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-->-- Dennis Piper, [[VigilanteMan The Operative]]
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-->-- Dennis '''Dennis Piper, [[VigilanteMan The Operative]]
Operative]]'''
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* CastFromLifespan: Achilles loses a year of his life for every day he uses his powers. On the other hand, he regains a year of life for every person he kills as Achilles. His fights thus tend to be bloodbaths.
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* AbusiveParents: The General trained [spoiler: Dennis]] his whole life to become a soldier, constantly throwing him into brutal training regimes.
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* AbusiveParents: The General trained [spoiler: [[spoiler: Dennis]] his whole life to become a soldier, constantly throwing him into brutal training regimes.
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* AbusiveParents: The General trained [[spoiler: Dennis]] his whole life to become a soldier, constantly throwing him into brutal training regimes.
* ActionGirl: Sarah as the Aviatrix.
* ActionGirl: Sarah as the Aviatrix.
to:
* AbusiveParents: The General trained [[spoiler: [spoiler: Dennis]] his whole life to become a soldier, constantly throwing him into brutal training regimes.
* %%* ActionGirl: Sarah as the Aviatrix.
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* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: Sarah and Alice Starr, {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by Piper.
* ArchnemesisDad: The General to [[spoiler: the Operative]].
* ArchnemesisDad: The General to [[spoiler: the Operative]].
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* BigBad: Turns out to be [[spoiler: Nox, a Fear Lord from the pages of Doctor Strange]].
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* BigBad: Turns out to be [[spoiler: Nox, [[spoiler:Nox, a Fear Lord from the pages of Doctor Strange]].
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* BreakingTheFellowship: The FiveManBand's brief partnership dissolves at the beginning of Issue #5, with only Achilles and The Surgeon staying together.
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* BreakingTheFellowship: The FiveManBand's team's brief partnership dissolves at the beginning of Issue #5, with only Achilles and The Surgeon staying together.
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* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The Revenants' magical feats seem supernatural enough, but the simple fact he looks like a man in a costume draws suspicion as to what's really going on - even more so when Dennis reveals that he used to work in a magic show ([[DeliberateValuesDissonance as an assistant]], but still). [[spoiler: The latter is revealed to be the truth in the Revenant's ADayInTheLimelight issue.]]
to:
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The Revenants' magical feats seem supernatural enough, but the simple fact he looks like a man in a costume draws suspicion as to what's really going on - even more so when Dennis reveals that he used to work in a magic show ([[DeliberateValuesDissonance as an assistant]], but still). [[spoiler: The [[spoiler:The latter is revealed to be the truth in the Revenant's ADayInTheLimelight issue.]]
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* NiceJobFixingItVillain: If the General hadn't been so StupidEvil as to want to murder Lewis just because he'd given him an ExpositionDump about the amulet, Lewis would have simply given him the amulet and he'd never have to worry about it again. [[WhatAnIdiot At the very least, he should have waited to show his murderous intentions until AFTER Lewis handed it over]].
to:
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: If the General hadn't been so StupidEvil as to want to murder Lewis just because he'd given him an ExpositionDump about the amulet, Lewis would have simply given him the amulet and he'd never have to worry about it again. [[WhatAnIdiot At the very least, he should have waited to show his murderous intentions until AFTER Lewis handed it over]].over.
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* VigilanteMan: All of the heroes.
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Five Man Band is undergoing a wick-cleaning project. Examples with incorrect format, zero-context examples, and roles with little to no context, will be deleted.
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* FiveManBand:
** TheLeader: Dennis Piper/The Operative, though it's Ezekiel that gets the teamup going.
** TheLancer: Ezekiel Wright/The Revenant.
** TheSmartGuy: The Surgeon.
** TheBigGuy: Lewis Green/Achilles.
** TheChick: Sarah Starr/The Aviatrix.
** TheLeader: Dennis Piper/The Operative, though it's Ezekiel that gets the teamup going.
** TheLancer: Ezekiel Wright/The Revenant.
** TheSmartGuy: The Surgeon.
** TheBigGuy: Lewis Green/Achilles.
** TheChick: Sarah Starr/The Aviatrix.
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* HistoricalDomainCharacter: One of the members of The Board -- a conglomerate of union-busting, human-trafficking wealthy elite who profit off of those suffering under the Great Depression -- just so happens to be [[spoiler:Creator/AynRand]]. "EnlightenedSelfInterest" indeed.
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Not to be confused with [[Film/MysteryMen the movie of the same name]], or with the similarly named hero team in ''ComicBook/FlamingCarrot'', which the movie was based on.
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The first is Dennis Piper, BadassNormal who moonlights as the cat burglar known as the Operative.
The second is the ghostly figure known as the Revenant, a black man cloaked in the white garb of an apparation, whose feats of wizardry confuse and terrify the criminals he fights.
The third is Sarah Starr, the sister of the murdered woman, who is currently working on an innovative jetpack design, and later uses it to become the flying heroine known as the Aviatrix.
