History ComicBook / GrooTheWanderer

* PropagandaMachine: To make sure he gets to be Pipil Khan uses the earliest form of news format to his advantage. His plans began to unravel however due to various reason, a major one when the editor of the newspaper REFUSE to print his propoganda any further.

* BigThinShortTrio: Pipil Khan's three sons, a large, burly warrior, a powerful magician, and the scheming, weaselly runt of the family (who ironically is the son who physically resembles Pipil Khan the most).

* BigThinShortTrio: Pipil Khan's three sons, a large, burly warrior, a powerful magician, and the scheming, weasely runt of the family (who ironically is the son who physically resembles Pipil Khan the most).

-->'''Groo:''' That is true... [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InvadingRefugees So why do I hear ugly music in my head]].

* ReadingIsCoolAesop: Played with, but not actually averted, in the 100th issue. Trapped with a wise old man in a library-cave with no exits, Groo gets bored enough to pay attention to the old man's teachings. Eventually a group of greedy treasure-hunters hearing about 'the treasure of the cave' intrude, and in their search for gold and jewels set the library on fire. Taranto and Pal were among the looters, and their usual attempts to trick Groo into helping them only led to a sound pummeling. The series' usual StatusQuoIsGod was given an exception: Groo remained literate (not intelligent, just literate).

-->'''Grooella:''' "Today I have become something I have always wanted to be... an ''only child''!"\\
'''Drumm:''' "I will say the nicest thing I can about Groo. He is dead. Thank you."

* BalefulPolymorph: Witches and wizards in Groo's world enjoy doing this to their enemies; sometimes if really angry they will transform them into the most horrible thing they can think of... [[spoiler: Groo! Sadly, having multiple Groos bumbling about usually results in even greater catastrophe.]]

* CatchPhrase: Many.
-->"Now Groo does what Groo does best!"
--> "Did I err?"
-->[[ItMakesSenseInContext "What pirates?"]]

---> '''Groo''': Sometimes, when people hire me to slay, I slay the people they hired me to slay, and then I slay the people who hired me to slay the people I slayed for them!"

* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: Chakaal comes up with one for the music-hating King Debar, who banned music in his kingdom under pain of imprisonment: [[spoiler: He is forced to listen to the same musicians he once imprisoned play music non-stop.]]

* DelayedReaction: Sometimes delayed for months.
-->'''Someone:''' Groo, you can not understand this, since you are slow of mind.\\

* TheEndOrIsIt: In "The Aranja", Groo and Chakaal are hired to kill a giant spider that is terrorizing a village. Stumbling drunkenly around the spider's cave, Groo notices something he figures is important and tries to tell Chakaal, who is unfortunately too busy to listen. [[spoiler: Soon after, Groo has forgotten the whole thing. As the heroes depart at the end of the story, the readers are shown what Groo discovered: The aranja was a female, and it had laid several eggs, which are just starting to hatch.]]

--> '''Groo:''' But I did guard the bridge! No one damaged the bridge! No one stole the bridge! No one soiled the bridge! When Groo guards a bridge, [[ExactWords Groo guards a bridge!]]

* TheJinx: Groo. Among other things, any ship he's on will sink [[spoiler: unless Rufferto is also onboard]].

-->"What did he mean, 'slow of mind'?"

** The Minstrel gets his in the final chapter of ''Friends & Foes'', where it's revealed [[spoiler: he was once an ordinary man with a wife and daughter who was forcefully recruited into the army. After he was kicked out for being a terrible soldier (though not as terrible as Groo) he rushed back home, only to find his home city destroyed by the war and his family missing. Since that day he's walked the earth, constantly performing while searching for his loved ones. He finally manages to be reunited with his daughter Kayli.]]

--> '''Groo''' ''(to the people he's spying on):'' No one must know that I am a spy! Make sure everybody knows that!

'''Groo:''' "I remember you..." ''(Begins to attack Taranto and his forces)''... And I remember I am very mad at you--!\\
''(After Taranto and his men are thrashed or running, Groo sees Drumm [[TooDumbToLive cheerfully standing by, holding a sign reading "YOU ARE A MENDICANT"]])''\\

'''Drumm,''' ''curiously:'' No. ''(Groo turns his attention to Pal)''\\
'''Pal:''' Uhh, Groo... I was kidding! It was a joke, would you harm a person for a joke? ''(Groo beats Pal senseless)''\\
'''Pal:''' ''(Thinking)'' Apparently, he would.\\

--> '''Groo''' : "Ah... He is dead again! This time I am making it permanent! first I wrap you in the cloth of the dead... then I put you in a casket... (Started hammering)... But since you escape from one casket, I put the casket in another casket... And then that casket in another casket... and so on and on... (finally) I do not know how many that is but he is inside the many coffins we made for the king... Now, we put all those coffins into the sarcophagus."

