History ComicBook / RicHochet

* KilledOffForReal: Two major characters are killed in the less than a page. [[spoiler: Bob killed by Le Bourreau. Le Bourreau himself dies from a heart attack when Ric fires a gun at him, which was loaded with blank bullets.]]

** Le Bourreau blamed General Val for ruining his life. In [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII WWII]], Le Bourreau committed unspecified war crimes, prompting General Val set a trap for him. While Le Bourreau escaped, his head was severely injured. He made a vow to kill him and there are hints that he made several attempts before Ric subdued him.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Le Bourreau and two accomplices demand that France put an end to all secret weapons development or there will be retaliatory consequences, in form of man-made earthquakes. [[It was revealed that it wasn't Le Bourreau and his gang, but three French secret agents killed that em and impersonated them. They had enough of arm races, secret agencies dirty methods and wanted to put a halt to it. They claim that despite their actions, they at least made the world safer by killing Le Bourreau. [[NotQuiteDead Le Bourreau can't be killed so easily.]]]]

** The two Wolzak brothers were causing many violent attacks in the mountains. They were infamous because of their ambush tactics: one will attack while the other provide cover fire. Ric was cornered in a mine and was about to be killed. [[spoiler:Ric made a gamble and confront one of the brother head-on, risking getting shot. In a twist, it was revealed that there was never any brothers, just one individual. Wolzak always made his attacks alone and feint having a brother to gain tactical advantage. Ric deduced this by observing a single track in the snow leading to the mine.]]
** A series of murders happened in a small village. Everyone suspected the local rich businessman, since the victims were his enemies and he isn't very liked by other townsfolk. [[spoiler:It turns out that the businessman ''really was'' the murderer. He killed everyone, except for the first victim. The first murder was committed by the businessman's daughter who has severe mental illness (so severe that she's doesn't even recall committing the act). When her father found out about the murder, he killed all his enemies to rid of them and placed all suspicions on him to protect his daughter.]]

** The two Wolzak brothers were causing many violent attacks in the mountains. They were infamous because of their ambush tactics: one will attack while the other provide cover fire. Ric was cornered in a mine and was about to be killed. [[spoiler:He managed to disarm one of the brother and in a twist, it was revealed that there was never any second brother. Wolzak always made his attacks alone and feint having a brother to gain tactical advantage. Ric deduced this by observing a single track in the snow leading to the mine.]]

* ArchNemesis: Ric and Le Bourreau. Ric has squared off against him more often than any other villains. Interestingly, Le Bourreau considered an unnamed French General his ArchNemesis for many decades. After his first defeat at Ric's hands, Le Bourreau now consider Ric his worse enemy. [[ItsPersonal It probably has something to do with Ric crippling his legs.]]

* NoNameGiven: The French counter-intelligence director is simply known as "The General". Even Bourdon and Ric doesn't refer him by his real name.

* {{Pride}}: Ric's FatalFlaw as well as Le Bourreau. In the latter case, [[spoiler:he used one of his underling as a suicide bomber to kill [[ArchNemesis The General]]. Ric then insulted Le Bourreau that he couldn't do things all by himself and has rely on others. Le Bourreau then yelled back that he is self-made man and everything he does is his doing. He then entered the bombed zone to show Ric his handywork... only to find the General and his minion alive, falling into Ric's trap. The hidden bomb was discovered and defused earlier by Ric and the secret services.]]

* SuicideAttack: Le Bourreau used one of his agent Witek as a suicide bomber, ''twice''. [[Witek was to rip a photograph of his daughter in front of his target, The General. The photograph contained a chemical that would have exploded when exposed to air. [[CrazyPrepared The second time was a backup plan]]. Prior to his mission, a powerful explosive was inserted in Witek's tooth and was intended to be detonated remotely. Both were neutralized before any harm could be done.]]

** Le Bourreau blamed The General for ruining his life. In [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII WWII]], Le Bourreau committed unspecified war crimes, prompting The General set a trap for him. While Le Bourreau escaped, his head was severely injured. He made a vow to kill him and there are hints that he made several attempts before Ric subdued him.

* SuicideAttack: Le Bourreau used one of his agent Witek as a suicide bomber, ''twice''. [[Witek was to rip a photograph of his daughter in front of his target, The General. The photograph contained a chemical that would have exploded when exposed to air. [[CrazedPrepared The second time was a backup plan]]. A powerful explosive was inserted in Witek's tooth and was intended to be detonated remotely. Both were neutralized before any harm could be done.]]

* ButtMonkey: Bourdon is often the victim of various antics either be jokes, misfortunes, hazards, bad luck, angry monkeys. It's downplayed as the series goes on.

* AntiHero: Richard may have piut his criminal past behind him, but he still carry shades of gray. He still has contacts with the criminal underworld and prefer to do things outside of the law.

* ParentalAbandonment: Installment 9 reveal that Ric was orphaned and never met his parents. His father is revealed to be Richard Hochet, a famous GentlemanThief in the UK nicknamed "Lionheart". Because of Richard's lifestyle, he couldn't raised him, so he placed him in orphanage and secretly sent him money every month. His mother turn up much later in the series and is working as a photograph.

* GenerationXerox: Richard is an aged-up Ric. Even the latter was astonished by the resemblance when they met the first time. A flashback shown that Richard look very much like Ric in his younger years.

* ParentalAbandonment: Installment 9 reveal that Ric was orphaned and never met his parents. His father is revealed to be Richard Hochet, a famous GentlemanThief in the UK named "Lionheart". because of Richard lifestyle, he couldn't raised him, so he placed him orphanage and secretly sent him money every month. His mother later turn up and is working as a photograph.

* BananaRepublic: The fictional country of Varaiso in South America. A great destination for tourism while its people are struggling with poverty, where the country is dominated by cruel military dictator. In a break from police detective work, Ric gets embroiled in civil unrest, political revolution in a cat and mouse game.