History Fanfic / IAmSkantarios

* DuelToTheDeath: Near the end of the story, Skantarios has one of these with [[spoiler:the Pope]].

* ShootTheDog: Exterminating every Muslim who crosses his path, [[spoiler:tearing down the Dome of the Rock, torching the Kaa'ba (and the faithful Muslims still inside with it), and burying the caves where Muhammad received his revelations,]] in order to make sure that Islam never threatens the [[strike: Byzantine]] Restored Roman Empire again.

* MixedAncestry: If ''Fanfic/PaganVengeance'' is any indication, [[spoiler:House Laskaris may have distant Mongol ancestry]].

* FamousLastWords: Really, [[spoiler:Ioannis]]? Calling yourself [[TemptingFate "the Invincible"]] in battle against Genessios?

* FamousLastWords: A soldier of the Jihad carved a signpost on the road to Constantinople [[spoiler: when the Muslim armies are losing badly]]. When Skantarios discovered it, he asked a translator what it meant. Turned out that the poor soldier wrote on the signpost: [[spoiler:"The place where Muslims go to die"]]. [[WhatTheHellHero Sniff]], [[TearJerker sniff]]...

* InTheBlood: Going by ''Fanfic/PaganVengeance'', Skantarios is a distant descendant of [[spoiler:UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan and the man who killed him in single combat.]]

Because against [[TheHorde the hordes of Muslim holy warriors]], [[CorruptChurch greedy Catholic rivals]] and [[DeadlyDecadentCourt the heart of Constantinople]] stands [[ImplacableMan one man who will soon take history into his own hands]] and attempt to revive the Roman Empire of ages long past. Will he emerge victorious and revive Rome to its heyday, or will he be crushed beneath the weight of all her foes?

* AuthorAvatar: Inverted. It is more likely that the author's user ID is named after the character than vice versa.

* AnticlimaxBoss: InUniverse. The final confrontation between Skantarios, representing the Orthodox Church and the Pope is... underwhelming, to say the least.
* {{Antihero}}: Skantarios is frequently downright cruel to his enemies. His acts of [[strike: genocide]] righteous retribution are [[strike: implied to be mostly forgiven]] glorified by his people, who more-or-less worship him as a living saint, and [[NecessarilyEvil since their enemies would do pretty much the same to them should he fail anyway]].

* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: [[spoiler: Skantarios gets one when his father is killed by an assassin. A rather inept one at that, for he gets hunted down and murdered by his network of (usually) insanely effective spies almost immediately thereafter.]]

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Tiverios ek Konstaninoupoleos, the Bishop of Thessalonica, has odd habits, but he does his job very well.

* CantStayNormal: [[spoiler: Late in the story, Skantarios tries retiring to Constantinople, only to find that he can't handle a peaceful life. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments He attempts to grow a vegetable garden in the royal palace, to... decidedly mixed results.]]]]

* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: Playing on Very Hard is asking for this to happen, naturally.

* TheDreaded: By the time Skantarios is in his mid-40's, the [[KarmaMeter Dread meter]] is maxed out. [[spoiler: [[AllThereInTheManual In the epilogue]], a historian notes that Skantarios' name remains feared by the Muslims for generations, and that even [[JustForFun/CandleJack speaking it aloud or writing it down might summon him.]] This reaches the point where any Muslim who states his name is lashed, and any Muslim who writes it is stoned to death.]]

* FamousLastWords: A soldier of the Jihad carved a signpost on the road to Constantinople [[spoiler: when the Muslim armies are losing badly]]. When Skantarios discovered it, he asked a translator what it meant. Turned out that the poor soldier wrote on the signpost: [[spoiler: "The place where Muslims go to die"]]. [[WhatTheHellHero Sniff]], [[TearJerker sniff]]...

* AFatherToHisMen: The title character... to a point. He's fond of his troops and certainly won't throw away their lives needlessly, but he recognizes the necessity of sacrificing them at times and views getting too close to them as potentially handicapping him. Averted big time with his treatment of the various mercenaries he hires. His most common reaction to ''them'' dying is something along the lines of "x fewer we have to pay".

