History Fanfic / TheMorrigan

* JoanDArchetype: The unnamed girl in book two that Ericht tells to tell all the Aeriali that they should care for each other. If the fact that she's a young girl who received a message and mission from a deity isn't enough, there's also the fact that she reappears in book two, having been beaten and attacked by Eri's more fanatic worshippers, but still dedicated to spreading the good word.

* BilingualBonus: When Shaddiq and Guel drink together, Shaddiq says ''Sláinte'', "Health" in Irish, and Guel answers ''Na Zdrowie'', Polish for "To [your] health". Both are the respective languages' version of Cheers.

* ConnectedAllAlong: A minor case. Guel mentions that his great-grandfather was from Six Points, Chuchu's hometown, and might have played a part in making the place a city.

** Golneri, one of the Peil [=CEOs=] is stated to have died in an accident between books 1 and 2. [[spoiler:Kal and Nevola follow her in Ericht's attack at the Peil HQ]].

* CallBack: Suletta at one point mentions that she's been watching videos of Sabina piloting the Morrigan and is [[BloodKnight really excited about getting to fight her]], admiring her skill. This is the exact same thing Sophie originally did with Suletta.

* {{Transhuman}}:
** Sophie prior to her death, Norea, and the Elans are enhanced humans, people who have been modified since a young age to handle the strain of piloting a gundam better.
** Nika and Sabina are not intentionally modified, but their unique situation gives them a borderline technopathy while piloting the Morrigan.
** [[spoiler:Sophie, in addition to being an enhanced human in life, has her mind uploaded into a robotic body]].
** [[spoiler:The TAT system are implants that turn the otherwise human valkyries into a HiveMind]].

* AllThereInTheManual: Jerkus often runs down the specs of the fic's original mobile suits (like the Morrigan or the Demi-Balor) on their twitter.

* DitzyGenius: Notrette is without a doubt a genius, having been the brain behind Quiet Zero to the point that even Prospera doesn't understand all of it fully without her notes. A flashback also shows that she was clumsy and distractible, prone to forgetting and losing things ranging from her tools to a whole space shuttle or ''her dauhgter''.

** The meeting between Shaddiq and the Valkyries in chapter 43 is a direct allusion to ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'', with a WeirdSisters trio telling an ambitious young man that he will become a monarch (as they put it, "emperor of everything"), but won't get the chance to enjoy it.
* ShownTheirWork: The fic includes a lot of allusions to Irish and Celtic mythology, as well as historical events ranging from the infamous (the French Reign of Terror) to the rather obscure (the motto used by the Scotish House of Stewart dynasty).

** The titles of each chapter is taken from a play by Creator/WilliamShakespeare. Titles in book 1 are taken from ''Theatre/{{Coriolanus}}'', a theater about an exiled Roman politician who goes to war against his homeland, titles book 2 is taken from ''Theatre/RichardIII'', and titles in book 3 are taken from ''Theater/{{Macbeth}}''.

* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: More a case of a historical event, but the Vanadis Papers, a major expose that revealed the true motives behind the Vanadis incident and that the victims were innocent civilians, resulting in public opinion on Earth turning against the operation, is clearly meant to parallel numerous real-life stories, like Dark Alliance (an expose revealing the connection between the CIA and drug smuggling) and the Panama Papers (a set of leaked documents implicating numerous wealthy tycoons in a large number of crimes).

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The founder of Peil, a German-American tech billionaire, sounds a lot like real life figures like Creator/ElonMusk, Creator/SteveJobs, or Creator/MarkZuckerberg, especially given the sleek, apple-like aesthetics of Peil tech.

** [[spoiler:The personality in the Morrigan is Sophie Pulone, though she doesn't quite remember being Sophie]].

** [[spoiler:Both Sabina and the Morrigan are at severeal points described as Nika's lovers, plural. ''Their Fond Pageant'' shows that Nika and Sabina are happy to include the Morrigan in their sexlife, and it's even tagged "Sophie/Nika/Sabina" and "Polyamory", with Jerkus describing Nika and Sabina as Sophie's wives. In chapter 35, Ericht teases Morrigan by calling Sabina and Nika her girlfriends]].

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: When a caul soldier accuses Ericht of having killed her mother, Ericht remarks taht it hardly narrows it down. That said she is genuinely hit when she hears the actual reason.

* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: During a firefight, Suletta asks if Norea can do this since she doesn't want to kill anyone. Norea says obviously not and asks if Suletta is stupid.

* Butformeitwastuesday: When a caul soldier accuses Ericht of having killed her mother, Ericht remarks taht it hardly narrows it down. That said she is genuinely hit when she hears the actual reason.

* ContrivedCoincidence: The officiant at Sabina and Nika's wedding happened to be [[spoiler:Chuchu's papa Nanami, and the free port they got married at happened to be what remains of Fólkvangr]].

** The titles of each chapter is taken from a play by Creator/WilliamShakespeare. Chapters in book 1 are taken from ''Theatre/{{Coriolanus}}'', a theater about an exiled Roman politician who goes to war against his homeland, while book 2 is taken from ''Theatre/RichardIII''.