The fourth is the cruel and unsettling individual known as the Surgeon, who fights crime in most horrifying fashion and dissects his opponents when grilling them for information.
The fifth is Dr. Lewis Green, who learns to use the power of a long-lost trojan bracelet to gain the powers of the legendary hero Achilles - but at the cost of losing a year of his life each time that can only be regained by taking the life of another.
The second is the ghostly figure known as the Revenant, a black man cloaked in the white garb of an apparation, whose feats of wizardry confuse and terrify the criminals he fights.
The third is Sarah Starr, the sister of the murdered woman, who is currently working on an innovative jetpack design, and later uses it to become the flying heroine known as the Aviatrix.
The fourth is the cruel and unsettling individual known as the Surgeon, who fights crime in most horrifying fashion and dissects his opponents when grilling them for information.
The fifth is Dr. Lewis Green, who learns to use the power of a long-lost trojan bracelet to gain the powers of the legendary hero Achilles - but at the cost of losing a year of his life each time that can only be regained by taking the life of another.
to:
The first is Dennis Piper, BadassNormal who moonlights as the cat burglar known as the Operative.
Operative. The second is the ghostly figure known as the Revenant, a black man cloaked in the white garb of an apparation, whose feats of wizardry confuse and terrify the criminals he fights.
fights. The third is Sarah Starr, the sister of the murdered woman, who is currently working on an innovative jetpack design, and later uses it to become the flying heroine known as the Aviatrix.
Aviatrix. The fourth is the cruel and unsettling individual known as the Surgeon, who fights crime in most horrifying fashion and dissects his opponents when grilling them for information.
information. The fifth is Dr. Lewis Green, who learns to use the power of a long-lost trojan bracelet to gain the powers of the legendary hero Achilles - but at the cost of losing a year of his life each time that can only be regained by taking the life of another.
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Do not pothole YMMV items on the main page. Complete Monster is allowed on YMMV for work pages only.
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* ArsonMurderAndAdmiration: The General says the following line about [[spoiler: Nox's children]] (though [[CompleteMonster this being the General]], all the words may well [[BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad be meant as compliments]]:
to:
* ArsonMurderAndAdmiration: The General says the following line about [[spoiler: Nox's children]] (though [[CompleteMonster this being the General]], General, all the words may well [[BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad be meant as compliments]]:
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* YouCantGoHomeAgain: The Revenant cannot, due to being forced into becoming a fugitive from the law.
* YourCheatingHeart: Lewis Green's wife left him for another, burlier man while he was in his expedition to Troy.
* YourCheatingHeart: Lewis Green's wife left him for another, burlier man while he was in his expedition to Troy.
to:
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: The Revenant cannot, due to being forced into becoming a fugitive from the law.
* YourCheatingHeart: Lewis Green's wife left him for another, burlier man while he was in his expedition to Troy.law.
* YourCheatingHeart: Lewis Green's wife left him for another, burlier man while he was in his expedition to Troy.
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rco001_1463805629.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Five men ([[TheSmurfettePrinciple and one woman]]) of mystery]]
->''That smell in the air is the stench of ''burning bridges''. [[YouCantGoHomeAgain There's no turning back]].''
-->-- Dennis Piper, [[VigilanteMan The Operative]]
The year: [[TheGreatDepression 1932]]. The situation: Alice Starr, a famous Hollywood actress, has just been murdered. And five extraordinary people are going to find out why.
The first is Dennis Piper, BadassNormal who moonlights as the cat burglar known as the Operative.
The second is the ghostly figure known as the Revenant, a black man cloaked in the white garb of an apparation, whose feats of wizardry confuse and terrify the criminals he fights.
The third is Sarah Starr, the sister of the murdered woman, who is currently working on an innovative jetpack design, and later uses it to become the flying heroine known as the Aviatrix.
The fourth is the cruel and unsettling individual known as the Surgeon, who fights crime in most horrifying fashion and dissects his opponents when grilling them for information.
The fifth is Dr. Lewis Green, who learns to use the power of a long-lost trojan bracelet to gain the powers of the legendary hero Achilles - but at the cost of losing a year of his life each time that can only be regained by taking the life of another.
Together, these five [[TitleDrop mystery men]] will learn the truth about Alice's death and put a stop to a scheme that may endanger thousands of innocent lives.
''Mystery Men'' is a 2011 miniseries introducing five new {{Retraux}}-styled characters to the Creator/{{Marvel}} canon, inspired by old pulp fiction characters such as Creator/DashiellHammett's ''Literature/TheContinentalOp'', ComicBook/TheRocketeer and ComicStrip/MandrakeTheMagician, but with a modern twist.
----
!!The series provides examples of the following tropes:
* AbhorrentAdmirer: A non-romantic example, the Surgeon began his career because he was inspired by the heroes he read about in the papers, including the Operative and the Revenant. When he finally meets them, his extreme methods and seeming LackOfEmpathy astonish them to the point where they refuse to let him join them.
