History Recap / ASterixInBelgium

** Thompson and Thomson (and their catchphrase) from the ComicBook/{{Tintin}} series make an appearance.

** When Caesar arrives in Belgium, Asterix and Obelix ask him to be the adjudicator in the contest between whether they or the Belgians are the bravest, causing him to lose his temper and vow to demonstrate that ''he'' is the bravest by wiping them all out with his legions.

* ArtShift: The ancestors of Thomson and Thompson are drawn in ''ligne claire'' style and have rectangular speech bubbles similar to Hergé’s ComicBook/{{Tintin}} comics.

** The Belgian banquet near the end is a parody of Flemish painter Creator/PieterBruegelTheElder 's painting "Peasant Wedding" (It was done by Marcel Uderzo, Albert’s brother.).

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Caesar often has occasion to brood or grumble, but he rarely loses his temper the way he does in this comic.

** Botanix’s family eat Brussels sprout, his wife makes Brussels lace and his son looks a lot like the Manneken Piss (except he wears pants and pees offscreen). The city does not exist yet (Brussels is much younger than Lutetia/Paris), but there is a little Economic Community (EEC) that would later become a not-so-little Union (EU).

* VillainousBSOD: Caesar is more of a MagnificentBastard, but in this comic he gets it hard, first from the senate, then from an odd coalition of Belgians and Gauls.

** Comments on the classical quotability of Caesar’s various utterances.

* BullyingTheDragon: Vitalstatistix and Beefix' attacks on Roman camps ''obviously'' provoke a Roman counterattack led personally by Caesar, at which point Beefix admits that it's no longer a game but war.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Beefix did not expect his friendly competition with Vitalstatistix would get Caesar personally involved. On the other hand, Belgians and Romans already were at war and when Caesar joins the fight, the Belgians do not hesitate to meet him.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Beefix did not expect his friendly competition with Vitalstatistix to attract Caesar's attention. On the other hand, Belgians and Romans already were at war and when Caesar joins the fight, the Belgians do not hesitate to meet him.

* FriendlyEnemy: When the Gauls attack the first camp, they smash legionary Pseudonymus into the ground. After the battle, he joins the discussion between Gauls and Belgians and even the introductions, though both sides ignore him.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Beefix went and destroyed multiple Roman camps, not thinking that not only this would provoke a reaction but that Caesar, that he's ''terrified'' of, would lead it personally due considering the Belgians powerful foes.
* TheDreaded: ''Caesar''. News of his arrival make the Belgians go from ready to a fight to [[LastStand ready to hold the line to let their families escape]].

* BadassNormal: The Belgians give the Roman occupiers almost as much trouble as that undefeatable little village in Gaul, without any access to magic potion. While they're not ''quite'' the same level of OneManArmy as the Gauls are, they've become such a nigthmare to fight that the Roman soldiers considers returning to Armorica a ''vacation'', since at least there it's just one village that's the problem instead of the whole country and, barring overzealous commanders, they are not supposed to fight the Gauls.

* BullyingTheDragon: Vitalstatistix and Beefix' attacks on Roman camps ''obviously'' provoke a Roman counterattack led personally by Caesar, someone Beefix is shown to ''fear''.

* CurbStompBattle: For once it's the ''Romans'' who are dishing it out thanks to their catapults. Had not Vitalstatix' group not stumbled on the Roman court that was supposed to finish off the Belgians from behind, thus getting them involved against the Belgians' (initial) wishes, the Romans would have reported a devastating victory with ease.
* DeathBeforeDishonor: A general refuses to surrender. In the original he says “The guard dies but does not surrender” (an actual Waterloo quote). The legionaries have different ideas.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: When Obelix mistakes the village council meeting for a banquet, Asterix points out that they are "only just starting this story", a story that might have ended then and there if Vitalstatistix had accepted the majority view.

* PunnyName: The Roman prefect in Belgium is named Wolfgangamadeus, after Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart. One of the other soldiers is named Saintlouisblues, after the jazz standard ''St. Louis Blues''.

