History Characters / TNOKomi

[[center: [-[[Characters/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/TNOGermany Großgermanisches Reich]] ([[Characters/TNOHeydrich Heydrich's Germany]]) | [[Characters/{{TNOUSA}} The United States of America]] | [[Characters/TNOJapan Dai-Nippon Teikoku]] | [[Characters/TNOItaly Italian Empire]] | [[Characters/TNOIberianUnion Iberian Union]] | [[Characters/TNOBurgundy Ordensstaat Burgund]] | [[Characters/TNOAfrica Northern and Western Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthernAfrica Southern Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOPostColonialCentralAfrica Post-Colonial Central Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOAmerica America]] | [[Characters/TNOAsia Asia and Oceania]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthAsia South Asia]] | [[Characters/TNOMiddleEast Middle East]] | [[Characters/TNOEurope Europe]] | [[Characters/TNOBritain British Isles]] | [[Characters/TNOEasternEurope Eastern Europe]] | Former Soviet Union ([[Characters/TNORussia West Russia]] | '''Komi Republic''' | [[Characters/TNOTaboritsky Sergey Taboritsky's Russia]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthernUrals Southern Urals]] | [[Characters/TNOWesternSiberia Western Siberia]] | [[Characters/TNOCentralSiberia Central Siberia]] | [[Characters/TNOFarEast Far East]] | [[Characters/TNOCentralAsia Central Asia]] | [[Characters/TNORussiaCollapse Second Warlord Era]]) | [[Characters/TNOMisc Miscellaneous Countries]]]]-]

[[center: [-[[Characters/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/TNOGermany Großgermanisches Reich]] ([[Characters/TNOHeydrich Heydrich's Germany]]) | [[Characters/{{TNOUSA}} The United States of America]] | [[Characters/TNOJapan Dai-Nihon Teikoku]] | [[Characters/TNOItaly Italian Empire]] | [[Characters/TNOIberianUnion Iberian Union]] | [[Characters/TNOBurgundy Ordensstaat Burgund]] | [[Characters/TNOAfrica Northern and Western Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthernAfrica Southern Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOPostColonialCentralAfrica Post-Colonial Central Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOAmerica America]] | [[Characters/TNOAsia Asia and Oceania]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthAsia South Asia]] | [[Characters/TNOMiddleEast Middle East]] | [[Characters/TNOEurope Europe]] | [[Characters/TNOBritain British Isles]] | [[Characters/TNOEasternEurope Eastern Europe]] | Former Soviet Union ([[Characters/TNORussia West Russia]] | '''Komi Republic''' | [[Characters/TNOTaboritsky Sergey Taboritsky's Russia]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthernUrals Southern Urals]] | [[Characters/TNOWesternSiberia Western Siberia]] | [[Characters/TNOCentralSiberia Central Siberia]] | [[Characters/TNOFarEast Far East]] | [[Characters/TNOCentralAsia Central Asia]] | [[Characters/TNORussiaCollapse Second Warlord Era]]) | [[Characters/TNOMisc Miscellaneous Countries]]]]-]

* TheCameo: Makes a cameo in, of all places, the DistantFinale to [[spoiler: [[https://old.reddit.com/r/TNOmod/comments/meqmra/despite_all_the_odds_despite_the_neardeath_of/ Sergey Taboritsky's Holy Russian Empire]], where she returns to Russia for the first time in decades as an old woman after fleeing from his nightmarish regime]].

[[folder:Sergey Taboritsky '''(UNMARKED SPOILERS)''']]

[[caption-width-right:156:Taboritsky, the Despotist Regent]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/portrait_nik_sergey_taboritsky.png]]
[[caption-width-right:156:Taboritsky, the Burgundian Madman]]

->'''Ideology:''' Despotism, Burgundian System (post-regional unification)
->'''In-Game Biography (Despotist):''' [[labelnote: Click to Show]] The story of Sergey Vladimirovich Taboritsky is as anomalous as his personality and political views. Born to a Russian merchant and Jewish seamstress, Taboritsky was nevertheless a staunch Russian monarchist and earnest anti-Semite from an early age, trying to get rid of the "Cain's seal" inherited from his mother. Becoming an exile in the Weimar Republic following the Russian Civil War, he acquitanced himself with Russian reactionary circles, reinforcing his beliefs and helping to spread the infamous 'Protocols of Zion' in Germany. Along with his long-time friend Pyotr Shabelsky-Bork, he assassinated a former Russian Kadet politician Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov in attempt to bring revenge upon those whom he considered the main instigators of the revolution that ruined the Russian Tsardom. As the NSDAP came to power in Germany, he became one of the most enthusiastic collaborators with the Nazi regime among the White émigrés, hoping that the German dominance would pave a road for the restoration of monarchy in Russia.\\\
Like others, Taboritsky joined Vladimir in Vyatka, but soon he became displeased with who he claimed was the 'impostor Tsar', sincerely believing that the true Emperor of Russia, Tsarevich Alexey, miraculously survived and will arrive to his subjects should they prove their loyalty to their rightful ruler. Few in Vyatka could share his eccentric beliefs, but soon he found his following in Ust-Sysolsk.\\\
A person too unhinged for his enemies and friends alike, Taboritsky, however, succeeded to outplay them all and emerge as the sole ruler of the city, claiming the title of the Imperial Regent for Tsar Alexey II for himself. Few expect Taboritsky's delusions to come true, but few doubt his rule will be anything but ferocious one, as his zeal is fueled by long-standing hatred for Bolsheviks and anyone who betrayed the Russian Tsar in his darkest hour. [[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography (Burgundian System):''' [[labelnote: Click to Show]] The mask has finally slipped, and the clock now ticks ever forward. Sergey Vladimirovich Taboritsky, formerly the dark horse of the Passionariyy Organization, has finally secured utter control of the state, and his plans for its future could not be any more disturbing - at least to his many detractors.\\\
Once again harnessing the talent for oratory that ensured the relevance of his Society for the Restoration of the Russian Empire even when, by all accounts, it should have been entirely subsumed by the larger Organization, he has now announced that very restoration. Claiming to rule as regent for the Tsar Alexei II, who he states escaped execution by the Bolsheviks long ago, he routinely issues thunderous appeals to those to value traditionalism and Imperial nostalgia, and couples these appeals with open and extremely virulent anti-Semitism.\\\
To those supporters, relatively numerous as they may be, it is as if God himself descended, in the form of Taboritsky, from Heaven in order to save the Empire. To everybody else, he is an abject madman, as unstable as he is dangerous, and as opposition coalesces, both within the state and within his own mind, the question is clear:\\\
How long until the clock strikes midnight? [[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography (The Silent Regent):''' [[labelnote: Click to Show]] \\\
[[red:Remain calm.\\\
The Regent endures.\\\
Alexei lives.\\\
The Holy Russian Empire shall endure.\\\
There is much to be done.]] [[/labelnote]]