* AbusiveParents: The General trained [[spoiler: Dennis]] his whole life to become a soldier, constantly throwing him into brutal training regimes.
* ActionGirl: Sarah as the Aviatrix.
* AlliterativeName: Sarah Starr.
* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: Sarah and Alice Starr, {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by Piper.
* ArchnemesisDad: The General to [[spoiler: the Operative]].
* ArsonMurderAndAdmiration: The General says the following line about [[spoiler: Nox's children]] (though [[CompleteMonster this being the General]], all the words may well [[BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad be meant as compliments]]:
--> '''General:''' They are vile... terrible... ''beautiful''.
* BadBoss: The General murders a remarkable number of his own underlings during the series.
* TheBadGuyWins: [[ZigZaggedTrope Somewhat]]; the plan to demoralize the nation through [[spoiler: the murder of the Lindbergh boy]] succeeds, even if they didn't actually go through with it and the rest of the children are safe thanks to the mystery men.
* BigBad: Turns out to be [[spoiler: Nox, a Fear Lord from the pages of Doctor Strange]].
* BigDamnHeroes:
** The Surgeon and Achilles show up unexpectedly in the middle of Issue #4 to save the main trio from Lysseus.
** Sarah has a knack for doing this.
* BondOneLiner: The Surgeon is ''full'' of these.
-->'''Surgeon:''' Let's ''slice through'' your hesitation.
* BoringButPractical: The Revenant asks the Operative for a plan. ThePlan: Beat up every cop till there's no more left.
--> '''Revenant:''' THAT'S your big idea? \\
'''Operative:''' Why not? It's always worked before!
* BreakingTheFellowship: The FiveManBand's brief partnership dissolves at the beginning of Issue #5, with only Achilles and The Surgeon staying together.
* BullyingADragon: Dennis has the audacity to go into a cop bar and complain about how every single cop in the city is on the take, which one cop points out. [[CurbStompBattle Not that it ends up mattering in the least]].
* CardCarryingVillain: The General, beyond everything else he does, also says to [[spoiler: Nox]] when she asks him to give up every vestige of morality and humanity for the sake of their EvilPlan, that he's simply been waiting for her to ask.
* CasualDangerDialogue:
** The Revenant and Aviatrix's dialogue in Issue #4 sounds downright flirtatious.
** The Operative's only response to seeing the Aviatrix's new guns destroy the hellhounds is "those guns are new, right?"
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: The Revenant's powers [[spoiler: of prestidigitation]] allow him to ''catch a bullet with his teeth''.
* CoolMask: The Operative's outfit includes one to help him stand out from being just a guy in a dark suit. ''ComicBook/MarvelComicsOneThousand'' reveals it's more than cool, in fact - [[spoiler: It's the [[ArtifactOfPower Mask of Eternity]], which allows its wearer to be as StrongAsTheyNeedToBe for any fight]].
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: All of the board is this, but special mention must go to the one who objects to sacrificing a mob of children to a SatanicArchetype - because [[SkewedPriorities there's no profit in that]].
* ADayInTheLimelight: Issue #1 is the Operative's. #2 is the Aviatrix's. Issue #3 is this for both the Surgeon and Achilles. Issue #4 shows the Revenant's backstory.
* DeadpanSnarker: When he's not doing his Revenant voice, Zeke has a penchant for doing this. So does Sarah, especially if she thinks the boys are underestimating her. However, Dennis has them both beat.
--> '''The Operative:''' The way I'm crashing through windows this week, I ought to invest in a glass factory!
* DealWithTheDevil: Well, with a [[ComicBook/DoctorStrange Fear Lord]], actually.
* DirtyCop: Apparently, [[BigRottenApple every cop in New York]] during the time this story takes place.
* DoomedHometown: The Surgeon's hometown is destroyed by the General.
* TheDragon: The General serves as this to [[spoiler: Nox, the real Big Bad]].
* DramatisPersonae: Every issue starts with a recap page with one of these.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Platonic version, but the one time the Surgeon shows any humanity at all is when giving an eulogy for his fallen friend, [[spoiler: Achilles]].
* EvilMakesYouUgly: The General, big time.
* ExactWords: Sarah Starr was barred from ever flying... an ''airplane''. She has been working on a flying jetpack ever since then.
* FalseReassurance: The blonde board member insists that he's very sorry about all the, you know, white slavery and such.
* FiveManBand:
** TheLeader: Dennis Piper/The Operative, though it's Ezekiel that gets the teamup going.
** TheLancer: Ezekiel Wright/The Revenant.
** TheSmartGuy: The Surgeon.
** TheBigGuy: Lewis Green/Achilles.
** TheChick: Sarah Starr/The Aviatrix.
* FreudianSlip: The Operative accidentally calls Sarah 'Alice' at one point, despite knowing her for some time now.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Surgeon.
* GallowsHumor: The Surgeon, near-constantly. He also lampshades it and calls the trope by name when the Revenant and the Operative are trading darkly humorous jokes about Dennis' father.
