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* Foil: Reid, for Jill. Jill is rash, impulsive, rebellious, sanguine, and feminine. Reid is thoughtful, deliberate, legalistic, melancholic, and masculine.
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* Foil: {{Foil}}: Reid, for Jill. Jill is rash, impulsive, rebellious, sanguine, and feminine. Reid is thoughtful, deliberate, legalistic, melancholic, and masculine.
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* BitchInSheepsClothing: To the public, Patrick is a brave and selfless hero. Behind closed doors, he's a cruel and selfish abuser who keeps his followers in line with threats and physical violence.
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* MotherBear: Mrs. Trent. She [[spoiler:murders Patrick for supposedly killing her daughter, Eleanor.]] Leticia Ortiz ''beat a man to death with a meat hammer'' when he broke in to kidnap her son.
to:
* MotherBear: MamaBear: Mrs. Trent. She [[spoiler:murders Patrick for supposedly killing her daughter, Eleanor.]] ]]
** Leticia Ortiz ''beat a man to death with a meat hammer'' when he broke in to kidnap her son.
** Leticia Ortiz ''beat a man to death with a meat hammer'' when he broke in to kidnap her son.
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Deleting Five Man Band ZCE tree as per cleanup requirement. Hiding some ZCEs.
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%%* ActionGirl: Jill, Ember, Captain Drummond.
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%%* ActionGirl: Action Girl: Jill, Ember, Captain Drummond.
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%%* AfterActionPatchUp
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%%* AfterActionPatchUpAfter Action Patch Up
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* AmazonChaser: Benjamin to Jill.
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%%* AttemptedRape
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%%* AttemptedRapeAttempted Rape
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* BadassNormal: Several.
** Captain Drummond, the police captain who calls Jill out on her shit more than once.
** Sebastian Gonzales, a fourteen year-old boy who bum-rushes Patrick at one point.
** Miguel ''and'' his parents.
** Lawrence Gonzales.
** Captain Drummond, the police captain who calls Jill out on her shit more than once.
** Sebastian Gonzales, a fourteen year-old boy who bum-rushes Patrick at one point.
** Miguel ''and'' his parents.
** Lawrence Gonzales.
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* {{BFS}}: Heather can produce one of these from her hand by the power of thought alone. [[StockWeaponNames She named it Excalibur.]] It can cut through [[AbsurdlySharpBlade just about anything.]]
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%%* BigDamnHeroes: A bunch of times.
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%%* BigDamnHeroes: Big Damn Heroes: A bunch of times.
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%%* BilingualBonus: A ton in ''Excalibur''
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%%* BilingualBonus: Bilingual Bonus: A ton in ''Excalibur''
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%%* BruiserWithASoftCenter: Jill and Marco qualify.
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%%* BruiserWithASoftCenter: BruiserWith ASoftCenter: Jill and Marco qualify.
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%%* FieryRedhead: Ember.
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%%* FieryRedhead: Fiery Redhead: Ember.
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%%* FiveManBand:
%%** TheLeader: Jillian (Battlecry)
%%** TheLancer: Marco (Helios)
%%** TheSmartGuy: Benjamin (Mercury)
%%** TheBigGuy: Reid (Tank)
%%** TheChick: Ember (Firelight)
%%** TheLeader: Jillian (Battlecry)
%%** TheLancer: Marco (Helios)
%%** TheSmartGuy: Benjamin (Mercury)
%%** TheBigGuy: Reid (Tank)
%%** TheChick: Ember (Firelight)
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%%* FollowInMyFootsteps: Mr. and Mrs. Trent
%%* FriendToAllChildren: Marco.
%%* FriendToAllChildren: Marco.
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%%* FollowInMyFootsteps: FollowIn MyFootsteps: Mr. and Mrs. Trent
%%*FriendToAllChildren: FriendTo AllChildren: Marco.
%%*
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%%* GirlyBruiser: Jill.
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%%* GirlyBruiser: Girly Bruiser: Jill.
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* GratuitousSpanish: Alejandro, a native of Mexico, slips into his native language when he's upset, and lets out some rather fierce curses. [[spoiler: So does his half-brother, Roberto.]]
%%* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Benjamin.]]