The aberrant character of Sergey Vladimirovich Taboritsky rests on the far fringes of Komi's politics. A committed reactionary for all of his life, Taboritsky is an anti-Semite born to a Jewish mother, a Russian monarchist and a willing Nazi collaborator, a one-time reactionary political assassin, and presently in Komi, the head of the Society for the Restoration of the Russian Empire (OVRI), a minor group associated with the Passionariyy.

Taboritsky orignally entered Russia alongside Tsar Vladimir's expedition, but he quickly became fixated a single belief: Tsarevich Alexey, the true Emperor of Russia, had survived the Russian Revolution, and Vladimir was nothing more than an imposter. Considered eccentric at best and delusional at worst, Taboritsky was quickly exiled from Vyatka, but found a new foothold in Komi.

Now, Taboritsky and his clique of fanatics champion his beliefs of Alexey's survival, and seek the creation of a Regency that would rule in Alexey's absence. A Regency that would cleanse Russia of its filth and deliver a Holy Empire to the True Emperor. A Regency inspired by none other than the purified realms of Caucasus under German prince Josias. A Regency of the blessed ''National Socialism.'' A Regency of the magnificent '''''Burgundian System.'''''

----
* AbsoluteXenophobe: Taboritsky tries to kill every single racial minority in Russia to purify his Empire, and uses chemical terror bombings on villages of Russian minorities as his main method of extermination.
* AfterTheEnd: After Taboritsky's death, the Empire slowly disintegrates into total anarchy without any semblance of functional government anywhere. No more radio broadcasts come from Russia anymore (aside from one constantly repeating mantra), and Russia essentially becomes a nameless wasteland, similar to what happens to the entire world if nuclear war breaks out.
-->'''Remain calm.'''\\
'''The Regent endures.'''\\
'''Alexei lives.'''\\
'''The Holy Russian Empire shall endure.'''\\
'''There is much to be done.'''
* AlasPoorVillain:
** Even though he's the worst possible unifier for Russia, his death is surprisingly tragic. Throughout his reign, he slowly begins to realize how delusional and lost his cause is, becoming more insane in the process and even showing regret when he murders Nabokov. This culminates in his eventual acceptance that Alexei isn't coming back and his efforts were for naught. After this revelation, Taboritsky literally dies from shock, spending his last few moments pitifully begging for Alexei to return.
** If Taboritsky is successfully imprisoned instead of being marked for death or getting exiled, the Mad Regent will be comforted by a vision of The Virgin Mary and Alexei in his cell. He embraces his delusions and is removed from the political scene in his own, ignorant, bliss.
* AllCrimesAreEqual:
** Taboritsky's standards are set so high, even accidentally dropping your tools when working is considered a crime that deserves a forced disappearance.
** At the superregional level, Taboritsky decides that everyone who enters the courts is guilty of sin and must be punished by death in God's name, and changes every court sentence to a death sentence. Thousands die in a matter of weeks and multiple mass graves spring up to bury the corpses of sentenced inmates.
* AllForNothing: After Taboritsky's death, any territory he managed to conquer and subsequently terrorize as Regent will once again collapse, but this time it creates a total anarchy in which there is no semblance of an actual functioning government anywhere in the former empire, forever destroying any hopes of a united Russia.
* AllohistoricalAllusion: Taboritsky suffers a fatal stroke, with his guards being too afraid to enter his room and intervene, mirroring the death of Josef Stalin.
* AnarchyIsChaos: The Holy Russian Empire collapses so catastrophically after Taboritsky's death that it is visually represented by the ''entire country'' turning into demilitarized zones, while the country's flag, ministers, and even ''name'' disappears, leaving behind a gigantic black ''void'' in Russia similar to the state of the world post-nuclear war.
** Specifically, the main ideology present in the anarchy is not Libertarian Socialism like normal, but ''[[FridgeHorror Ultranationalism]]''. It can be inferred that the territory is made up of roving warbands of former soldiers of the mad regent, now indoctrinated fanatics, killing everyone they encounter including each other in pursuit of what they interpret as Taboritsky's last orders. This leads to a new warlord era made up of some of the most [[AxCrazy deranged and unstable]] people imaginable.
* TheAntichrist: If he exists at the same time as [[GoodShepherd Alexander Men's]] Divine Mandate, [[https://old.reddit.com/r/TNOmod/comments/k7r52u/alexander_mens_reaction_to_taboritskys_russia/ Men will identify him as a more horrific tyrant]] than Nero, Ivan the Terrible, Elizabeth Báthory, and the Fuhrer of Germany combined, eventually declaring him to be the antichrist after a prayer session, steeling himself for war against what he believes is the worst embodiment of evil that's walked the Earth so far. His own rule has several traits associated with the antichrist as well, namely by bringing about an apocalyptic end to Russia should he succeed, with him utilizing Christ on his flag while quoting scripture to convince Russia of his holiness, when in reality his state is more in practice based on worship towards him and Alexei, false messiahs whose cults will bring about ruin.
* AsTheGoodBookSays: Taboritsky's journal entries begin with quotes from Literature/TheBible.
* AxCrazy: Taboritsky is ''not'' mentally well, to say the least, and is the most violent and oppressive Russian unifier, slaughtering dissidents, racial minorities, the mentally ill and disabled, and anyone else who earns his ire with impunity in addition to outright ''mandating'' the use of chemical weapons in warfare and against enemies of the state. On a personal level, he is also extremely prone to violent outbursts, and during his more unstable moments he might well strangle or beat someone to death with his own hands.
* BaitAndSwitch:
** Taboritsky, being initially a despotist, seems like the most moderate member of the Passionaryy at the start in terms of ideological classifications. Should he actually cement his power however, the situation is immediately flipped upside-down as Taboritsky adopts the Burgundian System, instantly becoming ''the'' most radical politician in Russia by a wide margin.
** Most of his focuses do exactly the opposite of what they proclaim, such as Cleansing the Academia, which is described as "improving the academic base modifier", but actually does the opposite.
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Taboritsky self-immolates in a little chapel in his "opposition killed" event if Komi's rulers try to hunt down and assassinate him after the coup-countercoup stage.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: Taboritsky initially seems like an eccentric monarchist and a minor player among the Passionaryy. However, if he manages to take over Ust-Sysolsk, then it quickly becomes obvious how horrifically insane Taboritsky really is.