* {{Ghostapo}}: Turns out [[spoiler: ThoseWackyNazis were being aided by a Fear Lord all along! Who knew?]]
* GiveMeASword: Achilles throws his sword to Dennis during the final battle.
* {{Glamour}}: The General seems to have this kind of effect when he wants to charm someone, [[DirtyOldMan particularly women]]. The reader only ever sees his true face, though.
* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: [[spoiler: We're never shown how they all ended up finding and rescuing all the children, nor what became of Nox's plan.]]
* HateSink: The General, ''dear god''. One of the first things we see of him is getting ready to have sex in a brothel with a girl that looks entirely too young to be there, only for that girl to be possessed and drained of life by a demon he's made a pact with, and he barely bats an eye.
* {{Hellhound}}: [[spoiler: Nox apparently [[MonsterProgenitor sired]] a whole pack of these with {{Cerberus}}.]]
* HopeCrusher: Part of the bad guys' EvilPlan was to do this to the entire United States.
* HumanSacrifice: The General [[spoiler: and Nox]]'s plan involves lots of these. In fact, the story is kicked off with one.
* HypocriticalHumor: Dennis' response to hearing a rich girl shouting about being robbed is "what a world, huh?"
* ImplausibleDeniability: Basically everything the cops do in their efforts to pin their crimes on Dennis.
-->'''DirtyCop:''' Remember for the report, men... [[BlatantLies I feared for my life]]. I had no choice but to use deadly force.
** Also, in Ezekiel's backstory a cop arrested for sexually harassing a woman. Said woman was ''very clear'' it wasn't Zeke that did it, and said so to the cop while he arrested Zeke. The only justification he got was '[[InsaneTrollLogic a black guy who likes to drink with white women is always guilty of something]]'.
* JustLikeRobinHood: The Operative is shown to be one of those, befitting the series' pulp aesthetic. Interestingly, it's never stated outright, but the first issue starts with him breaking into a rich man's building, then later goes inside a tenement and leaves a large wad of cash so that the occupants can pay the (recently raised by the landlord) rent. It's not hard to connect the dots.
* LackOfEmpathy: The Surgeon is disturbingly detached from what he does (fitting his {{Idiosyncrazy}} as a doctor-themed vigilante), treating his every action like it's a medical operation, up to and including brutally dissecting a man.
* LamePunReaction: PlayedForDrama when Dennis sees that the General chose to murder Alice in a boat called the ''Pied Piper''. He's understandably pissed about the way [[spoiler: his father]] appears to treat Alice's death like a joke.
* LoveTriangle: There could have been one of these between Zeke, Dennis and Sarah, but the winner was settled before it ever had a chance to form.
* LovingAShadow: It's implied this is the case with how Ezekiel and Dennis treat Sarah, the identical twin of the murdered Alice Starr. Dennis insists it's not the case, but the reader will probably feel otherwise.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The Revenants' magical feats seem supernatural enough, but the simple fact he looks like a man in a costume draws suspicion as to what's really going on - even more so when Dennis reveals that he used to work in a magic show ([[DeliberateValuesDissonance as an assistant]], but still). [[spoiler: The latter is revealed to be the truth in the Revenant's ADayInTheLimelight issue.]]
* MissingChild: The son of Charles Lindbergh. Finding him is the focus of the latter half of the story.
* TheNameless: Perhaps because NothingIsScarier, neither the General or [[TerrorHero the Surgeon]] receive given names.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: If the General hadn't been so StupidEvil as to want to murder Lewis just because he'd given him an ExpositionDump about the amulet, Lewis would have simply given him the amulet and he'd never have to worry about it again. [[WhatAnIdiot At the very least, he should have waited to show his murderous intentions until AFTER Lewis handed it over]].
* NominalHero: The Surgeon is described as teetering on the edge of being a hero, or the edge of sanity for that matter. Even the other mystery men can't stand his work.
* ObviouslyEvil: The General's eyes [[RedEyesTakeWarning glow red]], and he looks like a desiccated corpse.
* OddFriendship: The Surgeon and Achilles become a duo due to their [[TheUnfettered similar philosophies]].
* OffWithHisHead: The Operative kills Lysseus this way, [[GiveMeASword using Achilles' sword]].
* OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: The General leads one of these, said to be controlling America's economy from the shadows.
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: [[spoiler: The General is transformed into a wolfman by a magical amulet.]]
* PaintingTheMedium: Zeke's speech bubbles. When he talks normally, they look the same as everyone else's. When he's trying to be dramatic for his Revenant persona, they have a white outline around them.
* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-Zagged]]. None of the heroes have any problem letting the Revenant, a black man, help them, aside from Dennis, and even then it's left [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation up to the reader]] whether or not his standoffish nature toward Ezekiel is because of racism or simply due to IWorkAlone. On the other hand, Dennis clearly holds sexist ideals such as believing a woman can't take care of herself, and so does Zeke. The Aviatrix does her best to disabuse them of such notions.