%%* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Benjamin.]]
to:
* GratuitousSpanish: Alejandro, a native of Mexico, slips into his native language when he's upset, and lets out some rather fierce curses. [[spoiler: So [[spoiler:So does his half-brother, Roberto.]]
%%*HeelFaceTurn: Heel Face Turn: [[spoiler:Benjamin.]]
%%*
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* BladeEnthusiast: Jillian, and how. She carries six knives at any given time, and at one point says that she played with butterfly knives as a child.
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%%* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Captain Drummond and Sebastian Gonzales. In ''Excalibur,'' Ágata and Eleazar.]]
* KnifeNut: Jillian, and how. She carries six knives at any given time, and at one point says that she played with butterfly knives as a child.
* KnifeNut: Jillian, and how. She carries six knives at any given time, and at one point says that she played with butterfly knives as a child.
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%%* KilledOffForReal: Killed Off ForReal: [[spoiler:Captain Drummond and Sebastian Gonzales. In ''Excalibur,'' Ágata and Eleazar.]]
* KnifeNut: Jillian, and how. She carries six knives at any given time, and at one point says that she played with butterfly knives as a child.]]
* KnifeNut: Jillian, and how. She carries six knives at any given time, and at one point says that she played with butterfly knives as a child.
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Jillian Johnson, known as the mighty Battlecry, was born into a superhero cult. She craves a life of freedom, far away from her violent and abusive team leader, Patrick. With no education, no money, and no future to speak of, she's stuck in the dangerous life...until she meets the mysterious and compelling Benjamin, a civilian with superpowers. When Patrick confronts her, she fights back--and then runs for her life. One by one, her ex-teammates join her until a new team has formed.\\\
to:
Jillian Johnson, known as the mighty Battlecry, was born into a superhero cult. She craves a life of freedom, far away from her violent and abusive team leader, Patrick. With no education, no money, and no future to speak of, she's stuck in the dangerous life... until she meets the mysterious and compelling Benjamin, a civilian with superpowers. When Patrick confronts her, she fights back--and back -- and then runs for her life. One by one, her ex-teammates join her until a new team has formed.\\\
formed.
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[[quoteright:313:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/coversmall_4.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:313:She saves herself. Or does she?]]
''Battlecry'' by Emerald Dodge is a 2018 superhero novel.\\\
Jillian Johnson, known as the mighty Battlecry, was born into a superhero cult. She craves a life of freedom, far away from her violent and abusive team leader, Patrick. With no education, no money, and no future to speak of, she's stuck in the dangerous life...until she meets the mysterious and compelling Benjamin, a civilian with superpowers. When Patrick confronts her, she fights back--and then runs for her life. One by one, her ex-teammates join her until a new team has formed.\\\
''Battlecry'' has two prequels, a novel called ''Excalibur'' that takes place in 1994 and follow the exploits of another team, and ''Ignite'', a novella that takes place a month before the beginning of ''Battlecry''. Two more novels, ''Sentinel'' and ''Mercury,'' were released in 2018.
----
!!''Battlecry'' and its prequels provides examples of:
* TheNineties: ''Excalibur'' takes place in August 1994.
* AbusiveParents: Ember tells the others that when Patrick asked his father to live as a civilian, his father dragged him into the middle of the camp and beat him publicly. Mr. Trent doesn't seem very nice, either. The second book, ''Sentinel'', reveals that Jillian's father publicly caned her for wanting to avenge her brother's death.
%%* ActionGirl: Jill, Ember, Captain Drummond.
* AdultsAreUseless: The elders might as well be made of cardboard for all they do to stop Patrick.
%%* AfterActionPatchUp
* AlliterativeName: Jillian Johnson
* AmazonChaser: Benjamin to Jill.
* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: Averted during the final fight, when Jill is unable to rejoice [[spoiler:at Patrick's demise.]]
* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Marco flirts with this trope, notably yanking Jill's chain when they're looking for a hideout following a hostage scene, being obstinate and argumentative before and after the school attack, and whining about his job during the flood.
* AppealToForce: Obey Patrick or he'll telekinetically toss you around and choke you. [[spoiler:Or try to rape you.]]
* AscendedFanboy: Benjamin starts out secretly wanting to be a superhero, despite [[spoiler:being a supervillain.]] He ends up being the local superhero team's combat medic, and dating the leader, to boot.