* BookEnds: Taboritsky's introductory event ends with "God save Russia.", as he prays to God to keep Tsarevich Alexei safe. After Taboritsky unifies Russia, the ensuing world event (which is one of the Holy Russian Empire's final ones, before Taboritsky dies and his nightmarish empire collapses), ends with "God save Russia - for no-one else can."
* BoomerangBigot: Taboritsky's mother was a Jewish tailor, and he is painfully aware of this fact, even though he obviously doesn't disclose it publicly. One of his later journal entries encaptures the toll it took on his maddened mind.
-->''I AM NOT A JEW I AM NOT CAIN I DID ONLY WHAT YOU ASKED OF ME''
* TheCaligula: Taboritsky is one of, if not ''the'' most deranged and delusional rulers in TNO, beating out other Burgundian System adherents like Josias zu Waldeck-Pyrmont ''and'' Heinrich Himmler in terms of sheer unhinged madness and detachment from reality[[note]]In fact, the only individual who can compete with Taboritsky in the "completely AxCrazy" department is Velimir from the Aryan Brotherhood, who ''still'' managed to be a little more sane than Taboritsky by offering token bits of PragmaticVillainy here and there[[/note]]. From the very beginning, Taboritsky displays his fanatical dedication to unreal beliefs like divine purity and Alexei's survival, as well as extreme erraticism and ruthlessnesss. His adoption of the Burgundian System is a result of fanatical desires to deliver a purified Russia to Alexei, and the delusional belief that only fundamentalist National Socialism can bring out this purity. As Taboritsky's sanity continues to worsen, his mental illness escalates into straight-up schizophrenia, as he begins to have and believe in his hallucinations and his writings degenerate into incoherent ramblings.
* LesCollaborateurs: Before he became what he is now in Komi, Taboritsky was an active Russian collaborator in Nazi Germany.
* ConspicuousConsumption: To show the splendor of the Holy Russian Empire, Taboritsky creates what he calls "purified imperial architecture", which consists of grand architectural displays of opulence created at the expense of the lower class (who are squeezed of their produces and prohibited from becoming rich) and the subhumans (who have all of their possessions confiscated). Taboritsky's own [[BigFancyHouse mansion]] is decorated with huge amounts of gold, marble, and expensive furniture.
* CrushingThePopulace: After unifying Western Russia, Taboritsky's regime adopts a version of the Burgundian System, purging anyone who isn't pure Russian, with a special focus on annihilating the Jewish population. For the rest of society that is not immediately exterminated, Taboritsky implements an insanely oppressive rule to purify the Russians in their thinking and behavior, with slave-like work conditions, draconian political oppression enforced by a cruel secret police, enforced poverty on the commoners in order to enrich the Godly elite, and absolute religious insanity. His oppression is so bad, he can get a ''-100%'' population growth malus from his constant massacres.
* CultOfPersonality: Aside from the Imperial Cult dedicated to Alexei, Taboritsky also creates a cult of personality around himself, the blessed regent of Alexei.
* DarkHorseVictory: Taboritsky is the most fringe of Ust-Sysolsk's potential leaders, occupying a minority influence even within the Passionariyy (which is itself weaker than the Communists and the Democrats).
* DeadlyGas: Taboritsky is ''by far'' the most aggressive user of the Syktyvkar Arsenal's revenge weapons. When he coups the government, he attacks the legislative assembly with tear gas. When he is cementing his rule, he can gas Suslov to death. After he declares his Regency, he ''mandates'' the liberal use of chemical weapons in battles. He also uses chemical gas bombings in his extermination campaigns, killing entire villages in a manner similar to the German terror bombings. He even creates even more deadly and outright corrosive chemical weapons at the superregional stage.
* DeathByDespair: When the clock reaches zero (which can be delayed, but not averted), Taboritsky's sanity will drop completely and he will ultimately die of despair due to the realization that Tsarevich Alexei is dead and is never coming back.
* DecapitatedArmy: When Taboritsky's SanityMeter inevitably runs out and he dies, it's strongly implied his death is covered up by radio and television by his officers. His leader trait then changes to "The Silent Regent", which effectively paralyzes the Holy Russian Empire, starts to melt his political base, completely stops new manpower recruits and ''reduces population'' overall, permamently. This eventually spirals into Russia collapsing so catastrophically that it becomes similar to the wastelands of a post nuclear war world.
* DoomsdayClock: Post-regional unification, Taboritsky gains a new decision screen called "The Clockworks", displaying a time that slowly progresses from the first hour to midnight, and a warning that the time must never reach midnight. It is a representation of Taboritsky's [[SanityMeter sanity]], and various events that appear throughout the game will speed up or slow down the clock, and events unlocked as the clock progresses shows an increasingly unhinged Taboritsky. When the time hits [[VillainousBreakdown Midnight]], Taboritsky dies and the entire Empire meets its doom; recruitable population is set to ''0%'', unit organization is cut in half, and Burgundian System support gets a popularity drain, likely representing the Empire of nightmares literally collapsing in on itself.
* DownerEnding: Of all the possible warlords who can unify Russia, the development team considers Taboritsky's ending to be the absolute worst for Russia itself (though not the entire world, that honor goes to Hyperborea and the All-Russian Black League, both of which are likely to start a global thermonuclear war and end the world), which is known as the 'failstate'. Taboritsky's mad rule of Russia causes the country to collapse so catastrophically that it has no successor states; Russia simply becomes an absolutely lawless wasteland, with the ideological, societal, and demographic madness inflicted by the Holy Russian Empire being so severe that it kills off the very idea of a Russian nation, ''forever''.
-->'''Quote from news event of Taboritsky's national unification:''' "God save Russia - for no-one else can."
* DystopiaIsHard: Taboritsky's genocidal purges and genocidal ethnic cleansing will bring ''crippling'' penalties to his empire.
* EvilCostumeSwitch: During Komi's coup-countercoup stage, Taboritsky's ideology is Despotism, and he wears a suitably regal uniform fitting his monarchism in his portrait. After his ideology changes to Burgundian System, he replaces this suit with an evil-looking coat with really high collars and a German-style military tunic underneath.
