanya has to come to his rescue.
* NumberTwo: The deputy-commander of 203rd Mage Battalion, Tanya's second in command.
* SweetTooth: His known favorite food aside from alcohol, and Tanya has a lot of fun picking on him for this.
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[[/folder]]

[[folder:Warren Grantz]]
!!Second Lieutenant Warren Grantz
[[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/grantz_1.png]]

->'''Rank:''' Second Lieutenant
->'''Affiliation:''' Empire
->'''Profession:''' Aerial Mage[=/=] 203rd Air Mage Battalion 2nd Company Second-in-command

The most "troubled" of the soldiers under Tanya's direct command in the 203rd battalion. He often serves as the unit's conscience [[ButtMonkey and suffers for it]].
----
* AdaptationalBackstoryChange: Downplayed, but how Grantz got into the 203rd is different in the manga as compared to the anime. While in the anime, he was part of the 203rd since its formation as the V601st, in the manga, he's an officer candidate from OCS going through an accelerated program by having his class attached to the 203rd during their second trip through the Rhine. In fact, unlike the anime, the Arene Massacre is his second combat engagement.
* ButtMonkey: Things seldom go well for him, and when they do it doesn't last very long.
* FreakOut: He is the one most likely to suffer one when the 601st is given morally ambiguous orders.
* GetAholdOfYourselfMan: On the receiving end when he balks at shooting Republic mages who are guarding "civilians" in episode 8, despite the fact that said civilians are actually enemy unlawful combatants who see nothing wrong beating, torturing, and even shooting unarmed and bound Imperial soldiers "for fun" and gave him a DeathGlare.
* HopelessSuitor: He seems to be smitten with Viktoriya. She's not only oblivious, [[LesYay but seems to only have eyes for Tanya]].
* YouAreInCommandNow: When Weiss gets taken out of action due to injury in episode 8, Tanya assigns to him the duty of second in command. [[FreakOut His performance is less than stellar]].
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[[/folder]]

!!Imperial Army

[[folder:Erich von Lehrgen]]
!![[spoiler:Colonel]] Erich von Lehrgen
[[quoteright:240:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/erich.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/ShinichiroMiki (Japanese), Creator/JMichaelTatum (English), Ferso Velázquez (Latin American Spanish)

->'''Rank:''' Lieutenant Colonel [[spoiler: (later Colonel)]]
->'''Affiliation:''' Empire
->'''Profession:''' Vice Director of Strategy and Operations

->''"That's a monster in a little girl's skin."''

He is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Imperial Army Personnel Department and has known Tanya ever since she joined the military. He has seen Tanya's true nature during her time in training and views her as a monster in a little girl's body. He is determined to stop Tanya's career in the army because he believes she is a danger both to the Empire and the world in general.
----
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Despite his misgiving about her, Lehrgen fairly assesses Tanya as someone [[IdealHero filled with patriotism and the will to contribute to the nation, a soldier so ideal and talented, with the determination to train herself without rest]]. A soldier that the Empire and an officer in charge of human resources like himself wanted in their ranks, and yet, when [[TheParagon all these qualities]] manifest in Tanya, he realizes the ideal talent the Empire was looking for would be a real monster in reality.
* CassandraTruth: Having witnessed Tanya's ruthlessness once, Lehrgen is convinced that Tanya is a monster who would eventually bring doom to the Empire and the world if left unchecked. Because of this, he actively tries to stop Tanya's rise through the Imperial ranks by reporting her ruthlessness to the upper echelons of the Imperial military at every opportunity. Most Imperial officers either ignore him or, if they DO believe him, consider Tanya to be far too useful to cast aside.
** The Light Novel mentions that no small number of people do believe him, however they didn't think Tanya is as severe a case as Lehrgen believes. Tanya's professors in Military College did, but they assumed that it was a combination of her age and incorrect prior education at OCS and worked to correct her apparent faults instead of firing her.
* {{Foil}}: Lehrgen is an officer in the Personnel Department of the Imperial Army. As such, he is the military equivalent of a human resources manager, which was Tanya's profession in her previous life. The difference is that Lehrgen has more empathy with the people around him while Tanya is more callous.
* GoodOldWays: One of the reasons behind his onesided conflict with Tanya is that her methodologies, which in modern times would be accepted due to their practical nature, are cold and ruthless in his eyes and would change the face of war.
* IronicEcho: Lehrgen's first impression of Tanya is that she's "a monster under the guise of a child", and as such, is convinced that one day she will cause the Empire's downfall. A conversation between himself and Tanya about how the Empire's declaration of armistice despite victory being in its grasp will eventually lead to the Empire's downfall changes this, and he realizes Tanya only wants the Empire to win so they wouldn't have to fight another war. This makes Lehrgen see Tanya as not the harbinger of the Empire's doom, but as a true hero of the Empire. As such, during episode 12 of the anime, he has full confidence of the operation the 203rd Mage Battalion are involved in will succeed, because their leader is "a monster under the guise of a child".
* MoralityPet: Not as much as Visha, but Tanya's relationship with him is based on nothing but respect (at least on her part, as he mostly sees her as a monster). She sometimes actually ''feels guilty'' when she believes that she keeps troubling him too much. Considering that Tanya is pretty much a self-diagnosed sociopath, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness this is quite out of character]].
* OnlySaneMan: Lehrgen sees himself as one in a world of madness through war. As the story progresses, Tanya's war philosophies are gradually adopted by many Imperial officers. While these methods bring greater effectiveness and efficiency to the Imperial army, the officers are also slowly becoming more ruthless in their approach to war. While he cannot argue against the reasons behind Tanya's war methodology, Lehrgen feels that there is a subtle madness behind said reasoning.
* PoorCommunicationKills: After seeing Tanya's sadism and ruthlessness, Lehrgen often assumes the worst of her. When she puts on a brave, eager face to impress him, Lehrgen misinterprets this and thinks only a crazy warmonger would smile at the prospect of war, giving his face a YoureInsane expression when looking at Tanya. For her part, Tanya considers Lehrgen to be the only sensible person among officers who would send a ''child'' to the front lines of a war, having misinterpreted his attempts to stop her career.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: When Tanya was about to kill a recruit for insubordination, Lehrgen barely managed to convince Tanya to stand down. Later, [[{{Irony}} Tanya herself sees Lehrgen as this]] because she misinterpreted his attempts to halt her military career as a genuine concern for her well-being. Most Imperial generals see him as a competent military officer aside from his constant concern about Tanya.
* TheyJustDontGetIt: In the light novel account of the "battle" with Dacia, all he could comprehend was that the Dacian army had 600,000 infantrymen and simply could not wrap his head around the fact that Tanya's mage battalion was ''airborne'' and could utterly rain death down on the Dacians with absolute impunity. Especially considering that the Dacians were all poorly trained conscripts dragged out of their homes and farms, and forced to march to battle with little to no idea of how to properly conduct themselves. As such, he had one epic FreakOut after another as Tanya explained to him, in small, simple terms, how utterly screwed the Dacians were.
* WrongAssumption: While Lehrgen always assumes the worst of her, aside from witnessing her way of disciplining subordinates, he is also highly suspicious of Tanya's "'''I don't have any choice.'''" lines she uses as her reason to volunteer at her age. In the Light Novel, originally Tanya was taken in by a decent orphanage that received enough donations. Which meant she wasn't abused nor suffered from starvation, and this lead Lehrgen to assume Tanya is a genuine psychopath who joined the military because it's the only career path where killing people is acceptable. The truth? Tanya's is being [[BrutalHonesty honest for once]]. She is a very talented orphan mage candidate so it would have been impossible for her to avoid conscription in the future. So she signed up as a volunteer purely so she could get to officer school and receive better treatment than a conscripted soldier like Viktoriya.
* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Inwardly, Lehrgen has this attitude concerning Tanya. Convinced that the little blonde child soldier would ultimately bring doom to the Empire, he appears to be in agony whenever others dismiss his concerns about Tanya, whenever she is proven right in a given scenario or whenever she gains more influence in the Imperial military through connections (e.g. General von Zettour) or prestige (e.g. Tanya's war accomplishments).
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[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hans von Zettour]]
!!Brigadier General Hans von Zettour
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hans_26.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/HochuOtsuka (Japanese), Mark Stoddard (English), Creator/ArturoMercado (Latin American Spanish)