** References to the classical quotability of Caesar’s various utterances.

* The final battle is one big reference to the battle of Waterloo with Caesar as Napoleon, Wolfgangamadeus as Grouchy, Beefix as Wellington and Asterix as Blücher.

* FriendlyEnemy: When the Gauls attack the first camp, they smash legionary Pseudonymus into the ground. After the battle, he joins the discussion between Gauls and Belgiums and even the introductions, though both sides ignore him.

* BeenThereShapedHistory: The events of this comic inspired French Fries (which are really Belgian fries) and the Belgian national dish ''Moules Frites'' (Mussels with French Fries).

** In France, Belgians are famous for their large meals (compare Mannekenpix the Belgian chef from ''WesternAnimation/TheTwelveTasksOfAsterix'').

* BadassNormal: The Belgians give the Roman occupiers almost as much trouble as that undefeatable little village in Gaul, without any access to magic potion. While they're not ''quite'' the same level of OneManArmy as the Gauls are, they've become such a nigthmare to fight that the Roman soldiers considers returning to Armorica a ''vacation'', since at least there it's just one village that's the problem instead of the whole country.

* DeathBeforeDishonor: A general refuses to surrender. In the original he says “The guard dies but does not surrender” (an acutal Waterloo quote). The legionaries have different ideas.

* ReferenceOverdosed: The authors have tried to cram in every possible reference to Belgium they could think of.
** Allusions to Belgian fries, mussels, Brussels sprouts, waterzooi, Manneken Pis, lace from Bruges and Brussels, Belgium being the head of the European Economic Community (the line: "There's a small economic community further up."), the Atomium, ComicBook/{{Tintin}}, cyclist Eddy Merckx, Creator/PieterBruegelTheElder,... are made. The jokes told about Belgians at the start of the story is also a reference. In modern times Belgians are frequently ridiculed by their neighbouring countries in jokes that target their stupidity, rather than their bravery as shown in this story.
** When Beefix describes "his flat country" in the original French version he quotes a line from the refrain of Belgian singer Music/JacquesBrel's song "Le Plat Pays".
** Several references to the Battle of Waterloo, since Waterloo is located in Belgium. The giant battle near the end is a direct parody, with Caesar as Napoleon, Beefix as Wellington and Asterix in the role of Blücher who came to Wellington's aid in the nick of time, causing Napoleon to lose. The accompanying text on the parchments is a reference to French author Creator/VictorHugo's text "Les Châtiments" about the battle. In the English version the text is replaced by quotes from Creator/LordByron (many from his poem [[http://www.poetry-archive.com/b/the_eve_of_waterloo.html "The Eve of Waterloo"]], which forms part of the third canto of ''Childe Harold's Pilgrimage''), Creator/JohnMilton ("Chaos umpire sits" and "With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout, confusion worse confounded" from ''Literature/ParadiseLost'') and Creator/WilliamShakespeare ("But yesterday, the word of Caesar might have stood against the might of the world" and "let slip the dog[s] of war" from, fittingly, ''Theatre/JuliusCaesar'', albeit after Caesar's assassination).

** Caesar's army arriving on the battlefield by horse is [[http://asterix.openscroll.org/books/asterix_in_belgium.html a parody of a painting by Ernest Meissonier]] showing Napoleon campaigning in France.
** The Belgian banquet near the end is a parody of Flemish painter Creator/PieterBruegelTheElder 's painting "Peasant Wedding".

** ''Déjeuner''refers to the midday meal in France but means breakfast in Belgium, hence the early dinners.

* VillainousBSOD: As much as Caesar is really a villain in this series.

** The bilingual communities are addressed too in the original French version where both leaders fight over an ox tongue, causing Beefix' wife to note: "Ils ont toujours une problème de langue." ("They always have a problem over tongue", with the double meaning of "tongue" and "language" for the word "langue".)

* NationalStereotypes: The Belgians are depicted as jolly and petulant people who enjoy having a laugh, a drink and some tasty food. The bilingual communities are addressed too in the original French version where both leaders fight over an ox tongue, causing Beefix' wife to note: "Ils ont toujours une problème de langue." ("They always have a problem over tongue", with the double meaning of "tongue" and "language" for the word "langue".)