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A manga adaptation illustrated by Michihara Katsumi was released in 1990, while another manga adaptation by Fujisaki Ryū (known for his work on ''[[Shiki]]'') begun in 2015, and is still ongoing.
As of the present, the series is finally seeing formal English licensing courtesy of [[Sentai Filmworks]] beginning in 2016. A
{{tropelist}}
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*** Kircheis also has the singular honor of not having lost his fleet engagement with Yang.
* [[Ace Pilot]]: Ivan Konev, Olivier Poplin
* [[Adaptation Distillation]]:
*
** ''Die Neue These'', meanwhile, both streamlines a number of plotlines from the first season of the OVAs and expounds on various details taken from the original novels, such as how the Kastrop Rebellion actually played.
* [[A Child Shall Lead Them]]: {{spoiler|Erwin Josef II, who ascends the Galactic Throne at the age of five after the death of Friedrich IV}}. Also, {{spoiler|his successor, Kaiserin Catherine, who is only 8 months old at the time of her ascension}}. Neither of them stay in power for very long, however.
** Technically, {{spoiler|Reinhard's son Alexander Siegfried. But the real power lies in the hand of Kaiserin-Regent Hildegard, and Reinhard explicitly asks her to remove their son's right to rule or to move to democracy if she finds it necessary}}.
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* [[Armchair Military]]: Many of the Alliance Army's top brass who got there by smooching posterior. In the Empire under the Goldenbaum dynasty, many nobles got command positions because they were from the right families.
** Admiral Staden, one of the leading commanders among the Lippstadt rebels, is mentioned as being derisively known as "Succumbed to Theory Staden" by his students back in the day, due to his preference for theory over practice. Which proved to be his undoing when he was forced to deal with one of those former students, Mittermeyer.
** The 2015 manga puts more of a spotlight on how young nobles in the Imperial military tend to be kept away from the front, ostensibly to do desk duties in relative safety and comfort. Reinhard isn't pleased, especially given how commoners don't get that same "treatment" and are instead more likely to die on the battlefield.
* [[A Million Is a Statistic]]: Subverted, the series tries its damn best to make you see how awful and tragic the death of the average soldier is. The officers in the army also constantly show that the deaths of their subordinates weight on them heavily.
{{quote|'''Narrator:''' After the encounter called the Battle of Astarte, the survivors of the Imperial Fleet numbered 2,450,000 and the Alliance, 4,060,000. However, compared to the Imperial Fleet's 150,000 casualties, the Alliance's numbered ten times as many, 1,500,000.}}
:* Brought up in the 2015 manga when Yang tries to explain to a young Julian about the numerous casualties from past assaults on Iselohn. Alex Cazerne however cuts in, commenting about the logistics and scale needed just to ''deal'' with those grieving from said casualties.
* [[Animation Bump]]: Episode 7, {{spoiler|the first capture of Iserlohn Fortress}}, is noticeably better produced and animated than all preceding and many later episodes.▼
{{quote|'''A. Cazerne''': "'Boom?' Come on...Try having to deal with calculating the war damage and the compensation for the bereaved families after a battle."}}
* [[Animation Bump]]:
▲*
** ''Die Neue These'' is arguably this compared to many of the OVA episodes. This is partly to do with the additional budget and the effort put by [[Production I.G]].
* [[Anyone Can Die]]: Characters die, often unexpectedly, regardless of their minor or main status. Of the speaking roles in the 1st Episode only a few characters live to see the finale (A number don't make it past the second episode).
* [[Artificial Limbs]]: Cybernetic replacement limbs for amputees are apparently quite common in the setting, but offer no obvious advantage over natural ones. Wahlen gets one of these when his left arm had to be amputated due to an assasination attempt.
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** Frederica Greenhill goes through quite a bit over the course of the series. {{spoiler|The deaths of her father, Dwight Greenhill and later, Yang himself, are the worst.}}
** {{spoiler|Yang's tragic, ignoble death}} also wasn't taken well by Julian Mintz, who proceeds to ''end'' the murderers once he finds them.
* [[But Not Too Foreign]]: It's revealed in the 2015 manga that Julian Mintz is mixed-blood, as his mother was an exile from the Empire.
* [[Bunny Ears Lawyer|Bunny Ears Admiral]]: you would never guess how deadly this social misfit, borderline alcoholic, unable-to-keep-his-own-house-in-order-without-the-help-of-his-foster-child slob can be when he is not commanding his army.
** On the Imperial side, Eisenach is a mild example of this. He speaks so rarely that some of the other admirals assume he is mute, and commands through gestures that his adjutant translates into spoken orders.
** Trung Yu Chang is a bit of one as well, supporting sound military advice with examples of popping stale bread in the oven to freshen it up.
* [[Camp Gay]]: The sales assistant in the clothing store Julian visits on Fezzan.
* [[Casanova]]: Olivier Poplin and Walter von Schönkopf turn this into an outright contest. {{spoiler|Walter's been at this long enough to have an illegitimate daughter, Katerose von Kreutzer, in the same fleet.}}
** Reuenthal is also infamous for this, though less so in the anime than in the novel.
* [[Casual Interstellar Travel]]: Partially averted; though large fleets move through space with seeming ease, it does take quite a bit of time. Reinhard's flight from Uruvasi to Fezzan is stated to take three weeks.