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Patrick, who is ultimately killed by Mrs. Trent.]]
%%* AttemptedRape
* AudienceSurrogate: Benjamin is a civilian and learns about the deeper history of the camps along with the reader. He also echoes a lot of what the reader might be thinking about the cult.
* BadassNormal: Several.
** Captain Drummond, the police captain who calls Jill out on her shit more than once.
** Sebastian Gonzales, a fourteen year-old boy who bum-rushes Patrick at one point.
** Miguel ''and'' his parents.
** Lawrence Gonzales.
* BadMoodAsAnExcuse: Ember warns Jill to be more submissive to Patrick because Patrick was in a bad mood and looking to inflict pain on someone.
* BattleInTheRain: The opening scene turns into this. The pivotal library battle calls back to this via water sprinklers going off.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Averted. Jill is heavily scratched and bruised following the opening fight.
* BetrayalByOffspring: [[spoiler:How the senior Trents view Benjamin's HeelFaceTurn.]]
* {{BFS}}: Heather can produce one of these from her hand by the power of thought alone. [[StockWeaponNames She named it Excalibur.]] It can cut through [[AbsurdlySharpBlade just about anything.]]
* BigBad:
** Patrick to Jill and the team. However, [[spoiler:he's killed by the Trents before they get away, possibly establishing them as the series BigBad.]]
** Roberto in ''Excalibur.''
%%* BigDamnHeroes: A bunch of times.
* BigOlEyebrows: Jill is described as having thick, dark eyebrows. She refers to them at one point as "ridiculous."
* BigBrotherInstinct: One of the fastest ways to push Jill into an UnstoppableRage is to threaten Marco.
%%* BilingualBonus: A ton in ''Excalibur''
* BookDumb: The whole team, with the exception of Benjamin. The camps want it that way. They Get Better though, and by the end of the book are making great efforts to educate themselves.
* BoxingLessonsForSuperman: Jillian is shown coaching Ember in martial arts. The first instance is Foreshadowing [[spoiler:of Patrick's attack on Ember.]]
%%* BruiserWithASoftCenter: Jill and Marco qualify.
* ByTheBookCop: Captain Drummond wants to be this, but is strong-armed by Jill into bending the rules.
* CallForward: In ''Ignite,'' Patrick expresses pragmatic admiration for how the chemistry teacher locked the students into a school and set it on fire. [[spoiler: In ''Battlecry,'' he does just that at a local high school.]]
* ChekhovsGunman: Jill sarcastically tells Jasmine, a woman who appears in just one short scene, to tell the world about Patrick's abuse. She does--and it is among the biggest OhCrap moments in the novel.
* ClarkKenting: Jill's civilian disguise in the third chapter comprises civilian clothes, braids, and hipster glasses.
* CombatMedic: Benjamin's ultimate role on the team.
* CurbStompBattle: Several times throughout the novel, most notably with Jill and Patrick at the climax.
* CrapsaccharineWorld: Beautiful heroines! Handsome heroes! Everyone loves them! Oh, and they're born and raised in cult-like totalitarian camps that starve them, beat them, control their every move, don't educate them, and (it's implied) kill the ones who try to escape.
* DeathFakedForYou: Jill and Captain Drummond concoct one of these schemes to protect Benjamin after the library, because in Benjamin's line of work, [[ResignationsNotAccepted one can't just walk away.]]
%%* DistressedDude: Benjamin, at times.
* DopeSlap: Ember gives Jill one when the latter starts fantasizing about kissing Benjamin.
* DueToTheDead: Heather might be cornered in a room and about to be lynched by a mob, but dammit, she's going to [[spoiler: give Eleazar the hero's funeral he deserves.]]
* DumbMuscle: Jill originally believes herself to be this to her team.
* ElementalPowers: Reid, who can control earth/rock.
* FantasticRacism: Jill considers a Super (person with powers) marrying a non-Super (a person without powers) to be "unnatural."
%%* FieryRedhead: Ember.
* FinancialAbuse: Patrick confiscate 97% of the money grateful civilians give his teammates. As a result, Jill has accrued a paltry $20 in six months. And she's grateful for it.
