| abstract | - Valkyria Chronicles was critically acclaimed and earned numerous awards from several notable video game publications. The success of the game spawned a media franchise, including several manga titles and an anime series. Two sequels were released for PlayStation Portable: Valkyria Chronicles II, and Valkyria Chronicles III.
- Valkyria Chronicles, known in Japan as Battlefield Valkyria: Gallian Chronicles(戦場のヴァルキュリア -Gallian Chronicles-Senjō no Varukyuria -Gallian Chronicles-), is a tactical role-playing game published by Sega, developed by their Sega WOW division exclusively for the PlayStation 3. It was released in Japan on April 24, 2008. A European version was then released on October 31, 2008, followed by a North American version released on November 4, 2008. The success of the game spawned multiple manga titles, a televised anime series, and most recently the development of a sequel, Valkyria Chronicles 2. The game is set in Europa, a fictional version of World War II Europe, in 1935. Because of its abundance of Ragnite ore, which can be refined into a powerful fuel, the neutral nation of Gallia comes under attack from the East Europan Imperial Alliance, which is itself engaged in a war with the Atlantic Federation. Players take control of a militia squad of Gallian nationals, dedicated to repelling the invasion. The game's visuals, which utilize SEGA's CANVAS graphics engine, resemble a watercolor painting in motion.
- Valkyria Chronicles is a video game made by Sega for the PlayStation 3 and released in 2008. The story is set in an alternate 1935 Europa, where two large blocs, the Atlantic Federation and the East Europan Imperial Alliance, are at war over control of the continent of Europa in what is called the Second Great War. Caught in the middle of the warring alliances is the small, energy rich, neutral nation of Gallia, which suddenly finds itself on the painful end of a surprise attack by the Imperial Alliance. In need of soldiers to defend itself, Gallia makes good on its policy of universal conscription and drafts every able bodied man and woman into military service. Some of the many regular civilians who are pulled into the war are Welkin Gunther, son of a famous general who fought in the First War, Isara Gunther, his Darcsen foster sister, and Alicia Melchiott, a young girl who dreams of becoming a baker. Together, they are organized into Militia Squad 7 with a number of other soldiers with their own stories and motivations and put on the front lines to defend their homes. Like many JRPGs, Valkyria Chronicles is very story heavy and contains many themes. The most evident are the tragedies of war, racism, fighting to defend one's homeland, friendship, family bonds, and love. Every character you can control (and a good deal of NPCs, too) has their own personal biography, special traits, likes and dislikes, and personality quirks, making it feel like you are actually controlling real people in an actual war. However, unlike JRPGs, Valkyria Chronicles chooses to avoid a high fantasy setting and instead opts for a very World War II themed world with light fantasy elements. Gameplay-wise, Valkyria Chronicles is unique, as it is a mix of turn based strategy, Real Time Strategy, Eastern RPG, and Third-Person Shooter. During battle, players use a pool of Command Points to directly take control of individual units so they can move and attack. While the player is controlling a unit, other units not being directly controlled will automatically fire on them if they pass through their line of sight, making cover and strategy in approaching your target much more important. All characters the player controls are separated into five classes: Scouts, Shocktroopers, Lancers, Engineers, and Snipers each with their own strengths and weaknesses. In between battles, players can use experience and money earned from battles to level up specific classes and purchase new weapons and upgrades for their troops. There are also tanks, which do not level up but can be upgraded. Valkyria Chronicles has received generally positive reviews from critics. The main selling points are its beautiful graphic design, engaging story, and unique gameplay based on a unique blend of elements from various video game genres. In addition to the game, there is also an anime adaptation for Valkyria Chronicles produced by A-1 Pictures, first aired on April 4, 2009. There are also two concurrent manga series in print as well. Extra Downloadable Content was released in Japan after release, and is now available for download in North America as well and Europe. Available are a mission where you play as Edy, 4 missions playing as Selvaria & controlling Imperial forces, an extra hard skirmish setting and "Challenge of the Edy Detachment", a set of seven skirmishes tailored to the various classes, as well as the tank unit and a final, specially-designed skirmish bringing them all together. There is a sequel for the PSP, called Valkyria Chronicles 2: Gallia Military Academy. It is set two years after the first game and involves civil turmoil as students are drafted in to fight the threats within the country. A third game, Valkyria Chronicles III: Unrecorded Chronicles, has been released in Japan. It is a Gaiden Game on the PSP, taking place at the same time as the first game. This game has also gotten a anime adaptation. This series is not to be confused with Valkyrie Profile.
* Ace Custom: the Edelwiess
* Action Girl: Pretty much every girl in the game. Alicia, Marina, Rosie, Edy, Lynn, Jane, Catherine, Freesia, Rosina, Wendy, Audrey, and Aika, however, are particular standouts. Susie, however, is the only real exception to this trope. Poor little thing, she should be one of these, but thanks to her super pacifistic nature and "Humanitarian" potential...
* Action Mom: Yoko leaves the kids at home to join the milita and blow up some tanks.
* Afraid of Needles: Montley.
* AKA-47: The Ruhm, a high-powered Imperial machine gun, is basically the real-life MG-34 used by Germany chambered for 7.62mm instead of 7.92mm.
* Amazon Brigade: It's possible to customize your squad so that it is almost entirely female.
* A Million Is a Statistic: Ghirlandaio. Full stop.
* Anti-Villain: Jaegar, more or less. Turns out, he was just helping Maximilian conquer Gallia so that his homeland gets freedom afterward.
* Anyone Can Die: Downed units can die permanently if they aren't rescued in time, or if an enemy reaches them before one of your able units can. In the case of the storyline, Isara's comes out of the blue.
* Apologetic Attacker: Susie. Her biography basically defines her as a mellow person, and has the (not-exactly-useful) "Humanitarian" potential to back it up. That doesn't stop her from shouting words and doing things that contradict each other while in combat, since she is yelling things indignantly while carrying out Welkin's orders under obligation by law.. And FYI, also check out Jane for her apparent mirror-reverse.
*
* This one's even better.
* Applied Phlebotinum: Ragnite is a multi-purpose mineral, useful for making fuel, weapons, and even medicine; arguably a case of Truth in Television, as oil can be used for all these purposes.
* Arbitrary Headcount Limit: Typically, you can only take about nine or ten members of your twenty-member squad into combat. Some missions, depending on circumstance, cut it down to even fewer. On top of this, while you can choose to leave out any of the main characters except for Welkin, you are punished for not deploying them by getting one less command point for each character. So in reality, unless you want the handicap, you've already got four slots filled.
* Arc Number: The number seven seem to play a role in this universe, Squad 7, Class G (seventh letter of the alphabet), Number 7 is the main character of the third game, etc.
* Aristocrats Are Evil:
* The Gallian generals, and especially Prime Minister Borg. Princess Cordelia is the only exception.
* The Imperial High Command (particularly Maximillian) often do this as well.