--> '''Derelict''' : Sire-- Groo was spotted in town...\\
'''King Krag''' : ''"Groo?" Kill him!'' Kill him dead! Then kill him again and again! Then kill him four more times! Then keep killing him for six hours! Then do you know what you must do?\\
'''Derelict''' : What, sire?\\
'''King Krag''' : ''KILL GROO AGAIN!''

* ThudAndBlunder: The genre the whole comic parodies.

-->'''Taranto:''' "Watch this! I can handle him! Groo, do you not remember me? Your old friend Taranto?"\\
'''Groo:''' "I remember you..." ''(Begins to attack Taranto and his forces)''... "And i remember I am very mad at you--! (After Taranto and his men are thrashed or running, Groo sees Drumm [[TooDumbToLive cheerfully standing by, holding a sign reading YOU ARE A MENDICANT]])'':''' "Drumm... do you know what it says on that paper?"\\
'''Drumm,''' ''curiously:'' "No." ''(Groo turns his attention to Pal)''\\
'''Pal:''' "Uhh, Groo... I was kidding! It was a joke, would you harm a person for a joke?" ''(Groo beats Pal senseless)''\\
'''Pal (Thinking):''' 'Apparently, he would.'\\
'''Groo:''' "Learn to read, Drumm. It makes it harder for people to fool you."

* WhatTheHellHero: During the Magic Talisman arc, one of the wishes Groo makes is for the Ministrel to lose his ability to rhyme, leaving him unable to sing and plunging him into a depression. At first Groo is happy about it, since most of the Ministrel's songs were about how stupid Groo is, but Rufferto gives him such a disappointed glare that Groo eventually feels guilty and seeks out the Magic Talisman again just to restore the Ministrel's ability.

* WithFriendsLikeThese: Out of all the people Groo thinks of as "friends", only Sage and the Ministrel are actual friends (and even they lose patience with him on occasion). Pal and Drumm shamelessly exploit him, Grooella hates him and tries to kill him, Arcadio takes credit for his work, Taranto sets him up to get killed, the list goes on. Chakaal is one of his few aquintances who does not wish him any specific harm.

** The Sage tries to give good advice but it does get misinterpreted or causes more damage than good. He once told a king to build a wall to keep Groo out: this notion escalated REALLY quickly. (Worst of all, the rumors of Groo's approach turned out to be false. He wasn't in the area.)

* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Groo was trained to be this with his katanas. unfortunataely RealityEnsues whenever he tries to wield anything but his katanas.

-->'''Grooella:''' "Today I have become something I have always wanted to be... an ''only child''!"
-->'''Drumm:''' "I will say the nicest thing I can about Groo. He is dead. Thank you."

--> [[ItMakesSenseInContext "What pirates?"]]

-->'''Taranto:''' "Watch this! I can handle him! Groo, do you not remember me? Your old friend Taranto?"
-->'''Groo:''' "I remember you..." ''(Begins to attack Taranto and his forces)''... "And i remember I am very mad at you--! (After Taranto and his men are thrashed or running, Groo sees Drumm [[TooDumbToLive cheerfully standing by, holding a sign reading YOU ARE A MENDICANT]])'':''' "Drumm... do you know what it says on that paper?"
-->'''Drumm,''' ''curiously:'' "No." ''(Groo turns his attention to Pal)''
-->'''Pal:''' "Uhh, Groo... I was kidding! It was a joke, would you harm a person for a joke?" ''(Groo beats Pal senseless)''
-->'''Pal (Thinking):''' 'Apparently, he would.'
-->'''Groo:''' "Learn to read, Drumm. It makes it harder for people to fool you."

--> '''Derelict''' : Sire-- Groo was spotted in town...
--> '''King Krag''' : ''"Groo?" Kill him!'' Kill him dead! Then kill him again and again! Then kill him four more times! Then keep killing him for six hours! Then do you know what you must do?
--> '''Derelict''' : What, sire?
--> '''King Krag''' : ''KILL GROO AGAIN!''