* GameBreaker: The Siphonatores are treated as such InUniverse. Having a unit of these at the gates of a city ensures no one gets in.

* InNameOnly: InUniverse. Skantarios' opinion is that the Golden Horde are not really Mongols.

* InvincibleHero: Skantarios never loses on the battlefield, despite frequently unfriendly odds. [[spoiler: At the end of the first Jihad, Skantarios tallies up the thousands of fallen Jihad warriors in the burial pit outside the city. Recalling the Islamic tradition that every fallen Jihadi receives 72 virgins upon entering heaven, he calculates that Allah will need to find over a million virgins to satisfy that fallen warriors' needs.]]

* NotMeThisTime: Skantarios first suspects the Byzantine nobility in is Father's assassination (which makes sense, considering they'd been involved in many intrigues throughout Byzantine history), but he realizes they're blameless when the Egyptians start celebrating their assassin's success.

* PhraseCatcher: No less than three characters describe the mercenary Monstar Bombard as "the largest cannon I have ever seen (or heard about)."

* UnfortunateNames: Skantarios says that "ibn Mahbub" (the name of a Moorish general) is "more of a joke than a name".

* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Ioannis. While his talent is recognized by his peers, he's still not as good as Genessios or Vitos.

* EvilUncle: Vasileos to Skantarios' adopted sons. Everyone knows he's behind [[spoiler:Genessios]] dying of natural causes.

* WhamLine: The death of [[spoiler:Genessios]],

* AfterActionReport: One of the finest examples.

* BadassGrandpa: Skantarios continues kicking ass well into his sixties. By that point, he's a ''literal'' grandpa to boot. Due to how game mechanics work -- each year of a character's life lasts four years on the calendar -- his story started in 1450 AD. [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld He lived to 113]] and still rode his horse the last day of his life.

* FiveBadBand: Skantarios and his generals, at least from the perspective of his enemies.
** BigBad: Skantarios, especially upon becoming [[TheEmperor Basileus]]
** CoDragons: Genessios Ksiros, Skantarios's adopted son and chief general in the Holy Land campaigns, and Benedek Buzad, Skantarios's strongest ally and chief general in Europe.
** EvilGenius: Vasileios, Skantarios's brother. Not a general, but he serves a vital role governing the empire from Constantinople while Skantarios is on campaign.
** TheBrute: Isidoros Petraliphas in Europe and Ioannis Aprinos in the Holy Land. Both of them daring commanders, to the point of [[LeeroyJenkins recklessness]], neither of them ''quite'' held to the same esteem as Genessios or Vitos.
** TheDarkChick: Nikodimos Komnenos, Skantarios's adopted brother. An unremarkable commander who has to be forced into action by his Emperor.

* {{Antihero}}: Skantarios is frequently downright cruel to his enemies. His acts of [[strike: genocide]] righteous retribution are [[strike: implied to be mostly forgiven]] glorified by his people, who more-or-less worship him as a living saint, and [[NecessarilyEvil since their enemies would do pretty much the same to them should he fail anyway]]. Skantarios' less virtuous acts include:

* BadassGrandpa: Skantarios continues kicking ass well into his sixties. By that point, he's a ''literal'' grandpa to boot. His story started in 1450 AD, this means [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld he lived to 113]] and still rode his horse the last day of his life.

* CoolVersusAwesome: Several ten star generals including the best the Mongols have to offer, giants of the late medieval world themselves, crumble in the face of the even more formidable Skantarios and his generals.

%%* DeadpanSnarker: Skantarios

* FemmeFatale: Arguably Anna Laskaris. Although she is far, far more patriotic than your average FemmeFatale has any right to be.
* FiveManBand: Skantarios and his generals, at least from the perspective of his enemies.

%%* HotBlooded: Skantarios%%ZCE

* KillItWithFire: The Byzantines have GreekFire, and Skantarios uses it to devastating effect by burning entire units of enemy soldiers to a crisp with his flamethrowers/siege weaponry, and showing no remorse for it, to counterbalance his constant disadvantage in numbers.