* EvilCounterpart: To Rurik II. Both of them are despotic rulers of a country who suffer from blatant insanity. Many of their actions and policies stem from their madness and they have some of the most unique and radical unifiers available for Russia. Both leaders also lay claim to a royal position and model their societies after their interpretation of Russia's pre-communist past: Rurik uses Kievan Rus' as his model, while Taboritsky uses Tsarist Russia. The difference is that Rurik II, despite being insane, remains a pragmatic and wise leader, while Taboritsky is a horrible ruler precisely because he is completely insane. Rurik II starts out as a despot, but his son can turn Russia into a democracy; Taboritsky starts as a despot and ends up modeling his government according to the Burgundian System. Rurik II leaves a united, powerful Russia to his successors, while Taboritsky has no heir who could inherit his empire, and said empire collapses after his death and ends all possibility of a united Russia for good. Finally, Rurik II unifying Russia is one of the better endings for it, while Taboritsky unifying Russia is the ''worst'' ending. Even their deaths show this: Rurik dies peacefully, surrounded by his children, with his final words implying his insanity [[ObfuscatingInsanity may have been an act]]. Taboritsky dies alone in his office, undergoing a VillainousBreakdown as he finally realizes that Alexi is dead.
* EvilReactionary: Taboritsky's beliefs, grossly oversimplified, boils down to him wanting to return Russia to the idealized days of the Russian Empire, when the Romanovs are in power, the people are faithful, and the workers are obedient. His methods to return Russia to that past though are where the Burgundian influences come in.
* EvilRegent: If Taboritsky reunites Western Russia, he will make himself the Regent of Alexei Romanov (who's long dead), ruling the country until Alexei "comes back". And he certainly lives up to the "evil" part upon taking power, transforming Russia into a theocratic totalitarian dictatorship modeled off of the principles of the Burgundian System. Unlike traditional examples of evil regents, Taboritsky isn't working against Alexei; instead, all of his insanity is an attempt at creating a pure Russia for Alexei to rule over.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: There is no way for Taboritsky to achieve his goal of creating a 'pure' Holy Russian Empire for Tsar Alexei to rule over. His beloved Tsar being dead (despite what Taboritsky thinks) aside, his insanely repressive rule turns Russia into a Hell on Earth that quickly collapses after his death, and will never become a unified, functional country again.
* FinalSolution: Taboritsky exterminates all non-ethnic Russians in the Holy Russian Empire, considering them to be subhumans who have propagated amongst the pure race for so long.
* {{Foil}}: To [[SaintlyChurch Alexander Men]] in the Far-East. Both are spoiler-ridden and hidden paths on the opposite ends of Russia that were heavily teased during production. After their reveal, the two of them were shown to be opposites of each other in meaningul ways. Both of them have a fondness for using Christianity as a basis of their beliefs and start out as despotism, but their true beliefs aren't actually so. Taboritsky is an AxCrazy adherent of the Burgundian System trying to make a long dead kid Tsar again, whilst using Christianity and his own delusions to justify butchering Russia in one of the game's worst fail-states. Alexander Men on the other hand is a BaitAndSwitchTyrant who acts as a MessianicArchetype in his quest to bring about an egalitarian Russia in a system that combines Christian benevolence with mutualist and borderline social anarchist economics through one of Russia's best paths. Men also tolerates other faiths and walks the path of Christian forgiveness, while Taboritsky believes everyone who slighlty crosses him deserves a harsh divine punishment. There is [[https://www.reddit.com/r/TNOmod/comments/k7r52u/alexander_mens_reaction_to_taboritskys_russia/ also a unique event]] should Alexander Men's last opponent for Russia be Taboritsky, where he compares his Burgundian nightmare to the work of TheAntichrist.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: He brings about a Holy Russian Empire if he manages to reunite Russia under his twisted system, and the reunification quote in his super event is also referencing the Holy Roman Empire. [[BalkanizeMe Guess what's bound to happen in 1972-1982 segment]] [[AfterTheEnd after he dies]].
* FromBadToWorse: He rises up during a warlord period in a country that has already suffered a lot of hardships before its collapse, before embarking on a genocidal campaign to 'purify' and then reunite Russia as a regent for a long-dead prince to take over. [[{{Irony}} His reign of terror has ultimately ensured that Russia will never be able to unite and become a functional country ever again.]]
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Starting out as an outsider with little meaningful influence, Taboritsky is one of the least likely of Ust-Sysolsk's potential leaders to come out on top in the end. If he succeeds in holding onto power, however, he will turn Russia into a twisted, theocratic Burgundian state with all of the horrors that imply.
* TheFundamentalist: Taboritsky is a fundamentalist in his own insane variant of Christianity. Jews, Muslims, and Atheists are expectedly evil corruptors in his eyes, but he also considers any Christians who dare to speak out against him to be heretics.
* GenocideFromTheInside: Taboritsky, being a Russian half-Jew, launches what is effectively a massive self-genocide campaign inside his Holy Russian Empire against degenerate Russians (judged using his Burgundian-inspired standards) through his relentless purges, and also genocides Russian Jews as a part of his genocide campaign against non-ethnic Russians.
* GenreShift: While the narrative driven TNO utilizes the horror genre for its more dystopian regimes (of which there are a lot in this CrapsackWorld), playing as Taboritsky switches the game to a PsychologicalHorror story told via ''Hearts of Iron'', as the player gets to witness not only the horrors of his regime but also the delusions that Taboritsky experiences, all while an ominous clock ticks towards midnight, and his doom.
* GodEmperor: Taboritsky treats the Russian state as a divine machine connected directly to God through Alexei (and in turn, [[AGodAmI through himself]]), and Alexei in his mind is a divine figure that all beings in Russia must totally submit to.
* GracefulLoser: Should Shafarevich and Serov [[https://preview.redd.it/trav7p5jp3c61.jpg?width=890&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=65b15f9d0095bea528f5009754335b8f98677b30 form an alliance to drive out the other Passionaryy members]], Taboritsky will briefly breakdown and then concede that he may be wrong or that he at least isn't worthy enough to carry out his ideals. He then asks that Serov and Shafarevich follow "the will of the Skein" in his stead, leaving the scene on his own accord to the sound of his few supporters' applause. Everyone else is left speechless.