* MakeAnExampleOfThem: The Peil hags executed Enhanced Person #6 by incinerator, and had the others watch to show them what happens if they are disobedient.

* NumericalThemeNaming: Ericht's repli-children, once they start becoming more independent, seem to take names from their numbers; Sechs (Six in German) and Nona (Ninth in Latin) are the ones so far named.

* AccidentalPervert: [[spoiler:The Morrigan tries her best to give Nika and Sabina privacy, but she can feel anything they feel, and they frequently have sex in her cockpit without knowing that she's sapient and can feel them. At least two cases resulted in the Morrigan spasming in pleasure in accordance with Nika. It becomes less accidental later, as Nika and Sabina embrace the idea of the Morrigan joining them]].

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: ''Put Up Your Dukes'' reveals that Felsi's loyalty to Guel was based on an event in their childhood, when he listened patiently to her concerns over being forced into an unhappy marriage and then prevented it by loudly chewing out her parents (insulting her in the process, but she was fine with it).

* BerserkButton: For Suletta, referring to her by her maiden name instead of Rembran gets on her nerves, though she keeps herself to TranquilFury and veiled threats at worst.
* BestFriend: As in the show, Felsi and Petra are thick as thieves. Petra actually also extends this friendship to Felsi's girlfriend Chuchu, and the three regularily hang out.

* BloodKnight: Perhaps unsurprisingly for a giant robot, the Morrigan ''loves'' combat. [[spoiler:Something it carries over from Sophie Pulone, not to mention that its one of the few ways it has to interact with the world around her]].
* BoringButPractical: Downplayed since there are hardly any circumstances where a giant robot would be considered "boring", but the Morrigan eschews any fancy gimmicks or bit-staves in favour of simply being a hard-hitting robot that hits hard and moves fast, all done to make the strain on the pilot as low as possible. [[spoiler:The Rebuild is a bit fancier, having a cloak and bit staves, but still not much more than a normal mobile suit]].

* BreakTheCutie: Nika in the show was an idealist who dreamed of uniting Earth and Space in peaceful cooperation. In the fic, the trauma of being kidnapped by Shaddiq, kept in a room with a woman that wanted to kill her, never being found by her friends at Earth House, the escape from Asticassia, and every event since has broken her to a very angry woman who is fully onboard with using violence and killing to fight for Earth.

* CapedMecha: The Morrigan has a cape of iron chains. [[spoiler:The Morrigan Rebuild gets a FashionableAsymmetry shoulder cape carrying flechettes]].
* CategoryTraitor: A lot of Spacians prejudiced against Earthians see Felsi as a traitor to her kin because she's dating Chuchu and takes her side in arguments about Earthian oppression. Felsi, for her part, fully embraces and revels in it, [[spoiler:even defecting to Dawn of Fold]].

* ChainPain: The Morrigan has a cape made from iron chains, each link larger than a human. It's used mostly to store weapons, but can be a weapon in the midst of battle.
* CharacterDevelopment: Norea has undergone a lot, going from the stoic-but-seethingly furious girl in the show who wanted to kill Spacians on sight, to a much more considerate and thoughtful girl who carefully considers her options before doing something rash. [[spoiler:Just before the fight with Nemain, she realizes to her pleasant surprise that she actually doesn't want anyone to die anymore]].

* CombatPragmatist: Once it becomes obvious that Suletta [[spoiler:might be good enough to beat her in a fair fight, Ericht promises not to attack her while revealing the AwfulTruth, then uses her bit-staves to sever the Schwarzette's limbs while Suletta is distracted]].
* ConflictingLoyalty: Chuchu is torn between her trust and loyalty to Miorine, who she knows is doing her best to improve the CAUL, and her loyalty to her homeworld, which is being oppressed by CAUL.

* DeathSeeker: Prospera is pushing herself to the point of multiple strokes and heart attacks, and refusing to take a break or let anyone else do things for her, to the point where Eri wonders if she wants to die.

* DeityOfHumanOrigin: Ericht is already nigh-godlike, but the endgame of Prospera's plan would expand Quiet Zero's influence across the solar system, allowing her to appear in any place and control any technology she wants. [[AGodIAmNot Ericht herself worries about what this will mean for her humanity]].

* DragonWithAnAgenda: Over the course of the second book it becomes steadily more apparent that the Valkyries are not fully under Shaddiq's control. Though their exact goals are so far unknown, they include [[spoiler:making Shaddiq pay for letting Maisie die due to his arrogance]].

* EmbarassingNickname: Nika stopped calling the Morrigan "Kiddo" because it doesn't like it, though Sabina suspects that it's actually because [[spoiler:the Morrigan is sapient and the three of them have a rather intimate relationship]].
* EmpathicWeapon: [[spoiler:The Morrigan is on some level sapient, containing a personality that sees Nika and Sabina as her family, and can feel their sensations, especially through Nika's permet-covered arm. She grows more expressive over time, allowing Nika to feel her "touch" through her arm, and using her internal monitors to express moods]].

* EvilCannotUnderstandGood: More amoral than evil, but [[spoiler:Ericht thinks that Suletta's belief in the sanctity of ''all'' life, even awful people, is "incomprehensible"]].

