History ComicBook / RicHochet

* {{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 General Val]]. 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 a self-made man and everything he does is his doing. He then entered the bombed zone to show Ric his handy work... only to find General Val and his minion alive, falling into Ric's trap. The hidden bomb was discovered and defused earlier by Ric and the secret services.]]

* {{Vengeance}}: This one of motives of various criminals. Some examples:

* XMakesAnythingCool: Dr. X is a mysterious doctor who's face and hands are covered in bandages. [[spoiler:He real identity is a disfigured Dr. Vogler, an old adversary of Ric and a former Nazi scientist.]]

** 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 finally subdued him. General Val mentioned that because of precautions, [[ProperlyParanoid he isn't even allowed to shave by himself.]]

** The mysterious criminal named Chameleon only motivation was to make Bourdon suffer. [[spoiler:His true name is Philippe Manière. [[CorruptCop He purposely joined the police as a detective]] to get close to Bourdon. Then, he sabotaged ongoing investigations so Bourdon will be ridiculed by the press. [[HumiliationConga Bourdon's superiors then removed him from the Chameleon case because of lack of results.]] Finally, Chameleon planned to kill Bourdon. All because Chameleon's foster father was a crook named Pierrot Volcan that Bourdon arrested years ago. Volcan died in jail and Chameleon swore to avenge his father.]]

* UnexplainedRecovery: Le Bourreau returns for the 64th installment, after his alleged death in the 45th installment. He is confined to a wheelchair again (he had artificial legs and walked in the 45th). No one knows how he survived as his body was supposedly burned. Then again, we're talking about [[CrazyPrepared Le Bourreau here.]]

** A series of murders happened in a small village. Everyone suspected the local rich businessman, since the victims were his enemies and he wasn'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 ([[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} so severe that she's can'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.]]

* StrictlyFormula: The series became widely known for this: A series of murders followed by Ric questioning suspects and witnesses. As more bodies pileup, tension rises, clues are examined. In the climax, Ric confront the murderer and indulge in much {{Exposition}} with the inevitable [[TheReveal revelation]].

* TheResenter: Detective Ledru is this. While he deeply respect Ric and Bourdon, he's very bitter of being denied a promotion for years by the latter. It goes bad one day and Ledru accuses Bourdon's of incompetence and adds that the only reason for his success is because of Ric.

* {{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 General Val]]. 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 General Val and his minion alive, falling into Ric's trap. The hidden bomb was discovered and defused earlier by Ric and the secret services.]]

* Le Bourreau (The Undertaker), Ric's ArchNemesis. He was a former intelligence director for an Eastern Bloc country and war criminal. Despite being confined to a wheelchair, [[TheChessmaster he's a very dangerous adversary]].

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Le Bourreau which is French for "The Undertaker".

* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: Dr. Vogler, a former Nazi scientist, who has zoo and experiment on the animals with mind-controlling drugs.

* JerkAss: Professor Hermelin is a very grumpy individual and never keeps his tongue in his pockets.

* {{Irony}}: In a village in France, a band of friends made a pact to stage fake accidents and illegally collect the insurance money. Unfortunately, someone has overheard them and turn their plan against them. The perpetrator caused them accidents and severe injuries. He then blackmailed them for the insurance money. One victim was freaked out and actually had ''a real accident'' before the perpetrator could make his move on him.

* {{Irony}}: In a village in France, a band of friends made a pact to stage fake accidents and illegally collect the insurance money. Unfortunately, someone has overheard them and turn their plan against them. The perpetrator caused real accidents and severe injuries. He then blackmailed them for the insurance money. One victim was freaked and actually had ''a real accident'' before the perpetrator could make his move on him.

* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: In Le Bourreau's second appearance, some foreign power had him set up a training camp for new field agents. Criminals were busted out jailed and were thrown in a vast territory. They were being hunted down like animals and occasionally fed. Those deemed worthy by Le Bourreau were being recruited to hunt others and became new agents.

* BombThrowingAnarchists: This become the core of a story. The whole city of Paris is in state of alert as anarchists are killing civilian authorities in very brutal manner: firearms, explosives, grenades, knives, nothing as spared

* TheAce: Ric has many skills under his belt. He's good at hand-to-hand combat, an excellent driver, knows how to use a firearms. Combine with his deduction skills and profession as a journalist, there's nothing this guy can't do.

* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: In Le Bourreau's second appearance, some foreign power had him set up a training camp for new field agents. Criminals were busted out jailed and were thrown in vast territory. They were being hunted down like animals and occasionally fed. Those deemed worthy by Le Bourreau were being recruited to hunt others and became new agents.

* BiggerBad: [[spoiler:Chameleon escape from jail and commits news thefts. His mysterious benefactor actually meant him to become [[UnwittingPawn the scapegoat]] while he get away with the stolen goods.]]

* CoversAlwaysLie: In ''The Shadow of Chameleon'', Ric is holding on to helicopter's skid while it's in the air. In the story, [[ItMakesSenseInCOntext Ric is in prison garb]], restrained and is shoved out of the helicopter. The scene take place in nighttime while the cover show it during daylight.

* TheResenter: Detective Ledru is this. While he deeply respect Ric and Bourdon, he's very bitter of being denied a promotion for years by the latter. It goes bad one day and Ledru accuses Bourdon's of incompetence and the only reason for his success is because of Ric.

* CoolCar: Ric ride a yellow 911 Porsche. [[RunningGag It get destroyed several times]], sometimes more than once in the same story.

* DeathTrap: How Chameleon planned to kill his hated enemy Bourdon. Had he killed the commissioner right on the spot, he would have on.

** The mysterious criminal named Chameleon only motivation was to make Bourdon suffer. [[spoiler:His true name is Philippe Manière. [[CorruptCop He purposely joined the police as a detective]] to get close to Bourdon. Then, he sabotaged ongoing investigations so Bourdon will be ridiculed by the press. [[HumiliationConga Bourdon's superiors then removed him from the Chameleon case because of lack of results.]] Finally, Chameleon planned to kill Bourdon. All because Chameleon's father was a crook nicknamed Volcan that Bourdon arrested years ago. Volcan died in jail and Chameleon became a bitter orphan.]]