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** As the series go, faces are drawn more incorrectly. Justified as Roger Leloup is in his prime.
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cleaned up wrong uses of Genre Savvy tropes as per http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=14517129060A14005800&page=1#1
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* GenreSavvy: Madam Kwan.
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* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Ito Kazuky.
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* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Ito Kazuky.Kazuky, a Japanese arms dealers.
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* HeelFaceTurn: When a typhoon-making missile goes out of control, a gigantic hurricane was heading toward the Japanese coast. [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Kazuky]] refused to intervene as the blame will rest on Yoko's father. One of Kazuky's man was outraged because millions of lives were at stake, so he switched sides to help Yoko.
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* WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs: Yoko started working with small jobs in electronics, then it evolve into working in TV/telecommunications. Later, she works as a test pilot, a government agent, a computer programmer, a secretary and even a model.
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* ArtEvolution: In the first few albums the characters are drawn much more cartoonishly, which is particularly evident with Pol.
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* ArtEvolution: In the first few albums the characters are drawn much more cartoonishly, which is particularly evident with Pol.Pol and Poky.
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* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: Monya'a time machine spin on itself like a top whenever it travel trough time.
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* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: Monya'a time machine spin on itself like a top whenever it travel trough time.time (or it simply gets engulfed into twirling light, according to the captions).
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* OffModel: Leloup seems to have trouble with bodily proportions and faces sometimes, curiously mostly when drawing characters from a distance.
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* OffModel: Leloup seems to have trouble with bodily proportions and faces sometimes, curiously mostly when drawing characters from a distance. More prevalent in the latest books.
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* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: Yoko and Ingrid have some of this dynamic going on, especially in the earlier albums.
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* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: Yoko and Ingrid have some of this dynamic going on, especially in the earlier albums. Yoko and Khany also show some of this.
* ThouShaltNotKill: Yoko is VERY reluctant to kill a sentient being, even when threatened. She does kill a few people accidentally though, and sometimes her friends are the ones giving the killing blow.
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* {{Unobtainium}}: Gobol use a rare material called "vinadium". Its blue radiation, when refined and filtered, prevent his cells from aging and gives him energy-like attacks.
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* {{Unobtainium}}: Gobol use uses a rare material called "vinadium". Its blue radiation, when refined and filtered, prevent his cells from aging and gives him energy-like attacks.
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* DisneyVillainDeath: More than a few of Yoko's enemies meet their demise from a fall.
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* OutOfFocus: As the series move over time, Vic and Pol receive less and less focus. The stories are always centered around Yoko and the guest star of the day, usually a new female character. Things got worse for them now that Emilia has now become the new regular co-star with Yoko.
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* OutOfFocus: As the series move over time, Vic and Pol receive less and less focus. The stories are always centered around Yoko and the guest star of the day, usually a new female character. Things got worse for them now that Emilia has now become the new regular co-star alongside with Yoko.
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* OutOfFocus: As the series move over time, Vic and Pol receive less and less focus. The stories are always centered around Yoko and the guest star of the day, usually a new female character. It got worse now that Emilia have become co-star with Yoko.
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* OutOfFocus: As the series move over time, Vic and Pol receive less and less focus. The stories are always centered around Yoko and the guest star of the day, usually a new female character. It Things got worse for them now that Emilia have has now become the new regular co-star with Yoko.
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* AdultFear: For Christmas, Yoko wanted to surprise a little girl's family by offering a contract to the jobless father. Except, to get the contract, Yoko had to ride across town with the little girl in tow and didn't notified her parents. Needless to say, her parents were worried, although the story ended on a happy note.
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* OutOfFocus: As the series move over time, Vic and Pol got a less and less focus. The stories are always centered around Yoko and the guest star of the day, usually a new female character. It got worse now that Emilia have become co-star with Yoko.
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* OutOfFocus: As the series move over time, Vic and Pol got a receive less and less focus. The stories are always centered around Yoko and the guest star of the day, usually a new female character. It got worse now that Emilia have become co-star with Yoko.
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* OutOfFocus: As the series move over time, Vic and Pol got a less and less focus. The stories are always centered around Yoko and the guest star of the day, usually a new female character. It got worse now that Emilia have become co-star with Yoko.
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* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Monya comes from the far future, Mieke from Renaissance-era Bruges, Sin-Yi from Tang China.
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* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Monya comes from the far future, Mieke from Renaissance-era Bruges, Sin-Yi from Tang China.China, Magda from the 1940's.
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* {{Irony}}: By trying to protect the ''Foam of Dawn'' from an eventual burglar, Seiki caused it to be stolen. He commissioned a fake pearl from a jeweler and planted it in Yoko's jewel box while the ''Foam of Dawn'' was locked inside the family's safe. Unfortunately for him, the jeweler gave him two fake pearls and kept ''Foam of Dawn'' to himself. In trying to fool thieves, Seiki was himself fooled by one.
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** However, recent stories show them sleeping in separate bedrooms.
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* BigFancyHouse: Yoko's house is described as bigger then the neighbors' and close to the sea.
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* FlowerInHerHair: She has flowers and butterfly-shaped hair clip on her hair when she was little.
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* FlowerInHerHair: She has flowers and butterfly-shaped hair clip bow on her hair when she was little.
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* FlowerInHerHair: She has flowers and butterfly-shaped hair clip on her hair when she was little.
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* TheTeetotaler: Yoko in contrast to Pol. She did share glass of vodka with countess Olga however.
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* TheTeetotaler: Yoko in contrast to Pol. She did share a glass of vodka with countess Olga however.
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Seems to me this was a Justifying Edit
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* HyperspaceArsenal: The Vineans can pop vehicles out of their pockets in the same way as computer files are decompressed.
** Not exactly: one team of war mongers had that technology; most Vineans don't have access to that technology.
** Not exactly: one team of war mongers had that technology; most Vineans don't have access to that technology.
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* HyperspaceArsenal: The A offshot of warmongering Vineans can pop vehicles out of their pockets in the same way as computer files are decompressed.
** Not exactly: one team of war mongers had that technology; mostdecompressed. Most Vineans however don't have access to that technology.
** Not exactly: one team of war mongers had that technology; most
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* TheTeetotaler: Yoko in contrast to Pol. She did shared glass of vodka with countess Olga however.
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* TheTeetotaler: Yoko in contrast to Pol. She did shared share glass of vodka with countess Olga however.
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* AbsenteeActor: Vic is completely absent in the ''Rhine Gold'' and there's not even a mention of him.
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* CouchGag: The title of the story on the book cover is always decorated with a head of Yoko. If the story involves the Vineans, she is wearing a helmet from her space suit.
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* TheTeetotaler: Yoko in contrast to Pol. She did shared glass of vodka with countess Olga however.
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Somewhere A Palaeontologist Is Crying is now Artistic License Paleontology. Bad examples and ZCE are being removed.
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* GiantFlyer: The [[SomewhereAPaleontologistIsCrying oversize pteranodons]] in "The Morning of the World".
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* GiantFlyer: The [[SomewhereAPaleontologistIsCrying [[ArtisticLicensePaleontology oversize pteranodons]] in "The Morning of the World".
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* LatexSpaceSuit: Not quite latex, but the Vinean outfits are ''very'' tight-fitting.
** Subverted: these are environment suits. For space sorties , they use much bulkier space suits fitted on top of these body socks.
*** Not ''much'' bulkier, though. More like a second layer of body sock. Made out of [[FetishFuel rubber]].
** Subverted: these are environment suits. For space sorties , they use much bulkier space suits fitted on top of these body socks.
*** Not ''much'' bulkier, though. More like a second layer of body sock. Made out of [[FetishFuel rubber]].
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* LatexSpaceSuit: Not quite latex, but the The environment suits, called Vinean outfits outfits, are ''very'' tight-fitting.
** Subverted: these are environment suits.tight-fitting despite not being quite latex. For space sorties , sorties, they use much bulkier space suits fitted on top of these body socks.
*** Not ''much'' bulkier, though. More likea second layer of body sock. Made socks made out of [[FetishFuel rubber]].rubber.
** Subverted: these are environment suits.
*** Not ''much'' bulkier, though. More like
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* CorporalPunishment: When under 5 years old, Yoko was disciplined for her bad behavior.
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* ComingOfAge: The whole story is this for Yoko.
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* HonorBeforeReason / WhatYouAreInTheDark :[[spoiler: After successfully stealing the pearl back from madam Kwan and Wai, Yoko was griped with guilt. Seeing how the pearl made Wai happy and how Yoko had lied to the boy, she couldn't bear it anymore and confess the whole truth to madam Kwan.]]
