History SupplementalMaterial / TeamFortress2

** The book Spy is reading in the comic is entitled ''How To Beat A DNA Test'', calling back to ''Meet The Spy'' and the fan-theory that Spy is Scout's biological father.

* BatmanGambit: Spy manipulates Scout shamelessly through the entire training sequence, in the end telling him that he's failed and is out of time as a way to get him to take the initiative. His smile confirms it.

* AmusementParkOfDoom: The setting for this year's event. Complete with carnival games and bumper cars! Possibly subverted, because it's not quite haunted yet (though the mercs will be quick to fix that) and Merasmus ended up using sandalwood scented candles for the ritual.
* BloodMagic / VirginPower: One of the requirements for an ancient Sumerian carnival ritual is to use the blood of a virgin. Merasmus used his own blood.
* CallBack: The team's love for Tom Jones returns, as apparently Merasmus found some of last year's spell pages behind the Tom Jones 8-tracks in his storage unit.

** The book Spy is reading in the comic is entitled ''How To Beat A DNA Test'', calling back to ''Meet The Spy'' again.

* IndianBurialGround: Merasmus forgot to build his carnival on one of these, but since the bodies don't need to be ancient, he'll just get the mercs to kill enough people for the land to become haunted.
* TrollingCreator: The book Spy is reading in the last panel of the comic is entitled ''How To Beat A DNA Test'', possibly another reference to the "Spy is Scout's biological father" fan theory.

* RelationshipUpgrade: Soldier and Zhanna, maybe. He even refers to her as his fiancé at one point.

* WholePlotReference: [[spoiler:The lost country of New Zealand is a direct homage to [[{{Franchise/Superman}} Krypton]], with several key distinctions - Bill-Bel, unlike Jor-El, got the Council of Ministers to listen to him, but his scheme was ultimately pointless and bankrupted the nation. When attempting to rocket his son beyond the ocean and into space as part of a new crackpot idea, [[MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds he smashed a hole in the city's glass dome and flooded the entire nation, killing everybody inside]].]]

* CloudCuckooLand: Put simply, the whole [=TF2=] universe is crazy in a box with a side order of fries. The entire world is owned by one of two corporations, founded by two feuding brothers fighting over worthless pits of gravel, and both owned by a single sociopathic woman who keeps both sides in conflict. Weapons are supplied by Mann Co., a company owned by an overly masculine Australian who spends most of his time getting into fights. Australia itself is also hyper-masculine, with everyone save for the sniper being incredibly muscular and owning a mustache (yes, even the women), and whose leader is chosen by boxing match with a kangaroo. What's more, it turns out that the second floor was invented (by Shakespearicles, the strongest poet who ever lived) 200 years before the staircase (invented by Abraham Lincoln), and in the intervening time people had to rocket jump up to the second floor. Then there's Gray Mann, who invented a robot army powered by money. Really, just about every bit of information available about the [=TF2=] world only serves to emphasize how insane it is.

* ActuallyFourMooks: In media outside the game, there appears to be only one version of each character. ''Ring of Fired'' confirms there are only 9 mercenaries, yet one of the secret pages in the Pyromania Update notes that the Administrator has to sign 18 paychecks for the mercs. Also, both teams exist, and there are at least two spies. It goes back and forth.

-->'''Engineer:''' Do you boys know what this means?
-->'''Soldier:''' [distressed] ARG! [[SkewedPriorities WE CANNOT TELEPORT BREAD ANYMORE]]!

** It takes three days for [[spoiler:The Medic to discover that only bread gets tumors, and for anyone to notice the bread monster soldier is creating]]

* GargleBlaster: Sniper's "family moonshine" is apparently so potent that it melts through the barrels it's stored in. He uses it to sedate Demoman.

* BlatantLies: The comic claims, rather than being a bimonthly, trimonthly, or even quarterly comic [[ScheduleSlip released late]], it's an annual comic "released six months early".

* {{Depower}}: Once all of the Australium has been taken from Australia, its citizens are no longer [[TestosteronePoisoning Testosterone-Poisioned.]] They revert to plain old ordinary people, no different from the rest of the world. Naturally, when Soldier and Zhanna arrive expecting a no-holds-bared-brawl against a room full of Saxton Hales, they're extremely disappointed.

* HandsOnApproach: Soldier is about to snap an Australian soldier's neck...until Zhanna stops him. Then they snap the soldier's neck ''together''. Aww.

