History YMMV / Homeworld

* MoralEventHorizon: Taiidan forces cross this when they destroy Kharak and its whole population, for the crime of returning to space, based on the treaty that was made ''millenia ago''. It's so bad that captain of operation is heavily implied to be tortured to death for information, [[NothingIsScarier and the fate of the crew is unknown...]]

* MoralEventHorizon: See CompleteMonster.

* MemeticBadass: In some communities, Salvage Corvette(s) from the first ''Homeworld'' has quite a reputation.

* CompleteMonster: [[TheEmperor The Taiidan emperor]]. He sticks to the shadows for much of the game, but the ''Cataclysm'' [[AllThereInTheManual manual]] paints him as a power-mad and paranoid ruler who was becoming violent and erratic. He orders the [[MoralEventHorizon destruction of an entire planet]] [[spoiler: - YOUR planet -]] with over 300 million inhabitants because its people violated a long-forgotten treaty signed thousands of years earlier. What really seals the deal is how his government attempted to used the video footage of the destruction as a propaganda piece. The Taiidani people found this repulsive, [[spoiler: [[NiceJobFixingitVillain which gave the rebels helping you in the game the support they needed]] to overthrow the government.]]

** If you thought that "Thaddis Sabbah" was nightmare (Actually, it isn't that much), try the very next level with full fleet. You warp in, see '''TWELVE''' battlecruisers, that are packed in one large group which will mow through almost all of your fleet before (and if) you manage to take them all down. Ah, and after that the only thing left to do is destroy that massive horde of rocket frigates that attacking the gates that are vital to mission. By time you are through with battlecruisers, usually 3\4 of the gate systems HP is already gone.

* SpiritualLicensee: The game was originally intended as a ''Series/BattlestarGalacticaClassic'' game but it did not work out in the end, forcing Relic to alter the universe and characters slightly. The story is still there though.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Originally, combat in ''Homeworld 2'' would have revolved around [[BigDumbObject massive space megaliths]] left by various ancient civilizations, allowing for Death Star-type fighter combat and units that could be deployed on the surface. This idea was eventually scrapped - although you can still see the megaliths in the cutscenes and the background art - and the biggest object you can interact with in the series remains the Taiidan hyperspace inhibitor from the first game.

* HilariousInHindsight: In the original ''Homeworld'' game, the main antagonist is a galaxy-spanning dystopian empire which responds to any planet which opposes them by deploying an atmosphere-destroying device and is ruled by a very long-lived Emperor who seems to possess psychic powers. [[DawnOfWar Guess what game Relic made a few years later?]] Possibly crosses over with ShoutOut, given the circumstances.

** If you thought that "Thaddis Sabbah" was nightmare (Actually, it isn't that much), try the very next level with full fleet. You warp in, see '''TWELVE''' battlecruisers, that are packed in one large group which will mow through almost all of your fleet before (and if) you manage to take them all down. Ah, and after that the only thing left to do is destroy that massive horde of rocket frigates that attacking the gates that are vital to mission. By time you are through with battlecruisers, usually 3\4 of the HP's is already gone.

* HilariousInHindsight: In the original ''Homeworld'' game, the main antagonist is a galaxy-spanning dystopian empire which responds to any planet which opposes them by [[strike: carrying out an order of Exterminatus]] deploying an atmosphere-destroying device and is ruled by a very long-lived Emperor who seems to possess psychic powers. [[DawnOfWar Guess what game Relic made a few years later?]] Possibly crosses over with ShoutOut, given the circumstances.

* FreudWasRight: In ''Homeworld 2'', take a look at [[spoiler:[[http://gfx.gaminator.tv/data/screen/1490/244/7172-2.jpg Sajuuk]]]] for a minute, forget the fact that Karan is in control of it (heck, you can skip that part if you want), and ask yourself: is whoever in control of that ship compensating for something?!

* FreudWasRight: In ''Homeworld 2'', take a look at [[spoiler:[[http://gfx.gaminator.tv/data/screen/1490/244/7172-2.jpg Sajuuk]]]] for a minute, forget the fact that Karran is in control of it (heck, you can skip that part if you want), and ask yourself: is whoever in control of that ship compensating for something?!