* Artificial Stupidity: The computer will often waste turns moving units back and forth, send wave after wave of their own infantry to certain death by interception fire, will almost always fail to make proper use of cover, and is completely unable to coordinate its units in a meaningful way. Much of the game's actual difficulty comes from having to face far larger numbers of units occasionally supplemented by powerful elite units and obstacles like fortified bunkers or mortar fire. And the fact that they can make shots from halfway across the map.
* Ascended Fangirl: In-game example. Audrey, who was so inspired after hearing of Welkin's exploits that she joins the militia hoping to be part of Squad 7.
* Attack Its Weak Point:
* Tanks have a radiator exposed on their backs that, if hit with an armor-piercing round, will blow them up in one shot. At higher levels, a burst of fire from a shocktroopr into the radiator will do it. At very high levels, a scout, engineer, or sniper can blow up the radiator with a single burst as well.
* Squad 7 also uses the hole caused by Alicia's Valkyria lance to successfully attack and disable the Marmota.
* The Atoner: Faldio, even so far as to kill himself together with Maximilian out of guilt.
* Authority Equals Asskicking: Like you wouldn't believe.
* Alicia seems to be a subversion though. She's only second-in-command in Squad 7 and she still owned Selvaria effortlessly. Although, to be fair, she's a Valkyria.
* Definitely applies to the leaders of the Imperial invasion; defeating each one is among the hardest tasks in the game. Selvaria, even when she isn't a Valkyria, has a Big Friggin' Machine Gun with huge range; Jaeger has an incredibly powerful tank with a sheet of armor that needs to be blown off before you can even Attack Its Weak Point; defeating Maximilian's Batomys is ridiculously long and involved, and Maximilian himself goes One-Winged Angel and absorbs all the powers of the Valkyria and then some.
* Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Gallia was just supposed to be a staging area and supply depot in The Empire's fight with The Federation. What it turned out to be was a nation of ass-kickers.
* Awesome but Impractical: Compared to the World War II style tanks of the period, the Edelweiss has the appearance and capabilities of a modern battle tank. However, its construction and engineering is incredibly complicated and there is currently no way to mass produce it. Background material, however, makes clear that as it was initially built, the Edelweiss was, in fact, practical for mass production---it simply did not jibe with the overall strategic thrust of Gallian defense spending. By the time the player gets ahold of it, though, Isara's modified it enough that it's rather improbable that they manage to keep it repaired between battles. By game's end, it's a damnable mystery how the thing can move under its own weight.
* Extra ammunition magazines for tanks may seem like a good idea at first, but become considerably less desirable later on, when mortar shells don't always pull off one hit kills on enemies and are more useful for dislodging them from cover. Radiator plates aren't that useful either, since they only really affect how much damage you can take from gunfire to your radiator, and any regular tank shell or lance rocket is capable of blowing you up in one hit.
* Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other: Karl and Lynn. So much that their (in-game) death quotes are entirely of one of them calling out to another...in a really sad way. Welkin and Alicia get several of these moments as well, especially in side chapters.
* Babies Ever After: Alicia and Welkin, aptly naming the kid Isara.
* Badass:
* Selvaria, yes. When you first encounter her on the battlefield, she's powerful enough to own EVERY unit singlehandedly except the Edelweiss, and fast enough to deflect a tank shell with her weapon. That goes double for the time you meet her again, where she shows that she can now destroy TANKS as well. Good thing you didn't have to fight her then.
* And an even bigger one (YES, there IS one) would be Alicia, on the stage following Selvaria's second appearance on the battlefield. Just after Selvaria exhibited her powers in the last stage that she can decimate practically ANYTHING, Alicia (just having awakened her latent powers) walked out into the battlefield (staggering) with her own Valkyrian spear and shield intact. She then proceeded to: dodge Selvaria's attacks effortlessly without taking a scratch; deflect her in a weapon deadlock; evade an energy attack from her; AND disarm her in ONE SINGLE THRUST; all the while acting subconsciously (meaning she's neither conscious NOR even know what she's doing). It would be worth mentioning that most of the enemy forces in that stage was taken out (in-battle) by Alicia as well, in the same tranced, awakened state. Well, the early half, at least. Although, in that battle, she's temporarily an NPC who'll attack anyone in range, friend or foe, except the Edelweiss. So long as it doesn't block her attacks...
* In fact, it's probably easier just to say that Squad 7 is an entire regiment of badasses. Invading Gallia was a mistake. Heck, even Isara has her moments!
* EVEN Isara? I ask you to replay the first cutscene in the second chapter.
* Badass Army: Squad 7 may be a bunch of misfits from all walks of life, but put them in the battlefield and wait a few hours...
* Badass Bookworm: Welkin. He doesn't look like one, but his tactical and operative planning wins every single victory for Squad 7.
* Badass Grandpa: Coby, the oldest soldier in the squad at 65.
* Bait and Switch Gunshot
* Bash Brothers: Incorporated into the combat system. If squadmates are near your selected character when you attack, they add supporting fire too, and some of the potentials give bonuses depending on the type of person the selected character is around. Furthermore your troops also have favourites which they prefer to have around them - though some of them also have potentials that specify people they hate.
* Band of Brothers and Sisters: Down to various quotes from the game calling the platoon a family.
* Battle Aura: Activated Valkyria look like they are constantly being consumed by blue flames.
* Battle Couple: There's the obvious. There's also your units Karl and Lynn, and possibly Aika and Vyse.
* Battleship Raid: Literally the final stage.
* BFG: The Ruhm, Selvaria's Signature Weapon, and the game's sole automatic rifle (the rest of the shocktrooper weapons are merely sub-machine guns).
* Beach Episode: Extra Chapter "Squad 7 R&R", between chapter 9 & 10.
* Berserk Button: Welkin. Usually a nice guy, but he bursts into a tantrum when he discovers that Faldio deliberately injured Alicia.
* Do Not mess with Largo when vegetables are involved.
* Beta Couple: Largo and Eleanor to Welkin and Alicia, though it doesn't become apparent until later.
* Big Bad: Maximilian.
* Big Damn Heroes: Squad 7 does a few of these. Alicia also delivers one later in the game as well as the episode of the anime covering said battle from the game.
* Beware the Nice Ones: When the imperial soldiers attack Bruhl and come into her house, Isara shoots one of them with a rifle. And then she fires up the old tank in the barn to kick some serious imperial ass.
* Bi the Way: Possibly Ted. He's the only character with both the "Fancies Men" and "Fancies Women" Potentials. Not to mention the fact that, when you heal him, regardless of whether it's a guy or a girl healing him, he says "I could just kiss you!"
* The Big Guy: Hannes, he's either a Class 1 or Class 3.
* Largo is a Class 4.
* Bling of War: The Gallian officers have some pretty classy dress uniforms to wear with whatever medals they've earned. General Damon wears his all the time, which probably serves to highlight his vanity and military incompetence. Welkin can also earn medals and weapons from the royal armoury as rewards for in-game accomplishments.
* On the Imperial side of things, most Imperial generals and officers are soberly dressed in a dark gray uniform, with some gold trimmings. The exception is Maximilian, who pretty much holds the title for having the most bling of all.
* Blond Guys Are Evil: Maximilian encore! Also Gregor, though he usually wears a hat.