* TheReveal: Three of them: First, the location of the Engineer: [[spoiler:he accompanied the Administrator]]; second the Administrator's motives towards collecting stockpiles of Australium are finally confirmed (somewhat:)[[spoiler: She has her own Australium-powered life extender similar to Grey Mann's, making her... [[VagueAge of a comparable age; vague, but definitely older than natural]]. However, she's not an ImmortalitySeeker like Grey; she's perfectly willing to accept death, and actually intends to use the Australium to pay off an as-of-now unspecified debt. Second, we find out that Sniper actually ''isn't'' Australian. He's one of the last surviving people of New Zealand.]]

* ScheduleSlip: The six issue ''Mann Co. No More'' story line was initially advertised as Bi-Monthly, meaning the issues would be released over the course of one year. In about one year's time, there have only been three issues released. This was hilariously lampshaded in the second issue's blog post, where the Valve team claimed to have spent the extra time between issues debating what 'Bi-Monthly' actually meant.

* CreepySouvenir: Soldier gives Zhanna a necklace of ''human ears''. He hopes that eventually it'll have more ears on it.

* TheReveal: Two of them: First, the Administrator's motives towards collecting stockpiles of Australium are finally confirmed (somewhat:)[[spoiler: She has her own Australium-powered life extender similar to Grey Mann's, making her... [[VagueAge of a comparable age; vague, but definitely older than natural]]. However, she's not an ImmortalitySeeker like Grey; she's perfectly willing to accept death, and actually intends to use the Australium to pay off an as-of-now unspecified debt. Second, we find out that Sniper actually ''isn't'' Australian. He's one of the last surviving people of New Zealand.]]

* FeelNoPain: The Announcer claims to be too old to feel anything.

* YourDaysAreNumbered: The Announcer is on her last legs, and [[spoiler:once the life extender Mk.5 runs out of its current load there won't be any more Australium to refill it.]] She's come to peace with it, only asking for enough time to set ''something'' right.

* TheReveal: Two of them: First, the Administrator's motives towards collecting stockpiles of Australium are finally confirmed (somewhat:)[[spoiler: She has her own Australium-powered life extender similar to Grey Mann's, making her... [[VagueAge of a comparable age; vague, but definitely older than natural]]. However, she's not an ImmortalitySeeker like Grey; she's perfectly willing to accept death, and actually intends to use the Austrailium to pay off an as-of-now unspecified debt. Second, we find out that Sniper actually ''isn't'' Australian. He's one of the last surviving people of New Zealand.]]

* BlatantLies: The comic claims, rather than being a bimonthly, trimontly, or even quarterly comic [[ScheduleSlip released late]], it's an annual comic "released six months early".

* YourDaysAreNumbered: It turns out that all those years of using teleporters have given the team tumors, as exemplified in bread, which will kill the team in three days. [[spoiler:Except not. It turns out that they're not only completely fine, but the "tumors" are actually a mutation-based life form that only works on bread and other wheat foods, bringing it to life as a murderous creature.]]

* TheReveal: Two of them: First, the Administrator's motives towards collecting stockpiles of Australium are finally confirmed (somewhat:)[[spoiler: She has her own Australium-powered life extender similar to Grey Mann's, making her just as old, if not older, than he is. However, she's not an ImmortalitySeeker like Grey; she's perfectly willing to accept death, and actually intends to use the Austrailium to pay off an as-of-now unspecified debt. Second, we find out that Sniper actually ''isn't'' Australian. He's one of the last surviving people of New Zealand.]]

* BlatantLies: The comic claims to have been [[ScheduleSlip "released a year early"]].

* Depower: Once all of the Australium has been taken from Australia, its citizens are no longer [[TestosteronePoisoning Testosterone-Poisioned.]] They revert to plain old ordinary people, no different from the rest of the world. Naturally, when Soldier and Zhanna arrive expecting a no-holds-bared-brawl against a room full of Saxton Hales, they're extremely disappointed.

* TheReveal: Two of them: First, the Administrator's motives towards collecting stockpiles of Australium are finally confirmed (somewhat:)[[spoiler: She has her own Australium-powered life extender similar to Grey Mann's, making her just as old, if not older, than he is. However, she's not an ImmortalitySeeker like Grey; she's perfectly willing to accept death, and actually intends to use the Austrailium to pay off an as-of-now unspecified debt. Second, we find out that Sniper actually ''isn't'' Australian. He's once of the last surviving people of New Zealand.]]

* Depower: Once all of the Australium has been taken from Australia, it's citizens are no longer [[TestosteronePoisoning Testosterone-Poisioned.]] They revert to plain old ordinary people, no different from the rest of the world. Naturally, when Soldier and Zhanna arrive expecting a no-holds-bared-brawl against a room full of Saxton Hales, they're extremely disappointed.