%%* FiveManBand:
%%** TheLeader: Jillian (Battlecry)
%%** TheLancer: Marco (Helios)
%%** TheSmartGuy: Benjamin (Mercury)
%%** TheBigGuy: Reid (Tank)
%%** TheChick: Ember (Firelight)
* Foil: Reid, for Jill. Jill is rash, impulsive, rebellious, sanguine, and feminine. Reid is thoughtful, deliberate, legalistic, melancholic, and masculine.
%%* FollowInMyFootsteps: Mr. and Mrs. Trent
%%* FriendToAllChildren: Marco.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Ember, who can telepathically communicate with animals. She's a vegan and is shown to be gentle with everything from spiders to dogs.
* GenderedInsult: Patrick refers to Ember as a slut.
%%* GirlyBruiser: Jill.
* GlowingEyes: Both Reid and Marco's eyes glow when they're at full power.
* GoodParents: The Gonzales parents in ''Battlecry'' and the Alvear parents in ''Excalibur.''
* GratuitousSpanish: Alejandro, a native of Mexico, slips into his native language when he's upset, and lets out some rather fierce curses. [[spoiler: So does his half-brother, Roberto.]]
%%* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Benjamin.]]
* HealingHands: Benjamin can heal even the most serious of injuries... except his own.
* AHeroToHisHometown: The various teams around the country purposely cultivate local hometown popularity, altering their uniforms and behavior to play this up as much as possible.
%%* HighClassCallGirl: Veronica
* IcyGrayEyes: Gray-eyed Reid is the most legalistic of the team, generally stern, and takes the longest to warm up to Benjamin.
* TheIllegal: It's strongly implied that Alejandro is undocumented.
%%* ImportantHaircut: Jillian, Ember, and a rare male example with Benjamin.
* KidAppealCharacter: Averted with Marco. Though he is the youngest character and views TheLeader, Jill, as an older sister, he is an extremely lethal fighter in his own right, most definitely TheLancer, and dishes out the most shocking on-page death in the novel.
* KillOnSight: Jill's orders to her team re: Patrick after he murders hundreds of people at the high school.
%%* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Captain Drummond and Sebastian Gonzales. In ''Excalibur,'' Ágata and Eleazar.]]
* KnifeNut: Jillian, and how. She carries six knives at any given time, and at one point says that she played with butterfly knives as a child.
* LegacyCharacter: Jillian is technically Battlecry II, since the first Battlecry was her grandmother. She also bears her grandmother's first name.
* LongHairIsFeminine: In-Universe. The cult mandates that women have long, waist-length hair because it's beautiful, and beauty supposedly commands respect.
* MeanBoss: Patrick bullies, beats, and abuses every single teammate, male or female.
* MindRape: How Patrick uses Ember's powers against her.
* MotherBear: Mrs. Trent. She [[spoiler:murders Patrick for supposedly killing her daughter, Eleanor.]] Leticia Ortiz ''beat a man to death with a meat hammer'' when he broke in to kidnap her son.
%%* NiceGuy: Benjamin.
* NamedWeapon: Heather cheekily named her BFS "Excalibur".
* NeverLearnedToRead: Heather is illiterate.
%%* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Jillian unleashes several during the novel.
* NoPeriodsPeriod: Averted. Jill tries to deflect a tricky question from Benjamin by mentioning tampons, hoping he won't continue with the subject at hand.
* NonActionGuy: Benjamin, in the eyes of the team. Though he can use his speed to outrun his opponents, he's untrained in martial arts and doesn't have a lot to offer in a hand-to-hand situation.
* OffingTheOffspring: [[spoiler:Mr. Trent comes very, very close to murdering Benjamin (and Jill).]]
* OhCrap: Jill has a mighty moment of this trope when she realizes that Patrick knows she spilled the beans on him. Later, Benjamin and Jill have another when Benjamin's parents show up during the climax.
* OnePersonOnePower: Averted. Benjamin has two, and Ember's two types of telepathy is treated as two different powers.
%%* PintSizedPowerhouse: Poor, poor Marco.
* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: The team was raised in a cult that teaches many un-PC things, such as: women aren't capable of leading superhero teams (though, notably, none of the teammates seem to believe that generally MenAreBetterThanWomen); Reid's camp forbids women to wear red, a "passion" color, because AManIsAlwaysEager, and nobody from his camp is allowed to dance; they believe civilian media is corrupting and evil. The Arkansas camp was founded by white supremacists.
