Girl Genius/Tropes A-C

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Tropes for Girl Genius, A to C:

Zeuxippe: So much that they are trying to kill you over it!!
Old Man Death: Always you gotta find problems!

Guard 1: Of course... the castle is over there. We're over here, and those flaming things are coming back...
Guard 2: Live in the moment, kid. Live in the moment.

  • Accidental Truth
    • Theo's story at the beginning about the Dragon from Mars is a pure flight of imagination, but the Other's lab actually IS in the Heterodyne's basement and if the novel's prologue adaption is accurate, the Other's base of operations is extra-terrestrial as well! Also, in this story Klaus got wasped. And soon enough...
    • Here the crowd calls Zeetha the Baron's daughter, which according to Word of God is actually true -- if the sketch of her father which looks exactly like Klaus is to be believed.
  • Action Survivor: Moloch von Zinzer fits this trope to a giant neon capital T. He starts out as a mere soldier who steals a Chekhov's Gun from the main character in the first chapter, so you'd expect him to last about five minutes. But after his brother's death by said Chekhov's Gun, getting mistaken for a Spark, and eventually ending up imprisoned in a sentient castle built by a family of murderous sociopaths, he's still kicking thanks in part to large amounts of luck, Genre Savvy, and talent for dealing with Sparks.
  • Aerith and Bob
    • The list of Heterodyne names in the crypt includes Caligula, the Red Heterodyne, the Black Heterodyne(the "Black" is written in bold font), Mordred, Oxalof, and Bob. Also, the world is full of people with weird names like Gilgamesh, Moloch, and Theopholous living right alongside people with ordinary names like Bill, Barry, and Agatha; no one comments on it or seems to consider it odd.
    • In a side-story: Flopsy, Mopsy, and Nietzsche.
  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Castle Heterodyne. Well, actually, the guy who built it was an evil maniac, so it's probably working as designed. Even Agatha's own little 'bots have stopped listening to her. It seems Sparks can't build anything without it going haywire.
  • Airborne Aircraft Carrier: Castle Wulfenbach
  • Allohistorical Allusion: As you'd expect from a universe in which electronics moved quickly enough for Rembrandt to be a roboticist, Galvani's eponym comes not from discovering the effect of electrical impulses on muscles, but something involving molten zinc and Life Energy... which is often used metaphorically to mean electrical stimulation of muscles. Actually a Genius Bonus, as in real life metallurgy, Galvanizing refers to the process by which zinc (or another metal) is plated onto iron or steel to prevent rusting.
  • All Part of the Show: Several times:
    • A circus of Sparks pretending to be normal actors pretending to be Sparks.
    • A Jäger hiding among people who pretend to be Jägers.
    • Gilgamesh Wulfenbach pretending to be a street actor pretending to be Gilgamesh Wulfenbach.
    • A Mongfish (Lucrezia's niece) pretending to be the lost Heterodyne-Mongfish heir to secure the Heterodyne inheritance from the real Heterodyne-Mongfish.
  • All There in the Manual: The Secret Blueprints and the expanded chapter-by-chapter Cast pages.
  • All Webbed Up: What the nyar-spider does to its prey.
  • Almost Kiss
  • Alternate History: Perhaps better called Parallel History, because the Sparks have been around for long enough that even geography has been changed by their influence, and yet the world and its history are not completely dissimilar to ours:
    • There were still Mongol Hordes on cue, German is still spoken as a European lingua-franca, R(embrandt) Van Rijn was still a famous genius and Casanova a famous skirt-chaser, the [Weather] King was still a towering historical figure...
    • There is still a powerful church(es) with not one, but seven popes, according to this page. [1]
    • And there's "The Autonomous Library" built by Voltaire.
  • Alternate Universe Reed Richards Is Awesome: Together with the above Alternate History.
  • Amazing Technicolor Population: Jägermonsters, many other kinds of constructs, and anyone infected with Hogfarb's Resplendent Immolation or Vericus Pantiliax's Chromatic Death, although as the names of those ailments may suggest, the affected person didn't start out that way and won't be that way long before something bad happens. Fans are now calling the sequence ending here the Amazing Technicolor Dreamboat Sequence. Yowza! Or Eeyyooww-ZAP!
  • Amazon Brigade
    • Bangladesh DuPree's pirate crew seems to be entirely female.
    • Same goes for Heliolux Airship Fleet's flagship crew.
    • Let's not forget the geisterdamen (those spider-ladies) and Zeetha's mysterious tribe. Lots of Amazons.
  • And I Must Scream
  • Anger Born of Worry: By Baron Wulfenbach, towards Gil.

