History YMMV / CommandAndConquerGenerals

** The ECM tank is loosely based on a Cold War Russian vehicle called the SPR-1, which can jam the fuses in modern mortar rounds.

** The war the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS)]] waged in Iraq and Syria from 2014 to 2019 was shockingly similar in many ways to the GLA's modus operandi, including them frequently deploying [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_terrorism#Used_by_ISIS_in_Iraq_and_Syria chemical weapons]], making extensive use of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_(vehicle)#Syrian_Civil_War over-armed technicals]] and [[https://www.mei.edu/sites/default/files/2019-04/Car_Bombs_as_Weapons_of_War_0.pdf VBIEDs]], overwhelming a large army and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Mosul making off with its stash of American weaponry]], threatening to [[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/26/world/middleeast/isis-iraq.html?_r=1 destroy a dam]], having [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISIL_territorial_claims cells]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_activity_of_ISIL#Foreign_fighters_in_Iraq_and_Syria recruits]] all around the world, and [[http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/13/iraq-security-china-idUSL4N0OU3Z320140613 China closely watching the situation]]. Thankfully, the situation hasn't ''completely'' replicated the events of ''Zero Hour''--ISIS hasn't eviscerated Europe or driven the United States into isolation, and were in fact crushed by international intervention fairly quickly- but it's still notable.
** The GLA origin, traced to regions as far reaching as Kazakhstan and "Aldastan" (The game's version of Tajikistan) draws parallels to {{UsefulNotes/Xinjiang}} separatist groups terrorizing China (with the worst attack being the 2014 Kunming Knife attack), which the Chinese government worked so hard to stamp out. Unlike the game however, it never erupted into a full-blown war, and the US is ''not'' on the Chinese side, due to allegations of human rights violations towards the Uyghur minorities committed by the Chinese government, and as well as their efforts to stamp out extremism border on destroying their culture and replacing it with their own (which the occupied Tibet and Inner Mongolia are facing), making their methods eerily similar to the Empire of Japan.

* IronWoobie: The GLA Worker. Hungry, overworked, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking bereft of shoes]]. Forced to build entire terrorist camps with just a hammer and his hands. Also forced to search mines manually with a metal detector. One gets the feeling his heart may not entirely be into this whole war thing. Likely to get blown up or sent to blow himself up, set on fire, irradiated, sniped, or left gasping for breath as his skin melts off his bones. And that hammer is ''heavy.''

** The ending of Chinese campaign in Zero Hour might touch the heart of Chinese nationalists not offended enough to play this game due to how the in-game Chinese managed to won the hearts of EU.... except, the real-life China is not on good terms with the real-life G7 after they have shifted their policy to a pro-active one back in 2015, due to their passive-aggressive behavior towards them (and also due to increased trade disputes under the Trump administration). Furthermore the cancelled [[VideoGame/CommandAndConquer2013 sequel]] would render this moot in-universe as the EU broke off from China (known as APA), due to wanting independence from them (something that China would ''never'' tolerate) and their implied disgust at their excessive brutality towards civilians. This, alongside the unflattering portrayal to 5 of APA's commanders[[note]]Taskmaster, Beast, 1000 Suns, Red Arrow, and Inferno[[/note]] might be a sore spot for the Chinese nationalists should the game be released.

** The ending of Chinese campaign in Zero Hour might touch the heart of Chinese nationalists not offended enough to play this game due to how the in-game Chinese managed to won the hearts of EU, whereas the real-life China as of 2015 has shifted their international relations policy into a pro-active one (though not in a very good terms with the real-life G7 due to increased trade disputes under the Trump administration). Furthermore the cancelled [[VideoGame/CommandAndConquer2013 sequel]] would render this moot in-universe as the EU broke off from China (known as APA), due to wanting independence from them (something that China would ''never'' tolerate) and their implied disgust at their excessive brutality towards civilians. This, alongside the unflattering portrayal to 5 of APA's commanders[[note]]Taskmaster, Beast, 1000 Suns, Red Arrow, and Inferno[[/note]] might be a sore spot for the Chinese nationalists should the game be released.

-->'''USA Paladin''': Enemies of the free world!
-->'''GLA Rebel''': Our way is true!
-->'''PRC Red Guard''': Foreign devil!