->'''Rank:''' Brigadier General
->'''Affiliation:''' Empire
->'''Profession:''' Deputy Chief of Logistics

->''"She will bring honor and glory to us all.”''

He is the Deputy Chief of Logistics in the Imperial General Staff Office. Introduced in the anime as vice director of strategy and operations. He is the one who decided Tanya should control a new elite mage division after he heard Tanya's passionate talk about the future of the current war.
----
* BadassBookworm: Renowned for his scholar-like mind among his peers, which is also why he takes a shine to Tanya.
* BurningTheShips: [[spoiler: His orders of assassinating Rudersdorf, in order to lead the Empire, is this. The volume title is even appropriately named for this[[note]]'''''Alea Iacta Est''''' ''(The Die is cast)''[[/note]]]].
* EyesAlwaysShut: He is the only character in the anime series portrayed this way so far. He is generally cold and apathetic, and when Tanya asked for only a month to train her battalion, everyone was awestruck except him, giving full approval as long as nobody dies. But when confronted by Erich von Lehrgen on the matter that Tanya was the one who proposed ways to legalize city bombardment, he said that he is going to task Tanya with ending the war with the Republic, with eyes opened asymmetrically, giving him the same psycho look Tanya's sometimes shows within combat.
* TheMentor: Played with To the world, he looks like Tanya's mentor, but he's learning far more from her than she is from him, particularly the mindset needed to think in terms of destroying the enemy.
* TheScapegoat: [[spoiler:In the web novels, he takes all the blame for the Empire's actions in the Great War so Tanya can make her escape to the Unified States.]]
* TheStrategist: Of the Imperial army along with his partner, Rudersdorf.
* UndyingLoyalty: He's always thinking about what he and his soldiers can do to help the country.
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Adelheid von Schugel]]
!!Doktor Adelheid von Schugel
[[quoteright:242:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/adelheid_4.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/NobuoTobita (Japanese), Charles Campbell (English), Jose Luis Miranda (Latin American Spanish ep. 2 only), Armando Coria (Latin American Spanish/rest of the series)

->'''Rank:''' Development Chief Engineer
->'''Affiliation:''' Empire
->'''Profession:''' Scientist

