History Fanfic / TheXCOMAnthologySet

* BizzaroEpisode: Chapter 20 of ''TFTWSOTA'' takes the story away from the main XCOM cast to discuss what the fallen members of the organization are doing in the afterlife, complete with an extended cameo from Creator/TerryPratchett's take on DiscworldDeathAndCompany/Characters{{The Grim Reaper}}.
** The Warlock's first VillainEpisode is a meta-take on a common SpecialEffectsFailure present in the main menu of VideoGame/XCOM2.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: The series has a substantial ensemble cast. To wit...
** There's the stars of the show, The Commander, Jane and [[spoiler:their daughter, Annette Zhang Kelly.]]
** The canonical characters of XCOM.
** Menace 1-5, consisting entirely of real life celebrities.
** The casts of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, VideoGame/Borderlands, Franchise/MassEffect and Franchise/DragonAge.

This work contains examples of:

* BadassBeard: Stubble, more like, but Bradford retains his appearance from XCOM 2, complete with beard. Volk also qualifies, as per his in-game incarnation.

* BadassGay: As far as prominent examples go, Bradford and Volk on the men's side of things, Lily and Melissa on the ladies side of things.

* Retcon: A number of them, some altering the story in minor ways, others in not so minor ones.

* ArcWelding: With the "modern" XCOM games, The Bureau, Enemy Unknown/Within and 2, tying their arcs together - albeit with some ''major'' differences than the game - meaning that the story of XCOM's war with the Elders effectively stretches across some seventy or so years.

''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/18068225/chapters/43072580 Tales From The Wrong Side Of The Avenger]]'': Usually abbreviated as ''TFTWSOTA'' or ''Tales'', this is an anthology collection set mostly within the XCOM 2 timeline, this particular entry focuses on "snapshots" of life in XCOM, ranging from serious moments to comedic ones, among other emotions.

* BizzaroEpisode: Chapter 20 of ''TFTWSOTA'' takes the story away from the main XCOM cast to discuss what the fallen members of the organization are doing in the afterlife, complete with an extended cameo from TerryPratchett's take on Characters/DiscworldDeathAndCompany/{{The Grim Reaper}}.

* {{Crossover}}: With the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Call of Duty, Borderlands, Dragon Age and Mass Effect. At least, character-wise. Events and backstories are given occasional nods here and there.

** The casts of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, VideoGame/Borderlands, VideoGame/MassEffect and VideoGame/DragonAge.

* NoodleIncident: Several.

* PosthumousCharacter: Several.

** Lily Shen has her dad, Raymond Shen.
** Melissa Gaskarth has her parents.

* BloodKnight: The Hunter and the Assassin, though to different extents. The Hunter does it for fun, though he avoids noncombatants because shooting a fleeing civilian isn't fun, while the Assassin does it out of a desire to find a worthy opponent.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfChracters: The series has a substantial ensemble cast. To wit...
* There's the stars of the show, The Commander, Jane and [[spoiler:their daughter, Annette Zhang Kelly]].
* The canonical characters of XCOM.
* Menace 1-5, consisting entirely of real life celebrities.
* The casts of the MarvelCinematicUniverse, Borderlands, MassEffect and DragonAge.

* AdaptationalBadass: In-game, the Commander is Armchair Military who lets their troops do the fighting, only joining the fray in person during the final mission via [[spoiler:an Avatar.]] In stark contrast, the Anthology Set's take on the Commander casts them as a FrontlineGeneral who personally takes to the field, fighting alongside their troops on many occasions long before [[spoiler;Operation Leviathan.]]

* Anthology: The name of the game, though ''Tales'' is the straightest example.

''[[https://archiveofourown.org/series/1479533 The XCOM Anthology Set]]'', by [=ElizabethOlsenIsMySpiritAnimal=], is an VideoGame/XCOM2 fanfic series revolving around the adventures of the eponymous organization. Currently possessing two works, Tales From The Wrong Side Of The Avenger and The Ranger On The Edge Of Forever, both of which are multi-chapter stories.

''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/18068225/chapters/43072580 Tales From The Wrong Side Of The Avenger]]'': An anthology collection set mostly within the XCOM 2 timeline, this particular entry focuses on "snapshots" of life in XCOM, ranging from serious moments to comedic ones, among other emotions.

''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/20708051/chapters/49191164 The Ranger On The Edge Of Forever]]'': This entry of the Anthology Set revolves around the premise of the eponymous ranger, Jane Kelly, switching places with her future self.

* AdaptationalBadass: In-game, the Commander is Armchair Military who lets their troops do the fighting. Here, they personally take to the field, wielding what appears to be a version of Captain America's Shield and powerful psionic abilities.

** Firebrand. In-game, she's a faceless pilot on the side of the heroes. Within the series, she's a full-fledged character.