* PopularSayingBut: Quoth the Surgeon to one of his first victims: "I need you to remain still for the operation. But don't worry... you will feel ''[[ColdBloodedTorture everything]]''."
* PurpleProse: The Revenant talks like this for dramatic effect.
* TheRenfield: [[spoiler: The General]] is reduced to this, a pathetic servant and yes-man for [[spoiler: Nox]] without any capacity to fight back.
* {{Revenge}}: A key part of the heroes' motivations. The Operative, The Revenant and the Aviatrix want revenge for the murder of Alice Starr. Achilles and the Surgeon want revenge because the General ruined their lives.
* TheScapegoat: The General uses Piper as one for the murder of Alice Starr.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: This is part of the Surgeon's backstory, when he goes to give life-saving surgery to a man that was badly beaten by a corrupt sheriff's men. [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished He is abandoned by his mother and gets his house burned down with him inside it for his trouble]], but hey, [[{{Revenge}} at least now the sheriff's dead]].
* SecretIdentityVocalShift: May be the case for the Revenant, the Operative claims he has a 'fancy voice' he occasionally forgets to speak in. It may also be a reference to his use of antiquated, dramatic words. Either way, his speech bubble is shown with a white cover around it when he's doing it.
* SequelHook: The team still needs to find the Lindbergh boy, and Nox is still alive. The mystery men decide their work isn't done. And the Surgeon has taken Achilles' amulet, and it's implied he's keeping this a secret from the rest. Will we ever find out what became of all these plot threads? [[LeftHanging It's a real mystery, that's for certain]].
* ShoutOut: The author's notes admit that the Operative's name is one to Literature/TheContinentalOp.
* SkewedPriorities: Sarah would sooner die than leave her lab.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: There is one girl among the five mystery men, and the same is implied to be the case for the General's group as well (he greets them with 'Gentlemen (and) madam'). [[spoiler: At least until Nox is introduced.]]
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: At first this is the case between Sarah, the Operative and the Revenant, and when Achilles and the Surgeon join up ([[TheFriendNobodyLikes or try to]]), things get even more complicated.
* TerrorHero: The Surgeon, if only because seeing what he does to people would horrify anyone into giving up a life of crime.
* ThatManIsDead: [[PaintingTheMedium Subtly implied]] by the DramatisPersonae in every issue. Usually, after we're told the heroes' {{Secret Identit|y}}ies, they will be listed under their mugshots alongside their new aliases. This is not the case for The Surgeon; though his first appearance allows us to discover his real name is Rupert Kingsley, he is only ever listed as The Surgeon.
* ThoseWackyNazis: [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Baron Zemo]] shows up and becomes and ally of the bad guys.
* ThouShaltNotKill: Soundly {{averted|Trope}} by everyone on the good guy team.
* TransformationOfThePossessed: [[spoiler: Nox]] does this to her victims. Funnily enough, they end up looking only slightly worse than the General does.
* UnwantedRescue: The Surgeon murders a few men accosting a woman affiliated with the Board, and [[SubvertedTrope she thinks this is what's happening]].
--> '''Woman:''' All the people in this city, and a costumed freak has to try to help ''me''. They just wanted their ''payoff''. I didn't need to be rescued. \\
'''Surgeon:''' I'm not ''rescuing'' you. I'm ''abducting'' you.
* VigilanteMan: All of the heroes.
* TomatoInTheMirror: Lewis Green is implied to have realized that he was the reincarnation of Achilles when he gained (regained?) his powers.
* WarForFunAndProfit: The General's circle wants to cause World War II. They succeed, [[DoomedByCanon obviously]].
* WouldHurtAChild: All of the bad guys see no qualm about sacrificing scores of children for power. The one guy who objects does so because there's no money in it for him.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: The Revenant cannot, due to being forced into becoming a fugitive from the law.
* YourCheatingHeart: Lewis Green's wife left him for another, burlier man while he was in his expedition to Troy.
[[caption-width-right:350:Five men ([[TheSmurfettePrinciple and one woman]]) of mystery]]
->''That smell in the air is the stench of ''burning bridges''. [[YouCantGoHomeAgain There's no turning back]].''
-->-- Dennis Piper, [[VigilanteMan The Operative]]
The year: [[TheGreatDepression 1932]]. The situation: Alice Starr, a famous Hollywood actress, has just been murdered. And five extraordinary people are going to find out why.
The first is Dennis Piper, BadassNormal who moonlights as the cat burglar known as the Operative.
The second is the ghostly figure known as the Revenant, a black man cloaked in the white garb of an apparation, whose feats of wizardry confuse and terrify the criminals he fights.
The third is Sarah Starr, the sister of the murdered woman, who is currently working on an innovative jetpack design, and later uses it to become the flying heroine known as the Aviatrix.
The fourth is the cruel and unsettling individual known as the Surgeon, who fights crime in most horrifying fashion and dissects his opponents when grilling them for information.
