History Comicbook / Slaine

* AlienSpaceBats / BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: a TimeTravel arc has Danu using Sláine to champion her cause through the ages, which has him helping out Boudicca and William Wallace (an amusingly closer to history version than the one from ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'') and [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy being the actual Robin Goodfellow]].

* RatedMForManly: Sometimes verging into TestosteronePoisoning. And it is '''''[[Administrivia/TropesAreTools awesome.]]'''''

* BladeOnAStick: When the axe is not available or not suitable, Sláine wields a massive spear called a Gáe Bolga, noted for its wickedly barbed tip and intended to be driven deep into an opponent's gut. There is also one of the Four Treasures of Danu, the Sun Spear, which never misses and always returns when thrown, and constantly thirsts for blood.

* AnAxeToGrind: Sláine's primary weapon is his massive stone-headed axe. [[ICallItVera He calls it]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Brainbiter]].

* {{Sidekick}}: Ukko the dwarf to Sláine, mostly a mix of SarcasticDevotee, PoisonousFriend, ServileSnarker and (not so) LovableTraitor. So yeah, he's pretty much a jerk 24/7.

* AntiHero: Sláine on a bad day [[SociopathicHero he's the "good guy" pretty much only because he kills even worse people stone dead]].

* OneManArmy: Sláine regularly takes on whole armies and {{eldritch abomination}}s (even [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs whole armies of eldritch abominations]] at times) and comes out on top, mostly through raw brutality - or supernatural powers that push that raw brutality UpToEleven.

* FoeYay: Sláine and Medb have this sort of vibe - and Elfric later on, though in this case Sláine most definitely does ''not'' reciprocate.

* BlackAndGrayMorality: The villains in the series are monstrous, but the morality of the "heroes" is pretty twisted sometimes, adhering as it does to [[DeliberateValuesDissonance primeval]] [[BlueAndOrangeMorality Celtic codes]]. For example, to celebrate the victorious conclusion of the first war against the Formorians, King Gann mac Dela's own tribe sacrifice and eat him.

* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Averted. Dwarves in ''Sláine'' are ugly, rude, mostly hairless, lecherous, greedy, goblin-like creatures. They're thieves and scavengers, not warriors.

* OneManArmy: Sláine regularly takes on whole armies and {{eldritch abomination}}s (even [[UpToEleven whole armies of eldritch abominations]] at times) and comes out on top, mostly through raw brutality - or supernatural powers that push that raw brutality UpToEleven.

-> ''Hard bony limbs covered in leathered skin
->Behind his eyes with the rage of ten warped men
->Without a sound he steals right through the night
->The sign of death to him brings grim delight
->Those marked for death can feel him coming near
->Some stand in fight and some just cry in fear
->On a horse black, the dark lord takes to flight
->But no one forgets the Highlander rode tonight''
--> -- '''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3dzrUrnQ9Y "Highlander"]],''' ''[[Music/SloughFeg The Lord Weird Slough Feg]]'' [[note]]Their first three albums are basically Sláine concept albums.[[/note]]

* AntiHero: Sláine on a bad day [[SociopathicHero he's the "good guy" pretty much only because he kills even worse people stone dead]].

* OurElvesAreBetter: They're alien beings from the "Els-Where", dimensions that exist at right angles to our own. Malevolent ones are called [[OurDemonsAreDifferent "Dev-Els"]], while relatively neutral ones are called [[OurAngelsAreDifferent "Ang-Els"]].

* BlackAndGrayMorality: The villains in the series are monstrous, but the morality of the "heroes" is pretty twisted sometimes, adhering as it does to [[ValuesDissonance primeval]] [[BlueAndOrangeMorality Celtic codes]]. For example, to celebrate the victorious conclusion of the first war against the Formorians, King Gann mac Dela's own tribe sacrifice and eat him.

* RatedMForManly: Sometimes verging into TestosteronePoisoning. And it is '''''[[TropesAreNotBad awesome.]]'''''

** The pulp returned with Glenn Farby; this time employing an incredible amount of detail in character designs and the environment, but basic anatomy and perspective often suffered as a result. He improved when joined by Nik Williams; the detail was reigned in slightly, but the anatomy was perfect.

* LovecraftianSuperpower[=/=]OneWingedAngel: Sláine's "warp-spasm" causes him to mutate into grotesquely ugly forms while gaining incredible strength, resilience and bloodlust.

--> -- '''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3dzrUrnQ9Y "Highlander"]],''' ''[[SloughFeg The Lord Weird Slough Feg]]'' [[note]]Their first three albums are basically Sláine concept albums.[[/note]]

** Mike McMahon's style was hyperstylized but simple, the characters often being indistinguishable from the background

''Sláine'' is one of the titles published in ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'', focused on the fantastical adventures of Sláine mac Roth, an Irish Celt who can best be described as as a cross between ConanTheBarbarian and Cúchulainn, the mythological Irish hero from the Ulster Cycle.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Sláine is almost unrecognisable in his first few appearences, being a more straightfoward Conan expy with a simpler character design to match; his personality is similar but distinct, being less intelligent and more willing to cooperate with Ukko. The world the stories take place in is a more traditional 2000AD CrapsackWorld instead of a fantastical iron age Ireland, and though some elements of the world, such as Sky Chariots, Sea Demons and Slough Feg would remain, others like Time Monsters, Leyser weapons and the Macrocosm were phased out.

* BadAss: He regularly takes on whole armies and {{eldritch abomination}}s (even [[UpToEleven whole armies of eldritch abominations]] at times) and comes out on top, mostly through raw brutality - or supernatural powers that push that raw brutality UpToEleven.

* TimeTravel: The Mother Goddess sent Sláine on several cross-time adventures (to the future, from his point of view) [[AlienSpaceBats so he could influence events in favor of Celtic ways]] -- he ended up helping Boudicca's rebellion against the Romans, being the inspiration for Robin Goodfellow and ensuring Celtic traditions wouldn't be completely wiped out by Christianity, even lending a hand to William Wallace (who is amusingly enough portrayed in a more historically accurate way than in ''{{Braveheart}}'').

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