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/21_Yoko_Tsuno2-61735.jpg]] ''Yoko Tsuno'' (1970-) is a French-Belgian comic book series by Roger Leloup. The title character is a young Japanese woman of multiple talents, initially trained as an electrician but also skilled in airplane piloting, martial arts (karate, aikido, kyudo), computer programming, etc. She's fluent in many foreign languages: English (required learning in technology fields), French (she's living there...), German (...or close by), Cantonese (her grandmother was from there) and more (most, through sleep learning improved by future technologies). Her adventures usually involve scientific or technological elements, and regularly go into outright ScienceFiction, with the recurring presence of a [[HumanoidAliens humanoid]] alien race, the Vineans.
Her sidekicks are two Westerners, Vic Video and Pol Pitron, and she is the adoptive mother of a Chinese girl, Morning Dew.
A novel, ''L'écume de l'aube (The Foam of the Dawn)'', tells the story of Yoko's childhood, her family, friends and relationships up to her first adventure outside Japan. The main story arc is about the [[MementoMacGuffin the Foam of the Dawn]], a diamond-colored pearl envisioned by Yoko's grandfather. He tried to create the pearl all his life, but never succeeded and as a result, his cultured pearl business failed and his family was nearly torn apart. Yoko believed in him and convinced him to try one more time.
----
!!''Yoko Tsuno'' contains examples of:
* ActionGirl: Yoko.
** ActionMom: After adopting Morning Dew.
* AfterTheEnd: Monya comes from a [[BadFuture post-apocalyptic future]] in which the use of an [[ArtifactOfDoom antimatter weapon]] called the Contraction Bomb has rendered Earth uninhabitable. In fact, she travels back in time precisely to [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong prevent that weapon being invented]].
* AIIsACrapshoot: In "Curious Trio", the accumulation of residual energy from the Vineans' computer system gave rise to the spontaneous development of an evil AI. In "The Three Suns of Vinea", the entire planet Vinea turns out to be ruled by a despotic AI.
** The latter could be considered an inversion, as a living brain's pattern got stuck in a mental amplifier and kept running after the original's death.
** [[spoiler:Queen Hegora is another example.]]
* AliensAreBastards: In the Dark Ages, one small faction of Vineans used humans as slaves.
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Monya. She conveniently passes for a Malay, but she isn't one.
* AmbiguouslyBi: On the one hand, WordOfGod is that Yoko and Vic are almost a couple, but that the author intentionally did not put Yoko in a relationship so as not to upset the many fans who were "in love with her". On the other, ''despite'' said WordOfGod, she has and retains a knack for "picking up" cute young ladies.
* ArmorPiercingSlap: Happens quite often in the series: Kazuky to Yoko, Countess Olga to Yoko, Yoko to Emilia just to name a few.
* ArtificialHuman: Queen Hegora and the Archangels.
* ArtEvolution: In the first few albums the characters are drawn much more cartoonishly, which is particularly evident with Pol.
** Actually, Pol was the last to change, while Yoko and Vic get an overhaul rather early in the comics.
** It changes again in "The Astrologer of Bruge" where Yoko is noticeably older.
* ApocalypseHow: Both [[spoiler: Vinea]] in the past and [[spoiler: Earth]] in the future go through a Planetary/Total extinction apocalypse. Most of the stories about [[spoiler: Vinea]] involve picking the pieces from the former, while [[spoiler:Monya]] went back in time to prevent the latter.
* {{Backstory}}: Yoko's youth is explored in the novel ''L'écume de l'aube (The Foam of the Dawn).''
* BatmanGambit: Yoko uses this against her enemies.
* BeardOfEvil: Karpan, Karl Moebius.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Averted with the Titans, who are a race of giant insectoid aliens, but do possess individuality and redeeming qualities.
* BigDamnHeroes
* BigEater: Pol, also the TeamChef.
* BodyDouble [[spoiler: Margaret, in "The Prey and the Shadow", is blackmailed into becoming this for the local [[TheOphelia Ophelia]], Cecilia. When Yoko finds out, Margaret begs her for help since she's too scared to openly rebel against Sir William, but wants to get free and help Cecilia.]]
** [[spoiler: [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Ito Kazuky]] has a lookalike serving as a decoy. However, the decoy is revealed to be even more ruthless than Kazuky and a little crazy.]]
* BoldInflation: Happens quite a lot on key elements of the story.
* BreakOutCharacter : Yoko was originally envisioned as the #3 characters of the trio, behind Vic and Pol, and the first thirteen pages of the first book were drawn that way. Then the publisher suggested Leloup try his hand at small character stories to begin with, and he started with the least important of the three... who promptly made #5 in overall character polls that year. Vic and Pol were demoted to sidekicks, Yoko promoted to star of the series, and the rest is history.
* ButtMonkey: Pol, to a T.
* CharacterDevelopment: Yoko started out as fairly high-strung and willing to engage in violence when not absolutely necessary. She mellowed out in later years.
** Pol can be aggressive enough for the whole trio.
* ChildrenAreInnocent: Played straight with Poky and Morning Dew; subverted with Sin-yi, who is more of a SpoiledBrat. But then, she grew up as [[WifeHusbandry the child bride of a Tang dynasty Chinese emperor]].
* ChristmasEpisode: In one story of "Electronic Adventures".
* CollapsingLair: Webb's mountaintop lab in "The Time Spiral".
* CombatTentacles: [[spoiler: The alien creature use its tentacles to ransack the research lab in "The Time Spiral". They were actually its nerves which it also uses to control the lab.]]
* TheCommissionerGordon: Commissioner Lebrun who showed up in a handful of shorts.
* CoolStarship: Comes in various shapes and sizes, all used by the Vineans. Later in the series, Yoko has her own personal ship, the Ryu.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Ito Kazuky.
* CryonicsFailure: [[spoiler: The Supreme Guide]] in ''The Three Suns of Vinea'', to a point.
* DangerousFemales: The endless list of females, either from this planet or others, whose sole purpose in life seems to be to cause Yoko Tsuno to faint using the neck chop.
* DeadpanSnarker: Vic, often Pol as well.
* DeathByOriginStory: Monya's father and Leyton.
* DeceptivelyHumanRobots: The Archangels, Queen Hegora.
* DisintegratorRay: Used by the Vineans and various MechaMooks.
* DistressedDamsel: Poor Ingrid. Sometimes, even Yoko would need rescuing after being hit with the DistressBall.
* DistressedDude: Vic and Pol sometimes need Yoko to rescue them, especially in "The Seventh Code".
* ElegantClassicalMusician: Ingrid, who is a professional pipe organ player.
* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: A bunch of pteranodons showed up in "The Morning of the World" during a StableTimeLoop. No explanations were ever provided to why and how they existed... in 1350 AD!
* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Large group of baboons showed up unexpectedly in a crater.
* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: Monya'a time machine spin on itself like a top whenever it travel trough time.
* EvilPlan: [[spoiler: [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Ito Kazuky]]'s company created a disintegration chamber. With the end of the Cold War, countries are desperate to get rid of their stockpile of [[WeaponOfMassDestruction nukes]]. However, the machine doesn't eliminate the radiation. Nonetheless, Kazuky advertise that his machine is fully functional. When countries will deliver him the warheads for disposition, he'll secretly keep them intact and well hidden. Presumably, he's going to resell them to the black market.]]
* {{Expy}}: Vic and Pol are expies of Jacky and Célestin from the now defunct French-Belgian comic book "Jacky et Célestin".
** According to [[WordOfGod Roger Leloup]], Yoko is an expy of Japanese actress Yoko Tani.
* FailureKnight: Yoko's old guardian Aoki, from "Daughter of The Wind". He was a pilot from WorldWarTwo who didn't get to die honourably in a kamikaze attack and could never get over it. [[spoiler: He got his wish through an HeroicSacrifice.]]
* {{Fainting}}: Yoko ends up like this in almost every album. She either gets [[TapOnTheHead neck chopped, knocked on the head]], gassed, drugged, chloroformed, shot at point blank range etc. -- the poor girl [[RunningGag even faints a couple of times]]!
* FanService: In "Wotan's Fire", Yoko showed up in bikini on a oil tanker. The crewmen were only too happy to welcome her aboard. In the "The Rhine Gold", we can see her wearing nothing but a towel after taking a shower. In the "Gate of Souls", she lost some of her spacesuit's equipment, forcing her to wear a worn-out, skimpier uniform. In 'On the Edge of Life' Yoko arrives in Rothenburg wearing an ultra short red micro-mini dress.
