History VisualNovel / MuvLuv

* SpiritualSuccessor: The non-''Extra'' ones can be considered a successor to the ''VideoGame/GunparadeMarch'' in many aspects. Alternate history caused by AlienInvasion? Check. Very low draft age? Check. AnyoneCanDie? Check.

''Muv-Luv'' is a sprawling continuity involving multiple parallel worlds, giant robots and unstoppable aliens. It also begins with an intentionally cliched harem romance with ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvExtra'' before dropping the protagonist, Shirogane Takeru, into the apocalyptic land of ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative''. It started out as a spinoff of ''VisualNovel/RumblingHearts'', âge's drama {{visual novel}}[=/=]{{anime}}, and has become the company's current flagship franchise.

With the setting of ''Alternative'' encountering unexpected popularity, âge began putting out works which further flesh out that world, starting with ''LightNovel/MuvLuvAlternativeTotalEclipse'' (which got animated in Summer 2012), followed by the various sidestories collectively called ''Muv-Luv Alternative Chronicles'', and the light novel ''LightNovel/{{Schwarzesmarken}}'', which finished serialization in 2014. In addition, there is a serial photonovel called ''Tactical Surface Fighter in Action (TSFIA)'', which contains short vignettes from the ''Alternative'' universe, and a chronological sequel of ''Unlimited'', called ''[[VisualNovel/MuvLuvUnlimitedTheDayAfter The Day After]]''.

On September 25th 2015, having gained domestic acclaim and a sizable international fanbase, âge, in collaboration with Degica (a Japan-based e-commerce company and video game publisher), officially launched a [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/muvluv/muv-luv-a-pretty-sweet-visual-novel-series Kickstarter campaign]] to fund an ''official English localization'' of the franchise's original trilogy (''Extra'', ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative''). Within less than a day, âge achieved their funding goal of $US 250,000. The campaign concluded on November 4th, 2015, having exceeded the target amount by more than $US 1,000,000.

!!Works in this franchise:

* ''LightNovel/MuvLuvAlternativeTotalEclipse''
* ''LightNovel/{{Schwarzesmarken}}''
* ''Muv-Luv Alternative: Strike Frontier''

* BattleHarem: Yuuya's in ''Total Eclipse'' and Hibiki's in ''The Day After''.

* GratuitousGerman: The title of the ''Unlimited[=/=]Alternative'' side story ''Schwarzesmarken''.
* HarderThanHard: In the two turn-based strategy game spinoffs. What is more difficult than Hell Mode (which outright tells you that winning is impossible), you ask? [[spoiler:Why, '''''Real Mode''''', of course! And the second game's Real Mode is even '''harder''' than that of the first!]]
* HeroOfAnotherStory: This is pretty much the whole point of ''Tactical Surface Fighters in Action'', save for the occasional stories about the main casts of ''Alternative'', ''The Euro Front'', ''The Day After'' and ''Total Eclipse''.
* HotterAndSexier: ''Strike Frontier'', a gacha game, has (unvoiced) H-scenes for SR girls, including pre-existing characters such as Yui (in her adult and younger versions), Yuuhi, and various others.
* LighterAndSofter: The main story of ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvExtra'' and all other works that share the same or similar setting, including the main entry in ''Altered Fable'': "Kagayaku Toki ga Kienu Ma ni" ''(Before That Shining Moment Fades)''[[spoiler:, which is the direct sequel of ''Alternative'' from Takeru's point of view.]]

* NumberOfTheBeast: Two examples in sidestories.
** The number designation of the unit the main cast of the ''Unlimited[=/=]Alternative'' prequel/sidestory ''Schwarzesmarken'' belongs to: the 666th TSF Squadron.
** The standard military code for "impending G-Bomb deployment" is CODE666, which is first seen at the aptly-named Operation Lucifer.

* RunningGag: Meiya injures her left ankle while in a cave in ''Extra'', prompting Takeru to carry her out on his back. In ''Unlimited'', she injures it again [[spoiler: while rescuing the old women during the Mount Tengen eruption, again prompting Takeru to carry her to safety.]] In ''Altered Fable'', she injures it [[spoiler: in a skiing accident with Takeru. This time, however, he gets knocked unconscious, resulting in her dragging him to safety.]]

* TwoPartTrilogy: The original {{VisualNovel}}s can be considered this both from a narrative and meta standpoint. From a narrative standpoint, ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvExtra'' is, {{Foreshadowing}} aside, a self-contained romance VN that serves to introduce the main cast, and the post-apocalyptic BETA-verse arc doesn't start until ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvUnlimited''. Additionally, from a meta standpoint, ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvAlternative'' is being released and sold separately while ''Extra'' and ''Unlimited'' are packaged together, both in the Japanese and international releases.
* WeAreStrugglingTogether: A key theme and source of drama in the works set in the alternate universe. Even with the BugWar going on, various powers, and factions within those powers, are making plans to come out ahead in a hypothetical postwar period. Said plans involve such things like under-the-table deals, false flag operations, backstabbing "allies", and a TSF which is future-proofed against both [=PvE=] and [=PvP=]. WordOfGod has remarks on the [[TakeThat absurdity of the ]][[RealitySubtext situation]].

[[redirect:Franchise/MuvLuv]]

''Franchise/MuvLuv'' is a sprawling continuity involving multiple parallel worlds, giant robots and unstoppable aliens. It also begins with an intentionally cliched harem romance with ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvExtra'' before dropping the protagonist, Shirogane Takeru, into the apocalyptic land of ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative''. Feeling that there were more stories and money to be taken from this setting, a spinoff called ''LightNovel/MuvLuvAlternativeTotalEclipse'' was begun.

!!Works in this franchise:
* ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvExtra''
* ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvUnlimited''
* ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvAlternative''
* ''LightNovel/MuvLuvAlternativeTotalEclipse''

Below are tropes pertaining to works in the franchise that have not yet had pages made for them or other things that do not fit neatly onto any existing pages.
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* ArtEvolution: Due to changing character designers: just take a look at [[http://i.imgur.com/mop4K.jpg a screenshot]] from ''Alternative'' versus [[http://i.imgur.com/gavya.jpg the newer side story]] ''Confession''.
* BattleHarem: Yuuya's in ''Total Eclipse'' and Hibiki's in ''The Day After''. Theodor's women comrades in ''Schwarzesmarken'' may also count, but the series doesn't seem to focus on harem antics.
* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler: ''Atonement'' reveals that Marimo, seeking death in the aftermath of those of her squadmates, began to fight like a mad dog, but ironically surviving, all the while losing close friends and subordinates.]]
* FreakyFridayFlip: In the upcoming fandisk ''Kimi ga Nozomu Muv-Luv'' ("The Muv-Luv You Wished For"), between Takeru and Takayuki of ''KimiGaNozomuEien''. This results in Takayuki (in Takeru's body) living the carefree life of ''Extra'', while Takeru (in Takayuki's body) is stuck trying to manage the heavy drama of ''RumblingHearts''.
* GratuitousGerman: The title of the ''Unlimited[=/=]Alternative'' side story ''Schwarzesmarken''.
* HarderThanHard: In the two turn-based strategy game spinoffs. What is more difficult than Hell Mode (which outright tells you that winning is impossible), you ask? [[spoiler:Why, '''''Real Mode''''', of course! And the second game's Real Mode is even '''harder''' than that of the first!]]
* [[spoiler: IAmAHumanitarian]]: [[spoiler: ''The Day After'': In the aftermath of the mass G-Bombing and the sinking of Eurasia beneath the waves, Canada and France (whose has relocated to the former) went to war with the US. Hibiki's squad found that the besieged defenders they were sent to relieve had resorted to cannibalism in their desperation.]]
* LighterAndSofter: The main story of ''Altered Fable'': "Kagayaku Toki ga Kienu Ma ni" ''(Before That Shining Moment Fades)''[[spoiler:, which is the direct sequel of ''Alternative'' from Takeru's point of view.]]
* NintendoHard: The ''Rumbling Angel'' card game included in the ''Muv Luv Supplement'' fandisk (known as "that card game from hell") and the two TurnBasedStrategy games included with the fandisks ''Altered Fable'' and ''Haruko Maniax'' (infamously known as "Get Raped By BETA: The Game" and "Get Raped By BETA: The Game 2".
* NumberOfTheBeast: Two examples in sidestories.
** The number designation of the unit the main cast of the ''Unlimited[=/=]Alternative'' prequel/sidestory ''Schwarzesmarken'' belongs to: the 666th TSF Squadron.
** The standard military code for "impending G-Bomb deployment" is CODE666, which is first seen at the aptly-named Operation Lucifer.
* OldSaveBonus: ''Unlimited'' shows several scenes for certain heroines only when their corresponding routes in ''Extra'' had been cleared. ''Alternative'' does similar things with regards to both ''Extra'' and ''Unlimited''. [[spoiler: In-universe this is a major plot point: see TomatoInTheMirror below.]] There was an issue in the 18+ version of ''Alternative'' where it would not check for applicable event flags taken from the previous two games; this was fixed in the all-ages version.
* {{Omake}}: Several non-canonical, and comedic, "Radio Dramas" set in the world of ''Alternative'', about such things as Mitsuki attempting to find out what exactly the relationship between two of her squadmates is, [[spoiler: the Shogun (or so it seemed)]] showing up in place of Meiya during Squadron 207's breakfast, and Squadron A-01 facing off with a berserk Base Commander.
* RunningGag: Meiya injures her left ankle while in a cave in ''Extra'', prompting Takeru to carry her out on his back. In ''Unlimited'', she injures it again [[spoiler: while rescuing the old women during the Mount Tengen eruption, again prompting Takeru to carry her to safety.]] In ''Altered Fable'', she injures it [[spoiler: in a skiing accident with Takeru. This time, however, he gets knocked unconscious, resulting in her dragging him to safety.]]
* SemperFi: The Black Knives squadron in the side story ''The Day After'' are US Marines. Interestingly, their main Tactical Surface Fighter is the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, whose real-life aircraft counterpart has been avoided by the US Marine Corps, which prefers to use the F/A-18''C'' ''Hornet''.
* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: [[spoiler:The True End of each heroine's route in ''Unlimited''. It's actually a subversion, though, since the moment he actually dies the world of ''Unlimited'' resets.]]
* TakingTheBullet: [[spoiler: Marimo's former squad leader shielding her [=TSF=] from a laser-class BETA]] in the side-story ''Atonement''.
* TheDeadHaveNames: The names of fallen [[SemperFi Marines]] and naval personnel are read at a Memorial Day service in ''The Day After'' 00, just before a 21-gun salute.
* TrollingCreator: Go fire up a new installation of ''Extra'' after finishing the trilogy. [[spoiler:Notice those random lines in the background? That's actually a [[HumongousMecha Type-00R]] [[GenreShift Takemikazuchi]]. And you were expecting some random comedic "moe" game, haven't you?]]
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/imgdada20cb3qksgb_3059.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''Muv-Luv'']]

''Muv-Luv'' is a multimedia franchise, originally a series of {{Visual Novel}}s, produced by âge which takes place in the same universe as ''[[RumblingHearts Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien]]'', and shares some characters with the latter.

There are 3 main games in this series: ''Muv-Luv Extra'', ''Muv-Luv Unlimited'', and ''Muv-Luv Alternative''. The first two were released together as ''Muv-Luv'', with the ''Unlimited'' portion of the game unlocked by progressing in ''Extra''. The series' fame comes primarily from ''Muv-Luv Alternative'', one of the most popular visual novels of all time, known for its high production values, complex plot, exciting mecha battles and political intrigue.

'''Muv-Luv Extra'''

--> ''Save in the name of true love.''

