History BattleTech / Tropes0ToF

* DecompositeCharacter: The ''Crusader'' and ''Phoenix Hawk'' were originally based on VF-1A and S from ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' equipped with extra armor and boosters, respectively, but they're adapted as completely separate entities from their unadorned versions, the ''Stinger'' and ''Wasp''. Not only that, a more belated example occurred with the Destroid Tomahawk. While it was adapted into the ''Warhammer'' in the very first edition, the Tomahawk's concealed side torso-mounted missile launchers were left out, as they weren't visible in most illustrations. These were later added to the ''Battleaxe'', a 'Mech from the Star League era Saud to be a forerunner of the ''Warhammer''.

* DivergentCharacterEvolution: There are at least five different mechs based on the [[Anime/SuperdimensionFortressMacross VF-1]], all of which have undergone considerable alterations from each other, even before the designs had to be changed for legal reasons.

* ArchEnemy: Dozens of cases here. If two factions have shared a border for any length of time they probably hate each other.

** Conventional infantry platoons are filled with {{One Hit Point Wonder}}s, each point of damage kills one trooper (some weapons may be more or less efficient at this). The more soldiers are in the platoon, the more hits it can acheive and thus the more damage it can do, but the whole platoon is not destroyed until the very last soldier dies.

** Many of the more iconic 'Mechs are ridiculously impractical. For example, the Mad-Cat/Timberwolf (the one with two beam arms and big missile launcher shoulders - currently the page image) is, pound for pound, one of the absolute best Heavy 'Mechs that you can get, with an [=OmniMech=] design that makes it versatile, an array of weapons that makes it deadly at any potential range (in its default configuration), and a price tag that makes it completely ridiculous to afford. The Timberwolf has a cost of 24 million C-Bills. An Atlas (the ''other'' iconic Mech, with a skull-like face design) has a cost of a little over 9.5 million C-Bills, and is almost as powerful as a Timberwolf (sacrificing some versatility for firepower). Meaning you can buy two Atlas 'Mechs for the price of one Timberwolf. This is emblematic of Clan 'Mechs. Of course, being the Clans, their 'Mechs and technology are not typically for sale on the open market. . . until the mid-late [=3060s=], when [[ProudMerchantRace Clan Diamond Shark]] [[JustForPun smells money in the water]][[note]]Though the Diamond Sharks had to step pretty lightly to avoid the other Clans taking umbrage at the selling of cutting-edge Clan military technology to what was still more-or-less the enemy[[/note]].

* FasterThanLightTravel: Of the "Jump" variety, using a Kearny-Fuchida (K-F) Drive. Ships that do this are called [=JumpShips=]. [=BattleTech=] has one of the ''slowest'' [=FTL=] systems in Science Fiction. 30 light years at a jump, but then around a week to recharge. it would take about 9 months for one ship to travel from one end of the Inner Sphere to the other.

* FounderOfTheKingdom: Nicholas Kerensky, the creator of the Clan's social and governmental structure, is revered by all Clanners as "The Founder". His famous father, Aleksandr Kerensky, is even move revered and remmebered as "The Great Father" of the Clans. His remains were preserved aboard his old flagship, the SLS ''[=McKenna's=] Pride'' orbiting the Clan capital world Strana Mechty as a monument to the Exodus (at least until the Wars of Reaving).

** Any weapon that gets over ten damage starts to stray into this territory, due to being being exceptionally heavy, taking up several critical clots, extremely high heat, extremely low ammo-per-ton, or a combination of the above. The Clan ERPPC weighs only six tons, takes only two critical slots, and does fifteen damage. . . for the price of fifteen heat (for reference, if a 'Mech's heat reachs 30, it's automatic shutdown)[[note]]You'll need eight double heat sinks to absorb this heat, so the ''actual'' weight of an ERPPC plus what it needs to be used effectively is ''fourteen'' tons and ''eighteen'' critical slots[[/note]]. Comparatively, a Clan Ultra [=Autocannon/20=] does 20 damage for 7 heat (40 for 14 if you rapid-fire it and risk it jamming and becoming useless for the rest of the game), weighs ''twelve'' tons, takes ''eight'' crit slots, and gets only 5 shots per ton of ammo (and has not quite half the range of the ERPPC). [=LRM-15=], [=LRM-20=], and [=SRM-6=] launchers are comparatively forgiving in terms of weight, heat, slots, and ammo. . . but there's no guarantee every missile fired will hit, and thus that you'll get the weapon's full damage potential every time you fire it.

* TheFederation: The Federated Suns, and Lyran Commonwealth. However, while both are largely free societies, both are ruled by autocrats. The Federated Suns has a partially democratic congress, however. The Lyran Commonwealth also has a parliament with some power. Both states do have democratic governments at the planetary and local levels as well, for the most part.

* FictionalGenevaConventions: The [[http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Ares_Conventions Ares Conventions]], and its spiritual successor the Honours of War, are perhaps the most exhaustive examples ever written. The former cleaves close to this trope in being intended for humanitarian purposes, the latter are more a case of pragmatism in the face of total societial collapse and boil down to "don't break [[LostTechnology shit that's hard to replace]]." This obviously means damaging the remaining faster-than-light Jumpships gets ''everyone'' pissed at you, but pretty much any piece of technology more advanced than a microwave oven can be ransomed -- along with the guy who owns it; at any time during a battle, a Mechwarrior can offer to yield with the full expectation of his opponents ransoming him and his Battlemech to his faction, and can usually expect the offer to be accepted. Same with space fighters and dropships; no-one wants to wreck operational technology. It also protects spaceports, industrial areas and power plants. The Conventions are known and acknowledged even at the civilian level because civilian populations and agricultural areas are implied to be part and parcel of those sites as they're the local source of trained workers to ''run and maintain'' them -- especially because a lot of the expertise is passed down through families. This means that most [=WMDs=] are also banned, because biosphere damage that kills too much of a planet's population is likely to demolish all technological civilization on the planet, rendering it all but worthless unless someone brings in megatons of hardware and people to rebuild it from scratch. However, the resulting AdventureFriendlyWorld clearly demonstrates the HardTruthAesop at the trope's heart; the Conventions ''legalized'' warfare, and made it so simple and cheap that nations waged war for resources and territory almost ''constantly.''

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The [[PrivateMilitaryContractors Wolf's Dragoons]] sourcebook openly speculates that the mercenary unit is actually a scouting party for the return of Alexander Kerensky's Star League Defense Forces.

* FreeLoveFuture: The Magistracy of Canopus has legalized prostitution (and sex tourism is a substantial part of their tourism and entertainment industry, which basically sustains their entire economy) and is pretty liberal when it comes to sex of any sort.