** The ending of Chinese campaign in Zero Hour might touch the heart of Chinese nationalists not offended enough to play this game due to how the in-game Chinese managed to won the hearts of EU, whereas the real-life China as of 2015 has shifted their international relations policy into a pro-active one (though not in a very good terms with the real-life G7 due to increased trade disputes under the Trump administration). Furthermore the cancelled [[VideoGame/CommandAndConquer2013 sequel]] would render this moot in universe as the EU broke off from China (known as APA), due to wanting independence from them (something that China would ''never'' tolerate) and their implied disgust at their excessive brutality towards civilians. This, alongside the unflattering portrayal to 5 of APA's commanders[[note]]Taskmaster, Beast, 1000 Suns, Red Arrow, and Inferno[[/note]] might be a sore spot for the Chinese nationalists should the game be released.

** One of the Chinese units is a Hacker and Black Lotus, a unit that specialize in hacking buildings to disable them (and the latter extends it to vehicles), and also provides funds by hacking the internet (which can be boosted by putting a Hacker/Super Hacker inside) to steal funds and channel it into their war economy. To the late 10's and through the new 20's, a slew of cyberterrorism has become more rampant, which most of the attackers being those backed by Communist China, especially in their efforts to influence and interfere with American and Taiwanese elections and their attempts to sabotage foreign companies.
* HeartwarmingInHindsight: The ending of Chinese campaign in Zero Hour might touch the heart of Chinese nationalists not offended enough to play this game due to how the in-game Chinese managed to won the hearts of EU, with the real-life China as of 2015 shifting their international relations policy into a pro-active one (though not in a very good terms with the real-life G7 no thanks to China's general hostility). The cancelled [[VideoGame/CommandAndConquer2013 sequel]] would render this moot as the EU broke off from China (known as APA), due to wanting independence from them (something that China would ''never'' tolerate) and their implied disgust at their excessive brutality towards innocents. This, alongside the unflattering portrayal to 5 of APA's commanders[[note]]Taskmaster, Beast, 1000 Suns, Red Arrow, and Inferno[[/note]] might be a sore spot for the Chinese nationalists should the game be released rather than cancelled.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: The American [[TankGoodness main battle tanks]] are named the Paladin tank and the Crusader tank. This could be a subtle comparison of UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror to UsefulNotes/TheCrusades.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Despite being set in the [[TwentyMinutesInTheFuture 2013]], the game's UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror references place it firmly at the TurnOfTheMillennium. Among many things, the US military utilizes many experimental vehicles that it never adapted, while the Al-Qaeda stand-in Global Liberation Army represent the fear of terrorism US society experienced back then, including utilizing weaponized anthrax that was in real life discovered to be the work of a rogue US weapons researcher.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Despite being set in the 2020's, the game's UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror references place it firmly at the TurnOfTheMillennium. Among many things, the US military utilizes many experimental vehicles that it never adapted, while the Al-Qaeda stand-in Global Liberation Army represent the fear of terrorism US society experienced back then, including utilizing weaponized anthrax that was in real life discovered to be the work of a rogue US weapons researcher.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: The ending of Chinese campaign in Zero Hour might touch the heart of Chinese nationalists not offended enough to play this game due to how the in-game Chinese managed to won the hearts of EU, with the real-life China as of 2015 shifting their international relations policy into a pro-active one (though not in a very good terms with the real-life G7 no thanks to China's general hostility). The cancelled [[VideoGame/CommandAndConquer2013 sequel]] would render this moot as the EU broke off from China (known as APA), due to wanting independence from them (something that China would ''never'' tolerate) and their implied disgust at their excessive brutality towards innocents. This, alongside the unflattering portrayal to 4 of APA's commanders[[note]]Taskmaster, Beast, 1000 Suns, and Inferno[[/note]] might be a sore spot for the Chinese nationalists should the game be released rather than cancelled.

-->'''Worker:''' Thank you for the new shoes.

** General Tao's challenge map is even scarier than Thrax's. While Thrax is comically awful, Tao is just sane enough that his violently unhinged obsession with radiation just comes out as creepy. The one is immediately set when a couple of tanks are nuked in the intro, and you realize that he has more than one missile silo minutes later. No camping out and bulldozing with a horde of tanks here, you go into the irradiated hellscape to destroy the silos or you are dead.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: One of Dr. Thrax's lines when defeated has him state he plans to kill himself for losing. What makes it hysterical is how casually and plainly he says it.

