History Characters / OldMansWar

* GadgeteerGenius: Wilson was a mathematics PhD on Earth, which makes him a natural choice for CDF R&D. But he emerges as this trope when he gets his start working on a technology that's so spectacularly advanced even the CDF scientists (having had access to much more sophisticated technologies and mathematics for their entire lives) don't have the math for it, and proves to be one of their most effective researchers.

* CloningBlues: Of two types, even! First, he creates a clone of himself which he uses to fake his own suicide (the CDF investigators voice the hope that the clone wasn't conscious for the experience). Second, he leaves a copy of his consciousness in a computer, which the CDF implants into a new Special Forces soldier, Jared Dirac, in order to 'interrogate' Boutin.

** Prior to coming up with BrainUploading technology, the CU still needed a way to fight Alien races, and regular humans just weren't going to cut it. So they implanted genetically engineered fetuses in the hopes of creating a genetically engineered army. This had two problems: first, it takes nearly 20 years for a human to grow to adulthood, so this army took a while to create and second, when they did grow up, not all the genetically engineered kids wanted to go out and die for humanity.

* BadassBureaucrat: In "The Last Colony", he is tapped along with Jane to lead a new colony.
* BroughtDownToBadass: By "The Last Colony", he and Jane have both been given normal human bodies. Of course, Perry still has the considerable experience he gained as a soldier, which puts him a full level above almost everybody else in the colony.
* CallToAgriculture: "The Last Colony" reveals that he has enjoyed the past few years living a quiet life as an ombudsman and farmer on Huckleberry.
* DadTheVeteran: To Zoë, particularly in "Zoë's Tale".

* DemotedToExtra: After The Last Colony, when Perry gets swept up in massive galactic affairs, he becomes an oft-talked about but never seen character, and his old friend Harry Wilson becomes the protagonist.

* GoodParents: Along with Jane Sagan, he adopts Zoë after the events of "The Ghost Brigades" and they do an evidently excellent job of raising her to be a very snarky but responsible teenager.

* {{Telepathy}}: The [=BrainPal=] allows this. He loses the ability before the events of "The Last Colony", due to his being [[BroughtDownToNormal given a new unenhanced human body. ]]

* GadgeteerGenius: Wilson was a mathematics PHD on Earth, which makes him a natural choice for CDF R&D. But he emerges as this trope when he gets his start working on a technology that's so spectacularly advanced even the CDF scientists (having had access to much more sophisticated technologies and mathematics for their entire lives) don't have the math for it, and proves to be one of their most effective researchers.
* GuileHero: Despite being a CDF soldier, Wilson spends most of his time using his brain to solve problems, not a gun. Indeed, in virtually every one of his appearances, he's creating insanely inventive solutions for a host of problems he has no training or experience whatsoever to handle. Most of these solutions, though, tend to [[SpannerInTheWorks throw a wrench]] into his boss's, Ambassador Abumwe, negotiations. Rarely do they derail them, and rarely is Abumwe unsuccessful, but they do usually significantly change the calculus.

* ChildSoldiers: Sagan was cloned and raised for war. Moments after she awoke for the first time, she was handed a gun. She was trained for about a week (which is all the time a Special Forces soldier needs) and sent out to do the most dangerous jobs in the galaxy. By The Last Colony, she's about seventeen years old.
* ADayInTheLimelight: The Sagan Diaries, and, to a lesser extent, The Ghost Brigades.

* ForcedTransformation: In "The Last Colony", she discovers that [[spoiler:she has been turned back into a SuperSoldier against her will, after she had spent years learning how to be a normal human.]]
* IJustWantToBeNormal: In "The Last Colony", after [[spoiler: she realizes she has been turned back into a SuperSoldier.]]

* ReassignedToAntarctica: A rare positive example: After the events of "The Ghost Brigades", the CDF leadership offers her the chance to retire and settle on a quiet backwater colony with John Perry and Zoë Boutin as the most humane way to deal with the fact that SheKnowsTooMuch.

A young girl from Phoenix, and the daughter of Charles Boutin, the CU's greatest traitor. After the events of The Ghost Brigades, she is adopted by Perry and Sagan.

* BatmanGambit: Her method of breaking up a fight between two gaggles of teenage boys early on in Zoë's Tale is for her and her new friend to barge into the middle of it and mock the boys mercilessly, implying that the greatest thing at stake in their fight is a bet between two teenage girls with a week's worth of sweets as the wager. [[spoiler: At the end of the same book, she helps General Gau [[MoleHunt smoke out a traitor]] with another BatmanGambit.]]