* EyeLaser: The Demi-Balor, Chuchu and Felsi's mobile suit, has an array of lenses on its head that can fire powerful energy beams. Different lenses has better range, better coverage, and better penetration. It also has a series of lenses it can throw out to serve as reflective surfaces to bounce the beam off of.
* TheFaceless: InUniverse. Suletta has a Veil, a sort of holographic projection that displays a dense mesh of junk data in front of her face at all times which hides her face behind a black veil. Unlike other examples of the trope, she can't see out through it either, rendering her effectively blind.

* FamilyOfChoice: [[spoiler:The Morrigan considers anyone who makes her loved ones happy to be her family too, so Chuchu and Felsi are as much her family as Sabina and Nika, and so are Chuchu's dads by association.

* FinishingEachOthersSentences:
** Felsi and Chuchu apparently do a variant. Whenever one calls Guel and Shaddiq's bickering "palpable sexual tension", the other will chime in with "Palpable".
** The Valkyries do a variant by [[spoiler:speaking in each others' voices while using the TAT]].

* FreudianExcuse: It's mentioned that Renee was abandoned by her parents as a child, left sick and alone in a ruined building. This informs her later pathological fear of being alone and need to be loved.

* GenerationXerox: In a flashback, Miorine realizes that her treatment of Suletta during their breakup was not so different from how Delling treated her; Ignoring her agency, making decisions on her behalf, and refusing to explain or give a reason, all supposedly for her sake.
* GenreRefugee: The Felsi Rollo in this story is the same one as in ''Put Up Your Dukes'', a much less serious fic. As a result, she's essentially a character from a romantic comedy in a grim and gritty war drama. [[https://twitter.com/jerkus110/status/1701936710064468077 Jerkus has stated]] that they write Felsi to be one degree cartoonier than the rest of the cast, such as appearing out of thin air without rhyme or reason.

* HappilyAdopted: Naji adopted Nika as a child and cares about her deeply, and while she acknowledges him as a flawed man, she has mostly fond memories of her upbringing. When Sohie and Norea were delivered to him to be Gundam pilots, he at first wanted to ignore the agreement with Ochs Earth and adopt them as his own.

* HatesBeingAlone:
** [[spoiler:The Morrigan, aka. Sophie, hates being "asleep" because it means being apart from Nika and Sabina, and completely alone]].
** Renee has a pathological fear of being alone. [[spoiler:She jumps into the TAT system with both legs, and seem to suffer almost an addition to it]].

* TheHedonist: Norea has spent most of her life being TheStoic, denying herself even the smallest of life's pleasures unless Sophie dragged her into it. After Elan talked her out of suicide, she resolved to start living, enjoying every pleasure and temptation she can in gratitude to Sophie and Elan for giving her something worth living for.
-->''Why had it taken her so long to realize that life was lived in moments like these? That she was here to fuck around first and work second?''

* HellIsThatNoise: When the Morrigan uses it's water-based cooling system, it causes a sound that's usually described as banshee-like. [[spoiler:The Rebuild upgrades it to a crow-like cry, almost musical but still unsettling]]. It can even be used in space through radiowaves, and is loaded with so much junk data that it overloads systems and senses alike.
* HeroicSacrifice: Defied. Norea always idealized the idea of dying heroically for her ideals, but since Sophie's death she has instead resolved to live and refuses to sacrifice anyone else.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Shaddiq may have wanted to save Earth once, but that goal is long gone, and by now he only plays lipservice to it while ordering attacks that kill thousands of Earthians.

* HollywoodToneDeaf: Nika describes Sabina's confidence while singing as adorably misplaced.
* HonestCorporateExecutive: Guel is not Jeturk's CEO, but he still has influence over the company and he aims to be this, downscaling weapons manufacture and eventually phase it out entirely, and dedicating the company to worker welfare.
* HonoraryUncle: Miorine calls Rajan, her father's NumberTwo, her uncle.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Shaddiq claims that the reason he didn't ally with Prospera Mercury is that he remembers her attack on Quinharbour, right after [[spoiler:he ordered his own attack on Quinharbour for equally petty reasons]].

* IJustWantToBeLoved: Renee Costa just wants someone who loves her and sees her as the most important person in the unvierse. Lilique ''did'' see her that way, but Renee's insecurities and jealousy ruined their relationship.
* ImCryingButIDontKnowWhy: Downplayed since she can't actually cry, but whenever [[spoiler:the Morrigan sees Sophie's grave it feels the need to]].

** When they have a chance to chat, [[spoiler:Sabina remarks that it's a shame she and Suletta never had a chance to have a proper duel. Suletta responds that she thought they did, during the [[Recap/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercuryEpisode13EnvoysFromTheEarth serial duel after Plant Quetta]], unintentionally implying that Sabina is a poor enough pilot that she could be lumped in with that sorry lot. That said, Miorine wonders if it was an intentional insult on Suletta's part, since she's growing more confident]].
** Suletta later does a more serious instance of this when she remarks that one of Sabina's tricks during the Grassley vs. Earth Hours team duel could have killed one of her fellow pilots. [[spoiler:Saina responds that she ''did'' kill that pilot, during her escape from Asticassia]].
* InsultOfEndearment: [[spoiler:Sabina's]] nickname for Felsi is "Sissy", part as a play on her name (Si-si), and part because she finds it delightful that Felsi wants to fight whenever she uses it.