** It is also stated that the logistical cost of building and maintaining such fleets is enormous: The Empire has several gigantic fleets and even artificial worlds/fortresses that would make [[Star Wars|Emperor Palpatine nod approvingly]], but at the price of leaving many of its planet underdevelloped; the Free Planet Alliance does not fare much better: while its GDP per capita is nearly twice as big as the Empire, the constant state of war is taking the best engineers and the most apt workers away from civilian life, not counting the huge amount of resources spent on maintaining the alliance's fleets: Fezzan is the most prosperous planet in [[The Verse]] precisely because it does not have to spend so much of its resources to build and maintain huge starfleets.
* [[The Chains of Commanding]]: Various characters on both sides are painfully aware of the burdens and responsibilities that come with commanding vast armies. Time and again, the welfare and deaths of their men are shown to weigh heavily.
* [[Chaste Hero]]: Both Reinhard and Yang remain this until fairly late in the series, even though they should have had plenty of opportunity to engage in romance earlier.
** With Yang it's strongly implied that he loved Jessica Edwards, but didn't pursue her after she chose Lapp.
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* [[Dangerous Deserter]]: {{spoiler|Yang Wen-li is seen as this after he escapes from prison and reunites with the Merkatz fleet.}} This is another testament to the Alliance government's '''''utter stupidity.'''''
* [[Dare to Be Badass]]: Kaiser Friedrich IV in the 2015 manga gives a subtle one to a young Reinhard after his graduation from the academy. {{spoiler|Hinting at his intentional efforts to let Reinhard achieve his ambitions.}}
{{quote|'''Kaiser Friedrich IV''': "Feel free to aim even higher!"}}
* [[Days of Future Past]]: High technology abounds, but The Galactic Empire looks more like Versailles than [[The Future]]. The people running it also tend to dress like 18th century aristocracy. You'll also see deranged nobles dressing in togas and republican politicians in 20th century fashions --which you'd think would have become quite ''passe'' by the ''35th'' century.
** Mind you, the Empire's Prussian fashion sense has a distinct cause - its founder was a German [[Fan Boy]].
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** Also, {{spoiler|Kircheis}} whose death sends {{spoiler|Reinhard}} into his first [[Heroic BSOD]].
* [[Death Is Dramatic]]: Played very straight. If a character that's not very important dies, it's only barely acknowledged. When a MAJOR character dies, the character's death can be felt throughout the entire series, i.e. {{spoiler|Siegfried Kircheis}}.
* [[Defector From Decadence]]:
** The Rosenritters, who are to a man Imperial exiles serving the Alliance {{spoiler|and ultimately, in Yang's forces}}, see themselves as this to the Empire.
** Reinhard, his allies and supporters in the Empire tend to see themselves as this to the corrupt High Nobles and Goldenbaum dynasty.
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* [[Dirty Business]]: Paul von Oberstein is perfectly aware of both his lack of a conscience and the need Reinhard has for people like him to do what's necessary, however murky the wetwork needed may be.
* [[Dirty Coward]]: Arthur Lynch, a disgraced Alliance rear admiral turned prisoner of war who left El Facil virtually undefended while his fleet turned tail in the backstory, the ensuing events ironically giving an up and coming Yang Wen-Li his famed reputation as "Miracle Yang" and the "Hero of El Facil." {{spoiler|Reinhard and Oberstein eventually find him and, despite their own disgust at the man, give him orders to cause discord within the Alliance. Given the [[Civil War]] that ensues, it proved ''too'' successful.}}
* [[Dress-Coded for Your Convenience]]:
** Alliance=20th century Western-style civilian wear and beret-borne military uniforms.
** Empire=19th century Prussian-based military uniforms and noble wear.
** Fezzan=20th century European-style evening wear.
* [[Driven to Suicide]]: {{spoiler|Susanna von Benemünde, Prince Braunschweig, Helmut Rennenkampf, Admiral Borodin, Oskar von Reuenthal (and his mother), Hans Eduard Bergengrün...}} This series drives many people to off themselves.
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* [[End of an Age]]: At the end of the series{{spoiler|a peace treaty is concluded and the galaxy apparently enters an era of peace and stability under the Lohengramm dynasty. Characters even talk about how there will be little need for heroics and derring-do in the years to come.}}
* [[Eternal English]]: though [[Translation Convention]] renders speech as Japanese, the written languages of the Empire and Alliance appear to be badly spelled German and English respectively. It is not terribly likely that any language used by an interstellar civilisation around AD 3500 will resemble any language familiar to contemporary audiences.
** French is used comically out of place during episode 93 (3:48). Reuenthal is fuming, but the text he is watching has absolutely no link to the situation: it is the beginning of a book about the NSUAP (the [[Those Wacky Nazis|infamous
* [[Et Tu, Brute?]]: {{spoiler|The effect of Reuenthal's rebellion on Mittermeyer and Reinhard.}}
* [[
** Explained later in the show: Reinhard's admirals generally felt they should not marry if their Kaiser is still single.
* [[Expy]]: Rudolf von Goldenbaum is a clear Hitler expy.
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* [[Forever War]]: At the beginning of the series, the war between the Empire and Alliance has been waged on and off for 140 years, with no party able to gain a decisive advantage until the first capture of Iserlohn.
