History Literature / LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes

*** People are jailed for "thought crimes" which can be something as simple as expressing anti-war sentiment or playfully mocking the Nobles and being sent to labor camps as punishment. The Gaiden series revealed that one of Kircheis' friends was jailed for being in an anti-war group and would later die in a labor camp.

*** The head of state is able to execute someone without affording them a trial, as the Kaiser did to one of his concubines who tried to kill Annerose by making her drink a poisoned glass. She was guilty, of course, but a trial where the defendant is afforded legal representation is a cornerstone of a free society.

*** Rich individuals are afforded the ability to command millions of soldiers simply because of their noble birth with their skill in combat having nothing to do with it, as was the case with Dukes Braunschweig and Littenheim.

** The FPA, despite ostensibly being a democracy with all the rights and freedoms that entail, has fallen well below what its erstwhile founder, Arle Heinessen, envisioned for it:
*** While there's no caste system in place like the Goldenbaum-era Empire, those with either money, connections, or both often get far ahead in both the political arena and military hierarchy, regardless of actual talent. This has fostered a culture of corruption and nepotism that emboldens people like Job Trunicht and incompetent armchair officers like Lobos and Falke.

*** The neglect of the Alliance's leadership and wealthy even in the face of simmering socio-economic crises is indicative of both public apathy and systemic failure. Not only is this ironically a similar situation to the malaise Rudolf von Goldenbaum stepped into in the first place, but it also highlights the pitfalls of a failing democracy.

* GreyAndGrayMorality: By the time the series starts, The Empire or the Alliance are inherently better or worse than the other as both sides have valid points and often suffer from problems of similar severity.

*** Despite being formally classified as a terrorist organization, vigilantes and militia like the Patriotic Knights Corps are being used by warhawk politicians (and especially Trunicht) to threaten (if not kill) not only political opponents but even voters with dissenting views. It's also suggested that the authorities aren't above jailing protesters for expressing anti-war views, in an IronicEcho of the Empire.

** Commoners and low nobles are widely despised in the Empire before Reinhard's reforms. The noble who killed Reinhard's mother in a car crash got off with no punishment due to this. This isn't a problem in the FPA as it is a democracy with no such caste system of nobles and commoners.
** The head of state is able to execute someone without affording them a trial, as the Kaiser did to one of his concubines who tried to kill Annerose by making her drink a poisoned glass. She was guilty, of course, but a trial where the defendant is afforded legal representation is a cornerstone of a free society.
** Even though Reinhard's a new progressive ruler, he still saw nothing wrong with having Marquis Lichtenlade, one of his political opponents, arrested on false charges of [[spoiler:trying have him killed, though the actual truth is left ambiguous. Reinhard also has all of Lichtenlade's male relatives aged ten and above executed for treason]].

*** The Alliance's High Council is mostly dominated by vainglorious career politicians more concerned with what would make them look good for the next election than what's actually best for the nation. Even after being put to task by Alexandre Bewcock and Yang Wen-li, the majority continue to remain willfully oblivious to the consequences.

* BlackAndGrayMorality: The Free Planets Alliance certainly has problems such as inefficient military commanders, politicians taking decisions based on what will help get them re-elected rather than what is best for the nation as a whole, as well as vigilantes like the Patriotic Knight Corps assaulting and threatening political opponents. This still pales in comparison to the Empire's faults:
** The head of state being able to force young women to be their concubines and steal them away from their families, as most notably happened with Reinhard's sister Annerose.
** People being jailed for "thought crimes" which can be something as simple as expressing anti-war sentiment or playfully mocking the Nobles and being sent to labor camps as punishment. The Gaiden series revealed one of Kircheis's friends was jailed for being in an anti-war group and would later die in a labor camp.
** Emperor Rudolf's selection of only those who were white and of Germanic descent to be Nobles caused all non-white humans such as Blacks, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans and Indians, etc. to be relegated to the commoner class and serfdom with no hope of advancing into the echelons of high society. This racial discrimination persisted for so many centuries that by the time the Empire is seen at the beginning of the series, there are no non-white citizens ever seen in the Empire, with virtually all of them having fled to the Free Planets Alliance.
** Rich individuals being afforded the ability to command millions of soldiers simply because of their noble birth with their skill in combat having nothing to do with it, as was the case with Dukes Braunschweig and Littenheim.
** Commoners and low nobles are widely despised in the Empire before Reinhard's reforms. The noble who killed Reinhard's mother in a car crash got off with no punishment due to this. This isn't a problem in the FPA as it is a democracy with no such caste system of nobles and commoners.
** The head of state being able to execute someone without affording them a trial, as the Kaiser did to one of his concubines who tried to kill Annerose by making her drink a poisoned glass. She was guilty, of course, but a trial where the defendant is afforded legal representation is a cornerstone of a free society.
** Even though Reinhard was a new progressive ruler, he still saw nothing wrong with having Marquis Lichtenlade, one of his political opponents, arrested on false charges of [[spoiler: ordering Kircheis's spoiler:death]]. And in one of Reinhard's most heinous acts in the series, [[spoiler:Reinhard has all of Lichtenlade's male relatives aged ten and above executed for treason]].

