History Sandbox / BattleTech

* Effort Posts:

** https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=15255322860A44444400&page=546#comment-13649 Nicholas Kerensky and Sarah McEvedy]]

* [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=15255322860A44444400&page=535#comment-13372 Hanse Davion]]
* [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=15255322860A44444400&page=541#comment-13508 Sun-Tzu Liao]]

* [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=15255322860A44444400&page=541#comment-13508 Sun-Tzu Liao]]

* Rejected Bastards:\\
\\
Malvina Hazen Effort Post:\\
\\
So, [[Characters/BattletechClans this character]] has been potholed to Complete Monster a few times (mostly on the [[NightmareFuel/BattleTech Nightmare Fuel]] page). The potholes have been removed by me, since she hasn't been vetted by the thread. Getting more into post-Clan Invasion BT lore, I'll do an effortpost for her.\\
\\
Full disclosure: I somewhat expect her to fail.\\
\\
'''What is the work?'''\\
\\
''TabletopGame/BattleTech'', the future history of humanity's incessant wars to see whose ass lands on the vacant throne of the First Lord of the Star League (vacant for over three hundred years, mind). This contest is decided by hordes of HumongousMecha shooting each other in the face with lasers, autocannons, and missiles.\\
\\
'''Who is Malvina Hazen? What has she done?'''\\
\\
Malvina Hazen is possibly the most reprehensible leader the Clans have ever produced, guilty of delusional narcissistic megalomania, flagrant violations of both the laws and customs of war and Clan codes of honorable conduct on and off the battlefield, child abuse, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking cultural appropriation]]. She considers fear a form of respect, and really enjoys making sure people "respect" her. It is a mark of pride for her that, since leaving her sibko, she has never left an opponent she has beaten in single combat alive.\\
\\
In her ''sibko'' (sibling company, a crop of DesignerBabies), when she was six, eight other sibkin attacked her and Aleksandr in their sleep, reasoning that ridding the ''sibko'' of the two runts would mean two fewer mouths to feed, thus more food for everyone else. They struck Aleks first, who fought back, which gave Malvina time to act. Two died in the struggle at Malvina's hands. One died two years later through no action on Malvina's behalf, but only because she hadn't gotten to him yet. The others died in between, none of the deaths accidental, [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident though some looked it]]. This night haunts Malvina's dreams, and is the lesson at the core of her being. She must kill and keep killing until the dream assailants stay dead and gone.\\
\\
Aleks and Malvina are sibkin, but call themselves brother and sister, unusual for Clanners, who find familial terms repellent. They also sleep together a lot, which is not unusual in the Clans, but do so pretty much exclusively with each other, which is.\\
\\
Clan Hell's Horses come up with what they call the Mongol Doctrine, and Malvina quickly steals it, modifies it, and evangelizes for it among Clan Jade Falcon. But while the Horses sought to adapt the high-mobility light cavalry tactics of the Mongols, Malvina focuses on their reputation for leaving nothing intact and no one alive in their wake. At one point, Aleks chastizes her for a city her forces attacked, stating that there's scarcely one stone left standing upon another. Malvina retorts that her forces did their job badly, because she specifically ordered ''no'' stone be left standing upon another.\\
\\
To motivate her troops as a Galaxy Commander, she stands naked before them, slashes her arms with her knife, and coats herself in her own blood to illustrate the fate of all who oppose them: she'll bathe in ''their'' blood. Then broadcasts this ceremony live to the planet she's about to assault so they can see exactly what kind of mad woman comes for them. Then, after the forces of that world surrender unconditionally, she enacts... I think technically it would be a mili-decimation: of a planetary population of about 680 million her forces gather 68,000 at complete random, men, women, and children, then enact literal decimation on them, making them count off, taking every tenth person away to be machine-gunned to death. The whole spectacle is broadcast to the planet at large, just because Malvina Hazen doesn't feel like dealing with resistance fighters.\\
\\
Kimball II: one of her senior commanders is tasked with taking the planet, but becomes bogged down and misses the first assault on Skye, which is repelled, killing Aleks in the process. So Malvina sends a "relief force" to Kimball II. They broadcast their intent from orbit: the people of the city of Belletaria have twelve hours to evacuate. Once the twelve hours are up, the "relief force" razes the city to the ground, anyone who didn't get out was likely killed. Then they move to the next city... which has six hours to evacuate. Rinse and repeat until the planetary government capitulates unconditionally.\\
\\
And how did Malvina react to her brother's death? Well, she did weep... and promised to kill every last human being in existence, herself last of all, because the only one she would have spared was now gone. Galaxy Commander Becket Malthus, who finds Malvina's bloodlust useful, likes this idea and dubs her "Chingis Khan," "Ruler of the Universe." Malvina gets very upset when people fail to address her by her proper title.\\
\\
There's some more fighting, including finally conquering the world of Skye, where Malvina takes a girl named Cynthy as a kind of pet, because Malvina thought the six-year-old was brave in the face of danger. It would have been better for Cynthy to be taken by the Jade Falcon soldiers to be indoctrinated into the Clan way of life, for by all accounts Malvina was relentlessly abusive to Cynthy. Malvina also deposes the existing Jade Falcon Khan, Jana Pryde, because Pryde wanted to be rid of Malvina and Aleks and so sent them on a long-range suicide mission, sending only useless reinforcements [[UriahGambit she wanted to be rid of anyway]]. Malvina finally killed Pryde, giving her Malvina's signature pre-death kiss, after the two fought in 'Mechs aboard the damaged Falcon [=WarShip=] ''Emerald Talon''. After taking Pryde's place as Khan, Malvina ordered ''Emerald Talon'' [[ColonyDrop to crash into the Jade Falcon capitol city on Sudeten]], killing all its inhabitants just to prove who was boss now.\\