* ADayInTheLimelight: Zoë's Tale

* PutOnABus: For much of The Last Colony. What she was doing is elaborated upon in Zoë's Tale, which solves a lot of the problems and oversights in The Last Colony.

Another Special Forces soldier who is implanted with a copy of Charles Boutin's consciousness, to allow the CDF to interrogate the traitor. It didn't work, and Dirac was given to the ordinary Special Forces, where he served with Jane Sagan. Eventually, certain parts of Boutin's memories and personality surface, which ultimately helps the CDF to thwart Boutin's plans and the coalition of alien species threatening humanity in The Ghost Brigades.

* ChildSoldiers: Even more so than Jane Sagan. The Ghost Brigades begins with his birth.

* TheEveryman: Like John Perry, being in the Special Forces is as new to him as it is to us.

A top CU scientist, and among the most important consciousness transfer scientists, a technology crucial to the CDF, as it transfers the personalities and memories of the 75-year-old recruits into their new bodies. His treason sets the stage for the second book, The Ghost Brigades.

The general commanding CDF Special Forces. He's heavily involved with the very sensitive missions undertaken by Sagan and her team in Old Man's War and The Ghost Brigades.

* GuileHero: He's one of the key people in the CU's Counter-Conclave policy at the end of The Ghost Brigades.

Deputy Ambassador to Ambassador Abumwe in The Human Division and associated short fiction. Harry Wilson's best friend.

* ActionSurvivor: On multiple occassions, survives by sheer luck and occasionally through the efforts of others.

* AssInAmbassador: In the right situation, she's extremely effective, but she's just not a very nice person. Early on in The Human Division, Harry Wilson remarks that she just doesn't seem to like people. And she does finally warm up to Wilson and Schmidt.

* DefrostingIceQueen: Towards Wilson, Hart, and the universe in general over the course of The Human Division.

* GuiltRiddenAccomplice: In the third book, Rybicki is being forced to liaison with John by a system that he knows fully well is setting up John and his people as sacrificial lambs, and his demeanor reflects a lot of unhappiness about this.

* [[spoiler:InspirationalMartyr]]: [[spoiler:[[HeroicSuicide He arranges his own assassination via bomb]] while giving a speech to the Grand Assembly of the Conclave on the importance of preserving their union despite the challenges they face, in hopes that it would galvanize he Conclave into holding itself together.]]

* TheChick: Scalzi regularly makes him into the equivalent of a DistressedDamsel.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: He's a military officer who leads the Conclave's more-or-less civilian government. It's likely he was tapped as the leader of the Conclave because of his asskicking credentials, especially because the founders of the Conclave (of which Gau was one) almost certainly anticipated the need for military force to end the constant internecine conflict throughout the galaxy, and also to enforce the Conclave's galaxy-wide ban on new colonization by unaffiliated species.

* SpareToTheThrone: He went into Colonial politics partially because his older brother was expected to take their father's place as the head of their homeworld's dominant political party. Unexpectedly, the oldest son instead elected to support the opposition party (he has two other siblings: His sister is a big mover and shaker in various charities, and his other brother has pretty much decided on being a RichIdiotWithNoDayJob since everybody else was being responsible.)

** He's also nearly the sole survivor of the Old Farts, a group that Perry formed when he was first inducted into the CDF. After approximately ten years in the service, only he, [[TheEngineer Harry Wilson]] and Jesse Gonzales, survive. Both Gonzalez and Perry retire from the CDF (not that it lasts for Perry), but Wilson re-ups and takes Perry's place as the main character.

* GuileHero: Despite being a CDF soldier, Wilson spends most of his time using his brain to solve problems, not a gun. Indeed, in virtually every one of his appearances, he's creating insanely inventive solutions for a host of problems he has no training or experience whatsoever to handle. Most of these solutions, though, tend to throw a bone into his boss's, Ambassador Abumwe, negotiations. Rarely do they derail them, and rarely is Abumwe unsuccessful, but they do usually significantly change the calculus.

A soldier in the CDF's highly elite and incredibly secretive Special Forces. She also happens to be a clone of Perry's wife, Kathy, who enlisted in the CDF but died before her 75th birthday. After a huge ambush, Sagan saves Perry, who is obviously interested in Sagan. Sagan also begins to show some elements of Kathy's personality, and eventually they fall in love, retire from the CDF, marry, and adopt a daughter, Zoe.