* ItsAllMyFault: Maybe not ''all'', but Suletta insists on taking at least part of the blame for Sophie's death, even though Ericht freely admits to having killed her.
* JackOfAllTrades: When they were kids, Guel, being the more physically inclined of the siblings, was pressured into focusing on piloting and physical endeavors by their father. Lauda, by contrast, studied a wide array of fields ranging from business to the classics to wine tasting.

* {{Jerkass}}: Lauda has sadly not improved much from the events of the show. He calls Chuchu, one of his fiancee's best friends, "the Earthian" with notable venom, derides Suletta for losing her fight [[spoiler:with Ericht]], and dismisses the civilian casualties of attacks he ordered - attacks Guel saw firsthand - completely, and thinks Guel is insane for wanting to cease weapons manufacturing because of his trauma from Earth.

* LadykillerInLove: Renee has gone through a steady line of boyfriends, but it's obvious that she only has eyes for Lilique, and their relationship ended poorly.

* LetsGetDangerous: Belmeria is usually a nervous, withdrawn, and apologetic woman. When she's in her element as a medical doctor, however, she becomes smug, confident, and commanding.

* TheMaidenNameDebate: Suletta and Miorine apparently solved this by taking each others' last names. Suletta Rembran and Miorine Mercury.

* MaliciousMisnaming:
** Norea decides to call the original Elan Ceres "Nolan" specifically because he asks her not to.
** Shaddiq repeatedly calls Suletta "Mercury" instead of her married last name Rembran, as a way to insult her and take petty shots at her marriage, which he claims is just a slip of the tongue. Suletta eventually has had enough and threatens him with violence if he doesn't stop.
** After the [[spoiler:Peil HQ attack]], Norea and Elan call Nugen "Nougat" and "Nugget" respectively.

** Suletta's callsign while piloting the Schwarzette is "Barghest", a black hound of ill omen. Apparently it was meant as an insult from Lauda, but she likes it. It also fits rather well, as she wears a black flgihtsuit and is an ill omen for anyone facing her. "Schwarz" also means black in German.

** The mysterious-but-benevolent Goodfellow takes their name from Robin Goodfellow, a benevolent house spirit in British folklore, better known as a [[Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream Puck]].
** The Gundculpa [[spoiler:contains the gilded bones and presumably uploaded minds of pirates. The name comes from ''Mea Culpa'', latin for My Fault, used by Catholic Christians when repenting]].
* MidSeasonUpgrade: [[spoiler:Following the second Quinharbour attack, and with input and advice from Prospera, the Morrigan is retrofitted and upgraded from its bulky and mishmash heavy-duty design to the much more sleek and agile Morrigan Rebuild, using Gundvölva parts salvaged from Ochs Earth. It also comes with some nifty new abilities, like using its sword to block beam weapons, a temporary cloak, and bit-staves in the form of guided flechettes]].

* AMotherToHerMen: Chuchu refers to the Bilge Rat squadron as her pups, knows their names by heart and personally grieves every death, and cares deeply about their safety. SAL's disregard for their safety is part of the reason she transfers to Miorine's command [[spoiler:and later defects]].
* MundaneUtility: Similarily to Ericht in the show, [[spoiler:Sophie can cause permet burns on anyone piloting the Morrigan. Unlike Ericht, however, Sophie uses it for intimacy with Nika and Sabina, causing a very small and localized permet burn to imply touch across her lovers' skin]].
* MoralityChain: [[spoiler:Chuchu emploring her not to hurt Felsi or her squadron is what prevents Nika from going on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge]].

* MysteriousStranger: A figure who calls themselves Goodfellow has repeatedly provided advice to characters and seems to oppose an equally mysterious black-clad faction. Their advice often consists only of the word "RUN" repeated over and over.

** Nika is associated with the first High King of the Tuatha de Dannan, Nuada Airgetlám. Like Nuada, Nika is a leader, has an arm made of silver and the nickname "Silverhand" (which is what Airgetlám means), fights a being called [[spoiler:Balor (though unlike Nuada, Nika survives the fight)]], and the Morrigan's sword is named Fragarach, after Nuada's sword.
* NamedWeapons: While all Gundam subsystems tend to have names, the Morrigan's sword in particular is named Fragarach according to WordOfGod.

* NeverMyFault:
** Sabina accuses Norea of having deserted from the Dawn of Fold, conveniently ignoring the part where Sabina and Nika destroyed her gundam and stole the only other available mobile suit before leaving her unconscious in the rubble. Norea deduces that Sabina is guilty for not having helped Nika earlier, and is projecting that guilt onto her.
** Shaddiq seems chronically incapable of admitting that he fucked up, always acting like everything was part of the plan and he's on top of things even when he ''clearly'' isn't.
* NiceGirl: Suletta, as always, is endlessly kind and genuine, caring deeply about the happiness of everyone she loves. [[spoiler:Sabina]] thinks this is her most dangerous trait; She is so sincere that everyone she talks to wants to be sincere as well.