\\
When Alaric Ward seeks to take Terra and elevate Clan Wolf to the [=ilClan=], he invites Malvina to follow since her bloodlust will be useful to him, and she doesn't disappoint. Hazen uses orbital bombardment to support her ground troops in the siege of Geneva, the Republic's capitol. This is apparently only marginally more acceptable than the Smoke Jaguars bombarding Turtle Bay because she's mostly directing her force at military targets (though still within a city), and she's using it as needed to flatten dug-in resistance instead of conquering territory by obliterating it. It still earns her plenty of ire.\\
\\
After finally taking Geneva, Hazen broadcasts a message to all of Terra, proclaiming the inevitable victory of Clan Jade Falcon, and promising to utterly erase the city and the Republic from all of recorded history. She offers Geneva as but a preview of her plans for any world that resists her: razed to the ground. She then executes [=POWs=] just to prove that she really is the worst.\\
\\
Malvina steals a page from Jana Pryde and invents UriahGambit units, putting Falcons who disagree with her Mongol Doctrine in their own Clusters, who she sends on missions expected to end in failure or death. She especially doesn't like Galaxy Commander Stephanie Chistu, because she thinks Chistu is colluding with Alaric against her (she's not) and because Chistu doesn't support Malvina's Mongol Doctrine. The only reason Chistu isn't in one of these Uriah Gambit units is because Malvina fears putting all her opponents in one place.\\
\\
Malvina's black dress uniform, symbolic of her Mongol Doctrine, has tiny tally marks stitched in yellow thread on the left sleeve. Each marks a kill, a warrior felled in battle or executed by her off the battlefield. By the time of the ceremony to commence the ilClan Trial, there are HUNDREDS of them, covering the sleeve from wrist to shoulder. And she has a quaint little habit of kissing a person she executes personally right before delivering the death blow. [[SarcasmMode Charming, really.]]\\
\\
Malvina sees the ultimate end of her path to ilKhan as being over the Annihilation of Clan Wolf. She will visit on them the harshest punishment in the Clans, wipe them out physically and historically, make them another [[UnPerson Not-Named Clan]]. Not because of any crimes they've committed to earn such harsh punishment under Clan law, but because they just bug her. And Alaric knows she'll do exactly as she promises, and enjoy it.\\
\\
Finally, Malvina and the Jade Falcons lose the [=ilClan=] Trial to Clan Wolf. Malvina lives despite the best efforts of Anastasia Kerensky, and is DrowningHerSorrows in an apartment when Alaric stops by, hoping one last time to cure or at least temper her hate for... well, everything. Seeing she will not be saved and won't step up to rebuild and lead her Jade Falcons, Alaric orders Malvina to release Cynthy. Later, Stephanie Chistu arrives at Alaric's behest to try again to talk Malvina out of her funk, only to find Malvina bleeding to death on the floor, a bloody knife in Cynthy's hand. Malvina told Cynthy that she was not to be freed, and Cynthy finally had enough did the universe a favor by ridding it of Malvina Hazen.\\
\\
'''Mitigating Factors?'''\\
\\
This is where I expect her to fail, thanks to Aleks.\\
\\
Malvina herself, in internal monologue, calls Aleks "her loved and hated brother." Where Malvina is ruthless and violent beyond any Clanner ever depicted, Aleksandr Hazen is surprisingly compassionate... by Clan standards. The idea of Malvina killing her officers for spite makes him smile (though granted, there isn't much that ''doesn't'' make him smile), and while he considers himself something of a throwback to ancient chivalric knights and ''bushido'' samurai, he won't hesitate to punish those who cross him. He opposes Malvina's Mongol Doctrine, and tries repeatedly to talk her out of it, but his resistance only strengthens her faith in it. They sleep together, train together, and debate each other, and Malvina does react to his death, but I feel she never really loved him, not in a traditionally recognizable sense. Rather, he was the whetstone against which she sharpened herself, the only one who could come close to matching her. Both of them never lost in single combat (except to each other), but where Aleks never killed any of his opponents, Malvina never left one alive (except Aleks). It seems like she hoped to convert him to her cause, because together they would be unstoppable, but I believe that was more due to him being the best Jade Falcon warrior ever with the possible exception of Malvina than out of any real love for him. But that is just my opinion.\\
\\
Attempted murder of her and brother at age six (though the assailants never got to her) might also qualify as a FreudianExcuse, though I feel (again, my opinion) that going from "vicious kids tried to kill me" to "everyone everywhere has to die, including me, so I can feel safe" goes well beyond the bounds of any kind of excuse. But again, that's just my opinion. And Aleks, who was actually attacked, turned out a hell of a lot better than Malvina did, indicating to me (again, my opinion) there was something wrong with her from the moment she was decanted. Alaric Ward appears to agree, refusing Malvina's "gifttake" entry into the Clan breeding program, and having her body cremated (though that was equally to cover up the precise circumstances of her death).\\
\\
'''Heinous Stanard'''\\
\\
Lots of people in ''[=BattleTech=]'' kill. Lots kill a lot of people. Some enjoy it. Few ''revel'' in it, few find seemingly their sole fulfillment in killing, and none, to my knowledge, have stated their intent to kill until no human being is left alive. Even in the, on the galactic scale, microscopic dot that is the Inner Sphere, that task may be too large in scope for Malvina to actually have accomplished, but she was sure going to give it a try, and made a damn good start.\\
\\
'''Final Verdict'''\\
\\
One way or another, where Malvina Hazen falls on this trope needs to be decided. My opinions on her relationship with Aleks are my opinions, and recall that in the Clans, because of their Trueborn breeding program, sexual relations between members of the same ''sibko'' is no taboo at all, so potential incest weighs neither for nor against her.\\
\\
Sorry for another long one, I try to be as detailed and thorough as necessary.