** The GLA origin, traced to regions as far reaching as Kazakhstan and "Aldastan" (The game's version of Tajikistan) draws parallels to {{UsefulNotes/Xinjiang}} separatist groups terrorizing China (with the worst attack being the 2014 Kunming Knife attack), which the Chinese government worked so hard to stamp out. Unlike the game however, it never erupt into a full-blown war, and the US is ''not'' on the Chinese side due to allegations of human rights violations against Chinese government and military heavy-handed efforts to stamp out extremism.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: The ending of Chinese campaign in Zero Hour might touch the heart of Chinese nationalists not offended enough to play this game due to how the in-game Chinese managed to won the hearts of EU, with the real-life China as of 2015 shifting their international relations policy into a pro-active one (though not in a very good terms with the real-life G7 no thanks to China's general hostility). The cancelled [[VideoGame/CommandAndConquer2013 sequel]] would render this moot as the EU broke off from China (known as APA) due to wanting independence from them (something that China would never tolerate) and their implied disgust at their excessive brutality towards innocents. This, alongside the unflattering portrayal to 4 of APA's commanders[[note]]Taskmaster, Beast, 1000 Suns, and Inferno[[/note]] might be a sore spot for the Chinese nationalists should the game be released rather than cancelled.

** The fact that China is not only a heroic {{expy}} of the Soviets from the Red Alert series, sharing their signature color of red and having green as the color of all their vehicles and aircraft is this due to having literally every land vehicle being primarily colored a metallic green, in [[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3 Red Alert 3]], double so when it's expansion pack, ''Uprising'' had their campaign depict them from a genuinely heroic and sympathetic POV.

** The game was also very popular in Muslim-majority countries such as the Middle East and Indonesia despite the GLA being an obvious MiddleEasternTerrorists caricature, where PC gaming and internet cafes were just blooming, and pirated copies were common, as the game was never officially released in the region.

** The GLA Campaign itself is just one MoralEventHorizon after another. In the first mission, they launch an armored assault against a large Chinese force camped around a dam and fishing village. After wiping out two Chinese bases and contracting the help of the local village militia, they blow up the Dam, causing a massive flood that not only destroys the Chinese armored columns, but also the village. In the second mission, probably one of the most disturbing in a strategy game, they slaughter entire villages and steal the U.N. aid meant for them. In their third mission, they incite a riot in a Chinese held city and arm the mobs, leading to the slaughter of the Chinese garrison and the destruction of most of the city, all so they could loot it while it burns.
** One cut mission had the GLA slaughtering villagers with anthrax. They still do that in the game, only instead of villagers, it's two entire cities.

* SpiritualAdaptation: Many missions reuse aesthetics, themes and plot points from ''Film/BlackHawkDown'' in the GLA and USA campaign. Particularly notable in the second USA mission, which although set in Al Hanad, Yemen, features a US military (complete with rangers!) rescue of pilots ejected from downed helicopters (Comanches in the game instead of Black Hawks) shot down by insurgents in a town in the desert. The second GLA mission as well features terrorist insurgents attacking UN convoys to steal humanitarian aid while massacring the civilians who the aid is intended to, exactly like the start of the movie.

** One cut mission had the GLA slaughtering villagers with anthrax.
*** They still do that in the game, only instead of villagers, it's two entire cities.

** The game was also very popular in the Middle East, where PC gaming and internet cafes were just blooming, and pirated copies were common, as the game was never officially released in the region.

** The USA Chinook is a supply helicopter that happens to be a ''troop transport'' as well, making for an epic early-game harassment tool.

* MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales: The game is very popular among Chinese gamers and internet cafes in spite of the official ban, thanks to pirated, fan-translated copies. It helped that the Chinese faction is depicted as powerful enough to take on the USA, spamming RuleOfCool weapons such as nuclear missiles, gattling guns, and flamethrowers, and many of the stereotypes (such as 1960's Red Guards fighting with modern jets and tanks) are seen as NarmCharm than deliberately offensive.