''Extra'' tells the story of the protagonist Takeru Shirogane and his childhood friend Sumika Kagami as they go through their final year of high school. Soon after the game begins, their parents go on vacation, and Takeru wakes up one morning to find a girl he doesn't know in his bed. Said girl is Meiya Mitsurugi, the heir to the Mitsurugi Corporation. The story evolves into a love comedy, only much weirder. ''Extra'' makes references to the prequel game/''OVA'' ''Akane Maniax'' and takes place immediately after it, with Akane Suzumiya herself appearing as a side character.

'''Muv-Luv Unlimited'''

--> ''Even if your own life is what's most important to you, you can't protect it alone.''

Completion of the two endings[[hottip:*:Sumika's and Meiya's]] of the "main route" in ''Extra'' unlocks the ''Unlimited'' portion of ''Muv-Luv''.

In ''Unlimited'', Takeru wakes up one morning to discover that the rest of the city around him is in ruins, and Sumika is nowhere to be found. He later finds out that he's in an alternate world to ''Extra'', where aliens called BETA (an acronym for "Beings of Extra Terrestrial origin. Adversaries to the human race") have invaded Earth and mankind fights back against the alien aggressors with HumongousMecha called ''Senjutsuhokousentouki'' (戦術歩行戦闘機), "Tactical Surface Fighters", as almost all conventional weapons before simply didn't work. ''Unlimited'' relates Takeru's story as he tries to adjust to military life in an unfamiliar world, while rebuilding relationships with his friends. All of the major characters from the ''Extra'' timeline are present in ''Unlimited'', except for Sumika, [[spoiler: and the ''Unlimited'' world's Takeru, who is said to be dead]]. The characters are, for the most part identical to their ''Extra'' counterparts, with the possible exception of Mikoto, who is now female.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_15535082502_0da9233caf_9631.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''Muv-Luv Alternative'']]

'''Muv-Luv Alternative'''

--> ''This is the alternative ending unable to be told before: \\
A very great, very small, very precious, tale of love and courage.''

The sequel to ''Unlimited'' and released [[ScheduleSlip after several delays]] around 3 years later.

After 3 years in the ''Unlimited'' world, Takeru wakes up to find that he has rewound back to the beginning of ''Unlimited''. Unable to accept the result of what happened at the end of ''Unlimited'' ([[spoiler:mass evacuation of Earth, followed by the remaining humans' last stand against the BETA]]), he strives to find a method that could give humanity victory. ''Alternative'' also includes Michiru Isumi from âge's debut game ''Kimi Ga Ita Kisetsu'', which got a remake in 2011 (in which Touko Kazama and Misae Munakata also appear), and Mitsuki Hayase, Haruka Suzumiya (Akane's sister), along with Akane herself, from ''KimiGaNozomuEien''. The composers from ''Muv-Luv'' return for the music, which also features contributions from JAMProject, Hijiri Anze (''ResidentEvilCodeVeronica''), Hikaru Nanase (''ZoneOfTheEnders'', ''Manga/ChronoCrusade''), and Taku Iwasaki (who would later compose for ''SoulEater'' and ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'').

A port of the series to the Xbox 360 was announced by 5pb, co-creators of ''ChaosHead'' and ''SteinsGate'' with {{Nitroplus}} and was released in October 2011. ''LightNovel/MuvLuvAlternativeTotalEclipse'', one of the many side stories, received an anime adaptation in Summer 2012.

You can find (and please add to) other tropes and fandom reactions [[YMMV/MuvLuv here]], Crowning Moments of Awesome [[Awesome/MuvLuv here]], funny moments [[Funny/MuvLuv here]], and depressing moments [[Tearjerker/MuvLuv here]].

Please contribute to the [[Characters/MuvLuv character sheet]].

'''Please note that this page, as well as its subpages, contains a ton of spoilers, especially for the latter parts of ''Unlimited'', as well as the entirety of ''Alternative''. And yes, even mere mentions of many tropes here are in themselves spoilers.'''

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:The series contains examples of:]]
* AbuseIsOkayWhenItIsFemaleOnMale: Played straight and inverted - Takeru hits Sumika just as much as she hits him, but it's PlayedForLaughs on both sides.
* AceCustom: Meiya's purple Type-00R ''Takemikazuchi'' TSF in ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative'', [[spoiler: which was originally the personal TSF of her twin sister the Shogun, and given to Meiya as a gift]]. The sidestory ''Total Eclipse'' focuses on a multinational team of pilots testing out custom TSF models. However the concept of having [=TSF=]s reserved to individual pilots was ridiculed in ''Unlimited'', with the reasoning that pilots have to be able to use any [=TSF=] on hand during emergencies.
* AcePilot: The main cast as well as most of the supporting cast in ''Alternative''. [[spoiler: Takeru with his killing ''twenty'' fortress-class ''Gravis'' BETA solo during the Sadogashima Hive operation takes the cake.]]
** Especially impressive considering he killed a significant number of other species, he was the distraction, and that there were 23 of that species present.
* ActionBomb: The Japanese TSF units (and them alone) are equipped with the S-11 Explosive which doubles as a self-destruct system, allowing pilots to go out on their own terms instead of a horrible death at the enemy's mouths. [[spoiler: Mitsuki sacrifices herself using two to destroy the Yokohama Hive reactor, while Chizuru and Ayamine self-destruct at the end of ''Alternative'' during the Original Hive mission after running out of options and to prevent more BETA from coming after the rest of the squad.]]
* AfterTheEnd: ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative''.
* AlienInvasion: The BETA invading Earth.
* AllTheMyriadWays: Averted. Takeru (and the reader) comes to care about his friends very much, no matter whose alternate dimension/universe selves they may be. [[spoiler: (Yes, that includes [[{{Tearjerker}} their deaths.)]]]] In fact, the only person who Takeru ''doesn't'' treat as the same one regardless of dimension is ''[[spoiler: himself]]''.
* AllThereInTheManual: Several characters and events will not make complete sense unless you've seen/read ''RumblingHearts''. ''Alternative'' itself cannot be understood fully without reference to ''Extra'' and ''Unlimited''. In addition there are the various side stories, artbooks, and other material âge is coming out with. Finally some aspects left out of the ''Alternative'' VN are touched upon in its manga adaptation.
* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: In episode 2 of ''Total Eclipse'', the BETA's are seen overrunning various outposts in Kyoto, such as the supply base, as well as the command center.
* AlternateHistory: While the Japan of the world of ''Unlimited[=/=]Alternative'' lost World War II, she surrendered on far less humiliating terms and did not get nuked. [[spoiler:The Shogunate also continued to exist, as opposed to its 19th-century abolition in our world - together with the maintenance of the two traditional centers of power: the imperial capital Kyoto for the Emperor and Tokyo for the Shogunate (at least until the BETA invaded and the Emperor had to relocate to Tokyo).]]
* AlternateUniverse / AlternateTimeline: And how!
* AnimeHair: The entire main heroine cast in ''Extra''. [[spoiler: Deliberately-done by the creators; see UniversalAdaptorCast below. It is worth noting that the side-stories released subsequent to ''Alternative'' have curtailed the use of it, for the most part.]]
* AnyoneCanDie: in the world of ''Unlimited''[=/=]''Alternative''. The tagline of the prequel[=/=]side-story ''Schwarzesmarken'' says: ''Death is not a special event. It is the story of the battlefield.''
* ApocalypseHow: By the time of the events of ''Unlimited[=/=]Alternative'', Eurasia, except for several remote peninsulas have been laid bare and devoid of life, and it was only a matter of time before the rest fall as well (Continental[=/=]Total Extinction, quickly heading towards Planetary scale). [[spoiler:Alternative V will just hasten the process, with Continental-level Physical Annihilation added into the mix: the landmasses of the entire Eastern Hemisphere sink beneath the waves, while in the Western Hemisphere, expanding salt deserts have appeared where the oceans had been. Causality Conductor Takeru's continued presence in his home world would have resulted in either Class 1 or 2 due to population levels plummeting down to those of ''Alternative''[='=]s world.]]
* ArcNumber: Three years, same as in ''KimiGaNozomuEien''.
* ArcWords: ''"Even if your own life is what's most important to you, you can't protect it alone"'' in both ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative''. Also,''"I am going to do what only I can do"'' and ''"You must never hesitate to stain your own hands with blood"'' in ''Alternative'', [[spoiler: with the meaning of the latter becoming [[{{Tearjerker}} heart-rendingly]] [[ICannotSelfTerminate clear]] [[ShootTheHostage to Takeru]] [[GutPunch by the end.]]]]