* FriendlySniper: Ellie "Lights" Goulding, when she isn't being an arrogant know-it-all who tends to be right nonetheless. Taylor "Catastrophe" Swift also counts, when she's not snarking.

''[[https://archiveofourown.org/series/1479533 The XCOM Anthology Set'', by [=ElizabethOlsenIsMySpiritAnimal=], is an VideoGame/XCOM2 fanfic series revolving around the adventures of the eponymous organization. Currently possessing two works, Tales From The Wrong Side Of The Avenger and The Ranger On The Edge Of Forever, both of which are multi-chapter stories.

''The XCOM Anthology Set'', by [=ElizabethOlsenIsMySpiritAnimal=], is an VideoGame/XCOM2 fanfic series revolving around the adventures of the eponymous organization. Currently possessing two works, Tales From The Wrong Side Of The Avenger and The Ranger On The Edge Of Forever, both of which are multi-chapter stories.

''Tales From The Wrong Side Of The Avenger'': An anthology collection set mostly within the XCOM 2 timeline, this particular entry focuses on "snapshots" of life in XCOM, ranging from serious moments to comedic ones, among other emotions.

''The Ranger On The Edge Of Forever'': This entry of the Anthology Set revolves around the premise of the eponymous ranger, Jane Kelly, switching places with her future self.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Elena Dragunova, to a T. [[spoiler: Her entire family was slaughtered by one of Pratal Mox's death squads, with Mox himself killing her sister.]] To say she's not happy to see him during Lost and Abandoned is a ''magnificent'' understatement.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: Jane Kelly is this for the overall series, while on a smaller scale stories focused upon one character will often have a second one in an equally important role.

** Basically any of Xenon's tangents, especially the ones involving the bog monster in the back of the shop.

** Jane getting into a fistfight with a ''[[HumongousMecha Sectopod]]''.

* PosthumousCharacter: A number of them. For the Commander, it's Annette Durand, who was their childhood friend and died during the events of Enemy Unknown. For Jane, it's Shaojie Zhang, who acted as her father figure after her parents died during the invasion. For Lily, it's Raymond Shen, who was killed during the Resistance's assault on the Avenger, and for Melissa, it's her parents, who died when New York was invaded by the aliens.
** One in particular comes back to haunt XCOM, Elena Dragunova's [[spoiler:sister, Kestra, who was murdered by Pratal Mox while he was still under ADVENT's control. This results in Lost and Abandoned going pear-shaped the instant the two factions actually meet.]]
** [[spoiler:Annette Durand turns out to be alive and well, having been mutated into the Chosen Assassin. The Commander doesn't take this very well.]]

Anyone who [[spoiler:is interviewed by Annette in 2054 or referenced as still being alive by then]] has this.

* AdaptationalBadass: In-game, the Commander is Armchair Military who lets their troops do the fighting. Here, they personally take to the field, wielding what appears to be an expy of Captain America's Shield and powerful psionic abilities.

** [[spoiler:Annette Zhang Kelly looks just like her mom and wields psionics just like her dad]]
* TheGhost: Xenon the Antiquarian mentions [[spoiler:Asaru]] in passing, but the character has no relevance to the main storyline beyond [[spoiler:saving the Commander's life during Gatecrasher whilst the control chip was being removed from them.]]

** Jane getting into a fistfight with a [[HumongousMecha Sectopod]].

* BloodKnight: The Hunter and the Assassin, though to different extents. The Hunter kills mainly for fun, though he avoids noncombatants and deliberately targets people he considers to be a "challenge", which usually means fellow snipers, while the Assassin targets armed combatants and longs to find a proper

** Elena eventually grows out of her extreme hatred of [[spoiler:Mox]], given that she's willing to [[spoiler:tell Annette Zhang Kelly the story of]] Lost and Abandoned with [[spoiler:him present to deliver his side of the story.]]

** EXALT existed in some capacity, crossed paths with XCOM at least once or twice, and was converted into ADVENT by the Elders after the war.
** 2015-era XCOM managed to get as far as destroying the underground alien base, which was located somewhere in Asia.

* {{Crossover}}: With the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Call of Duty, Borderlands, Dragon Age and Mass Effect. At least, character-wise.

* ItsPersonal: Elena would like nothing more than for [[spoiler:Pratal Mox]] to suffer a bloody death as payback for [[spoiler:killing her sister.]]
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Everyone with a sniper rifle (and some without) do this pretty much all the time.

* NoodleIncident: Sometime in the 1990's, the Commander and Bradford were ''arrested'' for breaking into the latter's ex-boyfriend's house to steal back his sweater. Beyond getting back the sweater and of course, the arrest, no details are given, and the Commander considers knowing the actual specifics of the incident to be a trust password of sorts, explaining why they immediately [[spoiler:trust Future!Jane in ROTEOF.]]

