History Literature / Titanicus

* AnyoneCanDie: It's a Dan Abnett novel.

* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: Linking the control of multiple Titans to one princeps is forbidden, as interacting with multiple powerful machine spirits at the same time runs the high risk of driving the princeps insane and exposing them all to [[BrownNote Chaos scrapcode]]. [[spoiler:When the Dark Mechanicus unleashes its Imperator-class Titan in the penultimate battle, Princeps Kung orders all of the Invicta Titans to link their control to his own Titan. They do so under protest but it allows Kung to target all of their weapons at one spot on the enemy Imperator, which causes its shields to completely short out, allowing the Imperium forces to tear it to pieces. Fortunately, Kung is able to do this quickly enough to avoid damaging his sanity.]]

* DoNotGoGentle: Karsh, Tephlar, and Lux-88. While all three are eventually taken down [[spoiler:after the schism goes hot, they take down dozens of enemies with them and have to be ''literally'' shot to pieces before they stop fighting]].

* TitleDrop: The wheelbarrow Cally's PDF group put the [[spoiler:recovered Tempestuous Princeps]] in is jokingly named 'Titanicus'.

** Kalien is this to the conspirators.
** [[spoiler: Tolemy expects Enhort to be one for him]], but that lethally backfires.

* BrownNote: The "shockroaches" (Chaos combat servitors) cause Cally to projectile vomit when she gets a close look at the Chaos markings on their armour.

* CivilWar: The revelation about the God-Emperor and the Omnissiah threatens to split the Mechanicus from the Imperium, as well as fracture the Mechanicus itself between fractured loyalties. Civil war is put on hold as a secondary force of Chaos Titans are discovered on the far side of the planet and closing on the Mechanicus's forges, and only narrowly averted by the novel's end.

* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: Linking the control of multiple Titans to one princeps is forbidden, as interacting with multiple machine spirits at the same time runs the high risk of driving the princeps insane, as well as being potentially vulnerable to {{The Cracker}}s. [[spoiler: When the Dark Mechanicus unleashes its Imperator-class Titan in the penultimate battle, Princeps Kung orders all of the Invicta Titans to link their control to his own Titan. They do so under protest but it allows Kung to target all of their weapons at one spot on the enemy Imperator, which causes its shields to completely short out, allowing the Imperium forces to tear it to pieces. Fortunately, Kung is able to do this quickly enough to avoid damaging his sanity.]]

* JustBetweenYouAndMe: Feist earnestly requests that the conspirators explain their plan to him before they kill him, and then they do so. [[spoiler: Feist records the entire conversation.]]

* ShowDontTell: {{Inverted}} in TheReveal ''how'' the God-Emperor and the Omnissiah are proven to be different entities. The reader [[TakeOurWordForIt is not told what it is or how it's framed]], only the characters' reaction and that the evidence is pretty much bulletproof.

* SuicideMission: [[spoiler:Varco's groups assault on the Chaos Shield tower is one of these although its implied Varco and Kell managed to survive.]]

* HeKnowsTooMuch: Feist, Kalien, and [[spoiler: Imanual]]. Only the latter gets offed, however.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Many of the Titans have appropriately awesome names. Hell, even the very Legio's name is its own BadassBoast: Invicta, the undefeated.
** ''Invictus Antagonistes'' which translates from [[CanisLatinicus High Gothic]] as "Undefeated Adversary."
** ''Divinitus Monstrum'' - "Divine Monster"
** ''Dominatus Victrix'' - "Dominating Victor"
** ''Sicarian Faero'' - "Killer"

* GunsAreWorthless: Horrifyingly played straight in the opening where the PDF team are unable to even scratch the Chaos Titan stalking them with the weapons they're equipped with. They use every last round they have, and the PDF commander literally throws his damaged radar at the Titan since he had nothing left. Lampshaded when Valkryie Gunships are sent to help and the PDF commander says they won't be able to do a thing against the giant robot-monster stalking them.
** Also played straight with Varco's Vanquisher tanks, even though they have specially designed anti-armour cannons, they most they do to an enemy Titan is force it to take a single step back. The Titan they were sent to distract leisurely kills them all.

** Varcos is an armoured battalion commander who narrowly survives a brush with an enemy titan. Now in the wilderness with his small band of survivors with no tanks, no support, and no means of communicating with the Mechanicus, Varcos has to find a way back or do his part in the war.

* TheMerch: InvokedTrope. One subplot is a toymaker who thinks to repair his declining fortunes by selling model Titans. It works, then he starts making more money by painting them in the colors of the two Legios defending Orestes, then even more by painting them in the heraldry of specific Titans that were featured in Imperial propoganda for distinguishing themselves in battle. [[spoiler:Then the Mechanicus schism breaks out, causing his former customers to mistake him for a Mechanicus sympathizer by Imperial citizens, and he nearly gets killed by a rioter.]] What happens to the toymaker after that is never specified.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Princeps Maximus Gearheart is this [[spoiler:when the threat of Civil war starts by trying to maintain the status quo, supporting the Imperial Governor and refusing to fire the first shot at Legio Tempestuous.]]

