History PlayingWith / LadyOfWar

** The refinement of manners instilled in Bella is meant to be a means by which to stave off PTSD, or at minimum give her mental state a means to recover between battles. Dresses can be washed, sewed up, or just replaced outright.

*** Or the reaction was genuine -- {{Groin Attacks}} can be [[RealityIsUnrealistic nearly as painful to women, too]]. Nevertheless, she quickly recovers, and beautiful carnage resumes.

** Bella fights so gracefully, until [[GroinAttack something hits her crotch area]] and [[UnsettlingGenderReveal 'she' winces in pain.]] [[GenderBlenderName Bella is a guy.]]

* '''Invoked''': Bella is a conscript of high rank and makes every effort to keep her grace and poise, lest she descend to the level of the mere peasant.

** Bella, known for her graceful movements, also leaves a swath of [[SceneryGorn bloody carnage]] behind.

* '''Conversed''': "When watching Bella, I am conflicted between cheering on her kicking ass or drooling over the beauty of her carnage."

* '''Straight''': Alice is an ActionGirl, but is also very swift and elegant even while fighting.
* '''Exaggerated''': Every single move Alice takes, she [[PurpleProse ALWAYS does it with remarkable grace and femininity]].

** Alice is a female MP who has a courteous and professional demeanor and is good at her job. Usually she deals with no foe more dangerous then [[TheDrunkenSailor drunks]]. Sometimes she is expected to do things like processing captured partisans in a war zone. She is more a cop than a soldier, but she still is quite effective and respected.

** Alice was once a dancer before receiving her weapon.
** Alice only uses long-distance weapons or pole-arms because she ''knows'' her height and weight put her at a disadvantage against taller, stronger opponents. Being graceful also ensures that she's less likely to leave herself open or stumble/fall.
** Alice is a member of a secret sorority that teaches [[SheFu its own style of martial arts]] as part of its WomensMysteries.
** Alice is a WarriorPoet who emphasizes her grace and beauty as an act of defiance of the [[WarIsHell horrors of war]] and/or as an expression of her [[ProudWarriorRace people's martial traditions]].
** Alice is a FourStarBadass who has the ablitity to be ladylike because she's in a leadership position, not a grunt.
** Alice is a CombatAestheticist.

** Alice isn't so much graceful and elegant on the battlefield as much as [[TheBerserker chaotic, reckless, and brutal/brutish]].

** Alice, known for her graceful movements, also leaves a swath of [[SceneryGorn bloody carnage]] behind.
** While Alice is graceful in a fight, she still is TheKlutz and faceplants every now and then.
** Alice looks the part [[FauxActionGirl but is nowhere near as competent as she looks.]] [[PaperTiger It's mostly to prevent a fight in the first place.]]

** Alice may not be a LadyOfWar, but her retainer Christina IS, to a superlative degree.

** Alice wears a ballerina outfit while massacring a bunch of {{Mooks}}.
** The enemy seeing Alice in her ballerina outfit are enchanted by her beauty and fall down helpless on the spot.
* '''Zig Zagged''': Alice's grace comes and goes, depending on whether she's in a one-on-one duel or a hack-and-slash melee.

** Alice is polite, but brutal on the battlefield, or she is just as direct and blunt in social interactions as she is while fighting.
** Alice is a CombatPragmatist.

* '''Invoked''': Alice is a conscript of high rank and makes every effort to keep her grace and poise, lest she descend to the level of the mere peasant.

** Alice is a military leader, and her elegance has propaganda value.
* '''Defied''': Alice refuses to learn this method in favor of something more BoringButPractical.
* '''Discussed''': "Wow, Alice! I never knew murder could look so glam!"
* '''Conversed''': "When watching Alice, I am conflicted between cheering on her kicking ass or drooling over the beauty of her carnage."
* '''Implied''': Alice is a warrior who is certainly far more graceful than expected when off the field.

** Alice's grace and poise look out of place in contrast to the ugliness of battle.
** Alice's grace and poise make a disturbing contrast to her AxCrazy nature.

** Alice's grace and poise while slaughtering entire battalions was intentional on the part of her parents and caregivers, who had decided that if they couldn't entirely neutralize her AxCrazy tendencies then instilling in her a sense of proper form and a set of rules to follow was their best chance at corralling it into the least harmful avenue (to themselves, anyway) they could think of. Alice herself is a ReluctantPsycho who is, at an intellectual level, aware of her situation and does her best not to harm those she truly cares about. Besides, a fighter as skilled and deadly as Alice would be a huge help against their enemies [[TheDreaded just on her reputation alone]].

** [[NeatFreak Alice constantly complains that her comrades are not up to her fastidious standards of grace.]]
* '''Played For Drama''': Alice developed her elegant technique to counter the barbaric warrior who slaughtered her family. When she finds him, she intends to skillfully disarm him before enjoying an extended period of revenge.

* '''Reconstructed''': But even her comrades begin to accept that the beauty she contributes to combat helps them deal with the uglier scenes.

** "[[FeedTheMole Hey boss]], I just heard, all the men have left on campaign leaving no one but the princess and her ladies in waiting. TheKingdom should be [[TemptingFate easy to conquer.]]"

** "[[FeedTheMole Hey boss]], I just heard, all the men have left on campaign leaving no one but the [[BadassPrincess princess]] and her ladies in waiting. TheKingdom should be [[TemptingFate easy to conquer.]]"

* '''Implied''': Alice is a BadassPrincess who is certainly far more graceful than expected when off the field.

%%* '''Implied''': ???

** while Alice is graceful in a fight, she still is a {{Dojikko}} and faceplants every now and then.

** Alice is a FourStarBadass who the ablitity to be ladylike because she's in a leadership position, not a grunt.

** Alice's grace and poise make a disturbing contrast to her BloodKnight reason for being in the battle in the first place.

* '''Straight''': Alice is a {{badass}} ActionGirl, but is also very swift and elegant even while fighting.

** Alice is a WarriorPoet who emphasizes her grace and beauty as an act of defiance of the [[WarIsHell horrors of war]] and/or as an expression of her [[ProudWarriorRace people's traditions]].

** Alternatively, Alice isn't so much graceful and elegant on the battlefield as much as [[TheBerserker chaotic, reckless, and brutal/brutish]].

** Alternatively, while she is graceful in a fight, she still is a {{Dojikko}} and faceplants every now and then.

* '''Defied''': Alice practices this method and gives up immediately.

** Alice's grace and poise make a disturbing contrast to her AxCrazy nature.

** Alice's grace and poise make a creepy contrast to her AxCrazy nature.

* '''Deconstructed''': Alice's grace and poise look out of place in contrast to the ugliness of battle.