Lackwit! How dare you put yourself at risk!

Othar: We're in Castle Heterodyne with exploding collars around our necks, caught between a fake Heterodyne and a real one (as well as assorted criminals, maniacs, and various monsters), and I suspect that even if we found any beer in here, it would be evil, or at least flat.

    • Also involving Othar: "De dirigible iz in flames, everyboddyz dead an' I've lost my hat." To be fair, hats are a big deal to the Jägers whereas arson and murder are hobbies.
    • Another example here:

Professor Tiktoffen: Franz here liked turning people into beetles. Zonia believed that orphan blood had medicinal properties. Krag put his feet on my bed.

    • A villain learns why you must never punch a lady, or wake her up too early in the morning.
  • Art Evolution
    • The earlier strips have bizarre anatomy issues and ugly gradient coloring. (Also after the first volume there was a great deal of uneven inking.) These problems eventually disappear.
    • Volume 1 was originally published in black-and-white. Volume 2 saw the introduction of color, in searing neon gradient fills. The coloring eventually settled down and volume 1 was eventually recolored in a somber desaturated palette. The result cleverly mirrored Agatha's psyche, as her perceptions are dulled in volume 1, overloaded in volume 2, and by volume 4 settle into a happy medium.
  • Ascended Fanon: In universe in this comic, about Von Pinn really being Lucrezia Mongfish.
  • Aside Glance: Plenty.
  • Attack Hello: Maxim is just saying "hello".
  • Author Appeal
    • Phil Foglio is well-known (unabashedly so) for drawing his female characters with rather large "assets". But it's his wife (and co-author) who loves to get Agatha into the "lacy underthings." She's a big fan of Victorian-era undergarments.
    • Not to mention paper dolls.
    • There's also the matter of all the handsome shirtless men running around.
    • Phil admits the only reason the Jägers became recurring characters is because he really likes drawing them.
  • Author Avatar: The creators, Phil and Kaja, are both apparently natives of the story's world who, it would seem, will eventually meet, marry, publish a... controversial account of Agatha's deeds, and flee into our world with it to continue it safe from Agatha as a supposedly fictional comic.
  • Authority Equals Asskicking
    • Klaus (he clawed his way to being ruler of Europe atop God knows how many others and it shows) and his son (when thrust into authority, Gil's asskicking genes more than rise to the challenge)
    • The Jäger-Generals.
    • More generally -- in a semi-feudal world ruled over by extremely intelligent nutjobs, it's the one at the top of the castle you want to watch out for. They're in that spot for a reason.
  • Awesome Yet Practical: Violetta's ability to swap out objects or weapons (or people) held by others for useless decoys. That comes in handy unsurprisingly often.
  • Axe Crazy: Oh so many...
    • Most notable is probably Bangladesh DuPree, whose axecraziness is frequently Played for Laughs.
    • Jägers are highly destructive, if not malicious, but "no-longer-a-Jäger" Vole manages to be axe crazy even by their standards.
    • This is also pretty much a requirement for every Spark, especially when in their "madness place". The Heterodynes (with the exception of the Heterodyne Boys and Agatha) deserve special mention for being batshit insane [[Everyone Has Standards even by Spark standards]
  • Back from the Dead
  • Back-to-Back Badasses
  • Badass: Most of the main cast fit into several subtropes; many of the secondary cast fit at least one.
  • Badass Abnormal: Would most Spark characters who have "broken through" and Boris Dolokhov count?
  • Badass Boast: Lots and lots.

Gil: This is not a trick! I did not get lucky! I am Gilgamesh Wulfenbach -- AND I AM IN CONTROL!

Tarvek: ... You came running in and saw someone you hate and fear trying to kill her -- of course you reacted.
Gil: I do not fear you.
Tarvek: Really? You should.

Gil: So this was the nursery?
Tarvek: It explains ... so much...