[[/folder]]

* Approved Monsters by the thread: Amos Furlough, Stefan Amaris, Jason Karrige, Katherine Steiner-Davion
* Approved Bastards by the thread: Sarah [=McEvedy=], Hanse Davion, Ulric Kerensky, Sun-Tzu Liao

Approved Monsters by the thread:

Approved Bastards by the thread:

Rejected Monsters:

Rejected Bastards:

Malvina Hazen Effort Post:

So, [[Characters/BattletechClans this character]] has been potholed to Complete Monster a few times (mostly on the [[NightmareFuel/BattleTech Nightmare Fuel]] page). The potholes have been removed by me, since she hasn't been vetted by the thread. Getting more into post-Clan Invasion BT lore, I'll do an effortpost for her.

Full disclosure: I somewhat expect her to fail.

'''What is the work?'''

''TabletopGame/BattleTech'', the future history of humanity's incessant wars to see whose ass lands on the vacant throne of the First Lord of the Star League (vacant for over three hundred years, mind). This contest is decided by hordes of HumongousMecha shooting each other in the face with lasers, autocannons, and missiles.

'''Who is Malvina Hazen? What has she done?'''

Malvina Hazen is possibly the most reprehensible leader the Clans have ever produced, guilty of delusional narcissistic megalomania, flagrant violations of both the laws and customs of war and Clan codes of honorable conduct on and off the battlefield, child abuse, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking cultural appropriation]]. She considers fear a form of respect, and really enjoys making sure people "respect" her. It is a mark of pride for her that, since leaving her sibko, she has never left an opponent she has beaten in single combat alive.

In her ''sibko'' (sibling company, a crop of DesignerBabies), when she was six, eight other sibkin attacked her and Aleksandr in their sleep, reasoning that ridding the ''sibko'' of the two runts would mean two fewer mouths to feed, thus more food for everyone else. They struck Aleks first, who fought back, which gave Malvina time to act. Two died in the struggle at Malvina's hands. One died two years later through no action on Malvina's behalf, but only because she hadn't gotten to him yet. The others died in between, none of the deaths accidental, [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident though some looked it]]. This night haunts Malvina's dreams, and is the lesson at the core of her being. She must kill and keep killing until the dream assailants stay dead and gone.