* AscendedFanboy / IKnowMortalKombat: Takeru's skills at the mecha arcade game [[VirtualOn Valgern-On]] give him an advantage when piloting actual mecha, [[spoiler: which he later imparts to his squadmates via an improved [=TSF=] [=OS=] in ''Alternative'']].
* AtomicFBomb: [[spoiler: Takeru at the end of the Original Hive mission, after losing all his teammates, being forced to kill Meiya and ejecting out of the Susano'o after the BETA Superior's destruction.]]
* BadassCreed: [[spoiler: The oath of the Isumi Valkyries in ''Alternative'': "Achieve your mission with all your might. Despair not until your last breath. Make your death count!" Also encapsulates the desperation of humanity's struggle against the BETA, and becomes depressing once the events of the final suicide mission set in. The oath also counts as ArcWords for ''Alternative''.]].
* BattleHarem: Takeru's in ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative'', Yuuya's in ''Total Eclipse'', Hibiki's in ''The Day After''. Theodor's women comrades in ''Schwarzesmarken'' may also count, but the series doesn't seem to focus on harem antics.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Alternative IV is successful, and Takeru has bought humanity three more decades of survival... at the price of the lives of his lover and closest friends[[hottip:*: all of whom were his lovers in alternate worlds]], one of whom he had to [[ICannotSelfTerminate personally pull the trigger on]]. Takeru himself becomes [[RetGone Ret Goned]], and only three of the Valkyries remain. And there remain at least 10^37 BETA out in space, though Yuuko expects to be prepared for them if they return.]]
* BlandNameProduct: [[VirtualOn Valgern-On]], [[{{Gameboy}} Gameguy]], etc. Not to mention the defense companies named in side materials: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin Lockweed Mardin]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman Northrock Grunnan]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing Boening]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Heavy_Industries Mitsuhishi Heavy Industries]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda Onda]]...
* BleachedUnderpants: The all-ages versions of the trilogy censor the H-scenes. [[spoiler: They also censor some of the {{Gorn}} over which fans raised an outcry.]] The upcoming VisualNovel adaptation of ''Total Eclipse'' has been confirmed to be all-ages, but the 2012 PC re-release of the original trilogy is, curiously, 18+.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: [[spoiler: The reason humans are incapable of making peace with the BETA is because they are essentially organic mining machines created by super advanced silicon-based alien life forms and are pre-programmed to not acknowledge any carbon-based life forms (including themselves) as living creatures, just resources to be recycled and processed.]]
* BookEnds: [[spoiler: The ED of the prequel ''Akane Maniax'', the OP of ''Extra'', '''and''' the ED of ''Alternative'', is the same song: "Muv-Luv" by Minami Kuribayashi (the voice actress of Kasumi and Haruka). The song has also been stated by [[WordOfGod the singer]] to be about Sumika ''in Unlimited / Alternative''.]]
* BrainInAJar: In ''Unlimited'' / ''Alternative'', Takeru often sees Kasumi in a room with this. [[spoiler:''Alternative'' reveals that it is all that remains of Sumika.]]
* BugWar: Humanity against the BETA, and with good reason, too. [[spoiler: The BETA are just organic mining machines.]]
* CerebusRetcon: In ''Alternative'' Hayase gets a little pissed at Munakata for not having a proper confession or romantic moment the last time she saw her fiancee. It's played for laughs [[spoiler:until we learn that Hayase was never able to have one either before the man she loved died.]]
* CerebusSyndrome: While ''Unlimited'' takes place in an apocalyptic wasteland during a war with alien invaders, it's still mostly lighthearted. ''Alternative'', however, is far more serious. Even the chibi art has almost entirely been done away with.
* ClicheStorm: ''Extra'' is bombarded by this. Invoked on purpose, likely to contrast the huge shift in mood, seriousness, and darkness as one goes from ''Extra'' to ''Unlimited'' to ''Alternative.''
* ChekhovsGunman: Near the end of ''Extra'', it's mentioned that [[spoiler:Meiya had a twin sister who died in a car accident when she was three.]] In ''Alternative'', [[spoiler:she shows up alive and well.]]
* ChekhovsClassroom: You can be sure that all those info-dumping rants by Yuuko-sensei will become important later on.
* ChestBlaster: [[spoiler: The WaveMotionGun installed onto the two Susano'o units.]]
* ChickMagnet: Takeru, naturally. However, due to the seriousness of ''Alternative,'' it's a relatively minor plot point in that game.
** Though they do not actually appear in the game, from what we hear from their respective harem members (Captain Isumi and Haruka/Mitsuki), Masaki, protagonist of ''Kimi Ga Ita Kisetsu'' and Takayuki, protagonist of ''KimiGaNozomuEien,'' most definitely qualify, even within the screwed up world of ''Alternative.'' [[spoiler:Well, Takayuki ''was'' until he was killed in action.]]
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Possible with Sumika, who appears to be the primary love interest. [[spoiler:Meiya also happens to have had a ChildhoodMarriagePromise with Takeru, but they haven't seen each other in about fifteen years.]]
* ChildhoodMarriagePromise: A major plot point in ''Extra''.
* ClusterFBomb: [[spoiler: Takeru ruing his inability to save his comrades' lives after being ordered by a self-destructing Mitsuki to abandon her during the BETA attack on the Yokohama base.]]
* ColonyDrop: [[http://i.imgur.com/oXroV.jpg Referred to]] in one of [[MadScientist Yuuko-Sensei's]] exam review questions, which asks the student to calculate the kinetic energy of an [[MobileSuitGundam O'Neill-type space colony falling to Earth and the corresponding energy released upon impact]]. Another question asks [[CharsCounterattack how much nuclear fuel said colony must contain, and what its velocity should be, in order to obliterate the Japanese mainland, given some defined parameters.]]
* ComingOfAgeStory
* CommonTongue: English is the official international language mandated by the United Nations in ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative''. This leads to the following scene in ''Alternative'' [[spoiler: during the coup d'etat by Japanese nationalists]]:
--> '''US Pilot''': Attention, unidentified craft! Enable your real-time interpreter, or, follow the UN mandate procedure, and identify yourselves in English. That's the official international language.
--> '''JP Pilot''': [[spoiler: You are a foreign nation intervening in a domestic affair. Cease all hostilities at once!]]
--> '''US Pilot''': Repeat. Speak in English, the official language. I don't understand what you're saying.
--> '''JP Pilot''' ''(presumably activating his interpreter)'': [[spoiler: To the American Army. [[MemeticMutation English can eat shit. I repeat - English can eat shit.]]]]
--> '''US Pilot''': What!?
* ContinuityCameo: One that is lost to those who never played âge's first releases before ''Alternative'': Emi Motoi (Yuuko's voice actress, who voiced a main heroine in âge's debut game ''Kimi ga Ita Kisetsu'') also did an unnamed role in ''Alternative'' as the Imperial Army grunt saved by Ikaruga at Sadogashima. [[spoiler:''Succession'' later confirms that the grunt is indeed Akira Isumi, Michiru's youngest sister.]]
* CoolCar: Yuuko Kouzuki's Lancia Stratos, which inexplicably has the classic Alitalia livery painted on competition versions back in its day.
* CookingDuel: Yuuko hosts one for Takeru's harem, with the winner going out on a date with him. [[spoiler:She repeats it in ''Final Extra'' and ''Altered Fable'', to determine who gets to sit near Takeru.]]
* CrapsackWorld: After the BETA invasion, humanity is reduced to one billion people from six, a substantial fraction (if not the majority) of the male population is dead from fighting an overwhelmingly-broken enemy (to the point that the draft age had been lowered and military service for women had become compulsory), and the entirety of Eurasia is overrun by the BETA (with 24 of the 26 existing hives, including the first and biggest, within its confines). North America is (temporarily) safe, at the cost of half of Canada being turned into a nuclear wasteland. Australia, Africa and South America are still safe as well - for the time being. [[spoiler: The ''Unlimited'' sequel[=/=]side-story ''The Day After'' shows that, after Alternative V is activated and G-Bombs are dropped everywhere, substantial parts of Eurasia sink beneath the waves, while on the other half of the globe huge areas (including previously-oceanic regions) began turning into deserts of salt.]]
* CrypticConversation: In ''Alternative'', Takeru asks Tsukuyomi, a member of the Imperial Honor Guard tasked to guard Meiya, about something, to which she replies that she has been ordered to "prepare for the day when the setting sun draws the curtain of night on the capital". [[spoiler: Combined with MeaningfulName below, we learn that the Yuuhi (the Shogun) was prepared to die when she fled the capital, in which case Meiya would secretly take her place. The American commander was implied to have been unable to pick up on this due to the limitations of his translator.]]
* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Alternative'', in comparison with its immediate prequel ''Unlimited''. [[spoiler: Also BloodierAndGorier.]]
* DatePeepers: No matter who Takeru chooses as the winner of the CookingDuel, the other four girls will spy on them during their date.
* DeathFromAbove: In contrast to the UN and Japanese Army tactics of using orbital divers to break into and shut down hives, the US Army prefers [[NukeEm dropping G-Bombs, one after the other, on hives]]. Only after then are American [=TSF=]s sent in, to mop up whatever opposition remains. This ties into the [[{{Eagleland}} in-universe perception of Americans]] as having the "shoot first, ask questions later" mentality.

* DespairEventHorizon: In episode 2 of ''Total Eclipse'', after Yui witnesses her last friend getting killed by the BETA, she just falls to her knees and sort of gives up, right before receiving a GunShipRescue from an unknown mecha.
* DeflectorShields: Not present in this setting, and a major reason humanity was faring very badly against the BETA. [[spoiler: The Susano'o units were later equipped with a prototype, however TSF-sized ones were still impossible to build yet.]]
* [[spoiler:DownerEnding]]: [[spoiler: ''Muv-Luv Unlimited'', with Alternative V being implemented: A small fraction of the remaining human population (including Takeru's girlfriend, whom he had convinced to live on) flees the planet, and the rest go out with a bang, nuking themselves and the BETA with lots of G-Bombs.]]
* DroppedABridgetOnHim: Mikoto in ''Unlimited''. Played both for laughs and seriously, as Takeru's initial inability to see Mikoto as nothing but a boy causes him to avoid her, creating even more strife within the squadron against him.
* [[DroppedABridgeOnHim Dropped Two G-Bombs on Him]]: The ''Unlimited''[=/=]''Alternative'' prequel/side story ''Operation Zero'' implies that [[spoiler: [[KimiGaNozomuEien Narumi Takayuki]] [[LeeroyJenkins ignored an urgent retreat order]] during the attack on the Yokohama Hive and was caught up in the resulting blast.]]
* DueToTheDead: One responsibility of a Valkyrie who witnessed a comrade fall in battle is to tell of her last moments to the remaining squadron members, so that her memory lives on. [[spoiler: For Granny Kyozuka the camp cook, her due is to cook the deceased's favorite dish.]]
* DwindlingParty: [[spoiler:The members of original Squadron 207 die off one by one in the final suicide mission against the Original Hive.]]
* DyingMomentOfAwesome[=/=]FaceDeathWithDignity: Invoked in the worlds of ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative'': all TSF pilots are trained to be prepared for death, so long as their deaths count for something or is something they could be proud of. [[spoiler: This is why, in the ''Alternative'' sidestory ''Succession'' set in the aftermath of Michiru Isumi's HeroicSacrifice during the Sadogashima Hive battle, her younger sister, a pilot in the Imperial Army herself and a survivor of the same battle, was unable to accept the official reason given for Michiru's death: a freak training accident on the day of the assault.]]
* {{Eagleland}}: The US, which was among the very few nations not invaded by BETA in ''Unlimited[=/=]Alternative'' [[spoiler: due to their nuking of Canada when a hive landed there]], is seen by many Japanese as opportunistic. [[spoiler: Justified, as the CIA instigated and escalated Sagiri's coup in ''Alternative'' in order to bring those with his sentiments out into the open and wipe them out.]] Subverted in that the American soldiers and field commanders Takeru meets in ''Alternative'' turn out to be as decent and gentlemanly as their Japanese counterparts.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:When Takeru tries to weasel out of his responsibility to save humanity from the BETA/find out why he's trapped in that timeline, it really doesn't work out so well, so he resolves to return and finish his work. His efforts not only earn him a return to his happy life (sort of) but the parallel-universe selves of several characters introduced in ''Alternative'' (being dead or otherwise not present in the ''Extra'' world) get to join him in happiness.]]
* EatenAlive: Implied to of happened to Yui's last friend near the end of episode 2 in ''Total Eclipse.'' Despite a plea for a MercyKill, Yui's shots miss, and her friend is then picked up by the BETA's and torn apart.
* {{Expy}}[=/=]CaptainErsatz:
** Takahashi Ichimonji, Meiya's limo driver, is basically [[InitialD Ryousuke]] [[TakehitoKoyasu Takahashi]] in personality and traits - stoic, always with a laptop, formulating a Theory of Maximum Street Velocity - with the face of [[InitialD Takumi Fujiwara]].
** Yuuko is a [[{{Rule63}} genderbent]] [[SuperRobotWars Shuu Shirakawa]].
** Meiya has a hairstyle taken from the [[{{Gundam0083}} RX-78GP02A Physalis]], while [[spoiler: her twin sister Yuuhi]] has one from the [[{{Gundam0083}} AGX-04 Gerbera Tetra]]. In sidestories we also see Meiya's grandfather and training master, who look like, and are named after, {{Raideen}} and {{Grendizer}} respectively, while [[spoiler: Yuuhi]]'s master's name is a pun on GodSigma.
*** Pay no mind to the fact that Meiya looks very similar to [[KimiGaNozomuEien Mitsuki]] and Sumika looks similar to [[KimiGaNozomuEien Haruka]] or that Sumika gets hit by a car in "Extra" in blatant reference to Haruka's accident in KimiGaNozomuEien. Don't worry, this is only played for laughs and Sumika gets better pretty much immediately. As you might had guess, like Haruka and Mitsuki, Sumika and Meiya are the main heroines in this game. As a bonus, the song "Muv-Luv" is sung by Haruka's voice actress and is apparently, by "WordOfGod," a song about Sumika. To make up for it, the personalities between Meiya/Mitsuki and Sumika/Haruka are completely different.
** The ongoing sidestory ''Schwarzesmarken'' adds Captain Ersatzes of [[Anime/BokuWaTomodachiGaSukunai Meat]] and [[Anime/GuiltyCrown Tsugumi]].
** The BETA itself seem to taken a few leaves off the [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Tyranids]], especially the fact that there are so many of them left in space which is reminiscent of a Hive Fleet.
* EyeBeams: The signature weapons of the Laser-Class BETA ''Lux'' and the Heavy Laser-Class BETA ''Magnus Lux'', and, due to their nullification of the concept of "air superiority", the reason for the development of the Tactical Surface Fighter.
* FadeToWhite: [[spoiler: Meiya's death at the end of ''Alternative''.]]
* FanTranslation: ''Muv-Luv Extra'', ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative'' were translated by Amaterasu Translations in 2010 and 2011. An independent (and earlier) project to translate the all-ages versions of the trilogy by someone on [[{{Imageboards}} /m/]] [[http://archive.easymodo.net/cgi-board.pl/m/thread/6026336#p6028650 is currently on indefinite hiatus.]]
* FatalFamilyPhoto: [[spoiler: Prime Minister Sakaki (Chizuru's father) in the manga adaptation of ''Alternative''.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Many events and characterization in ''Extra'' heavily foreshadow events in the ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative'' worlds, such as Miki's incredible ability with archery.
** One event of particular note is the Valgern-On team battle at the hot springs in ''Extra'', where the teams are Takeru-Chizuru-Ayamine vs Meiya-Miki-Mikoto. Guess what the exhibition match teams turn out to be with TSF training in ''Unlimited''?
* FinaglesLaw: See Murphy's Law below.
* ForWantOfANail:
** [[spoiler:Only If Takeru was facing more than 45 degrees to the right there would be no HEADCHOMP... Without that death, he never would have had to flee to the world of ''Extra'' after having a major breakdown. On the flipside, he never would have grown up enough to actually be trusted much by Yuuko either.]]
** [[spoiler:Alternative V went into action because the ''Unlimited'' world never created gaming systems. Yuuko thus never played some RPG that showed her that her theory was flawed and thus had no stimulation to fix her theory or even realize it was wrong. End result? The Earth was doomed because Yuuko never played 'some crappy RPG.' ''Alternative'' really gets going when Takeru tells her that ''Extra'' Yuuko said that ''Unlimited''/''Alternative'' Yuuko's theory was flawed.]]