The Empire's main talented (but mad) scientist, inventing many useful weapons during the war. He is the one who invented Tanya's quad-core Type-95 computation jewel and later, the production model dual-core Type-97. Formerly atheist, he becomes devoted to God after Being X blesses his newest creation, the Elenium-95.
----
* AwesomeButImpractical: His modus operandi in designing war equipment and material. He is so fixated on getting the maximum output out of anything he designs, that he never bothers to consider practical applications, limits, or drawbacks. The Type-95 jewel is just the first of his "accomplishments." If a mage can't keep up with his equipment, [[NeverMyFault why, it's the mage's fault entirely, as everything he builds is well within the abilities of any and every mage]]. [[spoiler:In episode 9, he unveils manned ''cruise missiles'' designed to go at a max speed of Mach 1.5, but no way to adjust course, slow down, or land. What's more, when questioned about dealing with the vibration and drag caused by going Mach 1.5, he shrugs and says any mage shield can handle it, and it would be weird if they couldn't.]]
* BadBoss: Numerous mage test personnel have died in his lab because he refuses to acknowledge that the Elenium-95 is way too delicate and temperamental for any practical use. He's insistent that the device keeps exploding because the soldiers are too rough with it, as opposed to the fact that it's far too delicate by nature, completely ignoring the fact that should it be used in battle, it must be able to be handled roughly, which is something Tanya reminds him of, repeatedly, to no avail.
* BerserkButton: Don't you dare suggest his "masterpiece," the Elenium-95 jewel is a piece of junk. [[SarcasmMode It's not his fault that soldiers can't handle it properly, even though it is far too delicate for human hands, never mind on the battlefield for which it is ultimately intended]].
* FlawedPrototype: [[NeverMyFault Though he absolutely refuses to believe it]], his Elenium-95 is far, far too unstable to use in any practical setting, at least prior to actual divine intervention, at which point he very loudly proclaims that attempting to recreate the phenomenon is a physical impossibility, and a sacrilege.
* ForScience: Even before "Being X" gives him "inspiration," all he cared about was the ''theoretical'' success of the type Elenium-95 jewel.
* FourEyesZeroSoul: He wears glasses and is not only wildly unprofessional in the laboratory but is even more villainous than "Being X" and Tanya ''combined'', and that's '''before''' being "inspired."
* GenderBlenderName: The name “Adelheid” is actually a German variation of the name “Alice” and thus ‘very’ feminine.
* HerrDoktor: His title is German ("Dokutoru" rather than "Dokutaa"), and he works for the Empire.
* JustThinkOfThePotential: He takes the ''theoretical'' limits of the Elenium-95 jewel as undisputed fact, and gets quite cross when anyone points out just how flawed his prototype is.
* KarmaHoudini: Even when he's interviewed by reporters years after the "Total War" has ended, he's not shown getting anything in the way of punishment for his wanton disregard of human life in his laboratory, and the crimes that stem from it.
* LackOfEmpathy: He has even ''less'' concern for the soldiers of the Empire than Tanya does, and that's no easy feat. He even goes so far as to deliberately disable or remove the jewel's inherent safety devices because they interfere with his sense of aesthetics. Numerous test pilots before Tanya died in his "experiments."
* MadScientist: Even before Being X "inspired" him, he was quite unhinged.
* {{Megane}}: He seems to wear glasses or a monocle any time he's on screen.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: For testing personnel like Tanya, after all, do you want to test the invention of someone nicknamed Walking Disaster? Tanya certainly thinks working under him is more dangerous than fighting in the front line.
* NeverMyFault: The fact that his Elenium-95 prototype keeps blowing up on the testing grounds? It's those stupid soldiers who can't handle the highly unstable four magic core configuration that's the problem, not the fact that the quad-core is so highly unstable that even the most delicate manipulation in human hands is too much for it to handle.
* TheyJustDontGetIt: No matter how often Tanya yells at him, or even his superiors chew him out, he can not comprehend that he's supposed to be designing equipment ''for the battlefield'', where it must be able to withstand being mistreated. Instead, he grows more and more furious that there isn't a mage in existence who can handle the very delicate and temperamental nature of the device even in the calm and controlled environment of the laboratory.
** The LightNovel explains that Tanya and her superior have different ideas on the objective of their experiment. Schugel wants it to work, so Tanya assumes the test is for practical use, later it's revealed their superior only wants a test on the theoretical possibility of quadcore technology, realistically aware this is a technology that won't be completed in this generation.
* UnwittingPawn: Of Being X, who granted Adelheid the divine inspiration that allows the Elenium-95 to be used in battle. Being X did this to make Tanya even more indispensable on the battlefield, but the inspiration also caused Adelheid to embrace the existence of "God." Because of the latter, Tanya felt pity for the scientist and feared that his fate could be hers one day.
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Maximilian Johann von Ugar]]

->'''Rank:''' Captain -> Major -> Lieutenant Colonel
->'''Affiliation:''' Empire

->''"There is something wrong with a society that sends cute little kids to battle, don't you think?”''

A classmate of Tanya Degurechaff in their class during War College.
----
* FamilyMan: He greatly treasures his family, and the birth of his daughter makes him question the insanity of sending kids, such as Tanya, to the battlefield.
* FriendlyRivalry: While he was classmates with Tanya, their relationship was not hostile at all, and they spoke in amicable terms. Of course, Tanya had no trouble in persuading him of dropping out so that she would be promoted instead of him.
* NiceGuy: He is a good man and doesn't show any villainous flaw. When his daughter is born, he fears the possibility that she might join the military like Tanya did and asks Tanya to resign due to his guilty conscience.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: After his daughter was born and seeing Tanya fighting in the frontlines, he realizes just how wrong it is to send cute little kids to fight in wars.
* SavedByCanon: [[spoiler:Ugar appears in the Arene Memorial Service that occurs 40 years after the World War, so suffice to say he not only survives the war but is also not sentenced.]]
* UnwittingPawn: Tanya persuades him into going to the rear to prevent his daughter from fighting in the future. In truth, Tanya did this solely so that he would drop out of the promotion track and thus have her main competitor leave. While his reputation was stained after his decision, he manages to keep getting promoted, but at a slower pace, and he is grateful to Tanya for convincing him to do this.
----
[[/folder]]

!!Antagonists

[[folder:Being X]]
!!Being X
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/being_x.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Being X with multi-facet in Manga]]
->''"If that’s the case, all I need to do is just throw you into that kind of environment, and you will start to believe and have faith again?"''

->'''Voiced by:''' Hideaki Tezuka (Japanese), Alejandro Villeli (Latin American Spanish)

