History ComicBook / Excalibur

* LighterAndSofter: This series was originally concieved as being more light hearted than the [[XMen various]] [[XForce X-books]] [[XFactor that were being published]] [[{{Wolverine}} at the time]], [[NewMutants which were pretty dark]].

* HilariousInHindsight: An early issue, during the Cross-Time Caper, predicted a Prince William of another dimension would [[spoiler: marry someone named... Kate.]]

* WholePlotReference: in the Girls' School From Heck three issue mini arc, Kitty finds herself enrolled at a boarding school where all the other students are troublemakers to such a degree that no other school will take them, an outcast at first she starts bonding with the students after a particularly violent field hockey match, and then goes on to band the various cliques together in an outrageous scheme to save the school when it's threatened to close because of financial complications. [[StTrinians Why does that sound familiar?]]

After the ''Mutant Massacre'' storyline left the X-Men broken, members Shadowcat and Nightcrawler were sent to Muir Island in Scotland to recuperate. As a result, they weren't with the X-Men when the team sacrificed their lives to defeat a CosmicHorror on national tv during ''The Fall of the Mutants'', and like the rest of the world, didn't know the X-Men [[ComicBookDeath got better]] afterwards. ChrisClaremont and artist Alan Davis decided to use this opportunity to put the characters into a new team that incorporated the British characters Captain Britain and his MagicalGirlfriend Meggan, who had little U.S. exposure at that point but ties to the X-Men through Cap's sister Psylocke.

* HilariousInHindsight: An early issue, during the Cross-Time Caper, predicted a Prince William of another dimension would[spoiler: marry someone named... Kate.]

So Phoenix (Rachel Summers), who had previously been lured to a parallel dimension by X-Villain (and LargeHam) Mojo, escaped to Muir Island shortly after the X-Men's deaths with Mojo's [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Warwolves]] hot on her trail. It is also decided by villainess Saturnine that Phoenix is a threat to all reality and a group of interdimensional bounty hunters known as the Technet are sent to capture her. Kitty and Nightcrawler as well as Cap and Meggan are soon brought into the fray, banding together for protection while reminiscing about the X-Men and deciding to keep Xavier's dream alive. Then the quirky metal creature and living portal known as Widget found them, and the team was thrown into a series of interdimensional Wacky Hijinks across TheMultiverse for a while. But no team with {{Mutants}} can ever stay light-hearted for long in the MarvelUniverse, so after a while, they returned to their angsty X-Roots and eventually became just another mutant book.

* EvilCostumeSwitch: Subverted. Rachel Summers eventually ditches her original spiked red bodysuit (which was, presumably, Mojoverse prison garb, and which can be seen in the page image above) and settles for the blood-red ensemble of [[TheDarkPhoenixSaga Dark Phoenix]]. But she's not pulling a FaceHeelTurn; she just prefers these colors over "Light" Phoenix's costume. "[Dark Phoenix] might have been a threat to the universe... but she had '''great''' taste in clothes!"

* WestCoastTeam: When Excalibur found out the X-Men were still alive, they decided to remain together, having [[{{Nakama}} bonded]] over time, and styled themselves as the X-Men's European branch.

* WholePlotReference: in the Girls' School From Heck three issue mini arc, Kitty finds herself enrolled at a boarding school where all the other students are troublemakers to such a degree that no other school will take them, an outcast at first she starts bonding with the students after a particularly violent field hockey match, and then goes on to band the various cliques together in an outrageous scheme to save the school when it's threatened to close because of financial complications. [[StTrinnians Why does that sound familiar?]]

* MissFanservice: When she disappeared in ''[[XMen Uncanny X-Men]]'', Rachel was a stick-thin tomboy who usually wore gym clothes. When she reappeared in ''Excalibur'', she was built like a porn star (perhaps literally - she got her new body in the Mojoverse after all) and wore a skintight, stiletto-heeled, spike-studded, red leather catsuit when on duty, and as little as possibly off duty.

** Also, it was the only X-title that did not start with the letter "X".

* ChessMotifs: The Hellfire Club

* FanonDiscontinuity: Colossus/Shadowcat fans prefer to ignore the issue where Colossus (acting like a StalkerWithACrush) beats the shit out of Pete Wisdom.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Meggan.

* DisContinuity: Colossus/Shadowcat fans prefer to ignore the issue where Colossus (acting like a StalkerWithACrush) beats the sh*t out of Pete Wisdom.
* EvilSorcerer: Gravemoss

* {{Expy}}: Brigadier Alysande Stuart of W.H.O (do you see what they did there?) was a {{Gender Flip}}ped version of Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stuart from ''Series/DoctorWho''. Her brother, Alistaire, was W.H.O.'s "scientific advisor"; the same role the Doctor had at U.N.I.T.

* FisherKing: The exact nature and extent of Captain Britain's ties to Britain varies with the writer. There was a major WallBanger in one of Chuck Austen's comics (only a mild one, by Chuck Austen's standards) where Captain Britain was beaten up and this caused earthquakes in Britain. This never happened before or since.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Feron the sorcerer accidentally turned himself into a waterfall, and his disappearance went uncommented on until the book's last issue, five years later.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome/CrowningMoment/{{Comics}}

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Pete Wisdom was popular enough to eventually get ''two'' limited series (if you include the Pryde & Wisdom miniseries), and he's the only character apart from Captain Britain who has stayed with the team throughout all its different iterations, despite his late and brief tenure on the original team that revolved around his romance with Kitty.

* GannonBanned: Meggan is not a fairy. Meggan is not any kind of magical creature. Meggan ''is'' a mutant.