* FasterThanLightTravel: The Vineans' ships.
** The mechanism behind them[[note]]Physics becomes Newtonian if a region of space is devoid of light[[/note]], as explained in "The Three Suns of Vinea", is original but also a definite example of ArtisticLicensePhysics.
** Later on, Yoko's starship the Ryu can do it as well. Strangely enough, while "The Three Suns of Vinea" took care in explaining that it was not possible to travel faster than light in normal space, the Ryu seems to do it without special precautions. Possibly justified in that it's from a technology much more recent than the 2 million-years old one of the Vineans.
* FieryRedHead: Emilia, especially in her debut.
* FinancialAbuse: Poor, poor [[spoiler: Cecilia.]] If only she knew that [[spoiler: her uncle and stepfather William not only killed her mother, but is planning to kill ''her'' for her inheritance]]
* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Monya comes from the far future, Mieke from Renaissance-era Bruges, Sin-Yi from Tang China.
* FriendToAllChildren: Pol is an awesome babysitter. With a rocket launcher.
** Yoko as well, though less in an "awesome babysitter" way and more in a "take every child under her wing" way (most obviously with Morning Dew).
* GambitRoulette: [[spoiler: Used by Gobol to trick Myna into bringing Hegora's personal ship.]]
* GangOfCritters: The Exiles. Although they still look cute and appealing to children, they no longer fulfil their function as robot-toys.
* GiantFlyer: The [[SomewhereAPaleontologistIsCrying oversize pteranodons]] in "The Morning of the World".
* GuileHero: Yoko can be VERY cunning when she wants to.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Played straight at first with Pol and Vic, Yoko's two male sidekicks. Later averted, as Yoko and Vic develop a (mostly tacit) romantic relationship.
** Later reinforced. WordOfGod is that he doesn't want to develop the relationship with Vic... readers who are in love with Yoko would be jealous!
* HollywoodCyborg: Ethera has her body rebuilt after a crash.
* {{Hologram}}: [[spoiler: Found in "The Prey and the Ghost." The model is actually Margaret, Cecilia's BodyDouble, and it motivates her to beg Yoko for help.]]
* HonorBeforeReason: Yoko's FatalFlaw.
* HotBlooded: Yoko, sometimes. Pol, too.
* HumanAliens: The Vineans have blue skin and somewhat sharper traits, but apart from that are indistinguishable from humans. This incredible coincidence is never explained, since they come from the Triangulum galaxy and already looked like that two million years ago, before ''homo sapiens'' had even evolved on Earth.
** In one album, Yoko even could disguise as a Vinean. It worked because they only use b/w monitors.
* HumanPopsicle: The Vineans routinely use suspended animation to deal with long-distance space travel, or to keep survivors from the cataclysm that nearly destroyed their planet stowed away until further notice. In "On the Edge of Life", this is also how Magda, a little girl from 1945, has been kept alive until the 1970s despite suffering from critical wounds and a rare chronic condition.
* HyperspaceArsenal: The Vineans can pop vehicles out of their pockets in the same way as computer files are decompressed.
** Not exactly: one team of war mongers had that technology; most Vineans don't have access to that technology.
* IdenticalStranger: [[spoiler: Cecilia and Margaret]] in "The Prey and the Ghost".
* IllGirl: Magda and Ingrid in "On the Edge of Life".
* ImperialJapan: When Yoko [[TimeTravel travels back]] to the UsefulNotes/{{WWII}} era she meets her great uncle, a high-ranking Japanese officer.
* InnocentFlowerGirl: Mieke, is innocent, and a flower girl.
* KarmicDeath: Villains have a tendency to bring doom upon their own heads.
* LatexSpaceSuit: Not quite latex, but the Vinean outfits are ''very'' tight-fitting.
** Subverted: these are environment suits. For space sorties , they use much bulkier space suits fitted on top of these body socks.
*** Not ''much'' bulkier, though. More like a second layer of body sock. Made out of [[FetishFuel rubber]].
* LimitedWardrobe: Changed over time. In her early adventures, Yoko would almost always wear the same outfit, a short red dress over a black catsuit. On the cover of The Edge of Life, Yoko can be seen wearing a red mini dress. Later on, Leloup became fond of depicting her in more varied outfits, and her wardrobe has increased in size accordingly. Pol was the last to leave his yellow pullover behind. He often wears a yellow shirt though.
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:Khany discovers that her father (and Poky's) is still alive, after having a BrainUploading millions of years ago.]]
* MartialPacifist: Yoko grows into one. She deplores unnecessary violence and will go out of her way to try and spare villains' lives. This doesn't prevent her from kicking ass here and there.
* TheMasquerade: What the PowerTrio stumbles into in "The Prey and the Ghost".
* MeetCute: Pol & Mieke. She's a flower girl from 16th century Bruges; he's a time-traveller from the early 21st century posing as a "lord"; she follows him back to modern times.
* MindReading: The Titans. [[spoiler: The alien creature from "The Time Spiral" use a variation of this trope to feed information directly in people's brains.]]
* MissingMom: Lady Mary from "The Prey and the Ghost", whoae death is very important to the plot. [[spoiler:Actually, her ''murder''.]]
** Monya. Her mother placed her in a shuttle on the way to her father's secret base, while the space station they lived is destroyed.
** Emilia's mother.
* MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness: Interestingly, this actually varies strongly between books. As a loose rule, Yoko Tsuno's adventures can be divided into 3 categories -- those in space (or with the vineans on earth); those on Earth, without aliens or space-travel; and after Monya arrives in the Timespiral, adventures through time occur as well. On the hardness scale, the series generally swings between 3 and 5, with the space-setting stories being the softest, and those on Earth being the hardest.
** Eg. "The 3 Suns of Vinea" is a soft 3, while "Message for Eternity" is at the hard end of 5.
* MoreHypnotizableThanHeThinks: Pol Pitron
* NaiveEverygirl: Mieke.
* {{Ninja}}: In "Daughter of the Wind", Kazuky has a bunch of ninjas (or more precisely ninja reenactors) on his payroll. She apparently got some ninja training herself when she was still a teenager (in the novel "The Foam of the Dawn").
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Monya traveling back in time and meddling with the locals cause Narki [[HumanSacrifice to be sacrificed to demons.]]
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Ingrid Hallberg is based on pianist Ingrid Haebler.
* NoNameGiven: The name of Monya's father is never revealed.
* NukeEm: The Vineans drop a thermal bomb on the Titans' territory after they left. They also used their own version of nukes against a space city that came too close to their planet. [[spoiler: When [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Ito Kazuky's]] [[WeaponOfMassDestruction hurricane-making missile]] goes out of control, Yoko and Aoki deliver a powerful nuke that ends with Aoki's [[HeroicSacrifice heroic sacrifice.]]]]
* OfficialCouple: Pol and Mieke. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Aaaaawwwww.]]
* OffModel: Leloup seems to have trouble with bodily proportions and faces sometimes, curiously mostly when drawing characters from a distance.
** Also, Yoko sometimes looks ''extremely'' yellow, which might not be Leloup's fault, though. Confirmed in recent compilations, where colours are better calibrated.
* TheOjou: Cecilia from "The Prey and the Shadow". She's also a LonelyRichKid, kept isolated and prisoner in her own Scottish castle.
** Yoko is this too. The Tsuno family has a pretty nice Japanese BigFancyHouse in Okinawa, after all.
* OminousPipeOrgan: "The Devil's Organ".
* TheOphelia: Cecilia, again. Subverted, though: [[spoiler: she's actually ''sane'', but her EvilUncle wants people to ''think'' she's a nutjob so he can set her up for an "accidental" death... by making the desperately lonely Cecilia believe she can be reunited with her mom's spirit.]]
** Ingrid is introduced as a prospect one in "The Devil's Organ", as she's seen crying and unresponsive during a cruise to the Rhin. [[spoiler: Subverted again: she not only was in an Heroic BSOD after her father's death... but she was completely drugged as the BigBad/her dad's killer wants her out of the way. Said BigBad throws poor Ingrid into the river, but Yoko and her friends save her and she soon recovers the hold on herself.]]
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: [[spoiler: "In the Dragon of Hong Kong", an evil eastern dragon terrorize the city. It's revealed to actually be robot piloted by a CorruptCorporateExecutive. It's destroyed by a subverted genetically engineered [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever giant lizard]] in the [[HeroicSacrifice last battle]]. In "The Pagoda of the Mists", the plot in centered on a giant alien robot that closely resemble a dragon.]]