Aleks and Malvina are sibkin, but call themselves brother and sister, unusual for Clanners, who find familial terms repellent. They also sleep together a lot, which is not unusual in the Clans, but do so pretty much exclusively with each other, which is.

Clan Hell's Horses come up with what they call the Mongol Doctrine, and Malvina quickly steals it, modifies it, and evangelizes for it among Clan Jade Falcon. But while the Horses sought to adapt the high-mobility light cavalry tactics of the Mongols, Malvina focuses on their reputation for leaving nothing intact and no one alive in their wake. At one point, Aleks chastizes her for a city her forces attacked, stating that there's scarcely one stone left standing upon another. Malvina retorts that her forces did their job badly, because she specifically ordered ''no'' stone be left standing upon another.

To motivate her troops as a Galaxy Commander, she stands naked before them, slashes her arms with her knife, and coats herself in her own blood to illustrate the fate of all who oppose them: she'll bathe in ''their'' blood. Then broadcasts this ceremony live to the planet she's about to assault so they can see exactly what kind of mad woman comes for them. Then, after the forces of that world surrender unconditionally, she enacts... I think technically it would be a mili-decimation: of a planetary population of about 680 million her forces gather 68,000 at complete random, men, women, and children, then enact literal decimation on them, making them count off, taking every tenth person away to be machine-gunned to death. The whole spectacle is broadcast to the planet at large, just because Malvina Hazen doesn't feel like dealing with resistance fighters.

Kimball II: one of her senior commanders is tasked with taking the planet, but becomes bogged down and misses the first assault on Skye, which is repelled, killing Aleks in the process. So Malvina sends a "relief force" to Kimball II. They broadcast their intent from orbit: the people of the city of Belletaria have twelve hours to evacuate. Once the twelve hours are up, the "relief force" razes the city to the ground, anyone who didn't get out was likely killed. Then they move to the next city... which has six hours to evacuate. Rinse and repeat until the planetary government capitulates unconditionally.

And how did Malvina react to her brother's death? Well, she did weep... and promised to kill every last human being in existence, herself last of all, because the only one she would have spared was now gone. Galaxy Commander Becket Malthus, who finds Malvina's bloodlust useful, likes this idea and dubs her "Chingis Khan," "Ruler of the Universe." Malvina gets very upset when people fail to address her by her proper title.

There's some more fighting, including finally conquering the world of Skye, where Malvina takes a girl named Cynthy as a kind of pet, because Malvina thought the six-year-old was brave in the face of danger. It would have been better for Cynthy to be taken by the Jade Falcon soldiers to be indoctrinated into the Clan way of life, for by all accounts Malvina was relentlessly abusive to Cynthy. Malvina also deposes the existing Jade Falcon Khan, Jana Pryde, because Pryde wanted to be rid of Malvina and Aleks and so sent them on a long-range suicide mission, sending only useless reinforcements [[UriahGambit she wanted to be rid of anyway]]. Malvina finally killed Pryde, giving her Malvina's signature pre-death kiss, after the two fought in 'Mechs aboard the damaged Falcon [=WarShip=] ''Emerald Talon''. After taking Pryde's place as Khan, Malvina ordered ''Emerald Talon'' [[ColonyDrop to crash into the Jade Falcon capitol city on Sudeten]], killing all its inhabitants just to prove who was boss now.

When Alaric Ward seeks to take Terra and elevate Clan Wolf to the [=ilClan=], he invites Malvina to follow since her bloodlust will be useful to him, and she doesn't disappoint. Hazen uses orbital bombardment to support her ground troops in the siege of Geneva, the Republic's capitol. This is apparently only marginally more acceptable than the Smoke Jaguars bombarding Turtle Bay because she's mostly directing her force at military targets (though still within a city), and she's using it as needed to flatten dug-in resistance instead of conquering territory by obliterating it. It still earns her plenty of ire.

After finally taking Geneva, Hazen broadcasts a message to all of Terra, proclaiming the inevitable victory of Clan Jade Falcon, and promising to utterly erase the city and the Republic from all of recorded history. She offers Geneva as but a preview of her plans for any world that resists her: razed to the ground. She then executes [=POWs=] just to prove that she really is the worst.

Malvina steals a page from Jana Pryde and invents UriahGambit units, putting Falcons who disagree with her Mongol Doctrine in their own Clusters, who she sends on missions expected to end in failure or death. She especially doesn't like Galaxy Commander Stephanie Chistu, because she thinks Chistu is colluding with Alaric against her (she's not) and because Chistu doesn't support Malvina's Mongol Doctrine. The only reason Chistu isn't in one of these Uriah Gambit units is because Malvina fears putting all her opponents in one place.