* [[For Want of a Nail]]: This trope doesn't happen, but given the historical theme of the show, sometimes the narrator or one of the characters will comment on how some tiny insignificant detail had changed history.
* [[Foreshadowing]]: Arguably, {{spoiler|Yang eventually passing his mantle on to Julian}} was foreshadowed ''from the very first episode.'' Just watch the closing credits.
** Both Yang and Reinhard more than once make a passing comment on the possibility of their own demise.
* [[Four-Star Badass]]: Many. This series' most distinguished characters tend to be high-ranking officers in their respective army, at least Admiral or above. There's a REASON they got that far. The most literal example of the trope, however, would be General Schönkopf, commanding officer of the Rosenritters, an elite assault infantry regiment recruited from exiled Imperials. Facing him in battle is a DEATH SENTENCE.
** And on that note, let's not forget Oskar von Reuenthal, the only man to fight Schönkopf head to head and live to tell the tale. No wonder he's one of Reinhard von Lohengramm's elite admirals.
* [[Four Lines, All Waiting]]: The entire series is the Kaiser of this trope. It's got to the point wherein there were so many different character arcs going on at once, they show subtitles with the characters' names every time they appear just so you could keep track of everybody.
* [[Freudian Excuse]]: Reuenthal is a textbook case of Oedipus Complex. Most of his issues stem from the fact that his mother hated him. {{spoiler|Later he becomes sexually involved with a woman who wants to kill him, and remarks how similar she is to his mother.}}
* [[From Nobody to Nightmare]]: A recurring aspect in the whole series.
** Reinhard von Lohengramm goes from being an [[Impoverished Patrician]] to becoming one of the most powerful and popular figures in the Empire. {{spoiler|Eventually becoming Kaiser himself.}}
** Yang Wen-Li similarly rises from being a reluctant officer into being a strong figurehead for democracy, as much as he would rather not be.
** Julian Mintz rises up from being a [[Cute Shotaro Boy]] at the start to being {{spoiler|Yang's successor}} by the end.
* [[Future Imperfect]]: Averted. Although Earth itself may be a half-forgotten backwater, human history is well-preserved and understood in general by most people. Which is further highlighted by various customs and placenames, as well as on the names of the various ships on both sides.
* [[Gallows Humor]]: Poplin's conviction that he'll never reach the age of 30 is one of the series' ''running gags.''
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* [[Gender Is No Object]]: The Alliance makes no real distinction between men and women in their ranks, much like in their society at large. In the Empire meanwhile, women serve only as auxiliaries in the military, though wield considerable influence in civil and political life.
* [[General Failure]]: Distressingly common in the Alliance's officer corps; in fact, aside from Yang's allies and subordinates, this trope would seem to fit most of the FPA's brass. The same applies to most of the Old Guard nobles in the Empire as well; those who are not either ally themselves with Reinhard eventually or flee the country.
* [[Generation Xerox]]: Frederica Greenhill serves in the Alliance military, like her father.
* [[Generican Empire]]: The two opposing factions are known simply as the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance.
* [[Genki Girl]]: Marika von Feuerbach, at least some of the time.
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** However, while Reinhard & Company are specifically out to change the prevailing social order, Yang himself doesn't hold such ambitions and [[Honor Before Reason|he serves the government no matter how obviously rotten it is, and how often they screw him over]].
* [[The Greatest Story Never Told]]:
** It's strongly hinted at that Oberstein's aware of a lot more than what he lets on in his machinations to keep the Empire safe from various threats {{spoiler|and the Terraists}}. But whatever secrets and plots he's uncovered, kept away or otherwise purged are known only to him.
** The mystery surrounding Bruce Ashbey, the 730 Mafia and his tragic demise is this. Despite Yang's research, he realized that either Ashbey took the truth with him to the grave or that there are still those keen on making sure it's never told.
* [[Glory Hound]]: SUPERFICIALLY the motivation behind many politicians' and officers' support of the war. The politicians, however, have less idealistic reasons, and the officers don't last long...
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*** Yang Wen-li even goes so far as to say that if the Alliance was formed to oppose a ruthless dictatorship, and that it is now a BENEVOLENT dictatorship, that there's no real reason for there to be an Alliance anymore. Considering the dreadful state of the Alliance government and his position within it, those are words DANGEROUSLY similar to treason. But then again, it's [[Honor Before Reason|Yang Wen-li]] we're talking about.
*** And on the other side, during the third season, Reinhard states {{spoiler|that he would never have won if the idealistic people who still believed in the founding principles of the Alliance had been allowed to lead}}. What is interesting here is that it is stated that the empire was decadent because it was ruled by aristocrats who believed to be the embodiment of value and greatness, and became better {{spoiler|once Reinhard, who was a lot more cynical even about himself, but also way more ''competent'' took over}}, while the Alliance which still had some efficient politicians and intellectuals among its leaders (Truenicht was a full fledged [[Smug Snake]], but was way smarter that the Empire's nobility) {{spoiler|but their lack of idealism was what caused the Alliance downfall}}. In other words, the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]] is actually the most important plot point of the whole series, as it resumes the ideological differences between Yang (for whom idealism comes first, even if it means serving worthless elected officials) and Reinhard (who values efficiency above all else even at the risk of crossing the [[Moral Event Horizon]]): '''[[Fridge Brilliance|Brilliant]]'''
* [[Government in Exile]]:
** Some defeated Imperial nobles attempt this. Reinhard von Lohengramm does not approve.
** As the Alliance crumbles, a handful of exiled republican governments emerge, the most lasting one founded by Yang {{spoiler|and becoming the basis for the Alliance remnant based on Heinessen in the ending}}.