* HearingVoices: He is motivated by "the will of ''the Skein''", which gives him his goal of "purifying" Russia for Alexei.
* HelplessGoodSide: "Good" might be a bit much, but as Taboritsky's mental health collapses snippets of a more sane personality appear in his diary entries, horrified by what he is doing but completely unable to get more than a sentence or so out before being suppressed again.
* HistoricalInJoke: The symbol on Taboritsky's flag is the symbol of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamyat Pamyat Society]], a radically xenophobic and antisemitic Russian far-right organization with Orthodox Monarchist characteristics.[[note]]Unlike TNO's Taboritsky, Pamyat rejects the Romanov dynasty and desires some sort of autocrat that the people must convene and "call upon"; [[ANaziByAnyOtherName A Führer by Any Other Name]], if you will.[[/note]] Incidentally, Valery Yemelyanov, better known in TNO as Aryan Brotherhood member Zigfrid Schultz, was also a member of Pamyat, though he eventually split from Pamyat due to his Slavic neo-pagan beliefs and anti-Christianity.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: The real Taboritsky was a [[EvilReactionary dedicated reactionary and antisemite]][[note]]He was highly religious and hated both the Marxists and the Russian liberal democrats, and accused both of being Jewish, and he once assaulted a Duma member on the street with an umbrella[[/note]] with some [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} highly eccentric and lofty beliefs]][[note]]Aside from being a [[BoomerangBigot half-Jewish antisemite]] and a religious nut (he claimed that his target Pavel Milyukov's arrival in Berlin was apparently a divine act), he embraced National Socialism apparently out of some self-hate-inspired ''[[ImmigrantPatriotism Germanophilia]]'' more than anything else (he completely rewrote his ancestry and renamed himself [[TheVonTropeFamily Sergius von Taboritzki]] to make himself as German as possible), and he once menacingly boasted that Russia should be conquered and ruled by the Führer for ''at least 25 years''[[/note]], who ultimately was little more than a minor player on the grand scheme of things. However, Taboritsky in TNO takes his real life eccentricities and unreal beliefs into the realm of total dystopian madness, mixing in [[TheSpartanWay Burgundian]], [[TheTheocracy theocratic]], [[AxCrazy psychotic]], and straight-up [[TheCaligula delusional]] and [[SanitySlippage schizophrenic]] elements into his belief system.
* HistoryRepeats: If exiled from Komi, he will journey to the west and try to reach the Aryan Brotherhood, whose rituals involve adopting symbols and culture from Nazi Germany to the point where they will change their name to "Deytsch" names, the same thing he did many years ago when first coming to Germany and declaring himself Sergius von Taboritzki.
* InterfaceScrew: After his death, his leader portrait becomes a [[https://i.gyazo.com/08f93d34e2ac33e1d88dfbd2558b900e.mp4 looping animation]], creating the illusion that it is being broadcast by a disrupted signal. After a while it disappears entirely, being replaced by radio silence.
* IRejectYourReality: Taboritsky does this in spades in his focus tree. Alexei Romanov is dead? Why, of course not: the KingInTheMountain is merely waiting for Russia to be purified! "Cleansing the Poor" will just lead to a higher poverty rate? Oh no, [[BlatantLies it will actually reduce the poverty rate!]] By the time the clocks hit midnight and he sees the undeniable proof that Alexei is dead in front of him, the shock is so gigantic that he ''dies'' from it.
* JumpScare: Taboritsky's reunification music is the chilling song ''Verify Your Clock'', which is abruptly cut off by the sound of glass breaking and a man gasping for air, likely Taboritsky himself moments before his DeathByDespair or one of his victims.
* KillTheOnesYouLove: Taboritsky personally kills his old friend and companion [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyotr_Shabelsky-Bork Pyotr Shabelsky-Bork]] during the latter's audience after he expressed his concerns about Taboritsky's erratic behavior.
* KillThePoor: After uniting to superregionals, Taboritsky begins an extermination campaign on the poorest bottom class, seeing them as degenerate beasts who are poor because of "impiety" or "Jewish subversion", and must be dealt with as with any other subhumans corrupting Russia.
* KingInTheMountain: Taboritsky believes that Alexei Romanov, who has been dead for almost ''fifty years'', is still alive and in hiding, and he will come to his subjects if they prove themselves to be righteous.
* MasterRace: Taboritsky thinks that pure Russians are the mightiest race in the world, and non-Russians in the Holy Russian Empire must be exterminated.
* MouthOfSauron: Not himself, but Taboritsky believes that God speaks through Josias zu Waldeck-Pyrmont to show His followers the true way of governance.
* MurderIsTheBestSolution: Late-game Taboritsky considers death to be the only judgement that all sinners deserve, becoming even more ruthless in his genocidal purges.
* ANaziByAnyOtherName: Taboritsky is nominally a Russian monarchist first, but his monarchist ideas have been so heavily influenced by Burgundian Nazism, that Russia under him is nothing more than Burgundy with a coat of Russian monarchist paint.
* NaziNobleman: Taboritsky is a very unusual case of a Nazi Nobleman; he is a hardcore Burgundian-modeled Nazi monarchist who models himself as a Russian aristocrat. In real life, he fabricated his [[UsefulNotes/GermanRussians German Russian]] noble origin so he could enter the NSDAP without revealing the fact that his mother was Jewish.
* TheNecrocracy: While in fact a monstrosity headed by Taboritsky and his twisted version of the Burgundian System, the Holy Russian Empire is nominally a monarchy under Tsarevich Alexey Nikolayevich, who died long ago. In turn, after Taboritsky himself dies, high ranking officials desperately try to hide his death, hence "The Regent endures" from the broadcast, before the nightmarish Empire collapses.
* ObviouslyEvil: A previously eager Nazi collaborationist, an one-time assassin, a fierce reactionary and even the Komi opening screen doesn't attempt to hide the fact that he is insane. Even before he takes power and reveals himself as a Burgundian System adherent, it isn't ambiguous that his takeover won't promise anything good.
* OminousVisualGlitch: After Taboritsky dies, but before total collapse, his portrait as "The Silent Regent" is a loop that blurs, tears, shakes, and briefly flashes to one of Alexei.
* PersecutedIntellectuals: Taboritsky conducts a nation-wide purge of intellectuals, believing that they are a fifth column that teaches evil ideas like equality, Bolshevism, and capitalism.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Taboritsky hates all Russian minorities, but he has an especially virulent hatred of Jews, which he blames ''every'' problem he faces on. [[BoomerangBigot He would know]], given that he himself is Jewish.