* OurSoulsAreDifferent: In "The Gate of Souls", there is some Phlebotinium allowing to remove souls from people and transfer them into other people or store them in robots. It is not very clear what the soul actually is (and [[WordOfGod Leloup]] confirms he intended it that way, to avoid theological debates), as the soulless people seem to be functioning normally, but are eager to recover their souls, while people implanted with the souls of others seem to gain their knowledge and skills. Yoko reacts violently when a device attempts to probe her soul.
* PaperThinDisguise: Monya wearing her bikini top OVER her shirt, sporting giant headphones on her head and wearing shoes (everyone else is barefoot), while waiting in line with Balinese girls dressed in their native 1350 costumes. [[TheGuardsMustBeCrazy The guards don't notice a thing despite being warned to look out for her.]]
* PhenotypeStereotype: Ingrid, being German, of course has long blond hair tied into cinnamon rolls.
** Being Scottish, Cecilia is obviously a redhead. Thankfully, she's ''no'' ViolentGlaswegian. [[spoiler: Her IdenticalStranger Margaret is a redhead... and actually ''Australian''.]]
* TheProfessor: Yoko's father, Seiki Tsuno.
* PowerTrio: Yoko (Superego), Vic (Ego), Pol (Id).
* RelationshipUpgrade: Yoko and Vic, after being JustFriends for years, began developing romantic feelings for one another in the more recent episodes.
** Interestingly, [[PlatonicLifePartners Yoko and Pol]] have much more screen time together than Yoko and Vic.
* RetCon: Yoko's father was named 'Susuki Tsuno' in 'Electronic Adventures'. Leloup changed it to 'Seiki Tsuno' in 'The Daughter of the Wind' when he recognized that "Suzuki" isn't a proper first name for a Japanese. He forgot to correct one speech bubble on latter prints.
* RichBitch: [[spoiler: Countess Olga in "The Rhine Gold", before having HeelFaceTurn at the end of story, thanks to Yoko.]]
* RichSuitorPoorSuitor: What kicked off the conflict in "The Prey And the Ghost" was how, 20 years ago, [[spoiler: Cecilia's mother Mary chose her rich suitor Brian over her poor suitor Mac Nab.]] It didn't help that [[spoiler: Mac Nab was a {{yandere}} rumored to be into the occult, or that he showed up at the wedding and predicted they wouldn't be happy. Which did happen... but not ''because'' of Mac Nab himself.]]
* RobotWar: Gobol and its MechaMooks versus the Exiles.
* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: Yoko and Ingrid have some of this dynamic going on, especially in the earlier albums.
* RoyalBrat: Sin-Yi.
* SadClown: Pol. Well, [[MeaningfulName his surname "Pitron"]] comes from the French word for "clown"... He's also the author's stand-in.
* ScarsAreForever: Yoko has a scar on her right shoulder caused by a shard of glass windows. She healed the wound with futuristic cell regeneration technology, but it left a scar.
* SceneryPorn: Leloup ''loves'' drawing backgrounds with all the details he can. And he's VERY good at that.
* SheCleansUpNicely: Yoko dolls up in elegant dresses more than once. I.e.: in "The Devil's Organ", she even wears a ''kimono'', leaving everyone starstruck. And in The Prey And the Shadow, Cecilia lends her one of her mother's gowns, which has Yoko almost squealing in wonder at how pretty her wardrobe is. [[spoiler: And once it's all cleared up and the PowerTrio stays a little more in the castle, she gives Yoko some more.]]
* ShipTease: Yoko and Vic at the end of 'Wotan's Fire'.
* ShrinesAndTemples: In "Daughter of the Wind", Yoko seeks help in the Buddhist temple she used to pray in as a child.
* {{Shorttank}}: Yoko is a grown-up version.
** Emilia, the latest supporting cast member Yoko has accrued, is a traditional teen Shorttank.
* SmugSnake: Ito Kazuky, Karl Moebius, Sir William and the Doctor.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Yoko and her guys often end up derailing more than one EvilPlan. And more than once they're contacted by a person in trouble and help ''them'' derail some more evil plans, like in [[spoiler: "The Prey and the Ghost" where Margaret asks them to help her get out of Sir William's gambits and save Cecilia.]]
* [[SpinOff Spin Off]]: Yoko Tsuno is actually a [[SpinOff spin off]] of another French-Belgian comic book called 'Jacky et Célestin' written by Leloup. Yoko made her debut in one story and Leloup liked her so much that he decided to set a new series around her. Jacky and Célestin became {{Expy}} of Vic and Pol.
* StableTimeLoop: Invoked in "The Astrologer of Bruges" and "The Morning of the World"; Yoko goes back in time ''because'' she's seen evidence she went already.
* StalkerWithACrush: Mac Nab from "The Prey and the Shadow" was one for Cecilia's MissingMom, Lady Mary. He went as far as having an ''altar'' dedicated to Lady Mary in his house, including a mannequin built in likeness to her and dressed up in her ''wedding dress'' (which, according to him, was delivered by someone else after Mary's death). [[spoiler: This mannequin is ''vital'' to derail Sir William's cruel EvilPlan and save Cecilia's life, though.]]
* StarfishAliens: The unnamed alien entity in "The Time Spiral" looks like a giant jellyfish.
* TakingTheBullet: [[spoiler:Myna shields Yoko from a erasing beam. She got better, since being a robot, her memories were copied back into her circuits.]]
* TallDarkAndSnarky: Vic, to a degree.
* TapOnTheHead: Martial arts move often used to knock Yoko unconscious (L'or du Rhin). OTOH, Yoko uses it too, like in "Daughter of the Wind" when she quickly applies one to Kazuky's {{mook}}. (JustifiedTrope: Yoko is an Aikidoka and the neck chop is a rather common Aikido move, named ''yonkomen'')
* TheFinalFrontier: Those adventures that take place in space.
* ThePlague: "The Astrologer of Bruges."
* TimeTravel: Monya's time machine, invented/completed in space after Earth was destroyed -- to undo said destruction -- is used on several occasions even after the initial story introducing it is resolved.
** Also used by a Vinean colony that settled on massive rock formations orbiting giant stars. They periodically travel to the future to avoid the frequent hazardous storms and quakes. Yoko's ship the Ryu is also capable of travelling in time.
** [[spoiler: "The Hex of Amethyst" has Malcom Hendry inventing a time machine in the '30 and gets stranded in the '70.]]
* TitleDrop: Almost every adventure has this trope invoked by someone, most of the time by Yoko.
* TranslationConvention: The Vineans have universal translators headsets that enable them to speak with humans. The Titans communicate [[MindReading telepathically]] with Vineans using telepathic transmitters.
* TwinDesynch: Khany and Poky were young twins when they were placed into [[HumanPopsicle suspended animation]]. They were awoken at different dates, resulting Khany being an adult and Poky remaining a child.
** A variation occurs in "The Three Suns of Vinea": Poky and Khany's mother Sindah is found in stasis, having entered it when she was Khany's current age. As a result, ''mother and daughter'' now have the same biological age.
* UnderTheSea: "The Archangels of Vinea" is almost entirely set in a subaquatic environment.
* UnderwaterBase: Queen Hegora's base in "The Archangels of Vinea". Also, Ito Kazuky has set up a secret missile launching complex on the very wreck of battleship ''Yamato''.
* {{Unobtainium}}: Gobol use a rare material called "vinadium". Its blue radiation, when refined and filtered, prevent his cells from aging and gives him energy-like attacks.
* WeCanRuleTogether. In "The Prey and the Ghost", [[spoiler: Sir William's co conspirator, the mysterious doctor, tells Margaret as he holds her hostage that she should join ''his'' agenda and backstab Sir William, lest he kills her with poison. Margaret tearfully says no, and right then Vic and Yoko pull a BigDamnHeroes and save her.]]
* WeatherControlMachine: Used by Vineans to create a inhabitable environment, since their home planet has a synchronous rotation. Though arguably it is more of a weather BARRIER than a weather control in the traditional sense.
* WeaponOfMassDestruction: In "Daughter of the Wind", Yoko's father has invented a weapon that creates localized typhoons. His opponent goes one further, and creates a full-sized cyclone. Which then has to be destroyed by nuclear weapons before it sweeps over Japan...
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Stanford. While we get a bit of his backstory, we never get to know his true plans for the time machine and the antimatter.
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Some stories play with the concept, done almost straight in the Titans.