* MandatoryUnretirement: Like Perry, she gets selected to help lead a new colony. [[spoiler: Unlike Perry, she is turned back into a SuperSoldier against her will due certain expected risks they have not been told about.]]

[[folder:Zoe Boutin]]

* BatmanGambit: Her method of breaking up a fight between two gaggles of teenage boys early on in Zoe's Tale is for her and her new friend to barge into the middle of it and mock the boys mercilessly, implying that the greatest thing at stake in their fight is a bet between two teenage girls with a week's worth of sweets as the wager. [[spoiler: At the end of the same book, she helps General Gau [[MoleHunt smoke out a traitor]] with another BatmanGambit.]]

* ADayInTheLimelight: Zoe's Tale

* PutOnABus: For much of The Last Colony. What she was doing is elaborated upon in Zoe's Tale, which solves a lot of the problems and oversights in The Last Colony.

* TriggerPhrase: An unusual example in which its not actually intentional. A side effect of the failed attempt to implant Boutin's personality in [[BlankSlate Jared's body]] is that certain mundane things cause parts of Boutin's memories or personality to connect to Jared's personality. The first such one is a bag of black jelly beans which lead to Jared having a full-blown FreakOut.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: One of the very few characters in the upper echelon of the Colonial Union's apparatus with any sort of exposure, and a very reasonable person. He even lets Sagan retire to colonize and raise Zoe with Perry, which is unheard of.

The Conclave is an organization of about four hundred sapient, spacefaring races, or about two-thirds of the galaxy. The Conclave's intent is to end the incessant conflict between species and nations in the galaxy, and also to counter the threat of humanity.

* FictionalUnitedNations: Essentially. It's primary goal is peace.

* FriendToAllChildren: While eating churros in Washington, she has an impromptu question-and-answer session with a group of elementary school children on a field trip, and she really hits it off with them. Ironically, it is revealed that a callous disregard for their ''own'' young is a Hat of the Lalans, and seen as necessary for them to develop properly and avoid overpopulation.

* [[spoiler:UnexpectedSuccessor]]: [[spoiler:Finds herself the leader of the Conclave, much to her surprise and dismay, when General Gau is killed, as a result of a ThanatosGambit on his part and some quick behind the scenes maneuvering to avoid a SuccessionCrisis.]]

* BalefulPolymorph: In "The Last Colony", she discovers that [[spoiler:she has been turned back into a SuperSoldier against her will, after she had spent years learning how to be a normal human.]]

** The Special Forces soldies are this with hyperspeed aging and better indoctrination.

** The Special Forces soldies are this, aged up in a short period of time.

!!Earth

[[folder:Earth in general]]

While the Colonial Union is largely the face of humanity throughout the galaxy, Earth is not a member. The CU controls all interstellar travel and has kept Earth under an effective quarantine to isolate them from the galaxy at large, meaning the only way to leave is to either serve as a colonist or in the Colonial Defense Forces. [[NothingIsTheSameAnymore This arrangement came crashing down]] with the events of ''The Last Colony'', and the events of ''The Human Division'' served to only make things worse.

* OneWorldOrder: Averted. Earth is still divided among national lines. Of course, it's implied a large part of this is because of the CU's interference.
* UnitedNationsIsASuperpower: Averted. The UN maintains a delegation with the Conclave in ''The End of All Things'', and the narration describes them as an organization which is ''not'' the government of Earth, but sometimes ''pretends'' to be in order to represent the Earthers' interests off-world.
* WeAreStrugglingTogether: The various governments still disagree as much as they ever did, making diplomacy with Earth rather difficult for both the CU and the Conclave.

[[folder:Doctor Danielle Lowen]]

Daughter of an important Earth politician, and an up and coming diplomat herself.

* YourCheatingHeart: John reveals that he cheated on Kathy once. It nearly led to her divorcing him, not because of the cheating (a hormonal weakness), but because he lied to her about it (a conscious choice). Fortunately, love won out. Besides, she ended up cheating on him a few years later, so John considers them even.

* AttackAttackAttack: The CU's policy, at least at the beginning of the series, is basically to shoot anyone and
anything remotely in their way. The CU's extreme aggression is one of the factors leading to the foundation of the Conclave, a United Nations-like organization designed to reduce the amount of conflict in the galaxy.

* AttackAttackAttack: The CU's policy, at least at the beginning of the series, is basically to shoot anyone and anything remotely in their way. The CU's extreme aggression is one of the factors leading to the foundation of the Conclave, a United Nations-like organization designed to reduce the amount of conflict in the galaxy.