A mysterious being that calls himself "God." He's fed up with people not being as faithful as they used to be. After the salaryman infuriates him further by refusing to believe in his existence and stating that in the modern world, God and faith are no longer needed, he decides to punish the salaryman by reincarnating him in an alternate world similar to early 20th-century Europe as a petite orphan girl named Tanya. If "Tanya" won't die a natural death or if she keeps refusing to have faith in Him, her soul will be sent to the void for the many sins that Tanya has committed in her previous life.
----
* ArchEnemy: To Tanya, being responsible for the entire event of the story and a great portion of what Tanya does being motivated on getting revenge on Being X.
* BigBad: Being X is certainly the head villain from Tanya's perspective, given how much trouble he throws her way.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: It becomes clear pretty fast that this ''thing'''s thought process is so alien that its understanding and comprehension of humanity could be considered nonexistent ''at best''.
* TheCorruptor: Of the people who have received his "blessings", Tanya is the only one who has not been [[ReforgedIntoAMinion twisted]] into an unrecognizable, [[KnightTemplar fanatical]] EmptyShell of their former self, and only because she recognizes the danger and avoids overusing her orb, and has a strong reticence towards Being X's influence. From the way he offers [[PowerAtAPrice power at the cost of one's sanity]], you could easily take Being X for a SatanicArchetype rather than the god he supposedly is.
* CrossoverCosmology: In the manga, Being X turns out to be a council of sorts derived of many different mythological deities. The way they speak to each other however is similar to the Socratic Dialogue, thus making all of them LiteralSplitPersonalities of the amalgamation that is Being X.
* DependingOnTheWriter: The portrayal of "Being X" varies so wildly between media that one has to wonder if it's even the same character in each adaptation, though the core character is the same in that they all refuse to accept that the salaryman might have a point and make their conclusion that lands the protagonist in their current fate.
** In the original light novel, "Being X" is portrayed as an inept, bumbling, incompetent bureaucrat who ''admits'' that the faith, karma, and reincarnation system it created is broken but refuses to take responsibility despite being the one who created it, and lashes out at the MC, for little to no reason, even going so far as to ''make up'' crimes to punish him.
** In the manga, "Being X" wears the trappings of Abrahamic God, but acts more like the popular portrayal of Zeus, and takes the form of numerous entities from various religions ''simultaneously'' and they all debate one another to decide the best course of action.
** The anime portrayal shows this entity as some being so horribly overworked due to managing the wheel of karma that it's looking to cut corners by considering people who have no faith in any form of the divine as "a waste of time". Thus being quick to jump on the opportunity presented by the MC to test the concept of "faith through hardship" because even if the "experiment" fails, the result will still greatly reduce its workload.
* DoNotTauntCthulhu: It probably wasn't the best idea for the Salaryman to deliver a ''lack of faith'' speech to an entity claiming to be God and displaying [[RealityWarper reality-warping]] powers.
* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: The one consistent thing about all "Being X" incarnations, regardless of medium, is that it chooses to interpret the male salaryman's hypothesis about the cause of the lack of faith as "people have no need to pray because they're content" rather than "people have no desire to pray when offered nothing in return." This misunderstanding kicks off the plot in a fit of anger, putting the protagonist through a living hell [[TheyJustDontGetIt and then being completely shocked when Tanya refuses to offer up prayers of supplication]].
* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: The driving force behind Being X and its complaints with the lacking quantity of faith within humanity as a whole. It's also what makes it go through with the experiment due to the possibility of restoring this lost faith in it once more, using Tanya, an atheist, as a test subject.
* JerkassGods: Being X is so fed up with people not being as faithful as they used to, that it takes the biggest atheist it can find and put him, now her, in situations where she is forced to pray to become devout. That this impiety is more important to it than the other ills of the world (to the point where it muses that eliminating modern 1st-world comforts and basic safety would be a great way to restore people's faith, hence its kicking off the plot to test this) does not paint it in a very positive light.
* LoopholeAbuse: True to its word, it upholds its promise to keep its influence in Tanya's life at a minimum. However, anyone else around her? [[UnwittingPawn Fair game.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: Being X has quietly influenced Tanya's life since her birth into the new world. It granted Tanya her magical aptitude, ensuring that she would be drafted into the Empire's army no matter what she did. Being X has also influenced the people in Tanya's life to ensure that her life would be in the greatest possible danger to eventually break her atheist resolve. This plan includes giving the inventor of her Type-95 divine inspiration and a general the idea of a rapid-response team to handle crises on the front lines. [[spoiler:Later, Being X saves the life of a vengeful enemy mage soldier and grants him magical power comparable to Tanya's to set him up as a WorthyOpponent for their common foe.]]
* MadGod: Invoked by Tanya, who accuses Mysterious Being X of being completely insane for being willing to plunge an entire planet into a World War to get her to worship him.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:In the Light Novel, Being X warned the Rus Union's communist leader of his apostle coming to punish them for not believing in God. Perhaps this is AllAccordingToPlan to Being X to an extent, as now Tanya has to fight the Rus Union who opens fire first, but alerting the communists to Tanya's presence in their country doesn't help his unwilling apostle deliver punishment.]]
* TheOmnipresent: In the anime, Being X could manifest itself as any number of people or objects, anytime and anywhere. In the manga and novel, it can manifest as any number of known deities anywhere. Which is one of the reasons why Tanya has to constantly keep her guard up: fearing that Being X could take advantage of a moment of weakness and hopes to kill it if given a chance.
* PetTheDog: That said, despite being a massive jerkass and troll towards Tanya, it ''does'' reward those who show it the full devotion and faith that it feels it deserves when given it by their own volition, as seen with [[MadScientist Adelheid von Schugel]] and (anime only) [[spoiler:[[UnwittingPawn Anson Sue]].]]
* TheyJustDontGetIt: "Being X" wants to bend Tanya into worshipping it. Thus it puts Tanya through unspeakable hardship, hoping to drive Tanya into supplication out of desperation. The plan fails as it only serves to exacerbate Tanya and make her more recalcitrant. So "Being X" goes and makes the hardship worse, which drives Tanya even further away from even ''thinking'' about offering prayer willingly, [[LeonineContract aside from the "not mandatory" use of the Type-95 jewel]]. "Being X" refuses to comprehend why this approach is not working.
* TimeStandsStill: Whenever Being X appears to Tanya in the anime, the passage of time stops.
* {{Troll}}: To the point where it at one point only appeared to Tanya to taunt her with a SlasherSmile to boot.
* TheVoice: Similarly to the Abrahamic God, Being X never shows its true form and instead takes the form of a person or inanimate object close by when contacting Tanya.
** Interestingly, this is not the case in the novel or manga, where AllMythsAreTrue is in effect (and all of them being parts of Being X adds another insight to its thought-process in the process).
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anson Sue]]
!!Colonel Anson Sue
[[quoteright:322:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/anson_1.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KenyuuHoriuchi (Japanese), Jarrod Greene (English), Martin Soto (Latin American Spanish ep. 2 only), Leonardo Garcia (Latin American Spanish/rest of the series)

->'''Rank:''' Colonel
->'''Affiliation:''' Legadonia Entente Federation
->'''Profession:''' Aerial Mage

->''"I will never let my homeland fall!"''