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* [[Grey and Gray Morality]]: Neither The Empire or the FPA are inherently better or worse than the other as both sides have vaild points and often suffer from the same problems.
** [[White and Gray Morality]]: While the war between the two nations is full on gray, the conflict between Yang's group and Reinhard's group can be seen as this.
** [[Black and White Morality]]: Given what the Terraists do in reality, the Empire's {{spoiler|purging}} counts as this.
* [[Guile Hero]]: Yang Wen-li is a textbook example: Smarter than any Chessmaster or [[Magnificent Bastard]] in the series, managed to control a personnal [[Badass Army]] of one million soldiers, {{spoiler|overthrew a junta with insulting ease, fought Reinhard to a standstill while being hopelessly outmanned and outgunned, raised his foster child to become able to keep working for his cause after his death}}, and yet, still obviously a good guy
* [[Hair Colors]]: Most characters have plausible hair, except for greenhaired Attenborough and grey-haired Müller, who is stated to be the youngest of Reinhard's admirals.
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* [[History Repeats]]: "In every time, in every place, the deeds of men remain the same..."
* [[Hollywood Tactics]]: Save for the likes of Merkatz, most of the nobles in the Lippstadt Rebellion behave like this. But as they couldn't command themselves out of a paper bag, they get brutally crushed by ''actual'' professionals.
* [[Honor Before Reason]]: Yang is a democrat: he serves the democratically elected alliance government, period. Even if he did not vote for the people in charge, even if they are a bunch of [[Smug Snake|Smug snakes]], even if their orders are stupid: they've been chosen by the people, they are in charge {{spoiler|even if this means to capitulate after winning a battle and having his nemesis at gun point}}.
** Reuenthal also follows this principle when he {{spoiler|decides to rebel against Reinhard, even though he knows perfectly well that he's been set up}}.
** Although Merkatz was implicitly coerced into leading the Lippstadt rebels, he still does so out of a sense of honor for his liege as well as out of concern for the men in his command.
** Alexander Bucock and many of the older Alliance officers ultimately lead their forces to one final act of defiance against Reinhard {{spoiler|knowing fully well that they'll all die}}. All this in the name of democracy.
** Some of the old guard admirals in the Empire take "better die in glory than live in shame" to hopeless extremes, dragging whole fleets down with them. Ironically, Yang ''hates'' the notion as he sees it as one of the reasons why such conflicts could never end.
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* [[Improbable Age]]: Reinhard and Siegfried not only made it to the admiralty at age twenty, they also had their first commands at fifteen or so and were apparently able to make the decision to enter the military academy at age ''ten'' without having to get approval from their parents. Having teenagers as junior officers is consistent with several historical aristocratic societies, but the rest makes little sense. There is also the Alliance practice of letting 15-year olds like Julian and later Katerose pilot starfighters and participate in combat. Even the Imperial admirals seem rather young to hold such high rank: Mittermeyer is 32 or 33 at the end of the series, Oberstein 38, and none of the others seem to be older than them.
** Note, though, that in the story Reinhard and Kircheis' military career is treated as extraordinary, and the FPA tends to be strapped for soldiers (in fact, it's an in-story problem that most of their youth die at the battlefield).
* [[In the Blood]]: Julian Mintz. The 2015 manga reveals that the Mintz family not only has a long military tradition, but also has a strong streak of defending democracy, with Julian's ancestors even being close comrades with Arle Heinessen himself.
* [[Insignificant Little Blue Planet]]: By this point Earth has a total population of ten million and is home to a fanatic [[Cult]] that {{spoiler|wants everyone to either return to Earth or die in a fire}}. Indeed, {{spoiler|even after Reinhard becomes Kaiser and moves the Imperial capitol to Fezzan}}, Odin proves to be a much more popular tourist attraction than Earth.
* [[Intergenerational Friendship]]: Yang and Bucock, Schneider and Merkatz, Julian and just about everyone else after he gets a little older (but always with Yang).
* [[Irony]]: The story is teeming with all kinds of it.
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** [[Happily Married|Wolfgang and Eva Mittermeyer]] are unable to have children, to their sorrow. {{spoiler|[[Dysfunction Junction|Reuenthal and Elfriede]]}}? [[Law of Inverse Fertility|Plenty able.]]