* FrickinLaserBeams: The presence of the laser-class BETA (''Lux'' and ''Magnus Lux'') ended ''air superiority'' as a viable combat philosophy, and was the reason for the development of the [=TSF=]s. In contrast humanity only had conventional weapons [[spoiler: and later a WaveMotionGun, but that's only on two [[SuperPrototype Super Prototypes]]]]. No BeamSpam for humanity here, folks.
* GallowsHumor: Survivors of two orbital drops (operations with survival rates of 20% on the average) are called "chicken divers" (due to them "chickening out" of death), while those who die on a drop are called "fried chickens".
* GenderIsNoObject: Takeru is the only man in a six-person unit. Justified in that [[spoiler: the men were the first to go out and fight and die against the BETA, and as such, most soldiers are now female]].
* GenreShift: And how. Goes from harem comedy (with lots of mecha and sci-fi shout-outs) to hardcore mecha.
* GoodLookingPrivates: Pretty much the entire cast (including Takeru).
* {{Gorn}}: Several scenes in ''Alternative''. [[spoiler: Marimo's death seems to be the most infamous and memetic in the English-speaking fandom. The {{Gorn}} was so graphic that many Japanese fans complained about it, causing âge to create a gore-censoring patch.]]
* GoryDiscretionShot: Episode 2 of ''Total Eclipse'' shows many characters getting killed. Scenes where some of the girls are being eaten by the BETA are either censored, or the scene is cutaway before anything beyond blood splattering is shown.
* GratuitousEnglish: Several dialogues in heavily-accented English in ''Alternative''. âge's decidedly shoddy English is clearly pointed out in the translation patch's readme: ''"âge cannot speak English. They just can't. If you see, for instance, an image says 'preceding paragraph' and the text box says 'transferring seat information', trust us and not them."''

* GratuitousLatin: The names given to the different BETA classes (e.g. ''Medium'', ''Lux'', ''Gravis'' etc).
* GroundhogDayLoop: [[spoiler:''Unlimited'' repeated itself an unknown but large number of times before Takeru happened to retain some memory of what had happened. Every time he died in that world, the world reset back to October 22nd.]]

* HerHeartWillGoOn: [[spoiler:Takeru's girlfriend at the end of ''Unlimited''. Of course, ''Alternative'' retgons this out of happening.]] The song [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97qmMJQ5k78 Songs of Distant Earth]] is about this trope.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Go with God in all the dark places you may walk, Valkyrie Squadron. Humanity will never forget your sacrifice.]]
--> [[spoiler: '''Gen. Radhabinod''': ''We will carve into our hearts the noble deeds of those who are not permitted to reveal even their names.'']]
* HeroSecretService: The true purpose of the VFA-01 Valkyries [[spoiler: was to escort the 00-Unit and her Susano'o mobile fortress into battle and protect her]]. The trope was played with [[spoiler:as Takeru (the main character) was initially among the escorts]], but later played straight [[spoiler:when he assumed piloting duties (in tandem with Sumika and Kasumi) for the Susano'o Type-4]].
* HeyItsThatVoice: The original trilogy has, among others, [[SoichiroHoshi Kira]] [[GundamSEED Yamato]], [[MasayoKurata Rakshata]] [[Anime/CodeGeass Chawla]], [[MinamiHokuto Akiha]] [[VideoGame/MeltyBlood Tohno]], [[TetsuInada Lu]] [[DynastyWarriors Bu]], [[YuuAsakawa Ri]][[FateStayNight der]], [[ShizukaIto Hinagiku]] [[Manga/HayateTheCombatButler Katsura]], [[KumikoWatanabe Katejina]] [[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Loos]] and [[NorioWakamoto Charles]] [[Anime/CodeGeass zi Britannia]]. The side stories add, among others, [[DaisukeOno Battler]] [[VisualNovel/UminekonoNakuKoroNi Ushiromiya]], [[MaiNakahara Rena]] [[VisualNovel/HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi Ryuugu]], [[HitomiNabatame Bazett Fraga]] [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight McRemitz]], [[TomokazuSugita Ky]][[SuzumiyaHaruhi on]] and [[MamikoNoto Kotomi]] [[VisualNovel/{{Clannad}} Ichinose]]. Sumika also shares a voice with [[EfAFairyTaleOfTheTwo Miyako Miyamura.]]
* HumongousMecha: The "Tactical Surface Fighters" in ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative'' are [[RealRobot Real Robots]]. [[spoiler: The Type-2 and Type-4 Susano'o units technically are, as well, but veer close to the SuperRobot borderline.]]
* [[spoiler: HumanResources]]: [[spoiler:The BETA can recycle their own, as well as humans, into more of them. The Soldier-class ''[[ExtremeOmnivore Venator]]'' [[BodyHorror strain]] is made by recyclng humans.]]

* IChooseToStay: [[spoiler:Takeru has a chance at the end of ''Unlimited'' to join the colonists on the last shuttle. He says no. "I will protect this beautiful world."]]
** This bounces back and forth repeatedly throughout ''Alternative''. [[spoiler: Initially in ''Alternative'' he helps develop a machine that would send him back to his original ''Extra'' world and demonstrates extreme joy at the possibility of going home. HOWEVER, Takeru decides to remain in the ''Alternative'' world to ensure Alternative IV's success... until he suffers PTSD and flees back to the ''Extra'' world. In the end, he goes back to the ''Alternative'' world and stays after completing Alternative IV... until forces outside his control force him to return AGAIN.]]
*** That last part is debatable depending on your interpretation of the ending of ''Alternative''. [[spoiler: Considering the way Takeru and Sumika were interacting, it's likely that this version of Takeru is yet another AU version, and the "composite" Takeru who came into existence in the ''Alternative'' timeline simply [[RetGone vanished at the end.]] Kasumi's tears could be tears of joy... or not.]]
* IntendedAudienceReaction: ''Extra'' is really meant to be painfully generic. If it wasn't, the overall premise of dropping a generic harem protagonist into a battlefield would not work. Similarly, negative reactions to the characters in the first part are also setup, such as [[IdiotHero Takeru's]] [[HotBlooded personality]] and [[UnluckyEverydude upbringing]] working extremely poorly in Unlimited and Alternative.
* InterruptedCooldownHug: In ''Alternative'', [[spoiler: a Shogun-disguised Meiya was on the brink of convincing Sagiri to stand down and peacefully end the coup d'etat, when an American TSF had to start shooting out of nowhere. Thanks a bunch, CIA.]]
* IntimateHealing: In order to keep Takeru warm after he's suffering from the after-effects of snake venom [[spoiler:(Which turns out to just be a cold.)]], Mikoto sleeps on top of Takeru naked. [[spoiler: In the manga adaptation, the snake turned out to be poisonous.]]
* InsultToRocks: When Takeru calls Sumika a slug, she gets so angry that she accidentally does this to herself:
-->'''Sumika:''' Gaaaaah!!! Apologize to slugs!
-->'''Takeru:''' Gyahahahahaha!! do you even know what you're saying!?
-->'''Sumika:''' Shut uuup! [[VerbalBackspace Apologize to me too]]!!
* ItsRainingMen: The standard UN method of clearing out hives involves having mechs dropped from orbit to break into hive interiors using sheer gravitational force. This was most likely inspired by ''StarshipTroopers''.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Sumika in Meiya and Chizuru's Routes in ''Extra''. She tries this in her own route, but, being her route, Takeru has other ideas.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: Being a tribute to a whole range of works, much of trilogy's OST is this. For example, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3h_Opxwbw4 "The End of Regret"]] sounds very similar to the Takashi Kako song [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAg2nosbbsM "Is Paris Burning?"]].
* JustOneMoreLevel: When one of the girls discovers Takeru's [[BlandNameProduct GameGuy]] in ''Unlimited'', he passes it off as a training simulator, and lends it to the girl along with a different game. This leads her to getting addicted to the game for an entire week until the battery eventually dies.
* [[spoiler:KillEmAll]]: [[spoiler:'''All'''[[hottip:*:except two if you consider Kasumi and Yuuko as main characters]] of the main cast, as well as the majority of the supporting cast, are dead by the end of Operation Cherry Blossom and its aftermath, many of them via HeroicSacrifice. Of the three immediate survivors of the operation, Sumika dies due to inability to keep her body working after the Yokohama hive destruction and Takeru [[RetGone ceases to exist]] in the aftermath. Old Tomino would have been proud.]]
* LettingHerHairDown: Chizuru does this on dates in her route in ''Extra'', [[spoiler:and in the Epilogue of her route in ''Unlimited''. Meiya does the same thing in her Epilogue.]]

* LonelyPianoPiece[=/=]PlayingTheHeartStrings[=/=]OneWomanWail: ''All three'' in ''one'' track: ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElpL-EbCxT8 For You Who Departs]]''. Should be obvious [[{{Tearjerker}} at which scenes]] this plays.
* LoveTriangle: Takeru, Sumika and Meiya in ''Extra''; Yuuya, Cryska and Yui in ''Total Eclipse''. [[spoiler: Also Takeru, Ayamine and Sagiri in Ayamine's route in ''Extra''.]]
* MacrossMissileMassacre: [[spoiler: Courtesy of the Susano'o Type-4 Unit.]]
* TheMasochismTango: Takeru and Sumika's relationship in ''Extra'' in a nutshell.
* MeaningfulName: [[spoiler: Meiya's name contains the characters for "darkness" and "night", which ties into her role as the Shogun(her twin sister)'s shadow. Yuuhi contains the character for "light of day", fitting in with her role as the Grand Shogun.]]
* MeaningfulFuneral: [[spoiler:Captain Isumi and Haruko. Then Haruka and Mitsuki. Then Meiya, Chizuru, Ayamine, Tama, Mikoto and Sumika]]. [[spoiler:Michiru]]'s is a particularly-poignant one with the funeral march ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DO-VRaqxKI Flame of Life]]'' playing in the background.
* MegatonPunch: Sumika's ''"DRILL MILKY PUNCH!"''
** Takeru becomes [[spoiler: resistant to it in ''Alternative'' when he goes back to his real dimension through Yuuko's machine, so much so that he actually doesn't flinch at all (thanks to his military training in his other timeloops). This resistance doesn't stop 00-Unit Sumika from flooring him when she does it to him though.]]
* MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness: 4 out of 6.
* MoodWhiplash: ''Unlimited'', with respect to ''Extra''. In ''Alternative'': [[spoiler: Takeru has fallen into depression in the aftermath of a surprise BETA attack, and won't move from near the remains of his trashed TSF, when Marimo comes by to give him a pep talk. The latter is succeeding, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0MjQpeSamI calming music is playing]]... then Takeru looks up and sees [[{{Gorn}} HEADCHOMP]].]]
* MultinationalTeam: The cast of ''Total Eclipse'' belongs to a research and development division set up by the United Nations to test new TSF models. The pilot main character is a Japanese-American, while there is another Japanese, four Russians, a Swede, a Nepali, a Turk, and so on.
* MultipleEndings: In ''Extra'' and ''Unlimited'' only. ''Alternative'' is strictly linear, the few decisions you get to make not having any plot effect. [[spoiler: The nature of the multiple routes is a major plot point.]]
* MurphysLaw: [[spoiler: When you "hope of humanity" crashes on its second shot, your mechanic dies at the 'insert command' option, your acting squad leader finds out her bomb was dismantled just as she escaped, your girlfriend's continued life is reliant on the reactor that you failed to save, your own life is dependent on her survival, and when your final victory is dampened by all of you allies dying, you killing one of your [[LoveInterest love interests]] in an [[MercyKill act of mercy]], and discovering that your victory amounted to nothing in the face of 10^37 (or 10000000000000000000000000000000000000) BETA in the universe; it's no longer: "if it can go wrong it ''will''," it's: "it's ''already'' gone wrong," and "'''ItGotWorse.'''"]]
* NewGamePlus: ''Unlimited'' can only be unlocked by finishing the two possible endings of ''Extra'''s "main route".
** The first part of ''Alternative'' is the rare example of this trope happening in-story- Takeru keeps the skills and training he gained during ''Unlimited'', allowing him to breeze through the basic training that thoroughly kicked his ass the first time around.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler: In ''Alternative'', Takeru's choice not to get Squadron 207 personally involved in the evacuation of the villagers from the eruption of Mt. Tengen (unlike what they did in ''Unlimited'') was the indirect trigger for Sagiri's coup d'etat, which claimed the life of Chizuru's father the Prime Minister.]]