Anson Sue is the commanding officer of the Legadonia Federation's 5th Air Mage Battalion who is first seen when they encountered, at the time, Second Lieutenant Tanya Degurechaff during her first combat mission in Norden. He is a loyal soldier who cares a lot for his country, comrades, and family. Which is why losing half of his squadron to Tanya in their first encounter [[ThisIsUnforgivable hit him hard]]. The second time Tanya and her first squadron not only annihilate the majority of his wing but also deliver a fatal blow to his country that brings their downfall.

He is the father of Mary Sue who will become Tanya's nemesis and also the trigger of StartOfDarkness for his daughter, turning her from a sweet kid to a revenge-obsessed girl in later volumes.
----
* BackForTheDead: He manages to escape Tanya's suicidal charge in her first battle, and reencounters her in the Orse Fjord, only to get himself killed by charging her in a fit of revenge-fueled rage. [[spoiler:Subverted as Being X ultimately decides to save him. For all of two episodes. Then he dies for real.]]
* ColdSniper: He ends episode 10 with shooting down one of Tanya's battalion, and then unemotionally stating "one enemy down" from so far away, Tanya didn't even see the attack.
* ColonelBadass: Taking Tanya one-on-one is no small feat [[spoiler:and remember, this was before Being X gave Sioux its blessing.]]
* ConvenientComa: [[spoiler:The stinger of episode 8 reveals he's been unconscious for a month.]]
* DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: Combined with ButNowIMustGo. He sends his daughter out of the country because the war is getting too dangerous for her to stay, but his duty forbids him from joining her.
* DeathOrGloryAttack: His suicidal charge in episode 7 of the anime was all about this. Either he kills Tanya, or goes down trying. [[spoiler:He goes down but is saved by Being X at the last moment.]]
* DemonicPossession: [[spoiler:Even his corpse tries to kill Tanya, under control of "being X" in episode 11.]]
* DespairEventHorizon: Even before the attack of Orse Fjord, Anson is already feeling the strain from foreseeing his country's doom. Holding on a HopeSpot that at least he could stall time so more of their people could flee the crumbling country, and his family would live peacefully away from Legadonia. The Empire, however, has no plans on prolonging the war and cut the Entente's life short by launching a rear attack, snuffing out his hope on top of losing his men for the second time to Tanya.
* DramaticIrony: Anson Sue is a devout follower of God, a loving family man, dislikes conflicts, and a skilled soldier loyal to his men and country. Unfortunately, his country started the war in the first place, so he's forced to fight for his country. His superiors aren't as competent as he is which ultimately leads to the loss of young soldiers in the war, something that he finds regrettable as he believes the youth should be protected by their country and not the other way around. Finally, the person who would ultimately kill him is an orphan and an atheist who would rather see the world burn than willingly worship a deity. To twist the knife further, when he and Tanya pray to Being X for the strength to kill the other during the Battle of Orse Fjord, it was Tanya's prayer that gets answered instead. Even with Being X's intervention to save his live after losing at Orse Fjord and blessing, he still gets defeated and finally killed off during his final duel with Tanya. Even after he dies, it seems that Being X has a way of screwing the man over because his daughter, who he didn't want to involve in the war, ultimately follows in his footsteps as a soldier [[spoiler:and almost gets killed by Tanya.]]
* EyepatchOfPower: His introduction in episode 10 has him wearing an eye-patch over his left eye, and he's charging shotgun shells with magic power.
* FatalFamilyPhoto: He takes one out of his pocket in episode 6 before heading to fight Tanya's surprise attack. [[spoiler:Subverted as he barely survives his encounter with Tanya.]]
* AFatherToHisMen: Aside from his patriotic devotion to his home country, his subordinates are his top priority. As such, he takes their deaths under Tanya badly.
* FieldPromotion: He is promoted to colonel in episode 6 after his superior was killed. He was not exactly thrilled with this promotion since he can already tell that the country isn't going to last long with the rate that it has been losing its officers.
* {{Foil}}: To Tanya. He is her mirror image in every feasible way. Fans note that at the end of episode 8's stinger, his injuries are an exact mirror image to those Tanya sported after making a suicidal TakingYouWithMe charge against his unit way back in her first sortie.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: He has a scar just above his right eye. [[spoiler:He gains a new one that goes diagonally from the top right of his head, across his left eye and down his left cheek.]]
* HeroAntagonist: He's a certified war-hero in his home nation and his actions come off as infinitely much more humane and sympathetic than Tanya's. [[spoiler:However this is averted later on in the Anime. After he is saved by Being X, [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope he becomes extremely unhinged]] and is ready to do anything to get his vengeance against Tanya.]]
* HonorBeforeReason: Anson Sue could've retreated and lived to fight another day after it was clear that Orse Fjord was lost. However, he chose to execute one final charge to Tanya, hoping to at least take her down. He ends up with a bayonet through his stomach and Tanya taking the gun given to him by his daughter as spoils of war. [[spoiler:He does survive thanks to Being X and returns to fight another day.]]
* IronicEcho: His daughter gives him a hand-crafted rifle with his initials on it, as an early Christmas present, to help protect himself. Tanya takes it from his corpse as an early Christmas present for herself because it's a better mage-firearm than her standard-issue model.
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: His obsession with killing Tanya in episode 10 becomes so acute that he doesn't even attempt to contact his family, and is guarded by his Entente allies, not for his protection, but to stop him from rushing out on his own and killing every Imperial he finds, even non-combatant men, women, and children.
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: Despite being well aware of his country's flaws, and being quite cross with its politicians for kicking off the war with their careless "busking," he's still fiercely protective of his home.
* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler:It looked like he died when Tanya shot him down in episode 7, but TheStinger in episode 8 reveals that Being X saved him in the last moment and has now blessed him with powers similar to Tanya's. Not that the new powers help the guy.]]
* PsychoticSmirk: [[spoiler:He pulls several of these during his final battle against Tanya.]]
* RedEyesTakeWarning: [[spoiler:His eyes turn red when trying to activate his self-destruct attack to kill Tanya, twice.]]
* ReforgedIntoAMinion: [[spoiler:This is Anson's fate after he is saved by Being X, whether he realizes it or not.]]
* RevengeMyopia: He's determined to kill Tanya, "The Devil of the Rhine," at all costs for the deaths of his men. He completely neglects the fact that the only reason Tanya killed them was that they invaded her country and tried to kill her first.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The official translation of his surname is Sue, but his name due to {{Engrish}} does sound like Sioux.
* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: During his [[spoiler:final]] clash against Tanya, he pulls out a Winchester 1897 shotgun, made all the more awesome by the fact that the enchanted shots create fields of beautiful explosions in the air. In a GeniusBonus, Tanya [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Model_1897 finds the choice of weapon distasteful, and alleges that it violates treaties]].
* TakingYouWithMe: Subverted. [[spoiler:He blows himself up to try to kill Tanya, but she survives.]]
* TragicKeepsake: The initialed submachine gun bought for him by his daughter.
* UnknownRival: In the manga, Tanya doesn't recognize him at all, while he has sworn vengeance against her: first, for destroying most of his wing at the very beginning of her career, and then, leading a vicious attack that dooms his country. The third time they meet, she quickly bayonets him and steals his gun, wondering where she's seen the guy before.
* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler:Of Being X, who has saved his life and granted him magical powers on par with Tanya's. It is possible that Being X intends to set Anson up as a WorthyOpponent for Tanya in yet another plan to pressure her into worshipping them. It works about as well as the rest of Being X's ill-advised plans.]]
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Severin Vianto]]
!!Severin Vianto
[[quoteright:237:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/severin.png]]
->'''Rank:''' Colonel
->'''Affiliation:''' Francois Republic
->'''Profession:''' Aerial Mage