* Boobs of Steel: Selvaria possesses a prominent set, for fairly obvious design reasons.
* Bodyguard Crush: Selvaria, towards Maximillian. Tragically and pathetically one sided, however. According to the anime, it seems that Maximillian hardly needs a bodyguard at all (killing all by himself, with a sword, the entire group of assassins sent to take him out who managed to break into his estate and kill all the guards with ease...), leading to the question of what she's even doing there.
* Boisterous Bruiser: Hannes Salinger.
* Bond One-Liner: Ohhh... Gotta count 'em all!!
* Boom! Headshot!: The preferred way of dealing with most enemy troops.
* Breaking the Fourth Wall: Edy does this in the add-on if you get a D on the mission, calling the player "sloth fingers". Homer, next to her, wonders who she is talking to. The nature of this mission makes it very hard to do this badly without getting a gameover, making this something of an Easter Egg.
* Breast Plate: Literal ones. Some of the troopers have them, and they cover exactly what they say they do on both men and women.
* Broken Aesop: In one scene about halfway through the game, Welkin and Alicia try to provide medical aid and comfort to a dying Imperial scout, discussing how many of the Imperial soldiers are actually just Punch Clock Villains who are Not So Different. Later, most of the Gallian army is wiped out, and no one cares. At all.
* Bunny Ears Lawyer: Welkin. If he says you look like a beetle, don't worry, that's a compliment.
* Calling Your Attacks
* Call to Agriculture: Largo always had a dream to have a vegetable garden.
* The Call Twinks You
* Camp Gay: Jann. The facts that he wears make-up and lipstick, fancies men AND has a potential called "Largo Lover" do not help. Not to mention the way he talks...especially in the Japanese track where he uses a feminine pronoun of "I". As one of the largest, most solidly-built characters in the game, and a Lancer, he also qualifies as a Hard Gay. The Edy Detachment add on gives him a Paul Lynde voice to complete the look.
* Cannon Fodder: The general perception of the militia by the regular army. Squad 7 sure proves them wrong, though...
* The Captain: Captain Eleanor Varrot, obviously. Although of lower rank, it also applies to Welkin; he's the one in charge of Squad 7, and although he's easygoing and amicable, do NOT question his orders. He's in charge for a reason.
* Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough: Captain Varrot and Sergeant Largo.
* Catch a Falling Star: Welkin and Alicia are rescued this way.
* Catch Phrase: Welkin's famous "Squad 7, move out!". Spammed utterly throughout the game.
* Chekhov's Gun: Isara, Leon, and Kreis' flying machine.
* Child Soldiers: Due to Gallia's policy of universal conscription, military training is a part of general education and citizens as young as fifteen may be conscripted. Then there's twelve-year-old Aisha Neumann, a Shocktrooper in your Squad, who apparently begged to serve and had it granted if her bio in the game is to be believed.
* Climax Boss: Selvaria.
* Cold Sniper:
* Marina, not the only sniper, but by far the best because of her potential "Ultimate Accuracy" which is always activated. Ultimately subverted if you purchase the add-on content: her potentials imply she is a sociopath, but the Edy's Brigade reveals that she has a soft side. Apparently she just doesn't like being around other people.
* Cezary plays this trope a little straighter, though in his case it's less cold sniper and more selfish asshole sniper.
* Color-Coded Armies: The good guys are blue, the bad guys are dark gray and red, especially the officers.
* The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard:
* Enemy tanks, in particular, appear to have freakishly good accuracy and can make pinpoint shots with their shells from halfway across the map. Good luck making equally-impressive shots without Save Scumming.
* Enemy Aces are also incredibly annoying in their ability to dodge long-range sniper shots - from behind - as well as point-blank barrages.
* There's also the Lancers. If your tank's radiator is visible at all, it's likely to take a shot. It doesn't matter if they can only see 1 cm of it, and they're firing from the other end of the map; they will hit that radiator. This is especially painful because losing your tank means game over.
* Conservation of Ninjutsu: In a good number of the game's levels, chances are your squad will be horribly outnumbered by the Imperials. Plus, unlike you, they literally have infinite reinforcements they can continually call on until you capture their bases.
* Cool Big Sis: Rosie. This is even one of her potentials.
* Cooldown Hug: Preceded by a speech and followed by a kiss. Welkin to Alicia when she decided she'll go kamikaze on the Big Bad's land battleship.
* Crippling Overspecialization: Every class is restricted to certain types of weapons. This means that Lancers can't carry a carbine as a back-up weapon for dealing with infantry. Later on, Lancers can have the option of taking mortar lances that are more effective against infantry, with the obvious tradeoff in mortars being less effective against tanks.
* Curb Stomp Battle: Squad 7 pretty much does this every level, especially once you learn to correctly utilize each class and their strengths/weaknesses.
* Selvaria does this on almost every map she shows up on and in the anime.
* Alicia delivers one to Selvaria later on as well, while in a half-weakened state no less.
* Custom Uniform: Jaeger and Selvaria.
* Cutscene Incompetence: Where the hell was that medic when Isara was shot?!?
* A Day in the Limelight: In one of the downloadable content packs, Edy gets a mission that is entirely focused on her. Also included are a slew of secondary characters you may or may not have used in the main game.
* A Death in the Limelight: Isara certainly gets a lot of focus in Chapter 11, just before her death.
* David Versus Goliath: More like David versus two Goliaths, if you count the Atlantic Federation.
* Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Squad 7's defeat of Maximilian. He had equipment that mimicked the powers of the Valkyria and unlike the fight with Selvaria, Squad 7 decided not to rely on Alicia's Valkyria powers.
* Didn't See That Coming : Maximilian's plan to hold Europa hostage with the power of the Valkyrian bloodline was kind of derailed by the minor detail of Cordelia and her ancestors actually being Darcsen. He rolls with the punches, though.
* Dirty Coward: Cezary. He chose to be a sniper so that he could stay as far away from the front lines as possible.
* Does Not Like Men: Dallas. Like Rosie, this is one of her potentials, and causes her to lose combat prowess in the proximity of males. Put her with women, on the other hand, and...
* Doomed Hometown: Bruhl
* Downloadable Content: The Edy Brigade mission, Behind Her Blue Flame (a pair of missions featuring Selvaria), and the Edy Brigade challenges, which are missions tailored to a specific job class.
* The Dragon: Selvaria. Or Jaeger, gameplay-wise, since he's the last of the Drei Stern you face in a real showdown.
* Dramatic Gun Cock: In the earliest part of the story, no less!
* Dreadful Musician: In one of the downloadable missions, Edy is shown to be able to trigger death scenes from her own teammates with only her voice. Her personnel files state that she is unknowingly tone deaf.
* Drill Sergeant Nasty:
* The drill sergeant NPC's existence hinges on his ability to insult you as you level up your troops. He's the epitome of the trope, really.
*
* Jane also becomes a drill instructor at the end of the game, and is even stricter than the NPC one.