* WaveMotionGun: "Wotan's Fire" has a cannon powered by lightning energy. The Vineans' defense laser cannon in their homeworld's north pole.
* WeirdnessMagnet: Yoko has ran into aliens, time travellers, dinosaurs, immortals, secret service agencies just to name a few.
* WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs: Yoko started working with small jobs in electronics, then it evolve into working in TV/telecommunications. Later, she works as a test pilot, a government agent, a computer programmer, a secretary and even a model.
* {{Yandere}}: Mac Nab from "The Prey And the Ghost" is an adult, male example. [[spoiler: He also subverts it by, despite still obsessively loving the dead Mary, remaining focused enough to join Yoko's plan so they can save Cecilia and punish Sir William.]]
* YamatoNadeshiko: Yoko's mother, Masako. Justified, since Yoko is from a traditional Japanese family an the comic itself started in TheSeventies.
** invoked in "The Devil's Organ", when Yoko shows up in a kimono and shocks her companions ''and'' hosts.
!!The novel ''L'écume de l'aube (The Foam of the Dawn)'' contains examples of:
* AirVentPassageway
* ArrangedMarriage: Both Yoko and Shinji's parents wanted their children to hook up when they get older. Yoko didn't mind since she love Shinji. [[SecretRelationship However, Shinji loved Akina.]] When this is revealed years later, this cause quite a commotion for everyone.
* BettyAndVeronica: Akina as the Betty and Yoko as the Veronica.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: [[spoiler:Yoko has been vying for Shinji since she was at least 8 years old. She lost him to Akina.]]
* ContinuityNod: Many. Most of them are related to ''Daughter of the Wind'' and ''The Dragon of Hong Kong'':
** Onoué buying a servant from Hong Kong and marrying her after falling in love with her.
** Yoko's house where most of the novel take place.
** Seiki's lab.
** The Buddha temple.
** Yoko and Aoki meeting for the first time.
** A businessman interested in financing Seiki's research. He is only hinted, but readers will recognize him as [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Ito Kazuky]].
** In the ''Exiles of Kifa'', the AI of the [[CoolStarship Ryu]] is called Akina, which is named after Yoko's rival.
* GenreSavvy: Madam Kwan.
* TheHero: Shinji act this way, being the leader of Yoko's band of friends.
* HowWeGotHere: The novel opens with [[TheSeventies present day]] where Yoko take a plane from Japan to HongKong. She think of all the events that led to this trip. The story then [[WholeEpisodeFlashback shift to her grandfather's life, Yoko's childhood through her adulthood]]. The story return to present day when the plane land in Hong Kong and continue with madam Kwan.
* IdiotBall: Yoko's diamond pearl was stolen because of his father Seiki. He knew the pearl was unique and highly valuable. Fearing an unsuspected burglar might steal it, he had a local jeweler make a copy... but he neither warned Yoko, nor checked if the original that was returned to him was genuine. The theft would go unnoticed for many years.
* [[IllGirl Ill Boy]]: Wai, madam Kwan's son, is confined to a wheelchair.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: Between Yoko and Aoki.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: [[spoiler:After seeing that Shinji loves Akina, Yoko painfully decides to let the pair be together.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: Hiromi. She constantly criticize everyone and blames her father for her unhappiness.
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Fearing getting caught for stealing the diamond-pearl back in Japan, Mr. Chu leaves Hong Kong after emptying his bank accounts and is never seen again.]]
* TheLancer: Yoko to Shinji.
* TheLoad: Akina, by her own admission.
* LoveTriangle: Between Yoko, Shinji and Akina.
* MaidenAunt: Yoko's detestable aunt Hiromi. While she's a widow, she fit the trope perfectly.
* MementoMacGuffin: ''The Foam of the Dawn'' is a diamond-colored pearl created by Yoko's grandfather and given to her. While it's unique and highly valuable, it represent Yoko's childhood, memories and her close relationship with the patriarch. When it gets stolen, Yoko goes on her very first adventure to find it.
* SecretRelationship: Shinji and Akina. No one knows when it started, but it wouldn't be discovered until Yoko reach 17 years old.
* SecretKeeper: Seiki becomes this after the funeral urn incident.
* TheSmartGuy: Nagayo. He wears glasses and his parents are architects. When Yoko's band of friends disband, Nagayo's parents assign him a private teacher for his weekend studies.
* TagalongKid: Yoshio's young brother, Kiotaka. It doesn't last long however, as Yoko's friends part ways.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Yoko as the more adventurous one and Akina as the more feminine one.
* TheUnseen: [[spoiler:Mr. Chu. He started this whole mess by stealing the ''Foam of Dawn'' and is never confronted by Yoko once.]]
----
Her sidekicks are two Westerners, Vic Video and Pol Pitron, and she is the adoptive mother of a Chinese girl, Morning Dew.
A novel, ''L'écume de l'aube (The Foam of the Dawn)'', tells the story of Yoko's childhood, her family, friends and relationships up to her first adventure outside Japan. The main story arc is about the [[MementoMacGuffin the Foam of the Dawn]], a diamond-colored pearl envisioned by Yoko's grandfather. He tried to create the pearl all his life, but never succeeded and as a result, his cultured pearl business failed and his family was nearly torn apart. Yoko believed in him and convinced him to try one more time.
----
!!''Yoko Tsuno'' contains examples of:
* ActionGirl: Yoko.
** ActionMom: After adopting Morning Dew.
* AfterTheEnd: Monya comes from a [[BadFuture post-apocalyptic future]] in which the use of an [[ArtifactOfDoom antimatter weapon]] called the Contraction Bomb has rendered Earth uninhabitable. In fact, she travels back in time precisely to [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong prevent that weapon being invented]].
* AIIsACrapshoot: In "Curious Trio", the accumulation of residual energy from the Vineans' computer system gave rise to the spontaneous development of an evil AI. In "The Three Suns of Vinea", the entire planet Vinea turns out to be ruled by a despotic AI.
** The latter could be considered an inversion, as a living brain's pattern got stuck in a mental amplifier and kept running after the original's death.
** [[spoiler:Queen Hegora is another example.]]
* AliensAreBastards: In the Dark Ages, one small faction of Vineans used humans as slaves.
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Monya. She conveniently passes for a Malay, but she isn't one.
* AmbiguouslyBi: On the one hand, WordOfGod is that Yoko and Vic are almost a couple, but that the author intentionally did not put Yoko in a relationship so as not to upset the many fans who were "in love with her". On the other, ''despite'' said WordOfGod, she has and retains a knack for "picking up" cute young ladies.
* ArmorPiercingSlap: Happens quite often in the series: Kazuky to Yoko, Countess Olga to Yoko, Yoko to Emilia just to name a few.
* ArtificialHuman: Queen Hegora and the Archangels.
* ArtEvolution: In the first few albums the characters are drawn much more cartoonishly, which is particularly evident with Pol.
** Actually, Pol was the last to change, while Yoko and Vic get an overhaul rather early in the comics.
** It changes again in "The Astrologer of Bruge" where Yoko is noticeably older.
* ApocalypseHow: Both [[spoiler: Vinea]] in the past and [[spoiler: Earth]] in the future go through a Planetary/Total extinction apocalypse. Most of the stories about [[spoiler: Vinea]] involve picking the pieces from the former, while [[spoiler:Monya]] went back in time to prevent the latter.
* {{Backstory}}: Yoko's youth is explored in the novel ''L'écume de l'aube (The Foam of the Dawn).''
* BatmanGambit: Yoko uses this against her enemies.
* BeardOfEvil: Karpan, Karl Moebius.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Averted with the Titans, who are a race of giant insectoid aliens, but do possess individuality and redeeming qualities.
* BigDamnHeroes
* BigEater: Pol, also the TeamChef.
* BodyDouble [[spoiler: Margaret, in "The Prey and the Shadow", is blackmailed into becoming this for the local [[TheOphelia Ophelia]], Cecilia. When Yoko finds out, Margaret begs her for help since she's too scared to openly rebel against Sir William, but wants to get free and help Cecilia.]]
** [[spoiler: [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Ito Kazuky]] has a lookalike serving as a decoy. However, the decoy is revealed to be even more ruthless than Kazuky and a little crazy.]]
* BoldInflation: Happens quite a lot on key elements of the story.
* BreakOutCharacter : Yoko was originally envisioned as the #3 characters of the trio, behind Vic and Pol, and the first thirteen pages of the first book were drawn that way. Then the publisher suggested Leloup try his hand at small character stories to begin with, and he started with the least important of the three... who promptly made #5 in overall character polls that year. Vic and Pol were demoted to sidekicks, Yoko promoted to star of the series, and the rest is history.