* PowerIncontinence: Marco, Reid, and Patrick all have moments of this when they're angry or otherwise upset.
%%* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Captain Drummond.
* RealWomenDontWearDresses: Averted. Jill and Ember are both asskicking superheroes who are totally unafraid of the fight, but that doesn't stop them from wearing skirts/dresses, caring about their appearances, and pursuing typically feminine interests/hobbies.
* RealWomenHaveCurves: Averted with Ember, who is described multiple times as "frail", "slim", and "slender" but is still incredibly popular with the opposite sex.
* RebelliousSpirit: Jill, who can't get comfortable in the cult and continually acts out and/or disobeys her "authority umbrella."
* RunForTheBorder: How the 1994 San Diego team decide to escape the camps.
* RunOrDie: Jill faces this after unleashing a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown on Patrick, her commander. Much later in the novel, Benjamin and Jill face this choice on the gym roof.
%%* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler: Eleazar, the leader of the 1994 San Diego team.]]
* SecretIdentity: Both played with and discussed. The superheroes take pains to maintain their secret identities, but everyone seems to know them on sight anyway.
* SoapOpera: Heather is a big fan of both US soaps and Mexican ''telenovelas.''
%%* SinglePowerSuperheroes: Reid, Patrick.
* SlaveToPR: Patrick, who only chases after Jillian and Marco when his PR ratings begin to drop.
* StarCrossedLovers: Jillian is a superheroine. Benjamin is a civilian and [[spoiler:from a supervillain family.]]
* TheSociopath: Patrick claims to not believe in morality. A few minutes later, he murders hundreds of people.
* StrawVegetarian: Averted. Ember is a vegan due to her being TheBeastmaster, but it's actually Reid who de facto forces everyone to be vegan, since he's the main cook of the house and is dating Ember. Any mention of MeatVersusVeggies is largely PlayedForLaughs.
* SuperTeam: The main characters are a functioning superhero team in a fictional coastal Georgia city, Saint Catherine. Doubles as a BadassCrew because of their combat abilities. By the end of the novel, they qualify as a BandOfBrothers, and Reid even refers to Marco and Benjamin as his "brothers."
%%* StrongAndSkilled: Most of the team, with the exception of Ember.
* ThouShaltNotKill: Averted with the team, who take a standard "try to take them alive, but kill if necessary" view on lethal force.
* TraumaticHaircut: Ember and Jill.
* TrueCompanions: The team has shades of this.
* TheUnfavorite: Benjamin hints that he is this at home.
%%* TheUnmasking: One of the earlier {{Wham Line}}s, and the end of the first act, is a dramatic unmasking.
%%* UtilityBelt: Jill wears one.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Patrick could be the poster child for this trope. He's in tabloids, has his own fan forums, and is treated as a local celebrity.
* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: Jill's two brothers have these kinds of powers, which is why they're not superheroes.
* WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou: Patrick calls his abuse "discipline" and laments that he has to do it.
* WouldHurtAChild: [[spoiler:Patrick murders hundreds of them in the space of about fifteen minutes.]]
* YouSayTomato: Benjamin is openly appreciative of Jill's thick southern drawl.
----
[[caption-width-right:313:She saves herself. Or does she?]]
''Battlecry'' by Emerald Dodge is a 2018 superhero novel.\\\
Jillian Johnson, known as the mighty Battlecry, was born into a superhero cult. She craves a life of freedom, far away from her violent and abusive team leader, Patrick. With no education, no money, and no future to speak of, she's stuck in the dangerous life...until she meets the mysterious and compelling Benjamin, a civilian with superpowers. When Patrick confronts her, she fights back--and then runs for her life. One by one, her ex-teammates join her until a new team has formed.\\\
''Battlecry'' has two prequels, a novel called ''Excalibur'' that takes place in 1994 and follow the exploits of another team, and ''Ignite'', a novella that takes place a month before the beginning of ''Battlecry''. Two more novels, ''Sentinel'' and ''Mercury,'' were released in 2018.
----
!!''Battlecry'' and its prequels provides examples of:
* TheNineties: ''Excalibur'' takes place in August 1994.