* NoRomanticResolution: [[spoiler:The romance plot ends up like this: Takeru is an amalgamation of all of the possible endings of ''Extra'' who then went through an unknown number of ''Unlimited'' loops until he had at some point been in a relationship with everyone. In ''Alternative'' he ends up in a relationship with Sumika, but this is basically retconned out of existence when Takeru 'returns' to the world of ''Extra'' thus leaving him single again, only now with more love interests than ever. In essence, Takeru dated everyone and in the end no one.]]
* NostalgicMusicbox: ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnfMvYIHJt8&fmt=18 A World To Protect]]'', one of the three rearrangements of ''Muv-Luv'' main theme.
* NotAMorningPerson: Takeru and Ayamine are terrible when it comes to waking up. [[spoiler:After having lived in a military livestyle for three years, at the beginning of ''Alternative'' Takeru has begun waking himself up on time, much to Kasumi's disappointment.]]
* NowOrNeverKiss: [[spoiler: Takeru and Meiya in ''Unlimited'' nearly got into one after being trapped in his TSF which had been buried in a landslide. Cue [[MomentKiller the rest of the squad getting through the rubble and opening the cockpit]].]]
* NukeEm: Four cases:
** During the BETA invasion the Soviet government retreated all the way to the northeastern tip of Siberia while attempting a scorched-earth policy using tactical nuclear weapons; it didn't work, however as they acted too late.
** The United States, upon learning of a BETA hive landing in neighboring Canada did not waste any time and nuked the hive to oblivion, turning half of poor Canada into a wasteland.
** The later US standard tactic of dropping G-Bombs - experimental bombs made with an alien element recovered from BETA hives which are more powerful (and even less well-understood) than nukes - to destroy hives. [[spoiler:This strategy was implemented worldwide during Alternative V, and would have been implemented had Takeru and company failed to destroy the BETA Superior.]]
** In ''Total Eclipse'', [[spoiler: the United States leased half of Alaska to the Soviet government (which had fled there after Eurasia was overrun by BETA), but had secretly planted ''hydrogen bombs'' all over the place, ready to detonate them should the BETA invade in force.]]

* OminousLatinChanting[=/=]OneWomanWail: ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MbiwLnduNU Original Hive]]''
* PsychicPowers: [[spoiler: Kasumi Yashiro, as well as Cryska Barchenowa and Inia Sestina in the side story ''Total Eclipse''. All three are among the last survivors of Alternative III, an attempt to communicate with the BETA using psychics.]]
* PsychoStrings: The aptly-named ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L4N4GGbwzM Creeping Anxiety]]'', which plays during tense or traumatic moments.
* RapunzelHair: Almost anyone with long hair will have ''really'' long hair. Bonus points to Tama for having hair that likely weights more than she does.
* RedshirtArmy: The average survival time of a new pilot against the BETA is ''[[spoiler: just eight minutes]]''.
* ReferenceOverdosed - And how!
* RelationshipVoiceActor: MasayoKurata (Chizuru) and Yuko Nagashima (Ayamine) voicing allies who are rivals of some sort at the same time? Hmm...[[{{Scryed}} Where have I heard that before?]]
** In addition, MasayoKurata and SoichiroHoshi (Takeru) had four other instances playing as teammates: Michael and Fasalina in GunXSword, Fayt and [[OptionalPartyMember Peppita]] in StarOcean3, Kira and Mayura in GundamSEED and [[spoiler: Gino and Rakshata late in the second season of CodeGeass via EnemyMine.]]
* {{Rewrite}}: TheReveal in ''Unlimited'' [[spoiler: about Meiya being a member of the Imperial family]] was changed to [[spoiler: being a member of the Shogun's family (the Shogunate still exists there)]] in ''Alternative''. This change was retained in the later all-ages release of ''Unlimited'' as well.
* RoadCone: As the direct sequel of ''Akane Maniax'', Mitsuki's end in ''KimiNozo'' is canon to ''Extra''. [[spoiler:Due to 00-Sumika retconning away Haruka's accident, other ''KimiNozo'' routes could take place in ''Final Extra'' - like timelines.]]
* RousingSpeech: Yokohama Base Commander [[NorioWakamoto Paul Radhabinod]] gives one [[spoiler: at the beginning of Chapter 10 of ''Alternative'', in the aftermath of the BETA attack on the base and as Takeru's squad sets off for its final mission.]]

* SayMyName: Many times, but the most tear-jerking instances are [[spoiler: at the end of ''Alternative'': Takeru screaming out Meiya's name as he pulls the trigger at her along with the BETA Superior, shortly followed by Meiya (who had always maintained a respectful distance to the Grand Shogun) in her final moments finally calling the Shogun "My sister...".]]
* ScheduleSlip: ''Extra'', ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative'' were supposed to be released together, but ''Alternative'' got delayed for three years due to various problems, thus the Japanese meme ''"Oruta mada~?"'' ("Is ''Alternative'' here yet~?").
* {{Seinen}}: Despite running in ''Dengeki Daioh'', the manga adaptations of ''Extra'', ''Alternative'' and ''Total Eclipse'' are classified as such.

* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: Takeru's goal in ''Alternative''.
* {{Shounen}}: The manga adaptation of ''Unlimited'', which ran in ''Dengeki Daioh''. The original visual novels are, of course, anything '''but''' shounen.
* ShoutOut: ''Muv-Luv'' has at least three general sources:
** '''Mecha and Tokusatsu Series.''' ''MuvLuv'' and its prequel ''Akane Maniax'' has a ton of shout-outs to these. A partial list includes ''Anime/{{Tekkaman}}'', ''{{Ultraman}}'', ''GetterRobo'', ''{{Grendizer}}'', ''BraveRaideen'', ''CharsCounterattack'' (see ColonyDrop above), and ''{{Gundam0083}}''.
** '''Science Fiction Literature.''' VN chapters in ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative'' are named after [[spoiler: plot-relevant]] sci-fi novels or short stories (most notably Arthur C. Clarke's ''The Songs of Distant Earth'', which gave its name to ''Unlimited'''s last chapter and ED). In addition, several plot points in ''Alternative'' owe their origin to ''StarshipTroopers'', per WordOfGod.
** '''Video Games.''' From (among others) VirtualOn (Valgern-On), {{Tekken}} (Dokken), FireEmblem (the strategy RPG Takeru lends to Chizuru), and MetalGearSolid (the game Takeru lends to Ayamine, in addition to a line from Takeru where he says he's not a member of "SOCKSHOUND").
* ShowerOfLove: [[spoiler:Chizuru]]'s H-Scene in ''Unlimited''.
* [[spoiler:ShrineToTheFallen]]: [[spoiler:In ''Alternative'', a short beam of iron was erected on the spot Marimo fell as a memorial to her. It was later moved to the foot of one of the cherry trees in front of the base, and turned into a memorial for all the fallen Valkyries (Marimo with her "children") together.]]
* SiblingYinYang: [[spoiler: The twins Meiya and Yuuhi (the Shogun) were supposed to be this (see MeaningfulName above).]] Subverted in that they turn out to have exactly the same personality and can understand each other's feelings ''perfectly'' [[spoiler: despite being separated mere days after birth and never meeting each other since]].
* SignatureStyle: [[spoiler: âge seems to have a thing for [[LastStand Last Stands]], KillEmAll and[=/=]or SoleSurvivor in its works set in the ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative'' timelines.]]
* SilentScapegoat: [[spoiler: Ayamine's nurse mother in ''Extra'', who chose to take the blame for Dr. Sagiri's malpractice. Mirrored in ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative'' by Ayamine's father, a general who was imprisoned and disgraced for prioritizing the safety of noncombatants during a battle.]]
* SiliconBasedLife: [[spoiler:Takeru later finds out that the Creators of the BETA are silicon-based life-forms. The reason the whole war is even going on is because they simply assumed that carbon was too reactive an element to form naturally occurring sentient life and programmed that assumption into the BETA>]]
* SoleSurvivor: The ''Unlimited / Alternative'' side-story ''Atonement'' reveals that [[spoiler: Marimo was this of her squad]]. [[spoiler: Kasumi becomes this of [[KillEmAll Operation Cherry Blossom after Sumika dies and Takeru ceases to exist.]]]]

* {{Spinoff}}: Of ''KimiGaNozomuEien''. ''Extra'' is also the direct sequel of the ''[=KNGE=]'' side-story ''Akane Maniax''.
* SpoilerOpening: The OP of ''Unlimited'' [[spoiler: shows the Type-4 Susano'o unit, which would not appear until ''Alternative''.]]
* StarfishAliens: The BETA. [[spoiler: They were created to harvest resources, with a programming which is essentially: "There can be no carbon-based sentient life. No exceptions."]]
* SuckOutThePoison: Mikoto has to do this to Takeru when he gets bit by a poisonous snake during a combat exam. [[spoiler:In the game, it turns out the snake wasn't poisonous; in the manga adaptation, the snake was.]]
* SuicideMission: In the standard Japanese and UN Army tactical doctrine, once the orbital diver squads break through a hive monument into the interior, they are essentially cut off from reinforcements and additional supplies against a ZergRush of enemies in their home territory. [[spoiler: Takeru and his squad go off on this when they were ordered to invade the Original Hive, [[KillEmAll with predictable results]].]]
* SuperDeformed: In typical âge fashion, characters are drawn as such during moments of levity, as well as in Sumika's diary sketches (see the image on the [[YMMV/MuvLuv YMMV subpage]] for an example)
* SuperPrototype: [[spoiler: The Susano'o units in ''Alternative'', which were the only ones big enough to carry the prototype DeflectorShields and WaveMotionGun. They require in turn another SuperPrototype to even operate at all - the 00-Unit.]]
* SurvivorGuilt: [[spoiler: Marimo after losing her squadmates to a surprise BETA attack, as her backstory reveals.]]
* TakingTheBullet: [[spoiler: Marimo's former squad leader shielding her [=TSF=] from a laser-class BETA]] in the side-story ''Atonement''. [[spoiler: In ''Alternative'', orbital shuttle pilots tanked lasers and died to a man for the Susano'o during the drop over the Original Hive.]]
* TemporalThemeNaming: Japanese TSF models and equipment (even those manufactured under foreign license such as the F-4 Phantom) are given designations of the form "Type-xx", where the latter is the last two digits of the year the particular equipment was adopted; for example, the Type-74 longsword was adopted in 1974, the Type-77 Gekishin (alternate name of the F-4J) was first used in 1977, the Type-97 Fubuki TSF entered Imperial Army service in 1997, while the Type-00 Takemikazuchi was adopted by the Imperial Royal Guard in 2000. [[spoiler:Side materials reveal that the Imperial Army adopts the Shiranui Type-2 (test-piloted by Yuuya in ''Total Eclipse'') as the Type-04 post-''Alternative''.]]
* TemptingFate: In episode 2 of ''Total Eclipse'', after surviving past the 8 minutes that most soldiers normally last against the BETA's, one of the girls happily exclaims that she survived it. Cue a BETA then rushing past, and her mecha promptly getting hit and blowing up.

* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: [[spoiler: Not the deeds of the Valkyries, whose names were released post-Operation Cherry Blossom, with one exception. All of ''Takeru''[='=]s achievements will never be revealed due to ceasing to exist and being [[RetGone Ret Goned]] from everyone's memories save Kasumi and Yuuko's, and the latter has vowed to take the secret of the existence of alternate worlds, and therefore Takeru's existence, with her to the grave.]]
* ThemeMusicPowerUp: [[spoiler: With a heart-wrenching twist at the end of ''Alternative'': Meiya's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9fvnSkSC90 eponymous theme music]] plays ''during her death scene, while she begs Takeru to end her life along with the BETA Superior.'' The music crescendoes to its climax as Takeru pulls the trigger screaming out her name in tears.]]
* TheyCallMeMisterTibbs: It's "Instructor Jinguuji", Takeru, not "Marimo-chan". [[spoiler: Though she allows Takeru to use the latter after his squad is commissioned.]]
* TogetherInDeath: Invoked by Takeru [[spoiler: in the Normal End of each main heroine in ''Unlimited''.]]
* TotallyRadical: An interesting version - due to the alternate history taken by the ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative'' worlds, much of the slang that Takeru uses in the ''Extra'' world doesn't exist, requiring him to often explain what said slang means to people in those worlds whenever he uses it.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Ayamine's yakisoba bread, as can be seen in this page's picture.
* TranslatorMicrobes: The standard pilot suit comes with real-time translator equipment, enabling soldiers of different nationalities to converse. [[spoiler: The translators are implied to work only on the level of the spoken word and not on how they are written, and this becomes a minor plot point (see CrypticConversation and MeaningfulName above).]] [=TSF=]s are also equipped with real-time interpreters, which apparently broadcast translated spoken speech (see CommonTongue above).
* [[TrappedInAnotherWorld Trapped In A Parallel Dimension]]
* TrollingCreator: [[spoiler:Go fire up a new installation of ''Extra''. Notice those random lines in the background? That's actually a [[HumongousMecha Type-00R]] [[GenreShift Takemikazuchi]]. And you were expecting some random comedic "moe" game, haven't you?]]
* TrueCompanions: Takeru's friends in ''Extra'', Squadron 207[=/=]A-01 Valkyries in ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative''. The trope was invoked by the commanding officer of the Valkyries, who recounted that she joined the army out of a desire to protect the one she loved, but ended up caring more for her teammates instead.
* TheUnfought / TheUnseen: [[spoiler: Takeru and the rest of Squad 207 never actually fight or encounter the BETA during all of ''Unlimited'', except offscreen during the ending.]] When they finally [[spoiler: show up for real halfway through ''Alternative'', the onscreen body count goes through the roof.]]
* UniversalAdaptorCast: Done on purpose by the creators. [[spoiler: Part of the experience of those who played ''Unlimited'' without knowing about its setting beforehand is the surprise at seeing {{Anime Hair}}ed girls seen in the typical romantic comedy suddenly thrust into a life-and-death war story.]]
* {{Unobtainium}}: Element Gray in ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative'', which is ''never'' found outside ''BETA hives'', and even then only in small amounts. Unlike in [[MinovskyPhysics other settings]] its properties are too little-understood to be widely-used, is tricky to use, and highly-toxic to boot.
* UnwantedHarem: In ''Extra''. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in ''Unlimited'', where Takeru is pretty much the only guy that his teammates know that is in the same age group as them.
* {{Utsuge}}: Prepare to shed ManlyTears at the end of ''Unlimited''. Prepare to shed ''even more'' during ''Alternative''.
* VehicularThemeNaming: Almost all [=TSF=]s (the later Japanese models being the only exceptions) are named after real-life fighter aircraft, and share characteristics and general roles with their real-life counterparts. This is because of the presence of Laser-class BETA, which forced defense companies to build and develop [=TSF=]s instead of fighters.
* WatchingTroyBurn: Kyoto is overrun by the BETA's by the 2nd episode of ''Total Eclipse''.
* WaveMotionGun: [[spoiler: The Particle Cannon, of which only two (both prototypes) were made, both equipped to Susano'o units.]]
* WeddingDeadline[=/=]SpeakNowOrForeverHoldYourPeace: The climax of [[spoiler: Meiya's route]] in ''Extra''.
* WindsOfDestinyChange: In the context of Yuuko's Theory of Quantum Causality, certain people (especially those with strong willpower) have the subconscious ability of picking out the course of action which will give the optimum outcome for themselves, their comrades, or humanity. [[spoiler:All who undergo pilot training in the UN are screened for this ability, with those having the strongest latencies becoming members of VF-A01.]]
* XMeetsY: RumblingHearts meets ResistanceFallOfMan.
** [[IncrediblyLamePun Alternatively,]] your standard wacky DatingSim high on StarshipTroopers and [[spoiler:[[YoshiyukiTomino "Kill 'em All" Tomino]]]].
* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: During the combat exam, it looks like the squad has finally made it to the target point, [[spoiler:when a gun battery suddenly attacks the helicopter supposed to pick them up, requiring the team to take a whole day just to get to the next point and disabling the battery.]]
* YouShallNotPass: In episode 2 of ''Total Eclipse'', Yui's instructor does this against the impending BETA invasion to buy her and her remaining friends time to escape to the rally point. After they leave, the camera pans on the instructor, who's holding his side, which appears to be bleeding heavily.
* YouShouldKnowThisAlready: The setting of ''Unlimited'', which was a surprise and MoodWhiplash to those who played it for the first time when ''MuvLuv'' came out.
* ZergRush: On any battlefield the BETA outnumber human forces ''at least'' 20 to 1 (inside hives the ratio is at least ''100 to 1''), and have perfect OneHitKill extreme-range attackers. [[spoiler: It got far worse later on when the BETA started using tactics in addition to sheer numbers and Laser types.]]
* [[spoiler:ZombieApocalypse]]: [[spoiler:The ''Venator'' BETA strain is created by recycling protein of humans.]]
[[/folder]]
----

''Muv-Luv'' is a series of {{Visual Novel}}s produced by age which takes place in the same universe as ''[[RumblingHearts Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien]]'', and shares some characters with the latter. There are 3 main games in this series: ''Muv-Luv Extra'', ''Muv-Luv Unlimited'', and ''Muv-Luv Alternative''. The first two were released together as ''Muv-Luv'', with the ''Unlimited'' portion of the game unlocked by progressing in ''Extra''. The series' fame comes primarily from ''Muv-Luv Alternative'', one of the most popular visual novels of all time, known for its high production values, complex plot, exciting mecha battles and political intrigue.

After 3 years in the ''Unlimited'' world, Takeru wakes up to find that he has rewound back to the beginning of ''Unlimited''. Unable to accept the result of what happened at the end of ''Unlimited'' ([[spoiler:mass evacuation of Earth, followed by the remaining humans' last stand against the BETA]]), he strives to find a method that could give humanity victory. ''Alternative'' also includes Michiru Isumi from age's debut game ''Kimi Ga Ita Kisetsu'', which got a remake in 2011 (in which Touko Kazama and Misae Munakata also appear), and Mitsuki Hayase, Haruka Suzumiya (Akane's sister), along with Akane herself, from ''KimiGaNozomuEien''. The composers from ''Muv-Luv'' return for the music, which also features contributions from JAMProject, Hijiri Anze (''ResidentEvilCodeVeronica''), Hikaru Nanase (''ZoneOfTheEnders'', ''Manga/ChronoCrusade''), and Taku Iwasaki (who would later compose for ''SoulEater'' and ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'').

* AllThereInTheManual: Several characters and events will not make complete sense unless you've seen/read ''RumblingHearts''. ''Alternative'' itself cannot be understood fully without reference to ''Extra'' and ''Unlimited''. In addition there are the various side stories, artbooks, and other material age is coming out with. Finally some aspects left out of the ''Alternative'' VN are touched upon in its manga adaptation.

* BleachedUnderpants: The all-ages versions of the trilogy censor the H-scenes. [[spoiler: They also censor some of the {{Gorn}} over which fans raised an outcry.]] The upcoming VisualNovel adaptation of ''Total Eclipse'' has bbeen confirmed to be all-ages, but the 2012 PC re-release of the original trilogy is, curiously, 18+.

* ContinuityCameo: One that is lost to those who never played age's first releases before ''Alternative'': Emi Motoi (Yuuko's voice actress, who voiced a main heroine in age's debut game ''Kimi ga Ita Kisetsu'') also did an unnamed role in ''Alternative'' as the Imperial Army grunt saved by Ikaruga at Sadogashima. [[spoiler:''Succession'' later confirms that the grunt is indeed Akira Isumi, Michiru's youngest sister.]]

* {{Gorn}}: Several scenes in ''Alternative''. [[spoiler: Marimo's death seems to be the most infamous and memetic in the English-speaking fandom. The {{Gorn}} was so graphic that many Japanese fans complained about it, causing age to create a gore-censoring patch.]]

* GratuitousEnglish: Several dialogues in heavily-accented English in ''Alternative''. age's decidedly shoddy English is clearly pointed out in the translation patch's readme: ''"age cannot speak English. They just can't. If you see, for instance, an image says 'preceding paragraph' and the text box says 'transferring seat information', trust us and not them."''

* SignatureStyle: [[spoiler: age seems to have a thing for [[LastStand Last Stands]], KillEmAll and[=/=]or SoleSurvivor in its works set in the ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative'' timelines.]]

* SuperDeformed: In typical age fashion, characters are drawn as such during moments of levity, as well as in Sumika's diary sketches (see the image on the [[YMMV/MuvLuv YMMV subpage]] for an example)

* TrollingCreator: [[spoiler:Go fire up a new installation of ''Extra''. Notice those random lines in the background? That's actually a [[HumongousMecha Type-00R]] [[GenreShift Takemikazuchi]]. And you were expecting some random comedic "moe" game, haven't you? [[MemeticMutation ONORE KOUKI!]]]]

* BadassCreed: [[spoiler: The oath of the Isumi Valkyries in ''Alternative'': "Achieve your mission with all your might. Despair not until your last breath. Make your death count!" Also encapsulates the desperation of humanity's struggle against the BETA, and becomes depressing once the events of the final suicide mission set in. The oath also counts as ArcWords for ''Alternative''.]]
* {{Baka}}: Takeru is called one ''many'' times by many people, especially by Sumika, Chizuru, and Meiya.

* ForWantOfANail: [[spoiler:Only If Takeru was facing more than 45 degrees to the right there would be no HEADCHOMP...]]
** Also see VehicularThemeNaming below.