->''"The Devil of Rhine? So they go straight to their big gun this time."''

The commanding officer of the Republican's 2nd Air Mage Battalion, he is first seen reporting intel on The Devil of Rhine to his superior in anime. He met Tanya Degurechaff during the battle of Arene, as the leader of Aerial Mage Battalion who helps rebels of Arene fighting against Imperial soldiers. He is eagerly loyal to his country but tempered with calmness as shown by his sound judgment when the 203rd Batallion led by Tanya overwhelmed his men and ordered a withdrawal.
----
* AdaptationalWimp: Compared to his achievements in the manga, in the anime, he comes off as less powerful and less competent.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: He is a Colonel and is worthy of it considering that he manages to not only hold his ground against Tanya for a while but even survive several magical blasts she fired at him.
* CassandraTruth: On the receiving end when Tanya gave him and the rest of Arene's population an [[IWarnedYou official warning, stating international law word for word]] in the middle of battle demanding him to come forward and releasing captured soldiers. Knowing [[GuileHero who was giving the warning]] post-Dacia's war, he should have known better.
* FailedASpotCheck:
** He knows how dangerous Tanya is in battle, but is wholly unaware of her capability as commanding officer. Which is justified due to prior data on Tanya in the Rhine suggest she fights mostly solo, which leads to him completely ignoring her warning during the battle of Arene.
** He was counting that Tanya would follow the international laws and not endanger civilians. He failed to take into account that A) by ''not'' evacuating the civilians after the evacuation order was given, those same civilians could be re-classified as enemy soldiers if the laws were to be interpreted in a certain way; and B) the fact that some of said civilians took up arms and executed Imperial prisoners would put up to question just how innocent said civilians were.
* AFatherToHisMen: To a lesser extent, but he is shown refraining as much as he could from needlessly endangering his men.
* NeverMyFault: He solely blames Tanya for the massacre at Arene and seeks vengeance for it. While Tanya did use loopholes in the international laws, so her idea was not to be expected, he is also to blame for inciting the civilians to rise against the Empire and for not evacuating all the non-combatants before Tanya counterattacked.
* OhCrap: His reaction when he came to an understanding what Tanya's warning was for, and the following destruction of Arene.
* PragmaticHero: In the Arene battle Vianto shows to be willing to use loopholes just like Tanya. After the Empire sent an evacuation order, he did not evacuate the civilians because having them on the city would keep him and his troops safe from Imperial retaliation. Unfortunately for him, Tanya is not only ''more'' pragmatic than him, but her ruthless mindset allowed her to find a loophole as well.
* ProperlyParanoid: As soon as intel about the existence of Tanya is confirmed he is rightfully worried and very cautious when encountering her in battle.
* TheStrategist: During the battle of Arene, as soon as Tanya's presence was confirmed, he ordered a guerilla battle, focusing on buying time instead of facing her head on. Too bad for him, Tanya noticed this a few minutes into the battle and scattered her subordinates to round them up. Even then, he still made a sound judgment to withdraw to avoid complete annihilation, which saved his men because Tanya deemed they could be spared if they were far away from Imperial Artillery.
* TragicMistake: Ultimately, his decision of not heeding Tanya's warning led to massive civilian casualties in Arene. Justified as he knew that international law would not allow the Empire to bombard Arene if there were civilians there, but failed to realize that Tanya also knew the rules [[LoopholeAbuse and found a way around it anyway]].
* WorthyOpponent: He hates Tanya 'The Devil of the Rhine', especially after the whole Arene incident, but he is forced to admit that her battle and tactical prowess are remarkable.
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mary Sue]]
!![[spoiler:Second Lieutenant/Warrant Officer]] Mary Sue
[[quoteright:208:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mary_6.png]]
[[caption-width-right:208:Mary in anime]]
[[quoteright:211:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vol_3_ch_5_pg_279_bad_scan_lq_8.png]]
[[caption-width-right:211:Mary in Light Novel]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/HarukaTomatsu (Japanese), Creator/TiaBallard (English), Creator/AlondraHidalgo (Latin American Spanish/TV series), Nycolle Gonzalez (Latin American Spanish/movie)

-> '''Rank:''' Private First Class -> 2nd Lieutenant (Warrant Officer in the film)
->'''Affiliation:''' Unified States[=/=]Entente Alliance

->''"I declare that for the sake of the peace I must protect and for the sake of the family I love, I will give my whole power! To make a world that no one else has to experience the sadness of losing their family to the Empire. And to enact God's justice! I swear by my good heart that believes in the Lord! May the Lord's grace be with me!"''