* {{Foil}}: To John Perry. Like Perry, he's a huge DeadpanSnarker who's every other sentence is some kind of smart remark or quip. However, while Perry managed to use this behavior to endear himself to everyone, Wilson mostly just gets on people's nerves. After he becomes the viewpoint character, pretty much the only people shown to treat Wilson with anything other than barely-concealed irritation are [[NiceGuy Hart]] and [[LoveInterest Danielle]]. Also, while both are genetically enhanced super soldiers with an uncanny ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, Perry becomes a famous and beloved military hero for it, while Wilson's equally remarkable accomplishments are deliberately kept under wraps by the CU.

* {{Foil}}: To John Perry. Like Perry, he's a huge DeadpanSnarker who's every other sentence is some kind of smart remark or quip. However, while Perry managed to use this behavior to endear himself to everyone around him, Wilson mostly just gets on people's nerves. After he becomes the viewpoint character, pretty much the only people shown to treat Wilson with anything other than barely-concealed irritation are [[NiceGuy Hart]] and [[LoveInterest Danielle]]. Also, while both are genetically enhanced super soldiers who have an uncanny ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, Perry becomes a famous and beloved military hero for it, while Wilson's equally remarkable accomplishments are deliberately kept under wraps by the CU.

* {{Foil}}: To John Perry. Like Perry, he's a huge DeadpanSnarker who's every other sentence is some kind of smart remark or quip. However, while Perry managed to use this behavior to endear himself to everyone around him, Wilson mostly just gets on people's nerves. After he becomes the viewpoint character, pretty much the only people shown to treat Wilson with anything other than barely-concealed irritation are [[NiceGuy Hart]] and [[LoveInterest Danielle]]. Also, while both are genetically enhanced super soldiers who have an uncanny ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, Perry becomes a famous and beloved military hero for it, while Wilson's equally remarkable accomplishments are actually ''covered up'' by the CU.

[[folder:Doctor Danielle Lowen

[[folder:Colonial Union]]

! General Tropes

!! John Perry

!! Harry Wilson

!! Jane Sagan

!! Zoe Boutin

!! Jared Dirac

!! Charles Boutin

!! General Szilard

!! Hart Schmidt

!! Ode Abumwe

!! Abel Rigney

!! Elizabeth Egan

[[folder: Earth]]

! General Tropes

* OneWorldOrder: Averted. Earth is still divided among national lines.

!! Doctor Danielle Lowen

[[folder: The Conclave]]

! General Tropes

!! Tarsem Gau

!! Hafte Sorvalh

* TheFederation: The CU is a true federation. The CU government is spectacularly uninterested in the government and policy of the individual planets, and indeed is mostly independent of them. It relies on the Earth for its soldiers and colonists, and so all it really needs from the individual planets is enough wealth to equip said colonists and soldiers. As a result, the individual planets of the CU are left entirely to their own devices, and from what we've seen of their governments, they seem perfectly free and democratic.

** [[spoiler:His final message to Boutin after the latter's GrandTheftMe also executes a program that [[TakingYouWithMe spontaneously combusts all the [=SmartBlood=] in his body.]]

* BloodyMurder: Successfully uses his inorganic nanotechnological SmartBlood, which can ignite on command from the [=BrainPal=] as an improvised weapon.

* {{Badass}}: Every CDF soldier is one, but Perry stands out. In his very first combat engagement, he has the presence of mind to design an entirely new firing protocol for his smart rifle that proves to be decisive in a major battle with the enigmatic Consu.
** BadassBureaucrat: In "The Last Colony", he is tapped along with Jane to lead a new colony.

* {{Badass}}: Again, like all CDF soldiers. In The Human Division, despite being the CDF equivalent of incredibly out of shape, he still barely has to break his stride to trounce four young and skilled South African soldiers.

* {{Badass}}: Again, like every CDF soldier, but Special Forces soldiers are especially badass, and Sagan is very badass for a Special Forces soldier.
* [[spoiler: BalefulPolymorph]]: In "The Last Colony", she discovers that [[spoiler: she has been turned back into a SuperSoldier against her will, after she had spent years learning how to be a normal human.]]

* {{Badass}}: Again, just like everyone else.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: We never see him in action, but there's no way you become top dog in the Special Forces without being a galaxy-class {{Badass}}.
* {{Badass}}: Definitely.