* ANaziByAnyOtherName: Even though the empire is more modeled after the [[UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany Second Reich]] rather then the [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Third]], Rudolf von Goldenbaum, the man who made the galaxy-spanning republic into a galaxy-spanning empire, was very much an {{expy}} of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler [[RecycledINSPACE in space]]: He became the head of state in a democracy and converted it into an autocracy, was a horrible tyrant and [[SocialDarwinist even adopted the Nazis' policy of killing the physically and mentally disabled]] [[BuryYourGays and gays]].

** People being jailed for "thought crimes" which can be something as simple as expressing anti-war sentiment or playfully mocking the Nobles and being sent to labor camps as punishment. The Gaiden series revealed one of Kircheis's friends was jailed for being in an anti-war group and would later die as a labor camp.

* GreyAndGrayMorality: Neither The Empire or the Alliance are inherently better or worse than the other as both sides have valid points and often suffer from the same problems.
** WhiteAndGreyMorality: While the war between the two nations is full on gray, the conflict between Yang's group and Reinhard's group can be seen as this.

* CallForward: Crossing with TemptingFate, but in episode 6 of Die Neue These Yang tells Schonkopf that if they capture Iserlohn, everything will be fine for the Alliance as long as they don't do something stupid like ordering a counter-invasion, which is exactly what they did in the original series.

* FourIsDeath: The very first fleet that is defeated in the original OVA (and Die Neue These) is the Alliance's 4th fleet. Most of it's soldiers are killed off.

** Hammered home in the opening of Die Neue These which juxtaposes horse-drawn carriage with an interstellar warship.

** The series also goes at length to show how the consequences of something of the scale of Rudolf von Goldenbaum's sweeping, reprehensible actions would reverberate over centuries. While those policies ''were'' successful in forging a Germanic culture and identity that many have long embraced as their own, said policies were nonetheless seen as so abhorrent [[EveryoneHasStandards even by some of Rudolf's own descendants]] that much of it's diluted if not phased out by the time Reinhard was born, whether due to genuine remorse or pragmatism. That still doesn't stop the inertia from those atrocities from persisting, however, as seen in the prejudice, decadence, and corruption plaguing the Empire at the start of the series.

** Generally defied by the Alliance, which goes instead for BoringYetPractical. Its officers and staff generally wear more-or-less the same utilitarian service uniform. At least on paper, this is meant to reflect the FPA's egalitarianism and meritocracy, with the most noticeable difference being the number of ribbons or medals on their jackets. It's suggested as well that the general design hasn't changed in generations.

** [[spoiler:The Terrarist Church]] has spent the past several generations plotting to manipulate, and ultimately overthrow, both the Empire and Alliance in its bid for power [[spoiler:and to make Earth the center of humanity once again]]. As it turns out, however, running an AncientConspiracy for so long is shown to be much more tenuous than it looks, due to there being so many moving parts and assumptions that even a single SpannerInTheWorks [[spoiler:or self-interested opportunists like Rubinsky and Trunicht]] can cause centuries' worth of scheming to unravel, if not collapse.

* BlingOfWar: Apparently the guiding principle of the Empire in Legend of the Galactic Heroes; its highest-ranking admirals sport full capes (in unique colors) and field marshals' batons. Their insignia are embroidered on the uniforms. In real silver thread. It goes from rather simple patterns for junior officers to the ornate tapestries just short of the flak vest for admirals. You see, the Empire really dug that ceremony thing.

** The DVD editions onward feature redone animated scenes spliced with original, albeit sharpened footage, which while consistent can be jarring at times.

* SettingUpdate: The Die Neue These adaptation updates a lot of things from the 1980s [=OVAs=] like everyone having modern 2010s hairstyles and clothes, more diversity among the ranks in the military like non-whites and female officers, the computers are now sleek and thin with touchscreen holograms and everyone uses the internet and social media. Similarly, the Empire is updated from the 18th-century fashions of the [=OVAs=] to a late Victorian, Edwardian style of dress.

* UnreliableNarrator: Played with in the historical documentary Julian watches, which while detailed and straining to be neutral comes across at times as biased if not pro-Alliance/anti-Imperial. Given the issues brought up regarding history itself, it's perhaps justified.

* MythologyGag: The DNT version of Reuenthal's father looks exactly like OVA Reuenthal, minus the heterochromia.

