Basic Trope: A specific kind of Science Fiction shooter starring a faceless space marine.
- Straight: Apocalypse: 2999 stars Bob, who takes on the alien invasion as a One-Man Army and never speaks.
- Exaggerated: Bob is the definition of Manly Man, is a Super-Soldier wearing Powered Armor, has a massive collection of BFGs, is consistently a Phrase Catcher for Aliens quotes, and eats cookies without milk. Meanwhile, whatever other soldiers get assigned to help him are portrayed as ineffective Red Shirts, and his orders come via radio directly from the Four-Star Badass, simply because Bob is that powerful and strategically important.
- Downplayed:
- Bob occasionally speaks, and is accompanied by a squad in his quest to rid the Earth of aliens.
- Bob is from the Engineer Corps, not the Space Marines - meaning that besides shooting aliens he also does hacking, MacGyvering, area defense, weapon upgrading, and more all by himself.
- Justified:
- Bob is simply just mute. Whether his vocal cords were ripped in an accident (or in action) before the events of the game, or he was simply born without it, he just doesn't talk much. This is about one of the few flaws that his superiors overlook, and he's well regarded as being the guy they turn to for all the heavy duty that the Four Star Badasses consider too trivial for them but would definitely rather have done.
- Bob is a member of the Special Forces sent to cause havoc behind enemy lines, with all the tactical know-how, training, and Applied Phlebotinum that implies, and he's got an in-universe reputation as a man of a few words, preferring for his actions to speak for him.
- Inverted: Bob is a mere Mook in the war against the aliens. His most powerful weapon is a pistol. The game is a science fiction Survival Horror, and the protagonist often finds himself having to converse with other survivors to find out how to get past the alien horrors.
- Gender Inverted: Alice, protagonist of Apocalypse: 2999 is a One-Man Army of a woman who takes on the alien invasion singlehandedly.
- Subverted:
- Bob isn't a One-Man Army by any means, and is a Large Ham who talks a lot.
- Bob is a classic macho One-Man Army Space Marine, distinguished and experienced, but a couple of levels in he sees that the aliens are really, really alien, incredibly powerful, and he is way in over his head.
- Double Subverted:
- Until he is exposed to Applied Phlebotinum that renders him mute, but gives him the abilities of a Super-Soldier.
- However, the tide of the war turns after the military deploys clone soldiers who happen to be based on Bob.
- Parodied:
- Bob is jacked beyond what is considered physically possible, and can turn aliens into Ludicrous Gibs with his bare hands. And he can't speak at all.
- The protagonist of Apocalypse: 2999 is Fuzzy, a Ridiculously Cute Critter from an alien world who just so happens to be better-armed than an average planet's military force.
- Zig-Zagged: Apocalypse: 2999 stars Bob, who takes on the alien invasion as a One-Man Army and never speaks... but at the conclusion of the first episode, it becomes obvious that he can't defeat the invasion all alone. At this point, he turns to another character, and suddenly says: "Don't worry, I know people who know people." After he dials his network of contacts, each episode is tackled by its own protagonist, with each adhering or not adhering to this trope in their own way.
- Enforced:
- The creators made Apocalypse: 2999 as a homage to games such as Doom.
- The creators aren't concerned with making a complex plot, and simply want to make a fun game.
- Lampshaded: "I know that dude's badass as shit, but why doesn't he ever talk?"
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: The characters and players are Genre Savvy enough to know exactly what to do in Apocalypse: 2999 - such as not bothering with the locked doors.
- Defied: ???
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: "Look, I know this game is a Doom homage, but did they have to make it exactly like Doom?" "That's the point. The devs literally just wanted to make Doom³, but bloodier and faster than the actual 2004 release of Doom 3."
- Implied: Apocalypse: 2999 is actually a Point And Click Adventure, but the story centers on a group of military investigators and bureaucrats retracing the steps of the One-Man Army Space Marine hero, figuring out what went down and why the aliens invaded, and fighting an occasional alien that wasn't killed by the hero - all because the hero is not talkative and his written reports were extremely terse and far from exhaustive.
- Deconstructed:
- The game opens with Bob, a grizzled Space Marine, being sent into a dangerous situation full of unknown factors. However, the aliens you encounter are Space Marines sent to recon the situation just like Bob, and getting the good ending requires the player to avoid shooting at them without provocation, and instead ask them what they know and team up for a joint recon mission - that might not even have any enemies to battle.
- Underneath the stoic, grizzled exterior, Bob is actually a traumatized, broken shell of a man. He's lacking in relationships and has the emotional capacity of a rock, and his solution to any unknown encounter is to just shoot it with his rifle, even if it's objectively harmless to everyone. His reckless tendencies even make him slide towards Big Bad territory, and he regularly alienates and angers his teammates. Instead of being the ultimate badass, he's instead a prime example of how utterly mentally wrecked you would realistically be in his position.
- Reconstructed:
- The game's first half plays out as an uncertain recon mission where discretion is paramount and the good ending requires the player to hold their fire... however, getting the good ending unlocks the second half that plays out like a Band of Brothers war movie, where Bob and the alien Space Marines fight side by side to stop a heavily-armed evil conspiracy - playing the genre tropes completely straight.
- Bob is no ordinary soldier, he's a genuine Physical God in military armor who gave up his emotions and his voice in exchange for being able to destroy everything in his path. However, he's managed to retain his sense of justice and empathy, so even though he terrifies friendlies, he goes out of his way to avoid hurting them, even if they try to piss him off. He still scares literally everyone, but his allies are more awed by him and worship him, while his enemies regularly panic whenever he shows himself.
- Played for Laughs: Bob is mute, but he still has a personality that he's not afraid to show with a few "colorful" gestures.
Deploy forth, soldier, for A Space Marine Is You!