* Dubtitle: While hardly unusual for a game with a bilingual soundtrack, the English script used for the subtitles only matches the English dub. While it hardly alters the game's plot in any way and the English script and dub is faithful to the plot and the characters, it can create a strange dissonance with the Japanese track on. Most notable is a moment in which Welkin simply says "Faldio", and the script reads "I don't know what to tell you, Faldio."
* While it is true that the overall plot is, on face value, faithful, the differences in the minor details can lead to a very different impression from the characters, which may or may not change the resulting flavour of the ending. The best example would be Faldio in the fully unlocked (New Game+) scene "Awakening"; in the Japanese audio, he comes off far more sinister, not to mention his words are a few notches more brutal than what the subtitles actually say.
* Dude, Where's My Respect?: Despite beating back the Imperials pretty much by themselves, Squad 7 is constantly given the insanely dangerous missions while the main army gets the fairly easy jobs.
* If not for the actual callousness of the high command, this would actually make sense because Squad 7 is by far the most capable formation in the Gallian military, and with their proven track of astounding successes, it would only make sense to give them the more difficult jobs.
* This is Lampshaded in the briefing for the assault on Ghirlandio.
* Dungeon Bypass: The best (sometimes only) way to get A ranks on missions. Easy to do in New Game+ when your units are way overpowered.
* During the War
* Elite Mooks:
* As the game progresses, you'll eventually start facing tougher enemies, who aptly have the title "Elite". By reaching a certain level, your own soldiers can also attain this status, which confers new potentials and subweapons for particular classes.
* Also in the spirit of the trope are black-armored Imperial units, who are stronger than ordinary soldiers, and aces, who have preternaturally good accuracy and dodging skills. An ace will frequently duck bullets from a sniper stationed half a mile away, before the rifle actually goes off.
* The Empire: The East Europan Imperial Alliance.
* The Engineer: Loads of them, but Isara, Leon and Kries are the most prominent, storywise. Leon fits the young engineer stereotype to a tee: enthusiastic, Hot-Blooded and with a little bit of an inventor stripe. Sometimes borders on Mad Scientist territory. In battle, engineers are essential for building and breaking fortifications, repairing tanks, disarming land mines and resupplying fellow soldiers.
* Encyclopedia Exposita: For all the weapons, characters, major world events and landmarks.
* Ensign Newbie: Welkin.
* Even Evil Has Standards: In one of the side chapters, an Imperial war criminal who is infamous for taking civilian hostages in battle is court-marshaled by his own superiors. Maximilian may be a bit of a royal bastard who treats even his most loyal subordinates as pawns, but even he expects his troops to stick to the rules of war.
* Everything's Better with Princesses: Cordelia; notable in that she's the daughter of an Archduke and Archduchess and the only heir to the throne, but is not crowned due to her young age, and cedes control of the country to her Prime Minister. Even after she matures, has her big reveal, and said Prime Minister gets killed, her title remains Princess. Since Gallia is a principality: the ruler is supposed to be a prince(ss).
* Evil Albino: Selvaria. Eventually subverted - she's far less evil than most of the Imperials.
* Evil Chancellor: Borg.
* Evil Prince: Maximilian.
* Eyepatch of Power: [[The Cameo Vy]se; granted, it has a clear part so he can see out of it, but it's no coincidence that he has an eyepatch and is one of the best Shocktroopers in the game.
* Single Goggle of Power?
* Eyes Always Shut: Leon the Mechanic rarely, if ever, opens his eyes. Even when he's flying a plane!
* Faceless Goons: Generally speaking, the Imperial Army. Played with a bit between mission 8 and 9, though, wherein Alicia and Welks comfort a dying Imperial grunt (removing his helmet in the process) and then have a civil chat with his commanding officer; more obviously played with in the Selvaria DLC.
* Fan Disservice: The breastplates on the shocktroopers. Just... it's not strictly for women. Welkin's old-timey swimsuit can count as this, especially as out of place as it looks when the other women around him are wearing extremely modern and Fan Service friendly swimsuits.
* Then again... it does make for a good laugh...
* Fan Service:
* Selvaria. Again.
* Many of the girls of Squad 7. If they're not in pants, they wear skirts and REALLY HIGH knee socks. Rosie tops all the others by having a gap around her midriff (and having a much shorter skirt). The girls with skirts are prone to Panty Shots as the their evasive manoeuvre is to drop to the ground. Guess where the camera points. And then there's the Beach Episode. In particular, Alicia has a very revealing bikini.
* Strictly speaking, they're wearing shorts under their skirts, albeit some very short shorts.
* Fantastic Racism: Darcsens, although they are a clear analogue for the Jews/Gypsies in World War II and their experiences; this is perhaps muddied by how the Darcsens are visualized in Anime/Manga style. Technically, they are human but what sets them apart is their dark blue hair.
* Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The following could be said of the countries and peoples that appear in the game:
* Gallia is loosely based on the nations geographically associated with Gaul (or Gallia in Latin) and more specifically the Rhineland, including a mix of Dutch, French, Belgian and German traits.
* In his review of Valkyria Chronicles, Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw referred to Gallia as: "a small, idyllic country that resembles a mashup of Holland, Belgium and Switzerland as depicted by Winnie the Pooh".
* The Atlantic Federation is essentially akin to NATO and the Western Allies of the world wars.
* The Imperials are a mishmash of Imperial Russia, Austria-Hungary, Imperial Germany, the Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany.
* If Jaeger's any indication, his homeland within the Empire bears at least a passing semblance to Hungary.
* The Darcsens, meanwhile, are basically European Jews with some cultural elements of the Gypsies.
* A Father to His Men: Welkin sees himself this way, as does the commander of the Imperials he and Alicia meet in Chapter 8. Selvaria is also like this towards her subordinates.
* The Federation: Subverted. They show up as antagonists.
* Five-Man Band: The main characters of Squad 7:
* Welkin: The Hero
* Alicia: The Chick
* Largo: The Big Guy (Class 4/Class 2)
* Rosie: The Lancer / Cool Big Sis
* Isara: The Smart Guy (later replaced with Kreis)
* Zaka: The Sixth Ranger
* Hans: Team Pet
* Forgotten Superweapon: The Valkof.
* Fragile Speedster:
* Scouts go down easy. The trade-off is that their insane movement range makes them one of the most valuable units in the game, especially when going for A ranks.
* Zaka's tank, the Shamrock. While not as tough as the Edelweiss, it has a higher movement range and can choose between three different primary weapons: the standard mortar/cannon, a gatling gun, or a flamethrower.
* Framing Device: The game proceeds as if you're reading through the history book Irene Koller/Ms. Ellet wrote about the events of the war; cutscenes and battles are played by selecting them in the book's chapters and most of the game's extra content can be accessed through "tabs" to other sections.
* Freudian Excuse: Maximilian's ambition to conquer Europa was fueled by his low standing at the Imperial court due to his mother being of common birth, and him surviving an assassination attempt from within his family early in life.
* Friend to All Children: Jann. He used to be a babysitter before enlisting in Squad 7, and he founds an orphanage after the end of the war. Awwwwww.
* Friendly Sniper: Catherine O'Hara, and the Bielert brothers (Oscar and Emile). Inverted by the other two snipers, Marina and Cezary.