** Lebello grimly warns Yang that he may have to take military action opposite the Free Planets Alliance in order to protect himself, and that he wishes the time may never come. {{spoiler|[[Self-Fulfilling Prophecy|Eventually, it is Lebello himself who puts Yang into this very predicament.]]}}
** Merkatz is an elderly admiral who has spent the greater part of his life fighting against the Free Planets Alliance.
** Reinhard initially sought to bring down Kaiser Friedrich IV in his rise to power. {{spoiler|Not only did the Kaiser die of a heart attack before Reinhard had a chance to take him down fairly, but the monarch even aided him secretly despite ''knowing of his ambitions from the very beginning.''}}
** [[Too Dumb to Live|Bitten]][[Honor Before Reason|feld]] once comments during a strategic discussion that it mightn't even be necessary to deal with Yang's fleet to attain victory if they simply attacked the Alliance's capital planet, Heinessen. The other admirals promptly shoot him down. A few episodes later, however, this is the method {{spoiler|which Hilda uses to save Reinhard's life and bring the Imperial forces their complete victory over the Alliance.}}
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** Time and time again, Mittermeyer, the "Gale Wolf," demonstrates the remarkable swiftness of his fleet. However, {{spoiler|he arrives too late to speak with Reuenthal one last time before the latter's death, a fact Reuenthal bitterly but amusedly lampshades.}}
* [[It's Raining Men]]: The fleet under Grillparzer drops airborne forces onto the base at Urvashi.
* [[I Just Want to Be Normal]]: Yang, who more than once openly expresses how he'd rather be living the quiet life of a historian {{spoiler|and later, husband}}.
* [[Kansas City Shuffle]]: The tactic used by the Yang Fleet to successfully {{spoiler|re-capture}} Iserlohn Fortress.
* [[Karma Houdini]]: Job Truenicht {{spoiler|for most of the series. In episode 98 Reuenthal finally gives him what he has coming - a laser bolt to the heart}}. Well aware of both his hypocrisy and his tendency to dodge responsibility for his crimes.... and feels not one whit of remorse for any of it.
* [[Kill'Em All]]: the author, Tanaka Yoshiki is not nicknamed "Mass Murderer" for nothing. {{spoiler|By the end of the show, most of the main cast is dead.}}
* [[Kill It with Water]]:
* [[Kissing Discretion Shot]]: When {{spoiler|Frederica and Yang}} lock lips for the first time.
* [[Know When to Fold'Em]]:
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** Also, with the exception of his father (in a flashback scene in the side stories) nobody ever refers to Yang by his first name (Wen-li), not even Jessica and Lapp, his friends from military academy.
** Averted with Julian - even after becoming {{spoiler|military commander-in-chief of the Iserlohn Republic}}, he is still often addressed only by his first name by his older acquaintances.
* [[Last of His Kind]]: The 2015 manga reveals that Julian Mintz is the last living member of his family.
* [[Last Stand]]: [[Honor Before Reason|More common on the Imperial side]], but seen on both sides.
* [[Law of Inverse Fertility]]: Mittermeyer has no child and wants one, while {{spoiler|Reuenthal}} has one and didn't want it. Reuenthal [[Lampshaded Trope|lampshades]] this every chance he gets. Also, {{spoiler|Hildegard gets pregnant the very first time Reinhard beds her, something they certainly hadn't planned on}}.
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* [[Minovsky Physics]]: This series goes one better with Zephyr Particles, which are invisible, directional, and ''extremely flammable even in vacuum''.
* [[Mismatched Eyes]]: Oskar von Reuenthal, much to his chagrin.
* [[Modern Stasis]]:
** Civilian life in the FPA seems to be rather like this. Aside from wall- or deskmounted picturephones and personal vehicles with optional autopilot, their material culture seems to be very similar to what you would find in first-world countries during the 1980s, down to the hairstyles and fashions. The main series takes place in the 3590s.
** Humanity in general is implied to have reached a socio-cultural plateau of sorts at some point, freezing certain aspects of culture even as technology continues to advance.
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** As of 2016, the series ''is'' at last getting a formal English release via Sentai Filmworks.
* [[Norio Wakamoto]]: Oskar von Reuenthal, one of his earlier roles.
* [[Not So Different]]:
** While Fraulein Mariendorf prefers pursuing more peaceful and gentle means to dealing with situations compared to Oberstein, both of them share a habit of coldly manipulating others and plotting Machiavellian schemes to meet their ends. Something that Reinhard himself brings up with her.
** Yang Wen-Li is at times compared to Rudolf von Goldenbaum, especially given his rise to fame and popularity. Yang himself is all too aware of said comparisons, the people around him wondering whether they really hold any weight.
* [[Nuclear Weapons Taboo]]: Subverted. The horrors of World War III still resonate strongly over 1,500 years afterwards that there's a widespread taboo against using nuclear weapons on inhabited worlds or civilian targets {{spoiler|Westerland notwithstanding}}. Nonetheless, that hasn't stopped nukes from being developed or used in certain military situations.
* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]:
** Grimmelshausen in the side stories. On the surface he is a frail old man suffering from dementia who is indecisive and over-catious when commanding his fleet. In his more lucid moments, however, he reveals that he is fully aware of his own lack of talent and that because others consider him a harmless fool they act indiscreetly around him, enabling him to gather plenty of incriminating evidence of the nefarious deeds of the High Nobility. {{spoiler|Grimmelshausen entrusts Kesler to deliver said evidence to Reinhard in order to help him bring down the nobles. Though Reinhard appreciates the intent, he refuses to make use of it, preferring to bring them down in a more honest fashion.}}
** Kaiser Friedrich IV. On the one hand, he's a former hedonist who's long since deferred power to his ministers, preferring to indulge in hobbies like gardening instead. On the other hand, up until his death he's painfully aware of the fact that the Goldenbaum Dynasty's days were numbered and that change was needed to ensure the Empire's survival. {{spoiler|He's also aware of Reinhard's ambitions and rise to fame ''from the very beginning'', but nonetheless saw in him the hope for the Empire's future.}}
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* [[Orchestral Bombing]]: Oh yeah.