Malvina's black dress uniform, symbolic of her Mongol Doctrine, has tiny tally marks stitched in yellow thread on the left sleeve. Each marks a kill, a warrior felled in battle or executed by her off the battlefield. By the time of the ceremony to commence the ilClan Trial, there are HUNDREDS of them, covering the sleeve from wrist to shoulder. And she has a quaint little habit of kissing a person she executes personally right before delivering the death blow. [[SarcasmMode Charming, really.]]

Malvina sees the ultimate end of her path to ilKhan as being over the Annihilation of Clan Wolf. She will visit on them the harshest punishment in the Clans, wipe them out physically and historically, make them another [[UnPerson Not-Named Clan]]. Not because of any crimes they've committed to earn such harsh punishment under Clan law, but because they just bug her. And Alaric knows she'll do exactly as she promises, and enjoy it.

Finally, Malvina and the Jade Falcons lose the [=ilClan=] Trial to Clan Wolf. Malvina lives despite the best efforts of Anastasia Kerensky, and is DrowningHerSorrows in an apartment when Alaric stops by, hoping one last time to cure or at least temper her hate for... well, everything. Seeing she will not be saved and won't step up to rebuild and lead her Jade Falcons, Alaric orders Malvina to release Cynthy. Later, Stephanie Chistu arrives at Alaric's behest to try again to talk Malvina out of her funk, only to find Malvina bleeding to death on the floor, a bloody knife in Cynthy's hand. Malvina told Cynthy that she was not to be freed, and Cynthy finally had enough did the universe a favor by ridding it of Malvina Hazen.

'''Mitigating Factors?'''

This is where I expect her to fail, thanks to Aleks.

Malvina herself, in internal monologue, calls Aleks "her loved and hated brother." Where Malvina is ruthless and violent beyond any Clanner ever depicted, Aleksandr Hazen is surprisingly compassionate... by Clan standards. The idea of Malvina killing her officers for spite makes him smile (though granted, there isn't much that ''doesn't'' make him smile), and while he considers himself something of a throwback to ancient chivalric knights and ''bushido'' samurai, he won't hesitate to punish those who cross him. He opposes Malvina's Mongol Doctrine, and tries repeatedly to talk her out of it, but his resistance only strengthens her faith in it. They sleep together, train together, and debate each other, and Malvina does react to his death, but I feel she never really loved him, not in a traditionally recognizable sense. Rather, he was the whetstone against which she sharpened herself, the only one who could come close to matching her. Both of them never lost in single combat (except to each other), but where Aleks never killed any of his opponents, Malvina never left one alive (except Aleks). It seems like she hoped to convert him to her cause, because together they would be unstoppable, but I believe that was more due to him being the best Jade Falcon warrior ever with the possible exception of Malvina than out of any real love for him. But that is just my opinion.

Attempted murder of her and brother at age six (though the assailants never got to her) might also qualify as a FreudianExcuse, though I feel (again, my opinion) that going from "vicious kids tried to kill me" to "everyone everywhere has to die, including me, so I can feel safe" goes well beyond the bounds of any kind of excuse. But again, that's just my opinion. And Aleks, who was actually attacked, turned out a hell of a lot better than Malvina did, indicating to me (again, my opinion) there was something wrong with her from the moment she was decanted. Alaric Ward appears to agree, refusing Malvina's "gifttake" entry into the Clan breeding program, and having her body cremated (though that was equally to cover up the precise circumstances of her death).

'''Heinous Stanard'''

Lots of people in ''[=BattleTech=]'' kill. Lots kill a lot of people. Some enjoy it. Few ''revel'' in it, few find seemingly their sole fulfillment in killing, and none, to my knowledge, have stated their intent to kill until no human being is left alive. Even in the, on the galactic scale, microscopic dot that is the Inner Sphere, that task may be too large in scope for Malvina to actually have accomplished, but she was sure going to give it a try, and made a damn good start.

'''Final Verdict'''

One way or another, where Malvina Hazen falls on this trope needs to be decided. My opinions on her relationship with Aleks are my opinions, and recall that in the Clans, because of their Trueborn breeding program, sexual relations between members of the same ''sibko'' is no taboo at all, so potential incest weighs neither for nor against her.

* RuleOfCool: The actual rules of the original game frequently get tossed aside in favor of this. Hey, [[TropesAreTools whatever works...]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Description for WesternAnimation.BattleTech]]

A 1994 AnimatedAdaptation of the prolific strategy game of mecha warfare.