* Gameplay and Story Segregation:
* See "Cutscene Incompetence". Dang, that one was irritating.
* A squad is awarded the Splintered Horn when one of their own falls in the line of duty. You don't get it automatically when Isara dies, though, since it happens in a cutscene rather than in gameplay.
* General Ripper: And quite literal ones at that. One on each side.
* Generation Xerox: Played with, everyone thinks Welkin is following in his father's footsteps while the only thing he wants is to become a teacher.
* Gentle Giant: Walter, Hector, Jann, and Largo.
* Note that they're all Lancers, a class you'd expect to be populated with Dumb Muscle. There's not a single one who fits that description.
* Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Certain characters, especially in the side chapters and DLC, start to go a little crazy before their Love Interest snaps them out of it.
* Glamorous Wartime Singer: Rosie used to be a barmaid before the war, but still sings occasionally. She remarks that it was hardly glamourous though. She gets back into singing on a full-time basis after the war.
* Glass Cannon: Snipers; they can kill most opponents with one hit, at ranges far beyond what any other unit can manage, but they have very low health and ridiculously little movement range.
* Glory Hound: General Damon is more worried about his reputation and victory than the welfare of his troops, especially the militia. Most of the missions he issues to the militia are practically suicidal, and would invariably rack up huge body counts if not for the fact that they are far more capable than he gives them credit for.
* Go Out with a Smile: Isara, just to complete the Tear Jerker moment.
* Good Looking Privates: Your squad makes the military look good. One soldier, Ramona, was even a model before the war.
* Green Rocks: Ragnite. Used in anything humanly possible from first-aid kits to ammunition, including, but not limited to, street lamps and engine fuel. Apparently, the Valkyrian weapons are made of Ragnite as well.
* Happily Married: Welkin and Alicia, in the end. Also Largo and Eleanor. Karl and Lynn, two of the otherwise faceless units, are lovers by the time the game has started and get married after the war ends.
* Harder Than Hard: EX Hard Mode. As an example, the first mission pits a tiny squad smack-dab in the center of a huge Imperial ambush.
* Heel Realization: Jaeger, after losing to Squad 7.
* Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: None of Squad 7 wears a helmet. In fact, the armor they do wear is highly impractical in general. They have protection on their shoulders, hips, knees and (in the case of the shocktroopers) pectorals, but leave the rest of their center-mass, neck, head and groin protected only by cloth uniforms. This may be justified in the fact that they are a civilian militia, which is often undersupplied and considered cannon fodder by the military brass, rather than army regulars.
* True for the psuedo-WWII setting, body armor didn't exist (or was issued, in the later years). Still doesn't explain the lack of something as simple as a steel pot. Odder still is the fact that all Imperial soldiers wear full body armour, although unlike Gallia, the Empire is a militaristic superpower that can probably afford to outfit all their troops with good equipment.
* Hero of Another Story: Essentially Faldio's initial role.
* Heroic BSOD: Welkin, and all of Squad 7 really, experience this when Isara dies and when Alicia is shot.
* Heroic Sacrifice: Averted when Alicia decided that she'll take down Maximilian's ship together with her, only to be stopped by Welkin. Then played completely straight by Faldio.
* Hidden Depths: Turns out Nadine is quite the writer, Largo is highly knowledgeable about agriculture, Jann is good with kids, and Walter enjoys cooking and gardening.
* Hopeless Boss Fight:
* The first tank you encounter is impossible to destroy with any gun, even in New Game+. Selvaria in all but her last battle is pretty much "run away and get the stage goal accomplished before she kills everyone."
* You can, interestingly, defeat Jaeger's Tank when it first appears in the forest stage. Beating him sends all other enemies running with their tails between their legs, and Jaeger himself comments on your skill. Although curiously you get no experience credit for it.
* Hotblooded Sideburns: Largo sports an impressive pair, and he lives up to them well.
* Hot Amazon: Pretty much any male character with any semblance of romantic interest in any female character is this, given every female character in Squad 7 is a hardcore Action Girl.
* Hot Librarian: Captain Varrot's totally rockin' the look. It helps that she also has an office full of books, and that a local bookshop actually owes its livelihood to her.
* I Did What I Had to Do: Faldio. He sniped Alicia at a vital spot to forcefully awaken her power, and thus providing Gallia with a way to counter Selvaria. Although he feels deeply guilty for that.
* Idiot Hair: Marina Wulfstan. She's certainly not an idiot though.
* Idiot Hero: Edy in her DLC, which surprises the people who thought she'd be more of the Alpha Bitch.
* Ill Boy: Oscar and his brother, Emile. Homer sort of qualifies with his frail body, but he seems to enjoy the suffering.
* I'm Taking Her Home with Me: Marina of all people. She bears some responsibility for getting the detachment lost in Edy's DLC for running after a cute looking puppy.
* Insufferable Genius: Cezary may be a bigoted prick, but damn if he isn't a good sniper.
* Insurmountable Waist-Height Fence: Not everywhere, but particularly bridge handrails. Kinda subverted: while Snipers can easily shoot over them, Lancers apparently can't.
* Interface Spoiler: When you first meet Rosie, she's prejudiced against Darcsens, but doesn't have the "Darcsen Hater" potential, hinting that she'll get over her prejudice eventually. In fact, she later unlocks a potential that's virtually the exact opposite.
* In Book Mode, cutscenes are displayed as a greyed-out still of the scene, which are colored after you watch them. But it's often easy to guess the content of the scene from the still: most egrigiously, one in Chapter 11 shows the main characters looking very sad, with one member of the group suspiciously abscent...
* Interservice Rivalry: There is a lot of friction between the soldiers of the militia and the high echelon officers of the regular military.
* Intrepid Reporter: Ellet, who decides to tag along with Squad 7 after deciding that they're the most interesting of the Gallian military. She eventually writes a book about them.
* The Ishmael: To a small extent - although Selvaria is the leader in her DLC, the player's experience with her is through the eyes of Johann, an engineer assigned to be her personal aide.
* Who then becomes Oswald the Iron, the most easily killed Ace (Chapter 10a with a ZM Kar 3f)
* Jerkass:
* Rosie is this at first, but eventually becomes a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
* Maximilian.
* General Damon, who views the militia as expendable canon fodder.
* Cezary. Just... Cezary. At one point in the manga he is shown telling Oscar not to give the Darcsens fighting alongside them backup (thankfully Oscar refuse to obey him) and lets an Imperial Sniper take aim at Nadine without bothering to help, and she probably would've been shot if Marina hadn't killed the sniper before he had the chance. Cezary is considered such a Jerkass that he's often portrayed as a downright evil character, or even a traitor, in fanfictions.
* Ironically, the only person that does like Cezary in the manga is not other than Nadine herself, who mistook Cezary as the one who saved her from the Imperial Sniper.
* Theold, although he apparently gets better after the war, when he falls in love.
* Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Edy.
* Jumped At the Call: When Isara dies, Kries instantly volunteers as the Edelweiss's pilot to honor her memory. He proves just as skilled and courageous as her, and Welkin is honored to have him in her place.