[[folder:The following tropes contain major plot twists for the trilogy and side materials. Read at your own risk!]]
* [[spoiler:BittersweetEnding]]: [[spoiler: Alternative IV is successful, and Takeru has bought humanity three more decades of survival... at the price of the lives of his lover and closest friends[[hottip:*: all of whom were his lovers in alternate worlds]], one of whom he had to [[ICannotSelfTerminate personally pull the trigger on]]. Takeru himself becomes [[RetGone Ret Goned]], and only three of the Valkyries remain. And there remain at least 10^37 BETA out in space. May border on ShaggyDogStory considering the last point.]]
* [[spoiler:BlueAndOrangeMorality]]: [[spoiler: The reason humans are incapable of making peace with the BETA is because they are essentially organic mining machines created by super advanced silicon-based alien life forms and are pre-programmed to not acknowledge any carbon-based life forms (including themselves) as living creatures, just resources to be recycled and processed.]]
* [[spoiler:DownerEnding]]: [[spoiler: ''Muv-Luv Unlimited'', with Alternative V being implemented: A small fraction of the remaining human population (including Takeru's girlfriend, whom he had convinced to live on) flees the planet, and the rest go out with a bang, nuking themselves and the BETA with lots of G-Bombs.]]
* [[spoiler:DwindlingParty]]: [[spoiler:The members of original Squadron 207 die off one by one in the final suicide mission against the Original Hive.]]
* [[spoiler:EarnYourHappyEnding]]: [[spoiler:When Takeru tries to weasel out of his responsibility to save humanity from the BETA/find out why he's trapped in that timeline, it really doesn't work out so well, so he resolves to return and finish his work. His efforts not only earn him a return to his happy life (see however, the AlternateCharacterInterpretation entry on the [[YMMV/MuvLuv YMMV subpage]]), but the parallel-universe selves of several characters introduced in ''Alternative'' (being dead or otherwise not present in the ''Extra'' world) get to join him in happiness.]]
** [[spoiler:In the ''Alternative'' world, the ending is a touch more [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet]], but all the same, you can't deny that Takeru and his squad earned every last drop of sweetness enjoyed.]]
* [[spoiler:EverybodyLives]]: [[spoiler:Together with KillEmAll below, a double whammy by ''Alternative''! Only in a separate dimension, though.]]
* [[spoiler:ForWantOfANail]]: [[spoiler:Alternative V went into action because the ''Unlimited'' world never created gaming systems. Yuuko thus never played some RPG that showed her that her theory was flawed and thus had no stimulation to fix her theory or even realize it was wrong. End result? The Earth was doomed because Yuuko never played 'some crappy RPG.' ''Alternative'' really gets going when Takeru tells her that ''Extra'' Yuuko said that ''Unlimited''/''Alternative'' Yuuko's theory was flawed.]]
* [[spoiler:{{Gorn}}]]: Several scenes in ''Alternative''. [[spoiler: Marimo's death seems to be the most infamous and memetic in the English-speaking fandom. The {{Gorn}} was so graphic that many Japanese fans complained about it, causing age to create a gore-censoring patch.]]
* [[spoiler:GroundhogDayLoop]]: [[spoiler:''Unlimited'' repeated itself an unknown but large number of times before Takeru happened to retain some memory of what had happened. Every time he died in that world, the world reset back to October 22nd.]]
* [[spoiler:HerHeartWillGoOn]]: [[spoiler:Takeru's girlfriend at the end of ''Unlimited''.]] The song [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97qmMJQ5k78 Songs of Distant Earth]] is about this trope.
* [[spoiler: HumanResources]]: [[spoiler:The BETA can recycle their own, as well as humans, into more of them. The Soldier-class ''[[ExtremeOmnivore Venator]]'' [[BodyHorror strain]] is made by recyclng humans.]]
* '''[[spoiler:KillEmAll]]''': [[spoiler:'''All'''[[hottip:*:except two if you consider Kasumi and Yuuko as main characters]] of the main cast, as well as the majority of the supporting cast, are dead by the end of Operation Cherry Blossom and its aftermath, many of them via HeroicSacrifice. Of the three immediate survivors of the operation, Sumika dies due to inability to keep her body working after the Yokohama hive destruction and Takeru [[RetGone ceases to exist]] in the aftermath. Old Tomino would have been proud.]]
* [[spoiler:NoRomanticResolution]]: [[spoiler:The romance plot ends up like this: Takeru is an amalgamation of all of the possible endings of ''Extra'' who then went through an unknown number of ''Unlimited'' loops until he had at some point been in a relationship with everyone. In ''Alternative'' he ends up in a relationship with Sumika, but this is basically retconned out of existence when Takeru 'returns' to the world of ''Extra'' thus leaving him single again, only now with more love interests than ever. In essence, Takeru dated everyone and in the end no one.]]
* [[spoiler:SiliconBasedLife]]: [[spoiler:Takeru later finds out that the Creators of the BETA are silicon-based life-forms.]]
* [[spoiler:SomeoneToRememberHimBy]]: [[spoiler:The True End of each heroine's route in ''Unlimited''.]]
* [[spoiler:TheGreatestStoryNeverTold]]: [[spoiler: Not the deeds of the Valkyries, whose names were released post-Operation Cherry Blossom, with one exception. All of ''Takeru''[='=]s achievements will never be revealed due to ceasing to exist and being [[RetGone Ret Goned]] from everyone's memories save Kasumi and Yuuko's, and the latter has vowed to take the secret of the existence of alternate worlds, and therefore Takeru's existence, with her to the grave.]]
* [[spoiler:TogetherInDeath]]: Invoked by Takeru [[spoiler: in the Normal End of each main heroine in ''Unlimited''.]]
* [[spoiler:{{Utsuge}}]]: [[spoiler:Prepare to shed ManlyTears at the end of ''Unlimited''. Prepare to shed ''even more'' during ''Alternative'']].
* [[spoiler:WhatMeasureIsANonhuman]]: [[spoiler:Inverted - the BETA are programmed by their Creators to recognize only silicon-based life as alive. By extension, they don't recognize humanity (and even themselves) as alive. May be a warped version of Asimov's First Law of Robotics.]]
** FridgeBrilliance: [[spoiler:In combat, BETA choose their targets according to threat it poses to them, but targets with more advanced[=/=]more numerous computers get precedence over other targets with the same threat level. Human computers are silicon-based.]]
[[/folder]]

* [[spoiler:ArtificialHuman]]:[[spoiler: Sumika (the 00-Unit) in ''Alternative'']].
* [[spoiler:AttemptedRape]]:[[spoiler:Takeru, suffering PTSD from seeing Marimo brutally killed in front of him, and having been injected with several different chemicals, on Meiya. In an [[ContinuityNod echo]] of what Mitsuki did in ''KimiGaNozomuEien'' she offers her body to Takeru in the hope of preventing him from going off the deep end; Takeru then runs away out of intense guilt and shame.]]
* [[spoiler:BackupTwin]]: [[spoiler:Meiya]]

* [[spoiler:BodyHorror]]: [[spoiler:Meiya at the end of ''Alternative'' was infected by the BETA Superior, an excruciatingly painful process. Takeru is forced to pull the trigger on her and the Superior before the process was completed, upon her begging.]]
* [[spoiler: CartwrightCurse]]: [[spoiler: Non-romantic example: All of Takeru's CoolBigSis mentor figures in ''Alternative'' die in front of him. He is understandably [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A9RsgBmyHo#t=2m45s upset]], at one point taking out his frustration at invading BETA after being told by one of them to leave her to destroy the Yokohama hive reactor via self-destruct.]]
* [[spoiler:DeadPersonConversation]]: [[spoiler:In Takeru's dream shortly after the defense of Yokohama Base.]]
* [[spoiler:DeathNotification]]: [[spoiler:The official explanation given for Michiru's death was an explosion of her TSF's jump units during a training accident on the day of the Sadogashima hive assault.]]
* [[spoiler:DiabolusExMachina]]: [[spoiler:Poor Marimo-chan...]]

* [[spoiler:DyingDeclarationOfLove]]: [[spoiler:Meiya at the end of ''Alternative''.]]

* [[spoiler:GoOutWithASmile]]: [[spoiler:Meiya in the end of ''Alternative''.]]

* [[spoiler:GutPunch]]: [[spoiler:HEADCHOMP is but the beginning. [[MemeticMutation Can't spell 'rage' without 'age']], indeed.]]

* [[spoiler:ICannotSelfTerminate]]: [[spoiler:Meiya at the climax of ''Alternative''.]]
* '''[[spoiler:KillEmAll]]''': [[spoiler:'''All'''[[hottip:*:except two if you consider Kasumi and Yuuko as main characters]] of the main cast, as well as the majority of the supporting cast, are dead by the end of Operation Cherry Blossom and its aftermath, many of them via HeroicSacrifice. Of the three immediate survivors of the operation, Sumika dies due to NoOntologicalInertia and Takeru [[RetGone ceases to exist]] in the aftermath. Old Tomino would have been proud.]]
* [[spoiler:KillTheOnesYouLove]]: [[spoiler:Takeru blows up Meiya along with the BETA Superior with the Susano'o's particle cannon at the end of the Original Hive mission.]]
* [[spoiler:MentorOccupationalHazard]]: [[spoiler: Marimo in ''Alternative'', brutally killed by a soldier-class BETA while trying to cheer Takeru out of depression. Also Captain Isumi and First Lieutenants Suzumiya and Hayase.]]
* [[spoiler:[[FriendZone Noble Confidant'd]]]]: ''[[spoiler: Meiya.]]''
* [[spoiler:NoOntologicalInertia]]: [[spoiler:Sumika in ''Alternative''. Her 00-Unit body needed the hive reactor of the Yokohama Base for sustenance, which she lost after said base's defense. Also Takeru, as ''Sumika'' was the one sustaining his existence in both ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative''; he ceases to exist shortly after Sumika dies.]]

* [[spoiler:OneWayTrip]]: [[spoiler:Sumika never intended to survive the Kashgar Hive assault, and in fact originally planned to go at it alone.]]
* [[spoiler:ShootTheHostage]]: [[spoiler: A rare instance where the hostage begs for it: At the end of ''Alternative'', Meiya's TSF has been captured by the BETA Superior and is being held in front of Takeru, leaving him unable to fire Susano'o's WaveMotionGun at the Superior. [[ICannotSelfTerminate Meiya, who was under excruciating pain from the BETA infecting her, begs him to fire]]; Takeru is forced to pull the trigger in a {{Tearjerker}} moment.]]

* [[spoiler:TakingYouWithMe]]: [[spoiler: VFA-01 commander Michiru Isumi starts off with wiping out the Sadogashima Hive, along with the entire island, in self-destructing in the Susano'o Type-2. [[KimiGaNozomuEien Acting commander Mitsuki Hayase]] soon follows suit in taking out the Yokohama hive reactor to stop the BETA assault on the UN base aboveground. ''Alternative'' caps it off with the final mission in the Original Hive, where Chizuru and Ayamine choose to self-destruct after fighting to the end, taking out a large number of BETA with them.]]

* [[spoiler:TheHeroDies]]: [[spoiler:In ''Unlimited''.]]
* [[spoiler:TheLastDance]]: Operation Cherry Blossom was one for [[spoiler: Sumika, who had previously lost the hive reactor which was sustaining her life. She managed to hold on for long enough to see the success of the operation.]]

* [[spoiler:TomatoInTheMirror]]: [[spoiler: The Takeru we see in ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative'' is a quantum-causality phenomenon, an amalgamation of all the Takerus in ''Extra'', and has gone through ''Unlimited'' [[GroundhogDayLoop many times in numerous alternate timelines]]. Unlike [[HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi Rika]], however, Takeru is wiped clean at the end of each ''Unlimited'' loop (save the one which preceeded ''Alternative''), and can only remember brief flashes from ''Extra'' and ''Unlimited'' when certain triggers are present. He had also started subconsciously absorbing memories from ''Unlimited / Alternative'''s Takeru, who had been killed off long before the start of the story.]]