* GovernmentInExile: Some defeated Imperial nobles attempt this. Reinhard von Lohengramm does not approve [[spoiler:and uses its existence as a casus belli to finish off the Alliance once and for all]].
** [[spoiler: The Iserlohn Republican Government]] is a good example.

** The Terraist Church will spike the food and beverages of pilgrims to their headquarters with the highly addictive [[FantasticDrug Thyoxin]] to transform them into mindless slaves. And if they catch up, the Church will just bring them to the infirmary and forcefully addict them there.

* AncientConspiracy: [[spoiler:The Terraist Church has apparently been using Fezzan to manipulate both the Empire and the Alliance for over a century.]]

** [[spoiler:Going to Earth and not only assisting in the taking down of the Terraist Church’s headquarters and revealing many of their conspiracies, but also doing it ''while suffering from drug withdrawal''.]]

** Fezzan is intended to be this [[spoiler:for the Terraist Church]], though only a handful know of its true masters. In practice however, Fezzan under Adrian Rubinsky is a RenegadeSplinterFaction that serves ''his'' interests, as much as he feigns neutrality to every faction.

* GovernmentInExile: Some defeated Imperial nobles attempt this. Reinhard von Lohengramm does not approve.

* KillItWithWater: Occurred in the backstory during the Sirius War when the Black Flag fleet decapitated Earth's leadership by flooding their Himalayan command bunker. Also occurs when the very same bunker, now headquarters of the Terraist Church, is invaded by Imperial troops.

* MalignantPlotTumor: Both Fezzan and the Terraist Cult are introduced early on as relatively insignificant and powerless factions seeking to exploit the conflict between the two competing galactic governments to their own advantage. It eventually becomes clear, however, that while neither has much in the way of overt power, both are exceptionally adept at working from the shadows. This quickly turns the conflict, which at first appears rather straightforward, into a web of overlapping conspiracies and plots.

** Humanity is shown to have largely abandoned organized religion prior to the events of the series as a consequence of WorldWarIII and its aftermath. But it resurfaces in the form of the Terraist Church. However, they revere the Earth because it is the original home, the "mother" of humanity, but they do not seem to really believe in anything supernatural. Despite calling themselves "Church", they are an ultra-nationalist movement rather than a religious cult.
** In the novel, Mittermeyer is shown genuinely praying to Odin, and Reinhard dreamed of Valhalla at least once. Many Imperial characters actually do believe Valhalla is waiting for them in the afterlife, be it Reinhard's faction or the opposing aristocrats. Moreover, not only is the Nordic pantheon allowed to thrive in the Empire, it is deeply ingrained in the minds of the populace. On the other hand, other 'gods', 'mythologies' and 'religions' are discouraged if not outright banned. This also applies to the Terraist Church, where they have far more success in Alliance territories but otherwise driven underground in the Empire.

* PathOfInspiration: The Terraist Church encouraged people to return back to their roots, i.e., the planet Earth, which by the time period of the series[[note]] during the late 36th century AD[[/note]] had became an [[InsignificantLittleBluePlanet isolated backwater planet]]. As the series progresses, it became increasingly clear that the Terraist Church’s real objectives were to regain the lost status and power that Earth enjoyed centuries ago and would resort to any means, from brainwashing its members to plotting assassinations of key figures in the galaxy, so as to achieve their objectives.

** It's implied that the [[spoiler:Terraist Church]] was founded by loyalists of the original United Earth Government in a bid to bring the focal point of mankind back to Earth.

* StarterVillain: In the first season, Yang has to deal with the Patriotic Knights Corps (Job Trunicht's street thugs [[spoiler:and a front for the Terraist Cult]]) and the National Salvation Military Council (a hardline faction in the FPA armed forces that views Yang's pacifist and anarchist tendencies as harmful to the war effort). At the same time, Reinhard has to deal with the court partisans of Countess von Benemünde (one of the Kaiser's former concubines who becomes a WomanScorned after Reinhard's sister Annerose displaces her) and the Lippstadt League (a league of powerful nobles who oppose Reinhard in [[spoiler: the SuccessionCrisis that ensues after Friedrich IV's death]]). Note that for both characters, their respective Starter Villains are [[WeAreStrugglingTogether ostensibly on the same side of the main conflict as them]].

* VillainByDefault: [[spoiler:the Terraist Church]]

** [[spoiler:The Terrarist Church]] has spent the past several generations plotting to manipulate, and ultimately overthrow, both the Empire and Alliance in its bid for power [[spoiler:and to make Earth the center of humanity once again]]. As it turns out, however, running an AncientConspiracy for so long is shown to be much more tenuous than it looks, due to there being so many moving parts and assumptions that even a single SpannerInTheWorks [[spoiler:or self-interested opportunists like Rubinsky and Trunicht]]to cause centuries' worth of scheming to unravel, if not collapse.