  • Bilingual Bonus
    • Many names of people, races, places, etc., make more sense if one knows a little German; for instance, "Jägermonster" can be interpreted as "hunting monster".
    • "Si vales valeo" is Latin for "If you are well, I am well", a phrase used in ancient Roman times to start writing a letter like "Dear Mister Smith".
  • Black and Gray Morality: Agatha and Klaus are both sympathetically gray and fighting for perfectly reasonable reasons. There are several villains that are clearly black, and both of them want those destroyed.
  • Blessed Are the Cheesemakers: Cheese appears often, and sometimes seems to be employed as a symbol of romance. And a barfight projectile. Sometimes both at the same time. See Zeetha and Higgs. Lars was a cheesemaker's apprentice before he joined the Circus.
  • Blessed with Suck
    • The Spark itself. If you have it, you can warp the laws of physics with the contents of the average Store Cupboard. Bad part? You go insane to varying degrees whenever you do it. The natural result of that is that most Sparks, and Agatha in particular, have to deal with being shunned, used, or attacked by most everyone they meet. And that's if they don't get killed by one of their own creations.
    • Agatha before her breakthrough, when she wore the locket to suppress her Spark. It undoubtedly saved her life, but it also made her completely incompetent and destroyed her self-esteem.
  • Bling of War: Most troops are trying to look cool -- some, too hard. Jägers tend to dress in less unified fancy clothes, with their own peculiar taste. Of "Da Boyz", Maxim wears the most fashionable set -- he's an ex-cavalry officer, after all.
  • Blondes Are Evil: Played straight with Lucrezia and Zola; played with by Von Pinn. Averted with Agatha (who's a strawberry blonde, therefore crossing into Heroes Want Redheads).
  • Blue Blood
  • Boisterous Bruiser: Othar, as well as the Jägers.
  • Bottled Heroic Resolve
  • Bow Chicka Wow Wow:

Zeetha: (a green-haired Amazon) Hey, Skifander's patron Goddess is Ashtara, she who controls, among other things, fertility. Our holy-days are fun! (Cha cha cha!)

Snaug: ... spiky trap-doors... torture chambers... man-eating bats... impertinent mechanical squid...

Mittelmind: Oh, there is some psychological damage, but I always wipe her memory for her birthday.

Snaug: Happy birthday to meeeeeee...

  • Braggart Boss: Minus the fact people of the street think he is a hero, Othar Tryggvassen (Gentleman Adventurer!) fits the mold nicely.
  • Breather Episode: Side stories every once in a while.
  • Brick Joke
    • A long time after Agatha is convinced that her battle merry-go-round is too dangerous to construct, a soldier who failed to capture her is diagnosed with a concussion for explaining that her injuries were sustained while destroying a merry-go-round.

"It could be a really evil town..."

    • In the Cinderella special, the "evil step-mother" comments that Agatha could win the kingdom with a dead rat and a houseplant. At the end, she bribes the king, a cat, with a dead rat and potted catnip.

Evil stepmother: Hy knew hit!

    • Gil throws Othar out of an airship, and when Agatha gets mad, he assures her that once she gets to know Othar, she'll do the same. An hour later, she does, and mentions, "I owe Gil an apology." About ten chapters later, she gives it to him.

Agatha: I got so mad at you, and then, within the hour, I threw him out an airship too!
Gil: And you felt bad for throwing--
Agatha: I felt bad for yelling at you!

Moloch: Uh... hey, check it out.

Tarvek: Good Heavens.

Othar Tryggvassen: What, tyrant? Does your empire give you no pleasure?
Klaus Wulfenbach: No. It gives me no pleasure. Politics always annoyed me. Now I do it every day. I haven't seen my wife in years. My old friends are gone. I haven't traveled or explored. At least with the Heterodynes we had the adventures. The occasional fight. Now it's send in the armies. Then the bureaucrats with mops. It's become an old formula. Well, we do what we must.

Castle Hetrodyne: All the Wulfenbach sparks are known for their oversized machinery, you know. I mean, just look at castle Wulfenbach. What exactly are we trying to say, here?