* ButtMonkey: Pol, to a T.
* CharacterDevelopment: Yoko started out as fairly high-strung and willing to engage in violence when not absolutely necessary. She mellowed out in later years.
** Pol can be aggressive enough for the whole trio.
* ChildrenAreInnocent: Played straight with Poky and Morning Dew; subverted with Sin-yi, who is more of a SpoiledBrat. But then, she grew up as [[WifeHusbandry the child bride of a Tang dynasty Chinese emperor]].
* ChristmasEpisode: In one story of "Electronic Adventures".
* CollapsingLair: Webb's mountaintop lab in "The Time Spiral".
* CombatTentacles: [[spoiler: The alien creature use its tentacles to ransack the research lab in "The Time Spiral". They were actually its nerves which it also uses to control the lab.]]
* TheCommissionerGordon: Commissioner Lebrun who showed up in a handful of shorts.
* CoolStarship: Comes in various shapes and sizes, all used by the Vineans. Later in the series, Yoko has her own personal ship, the Ryu.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Ito Kazuky.
* CryonicsFailure: [[spoiler: The Supreme Guide]] in ''The Three Suns of Vinea'', to a point.
* DangerousFemales: The endless list of females, either from this planet or others, whose sole purpose in life seems to be to cause Yoko Tsuno to faint using the neck chop.
* DeadpanSnarker: Vic, often Pol as well.
* DeathByOriginStory: Monya's father and Leyton.
* DeceptivelyHumanRobots: The Archangels, Queen Hegora.
* DisintegratorRay: Used by the Vineans and various MechaMooks.
* DistressedDamsel: Poor Ingrid. Sometimes, even Yoko would need rescuing after being hit with the DistressBall.
* DistressedDude: Vic and Pol sometimes need Yoko to rescue them, especially in "The Seventh Code".
* ElegantClassicalMusician: Ingrid, who is a professional pipe organ player.
* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: A bunch of pteranodons showed up in "The Morning of the World" during a StableTimeLoop. No explanations were ever provided to why and how they existed... in 1350 AD!
* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Large group of baboons showed up unexpectedly in a crater.
* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: Monya'a time machine spin on itself like a top whenever it travel trough time.
* EvilPlan: [[spoiler: [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Ito Kazuky]]'s company created a disintegration chamber. With the end of the Cold War, countries are desperate to get rid of their stockpile of [[WeaponOfMassDestruction nukes]]. However, the machine doesn't eliminate the radiation. Nonetheless, Kazuky advertise that his machine is fully functional. When countries will deliver him the warheads for disposition, he'll secretly keep them intact and well hidden. Presumably, he's going to resell them to the black market.]]
* {{Expy}}: Vic and Pol are expies of Jacky and Célestin from the now defunct French-Belgian comic book "Jacky et Célestin".
** According to [[WordOfGod Roger Leloup]], Yoko is an expy of Japanese actress Yoko Tani.
* FailureKnight: Yoko's old guardian Aoki, from "Daughter of The Wind". He was a pilot from WorldWarTwo who didn't get to die honourably in a kamikaze attack and could never get over it. [[spoiler: He got his wish through an HeroicSacrifice.]]
* {{Fainting}}: Yoko ends up like this in almost every album. She either gets [[TapOnTheHead neck chopped, knocked on the head]], gassed, drugged, chloroformed, shot at point blank range etc. -- the poor girl [[RunningGag even faints a couple of times]]!
* FanService: In "Wotan's Fire", Yoko showed up in bikini on a oil tanker. The crewmen were only too happy to welcome her aboard. In the "The Rhine Gold", we can see her wearing nothing but a towel after taking a shower. In the "Gate of Souls", she lost some of her spacesuit's equipment, forcing her to wear a worn-out, skimpier uniform. In 'On the Edge of Life' Yoko arrives in Rothenburg wearing an ultra short red micro-mini dress.
* FasterThanLightTravel: The Vineans' ships.
** The mechanism behind them[[note]]Physics becomes Newtonian if a region of space is devoid of light[[/note]], as explained in "The Three Suns of Vinea", is original but also a definite example of ArtisticLicensePhysics.
** Later on, Yoko's starship the Ryu can do it as well. Strangely enough, while "The Three Suns of Vinea" took care in explaining that it was not possible to travel faster than light in normal space, the Ryu seems to do it without special precautions. Possibly justified in that it's from a technology much more recent than the 2 million-years old one of the Vineans.
* FieryRedHead: Emilia, especially in her debut.
* FinancialAbuse: Poor, poor [[spoiler: Cecilia.]] If only she knew that [[spoiler: her uncle and stepfather William not only killed her mother, but is planning to kill ''her'' for her inheritance]]
* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Monya comes from the far future, Mieke from Renaissance-era Bruges, Sin-Yi from Tang China.
* FriendToAllChildren: Pol is an awesome babysitter. With a rocket launcher.
** Yoko as well, though less in an "awesome babysitter" way and more in a "take every child under her wing" way (most obviously with Morning Dew).
* GambitRoulette: [[spoiler: Used by Gobol to trick Myna into bringing Hegora's personal ship.]]
* GangOfCritters: The Exiles. Although they still look cute and appealing to children, they no longer fulfil their function as robot-toys.
* GiantFlyer: The [[SomewhereAPaleontologistIsCrying oversize pteranodons]] in "The Morning of the World".
* GuileHero: Yoko can be VERY cunning when she wants to.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Played straight at first with Pol and Vic, Yoko's two male sidekicks. Later averted, as Yoko and Vic develop a (mostly tacit) romantic relationship.
** Later reinforced. WordOfGod is that he doesn't want to develop the relationship with Vic... readers who are in love with Yoko would be jealous!
* HollywoodCyborg: Ethera has her body rebuilt after a crash.
* {{Hologram}}: [[spoiler: Found in "The Prey and the Ghost." The model is actually Margaret, Cecilia's BodyDouble, and it motivates her to beg Yoko for help.]]
* HonorBeforeReason: Yoko's FatalFlaw.
* HotBlooded: Yoko, sometimes. Pol, too.
* HumanAliens: The Vineans have blue skin and somewhat sharper traits, but apart from that are indistinguishable from humans. This incredible coincidence is never explained, since they come from the Triangulum galaxy and already looked like that two million years ago, before ''homo sapiens'' had even evolved on Earth.
** In one album, Yoko even could disguise as a Vinean. It worked because they only use b/w monitors.
* HumanPopsicle: The Vineans routinely use suspended animation to deal with long-distance space travel, or to keep survivors from the cataclysm that nearly destroyed their planet stowed away until further notice. In "On the Edge of Life", this is also how Magda, a little girl from 1945, has been kept alive until the 1970s despite suffering from critical wounds and a rare chronic condition.
* HyperspaceArsenal: The Vineans can pop vehicles out of their pockets in the same way as computer files are decompressed.
** Not exactly: one team of war mongers had that technology; most Vineans don't have access to that technology.
* IdenticalStranger: [[spoiler: Cecilia and Margaret]] in "The Prey and the Ghost".
* IllGirl: Magda and Ingrid in "On the Edge of Life".
* ImperialJapan: When Yoko [[TimeTravel travels back]] to the UsefulNotes/{{WWII}} era she meets her great uncle, a high-ranking Japanese officer.
* InnocentFlowerGirl: Mieke, is innocent, and a flower girl.
* KarmicDeath: Villains have a tendency to bring doom upon their own heads.
* LatexSpaceSuit: Not quite latex, but the Vinean outfits are ''very'' tight-fitting.
** Subverted: these are environment suits. For space sorties , they use much bulkier space suits fitted on top of these body socks.
*** Not ''much'' bulkier, though. More like a second layer of body sock. Made out of [[FetishFuel rubber]].
* LimitedWardrobe: Changed over time. In her early adventures, Yoko would almost always wear the same outfit, a short red dress over a black catsuit. On the cover of The Edge of Life, Yoko can be seen wearing a red mini dress. Later on, Leloup became fond of depicting her in more varied outfits, and her wardrobe has increased in size accordingly. Pol was the last to leave his yellow pullover behind. He often wears a yellow shirt though.
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:Khany discovers that her father (and Poky's) is still alive, after having a BrainUploading millions of years ago.]]
* MartialPacifist: Yoko grows into one. She deplores unnecessary violence and will go out of her way to try and spare villains' lives. This doesn't prevent her from kicking ass here and there.