* TheRemnant: many of the old nobility continue to plot and act against Reinhard von Lohengramm's new empire, even if it's a hopelessly lost cause. A few of these, though, [[spoiler:kidnap the [[RoyalBrat 7 year-old Kaiser]] and seek asylum with the Alliance]], causing the then [[SpaceColdWar cold war]] between the Empire and the Alliance to REALLY heat up.

** Oberstein is the ultimate realist who only cares about achieving the ends to best benefit the Empire by whatever means necessary, [[TheUnfettered regardless of the human cost or how unethical that decision might be]]. While on paper, that makes him the ultimate statesman and administrator if you are looking for effectiveness, in reality, this makes him highly unpopular with most officers and soldiers alike. And his lack of concern for the human factor when making decisions resulted in [[spoiler:a full scale street riot breaking out with the Imperial occupational forces on Heinessen due to him putting Bittenfeld on administrative leave]]. It's shown as well that he's painfully aware of his actions as NecessarilyEvil, which is in part why he would rather have Reinhard rule rather than someone like himself.

** Reinhardt actually has far more in common with Frederick II of Prussia than either Napoleon and/or Alexander the Great, sometimes down to very specific circumstances.
** The sheer number of people Reinhard is compared to helps support one of the show's points about history incredibly well.

* NotSoDifferentRemark: Reinhard and Yang are often compared to Rudolph von Goldenbaum. The main difference is that Reinhard, while taking him as the model for his rise, is tearing down his regime and setting up the Empire for a democracy, and Yang found himself capable of setting himself up as the dictator of the Alliance whenever he wants (and it's the reason the Alliance politicians fear him so much) and consciously ''refuses'' to do so.

** And it knows how to use the music, too. For example, episode 14, "Liberation of the Frontier Zone" makes good use of Dvorák's ''New World'' Symphony, and many other episodes and scenes feature relevant and fitting passages from Music/LudwigVanBeethoven's Third and Fifth Symphonies, Music/GustavMahler's Symphony No.5, Creator/JohannesBrahms' Symphony No.1, and many other works.

* ShoutOut: A salary sheet in episode 54 lists [[Creator/TheBeatGeneration Beat]] poets Creator/JackKerouac, Gary Snyder, Creator/WilliamSBurroughs, Creator/AllenGinsberg, Gregory Corso and Lew Welch, and their contemporary, composer Paul Bowles, as well as Italian [[{{Industrial}} Industrial music]] pioneer Maurizio Bianchi, Japanese artist and critic Noi Sawaragi, and American {{Jazz}} drummer Art Blakey.

* ShoutOut: A salary sheet in episode 54 lists [[Creator/TheBeatGeneration Beat]] poets Creator/JackKerouac, Gary Snyder, Creator/WilliamSBurroughs, Creator/AllenGinsberg, Gregory Corso and Lew Welch, as well as their contemporary, composer Paul Bowles, Italian [[{{Industrial}} Industrial music]] pioneer Maurizio Bianchi, and American {{Jazz}} drummer Art Blakey.

* ShoutOut: A salary sheet in episode 54 lists [[Creator/TheBeatGeneration Beat]] poets Creator/JackKerouac, Gary Snyder, Creator/WilliamSBurroughs, Creator/AllenGinsberg, Gregory Corso and Lew Welch, as well as their contemporary, composer Paul Bowles, and Italian [[{{Industrial}} Industrial music]] pioneer Maurizio Bianchi.

** The actual ending is rather bittersweet, with [[spoiler:Reinhard dying, finishing the chain of KillEmAll, and Mittermeyer's [[EtTuBrute "You too, Felix?"]] This is also present with a peace treaty signed, but the question of whether the Empire will begin incorporating constitutionalism into its political structure left open]].

* KarmaHoudini: Aside from losing their respective positions on the government, we never see Cornelia Windsor and Negroponte suffer punishment for their actions. Windsor for supporting the Alliance's invasion that ended with death of millions of soldiers and Negroponte, whose attempts of delaying Yang's presence to stop Geiesburg Fortress probably caused a lot of losses. [[spoiler: Played with. Since Reuenthal ordered the arrest of the corrupt Alliance politicians is very likely that they ended in jail]]
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: Job Trunicht. [[spoiler: For most of the series, he gets away with his acts of corruption and political machinations. Untill episode 98, when Reuenthal finally gives him what he has coming - a laser bolt to the heart]]. Well aware of both his hypocrisy and his tendency to dodge responsibility for his crimes.... and feels not one whit of remorse for any of it.

* OffModel: The art style changes noticeably between seasons and within them. One strange example of this is how [[DarkSkinnedBlond Elfriede looks noticeably tanned]] in her final appearance when she seemed to have very fair skin earlier.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Not the characters, but the ships. You would think that having over 10,000 ships in even relatively small fleets would lead to them being designated by numbers or boring callsigns, but most of them have pretty cool names.