* PollutedWasteland: Part of why his government utterly destroys the Russian nation is that the very land ends up poisoned from his constant chemical attacks; the poisons seep into the earth and kill everything, rendering vast territories uninhabitable for ''decades''. Post-collapse events speculate over 10% of Russian land is contaminated to some degree by the end of it all, and 0.4% of Russia is uninhabitable.
* PsychoStrings: The superevent that plays if Taboritsky successfully reunites Russia [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UWqebcYRqE is underscored with this]], combined with [[HellIsThatNoise ominous ticking and discordant piano notes]].
* PsychoSupporter: Taboritsky supports restoring Alexei Romanov as Tsar of Russia, and he takes this support to a fanatical level. Not only does he believe that Alexei is still alive (believing that he was just hiding, for almost ''50 years''), he also wants to create a pure Russia for Alexei to rule over, treating Alexei as some sort of divine entity.
* ThePurge: Taboritsky launches genocidal purges targeting anything he considers to be corrupting the Holy Russian Empire. He purges minorities (particularly the Jews); he purges people with genetic disorders; he purges dissidents, the intelligentsia, the poor, the Church, the military, his own paramilitary, heretics, the convicted... nobody, not even ''children'', are safe from his fanatically purist purges.
* RegentForLife: While Taboritsky genuinely wishes to only rule until Alexei "returns", because the boy has been long dead Taboritsky is effectively the sole ruler of a nation for a young prince who is never coming back.
* RichardNixonTheUsedCarSalesman: Taboritsky's main claims to fame historically was how he assassinated Creator/VladimirNabokov's father (during an assassination attempt against Russian liberal Pavel Milyukov) and how he faked his German ancestry to join the Nazi Party. Here, he is the insane leader of the "Holy Russian Empire" and a champion of the Burgundian System.
* RightfulKingReturns: Taboritsky wants to restore the long-deceased [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Nikolaevich,_Tsarevich_of_Russia Alexei Romanov]] as Tsar of Russia. Needless to say, this can never happen.
* SanityMeter: "The Clockworks" decisions screen is a metaphorical display of Taboritsky's sanity, with "Midnight" being the point where Taboritsky collapses into a complete mental breakdown and subsequently dying from it. The sanity meter only goes down; its progression can be delayed, but it can never be turned back.
* SanitySlippage: Though he was never that sane to begin with, Taboritsky becomes increasingly unhinged the longer his rule lasts, as it becomes increasingly clear that no matter what he does, Alexei Romanov is ''never'' coming back.
-->'''Taboritsky's Journal Entry in the penultimate Clockwork event before Midnight:'''\\
I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." - Revelation 22:13\\
HE IS HERE\\
I CAN SENSE HIM BUT HE DOES NOT SPEAK\\
SPEAK TO ME SPEAK TO ME\\
WHAT WAS IT FOR IF NOT FOR YOU\\
I AM GODS VESSEL I AM YOUR SUBJECT I AM THE SALVATION OF RUSSIA\\
I AM NOT A JEW I AM NOT CAIN I DID ONLY WHAT YOU ASKED OF ME\\
Nabokov, had I known it would lead to this, I\\
STOP THAT INFERNAL NOISE STOP THE CLOCK STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP
* SaltTheEarth: When Taboritsky dies and the HRE collapses, the HRE makes one last suicidal all-out chemical attack on all the rebel groups inside the country, aiming to destroy every region that may harbor paritsan holdouts.
* SchmuckBait: Go ahead, take the "Cleansing the Poor" focus which says it will improve "poverty rate", or "Cleanse the Academia from Materialism" saying education standards will improve. It is A VERY GOOD IDEA. Hint: It ''sharply increases'' poverty and academic decay.
* SecretPolice: Taboritsky restores the Okhrana and makes it even more insanely totalitarian than its previous iteration and the Soviet NKVD.
* SelfImmolation: If Komi's rulers decide to have him killed, Taboritsky sets himself on fire before the squads are able to break into the chapel he's hiding in.
* ShoutOut: Taboritsky's Regency contains several references to the Imperium of Man from ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
** One focus sees Taboritsky forcibly attach religious elements onto all the factories in the Empire, converting factory buildings with religious imagery and appointing religious officials to every factory who would bless the workers and the machines. This is a reference to the Gothic-Industrial aesthetics of 40K and the industrial worshippers of the Imperium of Man, the Adeptus Mechanicus. The event's reaction quote, "The soul of the machine be with thee", also indirectly references the machine spirits from 40K.
** One event is named "Suffer Not the Mutant", a reference to an infamous quote associated with the Inquisition in 40K.
* StateSec: Taboritsky creates the Imperial Shturmoviki, an army of fanatics dedicated to the Emperor deployed to cleanse the Empire of its impurities. As his SanityMeter drops, he purges them as well.
* TerribleTicking: The Clock that slowly moves to Midnight can be heard by Taboritsky, which he eventually acknowledges and shouts for it to stop.
* TheTheocracy: The Holy Russian Empire is an utterly screwed up monarcho-theocracy whose ruler believes that he is acting out divine will, and he must cleanse the holy nation of its impurities.
* VillainousBreakdown:
** When Serov and Shafarevich form their coalition, Taboritsky elicits some small laughs with his head bowed before reeling back and roaring with laughter. [[MoodWhiplash Afterwards, he composes himself]], admits defeat, and abandons his plan.
** [[https://i.redd.it/01xsb07hqtc51.png The event]] "Midnight" has Taboritsky, curled up in a corner, see a vision of a grown-up Tsar Alexei. When he tries to speak, however, the vision changes to that of the dead prince's bones, and he dies screaming.
* VillainousBSOD: Undergoes one in the later journal entries, with the culmination being [[DeathByDespair Midnight.]]
-->''He has cursed me! He has given me sight, pried the scales from my eyes, only so that I might behold a blasted wasteland! Russia is the land of Nod, and I? I AM CAIN. I have killed, and ordered killings, and rivers of blood have been spilt in my name. Hundreds die every month for no tangible gain. The only thing that keeps us alive is the knowledge that Alexei is out there somewhere. Is it even knowledge? Am I truly doubting this? I can't I cant I cant\\
HE LIVES AS HE MUST\\
'''''WHERE IS HE?'''''''
* WalkingSpoiler: It's hard to discuss any details about Taboritsky without revealing that he wants to bring his own version of the Burgundian System to Russia.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: When exiled from Komi, an event will describe him wandering west to apparently reach the Aryan Brotherhood, wielding [[NoodleImplements a gun with eight shots loaded]]. It ends with him having used all of his bullets, and he seemingly disappears into obscurity.