Mary Sue, also known as Mary, the sole daughter of Anson Sue, a former citizen of Legadonian Entente Alliance who migrated to the US with her mother, leaving her father to defend their homeland. One of the main antagonists of the series, the ultimate rival and the tool used by Being X to stabilize a neutral war against Tanya von Degurechaff. The anime already {{foreshadow|ing}}s her future role, but please be aware of unmarked spoiler below.
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* ActionGirl: Being part of military and Tanya's rival, she couldn't be anything but this.
* AdaptationalCurves: The manga and anime makes Mary unreasonably busty for a twelve-year-old.
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: The only reason she gets promoted because of her battle prowess and her ability to counter Tanya. It is a DeconstructedTrope because she has absolutely no skills in any other skill important during wartime, such as strategical thinking or leadership.
* BerserkerTears: When she enlists in the US army, she's crying in grief and rage as she's voicing the oath listed in the page quote.
* CastFromSanity: Her power of blessing to surpass Tanya is fueled by [[ThePowerOfHate her hatred]].
* EyeColorChange: Her eyes turn to gold as she's officially enlisted. [[spoiler:This foreshadows the fact that she's the new toy of "Being X."]]
* {{Foil}}: To Tanya, if we ignore the reincarnation bit.
** Their fathers were both soldiers who died on duty, and they were both raised in a religious environment. While Tanya joined the military purely for a pragmatic purpose, Mary is a patriot who inherited her father's ideals.
** Both of them are aces with the power of a [[ArtifactOfDoom blessed operational orb]] but unlike Tanya who uses hers cautiously and who is aware of the mental corruption, Mary, as a devout believer, completely gives in to its influence. Additionally, Tanya is also a highly intelligent and cunning strategist who brings far more than just raw firepower onto the battlefield, Mary is a PersonOfMassDestruction who far exceeds Tanya in terms of damage output, but has absolutely zero understanding of war and tactics. She is also shown to be a terrible shot, if not for the blessings of Being X, she would have nothing of any value to bring at all.
** Tanya is borderline obsessed with following rules and doing things by-the-book, and merciless towards those who fail to do so, Sue meanwhile is a loose cannon who puts her personal {{revenge}} against Tanya above direct orders. Tanya holds the belief that emotions have no place on the battlefield - disregarding some BloodKnight tendencies that are at least partially an act, and never get in her way of following orders. Sue on the other hand [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge fully taps into her absolute hatred for Tanya]] into a state of UnstoppableRage that treats everything and everyone that isn't Tanya as if they weren't even there. Tanya holds Sue in absolute contempt for this, calling her an "[[TheBerserker animal]]". However, in regards to having a quest for vengeance they'll stop at nothing to achieve, the two are perhaps NotSoDifferent when you consider Tanya's visceral and absolute hatred for Being X.
** Lastly, while Tanya is respected by both her superiors and subordinates, Mary is overall hated due to her naivete and recklessness. If she weren't a godlike (almost literally) mage, she would probably have been thrown out for insubordination on about a million different occasions.
* FollowInMyFootsteps: She becomes an Aerial Mage and soldier just like her father. [[spoiler:Due to the anime's AdaptationExpansion, she is this more than her job and devotion to her country, and not in a good way.]]
* GodzillaThreshold: Mary's superiors see her as a dangerous weapon that gives them a fighting chance against the [[TheDreaded "Devil of the Rhine"]], the Imperial "Ace of Aces" whose accomplishments have almost single-handedly brought the Empire's enemies to their knees.
* GoodCounterpart: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zigzagged]]. Supposedly, she is the heroic counterpart to the villainous Tanya. However, Mary is also a symbol of human traits that Tanya personally hates, namely BlindObedience (to a dubious, manipulative, and selfish deity), HonorBeforeReason (prioritizing personal feelings over reality regardless of the cost), IrrationalHatred (the angry refusal of humanity to accept logic and reason) and RevengeMyopia (the narrow-minded worldview that allows people to justify the suffering they inflict on others, despite being no better than what they hate). Overall, Mary is an exemplar of everything that Tanya hates in ''all'' humans.
* HateSink: It may sound surprising for a supposed HeroAntagonist, but Mary's reputation is quite low both in and out of universe. In the story, her superiors can't stand her due to her naive and gullible nature that does more harm than good to her own side. Alongside this, the fans also hate for her high levels of RevengeMyopia and how she represents a lot of the worst traits people can show during wartime.
* HeroAntagonist: [[DeconstructedCharacterArchetype Deconstructed]]. On the surface, Mary is the very image of a modern wartime poster child: a [[PatrioticFervor patriotic]] [[ThePaladin crusader]] determined to avenge her family and bring justice to TheEmpire. [[BeneathTheMask Deep down]], she is a deeply disturbed girl who vents her rage and desire for vengeance on all who have wronged her, whether for good reason or not. It doesn't help that Mary is TheChosenOne of [[GreaterScopeVillain Being X]], who fuels her devotion and rage [[UpToEleven to murderous levels]] whenever she encounters [[VillainProtagonist Tanya]]. A poster advertising the 2019 ''Youjo Senki'' movie portrays Mary as a singing angel, symbolizing her myopic beliefs about being a hero, in contrast to Tanya, [[AtLeastIAdmitIt who has no such delusions]].
* ImportantHaircut: In the film, she cuts most of her hair aside from her sides and bangs to fit in with her military unit.
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: At times, as a genuine devotee, she didn't resist the mental corruption of her blessing.
* LethallyStupid: [[spoiler: Mary's single minded obsession of killing Tanya has inflicted more casualties on the former's side rather than that of the Empire's.]]
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: Defied. She believes her country is by default right, to the point she defies orders to defend their allies despite said allies having put all of their Mages in camps. Because of this she also sees the Empire as default evil.
* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: Also overlaps with MeaningfulName as well. [[ReligiousAndMythologicalThemeNaming She is named from biblical Mary of Nazareth]], and, by WordOfGod, she was deliberately named after the term Mary Sue as a way to show she was powered by a divine entity.
* NearVillainVictory: [[spoiler:In the movie, Mary gives Tanya a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown after downing her at a ruined church. Believing she had won, Mary tiredly rises to her feet and is about to give thanks to the church's goddess statue when Tanya, badly injured but alive, [[InTheBack throws a knife into Mary's back]]. With a twisted look of absolute rage that screams WhyWontYouDie, Mary lunges at Tanya only to be shot point blank several times, with Tanya's bullets also damaging the goddess statue as [[RuleOfSymbolism a symbol of her contempt for Being X]]. Mary is saved at the last minute by her commanding officer and left [[BerserkerTears weeping]] that she had failed to kill her hated enemy.]]
* OneWomanArmy: [[spoiler:Pure destruction-wise, she even outpaces Tanya, but at the cost of her sanity.]]
* PersonOfMassDestruction: Her magic is so powerful that she's less of a soldier, and more of a ground-level orbital canon. Her first major shot does more damage than anything Tanya or her company ever accomplished, and then she starts chasing Tanya through the streets with not enchanted bullets, but [[EnergyWeapon lances of pure magical energy]].
* ReforgedIntoAMinion: [[spoiler:Following her father's fate, she is this. Whether she is aware of it or not as a genuine devout believer, she seems to be fine with this.]]
* RevengeMyopia: She's determined to avenge her beloved father, and becomes obsessed with "The Devil of the Rhine." Even her superior struggles to keep her in line even though she is relatively obedient as long as Tanya is not concerned. Because she joined this war half-way, she seems to be unaware or uncaring that it was her country who started the war, unlike [[MyCountryRightOrWrong her father who was fully aware of his country's fault]]. Mary is already obsessed with defeating the Empire by the time she volunteers for bringing tragedy to her family and has vowed to bring them to justice.
* SanityHasAdvantages: Mary has had Tanya dead to rights before, only for her own emotionally charged, overly dramatic personality to sabotage her efforts. The fact that such behavior is Tanya's BerserkButton only makes these tendencies more self sabotaging.
* SociopathicSoldier: The Jingo type. She's absolutely convinced that the Empire is irredeemably evil, so she believes that [[PayEvilUntoEvil any crimes and suffering inflicted on the Empire, soldier or civilian, is just]].
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Official translation of her surname is Sue, but her name due to {{Engrish}} does sound like Sioux.
* UnskilledButStrong: [[spoiler:In terms of power, speed and accuracy she is superior to Tanya with her blessing. However, she is inexperienced and has none of Tanya's talent in tactics and leadership, making her an attack dog to give the allies a chance to neutralize Tanya.]]
* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler:Being X set her as WorthyOpponent for Tanya. Aside from neutralizing her, Mary also shows how much power Tanya could get if she were a devout believer like Mary. Of course, this is just another ill-advised plan that proves to Tanya that GodIsEvil.]]
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Played with, she still has her sweet disposition, but due to her obsession with revenge her mentality is unstable especially [[AxCrazy in battle]].
* WaveMotionGun: Her signature move, [[BeamSpam and she hands them out like candy]]. Even Tanya doesn't seem capable of that kind of firepower, probably because she's far more cautious about praising Being X.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: [[spoiler:Her [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge Rage Mode]], which uses her hatred and grudge towards "the Devil of the Rhine" as a source of power. It gives her enormous power but at the cost of losing control of her movements and mindset, turning her into a [[TheBerserker mindless berserker]].]]
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:In the web novels, the Empire was eventually defeated but was able to sue for peace. Weary of further violence due to the [[PyrrhicVictory massive loss of life on all sides]], the top brass of the enemy countries seriously considered the offer but also realized that Mary, their ace in the hole, would accept nothing less than the Empire's [[KillEmAll complete annihilation]]. Fearing disruptions to the peace talks, the order for Mary's death was handed down. In the end, she was tricked and betrayed by her own comrades, who secretly hated her for her naivete and recklessness, and [[CruelAndUnusualDeath cruelly stabbed and cut literally to pieces]].]]
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[[/folder]]