** Dvorak's New Wold Symphony has never had its sheer grandeur matched by its visual accompaniment until the Battle of Amlitzer! Possibly the best soundtrack to set a massive, MASSIVE space battle to; tens of thousands of ships exchanging [[Macross Missile Massacre|Intano Circus's]], fast paced dogfights between agile star-fighters, and massive particle cannon bombardment resulting in the deaths of millions on either side, all the while lamenting the and emphasizing the horror and tragedy of the event! [[War Is Hell|War is bad]] has never been so glorious!
* [[Origin Story]]: The first chapters of the 2015 manga put more focus on Reinhard and Kircheis' backstories before the events of the OVAs. Eventually, the scope expanded to include Yang and Julian's backstories as well.
* [[Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions]]: Partially subverted. Humanity is shown to have largely abandoned organized religion prior to the events of the series, but it resurfaces in the form of the Terran Cult, as well as the somewhat hilarious Imperial penchant for invoking "the great god Odin" and Valhalla. The latter seems to be mostly a vestige and/or formalities, though, since no Imperial character is shown to be religious.
** In one of the side stories it is mentioned that Whit Sunday is still being celebrated, but has lost all religious meaning and is nothing but an early summer festival.
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** Schönkopf, who usually doesn't hesitate in killing Imperials, at one point spares a young-looking soldier after asking the youth whether he has a girlfriend, then hearing a yes. {{spoiler|Later on, he initially tries to secretly keep his illegitimate daughter, Katerose von Kreutzer, out of harm's way upon learning that she's in Yang's fleet.}}
* [[Planet of Hats]]: Fezzan, where everyone is a scheming, moneygrubbing merchant.
* [[Playing Both Sides]]:
** Fezzan in general (especially under Adrian Rubinsky) takes advantage of the conflict between the Empire and Alliance, even selling arms and intel to both sides. Filling its merchants' coffers with bountiful profits in the process. {{spoiler|At least until Reinhard has enough of Fezzan's shenanigans and assumes direct control over the planet. Making it the new Imperial capitol world in the process.}}
** The {{spoiler|Terraists}} have been doing this for centuries in the hopes of wiping out both great powers {{spoiler|and once again making Earth humanity's heart. They ultimately fail.}}
** Both Rubinsky and Trünicht show themselves to be this, as in their own ways, they're only loyal to themselves and whatever gives them the most power.
* [[Principles Zealot]]: Yang to a degree. More than once, his insistence on keeping to the values of democracy have unwittingly backfired. His own friends and allies comment on how only his firm adherence to his ideals, rather than the likes of Reinhard, could defeat him. {{spoiler|Sadly, they're not that far off from what ultimately killed Yang.}}
* [[The Promise]]: "Please win the universe, Lord Reinhard!"
* [[Proud Merchant Race]]: Fezzanis are portrayed as such.
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* [[The Quisling]]: Seen amongst the less honorable on both sides when the opposing side invades.
* [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]]: The 13th Fleet, which was hastily scrambled together from new recruits and survivors from the Battle of Astate, along with a helping of Imperial expatriates that serve as special task forces, an enemy defector, a demoted Chief of Staff, and a turncloak.
* [[Rape, Pillage and Burn]]:
** The Alliance, of all people, resort to it to resupply after Reinhard von Lohengramm destroys their supply ships during their "liberation" of the frontier territories.
** Reinhard makes it a point to make this unquestionably ''verboten.'' Mittermeyer in particular even goes so far as to have one of his own men executed for partaking in said rape, pillage and burn.
* [[Rapid Aging]]: Downplayed, but when Alexander Bucock returns from retirement after a few months, he's noticeably weaker and more frail to the point of relying on a cane to get around. It's implied that decades' worth of stress and fatigue had finally caught up with him.
* [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]: Alexander Bucock, Sidney Sitolet
** In the Empire, aside from Reinhard himself and some of his comrades there is the (relative) minority of reformist and otherwise sensible elements of the nobility who actually uphold the tradition of ''Noblesse Oblige'', like the Mariendorfs. Tellingly, said nobles become the only ones who manage to retain their titles, power and wealth after Reinhard crushes the corrupt and decadent aristocracy once and for all in the Lippstadt Rebellion.
* [[Reassigned to Antarctica]]: In the 2015 manga, a freshly graduated Reinhard and Kircheis are sent to a remote ice world contested with the Alliance at the Iselohn corridor. It's strongly implied that this was at the behest of some corrupt nobles in league with Susanna von Benemünde, who even tried to have the two assassinated. Suffice to say, they didn't stay on that world for long.
* [[Reality Ensues]]: Throughout the series, many of the characters are forced to confront the consequences of their actions as well as how the realities on the ground don't always match their expectations. Sometimes with tragic results.
** In general, the Alliance's attempted "liberation" of the Empire following Yang's successes with Iserlohn is a testament to its leadership's utter lack of grasp with reality.