* NotSoStoic: Sabina generally keeps a very stoic face through any situation, including ColdBloodedTorture. Once she's in private, however, she lets herself go and throws up. Also, she enjoys playing rock music. She's making an effort to become more expressive.

* NumberTwo:
** Nika is the Captain, and Sabina is her Lieutenant. [[spoiler:Later, Nika becomes General and Sabina becomes Captain]].
** Guel is Miorine's vice-president, while Suletta is her foremost fighter.
** Henao Jazz has taken over as Shaddiq's second in command after Sabina defected. Miorine notes that she takes after Sabina to an almost disturbing degree, emulating her to the point of losing herself in the role.
** Felsi is commander Chuchu's lieutenant.

* OddFriendship:
** Once they actually started spending time together as a result of the former dating Felsi, Chuchu and her former bully Petra found themselves becoming close friends.
** Felsi, the hot-blooded daughter of wealthy spacians, gets along swimmingly with [[spoiler:Sabina, an IceQueen Earthian freedom fighter, once the former defects to Dawn of Fold]].

* TheOneThatGotAway: Renee Costa and Lilique had a brief relationship, but it ended poorly. Renee still has feelings for her and wants to try again, but doesn't dare to talk to Lilique about it.
* OnlyFriend: Shaddiq remarks that Guel is probably the only person in the solar system who's happy he's not hurt. Guel admits that it's true, though he brought it on himself.
* OocIsSeriousBusiness: Suletta is usually a sweet and forgiving ingénue. As such, her voicing her dislike of Shaddiq is ''very'' notable.
* OpenMouthInsertFoot: Norea's first words to Nika, who's arm was broken by Sophie with Norea present years earlier, are "You broke your arm ''again?''" The mental Elan standing in for her conscience immediately admonishes her for it.

* OpposeWhatYouSuffered: Yushura, being disabled herself, has worked to make her amusement park-turned-sanctuary as accessible as possible. A currently wheelchair-using [[spoiler:Norea]] appreciates it greatly.

* ParentsAsPeople: Naji Geor-Hija is arguably the best father in the fic, but he is shown to have many ''many'' flaws in his parenting. In particular, as the leader of a freedom fighter organization, he allowed child soldiers, either directly (Sophie and Norea), or simply as a consequence of their life (Nika).

** The remaining Grassley valkyries have a ''very'' close relationship. Though the messed up {{Transhuman}} nature of their relationship makes it impossible to describe properly.

* PosthumousCharacter: Delling Rembran died after Plant Quetta, [[spoiler:assassinated by a mysterious faction]], and has been dead for a while by the time the fic kicks off. Likewise, Maisie May died at the PointOfDivergence.

* PyschicGlimpseOfDeath: After they [[spoiler:they're tapped into the TAT system to read their thoughts, which kills them, the Cathedra Honeypot gives the valkyries the sensation of their death]].
* PsychologicalProjection: Sabina openly dislikes Norea, claiming that it's because Norea beat Nika nearly to death back on Asticassia. Norea points out that Sabina was in the room with them and took her sweet time before helping Nika, leading her to realize that Sabina is projecting her own guilt about the incident onto Norea. Sabina is not happy to be psychoanalyzed.

* QueerEstablishingMoment: In a quiet moment with Norea, Elan tells her that he had a name before becoming Elan but considers it a "dead name" and doesn't want to use it, implicitly coming out as trans.
* RageBreakingPoint:
** Ericht [[spoiler:attacking and destroying the Peil HQ with everyone inside causes Suletta to finally snap and release all of her previous grievances like Prospera's ParentalFavouritism and Ericht's tendency to treat everything like a game. While Ericht tricks and defeats her in their ensuing duel, the AwfulTruth of Elan's true nature causes her to snap again and violently beat up Shaddiq for keeping it secret]].
** When Miorine returns to Asticassia to find [[spoiler:the Valkyries trying to kill Elan and Norea, she furiously threatens to have them executed if they don't stand down. While the Valkyries would consider this an empty threat from Shaddiq, they know better than to ignore a threat like that from Miorine]].

* RaisedInALab: Sophie and Norea spent their formative years in an Ochs Earth lab being modified into better gundam pilots. Norea's memories of it does not paint a pretty picture.
* RealMenCook: Vim was of the opinion that a man should know his way around a kitchen as well as he does the bedroom, passing those values on to Guel.

* RedBaron:
** Suletta is known by the callsign Barghest.
** Ericht is known as the Ghost Princess of Earth.
** Nika has gained the nicknames "Architect", "Silverhand", and "Bluebird of Victory" for her ability to plan and manage the entirety of Dawn of Fold, and her permet-encrusted hand. She later adds "The Silver Fist," "The Dawnbringer," and "The Butcher of the NEAR Arcology."
** Prospera is known as The Witch of Quiet Zero, Fleetbreaker, She of the Black Coffin, etc.
* RedRightHand: Nika's entire left arm is covered in permet growths that react when she uses the Morrigan's permet scores. The exact cause is unclear, but it first happened when it got hurt during the escape from Asticassia, and the numbness and pain decreases when in contact with the Morrigan.