* AbusiveParents: Ember tells the others that when Patrick asked his father to live as a civilian, his father dragged him into the middle of the camp and beat him publicly. Mr. Trent doesn't seem very nice, either. The second book, ''Sentinel'', reveals that Jillian's father publicly caned her for wanting to avenge her brother's death.
%%* ActionGirl: Jill, Ember, Captain Drummond.
* AdultsAreUseless: The elders might as well be made of cardboard for all they do to stop Patrick.
%%* AfterActionPatchUp
* AlliterativeName: Jillian Johnson
* AmazonChaser: Benjamin to Jill.
* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: Averted during the final fight, when Jill is unable to rejoice [[spoiler:at Patrick's demise.]]
* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Marco flirts with this trope, notably yanking Jill's chain when they're looking for a hideout following a hostage scene, being obstinate and argumentative before and after the school attack, and whining about his job during the flood.
* AppealToForce: Obey Patrick or he'll telekinetically toss you around and choke you. [[spoiler:Or try to rape you.]]
* AscendedFanboy: Benjamin starts out secretly wanting to be a superhero, despite [[spoiler:being a supervillain.]] He ends up being the local superhero team's combat medic, and dating the leader, to boot.
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Patrick, who is ultimately killed by Mrs. Trent.]]
%%* AttemptedRape
* AudienceSurrogate: Benjamin is a civilian and learns about the deeper history of the camps along with the reader. He also echoes a lot of what the reader might be thinking about the cult.
* BadassNormal: Several.
** Captain Drummond, the police captain who calls Jill out on her shit more than once.
** Sebastian Gonzales, a fourteen year-old boy who bum-rushes Patrick at one point.
** Miguel ''and'' his parents.
** Lawrence Gonzales.
* BadMoodAsAnExcuse: Ember warns Jill to be more submissive to Patrick because Patrick was in a bad mood and looking to inflict pain on someone.
* BattleInTheRain: The opening scene turns into this. The pivotal library battle calls back to this via water sprinklers going off.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Averted. Jill is heavily scratched and bruised following the opening fight.
* BetrayalByOffspring: [[spoiler:How the senior Trents view Benjamin's HeelFaceTurn.]]
* {{BFS}}: Heather can produce one of these from her hand by the power of thought alone. [[StockWeaponNames She named it Excalibur.]] It can cut through [[AbsurdlySharpBlade just about anything.]]
* BigBad:
** Patrick to Jill and the team. However, [[spoiler:he's killed by the Trents before they get away, possibly establishing them as the series BigBad.]]
** Roberto in ''Excalibur.''
%%* BigDamnHeroes: A bunch of times.
* BigOlEyebrows: Jill is described as having thick, dark eyebrows. She refers to them at one point as "ridiculous."
* BigBrotherInstinct: One of the fastest ways to push Jill into an UnstoppableRage is to threaten Marco.
%%* BilingualBonus: A ton in ''Excalibur''
* BookDumb: The whole team, with the exception of Benjamin. The camps want it that way. They Get Better though, and by the end of the book are making great efforts to educate themselves.
* BoxingLessonsForSuperman: Jillian is shown coaching Ember in martial arts. The first instance is Foreshadowing [[spoiler:of Patrick's attack on Ember.]]
%%* BruiserWithASoftCenter: Jill and Marco qualify.
* ByTheBookCop: Captain Drummond wants to be this, but is strong-armed by Jill into bending the rules.
* CallForward: In ''Ignite,'' Patrick expresses pragmatic admiration for how the chemistry teacher locked the students into a school and set it on fire. [[spoiler: In ''Battlecry,'' he does just that at a local high school.]]
* ChekhovsGunman: Jill sarcastically tells Jasmine, a woman who appears in just one short scene, to tell the world about Patrick's abuse. She does--and it is among the biggest OhCrap moments in the novel.
* ClarkKenting: Jill's civilian disguise in the third chapter comprises civilian clothes, braids, and hipster glasses.
* CombatMedic: Benjamin's ultimate role on the team.
* CurbStompBattle: Several times throughout the novel, most notably with Jill and Patrick at the climax.
* CrapsaccharineWorld: Beautiful heroines! Handsome heroes! Everyone loves them! Oh, and they're born and raised in cult-like totalitarian camps that starve them, beat them, control their every move, don't educate them, and (it's implied) kill the ones who try to escape.
