History VideoGame / EndlessSpace2

* MadScientist: Sophons, played for laughs.

* MartialPacifist: The Unfallen start as Pacifist, but they are capable of creating warships just like everyone else.

* MechanicallyUnusualClass: Unlike its predecessor, ''2'' gives each faction unique mechanics which can have significant impacts on gameplay.

* PlantPerson: The Unfallen, the community created species, a race of sentient trees.

* RecycledInSpace: While not as blatant as most cases of the trope, it's obvious that the Vodyani's story (forced by an environment cataclysm to become inorganic, vampiric monsters and drain the life out of other beings) is a space faring version of what happened to the [[VideoGame/EndlessLegend Broken Lords]]. The main difference is that while the Broken Lords were tragic figures who resented themselves for having to feed off the very people they originally swore to protect, the Vodyani think the other races [[FantasticRacism deserve it]] due to their religious beliefs and worshiping the Virtual Endless.

** The Unfallen are gigantic, sapient trees, who (so far) are the only faction in the game utilizing OrganicTechnology to build their ships. The narrator in their intro implies they weren't even ''sapient'' until two alien fleets (the Riftborn and the United Empire) had a battle over the skies of their planet which stirred them into awareness. The intro also depicts two United Empire soldiers executing a Riftborn, completely unaware that the "tree" towering overhead is watching them.

* TacticalRockPaperScissors: Ground combat forces are split into three categories: Infantry, mechanized, and aerial. Infantry counters aerial, aerial counters mechanized, and mechanized counters infantry. Tailoring your ground forces to counter your current opponent's preference goes a long way to reducing casualties.

* VillainsOutShopping: Several notifications, in particular the "Population Threshold" and "Political Party" ones, have artwork depicting a collection of species living in harmony. Including the HorrorHunger Cravers.
** It's possible for a colony to be peacefully assimilated by another major faction. The notification for this shows a Sophon and a Craver fist bumping.

** The Sophons serve this role in the sequel. They don't have any particular gimmick: they don't use Influence instead of Dust for buyouts[[note]]the Sheredyn[[/note]], they don't have a single colony ship[[note]]the Vaulters[[/note]], they don't have to buy outposts instead of colonize them[[note]]the Lumeris[[/note]], they don't have completely overhauled Approval mechanics[[note]]the Hissho[[/note]] or planet-occupation mechanics[[note]]the Vodyani[[/note]], they aren't locked in a ForeverWar[[note]]the Cravers[[/note]], they're not the [[MindScrew Umbral Choir]][[note]]the Umbral Choir[[/note]]. They build and expand normally, and their only perk is that every topic on the TechTree gets a bonus equivalent to how many other factions ''have not'' researched it: if nobody else has done it, the Sophons do it 50% faster. This can snowball quickly and allows you to make very rapid progress.

** Many of the quest lines involve investigating randomly-located Anomalies or, in the case of the Academy PlotArc, randomly-placed ''star systems''. This latter takes the trope to even further heights. Isyander, the headmaster of the Academy, is trying to summon StarfishAliens from outside the galaxy; every player picks a side -- defense, in favor of StatusQuoIsGod, and offense, in favor of Isyander -- and attempts to maintain uncontested control of half the (odd number of) denoted systems with a Hero (and a fleet to defend them) for 10 turns each. Depending on who decides to take which side -- and, more importantly, where the randomly-spawned control points are -- one side may have a ''major'' advantage in mobilizing. Even worse, the outcome of the quest affects ''all players'': The defenders forsake Heroes from the Marketplace, the attackers give up "normal" recruitment via the Academy, and whichever side loses ''is forbidden from recruiting Heroes for the rest of the match''. In some ways the only good answer is do all your recruiting before the quest starts.
** Speaking of Heroes, which ones the game offers you are completely random. This is a problem when certain race-class combinations are unquestionably better than others. For instance, Seekers are prized for their ability to add movespeed bonuses to fleets, so you obviously want a Faction tree that provides similar bonuses, which is, in order of least to greatest, Vaulter (+2), Vodyani (+6) and Sophon (+8).[[note]]There is exactly one Sophon Seeker in the game: Hanmharla Gerzi.[[/note]] Likewise, Horatio and Eusocials make for the best planetary governors because their Faction trees provide Approval boosts.

** The Photobomber event rewards a powerful Hero to anyone who can blockade a system when he tries to pass through it. He appears late enough in the game that a large number of systems will already have fleets guarding them, meaning he'll often spawn and immediately be captured.