* TheReliableOne: Miorine notes that she can always trust Secelia to do what's best for Burion, and Rouji to follow Secelia's lead, making them the most trustworthy of her inner circle aside from Suletta.

* RevenantZombie: Not literally, but when Belmeria sees the Gundam Morrigan she thinks that it resembles an undead revenant. Considering that it was built from the wreckage of Sophie Pulone's Lfrith Ur, she's half right.

* {{Revenge}}: Norea is positively ecstatic at the chance to hunt down the Morrigan, since it was built from the wreck of her dead best friend's gundam. [[spoiler:Subverted when she actually gets the chance, as she decides to put her ideals before her revenge, and that Sophie would be happy with the Morrigan anyway]].

* RichKidTurnedSocialActivist: Felsi was aware from a young age that the Spacian system she grew up in was bad, but it was only once she grew close with Chuchu that she realized the extent of it. Thanks to some lessons and reading reccomendations from one of Chuchu's more politically inclined fathers, she's now firecely anti-capitalist and pro-Earth, even [[spoiler:joining the pro-Earth Dawn of Fold]].

* SchizoTech: InUniverse, the Morrigan is a super-advanced giant mech built using techniques over 200 years beyond the present, but it uses water as a cooling system. Assuming it wasn't just poetic writing, chapter 35 also describes its "clockwork heart".
* SecondLove:
** After Sophie's death, Norea struggled with moving on for a long time but has now grown close with Elan.
** Ericht thinks that her mother and Notrette Rembran had something going on, since Prospera often talks about her in the same tone of voice she talks about Nadim, but she doesn't know for sure.

* SecretHandshake: [[spoiler:Felsi and Sabina develop one once the former defects to Dawn of Fold. They perform it with their mobile suits, and drag their reluctant partners into it]].
* SecretSecretKeeper: Ericht [[spoiler:knows who Morrigan is, or was, but hasn't told her out of fear that Sophie would not want to be friends with her killer]].
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Felsi has a tendency to launch into lengthy complicated rants about Spacian oppression thanks to some literature recommendations from one of Chuchu's dad.
-->'''Felsi:''' And what constitutes ‘Earthian’ is an ever-shifting subject position based not on geography but on the-” ''Gets food shoved in her mouth by Petra.''
* ShadowArchetype: The Valkyries are this to Norea. Like her, they lost their LivingEmotionalCrutch and let anger and bloodthirst consume them afterward. However, while Norea was able to veer off that path and become a better person, the Valkyries haven't stop spiraling yet. Their [[spoiler:attack on Quinharbour]] evokes Norea's attack on Asticassia during ''End of Hope'', but this time with Norea in the role of defender.
* SharedDream: Henao somehow experiences one of Ireesha's dreams, a vivid flashback to a conversation only she and Maisie were present for.

* ShrinkingViolet: Sophie, [[{{Yandere}} of all people]], used to be this as a kid, hiding behind Norea when she was scared.

* SignificantHaircut: Elan and Norea have both styled their hair identically to the original Elan Ceres, so that the Peil Grade AI won't be able to tell them apart.
* SkewedPriorities: After reuniting with Norea ''in the middle of a battle'', Naji's first reaction is to ask if she has eaten well.

* SophisticatedAsHell: Sabina, as part of being TheStoic, tends to use a very precise and proper manner of speaking. She does occasionally slip up and swears, much to Nika's delight.

* SpeakInUnison: While using the [[spoiler:TAT, the Valkyries speak not in unison, but through each others' bodies. Generally this takes the form of for instance Henao asking a question through Renee's mouth, and Renee answering through Henao's]].

* TheStoic:
** Sabina was raised by Grassley to dissociate and be as cold and emotionless as possible. She is making an effort to unlearning it to be with Nika.
** Henao Jazz, like in the show, emotes very little and keeps her emotions close to her chest. Unlike in the show, this is noted to be an unspecified form of neurodivergence on her part, possibly dysthymia.
* StopWorshippingMe: Some people on Earth has started worshipping Ericht as a deity, which she doesn't really like because she doesn't want to lose her humanity, but answers their prayers when she can. While she doesn't discourage them from growing into a cult, she does nothing to encourage them either.

* SuperSmoke: Unlike most mobile suits, that use a permet cooling system, the Morrigan uses water for cooling, allowing it to operate at full efficiency within Quiet Zero's sphere of influence. Whenever it vents, it creates a thick blanket of superhot steam. [[spoiler:Rebuild upgrades it to a black fog infused with permet functioning as a cloak]].
* SuperstitiousSailors: Gundam Pilots actually. Sabina, despite her serious and stoic demeanor, is actually quite superstitious, using rituals to ward off bad luck and fully believing that Morrigan is sapient. [[spoiler:Not that she's wrong on the second count]].
* SurvivalMantra: Guel has used "One foot, then the other. I can do this." to get himself through hard times ever since his brief stay on Earth.
* {{Synchronization}}:
** When they use the Morrigan's GUND format together, Nika and Sabina are so intermingled that they can barely tell where one ends and the other begins, and feel each others' pain and sensations. This seems to have been strongest the first time in the Lfrith-Ur, and lessened with time and as they perfected the Morrigan's systems.
** Henao somehow experiences her fellow valkyries' dreams, and the feelings associated with those dreams. We later learn that [[spoiler:this is a new Grassley system called Triune Associative Technology (or as Henao calls it, Thou Art That) that enables trios of pilots to effectively become a hive mind, tested out on Henao, Ireesha, and Renee]].
** [[spoiler:The Morrigan is fully sapient, and can feel Nika's sensations through her permet-encrusted arm, especially when they're in physical contact. Most notable, that time Nika and Sabina decided to have sex in her cockpit]].