* Karmic Death: Most of the morally corrupt characters on both sides suffer a well-deserved demise. When not literally it comes symbolically, through loss of status or motivation.
* Kick the Dog:
* The Federation and Prime Minister Borg with their plan to kidnap the Princess.
* In Selvaria's side chapter, Damon kicks the dog when he uses poisonous ragnite gas against the Imperials even though both sides are under a treaty that specifically forbids the use of such weapons. Not only that, but after he loses the battle, Damon covers for his failure by accusing the Imperials of illegally using chemical/biological weapons!
* Your very first encounter with Imperial troops starts with them gunning down unarmed fleeing civilians.
* Killed Off for Real: Isara. Also, if any of your soldiers are downed in combat and are not rescued before an enemy soldier touches them, you lose them permanently. Except for plot-critical characters who will "retreat" instead, despite the fact that they were unconscious seconds before and have an enemy standing over them.
* The Kingdom: Gallia. Even though the country is actually a Principality and ruled by a Archduke/Archduchess, it fits the archetype to a tee.
* Knife Nut: Maximilian is said to be one in his background fluff; justified in that at the time it was for self defence, but it eventually grows to him having a collection of hundreds of knives, if not thousands.
* Lady of War: Selvaria, obviously. Also, Captain Varrot is one to a lesser degree.
* The Lancer: Aside from literally being Lancer-class, Largo plays one to Welkin.
* Land Mine Goes Click: Not a noise you want to hear - the only units that won't be immediately caught in a fiery explosion after that click are the engineers, the only ones capable of disarming them. Sustaining the trope, the mine never blows up until you step/roll off of it. If you end turn as soon as you hear the click, an engineer can still disarm the mine.
* Law of Inverse Recoil:
* In Real Life, RPGs have little to no recoil. On the other hand, the degree of steadiness with which Shocktroopers can hold the Ruhm beggars belief.
* The lances do not have a rear exhaust for the back blast, so recoil is expected.
* Leeroy Jenkins: The entire basis of the Edy Detachment DLC is due to Edy doing just this.
* Lighter and Softer: Despite the fact that Anyone Can Die and that virtually every horrible war-related trope comes into play, the whimsical art style and the numerous light-hearted moments manage to make this a lot less depressing than most war stories.
* Averted in the Manga, which is brutal.
* Little Hero Big War: The Gallian conflict is a small part of the second Europan War; the Empire and the Federation are still at war with each other after Gallia drives out the fragment that invaded them, having convinced them that it's not worth it.
* Little Miss Badass: Aisha.
* Loads and Loads of Characters: Oh yes. Both games border on Suikoden levels.
* Love At First Punch: Implied with Homer towards Edy in her DLC. Justified in that he is a masochist, though one must wonder if he winds her up deliberately just to get her to punch him.
* Love Martyr: Selvaria to Maximilian, although she has little, if any, interest about changing him.
* Lower Deck Episode: The downloadable chapters featuring Selvaria are focused around Johann, an Imperial soldier who is saved from mook status by the fact that he is assigned to be Selvaria's personal aide. Selvaria's personality is expanded upon through Johann's experiences with her.
* Luminescent Blush: Let's see here. Japanese RPG: check. Anime-style: double check. Romance plot: check, check, check. Nope. No reason not to see this trope in it.
* Mad Bomber: Wendy Cheslock has all the hallmarks of one, be it her introduction ("heheh Ka-boom! heheh") her background and motivations for joining the milita (accidentally blew up her house, and joined so she could test out some of her creations.) or her epilogue ( becomes part of the Gallian military R&D division, where her pieces of work are described as 'potent' and 'very effective' but too unstable for use by any sane soldier.)
* Martyr Without a Cause: Alicia vs. the Marmota.
* The Medic: When one of your soldiers is down and another one manages to get to him on time, the cute little medic will pop up to get them back in shape!
* The Men First: Welkin's first priority in every single mission, beyond its completion, is the safety of his soldiers.
* Micro Monarchy: The Principality of Gallia.
* Mighty Glacier: Lancers; they're great against tanks and can weather most incoming fire like it's nothing. Unfortunately they have trouble keeping up with everyone else.
* Military Mashup Machine: The Marmota. Think "Battleship on wheels" or "insanely armed and armoured hovercraft".
* Military Maverick: Welkin usually comes up with incredibly unorthodox strategies to win his battles. Varrot also embodies this trope to some extent.
* Mind Rape: Cezary. In his ending, a brain injury erases his memory and corrects his unpleasant personality.
* Mook Maker: Enemy camps. In later stages, they'll spawn one unit per camp every turn, on average, if not always. Better be glad they can't spawn tanks...
* Morality Pet: Oddly, Selvaria is this to Maximillian for much of the story. His respect and kindness toward her, and her devotion to him, are the primary signs that he's not a Complete Monster. Especially since it turns out her obsessive loyalty is for a really good reason: he saved her from an agonizing life as a scientific test subject. Of course, near the end of the game, he decides that she needs to take the "I value you more than my life" thing more literally. This action doubles as his Moral Event Horizon.
* More Dakka: Most Stormtrooper weapons. Selvaria's Ruhm in particular.
* Must Make Her Laugh: Ted's profile mentions that he's tried time and again to make Marina laugh. He doesn't succeed if the Encyclopedia Exposita is any indication.
* Mysterious Waif: Alicia, depending on how you look at her.
* Nakama: Squad 7, natch.
* New Game+: You get a bonus character during New Game Plus, some cut scenes are extended, and you can also unlock some exposition only chapters that would have been totally Spoileriffic if seen on the first play through.
* New Meat: Some of the characters' potentials exemplify traits of this.
* The Neidermeyer: General Damon. Oh man. If it weren't for actual competent officers like Captain Varrot and Lieutenant Gunther, Gallia would be doomed.
* Nice Guy: Welkin's a really nice guy... when he's not out there blowing up enemies.
* No Name Given: The Medic, unless you know that she's a cameo character from one of the earlier games from the same developers. There are actually three medics who are all identical siblings. Their names are Fina, Hina, and Mina. More direct examples would be the Drill Instructor and the Aged Gentleman in the War Cemetery, though you can eventually get their names and bios after unlocking all the orders and leveling every class to level 20.
* Nonuniform Uniform: If you look carefully, some of the characters, especially the main ones, have noticeable variations in their uniforms.
* Normally I Would Be Dead Now: You can still rescue squadmates even after they get shot in the face with a tank shell. With a little luck, tougher classes such as Lancers and Shocktroopers can even take a direct hit from an explosive round and get back up to return the favor.
* Officer And A Lady: Varrot.
* Officer and a Gentleman: Welkin.
* Official Couple: Guess who!
* Oh Crap: Chapter 4, when Welkin's tank just appeared out of the water in front of two Imperial soldiers. Even though their faces can't be seen because of the helmets, their voices alone are just priceless. Hell, Alicia's reaction is basically this, even though the tank is on HER side!