* ArcFatigue: [[GetOnWithItAlready Fans kept wondering]] why Excalibur still acted as if the X-Men were dead, long after Marvel began making stories depending on the general public of the Marvel Universe knowing that [[IGotBetter the X-Men were alive after all]].

* DorkAge ("Britannic"?)

* EnsembleDarkhorse: The book itself could be considered a Darkhorse, despite continually being ScrewedByTheNetwork; after a time, it featured all the popular X-Men who the main book didn't have room for.

* TheChrisCarterEffect: The comic book was canceled after two years with very few of its plot points resolved. There was a miniseries that attempted to wrap everything up ("Die By The Sword"), but there were still a lot of unanswered questions.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: The return of all the Marvel UK heroes in the series finale.
** And oh so many others such as John the Skrull[[spoiler:'s death, going out mouthing off to the enemy and how everyone reacted to it (Brian sums it up as "good on him")]].
** Pete Wisdom versus the big bad in Vampire State. [[spoiler: almost all of that story could be seen as Wisdom playing a game of "who is the bigger magnificent bastard" with Dracula. Given that Dracula himself in a hallucination considers Wisdom the biggest threat after Brian (who is literally as powerful as he needs to be) and Blade (who already killed Dracula at least once) then Wisdom is winning]] and where is Wisdom during the final battle? having a nice picnic with a woman he fancies.
** How the people of Britain respond to the [[spoiler: death of Captain Britain. Don't worry, it doesn't last two issues]]. Tears. Anger. And PRIDE. The Skrulls MIGHT have won, then they did that. And managed to press the "We'll fight them on the beaches" button in the soul of the British people. Cut to "a regiment of SAS, some police officers and a doctor defending the last bridge before Westminster. We're going to give them hell".
** Captain Britain. Excalibur (yes THAT Excalibur). Mouthy alien bragging about how Britain could be great if they didn't elevate mediocrity to an art. Brian's response? "We know all that. We just don't like to make a fuss".
** What does Faiza Hussein, a regular nurse and [[AscendedFanboy Ascended Fangirl]], do after a supremely powerful alien uses unstoppably powerful magic to slaughter dozens (if not hundreds) of soldiers and tells her to get out of his way so he can continue his rampage? She whispers, "[[LittleNo no]]".

* LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt: Captain Britain's death.
** And Faiza Hussein's death in Issue 1.
** And [[spoiler:just about everybody's]] death in issue 14.

* LittleNo: See Faiza's {{Crowning Moment Of Awesome}} above.

* TooGoodToLast

* {{Expy}}: Brigadier Alysande Stuart of W.H.O (do you see what they did there?) was a {{Gender Flip}}ped version of Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stuart from ''DoctorWho''. Her brother, Alistaire, was W.H.O.'s "scientific advisor"; the same role the Doctor had at U.N.I.T.

* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, makes an appearance in the first issue. Inevitably, when the newspapers commented on this they got everything wrong, calling him [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1023597/Have-fear-Brown-help-save-world--new-comic-book-Captain-Britain.html SuperGordon]] and/or saying he "[[http://www.financialexpress.com/news/SuperGordon-to-help-save-world-in-Captain-Britain-fantasy/318214/ leads a counterattack]]" against the invading Skrulls. In the comic, although he proves himself to be [[DidNotDoTheResearch a competent leader]], Gordon Brown does not develop superpowers and start wading into the fight ([[RuleOfCool although that would be cool]]).

** Captain Britain. Excalibur (yes THAT Excalibur). Mouthy alien bragging about how Britain could be great if they didn't elevate mediocrity to an art. Brian's response? "We know all that. We just don't like to make a fuss".

* OffModel: There was an annoying one where Alistaire Stuart suddenly appeared to have aged several decades (this one stuck around for quite a while- apparently the artist thought that he was supposed to be an old man- it was [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] a couple of times.)
** Actually, it got explained later as [[spoiler: Alistaire having been cursed with a variable appearance after an unfortunate dinner incident with Morgan le Fey.]]
** Also, in the latest issue, Spitfire's burnt hand switches from right to left and back again a couple of times.

* YouFailBiologyForever: So... Black Knight's heart is made of stone now? How does he...? Uh, never mind. AWizardDidIt.
** Similar to that, Captain Britain is now made of flags. Even for a comic, this is taking SuspensionOfDisbelief too far.

After the ''Mutant Massacre'' storyline left the X-Men broken, members Shadowcat and Nightcrawler were sent to Muir Island in Scotland to recuperate. As a result, they weren't with the X-Men when the team sacrificed their lives to defeat a CosmicHorror on national tv during the ''Fall of the Mutants'', and like the rest of the world, didn't know the X-Men [[ComicBookDeath got better]] afterwards. ChrisClaremont and artist Alan Davis decided to use this opportunity to put the characters into a new team that incorporated the British characters Captain Britain and his MagicalGirlfriend Meggan, who had little U.S. exposure at that point but ties to the X-Men through Cap's sister Psylocke.

* ContinuityNod: Paul Cornell is ''really'' good at these.

* {{Prequel}}: Paul Cornell laid out the groundwork for this series in his ''Wisdom'' miniseries.

* ShoutOut: Paul Cornell does this a lot, too. Two of the biggest [[ShoutOut Shout Outs]] are John the Skrull (a Skrull pretending to be John Lennon) and [[PeterPan Tink]], the fairy princess, but there are loads more.

* ShownTheirWork: Paul Cornell asked a group of Muslim ladies for help with characterizing Faiza. They're listed in the credits.