History ComicBook / Uber

* ShootTheShaggyDogStory: The comic might as well be renamed to this. Plenty of the Allied attempts to counter the Nazis are given extensive setup, only to fail horrifically once they're actually put to the test. A special mention goes to [[spoiler:both of the Colossus and Leah, whose transformations into superhumans are covered across multiple issues, only for them to end up crippled or straight up dead when they face the vastly superior Nazi superhumans for the first time (which the Nazi just develop off-screen)]].

** A flashback reveals that [[spoiler:Battleship Zero, the first attempt at activating a Battleship-potential human, looked even '''worse'''. It is so misshapen that its original sex is impossible to determine. Massive legless slug-like body bursting with huge tumor-like growths, sword-like claws, and a face that looks like it has partially melted down into its neck. At least Leah Cohen is still humanoid and symmetrical. Zero looks like the unholy love child of Jabba the Hutt and a VideoGame/ResidentEvil3 Tyrant.]]

->''"It doesn't matter if ComicBook/SpiderMan's fighting ComicBook/{{Galactus}} — Spider-Man will find a way to beat Galactus.'' Über ''isn't that story.'' Über ''is the story that every single time, Galactus will kill Spider-Man."''

** Uber Invasion #15: [[spoiler:Despite being crippled HMS Churchill is able to easily dispatch Battleship Zero allowing Katyusha Maria to halt the advances of both the Nazis and the Japanese Battleships [[WhatAnIdiot (But not seriously injure them)]]. But Maria is betrayed by Stalin and apparently murdered by her students.]]

* ItOnlyWorksOnce: This is essentially the defining strategic doctrine of enhanced humans in the war, as laid out in the theories of General Sankt, whose ideas continue to define the Ubers' use even after [[spoiler:his death early in the series.]] If one side has a technological advantage, that advantage must be used to maximum possible effect with plans on how to exploit the victory, rather than tested in minor engagements with no plans for follow-through. Sankt notes the specific example of poison gas during the Great War; the Germans used it experimentally at first on small skirmishes rather than strategically important battles. By the time they were "ready" to use gas in larger engagements, their enemies had time to develop countermeasures such as gas masks, and the advantage had been lost. In practice, this means that Ubers are best used in novel, completely unexpected forms of attack, because by the second time a particular tactic is attempted, the other side will have had time to develop a countermeasure.

* ItOnlyWorksOnce: This is essentially the defining strategic doctrine of enhanced humans in the war, as laid out in the theories of General Sankt, whose ideas continue to define the Ubers' use even after [[spoiler:his death early in the series.]] If one side has a technological advantage, that advantage must be used to maximum possible effect, rather than tested in minor engagements with no plans for follow-through. Sankt notes the specific example of poison gas during the Great War; the Germans used it experimentally at first on small skirmishes rather than strategically important battles. By the time they were "ready" to use gas in larger engagements, their enemies had time to develop countermeasures such as gas masks, and the advantage had been lost. In practice, this means that Ubers are best used in novel, completely unexpected forms of attack, because by the second time a particular tactic is attempted, the other side will have had time to develop a countermeasure.

* ItOnlyWorksOnce: Happens multiple times throughout the series. Because nations are just beginning to grasp the potential uses of enhanced humans, many conflicts are won or lost through a novel, completely unexpected form of attack. However, they're also just as quick to come up with counters or responses to these attacks, so a tactic that was brilliantly successful the first time is less so the second. For example: [[spoiler:after the Zephyrs' solo killing of Siegfried, an attempt by the second-created batch of Zephyrs to kill Sieglinde the same way is an ignominious failure (not necessarily helped by the attack consisting of again just a relatively small five-man team ), because the Nazis quickly managed to develop a mass halo attack pattern by Sieglinde and her escorts that would destroy any Zephyrs in the area, to be initiated as soon as she felt a twinge of pain that could be the start of a Zephyr attack.]]

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: A very unambiguously cynical comic.

** When Sieglinde gets the advantage on [[spoiler:Colossus]], she turns him into something that looks like a frozen explosion of gore. He remains alive in this state for hours until the Allies figure out how to euthanize him.

** The series has its own InUniverse SuperWeight classification, named after ship classes, based on how many catalyst "activations" an individual can safely take. The most common number of activations is two, which produces a "tank-man." On the other end of the scale, we have "battleships," who can have up to 24 activations. Later, two new classes of supers are discovered: "destroyers," who can take six activations, and "cruisers," who can take 12. However, even these numbers are not an absolute determination of relative strength; it's noted that a destroyer with 5 physical activations is slightly stronger than a cruiser with 6. Additionally, while the standard procedure is an equal mix of the "physical" activations and the "halo" activations, producing an enhanced human with a degree of both SuperStrength and [[EyeBeams long-range halo-effect]], the mix can be altered. Most destroyers get equal activations (3 of physical, 3 of halo, or "3:3"), but HMH Dunkirk, whose missing eye limits his long-range effectiveness, got a 5:1 mix of physical and halo activations. The three German battleships all appear to have received a 12:12 mix, but the first British battleship has almost solely physical activations, making her far stronger and tougher than even other battleships. Even the tank-men can receive an equal mix, producing a "panzermensch," two physical activations, producing a "heavy," or two halo activations, making a "blitzmensch." The "exotic" classes are not part of this naming scheme, having far more specialized and limited powers, and thus less battlefield potential.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: A number of the Japanese Übers have brown hair with no in-story explanation. (Presumably this was done just because a bunch of guys the same size, all wearing identical military uniforms, and all with black hair would have been impossible to tell apart.)

* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene: Averted when Bluestone and Bravo refuse to massacre the inhabitants of an internment camp for Japanese-Americans because the occupants are suspected of hiding Yamato. It then quickly gets proven that they weren't.

* EverythingsBetterWithCows: Used for black comedy with a whole barn of unfortunate cows getting crushed when [[spoiler:Leah throws a tank to show off her strength]]. The devastated farmer is thanked for his wartime sacrifice.

* DeconstructorFleet:
** As well as StupidJetpackHitler, deconstructs the common superhero comic depiction of abstract "courage", "will", or "righteousness" as outweighing SuperWeight. Go up against a SuperSoldier if you aren't one, and you '''will''' be rapidly smeared across the landscape.
** The premise in general can be described as what would happen if the Nazis not only had their own ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'', but also succeeded in replicating the results, while proceeding to show how this is ''not a good idea.'' Simultaneously, it also laughs at the whole Nazi idea of an UltimateLifeform, being that the three Übers who were genetically gifted to survive the enhancement process and are sent into the field as {{Super Soldier}}s are a woman, [[spoiler:a gay man, and a 14-year old boy.]]

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: If the scale for this comic was a person, it would look like a professional masturbator. There are good people and those that would fit the mold of [[TheCape classical superheroes]], but you can expect them to die horribly. The writer has described the comic as "not meant to be enjoyed," and time after time it goes out of its way to show that no amount of pluck or heroism counts for much in war, especially a war where the soldiers benchpress ''tanks''. It can be best described as "the story doesn't cheat so the heroes win," but ''man'' does that add up quickly.

** [[spoiler:Leah Cohen is eventually disabled at Calais, following half an hour of sustained halo fire from Battleship Sieglinde and two Cruiser-class Ubers.]]

* MineralMacguffin: Woden's Blood, a red crystalline substance which can be made into a SuperSerum. [[spoiler:Katyusha Maria can create her own Woden's Blood, seemingly by using her disruption halo to alter the chemical composition of other substances.]]

* NighInvulnerable: Battleship super soldiers. [[spoiler:It takes 90 tank-class Soviet Übers working in concert to even ''injure'' Siegmund, and he kills most of them first. It also takes Zephyrs armed with diamond scalpels days from their perspective to break Siegfried's skin]]. Leah Cohen is designed to withstand even Battleships' halos in order to physically engage; one character says offhand that she could probably survive a nuclear explosion. [[spoiler:This is later proven true with Siegmund.]]

* NighInvulnerable: Battleship super soldiers. [[spoiler:It takes 90 tank-class Soviet Übers working in concert to even ''injure'' Siegmund, and he kills most of them first. It also takes Zephyrs armed with diamond scalpels days from their perspective to break Siegfried's skin.]]. Leah Cohen is designed to withstand even Battleships' halos in order to physically engage; one character says offhand that she could probably survive a nuclear explosion.

* RealityEnsues: The Übers are described as being "like tanks in more than just their power" – like real weapons, they need support and maintenance, and can be worn down by the clever use of weaker forces. More brutally, in a subversion of old superhero tropes, courage and fighting spirit counts for very little against the raw power of the superhumans.
** General Sankt explains to Hitler that while the first Übers became active as early as 1944, he held back on unleashing the Nazis' new ''Wunderwaffen'' until he was certain of delivering victory from the jaws. Hitler however is less than pleased, given that said ''Wunderwaffen'' came into play just as the Reich is in shambles.
** The earnest, heroic [[spoiler: H.M.H. Colossus]] is deployed against the much more experienced and powerful Sieglinde near the beginning of the story. Convention says that his pluck and smarts would have him triumph. [[spoiler:[[CurbStompBattle He doesn't.]]]]
** [[spoiler: The intervention of the Ubers may have reversed Germany's military position but the economic and infrastructure damage hasn't gone anywhere. Furthermore, the sheer devastation of "the Great Burn" has caused the occupied territories to all but collapse - even the (relatively) untouched England is barely able to drip-feed resources to Germany. This results in mass starvation throughout much of Europe during 1946.]]
** [[spoiler: Maria uses her newfound power and status to openly defy and mock the Soviet authorities and becomes something of a hero to the people in the process. However, her lack of political experience and insight means it's quite trivial for Stalin to place students loyal to him close to her and they're able to betray and apparently kill her with ease.]]

** [[spoiler:Patrick "Colossus" O'Connor is deployed to Paris before his battleship enhancement is complete. Thus, while he has the strength and disruption halo of a battleship, he doesn't have the full durability of one. RealityEnsues in bloody fashion when he faces the fully-enhanced Sieglinde.]]

* {{JailbaitTaboo}}: After the reveal that [[spoiler:Siegfried]] was actually 14 years old despite [[YoungerThanTheyLook looking like a grown man because of his enhancements]], it makes [[spoiler:Sieglinde]]'s shame about having sex with him (because he was the only candidate available who wouldn't be killed by her super strength) even more understandable.

-->'''Patton:''' Do not confuse my bellicose nature with a slowness of thought, son.

* BodyHorror: See the above entry.

** [[spoiler: Geltmenschen's ability is psychic, so they can only fake the appearance and voice of another - not their physiology. Stephanie recognizes one masquerading as a Tank Man by the fact he didn’t sweat during sex. They also can't fool cameras.]]