The fifth is Dr. Lewis Green, who learns to use the power of a long-lost trojan bracelet to gain the powers of the legendary hero Achilles - but at the cost of losing a year of his life each time that can only be regained by taking the life of another.
Together, these five [[TitleDrop mystery men]] will learn the truth about Alice's death and put a stop to a scheme that may endanger thousands of innocent lives.
''Mystery Men'' is a 2011 miniseries introducing five new {{Retraux}}-styled characters to the Creator/{{Marvel}} canon, inspired by old pulp fiction characters such as Creator/DashiellHammett's ''Literature/TheContinentalOp'', ComicBook/TheRocketeer and ComicStrip/MandrakeTheMagician, but with a modern twist.
----
!!The series provides examples of the following tropes:
* AbhorrentAdmirer: A non-romantic example, the Surgeon began his career because he was inspired by the heroes he read about in the papers, including the Operative and the Revenant. When he finally meets them, his extreme methods and seeming LackOfEmpathy astonish them to the point where they refuse to let him join them.
* AbusiveParents: The General trained [[spoiler: Dennis]] his whole life to become a soldier, constantly throwing him into brutal training regimes.
* ActionGirl: Sarah as the Aviatrix.
* AlliterativeName: Sarah Starr.
* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: Sarah and Alice Starr, {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by Piper.
* ArchnemesisDad: The General to [[spoiler: the Operative]].
* ArsonMurderAndAdmiration: The General says the following line about [[spoiler: Nox's children]] (though [[CompleteMonster this being the General]], all the words may well [[BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad be meant as compliments]]:
--> '''General:''' They are vile... terrible... ''beautiful''.
* BadBoss: The General murders a remarkable number of his own underlings during the series.
* TheBadGuyWins: [[ZigZaggedTrope Somewhat]]; the plan to demoralize the nation through [[spoiler: the murder of the Lindbergh boy]] succeeds, even if they didn't actually go through with it and the rest of the children are safe thanks to the mystery men.
* BigBad: Turns out to be [[spoiler: Nox, a Fear Lord from the pages of Doctor Strange]].
* BigDamnHeroes:
** The Surgeon and Achilles show up unexpectedly in the middle of Issue #4 to save the main trio from Lysseus.
** Sarah has a knack for doing this.
* BondOneLiner: The Surgeon is ''full'' of these.
-->'''Surgeon:''' Let's ''slice through'' your hesitation.
* BoringButPractical: The Revenant asks the Operative for a plan. ThePlan: Beat up every cop till there's no more left.
--> '''Revenant:''' THAT'S your big idea? \\
'''Operative:''' Why not? It's always worked before!
* BreakingTheFellowship: The FiveManBand's brief partnership dissolves at the beginning of Issue #5, with only Achilles and The Surgeon staying together.
* BullyingADragon: Dennis has the audacity to go into a cop bar and complain about how every single cop in the city is on the take, which one cop points out. [[CurbStompBattle Not that it ends up mattering in the least]].
* CardCarryingVillain: The General, beyond everything else he does, also says to [[spoiler: Nox]] when she asks him to give up every vestige of morality and humanity for the sake of their EvilPlan, that he's simply been waiting for her to ask.
* CasualDangerDialogue:
** The Revenant and Aviatrix's dialogue in Issue #4 sounds downright flirtatious.
** The Operative's only response to seeing the Aviatrix's new guns destroy the hellhounds is "those guns are new, right?"
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: The Revenant's powers [[spoiler: of prestidigitation]] allow him to ''catch a bullet with his teeth''.
* CoolMask: The Operative's outfit includes one to help him stand out from being just a guy in a dark suit. ''ComicBook/MarvelComicsOneThousand'' reveals it's more than cool, in fact - [[spoiler: It's the [[ArtifactOfPower Mask of Eternity]], which allows its wearer to be as StrongAsTheyNeedToBe for any fight]].
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: All of the board is this, but special mention must go to the one who objects to sacrificing a mob of children to a SatanicArchetype - because [[SkewedPriorities there's no profit in that]].
* ADayInTheLimelight: Issue #1 is the Operative's. #2 is the Aviatrix's. Issue #3 is this for both the Surgeon and Achilles. Issue #4 shows the Revenant's backstory.
* DeadpanSnarker: When he's not doing his Revenant voice, Zeke has a penchant for doing this. So does Sarah, especially if she thinks the boys are underestimating her. However, Dennis has them both beat.
--> '''The Operative:''' The way I'm crashing through windows this week, I ought to invest in a glass factory!
* DealWithTheDevil: Well, with a [[ComicBook/DoctorStrange Fear Lord]], actually.
* DirtyCop: Apparently, [[BigRottenApple every cop in New York]] during the time this story takes place.
* DoomedHometown: The Surgeon's hometown is destroyed by the General.
* TheDragon: The General serves as this to [[spoiler: Nox, the real Big Bad]].