* ShootTheDog: Exterminating every Muslim who crosses his path, [[spoiler: tearing down the Dome of the Rock, torching the Kaa'ba (and the faithful Muslims still inside with it), and burying the caves where Muhammad received his revelations,]] in order to make sure that Islam never threatens the [[strike: Byzantine]] Restored Roman Empire again.

* TheStrategist: Skantarios.

** To show just how well Skantarios [[DefiedTrope reverses this]], [[http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=320711&page=35 look at]] the two maps of the Restored Roman Empire in the section titled [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "The End"]]. For comparison, the last remnants of the Byzantine Empire fell in 1461. [[spoiler: [[AllThereInTheManual According to the epilogue]], the Restored Roman Empire survives for several more centuries, and only falls when civil war divides it into multiple successor states.]]

* WarIsHell: [[ObligatoryWarCrimeScene There is much description about the ongoing war and its impact on Constantinople and its enemies]]. It's not a pretty sight to behold. [[KillItWithFire Oh, and there is Greek Fire somewhere in the middle too]]. Do the maths.

* WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife: Skantarios remarks often at the waste of so many good men in the Egyptian generals ranks, but a particularly [[TearJerker heart-wrenching]] one is [[spoiler: the pointless death of seventy year old al-Khawalani, who charges out in the face of withering arrow fire and actually makes it to the safety of the gatehouse... only to turn around and see his entire bodyguard lying dead. With nowhere to run, he simply [[SuicideByCop marches out into the Byzantine arrowstorm...]] the general remarks at the unworthy death of this old man.]]

* YourMom: Early on, Skantarios provokes a teenaged Venetian noble he's besieging into sallying out by, among other things, saying his mother was/is a whore.

* FrenchJerk: ''Evrart''.
* LaResistance: [[spoiler:At the end of the story, official state position is that Vitos and Likenia are dead, and that reports that a rebel Roman state in the far north are obviously false and impossible. TheStinger at the end of the posts shows an unknown settlement far beyond the northern borders, across Russia, claimed by the Romans, which was never visited during the story.]]

%%* AlternateHistory: This ''is'' ''VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar''...%%ZCE

%%* {{Determinator}}: Skantarios

* FromNobodyToNightmare: Skantarios was originally just a cavalry soldier.

* WarIsHell: [[ObligatoryWarCrimeScene There is much description about the ongoing war and its impact on Constantinople and its enemies]]. [[CaptainObvious It's not a pretty sight to behold]]. [[KillItWithFire Oh, and there is Greek Fire somewhere in the middle too]]. Do the maths.

* FiveBadBand: Skantarios and his generals, at least from the perspective of his enemies.

* TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty: Skantarios uses his spies to infiltrate every city in his path and open the gates to his armies, mercilessly executing the garrisons within, in order to reduce casualties among his forces.

* CantStayNormal: [[spoiler: Late in the story, Skantarios tries retiring to Constantinople, only to find that he can't handle a peaceful life. [[CrowningMomentOfFunny He attempts to grow a vegetable garden in the royal palace, to... decidedly mixed results.]]]]

* IShallTauntYou: Skantarios taunts enemy soldiers, particularly Muslims, to get them to sally out and attack. At one point he claims himself the father of the next generation of the city. When that doesn't work, he presents what he claims to be [[spoiler: the ashes of the Prophet]] to a Turkish garrison, and [[spoiler: puts it inside a pig's corpse]]. The Turks go ''berserk''.

* ObligatoryWarCrimesScene: Quite a few. After a certain point, putting surviving enemy troops to the sword becomes routine for the Byzantines.

* AFatherToHisMen: Skantarios

%%* TheConqueror: Skantarios.

%%* HaremSeeker: Vitos

%%* NeverFoundTheBody

* RapePillageAndBurn: Skantarios often sacks captured cities and looting everything of value within to fund his war machine. He ''does'', however, spare a few towns [[PragmaticVillainy that he needs for future campaigns]].