* DeathFakedForYou: Jill and Captain Drummond concoct one of these schemes to protect Benjamin after the library, because in Benjamin's line of work, [[ResignationsNotAccepted one can't just walk away.]]
%%* DistressedDude: Benjamin, at times.
* DopeSlap: Ember gives Jill one when the latter starts fantasizing about kissing Benjamin.
* DueToTheDead: Heather might be cornered in a room and about to be lynched by a mob, but dammit, she's going to [[spoiler: give Eleazar the hero's funeral he deserves.]]
* DumbMuscle: Jill originally believes herself to be this to her team.
* ElementalPowers: Reid, who can control earth/rock.
* FantasticRacism: Jill considers a Super (person with powers) marrying a non-Super (a person without powers) to be "unnatural."
%%* FieryRedhead: Ember.
* FinancialAbuse: Patrick confiscate 97% of the money grateful civilians give his teammates. As a result, Jill has accrued a paltry $20 in six months. And she's grateful for it.
%%* FiveManBand:
%%** TheLeader: Jillian (Battlecry)
%%** TheLancer: Marco (Helios)
%%** TheSmartGuy: Benjamin (Mercury)
%%** TheBigGuy: Reid (Tank)
%%** TheChick: Ember (Firelight)
* Foil: Reid, for Jill. Jill is rash, impulsive, rebellious, sanguine, and feminine. Reid is thoughtful, deliberate, legalistic, melancholic, and masculine.
%%* FollowInMyFootsteps: Mr. and Mrs. Trent
%%* FriendToAllChildren: Marco.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Ember, who can telepathically communicate with animals. She's a vegan and is shown to be gentle with everything from spiders to dogs.
* GenderedInsult: Patrick refers to Ember as a slut.
%%* GirlyBruiser: Jill.
* GlowingEyes: Both Reid and Marco's eyes glow when they're at full power.
* GoodParents: The Gonzales parents in ''Battlecry'' and the Alvear parents in ''Excalibur.''
* GratuitousSpanish: Alejandro, a native of Mexico, slips into his native language when he's upset, and lets out some rather fierce curses. [[spoiler: So does his half-brother, Roberto.]]
%%* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Benjamin.]]
* HealingHands: Benjamin can heal even the most serious of injuries... except his own.
* AHeroToHisHometown: The various teams around the country purposely cultivate local hometown popularity, altering their uniforms and behavior to play this up as much as possible.
%%* HighClassCallGirl: Veronica
* IcyGrayEyes: Gray-eyed Reid is the most legalistic of the team, generally stern, and takes the longest to warm up to Benjamin.
* TheIllegal: It's strongly implied that Alejandro is undocumented.
%%* ImportantHaircut: Jillian, Ember, and a rare male example with Benjamin.
* KidAppealCharacter: Averted with Marco. Though he is the youngest character and views TheLeader, Jill, as an older sister, he is an extremely lethal fighter in his own right, most definitely TheLancer, and dishes out the most shocking on-page death in the novel.
* KillOnSight: Jill's orders to her team re: Patrick after he murders hundreds of people at the high school.
%%* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Captain Drummond and Sebastian Gonzales. In ''Excalibur,'' Ágata and Eleazar.]]
* KnifeNut: Jillian, and how. She carries six knives at any given time, and at one point says that she played with butterfly knives as a child.
* LegacyCharacter: Jillian is technically Battlecry II, since the first Battlecry was her grandmother. She also bears her grandmother's first name.
* LongHairIsFeminine: In-Universe. The cult mandates that women have long, waist-length hair because it's beautiful, and beauty supposedly commands respect.
* MeanBoss: Patrick bullies, beats, and abuses every single teammate, male or female.
* MindRape: How Patrick uses Ember's powers against her.
* MotherBear: Mrs. Trent. She [[spoiler:murders Patrick for supposedly killing her daughter, Eleanor.]] Leticia Ortiz ''beat a man to death with a meat hammer'' when he broke in to kidnap her son.
%%* NiceGuy: Benjamin.
* NamedWeapon: Heather cheekily named her BFS "Excalibur".
* NeverLearnedToRead: Heather is illiterate.
%%* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Jillian unleashes several during the novel.
* NoPeriodsPeriod: Averted. Jill tries to deflect a tricky question from Benjamin by mentioning tampons, hoping he won't continue with the subject at hand.