Set during the onset of the Clan invasion, when groups of "powerful and ruthless" attackers suddenly appear among the already constantly-warring Inner Sphere. One of their early conquests is a small, unremarkable planet called Somerset. Except it happens to be the birthplace of Major Adam Steiner, who leverages his relation to the ruling family to be given permission to assemble a covert ops team to penetrate enemy lines and gather intelligence on the Clans, with the veiled goal of retaking Somerset.

The show's events fracture from continuity in more than a few ways to ease production, which is explained in other material by it actually being a ShowWithinAShow meant to boost morale for the anti-Clan forces with considerable artistic license taken. A sourcebook covering the series, ''1st Somerset Strikers'', came out introducing methods for using gimmicks from the show in the game proper.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Trope examples for WesternAnimation.BattleTech]]

* CanonDiscontinuity: The animated series was retconed as an in-universe, "poorly reviewed Anti-Clan propaganda holo-vid". A later sourcebook explains it as based on canon events, but suffering among other things from AnachronicOrder due to drawing inspiration from events that hadn't happened yet in the timeframe depicted, as well as more general stuff like sacrificing the GreyAndGrayMorality of the main material to make it more accessible to its new format.
* CanonImmigrant: Some of this series' characters obtained this status. Adam Steiner is easily the most visible of them. Also of note are Vandervahn Chistu (Nicolai Malthus' superior) and Franklin Sakamoto. Chistu would briefly become one of the Falcon clan Khans, ultimately dying at Vlad Ward's hands during the Refusal War. Sakamoto, on the other hand, would survive until the early stages of the Jihad in 3070. (Worth noting that Sakamoto was captured by the Black Dragon forces, with his ultimate fate apparently remaining unknown.)
* CatchPhrase:
** "Information is Ammunition." (Also featured in passing as a MythologyGag in the novels).
** "Initiate Enhanced Imaging!"
* ChangelingFantasy: Subverted - Franklin Sakamoto renounced his claim to the throne in the novels (...and one of the later episodes of the show).
* ConspicuousCG: The cartoon's very poorly done [=BattleMech=] rendering sequences. Though one thing they convey well is the ponderous weight of 'Mechs. The animated 'Mech combat has them move like giant humans, similar to many anime of the SuperRobotGenre.
* CutShort: The animated series ended on an unresolved CliffHanger. While the novels reveal that the main characters went their separate ways (for example Adam Steiner and Franklin Sakamoto returned to their home nations), the fate of Somerset's populace has remained a mystery.
* OpeningNarration: Considering the intricacy of the property's lore, probably necessary.
* FaceHeelTurn: Ciro Ramirez comes to embrace the Clan lifestyle and joins Jade Falcon midway through the series. He doesn't see it as going over to the dark side, but going over to the guys who are at least honest and open about their more warlike methods and stick to the rules of combat, unlike the petty, squabbling Successor States.
* GoodColorsEvilColors: Inverted in the animated series, under enhanced imaging Clanners look green while the Inner Sphere are red. Presumably because it's Clan tech that the "good guys" didn't have access to until halfway through the series.
* GuileHero: Adam Steiner, who in the animated series considers accurate intel to be the most powerful weapon around and isn't above manipulating rival clans into fighting each other while his crew quietly escape.
* LeftHanging: In the final episode Steiner wins a trial of possession for Somerset, which he'd been trying to liberate all season. [[ExactWords But since that's all he specifically named as stakes in the fight]], the Clan warriors withdraw from the planet as promised but take all its people with them as captives. This set up a second season that never came.
* MechaShow: A somewhat rare western cartoon example.
* MediumBlending: The bulk of the show is done with traditional animation, but the 'Mech fights are mostly depicted using CG, explained in-universe as the targeting systems on Clan 'Mechs.
* RagtagBunchofMisfits: The 1st Somerset Strikers are a bunch of people from different backgrounds and even entire factions in the previous wars, with an uneasy alliance because of the massive threat posed by the new enemy.
* StoryArc: There are plots that continue over the 12-episode season, noteworthy for American animation of the time.

* ExpositoryThemeTune: Considering the intricacy of the property's lore, probably a good thing.

** Also subverted; the climatic action sequence of '''Grave Covenant''' and most of the 'Mech combat sequences that don't involve Morgan Kell or Yorinaga Kurita in the Warrior Triology appear to have been actually gamed out under the tabletop rules. The '''Grave Covenant''' scene with Victor's ''Daishi'' and Renny Sanderlin's ''Penetrator'' is even in one of the scenario books.
** applies within the tabletop game: the reason why giant, 31st century weapons have ranges in only hundreds of meters is RuleOfCool. Otherwise maneuver would have been pointless within the game.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Johnny Tchang is a straight expy of both Creator/BruceLee ''and'' Creator/JackieChan. One of his films is even called ''[[Film/EnterTheDragon Exit The Dragon]]''.