->'''Ideology:''' Authoritarian Socialism

->'''Ideology:''' Libertarian Socialism

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[[center: [-[[Characters/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope Main Character Index]] | '''Großgermanisches Reich''' ([[Characters/TNOHeydrich Heydrich's Germany]]) | [[Characters/{{TNOUSA}} The United States of America]] | [[Characters/TNOJapan Empire of Japan]] | [[Characters/TNOItaly Italian Empire]] | [[Characters/TNOIberianUnion Iberian Union]] | [[Characters/TNOBurgundy Ordensstaat Burgund]] | [[Characters/TNOAfrica Northern and Western Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthernAfrica Southern Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOAmerica America]] | [[Characters/TNOAsia Asia and Oceania]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthAsia South Asia]] | [[Characters/TNOMiddleEast Middle East]] | [[Characters/TNOEurope Europe]] | [[Characters/TNOBritain British Isles]] | [[Characters/TNOEasternEurope Eastern Europe]] | Former Soviet Union ([[Characters/TNOWestRussia West Russia]] | [[Characters/TNOKomi Komi Republic]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthernUrals Southern Urals]] | [[Characters/TNOWesternSiberia Western Siberia]] | [[Characters/TNOCentralSiberia Central Siberia]] | [[Characters/TNOFarEast Far East]] | [[Characters/TNOCentralAsia Central Asia]])]]-]