* [[Recycled in Space]]: Just from the description this anime sounds like ''[[War and Peace]]'' [[Recycled in Space|IN SPACE!]] Which really just makes it all the more great.
** It's more like ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]'', ''[[House of Cards]]'' and ''[[Game of Thrones]]''. [[Older Than They Think|Despite it predating the last two on the list.]]
*** In Space.
* [[Red Baron]]: Many characters have them, but the one most commonly referred to by his nick name is "Gale Wolf" Mittermeyer.▼
** Yang Wen-Li has a few: "Miracle" Yang, Genius Yang, The Hero of El Facil, etc.▼
* [[Red Oni, Blue Oni]]: Reuenthal and Mittermeyer; they even get matching capes!
* [[Redshirt Army]]: Anyone who fights the Rosenritters. (Except for Reuenthal, possibly the only person whose fight with Schönkopf ends in a draw.) Also the common Terraist cultists.
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* [[Rousseau Was Right]]: Most of the main characters on both sides are inherently noble people who want what's best for their nations.
* [[Sacrificial Lion]]: Just because many characters die doesn't mean some of them aren't remembered more than others. {{spoiler|Kircheis}} is a good example.
* [[Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale]]: In regard to population growth and migration rates, at least. 269 years before the battle of Astate the FPA was founded by the remainder of a group of
* [[Schizo-Tech]]: Quill pens and bulky computers exist alongside cybernetic replacement limbs and powered armour-wearing soldiers wielding axes. Using ultrasound to examine the development of fetuses seems to be [[Lost Technology]], given that the doctor who watches over the delivery of {{spoiler|Prince Alex}} feels the need to announce "It's a boy!".
** No wonder, since the novels were written in the '80s.
** The 2015 manga retains this in spirit, albeit with the '80s bits updated to 2010s standards. It's also lampshaded at points, with a young Julian Mintz even telling Yang how he likes writing his thoughts on paper and Yang himself having whole stacks of hard-copy books, which are mentioned as being hard to come by.
* [[Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right]]: How Yang Wen-li became the "Hero of El Facil" in the first place.
* [[Secret Police]]: In what appears to be a borrowing from Militaristic Japan, the Military Police doubles as a political police, having the authority to intervene against civilians on suspicion of sedition.
* [[Secret Test of Character]]: Schönkopf's occassional questioning of Yang's leadership can be interpreted as this.
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*** Well yes, but arguably realism was never really the point. The mystery illness was just a device to {{spoiler|give Reinhard a "proper" death that rounds out his legend.}} Hilda even tells people that Reinhard {{spoiler|didn't "die," he "let go of his life"}} or something to that effect.
*** There is a fairly severe taboo about using real conditions and diseases in media in Japan -- it would be highly unlikely that Yoshiki's publisher's legal team would allow him to reference an actual disease in fear of offending someone with the actual diseases. {{spoiler|Generic, unexplained space illnesses}} would be acceptable, however.
▲* [[
▲** Yang Wen-Li has a few: "Miracle" Yang, Genius Yang, The Hero of El Facil, etc.
* [[Someone to Remember Him By]]: Felix, {{spoiler|Reuenthal's son by Elfriede. Reuenthal even comments on the [[Dramatic Irony]] before he dies.}} Slightly subverted in that the real mother wants nothing to do with the child, but at least this way he gets to have the best possible adopted parents.
* [[So What Do We Do Now?]]: After
* [[The Sound of Martial Music]]: In addition to the heavy Prussian influence, the Empire also incorporates elements of the Habsburg Austrian monarchy. Tellingly, there's a more pronounced 19th Century Austrian flavor to the Empire once Reinhard takes more direct control.
* [[
* [[Space Elevator]]: Fezzan has one of these.
* [[Space Is an Ocean]]
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* [[The Stoic]]: Oberstein, Merkatz and Eisenach.
* [[The Stool Pigeon]]: An Imperial soldier who broke protocol through an inappropriate comment was snitched on by another. Reinhard von Lohengramm asked Fräulein Mariendorf to use her judgment on how to handle the situation. Hildegard did punish the soldier that broke protocol, but she punished the snitch even worse by demoting him. Lohengramm was pleased, saying that it was wise of her to prove the point that no soldier can expect reward from him for duplicity and betraying his comrades. Classy attitude from both of them.
* [[Storming the Castle]]: The taking of Iserlohn. {{spoiler|Also, the Imperial assault on the Terraists.}}
* [[The Strategist]]: Yang, celebrated as Hero of El Facile, finds himself in this role as the story progresses.
* [[Suicide Mission]]: The first time Yang Wen-Li is sent to capture Iselhorn, it was in fact a suicide mission given by superiors who wanted to get rid of him.
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* [[Teen Genius]]: Julian Mintz and Reinhard (in the OVAs, prior to the main series - he's around 19-20 when the main story starts).
* [[Tempting Fate]]: In ''My Conquest is the Sea of Stars'', Yang explains that since the atmosphere of the planet is composed of hydrogen and helium, it would take only a match to wipe out their entire fleet. However, he doubts that anyone in the enemy fleet would ever think of it. What happens next?