%%* WarriorPrince: Skantarios

The year is 1450 AD. The UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire - henceforth refered to as Basileia ton Romaion, "Kingdom of the Romans" - the last remnant of the glorious Roman Empire of the age past, is on its last legs. Surrounded by hostile neighbors who can crush what little land it has left and put an end to the lingering legacy of Rome for good, it seemed that there is little the the Basileia can do except for [[VestigialEmpire surrendering its arms and step down...]]

Because against [[TheHorde the hordes of Muslim holy warriors]], [[CorruptChurch greedy Catholic rivals]], and [[DeadlyDecadentCourt the heart of Constantinople]], stands [[ImplacableMan one man who will soon take history into his own hands]] and attempt to revive the Roman Empire of ages long past. Will he emerge victorious and revive Rome to its heyday, or will he be crushed beneath the weight of all her foes?

* AlternateHistory: This ''is'' ''VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar''...

** CombatPragmatist: Specifically targeting, ambushing, and ruthlessly executing enemy generals, isolating them from their armies and cutting them down, in order to break the enemy's morale.
** KillItWithFire: Burning entire units of enemy soldiers to a crisp with his flamethrowers/siege weaponry, and showing no remorse for it, to counterbalance his constant disadvantage in numbers.
** LeaveNoSurvivors: Executing [[strike: pretty much]] all of the prisoners he captures to ensure that he doesn't fight the same units twice. On the rare occasions he ''doesn't'' do this, it's usually because he's using them as bait for another enemy force. This comes as much from him as his enemies, who refuse to pay the ransom nine times out of ten.
** IShallTauntYou: Taunting enemy soldiers, particularly Muslims, to get them to sally out and attack. At one point he claims himself the father of the next generation of the city. When that doesn't work, he presents what he claims to be [[spoiler: the ashes of the Prophet]] to a Turkish garrison, and [[spoiler: puts it inside a pig's corpse]]. The Turks go ''berserk''.
** KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: Killing said prisoners in sight of their comrades, in order to demoralize the remaining enemy armies.
** TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty: Using his spies to infiltrate every city in his path and open the gates to his armies, mercilessly executing the garrisons within, in order to reduce casualties among his forces.
** RapePillageAndBurn: Sacking said captured cities and looting everything of value within to fund his war machine. He ''does'', however, spare a few towns [[PragmaticVillainy that he needs for future campaigns.]]
** ShootTheDog: Exterminating every Muslim who crosses his path, [[spoiler: tearing down the Dome of the Rock, torching the Kaa'ba (and the faithful Muslims still inside with it), and burying the caves where Muhammad received his revelations,]] in order to make sure that Islam never threatens the [[strike: Byzantine]] Restored Roman Empire again.
** WeHaveReserves: Mercenary units are deliberately used to draw out enemy soldiers, take hits from enemy arrows, block cavalry charges, and to wear down enemy numbers prior to elephant assaults. Skantarios even worries about this somewhat, as overreliance on mercenaries is one of the reasons that the original roman Empire failed in the first place.

* BadassGrandpa: Skantarios continues kicking ass well into his sixties. By that point, he's a ''literal'' grandpa to boot.
** His story started in 1450 AD, this means [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld he lived to 113]] and still rode his horse the last day of his life.

* ByronicHero: Skantarios

* TheConqueror: Skantarios.

* DeadpanSnarker: Skantarios
* DeathSeeker: Skantarios, in his later years.
* {{Determinator}}: Skantarios

* HaremSeeker: Vitos

* HeWhoFightsMonsters/ PyrrhicVillainy: Hundreds of thousands of dead enemies, dozens of massacres and sackings, and years and years of warfare reduce Skantarios to a man filled with nothing but hate, even for himself.

* HotBlooded: Skantarios

* InNameOnly: [[InUniverse Skantarios' opinion]] is that the Golden Horde are not really Mongols.

* KillItWithFire: The Byzantines have GreekFire, and use it to devastating effect.

* LaserGuidedKarma: By mid-story, both and we and Skantarios realize that [[spoiler: Skantarios never actually got a biological son and had to adopt his lieutenant]] because of his lack of empathy and his [[WhatTheHellHero morally questionable decisions]].
** In fact, Skantarios' job as [[spoiler: Emperor]] dooms his chances of a normal, happy marriage. [[spoiler: Near the end of the story, he admits to his wife Maria that his constant absence due to his military campaigns made him a terrible husband; she agrees, but recognizes that [[IDidWhatIHadToDo it was necessary]] for the survival of the Empire, even if she was upset that she could never have a son.]]