  • Continuity Nod: Hundreds, and ranging from extremely obvious to incredibly subtle.
    • While having tea with the Jägergenerals, mention is made of "gingerbread trilobites from Mechanicsburg", and of the fact that Castle Heterodyne is mad, dying, and useless. Guess what Zeetha's eating as she stumbles across Gil putting his plan in motion in order to enter the mad useless castle, six years later.
    • Old Man Death has a mini-flashback of people who rode with the Jägers -- like the Seneschal. Still not sure if he's in there, though.
  • Cool Airship
    • Castle Wulfenbach, of course.
    • Zola's ship would qualify, but as this handy comic showing them both demonstrates, the Baron's ship is tough competition.
  • Cool and Unusual Punishment: Mamma Gkika wants you to remember that it's bad to hit women or to wake her up too early in the morning.
  • Convection, Schmonvection: Averted beautifully here. Anevka pumping out enough electricity in her arm to flash-fry her father releases enough waste heat to send her entire outfit and wig bursting into flames.
  • Crapsack World: The world is dominated by people and things who'd fit right in with Warhammer 40,000 Orks, and the only thing keeping them mostly in check is anti-villain dictator Klaus, who is quite willing to level cities in order to achieve such. His territory is described as containing a lot of empty space despite being central Europe, is littered with forgotten but highly-lethal Spark inventions, and walled-in cities are the closest one comes to safe. The Other systematically leveled much of Europe not long before that, and currently has free reign of Sturmhalten, a large army, and has possibly mind-controlled Klaus. Outside Europe, things aren't much better, with northern nations having a tax on fire. The greatest folk heroes are missing, and the second greatest folk hero is a serial killer.

Rudolf Selnikov: The depressing thing? Twisted and ruthless as you people are, throwing in with you is a step up.

    • Alternatively, A World Half Full. Europa has mostly recovered from a devastating genocidal war that employed mad science bioweapons just decades ago, and is ruled by an extremely intelligent benevolent dictator who keeps the peace and lets most people get on with their lives. There are systems in place to contain the mad monstrosities that arise, and the people Othar has killed (usually) had it coming.
  • Crazy Enough to Work: You get the impression this happens a lot.
    • Perhaps the most hilarious one would be curing Tarvek of a terrifying disease by killing him and then bringing him back to life. Even more hilarious given the way Agatha said the trope name. "This has a small, but fascinating, chance of actually working! Let's do it!"
  • Crazy Prepared: Zola Malfeazium, as acknowledged even by The Other, who took care... only to discover she's been outmaneuvered once more.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass
    • Da Boyz. Oggie is the least bright of the three, but don't let that fool you.
    • Zola looks like a vapid fool, but then she drops the "vapid fool" mask and soundly beats Zeetha and Violetta, and matches Higgs - three of the seven most capable physical fighters in the main cast. (The other four are Da Boyz -- Oggie, Dimo and Maxim; and VonPinn, who's a construct.) Though her physical abilities were boosted by a Deadly Upgrade, she did have to steal the upgrade - from a Smoke Knight - requiring a different kind of badassery.)
  • Cry Cute: Dupree of all people gets a moment here.
  • Cryptic Background Reference: All over the place, as Chekhov's Guns, but Sanaa's backstory is one of the few that is likely never going to be explained further.
  • Cultured Badass: Klaus and Gil at times, but definitely Tarvek. The Jägergenerals can be this when they're not beating the hell out of someone. Wooster's Badass Normal status puts him here as well. Dolokhov can make tea or beat people up with equal effectiveness.
  • Curb Stomp Battle
    • The first time we see the Lapinemoths, them against Agatha, Zeetha, and Othar (GENTLEMAN ADVENTURER) was this.
    • Two in rapid succession. Zola drinks Moveit#11 and one-shots Zeetha, but despite her incredible fighting ability, Higgs is beating her down so badly the panels can't keep up with his attacks.
  • Cut the Juice (Type 2): "He's going to FRY-- AND NO POWER ON EARTH CAN STOP IT!"
  • Cutting the Knot: Krosp's method of dealing with an out-of-control clank

Krosp: This thing just wants to catch someone, right?

  • Cyanide Pill: One is offered to Moloch von Zinzer, but he obviously has yet to use it.
  • Cyber Cyclops: Most little Clanks. Subverted, though, as it doesn't stop them from being more cute than sinister. Well, usually; except here. Red Eyes, Take Warning, much?
  1. ↑ For those not in the know, there were several points in the church's history where either they went through a pope about every couple months to around 5 years, and another where there were 3 popes at once. Either or both could be the case for Girl Genius.
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