* Old Soldier: While Coby fits the with the age part at 65, Largo is the one that most fits the personality of the trope. He's even peeved at first at taking orders from the much younger Welkin... until Welkin pulls a Crowning Moment of Awesome so massively badass that Largo literally has to shut up and follow orders.
* One-Man Army: Selvaria, and Alicia does this in one level. Can also be played straight if you use almost one character exclusively throughout the mission.
* One-Winged Angel: Maximilian.
* Only One Name: Darcsens do not usually have last names. (Isara is an exception because she's adopted.)
* The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Edy's attitude towards Rosie. When she heard that Rosie got shot, she runs across the map to make sure she's alright.
* Optional Party Member: While this applies in a sense to all of the game's recruitable soldiers, there are also five hidden ones (one per class): Musaad (Scout), Lynn (Shocktrooper), Audrey (Lancer), Knute (Engineer), and Emile (Sniper), that only get unlocked by certain means, two of which involve certain characters getting KO'ed.
* Orange-Blue Contrast
* Pause Scumming: The unit you are controlling, (and only the unit you are controlling) will be exposed to suppression fire, whether he or she is stationary, behind cover, or moving. However, enemies will mysteriously cease fire the moment you take aim. This leads to one or two different playstyles. The player will usually either run fast, shoot, and stop controlling the character; or walk, aim, walk, aim, walk, aim....
* Pendulum War: In the absence of Squad 7, the rest of the Gallian military doesn't seem to be able to achieve much of anything and generally get their butts handed to them by the Empire. However, once Squad 7 arrives on the field, expect to see Imperials flying across the Gallian-Imperial border in droves.
* Person of Mass Destruction: The Valkyria are literally walking nuclear bombs.
* Power Trio: Hannes (Id), Oscar (Superego) and Jane (Ego)
* Player Mooks: More of a You Suck than anything else, but if the player loses enough squad members permanently, they get replaced with an endless series of faceless, one-size-fits-all mooks.
* Plotline Death: Isara. And later, Selvaria. Gregor too, but everyone hates him anyway.
* Punch Clock Villain: Not all Imperial soldiers are Magnificent Bastards or Jerkasses. A large majority of them are just regular joes just like the Gallians and this fact is heavily emphasized during one of the game's chapters. The Selvaria DLC expounds on this a bit more. Radi Jaeger also has signs of this, as he's only fighting for the Empire to free his homeland. He (and Selvaria, except she's truly dedicated to the cause) is easily the most likable of the villains.
* Putting on the Reich: The Empire loves this. Though they'd probably look more at home in early World War I. They're very Prussian.
* Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The Gallia Militia in general, with Squad 7 standing out moreso.
* Really Dead Montage: As if they couldn't hammer home Isara's death enough. Rosie even sings through the entire montage.
* Recurring Ace: The aptly named "Ty the Immortal."
* Red Baron: Various characters have names attached to them, most noticeably the enemy aces. They have monikers like "the Iron", "the Immortal", "the Heavy". The Selvaria DLC showed that Musaad was in the military with the name "the Mole", which he apparently had since the previous war, also according to her bio at the end of the game, Jane, in addition to becomming a drill instructor is referred to as "Sadistic Jane" with reverence.
* Red Eyes, Take Warning: All activated Valkyria appear to have red eyes, though it seems to be Selvaria's natural eye color.
* Redemption Equals Death:
* Faldio and in a way, Selvaria too.
* Somewhat inverted in the case of Rosie, who got her own personal redemption via the death of another person.
* Rescue Romance: Welkin and Alicia don't resolve their relationship until he saves her from herself.
* Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Maximilian does this to Borg.
* Royal We: Maximilian refers to himself this way. (He does sometimes speak without it, however.)
* Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Homer and Edy in the Edy Detachment DLC.
* Say My Name: "ISARAAAAAA!"
* Sensitive Frail Masochistic Guy And Brash Arrogant Egotistical Girl: Homer and Edy in Edy's DLC, with him being a masochist, Homer takes sublime pleasure in every punch and kick Edy sends his way.
* Seen It All: Largo and Rosie get this way really quick. "Yeah, you sorta get used to this." "Huh.....so it really is a giant land battleship."
* Senseless Sacrifice: Attempted by Alicia when she attempts to destroy the Marmota. Deterred by Welkin's proposal. Borders on Stupid Sacrifice depending on how you view the character development at the end of the game.
* Serious Business: Largo. Vegetables. That is all.
* Short-Range Long-Range Weapon: Gunfights in Valkyria Chronicles tend to take place at extremely close ranges, particularly in the early game when everyone's accuracy is fairly low.
* Shout-Out: Major cameos by Vyse, Aika, and Fina of Skies of Arcadia as two playable soldiers and the unnamed Medic, respectively.
* Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Most of the female characters with a male Love Interest fall under this, thankfully.
* Slow Motion Fall: Isara's death.
* Small Girl, Big Gun: Most female Lancers are this, walking around with a weapon that's usually longer than they are tall. Applies to Aisha too, the 12-year-old Shocktrooper later on, where she can hold something about the size of a typical light-machine gun, or if you get the Ruhm via DLC.
* Smug Snake: Prime Minister Borg. He tries to come up with dastardly plots, but all end up horribly backfiring on him.
* Sociopathic Soldier:
* Jane. One of her potentials describes her as a sadist, and her Catch Phrase when it activates does not help at all, nor does the fact that the animation shows her rubbing her face in something close to ectacsy.
*
* When you first recruit Wendy, she says "Ha ha...kaboom! Ha ha..." According to the biographical material, she accidentally blew up her house making homemade explosives before joining the militia.
*
* Marina is initially implied to be a silent version this but is averted in the fact that she is not sociopathic but just extremely anti-social.
* In Edy's DLC, Edy herself seems to enjoy using Homer as her own personal punching bag. However, he seems to enjoy it as well, perhaps too much.
* So Proud of You: Drill Sergeant Nasty gets teary-eyed and genuinely compliments the squad when every class reaches level 20.
* Splash Damage: Grenades deal splash damage, which makes them one of the only weapons that can easily hit more than one target. Their main use, however, is taking out sandbags so you can get headshots on the exposed troops.
* Spin to Deflect Stuff: The Valkyrian Shield.
* The Squad: Enough said...
* Standard Evil Empire Hierarchy:
* The Emperor: Prince Maximillian
* The Right Hand: Selvaria Bles
* The General: Berthold Gregor
* The Guard: Giorgios Geld
* The Evil Counterpart: The Enemy Aces
* The Oddball: Radi Jaeger
* Stealth Based Mission: The first operation of Chapter 8, where Welkin and Alicia must dodge Imperial troops and make it to the other side of a forest at night. The Bonus Report "Largo's Passion" tries to be this but arguably fails—it's too easy to attack it head-on.
* The side chapter "What Lies Beyond Hate" is a straighter version, as the mission fails instantly if your units are sighted at the end of your phase.
* The Stoic: Ramsey, and a few others.
* Surprisingly Elite Cannon Fodder: After establishing themselves as a Badass Army, half the missions Squad 7 gets sent on are insanely dangerous suicide missions, courtesy of a jealous General Damon.