* [[spoiler:YouAreNumberSix]]: [[spoiler: Kasumi Yashiro's real name, revealed by the manga adaptation of ''Alternative'' and side materials, is ''Trista Sestina'' ("Sixth 300th") - marking her as belonging to the sixth - and last - generation of Soviet espers from Alternative III - the same as Inia from ''TE''.]]
* [[spoiler:[[AndThenJohnWasAZombie You Are The BETA]]]]: [[spoiler: While berating Takeru, Yuuko in the ''Extra Branch'' invokes this trope, telling him that, to that world's Takeru, to that world's Sumika, and to the five billion people who will die due to his being a causality conductor, he is the incomprehensible harbinger of despair that the BETA are in the world of ''Alternative''.]]
* [[spoiler:YouKilledMyFather]]: [[spoiler: Chizuru, to Sagiri in ''Alternative''. Subverted; she gets an arm sliced off her [=TSF=] and nearly gets killed for her troubles.]]
* [[spoiler:YouShallNotPass]]: [[spoiler: In the Original Hive mission, Chizuru and Ayamine choose to buy time for the rest of the squad to proceed to the target. Leads into TakingYouWithMe above after a desperate fight.]]

* TheJimmyHartVersion: Being a tribute to a whole range of works, much of trilogy's OST is this. For example, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3h_Opxwbw4 "The End of Regret"]] sounds very similar to the Takashi Kako song [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAg2nosbbsM "Is Paris Burning?"]].

** '''Science Fiction Literature.''' Several chapters in ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative'' are named after [[spoiler: plot-relevant]] sci-fi novels or short stories (most notably Arthur C. Clarke's ''The Songs of Distant Earth'', which gave its name to ''Unlimited'''s last chapter and ED). In addition, several plot points in ''Alternative'' owe their origin to ''StarshipTroopers'', per WordOfGod.

Completion of the two endings[[hottip:*:Sumika's and Meiya's]] of the "main route" in ''Extra'' unlocks the ''Unlimited'' portion of ''Muv-Luv''.

In ''Unlimited'', Takeru wakes up one morning to discover that the rest of the city around him is in ruins, and Sumika is nowhere to be found. He later finds out that he's in an alternate world to ''Extra'', where aliens called BETA (an acronym for "Beings of Extra Terrestrial origin. Adversaries to the human race") have invaded Earth and mankind fights back against the alien aggressors with HumongousMecha called ''Senjutsuhokousentouki'' (戦術歩行戦闘機), "Tactical Surface Fighters", as almost all conventional weapons before simply didn't work. ''Unlimited'' relates Takeru's story as he tries to adjust to military life in an unfamiliar world, while rebuilding relationships with his friends. All of the major characters from the ''Extra'' timeline are present in ''Unlimited'', except for Sumika, [[spoiler: and the ''Unlimited'' world's Takeru, who is said to be dead]]. The characters are, for the most part identical to their ''Extra'' counterparts, with the possible exception of Mikoto, who is now female.

The sequel to ''Unlimited'' and released [[ScheduleSlip after several delays]] around 3 years later.

A port of the series to the Xbox 360 was announced by 5pb, co-creators of ''[[ChaosHead Chaos;Head]]'' and ''[[SteinsGate Steins;Gate]]'' with {{Nitroplus}} and was released in October 2011. ''LightNovel/MuvLuvAlternativeTotalEclipse'', one of the many side stories, received an anime adaptation in Summer 2012.

You can find (and please add to) other tropes and fandom reactions [[YMMV/MuvLuv here]], Crowning Moments of Awesome [[Awesome/MuvLuv here]], funny moments [[Funny/MuvLuv here]], and depressing moments [[Tearjerker/MuvLuv here]].

* {{Expy}}[=/=]CaptainErsatz:
** Takahashi Ichimonji, Meiya's limo driver, is basically [[InitialD Ryousuke]] [[TakehitoKoyasu Takahashi]] in personality and traits - stoic, always with a laptop, formulating a Theory of Maximum Street Velocity - with the face of [[InitialD Takumi Fujiwara]].

** Meiya has a hairstyle taken from the [[{{Gundam0083}} RX-78GP02A Physalis]], while [[spoiler: her twin sister Yuuhi]] has one from the [[{{Gundam0083}} AGX-04 Gerbera Tetra]]. In sidestories we also see Meiya's grandfather and training master, who look like, and are named after, {{Raideen}} and {{Grendizer}} respectively, while [[spoiler: Yuuhi's]] master's name is a pun on GodSigma.
*** Pay no mind to the fact that Meiya looks very similar to [[{{Kimi ga Nozomu Eien}} Mitsuki]] and Sumika looks similar to [[{{Kimi ga Nozomu Eien}} Haruka]] or that Sumika gets hit by a car in "Extra" in blatant reference to Haruka's accident in {{Kimi ga Nozomu Eien}}. Don't worry, this is only played for laughs and Sumika gets better pretty much immediately. As you might had guess, like Haruka and Mitsuki, Sumika and Meiya are the main heroines in this game. As a bonus, the song "Muv-Luv" is sung by Haruka's voice actress and is apparently, by "{{Word of God}}," a song about Sumika. To make up for it, the personalities between Meiya/Mitsuki and Sumika/Haruka are completely different.

** The BETA itself seem to taken a few leaves off the [[{{Warhammer 40000}} Tyranids]], especially the fact that there are so many of them left in space which is reminiscent of a Hive Fleet.

* MeaningfulFuneral: [[spoiler:Captain Isumi and Haruko. Then Haruka and Mitsuki. Then Meiya, Chizuru, Ayamine, Tama, Mikoto and Sumika]]. [[spoiler:Michiru's]] is a particularly-poignant one with the funeral march ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DO-VRaqxKI Flame of Life]]'' playing in the background.

* MurphysLaw: [[spoiler: When you "hope of humanity" crashes on its second shot, your mechanic dies at the 'insert command' option, your acting squad leader finds out her bomb was dismantled just as she escaped, your girlfriend's continued life is reliant on the reactor that you failed to save, your own life is dependent on her survival, and when your final victory is dampened by all of you allies dying, you killing one of your [[LoveInterest love interests]] in an [[MercyKill act of mercy]], and discovering that your victory amounted to nothing in the face of 10^37 (or 10000000000000000000000000000000000000) BETA in the universe; it's no longer: "if it can go wrong it ''will''," it's: "it's ''already'' gone wrong," and "'''[[ItGotWorse it got worse.]]'''"]]

** '''Mecha and Tokusatsu Series.''' ''MuvLuv'' and its prequel ''Akane Maniax'' has a ton of shout-outs to these. A partial list includes ''Anime/{{Tekkaman}}'', ''{{Ultraman}}'', ''GetterRobo'', ''{{Grendizer}}'', ''BraveRaideen'', ''[[CharsCounterattack Char's Counterattack]]'' (see ColonyDrop above), and ''[[{{Gundam0083}} Gundam 0083]]''.

* ShowerOfLove: [[spoiler:Chizuru's]] H-Scene in ''Unlimited''.

* [[spoiler:BlueAndOrangeMorality]]: [[spoiler: The reason humans are incapable of making peace with the BETA is because they are essentially organic mining machines created by super advanced silicon-based alien life forms and are pre-programmed to not acknowledge any carbon-based life forms (including themselves) as living creatures, just resources to be recycled and processed.]]

* '''[[spoiler:KillEmAll]]''': [[spoiler:'''All'''[[hottip:*:except two if you consider Kasumi and Yuuko as main characters]] of the main cast, as well as the majority of the supporting cast, are dead by the end of Operation Cherry Blossom and its aftermath, many of them via HeroicSacrifice. Of the three immediate survivors of the operation, Sumika dies due to NoOntologicalInertia and Takeru [[RetGone ceases to exist]] in the aftermath. Old Tomino would have been proud.]]

* MercyKill: In episode 2 of ''Total Eclipse'', Yui's final friend begs her to do this, shooting her so that she can be spared the pain and torture of being EatenAlive by the BETA's breaking into her mecha. Yui hesitates initially, but then does it. However, due to a combination of things (distance, Yui's shock, being unable to aim very well, not really wanting to shoot/kill her friend, and yelling very loudly), all of shots miss.

* FridgeBrilliance: [[spoiler:In combat, BETA choose their targets according to threat it poses to them, but targets with more advanced[=/=]more numerous computers get precedence over other targets with the same threat level. Human computers are silicon-based.]]
** In Extra, Takeru completing the task of printing out sheets of paper for Yuuko was actually [[spoiler:to fulfill a request that Takeru himself makes.]]

** FridgeBrilliance: [[spoiler:In combat, BETA choose their targets according to threat it poses to them, but targets with more advanced[=/=]more numerous computers get precedence over other targets with the same threat level. Human computers are silicon-based.]]

* AlternateHistory: While the Japan of the world of ''Unlimited[=/=]Alternative'' lost World War II, she surrendered on far less humiliating terms: the country did not get nuked and was apparently allowed to keep the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere (here called the Far Eastern Alliance). [[spoiler:The Shogunate also continued to exist, as opposed to its 19th-century abolition in our world - together with the maintenance of the two traditional centers of power: the imperial capital Kyoto for the Emperor and Tokyo for the Shogunate (at least until the BETA invaded and the Emperor had to relocate to Tokyo).]]

** The BETA itself seem to taken a few leaves off the [[Warhammer40000 Tyranids]], especially the fact that there are so many of them left in space which is reminiscent of a Hive Fleet.

* {{Expy}}[=/=]CaptainErsatz: Takahashi Ichimonji, Meiya's limo driver, is basically [[InitialD Ryousuke]] [[TakehitoKoyasu Takahashi]] in personality and traits - stoic, always with a laptop, formulating a Theory of Maximum Street Velocity - with the face of [[InitialD Takumi Fujiwara]]. Yuuko is a [[{{Rule63}} genderbent]] [[SuperRobotWars Shuu Shirakawa]], and Meiya has a hairstyle taken from the [[{{Gundam0083}} RX-78GP02A Physalis]], while [[spoiler: her twin sister Yuuhi]] has one from the [[{{Gundam0083}} AGX-04 Gerbera Tetra]]. In sidestories we also see Meiya's grandfather and training master, who look like, and are named after, {{Raideen}} and {{Grendizer}} respectively, while [[spoiler: Yuuhi's]] master's name is a pun on GodSigma. The ongoing sidestory ''Schwarzesmarken'' adds Captain Ersatzes of [[Anime/BokuWaTomodachiGaSukunai Meat]] and [[Anime/GuiltyCrown Tsugumi]].
** Pay no mind to the fact that Meiya looks every similar to [[{{Kimi ga Nozomu Eien}} Mitsuki]] and Sumika looks similar to [[{{Kimi ga Nozomu Eien}} Haruka]] or that Sumika gets hit by a car in "Extra" in blatant reference to Haruka's accident in {{Kimi ga Nozomu Eien}}. Don't worry, this is only played for laughs and Sumika gets better pretty much immediately. As you might had guess, like Haruka and Mitsuki, Sumika and Meiya are the main heroines in this game. As a bonus, the song "Muv-Luv" is sung by Haruka's voice actress and is apparently, by "{{Word of God}}," a song about Sumika. To make up for it, the personalities between Meiya/Mitsuki and Sumika/Haruka are completely different.

A port of the series to the Xbox 360 was announced by 5pb, co-creators of ''[[ChaosHead Chaos;Head]]'' and ''[[SteinsGate Steins;Gate]]'' with {{Nitroplus}} and was released in October 2011. ''LightNovel/MuvLuvAlternativeTotal Eclipse'', one of the many side stories, received an anime adaptation in Summer 2012.

A port of the series to the Xbox 360 was announced by 5pb, co-creators of ''[[ChaosHead Chaos;Head]]'' and ''[[SteinsGate Steins;Gate]]'' with {{Nitroplus}} and was released in October 2011. ''Total Eclipse'', one of the many side stories, [[http://muv-luv-te-anime.com/ will receive an anime adaptation in Summer 2012]].