[[folder:Lavrentiy "Loliya" Beria]]
!! Brigadier General Lavrentiy "Loliya" Beria
[[quoteright:211:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6783259.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/YuichiNagashima (Japanese), Herman Lopez (Latin American Spanish)

->'''Rank:''' Brigadier General
->'''Affiliation:''' Rus Union


->''"My beloved cute wife!"''

Lavrentiy Beria is one of the leading figures of the Union's military. Has an [[PaedoHunt unhealthy]] [[{{Yandere}} obsession]] with Tanya whom he intends to capture and make his wife.
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* AxCrazy: It doesn't take long to see that he is ''even more insane'' than Tanya. And not in a good way, either.
* TheCameo: He can be briefly seen near the end of the final episode of the Anime, though only half of his face is visible.
* DirtyOldMan: Much like his real-life counterpart, Beria is a sexual predator who abuses his position of power to rape women. And it's pretty clear that his obsession with Tanya is sexual.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Unlike most of the other characters in the series who are entirely fictional and only take elements from real people, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavrentiy_Beria Lavrentiy Beria]] was a real person. Although he was the head of [[SecretPolice NKVD]] and a political figure in real life, rather than a general in the military.
* LoveAtFirstSight: He falls for Tanya right after witnessing her for the first time during the Moskva Raid.
* MeaningfulName: His nickname is a combination of the words ''loli'' and ''yandere''.
* {{Yandere}}: He intends to make Tanya his wife, no matter what.
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[[/folder]]
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* PersonOfMassDestruction: Her magic is so powerful that she's less of a soldier, and more of a ground-level orbital canon. Her first major shot does more damage than anything Tanya or her company ever accomplished, and then she starts chasing Tanya through the streets with not enchanted bullets, but [[FrickingLaserBeams lances of pure magical energy]].

* FollowInMyFootsteps: She becomes an Aerial Mage and soldier just like her father. [[spoiler:Due to the nime's AdaptationExpansion, she is this more than her job and devotion to her country, and not in a good way.]]