* Taking You with Me: Selvaria took down the whole Gallian army, save the militia, in her final effort. Averted with Alicia, since Welkin stopped her before she could actually do it. Kinda subverted when Faldio took down Maximilian together with him, since this is more of an atonement/apology than a desperate effort. Maximilian, on the other hand, was trying to invoke the trope himself at the time.
* Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: Selvaria.
* Tank Goodness: Appears to be standard operating procedure in the Empire.
* Team Mom: Welkin sees Alicia this way. Also helps that one of Alicia's abilities is called 'Maternal.'
* Team Pet: Hans, the insufferably cutesy winged pig.
* That Woman Is Dead: Alicia feels this way about being Valkyria. She's convinced otherwise.
* There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Using mortars to kill scouts or engineers, using anti-tank lances to kill anyone but tanks...
* Third Person Person: Aisha is like this at times.
* Those Two Guys: Kreis and Leon.
* Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Isara
* Too Kinky to Torture: Homer really enjoys getting hurt; emphasised by one of his potentials which gives a stat boost when his health is depleted to half, complete with a face rubbing animation (and almost orgasmic voice) much like Jane's when her sadist potential is activated. Edy even remarks on it in her DLC. "So pretty, so broken" indeed.
* Tsurime Eyes: Several of the women, though Cpt. Varrot is the most obvious of them.
* Trapped Behind Enemy Lines: One of the chapters is based on this, where Welkin and Alicia are cut off from their squad during an ambush and spend two missions trying to reunite with them, the Edy Detachment dlc is also based on this premise.
* Trial and Error Gameplay: A lot of the later stages are subject to this, especially the Scrappy Level.
* Underdogs Never Lose: Pretty obvious.
* Unexplained Recovery: If you can rescue your fallen soldiers with the medic, you can bring them back into combat in the same battle using a base. It doesn't matter if they got shot in the head, blown up with a grenade, or blasted to smithereens by a tank shell. They get better (and fast!).
* Unknown Rival: Edy has a one-sided rivalry with fellow Glamorous Wartime Singer Rosie, and thinks Rosie's fame is impeding her own path to stardom.
* Unlucky Childhood Friend:
* Juno. As crazy as she is about Welkin, we all know whom he'll end up with... Poor lass.
* Noce for Alicia would qualify as well.
* Verbal Tic: There are many of these to distinguish characters in the Japanese track. Hermes and his "-yo"s. Hannes likes to end his sentences with "-ssu" like a Prinny... Elysse doesn't really have one in particular, but talks slowly and drags out her words. (Maybe because she's a "Slow Starter?")
* Urban Warfare: While many stages feature World War I-type trench warfare, there's also quite a few that happen in the ruins of cities, especially during the first chapters.
* Video Game Caring Potential: Sometimes, your troopers are just too darn adorable! Really!
* You will go to save your squad members when they're downed.
* Video Game Cruelty Potential:
* You can send your troops on suicide missions deliberately.
* Also, you can run your own soldiers over with your tank. It won't harm them at all, and you get to hear their hilarious reaction to being hit by a tank.
* You can even use your soldiers to provide cover for other soldiers; yes, interception fire will hit another soldier if you hide your "active" soldier behind one. In certain cases, you can actually use this to your advantage against the AI. You Bastard.
* One medal requies a memeber of your unit to die permenantly during combat (Not saved by a medic in three turns, has an enemy soldier touch their unconcious form etc). The player will most likely develop a retinue of troops they always use and couldn't bare to be without, so for 100% completionists they have to look at their roster, decide which of their unused men they like least, put them in a battle, control them by hand into enemy fire, and sit there for three turns (more than enough to save them) while they lay there dying, before listening to their final words.
* Villain Episode: One of the DLC packs includes chapters that are focused around Selvaria and the Imperial army.
* Villain's Dying Grace: Selvaria "begs" General Damon to have the Squad 7 Militia escort her personal troops as POWs out of Ghirlandio. This saves them (and her men) from her Final Flame.
* Warrior Prince: Let it not be said that Maximillian is not willing to lead his troops...
* Wave Motion Gun: The Valkyria's ultimate weapon, Valkof, is essentially a gigantic laser cannon capable of blowing up mountains. On a smaller scale, the Valkyrian lance.
* Weak but Skilled: Engineers; sure, they have bugger-all health, but the fact they can move almost as far as scouts, defuse mines (even after stepping on one), refill any unit's ammo to full just by touching them, carry three grenades as opposed to one, use healing items that are twice as effective, and are the only ones capable of fixing your tank(s) make them one of the most versatile units around. It's generally an unwritten rule to have at least one in your squad at all times.
* We Cannot Go on Without You: Welkin's death is a losing condition on pretty much every map in the game.
* Alicia is subject to this on occasion as well.
* We Have Reserves: The Gallian Militia is almost always given the most suicidal missions with minimal support from the main army.
* What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic: The Valkyrur can blow themselves and everything within a mile's radius up, startlingly similar to the mushroom cloud created by nuclear bombs. In cutscenes at the beginning of the final chapter, Maximilian also wears a suit of armor with several Roman emperor motifs.
* Where Are They Now? Epilogue: For all the main characters in the credits, and all the secondary characters in your squad when you completed the game in the Encyclopedia Exposita.
* White-Haired Pretty Girl: Selvaria and Alicia when her Valkyria powers are active. Edy as well, although hers is a darker silver and it doesn't come from being a Vakyrur.
* World War II: The game cribs its setting heavily from World War II; Gallia is essentially "Belgium with the military policies of Finland and Switzerland in the mix", the East Europan Empire is basically the Axis powers of Europe (though their territory includes where Russia should be, interestingly enough), the Federation is obviously the Allied powers (sans the U.S.) and there's even a persecuted ethnic minority whom the East Europans particularly hate. The actual visual and mechanical design ends up being a bit of an Anachronism Stew between both real life World Wars, though.
* Wreathed in Flames: Active Valkyria.
* Wrench Wench: Isara is a really sweet, feminine and gentle version of this, bordering on Yamato Nadeshiko levels.
* You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Darcsens have either dark blue or dark purple hair. Dark-hair is a racial slur.
* You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Maximilian does this to Selvaria when realizes her Valkyria powers won't give his forces an advantage anymore. It may apply to Borg too, in a sense.
* You Have Failed Me: Coincides with the above entry, as Maximilian also does this to Selvaria for losing a critical battle to the Gallians.
* Zettai Ryouiki: Hmm... where to start? Alicia, Rosie, Isara... Pretty much any Squad 7 girl who isn't in pants, in which case, they're in skirts and knee socks.
- This week, Zero Punctuation reviews Valkryia Chronicles.
- Valkyria Chronicles (戦場のヴァルキュリア Valkyria of the Battlefield: Gallian Chronicles) is a tactical role-playing game released for the PlayStation 3 in 2008. Since it's release, the game has spawned two sequels for the Playstation Portable, as well as an anime adaptation. What makes Valkyria Chronicles noteworthy from the perspective of Skies of Arcadia is that it is the first instance of Skies of Arcadia characters officially appearing in any form of media since the game's 2003 remake.
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