* AdaptationDecay: The animated series was retconed as an in-universe, "poorly reviewed Anti-Clan propaganda holo-vid". A later sourcebook explains it as based on real in-universe events, but suffering among other things from AnachronicOrder due to drawing inspiration from events that hadn't happened ''yet'' in the timeframe depicted, as well as more general stuff like sacrificing the GreyAndGrayMorality of the main material to make it more accessible to its new format.

* ConspicuousCG: The cartoon's very poorly done [=BattleMech=] rendering sequences. Though they at least got the ponderous weight of 'Mechs right. The animated 'Mech combat looks like anime-style movement.

* GuileHero: Adam Steiner, who in the animated series, considers accurate intel to be the most powerful weapon around and isn't above manipulating rival clans into fighting each other while his crew quietly escape.

* StoryArc: Done by the animated series, which was noteworthy for American animation of the time.

* MediumBlending: The bulk of the show is done with traditional animation, but the 'Mech fights are mostly depicted using CG, lampshaded as the targeting systems on Clan 'Mechs.

* {{Expy}}: Johnny Tchang is a straight one of both Creator/BruceLee ''and'' Creator/JackieChan. One of his films is even called ''[[Film/EnterTheDragon Exit The Dragon]]''.

* ThePlan: Just like being a BadAss seems to be a requirement for surviving warfare, mastering gambits seems to be required for successfully holding any kind of political power.

* {{Expy}}: Johnny Tchang is a straight one of both BruceLee ''and'' JackieChan. One of his films is even called ''[[Film/EnterTheDragon Exit The Dragon]]''.

The show's events fracture from continuity in more than a few ways, which is explained in other material by it actually being a ShowWithinAShow meant to boost morale for the anti-Clan forces with considerable artistic license taken. A sourcebook covering the series, ''1st Somerset Strikers'', sets out to tell the story of what really happened and help the show gel with official canon as much as possible.

* AdaptationDecay: The animated series was retconed as an in-universe, "poorly reviewed Anti-Clan propaganda holo-vid". A later sourcebook explains it as based on real in-universe events, but suffering among other things from AnachronicOrder due to drawing inspiration from events that hadn't happened ''yet'' in the timeframe depicted.

Set during the onset of the Clan invasion, when groups of "powerful and ruthless" suddenly appear among the already constantly-warring Inner Sphere. One of their early conquests is a small, unremarkable planet called Somerset. Except it happens to be the birthplace of Major Adam Steiner, who leverages his connection to the ruling family to be given permission to assemble a covert ops team to penetrate enemy lines and gather intelligence on the Clans, with the veiled goal of retaking Somerset.

* CatchPhrase: "Information is Ammunition." (Also featured in passing as a MythologyGag in the novels).
* ChangelingFantasy: Subverted - Franklin Sakamoto renounced his claim to the throne in the novels.

* MediumBlending: The bulk of the show is done with traditional animation, but the 'Mech fights are mostly depicted using CG, represented as the targeting systems on Clan 'Mechs.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Unsorted trope examples]]

* AbsentAliens: A few novels (most notably ''Far Country'') actually do have aliens. The rest? None.
** For ''Far Country'', the aliens in question live in a system that's only been accessed by humans twice, both in jumpship mishaps that leave the humans stranded there. So they exist, but they can't interact with the rest of the TabletopGame/BattleTech universe.
* AdaptationDecay: The animated series was retconed as an in-universe, "poorly reviewed Anti-Clan propaganda holo-vid".
** A later sourcebook explains it as based on real in-universe events, but suffering among other things from AnachronicOrder due to drawing inspiration from events that hadn't happened ''yet'' in the timeframe depicted.

* BullyingADragon: Novel ''Close Quarters'' has the main character, Cassie, use a bolter on a battlemech to provoke it into chasing her. The metallic ping against the cockpit window is a [[BatmanGambit direct insult to the mechwarrior's arrogance]], which causes them to give chase. She runs through a few buildings before surprising the mech with an electrical attack to the knee joint. The electricity spot-welds the joint, and crashes the mech to on the ground. She repeats the same action later in the novel by attracting a mech into swampy terrain where it gets stuck and crashes onto the ground.
* BadAss: Too many to list them all. It's pretty much a requirement for surviving the front lines in combat. Kai-Allard Liao is probably the most noteworthy example (see MemeticBadass below).
* CanonDiscontinuity: The [=BattleTech=] Animated Series, as described above. However, some characters, notably Adam Steiner, became {{Canon Immigrant}}s.
* CanonImmigrant: As mentioned above, some of the Animated Series characters obtained this status. Adam Steiner is easily the most visible of them. Also of note are Vandervahn Chistu (Nicolai Malthus' superior) and Franklin Sakamoto. Chistu would briefly become one of the Falcon clan Kahns, ultimately dying at Vlad Ward's hands during the Refusal War. Sakamoto, on the other hand, would survive until the early stages of the Jihad in 3070. (Worth noting that Sakamoto was captured by the Black Dragon forces, with his ultimate fate apparently remaining unknown.)
* CatchPhrase: From the cartoon: "Information is Ammunition." (Also featured in passing as a MythologyGag in the novels)
** Also from the game itself: "No Guts, No Galaxy"