[[center: [-[[Characters/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/TNOGermany Großgermanisches Reich]] | [[Characters/{{TNOUSA}} The United States of America]] | [[Characters/TNOJapan Empire of Japan]] | [[Characters/TNOItaly Italian Empire]] | [[Characters/TNOIberianUnion Iberian Union]] | [[Characters/TNOBurgundy Ordensstaat Burgund]] | [[Characters/TNOAfrica Northern and Western Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthernAfrica Southern Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOAmerica America]] | [[Characters/TNOAsia Asia and Oceania]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthAsia South Asia]] | [[Characters/TNOMiddleEast Middle East]] | [[Characters/TNOEurope Europe]] | [[Characters/TNOBritain British Isles]] | [[Characters/TNOEasternEurope Eastern Europe]] | Former Soviet Union ([[Characters/TNOWestRussia West Russia]] | '''Komi Republic''' | [[Characters/TNOSouthernUrals Southern Urals]] | [[Characters/TNOWesternSiberia Western Siberia]] | [[Characters/TNOCentralSiberia Central Siberia]] | [[Characters/TNOFarEast Far East]] | [[Characters/TNOCentralAsia Central Asia]])]]-]

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Shafarevich remains a committed fascist behind his facade of moderation and democratic reform, rigging elections and using the state to persecute Jews and "Russophobes". Shafarevich's reunification superevent quote calls this out:
-->'''UsefulNotes/RobertFKennedy:''' What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme but that they are intolerant.

** Implied in other nations’ playthroughs: Alexi is actually indeed alive as an ordinary citizen but nobody recognized him, and he’s purged.

* HesJustHiding: InUniverse, Taboritsky believes that Alexei Romanov, who has been dead for almost ''fifty years'', is still alive and in hiding.

* ReallyRoyaltyReveal: Parodied and subverted. Kosygin was born to an ordinary working-class family, but there is an event about the conspiracy theory which states that Kosygin is actually Tsarevich Alexey who survived his murder. When Sergey Taboritsky, a reactionary monarchist who himself believes that Tsarevich Alexey is alive, learns about the conspiracy theory, he becomes livid at the very thought that the legitimate sovereign of Russia could be a "Jew-lover" like Kosygin.

* HistoricalInJoke: The symbol on Taboritsky's flag is the symbol of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamyat Pamyat Society]], a radically xenophobic and antisemitic Russian neo-Nazi organization with Orthodox Monarchist characteristics.[[note]]Unlike TNO's Taboritsky, Pamyat rejects the Romanov dynasty and desires some sort of autocrat that the people must convene and "call upon"; [[ANaziByAnyOtherName A Führer by Any Other Name]], if you will.[[/note]] Incidentally, Valery Yemelyanov, better known in TNO as Aryan Brotherhood member Zigfrid Schultz, was also a member of Pamyat, though he eventually split from Pamyat due to his Slavic neo-pagan beliefs and anti-Christianity.

* AllohistoricalAllusion: Serov's Ordosocialism could be considered this to North Korean ''Juche'' in how it combines totalitarian communism and and Russian ultranationalism much like ''Juche'' in North Korea is a form of communism which has embraced Korean ultranationalism.

%%Bugged; Zhdanov's superregional name is Suslov's Russian Soviet Republic

[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Flag of the State of Eurasia]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flag_ultranat_komi.png]][[/labelnote]]]]

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Gumilyov's beliefs in TNO are generally consistent to his beliefs in OTL, but in OTL Gumilyov never had the idea ([[HistoricalBadassUpgrade nor the political influence]]) to put his ideas to action and turn Russia into Eurasia; he was still a historian first and foremost, if a far-right one.

* SchmuckBait: Go ahead, do the focus of "cleansing the poor" which says it will improve "poverty rate", or "Cleanse the Academia from Materialism" saying education standards will improve. It is A VERY GOOD IDEA. Hint: It *sharply increases* poverty and academic decay.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Flag of the [[spoiler:Western Russian Regency]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/taboritsky_flag.png]][[/labelnote]]]]

* KillTheOnesYouLove: Taboritsky personally kills his old friend and companion [[Pyotr Shabelsky-Bork]] during the latter's audience after he expressed his concerns about Taboritsky's erratic behavior.

Ivan Alexandrovich Serov is everything the Soviet Union wanted: a committed socialist, a Russian patriot, and a loyal ex-NKVD chief. And yet, the Soviet downfall planted a seed of doubt in Serov's mind, which intensified during his days in Syktyvkar. The agonizing doubts eventually forced Serov to question his beliefs and develop his own theories, ideas that coalesced into the Manifesto of Ordosocialism, a new type of socialism with a nationalistic zeal that can avert the Bukharinist failures. Suslov will certainly expel Serov over his heretical theories, but Serov's mind had cleared, and he has become committed; Ordosocialism shall change socialism forever.

!!''Late-game democratic candidates''