* TheMasquerade: What the PowerTrio stumbles into in "The Prey and the Ghost".
* MeetCute: Pol & Mieke. She's a flower girl from 16th century Bruges; he's a time-traveller from the early 21st century posing as a "lord"; she follows him back to modern times.
* MindReading: The Titans. [[spoiler: The alien creature from "The Time Spiral" use a variation of this trope to feed information directly in people's brains.]]
* MissingMom: Lady Mary from "The Prey and the Ghost", whoae death is very important to the plot. [[spoiler:Actually, her ''murder''.]]
** Monya. Her mother placed her in a shuttle on the way to her father's secret base, while the space station they lived is destroyed.
** Emilia's mother.
* MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness: Interestingly, this actually varies strongly between books. As a loose rule, Yoko Tsuno's adventures can be divided into 3 categories -- those in space (or with the vineans on earth); those on Earth, without aliens or space-travel; and after Monya arrives in the Timespiral, adventures through time occur as well. On the hardness scale, the series generally swings between 3 and 5, with the space-setting stories being the softest, and those on Earth being the hardest.
** Eg. "The 3 Suns of Vinea" is a soft 3, while "Message for Eternity" is at the hard end of 5.
* MoreHypnotizableThanHeThinks: Pol Pitron
* NaiveEverygirl: Mieke.
* {{Ninja}}: In "Daughter of the Wind", Kazuky has a bunch of ninjas (or more precisely ninja reenactors) on his payroll. She apparently got some ninja training herself when she was still a teenager (in the novel "The Foam of the Dawn").
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Monya traveling back in time and meddling with the locals cause Narki [[HumanSacrifice to be sacrificed to demons.]]
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Ingrid Hallberg is based on pianist Ingrid Haebler.
* NoNameGiven: The name of Monya's father is never revealed.
* NukeEm: The Vineans drop a thermal bomb on the Titans' territory after they left. They also used their own version of nukes against a space city that came too close to their planet. [[spoiler: When [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Ito Kazuky's]] [[WeaponOfMassDestruction hurricane-making missile]] goes out of control, Yoko and Aoki deliver a powerful nuke that ends with Aoki's [[HeroicSacrifice heroic sacrifice.]]]]
* OfficialCouple: Pol and Mieke. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Aaaaawwwww.]]
* OffModel: Leloup seems to have trouble with bodily proportions and faces sometimes, curiously mostly when drawing characters from a distance.
** Also, Yoko sometimes looks ''extremely'' yellow, which might not be Leloup's fault, though. Confirmed in recent compilations, where colours are better calibrated.
* TheOjou: Cecilia from "The Prey and the Shadow". She's also a LonelyRichKid, kept isolated and prisoner in her own Scottish castle.
** Yoko is this too. The Tsuno family has a pretty nice Japanese BigFancyHouse in Okinawa, after all.
* OminousPipeOrgan: "The Devil's Organ".
* TheOphelia: Cecilia, again. Subverted, though: [[spoiler: she's actually ''sane'', but her EvilUncle wants people to ''think'' she's a nutjob so he can set her up for an "accidental" death... by making the desperately lonely Cecilia believe she can be reunited with her mom's spirit.]]
** Ingrid is introduced as a prospect one in "The Devil's Organ", as she's seen crying and unresponsive during a cruise to the Rhin. [[spoiler: Subverted again: she not only was in an Heroic BSOD after her father's death... but she was completely drugged as the BigBad/her dad's killer wants her out of the way. Said BigBad throws poor Ingrid into the river, but Yoko and her friends save her and she soon recovers the hold on herself.]]
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: [[spoiler: "In the Dragon of Hong Kong", an evil eastern dragon terrorize the city. It's revealed to actually be robot piloted by a CorruptCorporateExecutive. It's destroyed by a subverted genetically engineered [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever giant lizard]] in the [[HeroicSacrifice last battle]]. In "The Pagoda of the Mists", the plot in centered on a giant alien robot that closely resemble a dragon.]]
* OurSoulsAreDifferent: In "The Gate of Souls", there is some Phlebotinium allowing to remove souls from people and transfer them into other people or store them in robots. It is not very clear what the soul actually is (and [[WordOfGod Leloup]] confirms he intended it that way, to avoid theological debates), as the soulless people seem to be functioning normally, but are eager to recover their souls, while people implanted with the souls of others seem to gain their knowledge and skills. Yoko reacts violently when a device attempts to probe her soul.
* PaperThinDisguise: Monya wearing her bikini top OVER her shirt, sporting giant headphones on her head and wearing shoes (everyone else is barefoot), while waiting in line with Balinese girls dressed in their native 1350 costumes. [[TheGuardsMustBeCrazy The guards don't notice a thing despite being warned to look out for her.]]
* PhenotypeStereotype: Ingrid, being German, of course has long blond hair tied into cinnamon rolls.
** Being Scottish, Cecilia is obviously a redhead. Thankfully, she's ''no'' ViolentGlaswegian. [[spoiler: Her IdenticalStranger Margaret is a redhead... and actually ''Australian''.]]
* TheProfessor: Yoko's father, Seiki Tsuno.
* PowerTrio: Yoko (Superego), Vic (Ego), Pol (Id).
* RelationshipUpgrade: Yoko and Vic, after being JustFriends for years, began developing romantic feelings for one another in the more recent episodes.
** Interestingly, [[PlatonicLifePartners Yoko and Pol]] have much more screen time together than Yoko and Vic.
* RetCon: Yoko's father was named 'Susuki Tsuno' in 'Electronic Adventures'. Leloup changed it to 'Seiki Tsuno' in 'The Daughter of the Wind' when he recognized that "Suzuki" isn't a proper first name for a Japanese. He forgot to correct one speech bubble on latter prints.
* RichBitch: [[spoiler: Countess Olga in "The Rhine Gold", before having HeelFaceTurn at the end of story, thanks to Yoko.]]
* RichSuitorPoorSuitor: What kicked off the conflict in "The Prey And the Ghost" was how, 20 years ago, [[spoiler: Cecilia's mother Mary chose her rich suitor Brian over her poor suitor Mac Nab.]] It didn't help that [[spoiler: Mac Nab was a {{yandere}} rumored to be into the occult, or that he showed up at the wedding and predicted they wouldn't be happy. Which did happen... but not ''because'' of Mac Nab himself.]]
* RobotWar: Gobol and its MechaMooks versus the Exiles.
* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: Yoko and Ingrid have some of this dynamic going on, especially in the earlier albums.
* RoyalBrat: Sin-Yi.
* SadClown: Pol. Well, [[MeaningfulName his surname "Pitron"]] comes from the French word for "clown"... He's also the author's stand-in.
* ScarsAreForever: Yoko has a scar on her right shoulder caused by a shard of glass windows. She healed the wound with futuristic cell regeneration technology, but it left a scar.
* SceneryPorn: Leloup ''loves'' drawing backgrounds with all the details he can. And he's VERY good at that.
* SheCleansUpNicely: Yoko dolls up in elegant dresses more than once. I.e.: in "The Devil's Organ", she even wears a ''kimono'', leaving everyone starstruck. And in The Prey And the Shadow, Cecilia lends her one of her mother's gowns, which has Yoko almost squealing in wonder at how pretty her wardrobe is. [[spoiler: And once it's all cleared up and the PowerTrio stays a little more in the castle, she gives Yoko some more.]]
* ShipTease: Yoko and Vic at the end of 'Wotan's Fire'.
* ShrinesAndTemples: In "Daughter of the Wind", Yoko seeks help in the Buddhist temple she used to pray in as a child.
* {{Shorttank}}: Yoko is a grown-up version.
** Emilia, the latest supporting cast member Yoko has accrued, is a traditional teen Shorttank.
* SmugSnake: Ito Kazuky, Karl Moebius, Sir William and the Doctor.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Yoko and her guys often end up derailing more than one EvilPlan. And more than once they're contacted by a person in trouble and help ''them'' derail some more evil plans, like in [[spoiler: "The Prey and the Ghost" where Margaret asks them to help her get out of Sir William's gambits and save Cecilia.]]
* [[SpinOff Spin Off]]: Yoko Tsuno is actually a [[SpinOff spin off]] of another French-Belgian comic book called 'Jacky et Célestin' written by Leloup. Yoko made her debut in one story and Leloup liked her so much that he decided to set a new series around her. Jacky and Célestin became {{Expy}} of Vic and Pol.