* TakeMeInstead: When Chuchu realizes that [[spoiler:Nika might actually kill her]], she begs her to ''only'' hurt her, and spare Felsi and [[AMotherToHerMen her pups]].

* TalkingDownTheSuicidal: Elan managed to talk Norea down from killing herself during their first few days in Peil custody by telling her that he needed her help to kill every last Peil bastard.
* TeensLoveShopping: Chuchu, of all people, found herself enjoying trying on clothes that Petra bought for her birthday in a fashion show with them and Felsi, and has since greatly expanded her warderobe.

* TortureTechnician: Sabina was trained in torture as part of becoming a Valkyrie, and retains the skills years after. Notably, unlike many torturers, she avoids doing anything that will cause permanent harm, relying mostly on the psychological aspect - fear of pain rather than pain itself. While Grassley taught her to dissociate while torturing someone to be more efficient, she elects not to, staying stoic in public but letting it affect her when in private.
* TranquilFury:
** When Miorine ''doesn't'' shout in anger, that's when you know she's ''really'' angry.
** After one too many instances of Shaddiq disrespecting her prefered name, Suletta calmly presses the head of her cane to his chest and implies that bad things will happen to him if he doesn't stop.
** With Lauda declaring that he's blameless for Seethia's death despite her dying in an attack he ordered, arguing that he was just giving orders and avenging his father's death, Guel goes cold from fury and recounts the events that led up to Vim's death at his hands.

* TrueCompanions:
** The Valkyries certainly have a very close relationship, seeing each other as their only family and willing to [[spoiler:give up their individuality to keep each other safe]]. Since Maisie's death and Sabina's defection, the remaining three has become borderline codependent.
** The Dawn of Fold focal characters, including Nika, Sabina, [[spoiler:Sophie, Chuchu, and Felsi]] are slowly developing into this, fighting together to protect Earth while spending their spare time laughing and joking with each other. Not to mention that all of them are [[spoiler:helping Chuchu find her fahter]].
* {{Tsundere}}:
** Elan and Norea are this mutually, making a game out of how sincere they can get without letting it slip that they care about each other.
** Norea would have you know that she does not see Naji as her father figure, thank you very much, even if she has a hard time not smiling when he expresses concern and care for her and calls him annoying in the same breath as she calls dads annoying.
* TwoAliasesOneCharacter: [[spoiler:Gundam Morrigan, aka. Sophie Pulone]].

* UndyingLoyalty: Sabina trusts Nika fully and entirely, to the point where she tells her that she would line up and shoot defenseless hostages if she asked her to. This is phrased less as an oath of dedication and more as a warning to not misuse that trust.
* TheUnfavorite: Like in the show, it's not hard to see which of her two daughters is Prospera's favourite. Suletta tries to be okay with it, but it grates on her and [[spoiler:is one of several grievances that leads to her and Ericht's confrontation]].
-->''Angry at her Mom for caring so little for her own wellbeing - caring so little for anything or anyone but Eri. For caring so little about'' her.
* TheUnfettered: In chapter 36, [[spoiler:Eri declares that she will no longer hold anything back; Before she's tried to avoid hurting innocent people in the way of her targets, but the wealthy ghouls she's trying to kill learned from that and started telling their soldiers she wouldn't hurt her. Now, she will kill anyone in her way, and makes it clear that when the ghouls are ordering people to fight her, they are ordering them to die]].
* TheUnsmile: Norea's smile causes Elan to ask why she's making "that expression".
-->'''Norea:''' It's called a smile, dumbass.\\
'''Elan:''' Is that what that is? How alarming.
* VagueAge: Norea doesn't know her and Sophie's exact ages, but the number they use is close enough.

* VirtualYouTuber: On Suletta's suggestion, Ericht has taken up streaming as a hobby, using a cartoon bunny as her vtuber avatar. [[spoiler:She uses that same streaming platform to livestream her destruction of the Peil facility to the world]].

* WhyCouldntYouBeDifferent: Henao, who has an unspecified neurodivergence, was told all her life that she should just be normal, to the point that the word "normal" is a TraumaButton for her, especially when said by someone she cares about like Renee.
* WistfulAmnesia: [[spoiler:The Morrigan remembers being ''something'' before, and has vague recollections about what she likes and what's important to her, but doesn't remember that she was Sophie Pulone. She knows that she knew Norea, Sabina, Nika, and Chuchu from somewhere before, and that there's some reason she expected to not like Felsi, but she doesn't know ''why'']].

* WreckedWeapon: The Morrigan's sword, Fragarach, is broken [[spoiler:by Felsi in the battle with the Demi-Balor. The Morrigan Rebuild keeps it like that, but gives it a permet edge that enhances its abilities]].