* GameBreaker: The Salvage Corvette in the first game went OffTheRails quite quickly, as it could steal the enemy's GameBreaker ships. The first major example was the Kadeshi multi-beam frigates, which can shred pretty much anything because they have ''four'' {{Wave Motion Gun}}s, while the most expensive ship the Kushan could build at the time only had two. The research-station mission had valuable capital ships cut off from any reinforcement by a super nova, making it (relatively) easy to capture large numbers of them--but the worst was Mission 14, with dozens and dozens of Ion Cannon Frigates ripe for capture.
** The last example was intentional on the developers' part, given what you have to blow up in the very next mission.

** In the traditional sense, Mission 14 of the first game. The objective is rather simple: blow up 8 hyperspace inhibitors so you can jump closer to the Higaara system, and while they have a good amount of HP, they have no guns of their own. Unfortunately, the game ensures that brute force will not work here, with a dynamically adjusted fleet guarding the inhibitors, and somewhere on the order of 150 Ion Cannon Frigates guarding the inhibitors in sphere formation(by comparison, your unit caps limit you to about 20 frigates total). While there are many ways to approach the mission, any method that keeps your fleet safe from the sphere also takes an impressive amount of time, and it's not uncommon for players to spend several hours on just one attempt at the mission.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: The Kadeshi. Despite appearing in only two missions from the first game [[spoiler: and ultimately getting completely wiped out by the player]] they are quite popular.

* CompleteMonster: [[TheEmperor The Taiidan emperor]]. He sticks to the shadows for much of the game, but the ''Cataclysm'' [[AllThereInTheManual manual]] paints him as a power-mad and paranoid ruler who was becoming violent and erratic. He orders the [[MoralEventHorizon destruction of an entire planet]] [[spoiler: - YOUR planet -]] with over 300 million inhabitants because it's people violated a long-forgotten treaty signed thousands of years earlier. What really seals the deal is how his government attempted to used the video footage of the destruction as a propaganda piece. The Taiidani people found this repulsive, [[spoiler: [[NiceJobFixingitVillain which gave the rebels helping you in the game the support they needed]] to overthrow the government.]]

** AndTheFandomRejoiced: And then Gearbox turns around and lets Blackbird Interactive use the license for their spiritual successor to Homeworld, Hardware Shipbreakers. The reason for the rejoicing? Blackbird Interactive has a number of Homeworld's original development team on staff.
* HilariousInHindsight: In the original ''Homeworld'' game, the main antagonist is a galaxy-spanning dystopian empire which responds to any planet which opposes them by [[strike: carrying out an order of Exterminatus]] deploying an atmosphere-destroying device and is ruled by a very long-lived Emperor who seems to possess psychic powers. [[DawnOfWar Guess what game Relic made a few years later?]] Possibly crosses over with ShoutOut, given the circumstances.
* MagnificentBastard: The Beast in Cataclysm whoever it is. Among others, it used an infected Republican cruiser to lure a convoy's escorts so it is vulnerable to attack, used one of your captured ship's controller to switch off a sentinel shield grid, sending a captured previously friendly ship you met to lure you to it, and most of all, manipulating the Imperialists into doing its bidding which includes repairing the Naggarok's drives, giving it the Cruise Missile designs, and making them do most of the fight with the Hiigarans in general.
* NightmareFuel: What The Beast does with whatever organic matter it makes contact with. Especially in the case of the Bentusi who [[spoiler:are not merely killed and reduced to biomass but instead remain alive and conscious inside the infected ships due to them being integrated into their vessel circuits, much like Karan is one with the Mothership]].
** Made even more scary with the resulting distorted DeathCryEcho of the victims in your radio ''which sounds like the crew had just been assimilated!''
* SurpriseDifficulty: The first two missions in ''[=HW2=]'' consist of "Build a ship! YIPPIE HOORAY!" ... Then "build a building, build some ships, kill an enemy scout" ... Then the third mission is "Destroy an enemy fleet twice your size on one side of the map, while ''another'' enemy fleet just as large warps in on top of the ''only mineral field'' on the map, killing your miner and thus preventing you from building another fleet, while your main fleet is wholly occupied with the first fleet."