*** Basically any of Xenon's tangents, especially the ones involving the bog monster in the back of the shop.

* PowerTrio: On an overarching level, the Commander, Jane Kelly, and [[spoiler:Annette Zhang Kelly]], of whom drive the story's most essential aspects forward, the former two by being the ones leading the charge against the Elders, and the latter by [[spoiler:being the one to tell the story in the first place]]. In terms of XCOM, Wraith-One, comprised of Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov and Wanda Maximoff, and Hunter Team, comprised of David Foley, Jake Dunn and Ramirez.

** The Reapers and Skirmishers barely get along, as mentioned earlier.

* WatchThePaintJob: Melissa fusses over the Skyranger like nobody's business and invokes this on anyone who so much as offers to sweep it out.

* AcePilot: Firebrand.
* ActionGirl: A staple in the cast, ranging from canonical characters like Lily Shen and Jane Kelly, to the series version of Menace 1-5, whose lineup is exclusively comprised of action girls.

* AdaptationExpansion: Happens to many characters and factions in some form or another. Such as Elena Dragunova going from being a MauveShirt Reaper with a dislike of the Skirmishers to [[spoiler:outright hating them, in no small part due to Pratal Mox being part of the ADVENT battalion that burned her home to the ground and killed her family.]]
* AgeLift: Elena Dragunova is eighteen during the events of the story, compared against being a woman in her mid-twenties to early thirties as her in-game model would suggest. [[spoiler:This is to fit in with her revised backstory, as she was thirteen when Mox and his company killed her family.]]
* AnyoneCanDie: Averted. Most characters have plot armor, which is understandable, given that [[spoiler: the series is retroactively being told some fifteen-odd years after it happened by the daughter of the cast's resident power couple.]]

** Firebrand. In-game, she's a faceless pilot on the side of the heroes. Within the series, she's a full-fledged character with just as much importance as everyone else, with an entire chapter dedicated to her. To be more specific, her full name is Melissa Gaskarth, she's of Scottish descent, favors revolvers and has been described by the author to basically be "Karen Gillan in a flight suit", contrasting against Firebrand's in-game incarnation never revealing her face and having very little personality.
*** While he was never an extra by any means, Bradford has similarly risen in prominence, having a backstory intertwined with the Commander and a close friendship that stretches back decades. Being the [[spoiler:grandson of a member of the Bureau's incarnation of XCOM probably helps.]]
* TheAtoner: The Skirmishers as a whole, with Pratal Mox among the most prominent. [[spoiler: Being responsible for murdering Elena's sister and having to work with her for the sake of fighting the aliens explains a lot of it.]]
* AwfulTruth: [[spoiler:Annette Durand survived the fall of Earth, was captured by ADVENT and subsequently mutated into the Chosen Assassin.]]

* BloodKnight: The Hunter and the Assassin, though to different extents. The Hunter is happy to kill anyone, so long as it's flashy, whilst the Assassin craves blood in a more "professional" manner, and occasionally invokes Honor Before Reason, particularly if her opponent has a melee weapon and is willing to use it.

** Ramirez, to a lesser extent. Foley makes him do ''everything''. To his credit, Hunter Team has one of the highest success ratings of all the Covert Teams.

** In their character-centric chapter, Lily Shen and Firebrand go from being colleagues who met by chance to good friends to lovers.

** The events of the Bureau occurred in some capacity, as evidenced by [[spoiler:Asaru's existence and Angela Weaver becoming XCOM's first Commander.]]
** EXALT existed in some capacity, crossed paths with XCOM at least once, and was converted into ADVENT by the Elders after the war.

* FrontlineGeneral: In stark contrast to the game, The Commander personally fights alongside their troops on the battlefield, though this only seems to be applicable when Menace Team and Jane are available. Other missions have the Commander take a backseat and let the troope on the ground handle it.
* GenerationXerox: Lily is Chief Engineer, just like her dad. [[spoiler:The Commander is the successor to their mother, Angela Weaver, of whom was the first Commander.]]

** Vahlen getting high on LSD during the events of Enemy Unknown. It apparently lasted for twelve hours and gave Bradford a very scar in a place he refuses to show to anyone.

*** [[spoiler:Annette Durand turns out to be alive and well, having been mutated into the Chosen Assassin. The Commander doesn't take this very well.]]

** Bradford's sweater, as per usual. Justified as he has had it for decades, with the implication that it is a family heirloom or something of similar value. [[spoiler: It belonged to his grandmother, who served with The Bureau's incarnation of XCOM and gifted it to him on her deathbed]].

** Volk and Betos absolutely hate each other, though it's mostly one-sided as Betos doesn't really have a stake in the fight, while Volk despises her. In turn, Geist hates Volk, though it's less out of a personal dislike of the man, it's more because Betos is his girlfriend and he's at least somewhat obliged to stand up for her.

* WasOnceAMan: The Hunter, as per the game. Also [[spoiler:the Assassin, who is, in fact, a brainwashed and crazy Annette Durand.]]