Basic Trope: Particularly large and prominent units that give off special auras, have access to spells, and is basically the most important and valuable unit on the board.
- Straight: Players in Mars Mayhem can select 4 characters: Sgt. Gunny Flash Young, who has access to most of the offensive skills and has the best firepower (mainly through his twin miniguns), L. Cpl. Alicia P. Navarro, who has access to most of the healing and defense skills (being able to put on a portable Power Shield and can send out Auto Doc drones to heal teammates), S. Sgt. Ulysses Smalls, who has access to most of the recon and stealth skills (using an Invisibility Cloak forcefield that can blanket both him and his teammates), and PFC Clay T. Finnigan, who's got a little of everything (a miniature version of Flash's minigun, a one-man Power Shield, and a personal Invisibility Cloak that can only turn him invisible). The things that they all have in common is that they tower over the Soldiers and that they can easily regroup said soldiers.
- Exaggerated: Whoever you pick is inside a 15 foot tall mecha, has access to a hell of an arsenal, and is the most powerful unit on the team.
- Downplayed: Flash has firepower about on par with the Machine Gunners, Alicia is equal to the Bio Squad, Ulysses is about as good as having the Recon Unit, and Clay's a mix of all of them, yet they all have a constant AOE buff aura around them.
- Justified:
- They've got better training than the other soldiers. And they're just plain bigger than the soldiers.
- They're super-soldiers.
- Inverted: Instead of the 4 badasses, you get to play as a frail scientist who needs help from said 4 badasses in an Escort Mission (your role will be guiding said 4 badasses and helping them from the sidelines).
- Subverted: While there are prominent characters, they're mostly in cutscenes. Flash is the Drill Sergeant Nasty in command of the barracks, Alicia runs the medical bay, Ulysses often assigns recon missions, and Clay's the back up in case any of them are unavailable.
- Double Subverted: And then the base gets attacked, forcing all 4 characters into the mission, and from then on, they're now playable characters.
- Parodied: The 4 badasses are taken to its most extreme form; They're borderline Game Breakers if it weren't for the fact that the enemy factions have their own leagues of badasses.
- Zig-Zagged: The 4 badasses are shown as prominent, narrative characters, although in some missions, they're in cutscenes only, while in other missions, they're in game only.
- Averted: No unit is given special bonuses, or even have a name.
- Enforced: There has to be a player unit to fend off most enemy forces in case the commanding player doesn't have enough resources to rely on Zerg Rushing the enemy, as well as a special loss condition in case said player unit falls in combat.
- Lampshaded: Flash remarks: "Well, you always gotta rely on the big ones to get the job done, y'know?"
- Invoked:
- The superior of the 4 badasses, Col. Billy T. Finnigan (Clay's dad), explicitly states to get out there and engage in combat in case sheer strength in numbers aren't working.
- Flash and his crew get special body augmentations and Training from Hell in order to become super-soldiers.
- Exploited: Of course, due to the We Cannot Go On Without You situation, enemies begin targeting the 4 badasses. A counter-exploitation would be that the 4 badasses essentially get themselves into trouble and have the rest of the army take out the enemies.
- Defied: Col. Billy realizes the situation is too dangerous and gives the orders to have the 4 badasses stay back at base and use strength in numbers instead.
- Discussed: "I hear that Flash and his crew are actually coming with us in this mission. Hopefully they can provide us with some firepower when we need it..."
- Conversed: "Well, at least I don't have to resort to zerg rushing the enemy now that I have these 4 heroes!"
- Deconstructed: Flash and his team are super-soldiers who went through grueling medical procedures and training to become fearsome warriors... Unfortunately, those who seek to send them out are shown in simulations that they're quickly overwhelmed by regular troops who may not have the firepower that they have, but there are just so many of them that the team is at risk of being quickly killed because they're bigger targets.
- Reconstructed: One high-ranking General points out that it would be an obscene waste of time and resources to just throw the team into regular battles when they'd be better used for missions that don't require an obscenely huge amount of soldiers, like small spec-ops missions, taking out commanders when they're all alone, etc.
- Played for Drama: The procedures it took to make them Hero Units make them feel like dehumanized living weapons.
SIR! We need you to guide us back to Hero Unit, SIR!