* DramatisPersonae: Every issue starts with a recap page with one of these.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Platonic version, but the one time the Surgeon shows any humanity at all is when giving an eulogy for his fallen friend, [[spoiler: Achilles]].
* EvilMakesYouUgly: The General, big time.
* ExactWords: Sarah Starr was barred from ever flying... an ''airplane''. She has been working on a flying jetpack ever since then.
* FalseReassurance: The blonde board member insists that he's very sorry about all the, you know, white slavery and such.
* FiveManBand:
** TheLeader: Dennis Piper/The Operative, though it's Ezekiel that gets the teamup going.
** TheLancer: Ezekiel Wright/The Revenant.
** TheSmartGuy: The Surgeon.
** TheBigGuy: Lewis Green/Achilles.
** TheChick: Sarah Starr/The Aviatrix.
* FreudianSlip: The Operative accidentally calls Sarah 'Alice' at one point, despite knowing her for some time now.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Surgeon.
* GallowsHumor: The Surgeon, near-constantly. He also lampshades it and calls the trope by name when the Revenant and the Operative are trading darkly humorous jokes about Dennis' father.
* {{Ghostapo}}: Turns out [[spoiler: ThoseWackyNazis were being aided by a Fear Lord all along! Who knew?]]
* GiveMeASword: Achilles throws his sword to Dennis during the final battle.
* {{Glamour}}: The General seems to have this kind of effect when he wants to charm someone, [[DirtyOldMan particularly women]]. The reader only ever sees his true face, though.
* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: [[spoiler: We're never shown how they all ended up finding and rescuing all the children, nor what became of Nox's plan.]]
* HateSink: The General, ''dear god''. One of the first things we see of him is getting ready to have sex in a brothel with a girl that looks entirely too young to be there, only for that girl to be possessed and drained of life by a demon he's made a pact with, and he barely bats an eye.
* {{Hellhound}}: [[spoiler: Nox apparently [[MonsterProgenitor sired]] a whole pack of these with {{Cerberus}}.]]
* HopeCrusher: Part of the bad guys' EvilPlan was to do this to the entire United States.
* HumanSacrifice: The General [[spoiler: and Nox]]'s plan involves lots of these. In fact, the story is kicked off with one.
* HypocriticalHumor: Dennis' response to hearing a rich girl shouting about being robbed is "what a world, huh?"
* ImplausibleDeniability: Basically everything the cops do in their efforts to pin their crimes on Dennis.
-->'''DirtyCop:''' Remember for the report, men... [[BlatantLies I feared for my life]]. I had no choice but to use deadly force.
** Also, in Ezekiel's backstory a cop arrested for sexually harassing a woman. Said woman was ''very clear'' it wasn't Zeke that did it, and said so to the cop while he arrested Zeke. The only justification he got was '[[InsaneTrollLogic a black guy who likes to drink with white women is always guilty of something]]'.
* JustLikeRobinHood: The Operative is shown to be one of those, befitting the series' pulp aesthetic. Interestingly, it's never stated outright, but the first issue starts with him breaking into a rich man's building, then later goes inside a tenement and leaves a large wad of cash so that the occupants can pay the (recently raised by the landlord) rent. It's not hard to connect the dots.
* LackOfEmpathy: The Surgeon is disturbingly detached from what he does (fitting his {{Idiosyncrazy}} as a doctor-themed vigilante), treating his every action like it's a medical operation, up to and including brutally dissecting a man.
* LamePunReaction: PlayedForDrama when Dennis sees that the General chose to murder Alice in a boat called the ''Pied Piper''. He's understandably pissed about the way [[spoiler: his father]] appears to treat Alice's death like a joke.
* LoveTriangle: There could have been one of these between Zeke, Dennis and Sarah, but the winner was settled before it ever had a chance to form.
* LovingAShadow: It's implied this is the case with how Ezekiel and Dennis treat Sarah, the identical twin of the murdered Alice Starr. Dennis insists it's not the case, but the reader will probably feel otherwise.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The Revenants' magical feats seem supernatural enough, but the simple fact he looks like a man in a costume draws suspicion as to what's really going on - even more so when Dennis reveals that he used to work in a magic show ([[DeliberateValuesDissonance as an assistant]], but still). [[spoiler: The latter is revealed to be the truth in the Revenant's ADayInTheLimelight issue.]]
* MissingChild: The son of Charles Lindbergh. Finding him is the focus of the latter half of the story.
* TheNameless: Perhaps because NothingIsScarier, neither the General or [[TerrorHero the Surgeon]] receive given names.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: If the General hadn't been so StupidEvil as to want to murder Lewis just because he'd given him an ExpositionDump about the amulet, Lewis would have simply given him the amulet and he'd never have to worry about it again. [[WhatAnIdiot At the very least, he should have waited to show his murderous intentions until AFTER Lewis handed it over]].
* NominalHero: The Surgeon is described as teetering on the edge of being a hero, or the edge of sanity for that matter. Even the other mystery men can't stand his work.