*** Unsurprising, considering that the fact that Constantinople had never fallen to enemy arms was used to justify its status as a HolyCity, moreso than Jerusalem.

* [[spoiler:NeverFoundTheBody]]

* RealityEnsues: In his report, Skantarios discusses that he'd like to say that his duel with [[spoiler:Pope Nicolaus IV]] was the stuff of legends... but his opponent was nearly eighty, had never handled a sword before, and could barely ride a horse, so [[CurbStompBattle he barely put up a fight]].
** Also, during Skantarios's raid into the Egyptian heartland, he doesn't know what's going on in the rest of the world, unlike the games the series is based on. Of course, you'd expect that from going behind enemy lines in the days before modern communication.

“You have all been judged and sentenced to death.”\\
A murmur of incredulity rose up from the ranks. Numerous whispers could be heard from the ranks: “Why?!?” “For what?” Was it a joke? Had they not heard him correctly?\\
Theodoros continued, thundering now above the murmurs: “You may be asking yourself for what crime you are accused and then sentenced. Your ‘crime’ is being born a man and being conscripted into this army. Your crime is that you belong to a nation at war. There is no judge, procedure, or appeal to this sentence. This sentence is final."\\
“There is hope, however. You can gain clemency by defeating your foe. Pass your sentence onto the enemy. Buy your life by taking his…for yours is already forfeit. By crushing him and driving him back to the steppes that spawned him. For, if you fail, you are dead. If my own men don’t kill you, the enemy surely will. If you fail, you not only condemn yourself to death, but your wives, your children, and all that you hold dear. Death, enslavement, and ruin are all that await you should you falter or fail today. The enemy will have no mercy and neither will we. Better to die here than to run."\\
"Make no mistake, there are no other alternatives. Win today, or die today. It’s an easy choice. You are already dead. Today, tomorrow, ten years from now; we all wind up in the same place. Buy your life today and that of your family. "\\

* WarriorPrince: Skantarios

* WhamLine: [[spoiler:My... father... is... dead]].

* WorthyOpponent: Skantarios's opinion of the French King Godefroy.
** Also of Yahya, an old general defending a city with only his bodyguard. The man kills no less than ''four'' of Skantarios' own bodyguards, who later reflects that the Sultan did not deserve such a man fighting for him.

!! Tropes for Legacy Of Skantarios

* InNameOnly: [[{{In-universe}} Skantarios' opinion]] is that the Golden Horde are not really Mongols.

* InTheBlood: Going by ''Fanfic/PaganVengeance'', Skantarios is a distant descendant of [[spoiler:UsefulNotes/GengisKhan and the man who killed him in single combat.]]

* InTheBlood: Going by ''Fanfic/PaganVengeance'', Skantarios is a distant descendant of [[spoiler:UsefulNotes/GhengisKhan and the man who killed him in single combat.]]

The author also made a sequel, called [[http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?382915-SS-AAR-The-Legacy-of-Skantarios-Restoration-of-the-Roman-Empire-**COMPLETE**-(With-Compilation) Legacy Of Skantarios]], and a prequel, ''PaganVengeance''.

* InTheBlood: Going by ''FanFic/PaganVengeance'', Skantarios is a distant descendant of [[spoiler:UsefulNotes/GhengisKhan and the man who killed him in single combat.]]

* SpoiledByTheFormat: Battle Reports start by saying who sent it. If it reads "from survivors" or an officer who's not the general, you can bet the battle went wrong.

* WhamLine: The death of [[spoiler:Genessios.]]

* LaserGuidedKarma: By mid-story, both and we and [[GenreSavvy Skantarios]] realize that [[spoiler: Skantarios never actually got a biological son and had to adopt his lieutenant]] because of his lack of empathy and his [[WhatTheHellHero morally questionable decisions]].