* SociopathicSoldier: The Skitarii are described as this, they're augmentically enhanced to be deadly killing machines, brainwashed into being psychopathic and as soon as the fighting starts, they're pumped full of drugs to send them into a murderous fury. They also deliberately invoke this with battle dress that's made to look more like barbaric armour for the intimidation factor. Lampshaded by some of the characters reaction to the head Skitarii.

** [[spoiler:Whether Varco and Kell die when the Chaos tower collapses with them simply being described as knocked flat and second last paragraph of the book implying they at the very least made it back to the halt.]]
** [[spoiler:Max Orfuls and ''Morbius Sire'' are last seen in the pitched titan battle cornered by three archenemy warhounds, with imperial Warlord ''Tantamount Stridex'' moving to assist. Whether ''Stridex'' arrived in time is unknown.]]

** [[spoiler:Tarses, Prinzhorn, and ''Dominatus Victrix'' are last seen doing well in the fight, but taking damage and facing down an archenemy warlord. Though the crew are confident, whether they won this duel, or survived the battle, is unknown.]]

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Many of the titans have appropriately awesome names. Hell, even the very legio's name is its own BadassBoast: Invicta, the undefeated.

* BookBurning: [[spoiler:Imanual]] burns any sequestered book that comes his way that might threaten the Imperium. It's how the conspirators suss out that he'll never side with them, as ''they'' are the ones leaking the books.

* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: Princeps Maximus Pietor Gearheart is worried about losing his personality to the machine spirit in his Titan, ''Invictus Antagonistes''. He strives to know his crew personally and even makes it a point to try to engage them in smalltalk, so he can hold on to his humanity.

* GunsAreWorthless: Horrifyingly played straight in the opening where the PDF team are unable to even scratch the Chaos Titan stalking them. They use every last round they have, and the PDF commander literally throws his damaged radar at the Titan since he had nothing left. Lampshaded when Valkryie Gunships are sent to help and the PDF commander says they won't be able to do a thing against the giant robot-monster stalking them.

* IKnowYourTrueName: Invoked in an non-standard way. Most of the Chaos Titans in the enemy army were Imperial Titans before the Heresy. Knowing this, a Mechanicus research team works out what they were originally commissioned as, and cross-referencing against other records on those Titans from the pre-Heresy days, acquire information about their performance and weaknesses that the Imperial Titan legions can use against them.

* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler: Tolemy, master of the archives, is the one that comes up with the plot to initiate the schism between the Mechanicus and the Imperium. Turns out he's doing this purely for personal gain, as the plan would result in him becoming Adept Seniorus of the forge, a position he felt was unfairly denied him.]]

* TheMerch: InvokedTrope. One subplot is a toymaker who thinks to repair his declining fortunes by selling model Titans. It works, then he starts making more money by painting them in the colors of the two Legios defending Orestes, then even more by painting them in the heraldry of specific Titans that had recently distinguished themselves in battle. [[spoiler:Then the Mechanicus schism breaks out, and he nearly gets killed by a rioter.]] What happens to the toymaker after that is never specified.

* RedShirt: Pretty much everyone in the PDF, examples include the PDF in the opening, the PDF in Varcos armour column who who don't survive and most of Cally's Tertiary PDF.

* ShowDontTell: {{Inverted}} in TheReveal ''how'' the God-Emperor and the Omnissiah are proven to be different entites. The reader [[TakeOurWordForIt is not told what it is or how it's framed]], only the characters' reaction and that the evidence is pretty much bulletproof.

* SociopathicSoldier: The Skitarii are described as this, they're augmetically enhanced to be deadly killing machines, brainwashed into being psychopathic and as soon as the fighting starts they're pumped full of drugs to send them into a murderous fury. They also deliberately invoke with with battle dress that's made to look more like barbaric armour for the intimidation factor. Lampshaded by some of the characters reaction to the head Skitarii.
** Made ''even worse'' with the Chaos Skitarii. When Cally meets one, she immediately knows she's looking at an enemy Skitarii. In fact, [[spoiler:he's actually a ''regular loyalist'' skitarii, but his looks were so fucked up, that Cally immediately thought that he was a traitor]].

* TitleDrop: The wheelbarrow Cally's PDF group put the [[spoiler:recovered Tempestuous Princeps]] in is jokingly named 'Titanicus'

* FailureHero: Cally, when circumstances force her to take charge of her group of PDF survivors. She tries, bless her heart, and every decision she makes has sound logical and tactical reasoning behind it; unfortunately, every decision she makes also turns out to be ''wrong,'' and [[spoiler:her group ultimately only survives because one of her troops disobeyed her orders and sent out a distress call, and they were lucky enough that their allies heard it before the enemy did]]. In her defense, Cally was a third-string PDF recruit who was never expected to see combat ''at all'', much less in a command capacity, so she still did remarkably well under the circumstances.