* AbhorrentAdmirer: Groo is strongly attracted to the beautiful swordswoman Chakaal. She's not interested... although his DoggedNiceGuy approach has at least reduced her abhorrence.
** Interestingly enough, Groo got one himself at one point, a woman called Macha (With her dog Buffas being one to Rufferto). Luckily both Groo and Rufferto realize that the best way to get rid of their abhorrent admirers is to act like cowards.

''Groo the Wanderer'' is a ComicBook created and drawn by Creator/SergioAragones and written by him and Creator/MarkEvanier (with Creator/StanSakai lettering). It started off as a parody of {{Barbarian Hero}}es, most notably [[Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian Conan]], making fun of fantasy tropes along the way. As the series continued, however, the stories have shifted to general comedy, with occasional commentary on RealLife social events and situations. Over the last twenty-five years, more than 150 issues have been printed by five different publishers, most recently by Creator/DarkHorseComics.

** Interestingly enough, Groo got one himself at one point from a woman called Macha (With her dog Buffas being one to Rufferto). Luckily both Groo and Rufferto realize that the best way to get rid of their abhorrent admirers is to act like cowards.

* AlliterativeFamily: Though it's never explicitly stated, "Groo" appears to be a family name of sorts -- Groo's sister is named "Grooella", and his grandmother is Granny Groo. In the Life of Groo, Groo's father does refer to as the family name and the Sage calls Groo's father "Groo" ([[SarcasmMode would not be confusing at all]]). Apparently it means "The cattle are dying".
* AmazonBrigade: Both Groo and Chakaal fought a few, notably the Sirenas from issue 50 of the marvel run (With Chakaal killing their leader) and Queen Nada from the Friends and Foes issue 7.

* AttendingYourOwnFuneral: Done for drama in "The Death of Groo" graphic novel. Groo goes to his own funeral expecting there to be much sadness at his demise. There isn't; everybody at that funeral had endless trouble from him, and they were all delighted at his "death."

* BarbarianLonghair: The title character is a barbarian with long hair. He is very stupid and exceptionally skilled with the sword.
* BarefootSage: The Sage actually; granted, all of the setting's characters are barefoot with a handful of exceptions. Even stories set in the ''Arctic'' has the characters barefoot, even if they're wearing heavy furs everywhere else.

* BigThinShortTrio: Pipil Khan's three sons, a large, burly warrior, a powerful magician, and the scheming, weasly runt of the family (who ironically is the son who physically resembles Pipil Khan the most).

* BullyingADragon: Despite knowing full well how violent and short-tempered Groo is, many people mock his lack of brains and laugh at him, often ''right in front of him'', and thats not even touching on the characters who try to take advantage of Groo and end up badly injured or dead for it.
* BuriedAlive: Happens in issue 110 of the Marvel run. A greedy king fakes his death via a potion to leave the city because he hates how poor it is and because the people keep whining about Isagul (An undead monster that terrorizes the city every night), even reminding his advisor that only he knows where the royal treasury is. Unfortunately for him Groo used all the caskets to trap Isagul, resulting in him being buried in the desert. The royal advisor began digging through the desert to find the king since only he knew the location of the royal treasury, with the aforementioned king wondering what was taking them so long...

*** The joke itself came from the letter's page, where it was a running gag to ask what the dog's name was (strangely, no one ever asked what The SAGE's actual name was). They combined the gags and made it canon.

* WriteWhoYouKnow:
** Groo's faithful dog Rufferto is based on... Sergio Aragonès' faithful dog Rufferto. The "real" Rufferto occasionally appears in Sergio's autobiographical cartoons, and is drawn exactly like Groo's dog.
** In these autobiographical cartoons, Sergio's wife Charlene is drawn exactly like Chakaal.
** The characters of Weaver and Scribe are based on Mark Evanier and letterer Stan Sakai, respectively.

* BrickJoke: Wait... what does TVTropes mean "slow of mind"? (This was a brick joke the first time it occurred, but it quickly became a RunningGag.)

* WithFriendsLikeThese: Out of all the people Groo thinks of as "friends", only Sage and the Ministrel are actual friends (and even they lose patience with him on occasion). Pal and Drumm shamelessly exploit him, Grooella hates him and tries to kill him, Arcadio takes credit for his work, Taranto sets him up to get killed, the list goes on. Chakaal is one of his few aquintances who dont wish him any specific harm.