* ObviouslyEvil: The General's eyes [[RedEyesTakeWarning glow red]], and he looks like a desiccated corpse.
* OddFriendship: The Surgeon and Achilles become a duo due to their [[TheUnfettered similar philosophies]].
* OffWithHisHead: The Operative kills Lysseus this way, [[GiveMeASword using Achilles' sword]].
* OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: The General leads one of these, said to be controlling America's economy from the shadows.
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: [[spoiler: The General is transformed into a wolfman by a magical amulet.]]
* PaintingTheMedium: Zeke's speech bubbles. When he talks normally, they look the same as everyone else's. When he's trying to be dramatic for his Revenant persona, they have a white outline around them.
* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-Zagged]]. None of the heroes have any problem letting the Revenant, a black man, help them, aside from Dennis, and even then it's left [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation up to the reader]] whether or not his standoffish nature toward Ezekiel is because of racism or simply due to IWorkAlone. On the other hand, Dennis clearly holds sexist ideals such as believing a woman can't take care of herself, and so does Zeke. The Aviatrix does her best to disabuse them of such notions.
* PopularSayingBut: Quoth the Surgeon to one of his first victims: "I need you to remain still for the operation. But don't worry... you will feel ''[[ColdBloodedTorture everything]]''."
* PurpleProse: The Revenant talks like this for dramatic effect.
* TheRenfield: [[spoiler: The General]] is reduced to this, a pathetic servant and yes-man for [[spoiler: Nox]] without any capacity to fight back.
* {{Revenge}}: A key part of the heroes' motivations. The Operative, The Revenant and the Aviatrix want revenge for the murder of Alice Starr. Achilles and the Surgeon want revenge because the General ruined their lives.
* TheScapegoat: The General uses Piper as one for the murder of Alice Starr.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: This is part of the Surgeon's backstory, when he goes to give life-saving surgery to a man that was badly beaten by a corrupt sheriff's men. [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished He is abandoned by his mother and gets his house burned down with him inside it for his trouble]], but hey, [[{{Revenge}} at least now the sheriff's dead]].
* SecretIdentityVocalShift: May be the case for the Revenant, the Operative claims he has a 'fancy voice' he occasionally forgets to speak in. It may also be a reference to his use of antiquated, dramatic words. Either way, his speech bubble is shown with a white cover around it when he's doing it.
* SequelHook: The team still needs to find the Lindbergh boy, and Nox is still alive. The mystery men decide their work isn't done. And the Surgeon has taken Achilles' amulet, and it's implied he's keeping this a secret from the rest. Will we ever find out what became of all these plot threads? [[LeftHanging It's a real mystery, that's for certain]].
* ShoutOut: The author's notes admit that the Operative's name is one to Literature/TheContinentalOp.
* SkewedPriorities: Sarah would sooner die than leave her lab.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: There is one girl among the five mystery men, and the same is implied to be the case for the General's group as well (he greets them with 'Gentlemen (and) madam'). [[spoiler: At least until Nox is introduced.]]
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: At first this is the case between Sarah, the Operative and the Revenant, and when Achilles and the Surgeon join up ([[TheFriendNobodyLikes or try to]]), things get even more complicated.
* TerrorHero: The Surgeon, if only because seeing what he does to people would horrify anyone into giving up a life of crime.
* ThatManIsDead: [[PaintingTheMedium Subtly implied]] by the DramatisPersonae in every issue. Usually, after we're told the heroes' {{Secret Identit|y}}ies, they will be listed under their mugshots alongside their new aliases. This is not the case for The Surgeon; though his first appearance allows us to discover his real name is Rupert Kingsley, he is only ever listed as The Surgeon.
* ThoseWackyNazis: [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Baron Zemo]] shows up and becomes and ally of the bad guys.
* ThouShaltNotKill: Soundly {{averted|Trope}} by everyone on the good guy team.
* TransformationOfThePossessed: [[spoiler: Nox]] does this to her victims. Funnily enough, they end up looking only slightly worse than the General does.
* UnwantedRescue: The Surgeon murders a few men accosting a woman affiliated with the Board, and [[SubvertedTrope she thinks this is what's happening]].
--> '''Woman:''' All the people in this city, and a costumed freak has to try to help ''me''. They just wanted their ''payoff''. I didn't need to be rescued. \\
'''Surgeon:''' I'm not ''rescuing'' you. I'm ''abducting'' you.
* VigilanteMan: All of the heroes.
* TomatoInTheMirror: Lewis Green is implied to have realized that he was the reincarnation of Achilles when he gained (regained?) his powers.
* WarForFunAndProfit: The General's circle wants to cause World War II. They succeed, [[DoomedByCanon obviously]].
* WouldHurtAChild: All of the bad guys see no qualm about sacrificing scores of children for power. The one guy who objects does so because there's no money in it for him.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: The Revenant cannot, due to being forced into becoming a fugitive from the law.
* YourCheatingHeart: Lewis Green's wife left him for another, burlier man while he was in his expedition to Troy.