* FailureHero: Cally, when circumstances force her to take charge of her group of PDF survivors. She tries, bless her heart, and every decision she makes has sound logical and tactical reasoning behind it; unfortunately, every decision she makes also turns out to be ''wrong,'' and [[spoiler:her group ultimately only survives because one of her troops disobeyed her orders and sent out a distress call, and they were lucky enough that their allies heard it before the enemy did]].

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/titanicus.png]]

''Titanicus'' is a standalone novel by Creator/DanAbnett, set in the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' universe. When the vital forge world of Orestes comes under attack by a legion of Chaos Titans, the planet is forced to appeal for help. Titan Legio Invicta, although fresh from combat and in desperate need of refit and repair, responds, committing its own force of war engines to the battle. As the god-machines stride to war, the world trembles, for the devastation they unleash could destroy the very world they have pledged to save.

!!As part of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', the novel involves a large number of the tropes on that page, as well as employing literary and narrative tropes of its own:

* DoomedByCanon: The conspirators of Orestes plan on divorcing Mars and Terra (ignoring their enemies' plea that it would be disastrous for both). Considering what we know about the future of [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} WH40K]], they obviously can't succeed.
* EnemyMine / FireForgedFriends: [[spoiler:The discovery of the second Chaos Titan Legion forces the Legio Invicta and Legio Tempestus to set aside the theological dispute that was splintering the Mechanicus on Orestes to defeat them. Fighting side by side in the biggest Titan battle in millennia also unites them into a single force that was willing to take down Tolemy once the battle was over.]]

* MadnessMantra: "The magos organos's name was Kercher."

* FailureHero: Cally, when circumstances force her to take charge of her group of PDF survivors. She tries, bless her heart, and every decision she makes has sound logical and tactical reasoning behind it; unfortunately, every decision she makes also turns out to be ''wrong,'' and [[spoiler:her group ultimately only survives because one of her troops disobeyed her order to send out a distress call, and they were lucky enough that their allies heard it before the enemy did]].

** [[spoiler:The toymaker is last seen hiding in his store after nearly getting caught up and killed in an anti-Mechanicus riot. Kids are shown playing with his toys after the war is over, but nothing is said over whether they had been freshly bought or if they were purchased early, so whether or not he survived the riots is unknown.]]

* CoversAlwaysLie: There are no Space Marines in this book. The Black Library France cover averts it, showing a Warlord titan instead.

* AmbiguousEnding: [[spoiler:While most of the story threads are tied up its left ambiguous whether Varco and Kell die when the Chaos tower collapses with them simply being described as knocked unconscious and second last paragraph implying they at the very least made it back to the halt.]]

* GunsAreWorthless: Horrifyingly played straight in the opening where the PDF team are unable to even scratch the Chaos Titan stalking them. Lampshaded when Valkryie Gunships are sent to help and the PDF commander says they won't be able to do a thing against.

* CoversAlwaysLie: There are no Space Marines in this book.
** The Black Library France cover averts it, showing a Warlord titan instead.
It's actually just a closer crop of the same cover artwork, originally from Epic: Armaggeddon, which did in fact feature Space Marines (and Titans)

* ActionPrologue The book opens following a doomed PDF regiment trying to survive against a Chaos Titan.
* AmbiguousEnding [[spoiler:While most of the story threads are tied up its left ambiguous whether Varco and Kell die when the Chaos tower collapses with them simply being described as knocked unconscious and second last paragraph implying they at the very least made it back to the halt.]]

* GunsAreWorthless Horrifyingly played straight in the opening where the PDF team are unable to even scratch the Chaos Titan stalking them. Lampshaded when Valkryie Gunships are sent to help and the PDF commander says they won't be able to do a thing against.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone Enhort and Egan when [[spoiler: they realise they were used by Tolemy so he could make a power grab, Egan feels so guilty he shoots himself.]]

* RedShirt Pretty much everyone in the PDF, examples include the PDF in the opening, the PDF in Varcos armour column who who don't survive and most of Cally's Tertiary PDF.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure Princeps Maximus Gearheart is this [[spoiler:when the threat of Civil war starts by trying to maintain the status quo, supporting the Imperial Governor and refusing to fire the first shot at Legio Tempestuous.]]

* SociopathicSoldier The Skitarii are described as this, they're augmetically enhanced to be deadly killing machines, brainwashed into being psychopathic and as soon as the fighting starts they're pumped full of drugs to send them into a murderous fury. They also deliberately invoke with with battle dress that's made to look more like barbaric armour for the intimidation factor. Lampshaded by some of the characters reaction to the head Skitarii.

* SuicideMission [[spoiler:Varco's groups assault on the Chaos Shield tower is one of these although its implied Varco and Kell managed to survive.]]
* TitleDrop The wheelbarrow Cally's PDF group put the [[spoiler:recovered Tempestuous Princeps]] in is jokingly named 'Titanicus'

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse The fate of the toymaker after the [[spoiler:riots due to the revelation]] isn't given.

* UnusualChapterNumbering: The chapters are numbered in binary (1, 10, 11... instead of 1, 2, 3...).