* NonActionGuy: Benjamin, in the eyes of the team. Though he can use his speed to outrun his opponents, he's untrained in martial arts and doesn't have a lot to offer in a hand-to-hand situation.
* OffingTheOffspring: [[spoiler:Mr. Trent comes very, very close to murdering Benjamin (and Jill).]]
* OhCrap: Jill has a mighty moment of this trope when she realizes that Patrick knows she spilled the beans on him. Later, Benjamin and Jill have another when Benjamin's parents show up during the climax.
* OnePersonOnePower: Averted. Benjamin has two, and Ember's two types of telepathy is treated as two different powers.
%%* PintSizedPowerhouse: Poor, poor Marco.
* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: The team was raised in a cult that teaches many un-PC things, such as: women aren't capable of leading superhero teams (though, notably, none of the teammates seem to believe that generally MenAreBetterThanWomen); Reid's camp forbids women to wear red, a "passion" color, because AManIsAlwaysEager, and nobody from his camp is allowed to dance; they believe civilian media is corrupting and evil. The Arkansas camp was founded by white supremacists.
* PowerIncontinence: Marco, Reid, and Patrick all have moments of this when they're angry or otherwise upset.
%%* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Captain Drummond.
* RealWomenDontWearDresses: Averted. Jill and Ember are both asskicking superheroes who are totally unafraid of the fight, but that doesn't stop them from wearing skirts/dresses, caring about their appearances, and pursuing typically feminine interests/hobbies.
* RealWomenHaveCurves: Averted with Ember, who is described multiple times as "frail", "slim", and "slender" but is still incredibly popular with the opposite sex.
* RebelliousSpirit: Jill, who can't get comfortable in the cult and continually acts out and/or disobeys her "authority umbrella."
* RunForTheBorder: How the 1994 San Diego team decide to escape the camps.
* RunOrDie: Jill faces this after unleashing a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown on Patrick, her commander. Much later in the novel, Benjamin and Jill face this choice on the gym roof.
%%* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler: Eleazar, the leader of the 1994 San Diego team.]]
* SecretIdentity: Both played with and discussed. The superheroes take pains to maintain their secret identities, but everyone seems to know them on sight anyway.
* SoapOpera: Heather is a big fan of both US soaps and Mexican ''telenovelas.''
%%* SinglePowerSuperheroes: Reid, Patrick.
* SlaveToPR: Patrick, who only chases after Jillian and Marco when his PR ratings begin to drop.
* StarCrossedLovers: Jillian is a superheroine. Benjamin is a civilian and [[spoiler:from a supervillain family.]]
* TheSociopath: Patrick claims to not believe in morality. A few minutes later, he murders hundreds of people.
* StrawVegetarian: Averted. Ember is a vegan due to her being TheBeastmaster, but it's actually Reid who de facto forces everyone to be vegan, since he's the main cook of the house and is dating Ember. Any mention of MeatVersusVeggies is largely PlayedForLaughs.
* SuperTeam: The main characters are a functioning superhero team in a fictional coastal Georgia city, Saint Catherine. Doubles as a BadassCrew because of their combat abilities. By the end of the novel, they qualify as a BandOfBrothers, and Reid even refers to Marco and Benjamin as his "brothers."
%%* StrongAndSkilled: Most of the team, with the exception of Ember.
* ThouShaltNotKill: Averted with the team, who take a standard "try to take them alive, but kill if necessary" view on lethal force.
* TraumaticHaircut: Ember and Jill.
* TrueCompanions: The team has shades of this.
* TheUnfavorite: Benjamin hints that he is this at home.
%%* TheUnmasking: One of the earlier {{Wham Line}}s, and the end of the first act, is a dramatic unmasking.
%%* UtilityBelt: Jill wears one.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Patrick could be the poster child for this trope. He's in tabloids, has his own fan forums, and is treated as a local celebrity.
* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: Jill's two brothers have these kinds of powers, which is why they're not superheroes.
* WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou: Patrick calls his abuse "discipline" and laments that he has to do it.
* WouldHurtAChild: [[spoiler:Patrick murders hundreds of them in the space of about fifteen minutes.]]
* YouSayTomato: Benjamin is openly appreciative of Jill's thick southern drawl.
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