{{quote|'''Reinhard''': "[[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|Fire the nuclear fusion missile.]]"}}
* [[Terraform]]: Apparently very easy in this universe, given the very earthlike nature of Odin, Heinessen and Fezzan at the very least - plus the fact that Earth has been almost completely abandoned even though it should in all likelihood remain the most hospitable planet for humans unless the ecosystem was completely messed up, and that does not appear to be the case.
* [[The Theme Park Version]]: The Galactic Empire is a mashup of the late 18th century Kingdom of Prussia, the Austrian and German empires and National Socialist Germany. People typically wear outfits reminiscent of the 18th and 19th centuries and whenever foodstuffs are mentioned by name it is usually stereotypically German fare like black beer, black bread, white sausages and Frankfurterkranz. And it has apparently [[Medieval Stasis|remained like this for almost 500 years]] before the beginning of the main narrative.
** Further lampshaded in the 2015 manga. It's mentioned that the Imperial capital world of Odin not only has stringent building restrictions but also intentionally keeps much of its high-tech facilities like spaceports hidden away to maintain the old world facade.
* [[This Loser Is You]]: Job Trünicht serves as this to the Alliance and to republican democracy in general. Trünicht isn't even afraid to admit that him getting into positions of power at all despite his antics is a testament to the people's ineptitude.
* [[Took a Level
* [[Took a Level In Jerkass]]: Frederica Greenhill eventually becomes more bitter and vengeful, though she never loses her caring and amiable side. {{spoiler|Given that this is due to Yang's death, her anger is more than justified.}}.
* [[Tomboy and Girly Girl]]: Hildegard (short hair, wears pants, takes an active role in politics) compared to Annerose (long hair, frilly dresses, makes handicrafts). Hildegard becomes girlier {{spoiler|during her pregnancy}} by wearing dresses and growing her hair longer. Frederica Greenhill and Hortense Cazerne probably also qualify.
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* [[Vestigial Empire]]: At the end of the series {{spoiler|the Empire makes peace with the Republicans, who relinquish control of Iserlohn in exchange for being allowed to control the Baalat starzone containing Heinessen. In effect, a rump state controlling little more than the capital planet of the old Free Planets Alliance is allowed to coexist with the Empire and retain a democratic republican constitution.}}
* [[Victory Is Boring]]: A major theme in the latter part of the series. {{spoiler|In fact, the entire fourth season explores this trope in detail, as the last possible obstacle to Reinhard's influence is done away with by the end of the third.}}
* [[Villain by Default]]: {{spoiler|the Terran Cult.}}
* [[War for Fun and Profit]]: Many in the Alliance's government seem to view the war against the Empire as a means to keep winning votes and staying in power. While Fezzan is more than willing to exploit the conflict to fill its merchants' pockets.
* [[The War of Earthly Aggression]]: In the backstory, United Earth found itself in this situation as it waged a brutal and ultimately losing war against the colonial worlds. The end result was a defeat so crushing that several centuries later, the planet is [[Insignificant Little Blue Planet|still little more than a backwater]] at the fringes of the Empire. Albeit a position that the Terraists exploit to their advantage.
* [[War Is Hell]]: This series does not shy away from showing the senselessness of war and the misery it causes.
** Episode 51 in particular is VERY jarring. The series has shown how bad war is up to this point, but in this particular episode, casualties are shown VERY graphically, as in amputated limbs and disembowelment. No other episode drives this trope home as powerfully.
* [[Wave Motion Gun]]: Both Iserlohn and Geiersburg Fortresses have them. {{spoiler|As does Fahrenheit's flagship, the Ahsgrimm, though you only see it fired once.}}
** Also, in a definite [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|CMOA]], Yang Wen-li actually IMPROVISES one by having all the ships in his fleet fire at the exact same point in space, causing the beams to fuse into a bigass beam that cuts through the enemy fleet like a knife. '''''WOW.'''''
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* [[You Are in Command Now]]: The first instance of Yang Wen-li taking command of a fleet is through invocation of this trope. Good thing, too.
* [[You Shall Not Pass]]: Admiral Bucock comes out of retirement to lead the few remaining Alliance ships to deter Reinhard's march to fully annex them. He manages to hold off '''100,000 ships under the direct command of a tactical genius''' with nothing but a hodgepodge fleet of '''20,000 ships''' cobbled from whatever the Alliance could scrounge and a brilliant defensive strategy.
* [[Zeerust]]: Julian Mintz is actually seen firing up DOS to load a history program on his 39th-century desktop computer. Other things of note: handheld phones do not exist, and people still use answering machines, albeit with video functions.
** That computer is shown to have 566198844 megabits of RAM (539 terabits), though.
** Subverted in the 2015 manga, which makes a conscious, deliberate effort to update the futuristic aspects to be more in line with contemporary works (holograms, touch-screen panels, etc.). At the same time however, it retains many of the [[Days of Future Past]] elements seen in the books and OVAs.
** Further subverted in 2018's ''Die Neue These''. The remake substantially replaces much of the '70s and '80s Zeerust with how people from [[The New Tens]] would envision the future to an even greater extent than the manga. Paradoxically, the [[Days of Future Past]] aspects are even given more emphasis.
* [[Zerg Rush]]: The Alliance actually relies on this tactic to win the very first battle of the series (Astarte). Predictably, they don't.
** The Empire also used the same attack in the same battle, to a greater effect.
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