* StableTimeLoop: Invoked in "The Astrologer of Bruges" and "The Morning of the World"; Yoko goes back in time ''because'' she's seen evidence she went already.
* StalkerWithACrush: Mac Nab from "The Prey and the Shadow" was one for Cecilia's MissingMom, Lady Mary. He went as far as having an ''altar'' dedicated to Lady Mary in his house, including a mannequin built in likeness to her and dressed up in her ''wedding dress'' (which, according to him, was delivered by someone else after Mary's death). [[spoiler: This mannequin is ''vital'' to derail Sir William's cruel EvilPlan and save Cecilia's life, though.]]
* StarfishAliens: The unnamed alien entity in "The Time Spiral" looks like a giant jellyfish.
* TakingTheBullet: [[spoiler:Myna shields Yoko from a erasing beam. She got better, since being a robot, her memories were copied back into her circuits.]]
* TallDarkAndSnarky: Vic, to a degree.
* TapOnTheHead: Martial arts move often used to knock Yoko unconscious (L'or du Rhin). OTOH, Yoko uses it too, like in "Daughter of the Wind" when she quickly applies one to Kazuky's {{mook}}. (JustifiedTrope: Yoko is an Aikidoka and the neck chop is a rather common Aikido move, named ''yonkomen'')
* TheFinalFrontier: Those adventures that take place in space.
* ThePlague: "The Astrologer of Bruges."
* TimeTravel: Monya's time machine, invented/completed in space after Earth was destroyed -- to undo said destruction -- is used on several occasions even after the initial story introducing it is resolved.
** Also used by a Vinean colony that settled on massive rock formations orbiting giant stars. They periodically travel to the future to avoid the frequent hazardous storms and quakes. Yoko's ship the Ryu is also capable of travelling in time.
** [[spoiler: "The Hex of Amethyst" has Malcom Hendry inventing a time machine in the '30 and gets stranded in the '70.]]
* TitleDrop: Almost every adventure has this trope invoked by someone, most of the time by Yoko.
* TranslationConvention: The Vineans have universal translators headsets that enable them to speak with humans. The Titans communicate [[MindReading telepathically]] with Vineans using telepathic transmitters.
* TwinDesynch: Khany and Poky were young twins when they were placed into [[HumanPopsicle suspended animation]]. They were awoken at different dates, resulting Khany being an adult and Poky remaining a child.
** A variation occurs in "The Three Suns of Vinea": Poky and Khany's mother Sindah is found in stasis, having entered it when she was Khany's current age. As a result, ''mother and daughter'' now have the same biological age.
* UnderTheSea: "The Archangels of Vinea" is almost entirely set in a subaquatic environment.
* UnderwaterBase: Queen Hegora's base in "The Archangels of Vinea". Also, Ito Kazuky has set up a secret missile launching complex on the very wreck of battleship ''Yamato''.
* {{Unobtainium}}: Gobol use a rare material called "vinadium". Its blue radiation, when refined and filtered, prevent his cells from aging and gives him energy-like attacks.
* WeCanRuleTogether. In "The Prey and the Ghost", [[spoiler: Sir William's co conspirator, the mysterious doctor, tells Margaret as he holds her hostage that she should join ''his'' agenda and backstab Sir William, lest he kills her with poison. Margaret tearfully says no, and right then Vic and Yoko pull a BigDamnHeroes and save her.]]
* WeatherControlMachine: Used by Vineans to create a inhabitable environment, since their home planet has a synchronous rotation. Though arguably it is more of a weather BARRIER than a weather control in the traditional sense.
* WeaponOfMassDestruction: In "Daughter of the Wind", Yoko's father has invented a weapon that creates localized typhoons. His opponent goes one further, and creates a full-sized cyclone. Which then has to be destroyed by nuclear weapons before it sweeps over Japan...
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Stanford. While we get a bit of his backstory, we never get to know his true plans for the time machine and the antimatter.
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Some stories play with the concept, done almost straight in the Titans.
* WaveMotionGun: "Wotan's Fire" has a cannon powered by lightning energy. The Vineans' defense laser cannon in their homeworld's north pole.
* WeirdnessMagnet: Yoko has ran into aliens, time travellers, dinosaurs, immortals, secret service agencies just to name a few.
* WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs: Yoko started working with small jobs in electronics, then it evolve into working in TV/telecommunications. Later, she works as a test pilot, a government agent, a computer programmer, a secretary and even a model.
* {{Yandere}}: Mac Nab from "The Prey And the Ghost" is an adult, male example. [[spoiler: He also subverts it by, despite still obsessively loving the dead Mary, remaining focused enough to join Yoko's plan so they can save Cecilia and punish Sir William.]]
* YamatoNadeshiko: Yoko's mother, Masako. Justified, since Yoko is from a traditional Japanese family an the comic itself started in TheSeventies.
** invoked in "The Devil's Organ", when Yoko shows up in a kimono and shocks her companions ''and'' hosts.
!!The novel ''L'écume de l'aube (The Foam of the Dawn)'' contains examples of:
* AirVentPassageway
* ArrangedMarriage: Both Yoko and Shinji's parents wanted their children to hook up when they get older. Yoko didn't mind since she love Shinji. [[SecretRelationship However, Shinji loved Akina.]] When this is revealed years later, this cause quite a commotion for everyone.
* BettyAndVeronica: Akina as the Betty and Yoko as the Veronica.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: [[spoiler:Yoko has been vying for Shinji since she was at least 8 years old. She lost him to Akina.]]
* ContinuityNod: Many. Most of them are related to ''Daughter of the Wind'' and ''The Dragon of Hong Kong'':
** Onoué buying a servant from Hong Kong and marrying her after falling in love with her.
** Yoko's house where most of the novel take place.
** Seiki's lab.
** The Buddha temple.
** Yoko and Aoki meeting for the first time.
** A businessman interested in financing Seiki's research. He is only hinted, but readers will recognize him as [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Ito Kazuky]].
** In the ''Exiles of Kifa'', the AI of the [[CoolStarship Ryu]] is called Akina, which is named after Yoko's rival.
* GenreSavvy: Madam Kwan.
* TheHero: Shinji act this way, being the leader of Yoko's band of friends.
* HowWeGotHere: The novel opens with [[TheSeventies present day]] where Yoko take a plane from Japan to HongKong. She think of all the events that led to this trip. The story then [[WholeEpisodeFlashback shift to her grandfather's life, Yoko's childhood through her adulthood]]. The story return to present day when the plane land in Hong Kong and continue with madam Kwan.
* IdiotBall: Yoko's diamond pearl was stolen because of his father Seiki. He knew the pearl was unique and highly valuable. Fearing an unsuspected burglar might steal it, he had a local jeweler make a copy... but he neither warned Yoko, nor checked if the original that was returned to him was genuine. The theft would go unnoticed for many years.
* [[IllGirl Ill Boy]]: Wai, madam Kwan's son, is confined to a wheelchair.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: Between Yoko and Aoki.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: [[spoiler:After seeing that Shinji loves Akina, Yoko painfully decides to let the pair be together.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: Hiromi. She constantly criticize everyone and blames her father for her unhappiness.
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Fearing getting caught for stealing the diamond-pearl back in Japan, Mr. Chu leaves Hong Kong after emptying his bank accounts and is never seen again.]]
* TheLancer: Yoko to Shinji.
* TheLoad: Akina, by her own admission.
* LoveTriangle: Between Yoko, Shinji and Akina.
* MaidenAunt: Yoko's detestable aunt Hiromi. While she's a widow, she fit the trope perfectly.
* MementoMacGuffin: ''The Foam of the Dawn'' is a diamond-colored pearl created by Yoko's grandfather and given to her. While it's unique and highly valuable, it represent Yoko's childhood, memories and her close relationship with the patriarch. When it gets stolen, Yoko goes on her very first adventure to find it.
* SecretRelationship: Shinji and Akina. No one knows when it started, but it wouldn't be discovered until Yoko reach 17 years old.
* SecretKeeper: Seiki becomes this after the funeral urn incident.
* TheSmartGuy: Nagayo. He wears glasses and his parents are architects. When Yoko's band of friends disband, Nagayo's parents assign him a private teacher for his weekend studies.
* TagalongKid: Yoshio's young brother, Kiotaka. It doesn't last long however, as Yoko's friends part ways.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Yoko as the more adventurous one and Akina as the more feminine one.
* TheUnseen: [[spoiler:Mr. Chu. He started this whole mess by stealing the ''Foam of Dawn'' and is never confronted by Yoko once.]]
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