* ConspicuousCG: The cartoon's very poorly done [=BattleMech=] rendering sequences. Though they at least got the ponderous weight of 'Mechs right. The animated 'Mech combat looks like anime-style movement.

* CutShort: The animated series ended on an unresolved CliffHanger. While the novels reveal that the main characters went their separate ways (for example Adam Steiner and Franklin Sakamoto returned to their home nations), the fate of Somerset's populace has remained a mystery.

* GoodColorsEvilColors: Inverted in the animated series, under enhanced imaging Clanners look green while the Inner Sphere are red. Presumably because it's Clan tech that the "good guys" didn't have access to until halfway through the series.

* GuileHero: Adam Steiner, who in the animated series, considers accurate intel to be the most powerful weapon around and isn't above manipulating rival clans into fighting each other while his crew quietly escape.

* MechaShow: The animated cartoon.

* StoryArc: Done by the animated series, which was noteworthy for American animation of the time.

[[folder:Description for Literature.BattleTech]]

[[folder:Trope examples for Literature.BattleTech]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Description for WesternAnimation.BattleTech]]

[[/folder]]

'''''[=BattleTech=]''''' is a large franchise that rose out of the GiantMecha [[WarGaming War Game]] created by Creator/{{FASA}}. Said game was based off a RealRobot reinterpretation of many classic mecha anime such as ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' and ''Anime/FangOfTheSunDougram''. It turned out to be a huge hit, leading to spinoffs such as a companion RPG called ''[=MechWarrior=]'', a series of novels set in the shared universe which filled in the overarching story, multiple action and strategy video games, and even an animated series (notable for early usage of CGI).

'''''[=BattleTech=]''''' is a gigantic franchise that rose out of the GiantMecha [[WarGaming War Game]] created by Creator/{{FASA}}, based off a RealRobot reinterpretation of many classic mecha anime such as ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' and ''Anime/FangOfTheSunDougram''. It turned out to be a huge hit, leading to spinoffs such as a companion RPG called ''[=MechWarrior=]'', a series of novels set in the shared universe which filled in the overarching story, multiple video games, and even an animated series (notable for early usage of CGI).

The basic story is that for centuries, humanity was united under the glory of the Star League, kept secure with humanity's greatest weapon, the bipedal armored robots known as [=BattleMechs=]. This golden age came to an end when an corrupt chancellor named Stefan Amaris took power for himself, fracturing the Star League. Amaris was eventually toppled by the great general Aleksandr Kerensky, only for him to leave known space with his forces in disgust when several warring galactic empires, known as the Successor States, formed and began to feud over who should reign over humanity. For centuries, these states wages horrific wars, sending technology and society further and further backwards. All the while, a secretive organization named [=ComStar=] hoarded what technology it could and destroyed what it could not, plotting to unify the newly christened Inner Sphere under its own banner.

These wars finally came to a halt when the descendants of the forces Kerensky had led out of the Inner Sphere returned. Rebranded as an alien society called the Clans, they invaded with the intent of capturing Terra, aka Earth, which was held at the time by [=ComStar=]. Once they learned of this, [=ComStar=] managed to stop the clans by way of a proxy battle for Terra on the planet Tukkayyid. Although they won, the political upheaval that followed led to [=ComStar=] splintering in two; one faction kept the original name, while the other became known as the Word of Blake (named after the founder of [=ComStar=]). A few years later, the Inner Sphere united again under the banner of the Star League, and attacked the Clans. The Clans fractured, with some joining the new Star League, others being driven back, and one of the Clans (Smoke Jaguar) being annihilated. Shortly after that, war broke out again in what had been one of the major Successor States, the Federated Commonwealth. Eventually, the war led to the dissolution of the second Star League. Furious at this, the Word of Blake then broke out nuclear weapons, and proceeded to annihilate every planet they could, plunging humanity back into a new dark age.