* XanatosGambit: Miorine uses one during her meeting with [[spoiler:Nika. While she fails her main goal, to ally with her, she does manage to gain a lot of intel about the Dawn of Fold's alliance with Quiet Zero and start rebuilding their friendship]].
* YouAreinCommandNow: [[spoiler:Nika becomes the leader of the Dawn of Fold after Naji is killed in battle]].
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: After they [[spoiler:hand over sensitive information to the Dawn of Foldper Miorine's request, Felsi and Chuchu can't return to the CAUL without being court martialed and likely executed. Nika instead offers them a place among the Dawn of Fold, which they take]].

* BeenThereShapedHistory: Guel's family built the first space elevator and were integral to the early push into space.

* AcePilot: Suletta is by far the best human pilot in the solar system, able to fight her godlike AI sister on equal footing. Several of the best pilots in the world express the opinion that fighting Suletta is suicide, and [[spoiler:even Ericht starts to worry that Suletta might be better than her]].

* AdaptationalSexuality:
** Rouji, who in the original has no indication of his sexuality, is here implied to be aromantic, asexual, or both, based on his mutterings that "allos" (allosexuals or alloromantics, people who experience sexual or romantic attraction) are weird.
** Likewise, there's no indication that Guel is anything other than straight. Here, he's definitely bi or pan.
* AdaptationSpeciesChange: Downplayed since she's still human, but in canon Norea had no indication of being anything but baseline human. Here, she's an enhanced person like Elan.
* ADayInTheLimelight: Chapters 11 and 35 are told entirely from the perspective of the Morrigan itself.
* AffablyEvil: Her villainy is debatable, but Nika is surprised at how friendly [[spoiler:Prospera]] is despite her horrifying reputation. Not only is she happy to engage in friendly conversation, but she casually uses affectionate nicknames and makes puns.
* AffectionateNickname:
** Chuchu calls Felsi "Pineapple", a holdover from ''Put Up Your Dukes''.
** Felsi takes to calling [[spoiler:Sabina]] "Bibi". She in turn calls her "Sissy", based on both the last two letters of Felsi's name, and an affectionate insult.
** Ericht calls Morrigan "Momo."
* AffluentAscetic: Guel, despite being vice president of a corporate union spanning the entire solar system, lives in a small apartment on the Asticassia campus. He had enough of giant cavernous mansions in his childhood.

* AmazonianBeauty: Over the timeskip at the end of book 2, Suletta bulks up from the muscular-but-gangly she was before to a sheer amazon. Norea, after [[EatingTheEyeCandy paying very close attention to the movement of her muscle]], remarks that she looks like she could fold a mobile suit up like tissue paper.

** Suletta is associated with hounds. Her cane has the head of a dog, her callsign is Barghest (a black hound of ill omen from Celtic mythology), many within the CAUL think of her only as Miorine's dog who goes wherever her master tells her to, and during the costume party she dresses as a wolf-man knight. Suletta herself doesn't mind this comparison, but is frustrated as being dehumanized.
** Chuchu tends to be associated with rats; Small, ferocious, and fiercely protective of her young. She has a torso tattoo of a rat and her squadron is called the Bilge Rats. And like a rat, she [[spoiler:flees the sinking ship that is CAUL]].
** The Morrigan [[spoiler:Rebuild is painted in dark colours, wears a feathered cape (actually felchettes), has a cry reminiscent of a crow or raven, and is created from pieces salvaged from other mobile suits similar to a carrion bird feeding on the dead, all of it giving it a corvid motif. During the costume party, her pilot Sabina dresses as a raven familiar]].

* ArtificialFamilyMember: Nika and Sabina refer to the Morrigan as part of their family, initially as a kid but as it becomes more apparent that the Morrigan has some kind of self-awareness, they start thinking of it as their lover instead. [[spoiler:The Morrigan herself returns the sentiment in full]].

* TheAtoner:
** Guel, having seen the oppression and exploitation of Earth firsthand, wants to return his company from weapons manufacturers to its roots as a manufacturer of construction equipment who treats its workers fairly.
** Felsi is very aware that her family have played part in oppressing Earth, and tries to atone for it by learning everything she can about Spacian oppression [[spoiler:and later defects to Dawn of Fold]].

* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Whenever she goes into combat, Norea takes a moment to analyze the opponent, taking note of their potential abilities, how many there are, what they can do, and how best to approach them.

* BattleCouple: Several couples in the fic pilot mobile suits together.
** Nika and Sabina pilot the Morrigan together, having borderline telepathy due to its GUND-format.
** Chuchu and Felsi command a squad of CAUL demi-barding pilots together. While they lack Nika and Sabina's actual borderline telepathy, they are so in sync that they might as well have it. While Chuchu is the Demi-Balor's pilot, Felsi provides backup by piloting its Baori pack.
** In chapter 31, Norea and Elan [[spoiler:after confessing their love]] pilot the Pharact, taging in and out whenever one is exhausted.

*** Elan and Norea are dressed as Theatre/PunchAndJudy (Elan is, Norea ditched her costume as soon as she could)